"What did I miss?"

Belmont strolled over to Dimitri and Lucian, who pulled out an ornate pocket watch the colour of his eyes.

"She's taking a long time." Lucian frowned.

Belmont glanced around.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Roman will be here any minute." He said.

"Very funny."

"Which building did she walk into?" Dimitri asked. The boy's eyes narrowed at the length of the street.

"She's just over the-" Lucian paused, his flask in hand.

"Shit."

~
The wood creaked in pain, the door significantly harder to open than it looked. Wind chimes signalled your entrance, which you found odd given that you'd only seen wind chimes outside, where there was, you know, wind.

Ignoring that, you drew your attention to the rest of the building, which was even more bizarre on the inside.

Bottles of every shape lined the walls, cabinets and displays; tall, short, thick, curvy, translucent, opaque, beautiful, ugly, wait- that's a bong- square, round, big and small. Bottles with cork, labeled with parchment, flasks tied extravagantly with ribbon, and bottles that could be mistaken for ink, with the empty eyes of an ominous skull staring back.

A dark oak desk sat against the wall with an antique register, illuminated by floating lanterns and displays of what seemed to be rather foul looking bugs.

But most intriguing of all was the tree in the center. Its thick roots made their home in the floorboards, with proud branches reaching past the upper level of the store. The leaves were rich and green, hiding what seemed to resemble white apples, and a head of unruly dark hair.

"Hello!" The owner of the head greeted. The branches rustled, a few leaves swaying to the ground as the stranger adjusted the ladder. "Just a sec-"

You watched as the boy cautiously descended the steps, a basket of the fruit under his arm.

His eyes seemed to smile at you from under his hair- both the same shade of creamless coffee. His black frames idly peeked out from over his dress shirt pocket.

"Would you like one?" He asked, holding out the basket.

The fruit looked a bit smaller up close. You meant to politely decline, but instead you asked, "What are they?"

"You've never had a snow plum before?" He asked, disbelief in his voice.

You shook your head.

The boy took a plum, wiped it on his shirt, and held it out, beckoning you to take it.

"They're really good." He assured you. Hesitantly you took the snow plum, turning it over and studying the smooth white surface.

"I haven't seen you in here before, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you've never seen a snow plum before." He said apologetically.

Something about him struck you as familiar.

"It's just... been a while since a total newbie was in here. In fact, I think I was the last one."

"What is this place?" You asked.

He took a few steps back and extended his arms proudly.

"Welcome to Jack O' Lantern's."

You looked around.

"I don't see any jack o' lanterns anywhere."

"He's on a bit of a hiatus at the moment." The boy explained. "But if there's anything I can do for you..."

Any need of a washroom dispersed when you stepped through the door and saw where you were. You didn't know if you wanted to ask this boy everything or run around looking at everything yourself. You decided the former.

"What is all this... stuff?"

"Oh, my bad." The boy chuckled. "I should have figured from your Arcadia uniform that you just wandered in." He set the basket down on the desk.

"I don't work here- I mean, I help out and buy a lot of things here myself." He explained. "But basically, anything you need; incantation-wise, potion-wise, book-wise, or defence-wise... is here."

"Wow."

"Yeah, so let me know if you ever need anything. Jack's doesn't have any regular hours, except for the bar which is downstairs. Although it's a bit early to start drinking."

Not for all of us, you thought.

"Thanks, but I should probably get going." You said.

"It was really nice meeting you...?"

"Y/n." You told him, shaking his hand.

"Y/n... come back any time." He smiled.

The chimes sang as the door opened once again and you made your way down the steps, putting the fruit in your bag.

"Try the plum!" He cried. "It's good, I promise!"

The girl waved as the boy closed the door, turning back to his business. She was cute.

~
"Watch where you're going." Roman growled.

You were surprised you didn't manage to get the guy's name, and ended up running into the night student as a result.

"Sorry..." you apologized.

"Wait," he paused. The boy advanced on you. "Why aren't you with the others?"

"Why aren't you?"

"You're in no position to ask-"

"Easy Roman." Lucian said.

Him along with the other two boys made their way over to you, just from the other side of the street.

"Y/n, you can't run off like that." Dimitri said.

"Yeah, we were worried." Bel said a bit angrily.

"I was just over there." You defended yourself.

"Okay whatever, we don't have time for this." Argued Roman. "Are we going to get this over with or what?"

"Let's go."

The five of you walked together to the far end of town. You glanced behind at the shop, wishing you had stayed longer.

Along the way, you brought up the questions you hoped would be answered after this was all through. Finally, you reached the outskirts of the woods on the opposite side.

"So what are your powers?" You asked.

"If you're lucky you won't find out." Roman muttered.

Lucian whacked him sharply in the chest- the boy clutching it in pain, but not falling to the ground.

Instead, you watched as Roman's eyes grew livid with fury, as Dimitri pulled you behind him and fire unlike anything you'd seen erupted from the boy's hand- Lucian quickly dodging the attack.

Flame seared through the grass, starting to greedily devour it. Bel began stepping on it haphazardly.

"Jeez, we're in a forest." He said.

"Happy?" Roman glared at you.

You stepped a bit closer to Dimitri.

"Would you have put on such an elegant display otherwise?" Lucian asked.

"We're not here to fight." Dimitri said without expression. "Stop acting like children."

"How old are you?" You frowned.

Lucian gestured for everyone to continue walking into the forest.

"I'm almost 160." Lucian said a bit hesitantly. Your eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"What?!" You exclaimed. A few birds fled from  nearby branches.

"It's not that old for us. It's different." He said, turning back with troubled eyes. "And you should know that I can read minds."

"You can WHAT?" You exclaimed even louder, causing a fox nearby to scurry up a tree.

"Are you trying to scare all the wildlife away?" Bel said, amusement adorning his features.

"Relax, I don't do it intentionally- at least not too much." He sighed. "And even if I wanted to, my powers just aren't that strong. Sometimes if the person's thoughts are really strong... but its complex."

"Are you reading my mind right now?" You asked.

"I'm thinking of a number from one to ten..." Belmont said playfully.

"No."

"Good. Please don't." You said.

"Believe me, I don't try to. It's just natural at this point." He said. "Drinking makes it worse."

"Why do you drink if it makes- oh..." You drifted off, looking down. "Sorry."

"It's my choice." He said, turning his golden eyes to yours. "We might not choose what life gives us, but we can choose what we do about it."

"I'm 89 years young." Bel winked at you. "So if you want a sugar daddy..."

"Oh my god."

"Sorry!" He giggled.

"This place is fine." Roman said. "Anymore walking and we'll end up in Narnia."

You thought of asking the boys about the shop you wandered into. Were there more places like it? You really hoped so.

Dimitri gestured to a tree stump. It was more comfy than it looked. Surrounding you were beautiful trees, tall- so tall they were touching the very clouds, whilst white flowers peeked out to say hello amongst the ferns.

"I can see thoughts too." Bel said, sitting on the thick log next to you. "Not really the same way as Lucy Lu... oh and of course, I'm clairvoyant... can see the future."

At that, Bel positively beamed at you.

"Really?" You asked in amazement.

"He's quite good at it." Dimitri nodded.

"There are other things I can do, even if I'm not perfect at them." He continued. "Things to do with the mind... memories, dreams..."

"I don't suppose you know my future..." You said.

"Your future..." Bel pondered aloud, "is a happy one."

You raised an eyebrow, but he just shrugged coyly.

"Make of it what you will."

"What about you Dimitri?" You asked, shifting your attention to the most dominant night student.

It seemed all eyes were on him as you asked this.

"I'm the oldest, nearly 170 years old." He said softly. "I was one of the first students here and still am. My family held a very reputable status as pure blood... as for strengths, I don't have any particular abilities."

You thought about this. You remembered the almanac and how it said that pure bloods usually had the strongest abilities and most unique gifts. But maybe Dimitri really didn't.

"So you're... like a regular vampire?" You awkwardly phrased.

Your attention shifted to Roman and his laughter.

"Not quite." Dimitri said. "I'm just not one to show off."

"That's why we're here aren't we?" Bel said with a suggestive look in his green eyes.

"She already knows we're fast." Said Lucian.

"How strong are you?" You asked, your eyes shifting from each boy.

You almost brought up how you read that the older a vampire is, the stronger they are, but then you remembered it was from Roman's room that you took the almanac in the first place.

The Creatures Almanac... that must have been what Roman was looking for with Lucian in the library.

Shit. Could Lucian read your mind right now? You glanced over at him to find his attention on Dimitri.

"We're all pretty strong." Bel said. The others nodded. Lucian took a swig from his flask, wiping the regret from his jaw.

Dimitri walked over to the log where Bel was sitting. The blonde stood up and stepped back.

It was a solid log; long and thicker than your waist. Without any noticeable effort, Dimitri picked it up in both hands, holding it out in front of him. Then, his crimson eyes narrowing intently, he snapped the log in two- tossing the utterly broken pieces to the side where they landed with heavy thuds on the forest floor.

Your mouth agape, you stared slowly from the split log, to Dimitri.

"So much for not being a show off." Said Roman, crossing his arms.

"Come here y/n, you want to see if I can do that to you?" Bel chirped.

"NO." You screeched.

The boys laughed, even Roman chuckled.

Suddenly, a flame appeared over the top of his palm; moving, alive, and beautiful.

"I can create and manipulate fire." He muttered as if giving a middle school presentation.

Suddenly, the dancing flames took shape- a beak and wings and suddenly, it was a small bird. The embers rained down as he flapped his wings, then soared off into the setting sky.

"That was incredible." You told him sincerely.

He shrugged.

"It's nothing compared to what Avery can do."

Avery- you had almost forgotten.

"Tell me about Avery." You said eagerly as the group began walking through the woods once again.

"We probably should have mentioned this first..." Bel said with a worried chuckle.

"Avery can shapeshift." Lucian answered.

"And he's really good at it." Said Roman, walking closer to the group this time. "He can really almost impersonate anyone, or- if that's not enough- he can create his own hallucinations or mess with your head... he likes to make us all hear his voice in the dorm and nobody knows where the fuck he is."

"He impersonated my friend the first week." You said, realizing. "He must have. I ran into him after I thought I saw my friend."

"That sounds like Avery." Dimitri said carefully.

"What about... where he's from? How did he become a vampire?" You asked.

"Those are questions for when get back... and even then," Dimitri paused. "You have to keep in mind how old all of us are... how much we've seen. It's personal, y/n."

"I understand that." You said.

The fallen leaves crunched beneath your feet as you made your way slowly back to town. When you started to get hungry, you realized there was a whole other issue you hadn't tackled.

"So... what do you guys eat?" You said light heartedly.

"I imagine you know more than you think about this." Dimitri looked down at you. "All of us need blood to sustain life. That's the way it is."

"It depends a lot on the person, too." Bel said, his tone serious. "And their age."

"Younger vampires struggle more, much more," began Lucian. A pain crossed his eyes. "But it never goes away."

"Some of us keep food in places we know no one else will find it... Cadere doesn't drink from humans." Explained Bel.

"Cadere- how old is he? What can he do?" You asked. "I have so many questions."

"He's very, very old. He was a vampire long before I was even born." Said Dimitri. "He founded the school with Lady Petrikov."

"And he is really good at disappearing into fog." Bel said, apparently very impressed. You didn't realize disappearing into fog was considered a skill.

"Most of us still require sustenance from humans," Dimitri said darkly. "But nobody should do it on Arcadia grounds."

Had you shifted your gaze you would have seen Lucian's critical eyes on Belmont.

"So must of us travel further away, to nearby towns." Bel said. "Nobody has to get hurt."

Thinking of Sophia, you felt that wasn't exactly working. Regardless, you made your way back to Delwood and started walking down the streets till you could get back to the other neck of the woods, where presumably Bel would be your chariot again.

You greatly enjoyed the colourful buildings. As you walked and talked more of technicalities, conspiracies involving Avery, and what would happen once you got back, you started to think things between you and the others might perhaps go back to normal.

"We know this is a lot to take in at once," said Dimitri. "I know how difficult this must be."

"But already we feel much better trusting you." Reassured Lucian.

"Just don't run away like that again!" Said Bel.

"I didn't go anywhere!" You said defensively. "Look, right down this street- that's where I went looking for a washroom."

As you made your way up the street, you pointed out the bizarre building with the dark roof, mossy stone and turquoise door.

"See?" You told them. "I don't remember poor sight being part of vampire folklore."

Roman and Bel snickered but the other two looked confused.

"You went looking for a washroom in that creepy alleyway?" Lucian raised an eyebrow. "I would have seen you."

You wondered two things- just exactly what a vampire could constitute as 'creepy,' and secondly- what the hell Lucian was talking about.

"What alleyway?" You asked.

"That alleyway," Lucian pointed at Jack O' Lanterns. "Unless I'm already drunk and seeing things."

Maybe I'm the one seeing things... you thought to yourself.

"No... I didn't mean the alleyway." You said slowly. " I meant... the furniture store next to it."

"I thought so." Laughed Bel. Lucian didn't seem convinced but couldn't argue either way.

Your eyes stayed fixated on the shop you were certain you had been in. And had you turned around at that moment you might've missed it- but you waited long enough to see four white paws scuttle along the roof of the store, before a long orange tail disappeared through the open window.

"Come on, we don't have all day." Roman said, bringing your attention back.

"After tomorrow things will be back to normal..." Lucian repeated the words that had been in your head and heart all day.

You were beginning to question what was real and what wasn't. As you made your way back to the end of town, you couldn't help but look back at that store. Instead, the conversation transitioned into background, as your hand brushed against your bag and you felt the curve of the snow plum.

~
Fanfunctional here, thanks so much for reading!! It means the world, as do your comments, favourites and follows mAKE SURE TO SMASH THE LIKE BUTTON (Ironically of course). What do you make of all these boys? What the heck is going on?! I wish I knew.)
I'll leave you with that, don't forget to stay rad, I love you, your eyebrows look good, thanks again, goodnight it's 1:30am,
~Your number one Fan <3

[omg sorry, I finished this last night and I must be psychic because the internet DID shut off right when I finished.]