3 - Roll Call

*POV=DABERE*

The train chugged forward, taking us away from Ogwama, a place that had been our home for many years. Outside the train was pitch darkness and the uncomfortable noise of steel wheels on steel tracks. I clutched the leather jacket, wondering whether I’d fever-dreamed the part where my savior had morphed into a beast.  But that was the least of my worries, as  I let out a breath and tears clouded my vision.

We’d left everything behind; memories, most of our belongings, our neighbors, our friends….everything. 

It had been tough trying to convince Papa to abandon everything and leave with me. Luckily, Papa had wanted to move a long time ago after Mama died, and I’d already told him earlier that we would have to move to a place close to my university so I could take care of him on the weekends. So I just told him that we were about to lose the deposit I’d made for our new home, and that if we lost the place, I’d forfeit my scholarship because I wasn’t going to leave him back here to fend for himself, not with how fast his health was deteriorating.  

I was able to keep him in the dark about the loan sharks, and the only reason I could even afford this journey was because I’d sold most of my late mother’s belongings. It had been heartwrenching to part with, but I knew it was the only way we could afford to move without defaulting with the loan I owed. Heaven forbid I ever gave the money I made from selling her things to those men. Spending it on my education and Papa’s medication was the only way to make up for selling them in the first place. 

We spent five hours on a train from Ogwama to Aro, where we boarded a sixteen hour flight out of our country, B'Afra, to a prospering country in Europe; Yyarme. From there, we took another six hour train ride to the city capital, Carsyava, where my school was located. I didn’t sleep throughout the entire journey. All I did was hold Papa with one hand and clutch the leather jacket in the other.

By taking flights, I knew it would be significantly harder for Cain to track us. Papa and I were poor people who couldn’t hope to afford plane tickets, much less leave the country. If anything, this would buy me enough time to work and pay off our debt in full.

So for the most part, I felt relatively safer. Tired, exhausted, hungry, colder even, but safer.

I’d already taken the time to study the map of the city long before now, so we took a bus to the outskirts where I’d read rent was cheapest. I was able to find a house with a single room, a kitchen and a bathroom with no living room, and carried our luggage. We had no furniture, no kitchen utensils, and barely any clothes save for the ones on our backs. 

Papa was unsettled because being a man in his fifties and battling cancer meant even the prospect of traveling was dangerous, and we’d spent over 20 hours on the road. I rushed out before it got too late and got some foodstuff, the most basic kitchen utensils, and other basic necessities we couldn’t do without. Tomorrow, I’d have to go find a job.

School wouldn’t resume for another two weeks, and I’d been lucky enough to land a full scholarship plus a room at the uni dorms. The only thing I needed to worry about was my textbooks, feeding, and Papa. 

After we ate dinner and lay on our makeshift bed, I remained awake. A part of me was terrified I would close my eyes and open them to see I was still inside that closet with Cain. So I stood up and grabbed the leather jacket from a nail in the wall. As I clutched it and drifted into uneasy sleep, I didn’t picture the beast that had drank my blood, only the man who had saved my life.

** - ** - ** - ** - ** - ** - ** - ** - ** - ** - ** - ** - A little Over Two Weeks Later

“Umm….excuse me. Can you point me to the forensic accounting and legal boundaries class?” I asked a tall, brown haired student in the hallway.

He turned to stare at me, his eyes scanning me like he was deciding whether I was a lost freshman or a roach infestation.

“You a freshman?” He asked. I nodded.

“Are you sure that’s the class you should be headed to?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. “It's a special course. Other freshmen are at the auditorium for introduction to Finance 101.” 

The thin smile on my lips disappeared almost instantly. Would anyone have made the assumption that I’d lost my way if I looked different? If I wasn’t wearing the social equivalent of ballroom rags? 

I pursed my lips into a tight smile as I took out a golden letter from between my notebook. 

“I was selected for this elective by the school board,” I said, showing him the letter with the official school stamp before tucking it away. His eyes widened slightly in surprise. But it quickly vanished as he rolled his eyes.

“That way,” he said, already turning away as he pointed towards the right. 

I wanted to spit the bile in my throat at his face; wanted to let him know that I could very well be his boss tomorrow. But I nodded and thanked him instead, and made my way to my class.

Yuenene was one of the top universities in the world, and getting in was a billion times harder than the chances of anyone becoming a movie star. It was an elite school for the elite, and only someone born with several silver spoons in their mouth could even dream of being able to afford their tuition. 

I’d long known I wouldn’t be able to afford to go to college, so my only choice was getting a scholarship, and I’d been audacious enough to believe Yuenene would take me. 

And now, I’d even been selected for the Forensics elective that only the top 1% of accountancy department students ever got to attend, and if you never got in in the first year, you could never get in again. My eyes had been set on the scholarship alone but this, this was a huge bonus, and just the right amount of ego boost I needed to feel that on some level, I fucking belonged here.

I walked into the class and saw there were fifteen other students present, seated on desks far more luxurious looking than the ones I’d seen when I’d wandered into the auditorium.  Ebony wood with intricate gold trims glimmered under the lights, each desk more opulent than the last. Black and Gold, just like the school colors. 

No one even raised their gaze as I walked through the door. Somehow, I’d thought getting attention would make me nervous, but the lack of reaction proved to be worse. It was already crystal clear: it was every man for himself here.

I took a seat in the second row and laid out my notebooks on my fancy desk,  waiting for the young, badass lawyer from one of the world’s most prestigious law firms to waltz in and wow us like we’d been promised during orientation. Yuenene was always shoving its high end connections in our faces, and even if I found the whole thing rather pretentious, I couldn’t possibly complain. After all, here, I was guaranteed to learn from the best of the best.

I was already fiddling through my notebook when a man walked into the class. He was wearing crisp, white tailored pants effortlessly fitted to his frame, paired with a vibrant, short-sleeved tropical shirt with teal, coral and lime colors splashed across the fabric. 

His getup was a bit of a shock because I’d expected a man with a buzz cut in a black, three piece suit. I stared at him for a moment, realizing he hadn’t even brought any teaching materials with him. His coily hair was tied back in a messy half bun with a few strands falling in his face, he had a chiseled jawline, plump lips, and a luxurious pair of shades covered his eyes. 

He screamed arrogance, wealth and that filthy bad boy energy I loathed. He even had an undone button on his shirt and I instantly knew I was going to hate him.

He turned to the board and wrote out his name.

Kyrien Markiavelli.

I sighed and glanced through my notebook, secretly hoping his teaching would make up for his atrocious getup.

“Roll call please,”

The moment the words left his lips, I stiffened. I looked up slowly from my notebook, just in time to see him take off his shades, and my stomach dropped.

Ohh my god. Ohh my fucking god.

It was him. 

The man that had saved my life that night, the beast that had tasted my blood. It was him, in the flesh, in my classroom, amber eyes casually glancing through the piece of paper on his hand.

My heart almost burst out of my lungs.

Wait, Dabere. Relax. It couldn’t possibly be him. What would he be doing so far away from Ogwama in the first place? Didn’t creatures like him only come out at night? Or…had I just imagined that last part??

“When I call your name, please reply and raise your letter.” He continued.

Ohh my god. Ohh my freaking god. Why did he sound just like him?? Why was I hearing the exact same voice that had walked into that closet and picked me up without a care in the world??

No…maybe it was just someone that sounded similar. Maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me. Or maybe….maybe I was losing my mind.

I trembled as he called out name after name, my heart racing. But suddenly, he paused and squinted at the list like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Dabere….Duru?” He muttered almost to himself, like he was unsure.

I forgot how to breathe. My heart pounded in my chest as I internally screamed at myself to move, to say something.

“Dabere Duru,” he called out again, his gaze lifting from the paper to scan the class.

Say something. Say something!!

“H-here.” I raised my hand, my voice barely above a whisper.

In that same instant, his eyes found mine. And right before the entire class, they turned a bloody shade of red.

I froze. The class didn’t react. Not one person noticed.

Only me.

Suddenly, he smiled; a slow, wicked curve that exposed his razor sharp fangs.

“Found you.”