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Raven slipped through the shadows, her eyes flitting over the dark hallway, searching for a heartbeat. But there was no movement, no beating of heart, no rush of blood. All her senses were alive with hunger, but she would find no one here. She clenched her fists, digging her sharp nails into her palms and gritted her teeth. She had been waiting so long for something to eat, but still her mind told her to hold back, not to hurt people.
But her body’s self-preservation was stronger, and the quiet shuffle of a student out past curfew made her mouth water with hunger. She was dimly aware of her body slipping through the shadows towards him, but instinct was taking over. Before she knew it, she was dragging him down, her hands over his eyes and mouth. She felt her teeth sink into his skin, which felt so soft against her rough touch. She felt energy coursing through her body as she drank the blood, the hunger disappearing from her in seconds.
She shut her eyes tightly and pulled her mouth away from his shoulder, he was weak, but still thrashing back and for. She slipped away without a second thought, running down the halls just out of sight. She wanted to go back, and drain all the blood from his body, but she knew better than to let him be hurt or killed--or even worse, to turn him.
She shoved her face into a pond as she ran back over the courtyard to the girl dorms, washing her face of the sticky blood, which had already started to dry on her chin. The security guard was patrolling around the school, giving her plenty of time to slip up the ivy into her room. She didn’t waste any time running behind the bushes, and leaping up the ivy to climb to her room. She kept her ears alert for the sound of her roommate, Maddie, but heard nothing. She pulled herself up onto the window ledge and rolled onto the floor of her room.
She quickly stepped up and went to close the window behind her, realizing she left it open when she left earlier that night.
“ Hey Raven!” She froze, her hand still on the window to close it.
“ H-hi Maddie, I was just, opening this window, to- because it was cold, I mean it’s hot in here.” She turned to her roommate, who was sitting up in her bed, smiling as if nothing had just happened.
“ Oh well, that’s an awful long way to open the window. Is that how people open windows her? That’s not how we open windows in Wonderland. Oh no! Have I misunderstood how to open windows? My teachers must have all been so confused…”
Raven sighed. “I was lying, that’s not how you open windows. I-i wanted to get out of the room, so I snuck out the window. You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“ Phew! Of course not, I’m your best friend, aren’t I? I wouldn’t tell anyone your secrets.”
Raven smiled, stepping over to her friend’s bed. She placed her hand on Maddie’s face, rubbing her cheek gently with her thumb. “Thank you, Maddie.”
“ Of course,” She looked down, laying back into her pillows. “Good night, Raven.”
“Good night, Maddie.”
Raven played with her keys in her pocket, preparing herself for the usual chatter and suspicion that followed whenever her hunger took over and caused her to pursue a victim. She was a common culprit to accuse, but generally it didn’t go anywhere. She was the evil queen, after all, nothing in her story said she was a vampire.
“Look it’s just the same as mine,” the Swan Queen squawked, holding out her arm where she’d been bitten.
“Are you sure you’re not feeling anything… evil?” Hunter opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by another person adding “You don’t want any tasty blood?”.
“They drank my blood, and didn’t turn me into a vampire you guys.” Hunter was standing in the middle of a large crowd, all of whom were hanging on to his each word. Even after Raven had been feeding off of the crowd for months, they still marveled every time a new victim arose. Raven slipped in beside Maddie and Cedar, staring at the ground. She willed herself to slip into the shadows, hoping no one would question her about it.
“Come on, he’s probably feeling tired, have you visited the nurse?” Ashlynn pushed her way to the front of the crowd, taking a look at the bite for herself.
Hunter nodded, “I’m fine. You guys the vampire has done this before. They aren’t a real threat, honestly I just felt a little lightheaded and was fine by morning.”
“When I was attacked, I was bedridden for a week, we aren’t all so lucky Hunter.” Added an annoyed Briar.
“Oh, just let the man eat his lunch.” Said Dexter, which no one noticed.
“Oh, just let the man eat his lunch.” said Daring, to the agreement of most of the crowd. They all disbanded, but the murmurs of question still rippled through the cafeteria.
“Hey Cedar, hey Maddie.” Cerise Hood stepped over to the table, eyeing Raven’s lunch of steak hungrily.
“I’m right here,” Raven sat up, pulling her food closer to herself. Cerise jumped a little, but Cedar and Maddie looked unphased.
“O-oh sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Cerise looked surprised, and Raven blinked, realizing that she’d been using the shadows of the cafeteria to hide. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously and pushed the tray towards her. The near-raw meat looked unappealing after the night’s meal.
“You can have it, I’m not hungry.”
Cerise nodded, wasting no time grabbing the food and rushing to her own table.
“Did you eat a big breakfast again?” Cedar asked, looking at Raven with concern.
“Yeah,” she couldn’t explain the truth, especially not to Cedar. She shivered at the thought of someone asking her friend about the vampire.
“I still don’t get how you can eat that steak they always give you,” Maddie said, a playful smile on her face. Raven wanted to reach out to her friend, and bury her face in Maddie’s chest. She’d been so scared when Maddie found her sneaking into their dorm, but she knew the faithful friend would never give up her secret, even if she found out.
“Oh, it’s okay.” Raven turned away, resting her head on her arm.
Raven glanced out of the window at the setting sun, and reached forward to turn on a light so she could continue her homework. It had been a few days since she fed, and the school had mostly forgotten about the instant.
The energy rush she’d felt was wearing off, but she still hadn’t needed to eat anything since she attacked Hunter. She’d avoided the cafeteria like the plague, hoping that no one would notice her not eating. I’ll start eating tomorrow, she decided, noticing the slight fatigue in her limbs as she scribbled out her essay.
“Hi Raven!” Maddie’s voice rung from the door as she stepped into the room, glowing with her usual excitement. She leapt an incredible leap-- right onto Raven, scattering the student’s pencils and papers.
“Maddie!” Raven said, annoyed, her face covered by Maddie’s hair.
“Sorry…
“It’s okay, I’m happy to see you too.” At this, Maddie brightened, and she slipped off the bed to give Raven space to collect her things.
“Have you been eating lunch in here again? I noticed you haven’t been in the cafeteria.” Maddie began pouring a cup of tea, then placed it down on her table for Earl Grey.
“Yeah, but I’m gonna eat there tomorrow.” She placed her pens in order, making sure everything was in place for her to start working again.
“It’s because of the incident isn’t it? That you don’t eat in the cafeteria? With Hunter I mean.”
Raven stiffened, “What do you mean, Maddie?”
“Well they always accuse you, being the Evil Queen’s daughter and everything--” she took a sip of tea, then pet Earl Grey for a moment. “Surely you don’t like being around when they’re talking about it so much?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s it.” She relaxed, and settled back into her pillows, lifting up her notebook.
“You were out that night, did you see them? The vampire?”
Raven didn’t lift her eyes to meet Maddie’s gaze. “No I didn’t. I should get back to work, we can hang out later if you want, but I really should finish this paper.” Raven held her breath, hoping Maddie wouldn’t press.
“Okay Raven! Maybe we can go see Nevermore?”
She sighed in relief, “Yeah, maybe.”
Raven shot up, the smell of blood hot in her nose. She’d been falling asleep, but she knew there was no way she could sleep with the smell filling all her senses. Maddie was sitting on her bed, seemingly repairing Earl Gray’s hat. A prick of blood seemed to dance on her finger, drawing all of Raven’s attention
Suddenly Raven shook her head. She silently thanked that she’d eaten recently, and was in no risk of hurting her friend.
“Do you want a band-aid?” She asked, stepping out of bed.
“No, I have one.” She pulled out a band-aid and pasted it on to her finger. She looked up at Raven and her eyes widened a little. “Your eyes are all glowy and red-looking.”
“Oh, it must be the lighting.” Raven shut her eyes and sat back in her bed, cursing herself for not being more careful.
“That’s rather odd lighting to give you red eyes. Is that another Ever After thing?”
“No.” Raven turned over, stuffing her face into her pillow. “It’s a- it’s a- it’s an evil queen thing, I guess.”