What Aurox didn’t understand was how he could possibly host a human boy’s soul.

Where was this Heath?

Aurox had tried to reach him. Tried to talk to him. He never received any answer. Yes, once in a while he had odd dreams where he was fishing or playing sports. Or kissing Zoey.

No, that dream wasn’t from something within him. He dreamed of kissing Zoey because he wanted to kiss Zoey. She was beautiful. She was powerful. She had believed him to be more than a vessel of evil before he believed it himself.

Aurox mentally shook himself. It mattered little what Zoey was because of what she was not. She was not interested in him because the terrible truth was that sharing the soul of her human love was not enough to make Zoey forget how Aurox had been created. He had come into being through the death of her mother.

He couldn’t forgive himself for that. How could Zoey?

But I didn’t murder her mother! Aurox’s mind cried.

Had her mother not died, I would not exist! His conscience reminded him.

Not my choice! Not my fault!

Yet, still, I am held responsible for the death!

Because I am a product of that death!

Mentally exhausted by the internal debate that never changed—never could be won—Aurox did the only thing that he knew would silence the struggle within him. Unnoticed by anyone, Aurox made his way to the stone wall that encased the grounds of the House of Night. It stood twelve feet tall and two feet wide. With preternatural strength, Aurox leaped to the top of the wall, dropping quietly over the outer side. The wall was exactly 6,823 feet long. Aurox knew this not because he had looked up its length in the school’s registry. He knew it because he had covered each of those feet, shadowing the great wall, running, running, running, around and around the school grounds in the darkness outside the wall, until all he knew was the struggle for breath, the pounding of his heart, the burning of his body, and the war within his mind finally ceased.

So Aurox ran.

There were lights hung high on iron arms that jutted in regular intervals from the wall. Those lights were the only electric spotlights the House of Night owned, and they were aimed outward, effectively blinding any humans who might attempt to peer into the gaslit, shadowy school grounds. Those spotlights also created the shadow at the base of the wall in which Aurox ran, unseen, more swiftly than any human, any vampyre, could ever run.

The night before, after the fledgling and the human had died, it had taken ten laps around the school for Aurox’s mind to quiet. He thought tonight it might take several more.

He breathed deeply, steadily, pumping his arms and driving his body unmercifully.

Aurox’s left shoulder skimmed the stone as he followed the first curve around the northwestern part of the school.

He didn’t see the metal barrel. He didn’t see the humans. He did collide with both humans and metal and fall, end over end, rolling several feet before he could stop himself.

“Fuck! Vampyre!” a male voice yelled.

“We didn’t see anything!” another male cried.

Dazed, Aurox stood, turned, and faced the danger. Already he was reaching out for the fear that was wafting from the two males, readying himself to draw the emotion to him, to fuel his change into a creature that would battle them—that would protect the House of Night.

Two teenage males had scrambled away from Aurox. They were holding red plastic cups that had had been full of liquid before Aurox had slammed into them. Together they had grabbed the little metal barrel and were trying to drag it away with them as they backed away from him.

“Hey, that’s not a damn vampyre,” one of the boys said.

The other squinted at Aurox, staring at his unmarked forehead. “Damn, you’re right, Zack.”

They stopped dragging the barrel. “Shit, man, you made us spill our beer. You almost made us run off and leave the keg.”

“Yeah, that’s not okay,” the other boy said, shaking his head and wiping at the liquid that had spilled down the front of his shirt. Then he paused. “Hang on—he was runnin’. Is a vamp chasing you?”

“Chasing me? No,” Aurox said.

“Then why the hell were you runnin’ like that?”

“Because I wanted to,” Aurox answered truthfully.

“Dude, next time look where you run.”

Completely confused Aurox said, “What are you doing here?”

“Shit, man, same thing you are. Trying to get a look at some vampyre pussy.”

“Vampyre pussy?”

The first boy sighed. “Look, we ain’t showin’ you unless you can keep your mouth shut.”

“Vampyre pussy,” Aurox repeated, not sure whether to crack their skulls together or laugh.

“Just show him, Jason. It’s not like he’s one of them. And if he tells anyone it’ll fuck this up for him, too.”

Jason shrugged. “Okay, but don’t say shit.”

“I won’t say shit,” Aurox said.

“Right. Check this out.” Gesturing, Jason had Aurox follow him to the wall. He stopped and pointed at the metal barrel. “Bring the keg. It’s too high up to see without it.”

Aurox lifted the metal barrel and took it to Jason at the wall.

“Damn, man, you’re strong. Fucking keg weighs a ton,” Jason said appreciatively, rolling it so that it was positioned against the stone wall. Then, carefully, he stood on it, balancing by finding finger holds in the stones. “Right here. You can see in.” The boy pressed his face against the wall, his eyes disappearing as he peered. “It’s damn dark in there, but sometimes, usually about now, you can see vamps. And it don’t matter how cold it is—they don’t wear much. I’ve seen some serious vampyre leg and tit.” He hopped down. “Check it out.”

Feeling surreal, Aurox followed Jason’s lead. He balanced easily on the metal barrel and there, at eye level, was a fist-sized hole in the school’s wall. Through it Aurox could see the sidewalk that stretched between the girls’ and boys’ dormitories. As he watched, two female fledglings came into view. Their voices carried to him, but the words were lost in the night. He could see them, though he didn’t recognize the two girls. With a little jolt of surprise he realized they were wearing skirts that showed their legs and little tops that stretched tightly over their breasts.

Aurox got off the barrel and faced the two boys.

“Did you see any of them?” Zack asked, eyes bright with excitement.

“No,” Aurox said.

“Well, shit. There’s been all sorts of action going on in there tonight, but we haven’t hardly been able to see nothing,” Jason said. “So, want a beer? We got another cup.”

Not sure what else to do, Aurox nodded.

“I’m Jason, and this is my cousin Zack,” Jason said, opening a spout on the keg, and then handing him the full cup.

“To hot chicks!” Zack said, as he and Jason lifted their cups. Both boys looked at him expectantly.

“Yes!” Aurox tried to sound normal and enthusiastic. When the two boys upended their cups and gulped down the liquid, he followed suit and took a long drink from the plastic cup. The beer was cold and a little bitter, but he liked it. He liked it a lot.

“Drink up,” Jason said. “We have a shitload of beer. The other guys who were supposed to meet us here turned out to be dickless no-shows.”

“Hey, all the more for us!” Zack said.

Aurox drank with them, thinking that there was something very relaxing in just standing there with the two boys, and not having them look at him like he was a freak.

Aurox took another long drink, finishing the cup. He wiped the foam from his mouth with the back of his hand, and then he heard himself blurting, “I’m Heath. Do you guys come here often?”

Jason refilled all of their cups, then the two boys sat on the grass, their backs against the wall. Aurox sat across from them.

“Nah, we just found this place a few nights ago.”