Before Jasaeng-sshi’s Masquerade

 

            Do you know how hard it is to find a personal niche, a place to fit in, in a high school society? How much harder would it be if you weren't normal, you know? I'm not talking about the she-looks-weird different. I'm more of the she's-not-human abnormal. I longed for companionship, but it was too risky making friends at the boarding school I attended. I did have a roommate at the beginning of the term, but I unintentionally drove her off, what with my sneaking out late at nights, yelling in my sleep, and just generally being a nocturnal annoyance.

            Just for the record, I only snuck out when it was absolutely necessary. As for yelling in my sleep, it only happened the night afterwards because my body would still be adjusting to the copious amounts of blood I'd ingested while out.

            So... yes, I am a vampire, and a young one at that - bitten only four years ago. Technically, I'm supposed to be living on a mountain far away, hunting deer and other big animals. But it got lonely up there, so I decided to curb my thirst and live among humans again. My father's sister knew of my "special" circumstances, but she refused to acknowledge it. I knew she was afraid I'd put her family in danger, though her daughter and I were near the same age.

            Honestly, I thought I'd be behind in my studies when I got back, but it wasn't too hard to catch up. During my four-year isolation, my auntie occasionally checked on me - probably to see if I was still alive. The crazy thing is, she'd drop off books and other recreational reading material. I think those books are what kept me sane during my prison sentence. It gets lonely when the only voice in your head is your own.

             Thanks to her, I surpassed most of the people in my English class, but I was still a little over a year behind in math. One of the advantages of being bitten is that it virtually eliminates your need to sleep. I'd work late into the night to catch up, the rain beating evenly against my window.

            The skies were gray and overcast most of the time, but I didn't mind. The weather matched the school's mood. There were times when I missed the sun, but I think it would've hid its face at the sight of our school, perched on a lonely hill in the middle of a vast space full of nothing.

            Today was one of those rare sunny days, so I revisited my favorite haunt, a moss-covered concrete pedestal smack-dab in the middle of the school courtyard. Two statues stood there like sentinels, replicas of the school's founding sisters.

            And it's there that I'm sitting, meditating on my past and trying to make sense of my life. The statue's skirts provided enough shade so that I could sit and meditate without feeling uncomfortable from exposure to the sun. Other students had the same idea as I did, and they fairly swarmed the courtyard trying to soak up as much of the sun's rays as possible. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the skirt of the statue named Ms. Caroline Pearce, who looked to be the kinder of the two.

            "Ms. Caroline Pearce, why am I forever alone?"

            "Who's Ms. Caroline Pearce?"

            "Aah!" I was off the pedestal before I realized it, adrenaline surging through my veins. I don't know why I was so jumpy. Probably because I didn't hear her approach from behind, which rarely ever happens. Due to my genetic upgrade, my hearing was impeccable, sharpened beyond normal standards. In reality, she should've never been able to sneak up on me like that. I would've heard her even if she was tiptoeing in a stampede of students rushing to get to class.

            "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. You want some coffee?" She held out one of those to-go cups that usually come out of coffee stores. Steam rose from the opening in the lid.

            "Thanks." I accepted the coffee as a kind of peace offering, though I'm not a coffee person. I jumped back on the pedestal and patted the place next to me, indicating that the girl should sit there. Though she was short, she had no problem getting up there by herself; the top of her head stopped just below my chin. I covertly sized her up, still wary of her. She didn't look scary, though an instinctual nudge told me that she might've been a little bit like me in the abnormal department.

            "I'm Jasmine. Annyeong."

            "Um... hello. I'm Rosetrina."

            "I know you're a vampire." Right to the point. "I'm one, too." Now that's something I didn't expect.

            "'Scuse me?"

            "You and I are alike. We're blood-drinkers."

            I sat in silent meditation, mulling over her abrupt announcement. Should I deny it? Would it be wiser to just acknowledge it? I'd become resigned to what I'd become, but I'd never really accepted my current existence. I still remembered what it felt like to be human. In many ways, I still was, but more monstrous than anything else. Thankfully, she let me mentally assess the situation for a few minutes before responding.

            "So... I guess the obvious question would be 'how'd you find out?'"

            "Well, you showed some obvious signs. We kinda figured out who you're crushing on." She flushed at this admission. I think I flushed, too. Do I make a fool of myself when I'm around the guy?

            "Y-y-your eyes change color when you look at him. The same thing happens to us when we're around the guys we like."

            "We? There's more?"

            "Yep." She seemed relieved that I'd changed the subject. I'd almost lost my temper there, and who knows what would've happened then. The only thing that had seemed more important than that little secret was the fact that there were more out there like me. I should've realized it earlier because I was bitten by a vampire. I never thought there was a whole society out there that the world didn't know about and I was one of them only because I drank blood.

            "We've been watching you to see if you're safe to have around the school. We could tell you were still young. Come on." She jumped off the pedestal, not spilling a drop of her coffee.

            "Where are you taking me?"

            "To meet the others."

            Without hesitation, I jumped off the pedestal and followed her back to the dorm house. I perked up when I saw that we lived in the same house, and then shook my head in amazement at my dull senses when she turned down my hallway. We passed my room and entered another room a couple doors down.

            Three girls occupied the room, but there was only one bed, so I guessed they were just using it as a sort of meetingplace. One was sprawled across the bed on her stomach, reading a fashion magazine, another sat in a swivel chair listening to her iPod, and the last was writing in a green notebook, which she stuffed under a pillow when I walked in.

            They all looked up when I came in, and I realized that they had the same aura as Jasmine did. With all of us vampires packed into one room, the atmostphere was almost overbearing. I wonder how they could stand being around each other. Introductions were made all around, but I could tell the other girls were still wary of me.

            "So... who's your leader?"

            "We don't have one yet."

            "Sajangnim," the girl with the green notebook, Marie, interrupted. It took me a minute to realize she was addressing me. "Can you help me with this math problem?" She pulled a textbook out of the bag lying at her feet.

            "What's Sajangnim?"

            "Gangster boss. You look like one."