Eve Boudoir: Headmistress and Born Vampire
"Sir, I understand the situation, but we will take care of this, I assure you," Eve Boudoir said, speaking to Hael as if he were the boss of her.
Lyssa had started the conversation, but Ms. Boudoir hadn't glanced at Lyssa once. Ginger had been graced with a curious once over, but it was Hael whom claimed the headmistress's attention. The mousy brown hair didn't match the woman's predator-like black eyes shining beneath horn rimmed glasses that perched on the bridge of her nose, and her eyes didn't match her perfect peach colored skin.
This woman was a walking contradiction. Even her voice, which Ginger expected to be sharp and booming once she'd caught a glimpse of the headmistress's eyes, was soft and melodic, like softcore heavy metal personified. Almost with a hypnotic quality that made Ginger decide she never wanted to be alone with Eve Boudoir. Ever.
"Eve, how did she even get in without a blood sample and background check?" Lyssa poised the question with an authority Ginger suspected Lyssa didn't have.
Eve, as Lyssa had called her, turned her attention from Hael and a deep violet glowed like a tiny star in the black where her pupil should've been. Ginger's eyes widened and she almost swallowed her tongue as the atmosphere seemed to thicken with disdain.
"Young lady, you know the rules," Eve said rather simply. Lyssa mumbled an apology and then bowed her head in submission.
Ginger didn't like Lyssa on the principle that she was a dog, but she was curious about these rules, and Ginger felt badly for her because it seemed like these rules could stifle a rebellious girl. No one deserved to be stifled.
"So," Ginger interrupted, stuffing her hands casually in her side pockets. "Are you a witch?"
Eve snorted looking slightly peeved that she couldn't shower Hael with more admiration. "What gave you that ridiculous idea?"
"Well, in the movie The Witches their eyes turn violet," Ginger said.
Eve didn't acknowledge her again, or give her an answer, as she focused on Hael once more. Ginger couldn't place what type of creature she was. Clearly, she'd underestimated her own abilities to identify a Sup.
"A special request from one of our benefactors... she was to be allowed in, no matter what," Eve supplied calmly.
Ginger blinked. "Um, what?"
A special request? How? She didn't know anyone rich enough to be a benefactor to a school like this. No matter how unappealing it was to her, she understood materialistic things, and this school screamed it.
"Our pack is a huge benefactor too, but we don't get the special treatment of who gets accepted here," Lyssa snapped, folding her arms across her ample chest.
"Actually Ms. Hart, you do. Get special treatment that is. The big rooms, no curfew, the hunting grounds you have access to the entire month, where as others do not. You aren't the only benefactors either, the Riordan family, for starters," Eve spoke firmly. "His majesty invests double what your Alpha does."
Lyssa hissed. "'His majesty' had better considering how much of an ass his son is."
Eve's eyes melted into violet again. "You will not speak of Prince Kerr so calously."
"So Kerr's family requested her? She'll work for them?" Hael continued to interrogate. "We can't have an unowned human around the school."
"That doesn't matter and no it was not Mr. Riordan's family. This particular benefactor wishes to remain anonymous, but provided an offer we couldn't refuse. More importantly, she won't go unowned for long; however, she will get the unique opportunity to make her own choice on who she serves."
"She gets to choose?" Lyssa said with a high pitched shriek. "So what, the hierarchy doesn't apply to her? Are you saying she could sit with Kerr if she wanted to? That's absurd! We can't even sit with him and Ethan's a soon-to-be Alpha," Lyssa argued. "He's a prince and you'd let a commoner-"
Eve raised an eyebrow knowingly. "I wasn't aware you thought of Kerr that way."
Lyssa scoffed and tossed her pretty hair behind her perfect neck. "I don't, in fact I seriously dislike him, but he is royalty after all, though you wouldn't know it by looking at him," she added with such disgust that even Hael had to give her a verbal reprimand.
"Lyssa stop," Hael said, rubbing his forehead like he was trying to rid himself of a migraine. He sighed heavily and lifted his gaze to Ginger. "We'll help you. Get you in with the best, so this'll be an easy ride, okay?" He turned his attention back to Eve. "She may get to choose, but both parties have to agree. That's what I'll help with. You know how we can be towards humans sometimes."
Lyssa and Eve nodded.
"I'll talk with Quinn too," Lyssa said suddenly and Ginger was surprised by the pained expression that crossed Hael's face.
Hael sighed heavily. "I wonder where he is right now," he said pausing to raise an eyebrow in Lyssa's direction. "How would he take the fact that you smell like me? Take a shower before meeting him."
The color in Lyssa's face drained and this time her averting gaze had nothing to do with submission. There was definitely drama there, not that Ginger cared. She was here to exterminate, but all the same Ginger found herself rather curious about the exchange.
So Hael wasn't Lyssa's boyfriend. Ginger gritted her teeth and ignored the glimmer of hope she felt at the thought. She mentally shrugged and decided then that these two definitely should be high on her hit list.
If only for her own sake.
"Hael, Lyssa, I'm sure you have things to take care of, showering for example. I will handle this for now," Eve said calmly as she walked--more like floated--towards them and escorted them to the door.
It didn't click with Ginger that she was alone with Eve until the door quietly clicked shut. Eve 'floated back behind her desk, picked up a folder and turned her still slightly purple tinged eyes towards her.
"Ginger Bareilles?" Eve asked, her brow furrowing. "Hmm, for some reason I thought your last name was Bane, my mistake."
"You hope I'm Ginger Bareilles," Ginger snickered, ignoring the comment Eve had made about her true last name. The pixyish adult in front of her looked down her nose at Ginger as her glasses slid. "Or else all that information you spewed about Alpha's and princes could get you into trouble. Also, no relation to the singer."
"If you were an unclaimed human," she said, her eyebrow lifting above her rimmed glasses in challenge.
"I am human." It sounded less convincing when Ginger said it out loud. She knew there was something off with her. The internet seemed to think it was puberty. In Ginger's experience, puberty made you ugly overnight, not pretty, but that was something she didn't care to think about.
Eve raised an eyebrow. "Really? You think so? Well," she said, pausing to walk around her desk once more and dropping the thick black folder against the surface. "The blood tests will tell, until then you will be treated as an unclaimed human. I am sorry for that, but I'm sure you understand how these things work. Have a seat, please. Feel free to take your jacket off."
Ginger tensed at the suggestion and resisted the urge to take a step back when Eve stopped directly in front of her, leaning against the edge of the desk. Instead, Ginger took a few steps forward, watching Eve fold her arms across her chest and glance on with a piqued interest one might give a cute puppy. When Ginger got to the offered chair, she sat at the edge, tip toes bouncing off the floor in anticipation of having to move quickly. The thing in front of her, pretending to be human, was anything but.
And it angered Ginger that she couldn't figure out what the woman was either. The dangerous vibes Eve was emitting weren't something she'd experienced before. Ginger sniffled and tilted her head to the side as her eyes focused on the headmistress's face. "What are you?"
"Your first class starts at three pm, dinner or rather your lunch is at seven, and your last class is at midnight," Eve prattled on, ignoring Ginger's question. She didn't even give Ginger the benefit of a reaction. "I am curious as to why you requested this particular schedule. Do vampires intrigue you?"
Ginger shrugged nonchalantly. "Just the born ones, the made ones I already know about." There was no point in pretending ignorance on the fact that she knew detailed information about the supernatural world, to do so would just be—well—ignorant.
Eve hooked an index finger behind her glasses, lowering them to the bridge of her nose as she regarded Ginger. Her black, violet tinted eyes darted across Ginger's face with renewed interest, pausing briefly at the side of her neck, before offering a small smile. "Are you a donator?"
Ginger felt her gut roll at the idea. Did she look like food? Okay well, to some she might, but that's why vampires were just morally wrong creatures. She'd have to make it abundantly clear to the vampires here that she would never donate. She would never let a blood sucker bite into her skin. Ever!
Her hands clamped down on the slim arm of the wooden chair as she took a calming breath before responding. "No," Ginger said.
Eve deflated at her answer. "That's a shame. We never have enough donators."
Ginger extracted her hands from the chair arms and rubbed her damp palms against her sides. "I-I'm just curious about the XP."
"XP?"
"Their allergy to the sun-you wouldn't happen to know why it's limited to only the born vampires would you?" she asked.
Eve considered the question for so long Ginger almost thought she wouldn't get an answer again. "If we knew, we'd fix it."
"We?" Ginger paused and decided then that she should have taken in her surroundings a little better when she'd entered the office. Windows were draped with heavy black curtains. Not even a little sunlight could peak through that mountainous fabric and the only light was three candelabras in three different locations. The office was lit well, so maybe that was why Ginger hadn't noticed before but it was clear that sunlight was a luxury not permitted here. "Are you a born vampire?"
Eve nodded. "I am, in fact."
Her first born vampire was an educated woman in charge of a supernatural school for basically the rich and famous. Ginger didn't know what to think. "You're my first," she said, mimicking her thoughts out loud.
Eve raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"I've never met a born vampire before."
Looking amused, she leaned forward and offered her hand, which seemed slightly out of character for the stoically brisk woman she'd been earlier. "You wanna shake my hand? I'll even give you an autograph," she said, her tone teasing.
Ginger shook her head, declining with a polite, fake smile. "Do all born vamps have purple eyes?"
Dropping her hand, Eve released a sigh, but seemed to be in an indulgent mood. "Of course not, some have blue, some have green."
"Are your glasses for show?"
"Actually, I do need them to read. Born vampires in a way are a lot like humans. We just have more special abilities. The fact that we can live as long as we choose also makes us slightly different."
Only slightly? Ginger resisted the urge to sneer. She couldn't afford to offend the Headmistress before she'd even gotten in, but she couldn't stay completely silent either. "Human's don't suck blood."
Ginger bit her lip as she heard the distaste in her own voice. She glanced up, wondering if Eve had heard it. She had.
"Actually, some humans do, but you aren't the only one who has an issue with the blood drinking."
Her offered words surprised Ginger. She cleared her throat and sat a little straighter in her chair. "I'm not much for blood in general, let alone someone drinking it," Ginger said. A lie that she hoped would save her in the future.
Eve nodded, her face showing sympathy and understanding. "Even some born vampires have a problem with it."
"I know why made vampires need blood, but what about born vampires? Why do they need it?" Ginger asked. She couldn't resist and she waited, hoping she hadn't pressed her luck.
Eve sighed. "A question I get frequently. Do you know, that had I drank more human blood when I was younger my vision would be 20/20 right now? I was one of those who couldn't stomach the biting of it when I was younger. I still can't and have to depend on donators. However, born vampires aren't required to drink blood to live. Obviously, there are benefits, which is why most born vampires drink blood. I am two hundred years old, wouldn't know it by looking at me of course. I imagine I look about thirty? A made vampire is frozen in time, a human shrivels and dies, but me and my kind? We get to choose so long as we have the right amount of human blood."
Ginger nodded and tried to hide her disbelief. She'd never been in contact with a vampire older than fifty. "So you could choose to die tomorrow?"
Eve nodded. "Yes. I can also choose how young I want to look. Have you ever heard the term 'shape shifter'? Born vampires are how it started, fairies helped embellish it when they decided to come into our world. The baffling thing is while we can heal and stop our aging we can't physically cure the allergy to the sun." A dreamy expression crossed her face and Ginger was reminded that maybe this woman wasn't as cold as she first though. "I want to feel the sun on my face without being in pain. Some of us can apply a special sunscreen and be okay, but most of us aren't strong enough for that. Usually only royalty are or those who don't have to rely on donaters." Eve blinked suddenly, looking as if she'd been caught doing something. "Now, enough, chatting let's get you into your dorm room."
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