Chapter Text
It was a normal day. Well, as normal as it could be in this school. Nowadays that usually meant that Rev wasn't planning anything, which was rare for the guy, since he was always doing something. Even if that something meant finding a new way to die, bother the principal, or messing up in class on purpose.
But today was fairly peaceful. Students were running around the halls, the field full of those that did some sort of sport, the club members in their respective classrooms doing activities. And the Lunch Club? Right in the cafeteria as always.
"Come on Rev, it's not so bad!" Mark tried cheering up his roommate.
"Not that bad? Not that bad?! You spilled your stupid juice all over my shirt!" He gestured to his shirt and, sure enough, there was a big red stain right in the middle. Some of it even made it onto his pants.
"I mean… Pomegranate juice isn't that hard to clean, right?" The vampire boy said, hopeful, only to be quickly shut down by Bella.
"…Mark, pomegranate juice is actually really hard to clean. Its deep red color penetrates through fabric quickly and-"
Rev, the ever so patient guy, slams the table with his fists. "Stop giving him an education lesson! Ugh, great. Now I smell like it too. Vampire, you caused this, so you will help me clean it." It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order.
An order that Mark accepted with his ears dropping apologetically. "I said I was sorry…"
"You think that a 'sorry' will clean the stain off of my shirt?" With that, Rev ended the conversation, getting up from his chair and walking in the direction of the bathroom. Mark followed him closely, hunched over.
As they walked through the hallways, they passed by the other students who, upon seeing Rev's obnoxiously red shirt, chuckled to themselves. The boy in question just grumbled to himself. As long as they don't run into Wendy, they'll be fine. Thankfully they made it to the bathroom safely.
Rev immediately dampened a paper towel and started to rub the juice off. Only for it to get worse. He scrubbed harder. And the stain? Got even messier and bigger. He huffed. It was seriously getting on his nerves now.
"Ugh." He shoved the towel into Mark's hands. "You do it."
"Riiiight…" Mark looked around, his eyes landing on a soap dispenser. Bingo! Mark threw the dirty paper into the trash and took a fresh one. He put it under cold water and squeezed the rosy soap onto it. "Okay okay, stand still-"
"Just get to it! I don't wanna walk around with a damn stain around! It looks like I killed someone."
"No offense man, but with how you are, it's not too far off-" That earned him a smack on the head. "Ow.. Yeah, deserved…"
Mark just shut up and got back to work. He lightly wiped the shirt, making it soapy, cleaning it. At least as much as he could with simple water and soap. It seemed to work though. The red started to get lighter, turning into a pinkish color. On the particularly hard spots, Mark leaned in closer and worked on them. Even his tongue was peeking out. It was a ridiculous sight, honestly.
Eventually though, the vampire stepped back. "It's as much as I can get it off. I think you'll need to wash it with a washing machine, Rev." He says, looking at his friend.
Rev sighed. "I guess it's good enough. Doesn't mean I forgive you." Mark only nodded. "Let's get back. I'm sure Sera stole my food while we were gone. And I'm still hungry." Even though he didn't say it, Mark could feel the boy pinning this onto him as well. Honestly, he couldn't blame him. He did spill juice on him and it made them miss quite a bit of lunch.
He didn't let this sour his mood though. "Right! Let's go!" Mark turned around towards the door and opened it, walking out. Only to walk into someone. "Ack- Sorry, sorry!"
When he looked up, he stilled. In front of him was a tall vampire with dirt brown hair tied into a low ponytail. It was one of the most popular vampires, the leader of The Nocturnals. It was-
"V-Vlad! Hey man!" He stuttered. "Sorry, we'll get out of your fangs-"
"You're Mark, right? Mark Dracula?" Vlad got straight to the point. Right. He doesn't like chit chat.
Mark was taken aback by that. Normally, no one in the vampire class paid attention to him, let alone knew his name. "…Yes? Rev, you can go-" But Rev was already gone. Of course he was.. "Right, yeah. Um.. I'm Mark, yes! What do- do you need, man?" Already messing up in front of possibly the coolest guy in class and school. Great. Just fantastic.
Vlad pushes Mark back into the bathroom and shuts the door. Okay. Right. Totally normal. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hangout with us. Tonight, at my dorm room." He says, casually. Like he didn't just shove Mark into the bathroom.
Even then, he didn't let Mark say a word as he continued. "You know, we thought you might be cool, so we invited you. You seem chill, like you don't give a fuck what others do or say. It's a nice quality to have. You might fit right in with us, Mark." Whoa, did he just praise him? "So, what do you say?"
After all that, the only thing that Mark managed to say was, "What?"
Real smooth. Yeah. A totally cool reaction to a cool guy who invited him to a cool hangout with his other cool friends. Cool. Coolio.
"I mean- Yeah, sure! I could tag along. Since you asked me. Like, you went out of your way to invite me, it'd be pretty rude to decline!" He quickly adds to fill in the awkward silence. God, he's really bad at this.
"Right. Anyways," Vlad leans into Mark's personal space, "Make sure you don't tell anyone, yeah? If people find out about the cool people hangout, they'd want in. We don't want that, do we?" He whispers. It sent shivers down Mark's spine. Was his voice always this cold?
Mark nodded slowly. "Of course, man! I'll make sure even my roomie doesn't find out!" He even smiled to sell it. It wasn't really a lie anyway. If it was that serious, then Mark wasn't gonna tell anyone. It was a one time opportunity to actually bond with his classmates, and he wasn't going to throw it away.
"Great! We'll meet at my dorm at 11 pm." Vlad shined his signature smile. "Be there on time, Mark." He says and finally turns away, closing the door behind him. The bell screamed as he did.
All Mark could do was stare. He couldn't believe it. The Vlad Pyre asked him to a hangout? There's no way, right? Mark was always the one that asked others if they wanted to spend time together, not the other way around. Even with his current friends, he was the one to convince them to do things together. So this was a big surprise. Mark wasn't sure if this was a nice surprise or not…
Either way, he was pretty pumped! He has to prepare now. What should he wear? Probably not his school uniform, right? Yeah, probably not. It's not really comfortable to wear, and it wouldn't fit in with the others. He'll figure something out later. For now, he should get to class.
…How long has he been standing here?
Undead Class was pretty calm. Mark was able to answer the questions with no problem, which earned him a small nod of approval from professor Frankenstein. He doesn't know why most students don't like him, he's been nice to Mark! And Undead class isn't even that hard to understand, considering that they are all undead. Most of the stuff they learn is common knowledge. Either way, Undead is Mark's favorite.
Just a few minutes before the end of the class, professor Frankenstein assigns them a project. Of course it earned a groan from the entirety of class. "Please prepare a paper about the mannerisms and different types of vampires. This will appear on the test next week, so I expect all of you to do your research. I'm looking at you, Mr. Vennett." He says, his gaze drifting to the boy in question. Rev only scoffs. "Anyway, if you don't have any questions, you're all dismissed."
Mark was about to stand from his seat when he was interrupted by Rev. He looks over to his friend, tilting his head. "Yeah? What's up?"
"It's about the paper. It's about vampires." He says simply, crossing his arms. He looked like he expected Mark to do something.
"Do you need some books from the library? I'm sure there's plenty of them!" Mark, completely oblivious to the unsaid request of Rev, smiles. He continues, "If you want to know which one I think is the most accurate one, I recommend the one by-"
"Mark." His name cuts through his speech easily. "You're a vampire. I was suggesting that you help me with it." Rev drags his hand down his face. Sometimes it's incredible just how clueless the vampire is about some things.
"…Oh, right!" He chuckles nervously. Mark scratches his neck as he makes his way towards the exit, Rev following closely. "I forgot. Well, I could absolutely help! It was about mannerisms and different types, right?"
Rev nods. "Yeah. I guess I'll question you about it and you just have to answer. Simple as that. I got some other stuff to do, so let's do it at night at our dorm." Mark stops in the middle of the hall, and Rev looks back. He cocks his head to the side, looking Mark up and down. "Why the hell did you just stop? Got gum under your shoe or something?"
But Mark didn't answer. Suddenly, it hits him like a cold wave- the hangout. How could he forget so fast? If he has to go to the hangout, then he can't do the paper with Rev. But he already agreed to helping his friend, so what is he supposed to do now? Just ditch him? He supposes he can make up some kind of excuse.
"Oh. No, no! Just remembered that I have something to do tonight, so I don't think I can help. Sorry, man…" A classic 'I actually have something to do.' That should do the trick, right?
Even though Rev squints his eyes and scowls, he seems to have bought the obvious lie. "Sure, whatever. I'll go ask Bella instead. That nerd is definitely in the library anyway." Before Mark can apologize again, Rev starts walking into the direction of the library. At least Mark hopes he is.
…Well, that went better than he expected. He thought that Rev would question him further, especially after that poor excuse. He's glad he didn't though, Mark is absolutely terrible at lying. He remembers the time when he tried lying to his father that he didn't break a highly valued vase that was definitely worth more than Mark. Unfortunately, his lie was caught before he could even properly explain himself. Mark was prohibited from going near the treasure room for at least a year after that.
Completely distracted again, Mark bumps into someone. How many times is this going to happen today?… "I'm sorry- I wasn't looking where I was.." He had to tilt his head back a little just to see the persons face. And when he got a good look at them, their short black hair, freckles and- Fangs? Is that Kane? The second in command of the Nocturnals? "…Going." This has to be a coincidence, right? There's no way he walked into not one but two of the Nocturnals.
"Hm? Oh, it's you." If Rev's voice is cold, this guys voice is freezing. "Heard you agreed to our hangout. That's neat."
Mark swallowed. Gosh, was this guy always so tall? "Haha, yeah! I know, right? I also think it's neat. Thanks for inviting me, by the way." He played with his sleeves to calm his nerves. Kane was always unnerving, whether it was his voice or appearance. And seeing him up close made Mark sweat. "I didn't think you guys would do that, honestly. I mean, you're pretty popular, so…"
"Don't mention it. We just thought it'd be nice to meet new people. And you," Kane leans in uncomfortably close. What's with the Nocturnals and personal space..? "Seemed like a nice guy. Like, honestly. Who wouldn't want to be your friend?"
"…Friend?" Okay, Mark might be unobservant at times, but surely this means that they want to be his friend, right? "You think… I could be your friend? Like, for real?"
Kane smiled. It didn't quite reach his eyes. But Mark was so consumed by the constant praise and compliments that he didn't notice. "Of course."
Wow. Maybe Mark's luck was turning around. This was an opportunity of a lifetime. To be friends with them? He has to be dreaming. "That's- That's awesome! Oh man, I promise I won't disappoint you guys. I'll make sure you won't regret your decision!" He settles on that.
The taller vampire nodded and walked past him. Just in time for the bell to scream. Again. This time Mark doesn't linger in his mind and speed walks to Alchemy.
It's always a bit of chaos in Alchemy. Someone blows themselves up by mixing the wrong ingredients, and others talk so loudly that Ms. Baba Yaga turns them into a frog for the whole class. And Mark? Somewhere in the middle.
He knows not to talk during the lectures, but he still finds himself babbling away to the person he's sitting with. The person being Bella. Most of the time, anyway. He doesn't really have to learn alchemy, being a vampire and all, but the school requires them to learn at least the basics of each subject. So, while Mark only has one Alchemy class per week, Bella has five, and miraculously they have Alchemy together on Fridays.
"Okay Mark, can you get some spider eyes? I think two should be enough." Bella asks her vampire friend while stirring the pot full of water, and Mark gets up without question to get them.
As Mark opened the chest, his eyes landed on everything but the spider eyes he needed. He opened another chest, and another, and another. No sign of the eyes anywhere.
"Hey, here! Have these!" A voice behind him exclaimed, dropping two spider eyes into his hands.
He stares at the eyes in his hands for a second. They looked like, well, eyes. Reddish in color, with a hint of white. Turning around, Mark tries to thank the person, "Thanks-" But there was no one there. Just an empty space before him. Mark shrugs it off. They probably had their own assignment to get to. Either way, Mark happily takes the spider eyes with him to give them to Bella.
He practically skips back to his seat, and when he is close enough, he notices Bella reading through a book. Most likely their textbook on potions. Apparently they're making a potion that makes it possible to cling to walls. Mark wasn't entirely sure how potions work, but he supposes putting spider eyes into the cauldron makes sense. Spiders cling to walls, so spider eyes. Pretty easy, no?
"Hey Bella, I got the eyes!"
Without even looking up from the book, Bella replies, "Oh, thanks Mark. You can put them into the cauldron. There's exactly 20.72 grams of slime that I measured, so please put it in as well. It's crucial that you stir it well and gently. Can I trust you to do that?" She instructs, and Mark barely followed. But out of the two of them, she's the witch, so he trusts that her with his heart.
"Um… Yeah. Throw in spider eyes, slime, and stir. Gently. I got it." He didn't really. Alchemy is something that he doesn't understand at all. How did Bella and Rev made it look so easy was beyond him.
Mark followed Bella's words. He dumps the spider eyes into the water, which made a weird sound. Should he be concerned? Probably not. Potions do that all the time. He thinks so, at least. He grabs the slime in the beaker and, purely for fun and to look "sciency," Mark swirls it. Well, as much as slime can swirl. Which isn't a lot. Disappointed, he pours it in, scraping the remains with the wooden spoon. After he got most of it out, he finally stirs the mixture. Slow and gently, just like Bella told him to.
The color turned into a cadmium red. It looked pretty cool! Some bubbles even started to appear. He was making a potion - a real potion! Usually he just dumped in ingredients and nothing happened. But this time was different. Mark was really proud of himself. And Bella, of course! She did measure the slime and gave him the instructions, but Mark actually mixed the potion. So really, he deserved some credit too.
"Okay Bella! It's done!" He says with a smile. "What should I do now?"
Bella turned around and examined the liquid. She squints, and Mark feels kinda nervous. He didn't mess up, did he? Just as Mark's ears began to drop, Bella answered, "No, it's okay. I'm pretty sure it's done now. You can call over Ms. Yaga."
Mark was ecstatic. He really did make a potion! And he didn't mess it up! "Yup! On it! Ms. Yaga-" He turns to look for their alchemy teacher, but she's already right next to them. "Augh! Ms. Yaga! Um, we finished the potion!" Why is everyone either bumping into him or scaring him today…?
"Hm," Was all she said. She looked inside the cauldron, inspecting it. Mark got nervous all over again. What if he actually messed up? Oh crap, what if they fail because of him? Bella will never let him live this down. In fact, she'll probably hate him forever. And then the rest of his friends will hate him. Which already isn't a lot of friends, by the way!
Mark starts to play with his sleeves again. He tugs at a loose thread, pulling it slightly. Why was Ms. Yaga still so quiet? The silence is killing him. He looks over to Bella, whose eyebrows were furrowed. Mark could swear he saw a drop of sweat roll down her temple. Great, so they're both nervous now.
"Good job you two. You'll both be getting an A." She finally says and Mark's shoulders dropped. Even Bella sighed a breath of relief.
Just as their teacher started to walk away, something cracked. Mark immediately looked over and he felt his heart drop. The pot. It was fine just a second ago! What the hell was wrong with it? Deep dark smoke started to rise from it, consuming the classroom in an ugly black. The pot shook violently, some cracks forming on it. It won't hold the liquid much longer.
"Mark, are you sure you did all the steps correctly!?" Bella shouted through the static in his head, effectively bringing him back to the here and now. "You did add the spider eyes, right?"
"I-" He swallowed down the lump in his throat. "Yes! I did! I got the eyes. I guess they looked kind of bigger..? They smelled somewhat sweet- But I swear they were spider eyes!"
"What!? Mark- Those were fermented spider eyes! Those will mess up the concoction significantly!" Bella grabbed Marks shoulders harshly. Since when was she so strong? He even felt her nails digging into his skin through the fabric. "It will make the potion-"
BOOM
And it exploded. Right in all directions. And if it weren't for Mark's body, it would've gotten onto Bella. Mark slowly let go of Bella and checked the potion. Or rather, what remained of it.
It was a real mess. The maroon liquid was splashed onto the walls, bookshelves, and even the ceiling. It slowly dripped onto the floor, forming a puddle. Thankfully, other than Mark, no one else was covered in it.
The two friends turned towards Ms. Yaga. They winced upon seeing her deep scowl. Angry wasn't the right word to describe her. Annoyed? No. Furious? Closer. Fuming? Most likely. Either way, Ms. Yaga was angry beyond belief.
"Ms. Donna, Mr. Dracula." She starts, her voice already low. They were definitely not gonna get out of this scot free, are they? "What have you done to my classroom?" She didn't even scream, but with the way she said it, Mark wished she screamed instead.
Mark was quick to jump to their defense, "It was me, Ms. Yaga. I- I apologize."
Bella stared at him, eyes widened. "Mark-"
"No, please. Let me take the fall for this. You did everything correctly. But I…" He stops. There was no point in still going, was there? It was a group project, so they will both fail anyway. Mark just hopes that Bella will at least get less scolding if he admits to being in the wrong. "…I took the wrong ingredient. Someone gave it to me and I failed to check if it was the right one."
Ms. Yaga glared daggers into him. Out of all the teachers, she was the one that was the most strict with her punishments. "So, instead of asking for extra spider eyes, you decided to take the first thing that you weren't even sure were the right one? And you didn't even bother asking your friend to look at it either?" She says, making sure her words held weight. It worked well.
"…Yes. I'm truly sorry."
A sigh escaped the older woman's lips, clearly annoyed. Before she could continue her lecture, Bella jumps in. "Ms. Yaga, if I may… Please, don't punish Mark. I was also at fault. I entrusted him into getting the right ingredient, and I didn't clarify it with him." She explains. Mark didn't really understand why. He was the one that messed it up, so why was she…? "So please, don't blame Mark for everything. Blame me, too."
"Ms. Donna, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."
"I'm well aware."
Another sigh. "Very well. I will fail both of you. You will have to redo the potion next week, but alone this time. Ms. Donna, you will clean up this mess. And you, Mr. Dracula," she turns to Mark, pointing her staff at him, "You will assist me in buying new ingredients."
The both of them nod, accepting their fates. Their teacher walks away to assist other students. Mark glances at Bella, who just huffs.
"…You didn't have to, Bella." His ears fell. "I could've handled it."
"Oh please. Mark, we are a team, and more importantly, we're friends."
Mark felt his eyes shine. He smiles. "Thanks."
Bella only sighs, but the small upturn on her lips doesn't go unnoticed by Mark.
The bell screams and Mark waves goodbye to his friend who unfortunately has to stay behind and clean up. As soon as he turns the corner, someone jumps right into his line of sight. Seriously, what is wrong with everyone today!?
"Ugh, excuse me, I'm kind of in a hurry-"
"Hah! Should've seen your face!" The person says, flipping their large ponytail out of the way. "Oh man, I knew that fermented spider eye would be good!"
What?
"Hold on- What are you talking about?" Mark looks, really looks at the person before him, and when he sees the magenta-red hair and fangs, he already felt his head throb. Another one of these guys. "…Nyx?"
"The one and only! Did ya like my gift in alchemy? There's still some potion left on your uniform, by the way!" She says, far too enthusiastic for someone who nearly made Mark get turned into a frog for probably the rest of the year.
"Were you the one who messed up my potion!?" He basically screams at her. Nyx only sticks her tongue out in a mocking manner.
"Mmmaybe. But hey, it was funny! Come on, don't tell me you didn't at least chuckle."
"…I did not."
Nyx's eyes narrow. "Bummer. Anyway, you better get that stain off. Wouldn't want ya to miss the hangout tryin' to clean it off." She says, flashing her sharp canine teeth at Mark. "See you later, Dracula."
Mark shudders. The way that she said his name was so… off. Like it didn't belong in her mouth. He decides to ignore it. She was right. He better get ready.
Picking out an outfit that wasn't too boring but also one that wasn't too over the top was much harder than Mark expected. Most of his clothes consisted of several white button ups, thousands of cloaks, mostly black pants, and some accessories. Honestly, it was a miracle he could pick out some clothes to take with him to the academy. Either way, trying to find a good outfit was hard.
He still has an hour left, but this has been taking longer than he wanted. He still has to go to Vlad's dorm, which is probably gonna take at least ten minutes. It's late, and that means that the skeleton janitors are walking around making sure no one is out doing who knows what. Mark isn't bad at sneaking around. Quite the opposite, actually. He's freakishly good at it, but with the added security and the worry of what will happen if he gets caught? Yeah, he's sweating bullets. At least Rev wasn't here. Apparently he got special permission to go to the library with Bella, under Lovecraft's supervision.
Mark's face suddenly lit up as he got an idea of what to wear. He puts on a simple gray T-shirt and black jeans. It's incredibly boring, so Mark decides to grab a denim jacket. Thanks to Rev, it had some stitched on patches that Mark picked out when they went on a trip to the city again. He said it'll spice up the look, and he was right. It was much more "Mark-like," as Sera said. And as a final touch, Mark put on a fake silver necklace with a red pendant that looked like a blood drop.
Satisfied with his look, Mark turns to the door. Before leaving, he pets Raven. "Be a good girl, okay? Just stay in your bed for tonight. I'll be back later!" The cat meows in response, leaning into his touch. Seriously, how can anyone hate her?
As quietly as he can, Mark closes the door behind him. He scans the area for any of the janitors and, thankfully, there were none so far. He proceeds to the opposite side of the boys dorms. On this side however, there were much, much more skeletons. Barely any hiding spots too.
Mark shrugs off the fear and starts to move towards the stairs without being noticed. Until something went wrong. Because of course it did. Mark accidentally knocks over a plant that just so happened to be standing there. Was the universe against him or something?
He quickly picks it up and places it back into its place. Just as he turns to hide, the light from one of the janitors flashlights points into his direction. It stays there for a couple of seconds, the skeleton probably listening in to any sounds. Mark stays so quiet he might as well have been a ghost. His pulse quickens. How long will it stand there and watch? He's almost there. Just one more turn up the stairs.
The skeleton's footsteps fade. Mark stays in his place though, just in case. He perks his ears up and listens. When he's sure it was gone, he exhales. Gosh, this was much more nerveracking than he thought.
Mark moves from his spot and turns a corner, stepping right in front of the door. He lightly knocks. He debated whispering, but decides to keep quiet. He does not want another one those things to come over.
The door swings open and Mark's pulled inside before he can even react. He stumbles, almost tripping, but he steadies himself. Mark looks up and sees the three vampires already looking at him. Kane and Nyx stand close at Vlad's side, observing the white haired vampire with sharp eyes. Their gaze is cold, almost calculating, and Mark quivers.
Vlad speaks up first. "Mark! Seems like you found your way around the janitors. You're only about…" He looks at his wrist before looking up, "Five minutes late."
"I'm so sorry, Vlad! I had to make sure Rev was away first. But he didn't ask about me, so don't worry! I haven't told anyone about this. Not even Raven."
"Who the hell is Raven?" Nyx raises her eyebrow, but Mark doesn't get to answer her before getting cut off.
"Great. Anyway! So, Mark." Vlad once again grins and walks up to his side, slinging an arm around his shoulders. It was kind of uncomfortable since Vlad was taller than Mark, but he didn't bring it up. "Since you're here, I suppose we can start. What do you guys say?"
Kane nods with a light smile. The vampire places his hand on Mark's forearm. "Thank you for being here, Mark."
Nyx bounces in her place, obviously excited. "Yes! Sooo glad you're here. You have no idea much I've been buggin' those two to finally agree on inviting you!" She pokes Vlad in his side. "Especially this guy."
"Ha, ha. Right. Shut up, Nyx." He says with a sharp tone. "Anyway, before we start, we want you to pass a… trial."
At this, Mark perked up. Vlad gets off of Mark and resumes, "You see, us Nocturnals take our bond very seriously. We made up a ritual. You know, to make sure that whoever enters our group actually means it."
Kane picks up after him, "After all, we can't have some randoms joining us. You understand, right?" Mark nods hesitantly. "Good. Now then, Nyx?"
"I got it right here!" The girl pulls out… garlic? "Okay guys, hold him still."
"Wait-" Before Mark can fully process, he's held down by the other two. "Hold on, what are you guys doing?!"
"We told you already, we have a trial for new members." Vlad speaks up, leaning into his ear. "All you have to do is eat one clove of garlic. Without spitting it out, of course."
Mark stares at it with wide eyes. The smell was already invading his nostrils, making his head spin. But if he wants to be their friend, he supposes he could eat it. It shouldn't be that bad, right? "Okay… Okay. I'll eat it. Um- Give it to me. Or feed it, since you guys are…"
He couldn't even finish before Nyx shoves it into his mouth. If the smell was bad, the taste was awful. Mark's tongue burned and his teeth hurt. He chews on it slowly, fighting the urge to spit it out. The pungent taste attacks his taste buds, but he pushes on.
He gulps the garlic down, immediately gagging. His throat burned, it felt like someone was tearing it with claws. But he resists, determined to show that he's strong enough to join them. If this is what it takes, then so be it! Mark keeps it down with all his might. The other two vampires slowly let go of him, observing.
"I can't believe he actually did it."
"Really? He seemed like the guy who doesn't give up easily to me."
"Wow, you have sooo little faith in him."
Mark stands up straight, swallowing down the last bits. He shudders, he could feel the sensation on his tongue. "Ugh… I can still smell it.." He shakes his head like it could get rid of the spiciness. "Well, I did it. So… Am I a part of your group now?" There was uncertainty in his voice, he only hopes the others would ignore it.
The three vampires look at each other, having some sort of silent conversation between themselves that Mark doesn't understand. They look back at him, and Vlad speaks up, reaching out his hand, "Welcome to the Nocturnals, Mark."
With sparkling eyes, he takes it. Vlad's handshake was firm but quick. He retracts his hand. "Anyway, I suppose it is time to start the hangout."
Oh man, this was exciting! His first time spending time with other vampires! Mark was so ecstatic, he tries to stop himself from bouncing in place. "So, what will we do? Play card games? Truth or dare? I have multiple ideas we can try out!" It was true. He had many ideas for games. So what if he's not a kid anymore? Sue him. He can have fun a little bit of fun as a treat.
But the rest of the group looked at him with judging eyes. Mark shrinks into himself. Did he say something wrong? "…Or we can do what you guys want! No biggie!" He adds, hoping it will get them to stop staring at him like that.
"Excuse me? Card games? Truth or dare? What are we, 5?" Kane scowls. "Look, Mark, we don't do that."
Mark's ears fell. "…What do you mean?"
"Damn, you have lots to learn." Nyx laughed and opened the window. "What we do, is get out to the city."
"What? Like, at night? Without permission!? Isn't that dangerous?"
Vlad slaps him on the back. "So what? Come on, live a little. Don't you wanna hang out with us?"
The hesitation was clear. On one hand, break the rules would land all of them in so much trouble, and Mark really didn't want that to happen. However, on the other hand, he can't just refuse them after doing their trial ritual or whatever the hell it was. He nearly burned his tongue off. And also, he guesses they're right. He does need to let go a little. Maybe what Mark needs is a little push? Who knows, maybe he'll have fun after all.
"So?" He snaps his head back up at the voice of Vlad. They look at him expectantly, their eyes boring holes into Mark. He gulps.
Mark breathes in and out. Alright. This is fine. "…Yeah. Yeah, let's go!"
They leave behind an empty room.