Delphina

I walked down Luna Academy’s hallway. It had been three months since I’d even step foot in the building. I put the hood to my sweater over my head and stared down at the dark gray hallway floor.

“If it isn’t Delphina Hollowaite.” I heard a familiar male voice say from behind me.

Slowly I turned around. “ Mr. Blackburn.” I said plastering on a fake smile and cheerful sounding voice, although I really had hoped I wouldn’t be noticed.

“Welcome back to Luna.” He said smiling down at me.

“Good to be back, sir.” I said respectfully. “ It uh- wasn’t exactly exciting being in a basement for three months.”

“I can’t say I know what it’s like. But I can definitely promise that you’re safe now, within the corridors of the school.”

“Yeah. I feel safe.” I said not completely telling the truth. The truth was I was still kind of scared. Scared that, that rogue vampire that had killed my mother a few months ago and forced me to go into hiding, in a basement for three months could be anywhere, or that he could have people from school watching me, just waiting for the right moment when he would strike.


“ Well I’ll let you be off. I know you have a lot of things to deal with, right now. Bless’th be, Ms. Hollowaite.”





“Blesse’th be.” I said in return.




I hated walking down the long hallway alone. True, I had my sweater hood on and my face couldn’t be seen, not completely anyway but what good was that in a school full of vaempyres?


Everything now to me looked off, the dark red walls seemed to have an evil glow to them, the flames on the lanterns looked as if they were dancing or celebrating my being scared. I hurried, walking fast, taking quicker steps to dorm number forty-two.



I looked at every door, they all looked the same as they had been before I left, but something about them seemed different. I found it weired that there weren’t vaempers, other wise known as student vaempyres scattered about in the halls or in the lounge, yelling and watching TV. Or playing video games. The hallway to the female dorms was completely deserted.


I opened the door of dorm forty-two and the smell of apples came rushing at me. That, smell, that I loved so much and reminded me of home. The smell of my best friend Mancie’s, never-ending supply of apple scented fabric softener and apple scented air freshener.


The minute I closed the door, I was tackled down. “ Delphina!” Mancie yelled in my ear. “ Oh my goodness, it’s been like what? Forever.”



I hugged her back. “ I know. I missed you so much.” I said.


She got up and held out her hand to me. “ Thanks.” I said grabbing it and letting her help me up.




“I can’t believe you were only gone for three months.” She said sitting down on her bed, which was covered now with lavender colored sheets. “ It feels like you been gone for a whole entire year.”


“Tell me about it.” I said sitting down on my side of the room, which was on the left side of hers. I looked down at my bed and it too had matching lavender sheets, to that of Mancie’s bed.


“I couldn’t just leave your bed bare.” She said noticing me, looking at the bed sheets. “It just made it feel like you weren’t ever gonna’ come back. Having your bed and your side of the room made, just reminded me that soon you’d return.”


“You’re the best.” I said lying atop my bed.


“No. You’re the best. Which is why it totally wreaked without you being here.”


“How could this place ever wreak?” I asked, laying on my belly now, my elbow leaning on the bed, my chin on my hand. “That’s like not even possible, it always smells good in here.”


“And that’s the way it’ll always be.” She said getting up from her bed. “So umm…how was it?” She asked hesitantly.


Suddenly I remembered it all, the reason I had left to begin with. I had forgotten it, since I’d walked into my dorm. Being with Mancie had that affect on me; she was my best friend, this ray of sunshine and when I was with her I couldn’t help but feel like some of that sunshine also radiated on me and a lot of the time all the troubles of the day would melt away, or at least subside for the time being.


“It was horrible.” I said honestly. “ I lived in a basement for three months, I never got to go anywhere else and the only face I saw constantly was Jason. Which let me tell you, can get a little tiring.”


“Aww… Delphi, that royally sucks. But hey, look on the bright side, your back and ya’ safe within school grounds, right?” She said suddenly realizing that she had brought my mood down and now trying to cheer me up.


“Yeah, Mr. Blackburn said the same. But I can’t help but feel like even here I’m not safe.” I said sighing.


“Look Delphi, if anything bad is gonna’ happen, well then I’m pretty sure, that your ultra cool psychic abilities will kick in and save the day.”


“That’s the problem. My ‘Ultra cool psychic abilities.’” I said mimicking her. “ Come unexpectedly and usually take me a while to figure out.”


“ Yeah but you do figure ‘em out eventually.”


“Well eventually didn’t give me much time, to figure out how to save my mother.” I said also getting up from my bed, suddenly feeling very tired and very vulnerable for some reason. “ Look, can we not talk about this? I’d rather go to the lounge and grab something to eat.”


“Your right.” She said opening the door.


“So what are ya’ in the mood for?” She asked me as we walked side by side.


“Do you even have to ask?” I said looking at her.


“Oh goddess Selene. Delphi it is suppertime. I hope you aren’t really gonna’ eat a chocolate pop tart.” She said giggling.


“I don’t care whether it’s supper or lunch…or snack time for that matter, I haven’t had a chocolate pop tart in three months and I don’t care what time of night it is I’m going to eat one.” I said also laughing.



We walked into the lounge and I was surprised to see it full with female vaempers. That was weired because when I had walked through the hallway earlier and looked into the lounge room there had been no one there. I saw Katherine a Vaemper who used to be in my Vaempyre history class and I walked over to her. “ Hey Katherine.” I said.


She turned around and for a second was surprised but then she hugged me and smiled. “ Delphina it’s been a while.” She said.


“It has.” I agreed.


“It’s good to see you.” She said. “ You look… well.” She was being careful with her words.


“I am.” I lied. “ Now.” Okay so it wasn’t a complete lie, I was a little better, better than I had been, but I still was afraid, I still felt like I was being watched everywhere I went, every step I took. “ Katherine where was everyone, about thirty minutes ago? I looked in here when I first arrived and there was no one in here.”


“Oh. Yeah well there was a meeting for most of the Vaempers, just letting us know that uh-you returned and that we’d have to be umm-careful when leaving school grounds and stuff like that.” She said nervously.


“Oh. Well-umm, it was nice seeing you.” I said walking away. There was more to that meeting than just saying I’d returned, they probably mentioned that certain things shouldn’t be said to me or around me, it made me upset, that my business everyone knew.


I walked over to a cabinet and took the box of chocolate pop tarts off a shelf.


“You’re not gonna’ take just one?” Mancie asked from behind me.


“Nope.” I said popping the “p”. “ Listen I’m heading back to the dorm. I’ll see you a little later.” I said and I walked away.


There were no footsteps behind me, Mancie knew when I needed time alone and she would give that to me, no question asked.


I was so close to my dorm, three doors away in fact, when something cold touched my shoulder. Nervously I turned around and a flood of emotions coursed through me. “Demetri.” I said.