An Arm and a Leg
Story: Can of Worms Author:BATT words:9989 Update time:2020-07-06 18:16:45
Okay, lemme just get this out of the closet right here. I'm just gonna fucking Trigger Warning this whole damn book, not only for it's immeasurable amount of suckery but because of the blatant forms of discrimination, homophobia, sad boy moments, and steamy (but not smutty) moments.
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There's a social system in high school. Each and every person fits into some sort of click or into some type of genetically sorted circle of idiots and assholes. It's nothing new; it's been that way since we were all kids. Parents teach their kids to look at others and see them as something other than a person. If you could call us that. I guess that is how it is. So, to benefit you, here's a general rundown of the whole spiel.
At the top of it all are Vampires. Pale skin, blood red eyes, platinum blond or ebony black hair - the whole deal. They have the money, the power, and it's almost guaranteed that at least 9 out of 10 students have a dad who owns some big shot company. Consequently, they also happened to be my least favorite people in this whole damn school. Why? Well, there are too many reasons.
Right below the Vamps, we have the Wulves; broad shoulders, brooding and dark eyes paired with the indisputable aura of power that seemed to pour off of them in waves. If it weren't for their generally aggressive personalities that earned them both respect and hate, they may have been at the top of the school hierarchy. A nice little crown sitting on top each and every pups head.
Next, we have demons. Now these were an interesting bunch. Pale gray skin, black eyes - or at least some variant of human eyes if they were lucky. These guys, well, let's say they got most of their power from looks and words. I never understood how people found the fact that they were kind of scary, attractive. Even humans seem to have a weird infatuation with them.
Of course afterwards, there are many more groups of odds and evens. Ghouls, humans, hell, sometimes even a rare spotting of a zombie, though they were mostly kept separate from the other students. Probably because of the smell of rotting flesh.
Ah, but how can I forget the most important group? The ones at the very bottom of this fucked up system. The half-bloods. And no, I'm not talking about those kids from the god-awful Percy Jackson books.
You see, half-bloods come in many different types. You got your classic human/whatever the fuck. . . fucked them, for lack of better wording, then you have your typical supernatural specie hybrids. Some are pretty mellow; Vamp-Wulf, Vam-Demon, so on and so forth. Me though? Were-Demon. Probably one of the most unlikely pairings considering there's been this sort of family feud style fight going on between the two species for the past century. Who's gonna win this time on, "Guess who can throw the biggest temper tantrum."
You'd think that at least one of the species would try to get me to side with them but no, they both are generally disgusted with me if I even happened to look in their direction. Can't say I'm surprised. Even sitting here at the lunch table, I can see the sneers being thrown at me from the corner of my peripheral vision.
Between the strong smell of some kids BO, potatoes, different brands of shampoo and the twangy scent of cologne, I was beginning to debate how effective it would be to skip lunch period from now on.
Across from me I hear a nasally voice, quiet yet loud enough to grab my attention through the buzzing conversations of the room.
"So, apparently Tina Belvort hooked up with the new kid at that party last week," Murphy said, his small frame leading precariously over the table, his light brown hair flopping in front of his face. He was Vamp-Human and you wouldn't even be able to tell he was a half-blood if it weren't for the ruby red eyes that peered out from beneath his curtain of messy brown hair.
"Why do we care," I asked as I popped cold fry in my mouth, my nose wrinkling up at the taste. "I mean, when was the last time Tina didn't hook up with some new kid?"
Murphy shook his head and handed me one of his fries. They were warmer. "No, you don't get it, this new kid was a ghoul." Oh. Well, that was some juicy gossip considering that Tina Belfort was probably one of the hottest vampires in the school to pretty much every kid that had working eyes - she also happened to be extremely against cross breeding. Funny how people change in the most unsuspecting ways.
"How many people know," I questioned, my elbows resting against the cool table as I leaned forward, much more interested in the information being given than I was seconds ago.
"Pretty much everyone," Murphy said, his thin, boney fingers thrumming melodically against the table. "They were caught getting it on in the back of the kids old Volks Wagon."
I stifled a laugh, "Classy."
Across the table from us a groan could be heard. "Do you guys not know how to talk about anything other than who had sex with who? I'm trying to eat." Eva, a Vamp-Wulf girl, sat across from them, playing with her food and most definitely not trying to eat. Apparently it was a part of some type of new diet she was trying. She called it the, "I don't eat food that the school pulled out of a DQ dumpster."
She was the type of person who thought people should keep their mouth shut about things that don't evolve them. A respectable notion, too bad no one else felt the same. Especially Murphy, the one kid that somehow managed to get all of the gossip directed straight to him. How a half-breed knew just about everything going on in the school, I have no clue.
She combed a hand through her almost white hair and tossed it behind her shoulder. Eva was a pretty girl, even if she was a half-blood. Her vampire blood ensured that her skin was pale and clear enough to let her pass as a vampire. Hell, she even had the eyes, blood-red and piercing. Funnily enough though, she chose to hang out with the freaks. Very commendable if I do say so myself.
Murphy laughed at her words, the sound soft and friendly, "C'mon Eva, what else are we going to do during lunch period if not gossip? Pay attention to the stares?" Not that they didn't in the first place. It was kind of hard not to notice over a dozen pairs of eyes boring into your back no matter what you were talking about. Still though, the words seemed to make Eva's face fall and earned a sigh of resignation.
"I don't understand why everyone can't just get along," she said, spinning a fry around on the plastic surface of her plate. As suddenly as she said the words, her eyes seemed to train on a spot just behind my shoulder.
"Because sweet cheeks," a low voice began, the unmistakable hint of a wulfish growl behind his words, "Your kind are what we'd call a disgrace to whatever species you claim to be."
I turned my head to peer over my shoulder and did my best to suppress a groan.
"Oliver, what do you want," Eva questioned coldly, her murderous glare both uncharacteristic and chilling. The way it scratched over him being enough to make anyone turn away for even a moment. Anyone except Oliver fucking Woodfield. Woodfield was asshole extraordinaire to say the least, a common trait amongst the extreme speciesist full-blooded werewulves.
"I'll tell you what I want, little miss equality," he said placing his hands on either side of me and leaning forward towards Eva, making me lay close against the table, my face nearly pressing against the grimy surface. From the corner of my eye I could see Murphy open his mouth to say something but quickly snap it shut when I sent a glare in his direction. The last thing I needed was him getting hurt for no reason. A low and threatening growl sounded above me as Oliver's eyes narrowed at Eva, "I want you out of my school. You and your little group of mongrels." With that, he pulled away, placing his hand against the back of my head and pushing my face into the table completely.
For a short moment my vision was clouded with little splotches of unidentifiable colors but then it cleared once again. Cursing, I pushed myself to my feet and turned on Oliver, his sneer momentarily morphing into surprise before reverting back into a face full of malice.
"Do you have a problem," I growled, my voice low. This earned a mocking laugh from Oliver and the other werewulves that had come to join his little "big man" talk.
The grin he wore was wide with a cocky amount of sureness as he spoke, "I do have a problem, mongrel. My problem is you." I felt my own sneer form on my face as I looked over him and the two kids behind him. Trevor Morehead and Randy Docks, two wulfs with a thirst for a little Half-Blood blood. Their personalities were like carbon copies of Oliver's and it was a wonder they weren't part of a boy band with the way they looked, all huddled up together in a triangle formation.
"Well, take it somewhere else," I told him, my eyes narrowing. I knew better to start a fight with this prick. It would only mean trouble for me and my friends, as well as bunch of false claims on who started it. No one dared side with a half-blood.
Oliver turned his muscled head to look at the two kids behind him, a look on his face that I couldn't decipher. When he turned back to me, he wore a sly smile, "Oh yeah? You want me to take it somewhere else, fag?" My jaw clenched at the name. Fucking low blow.
"Yes, I do," I said in a matter-of-fact tone, trying to hold back the venom in my voice. I didn't want to start a fight. Well, I did actually, but that thinking that would not help the current calm I was trying to ride. I remember once my mother told me that I would experience "heightened levels of aggression" due to the mixed genes I had. Werewulves and Demons weren't the calmest bunch apparently. To keep my fists from clenching, I shoved them deep into my pockets, hoping that it would be enough.
"Oliver, just go away," Eva said from behind me, her voice as cold as stone, "We haven't done anything." Oliver rolled his eyes at that and muttered under his breath.
He held his hand up at her, signalling for her to stop. "Hush princess, the men are talking."
"Watch yourself," Murphy hissed in a familiar tone, one that many Vamps used when annoyed. I sighed. The thing about Murphy was that he had a not so secret crush on Eva, though he never made a move. He, instead, elected to win her over through heroism tactics. Not the smartest idea I'd admit.
Oliver's eyes darted over to Murphy who was glaring at him furiously, those red eyes seeming to be ablaze. Oliver was silent for a moment before a laugh erupted from his chest as he looked over him. Instinctively, I stepped slightly in front of Murphy. He may have been half Vamp but he was still half Human which left him with a weakness that would get him hurt one of these days. Breakable bones and a big heart.
"Oliver," I warned through a growl, wincing at the gutteral sound. His eyes seemed to flick over to me in surprise and for a brief moment, I thought I saw a hint of hesitation lurking beneath the murky grey-blue of his thunderstorm like eyes. As quickly as the look came, it was gone, and I almost believed I'd imagined it. Within a second, that hesitation was replaced with a sudden heated fury as he reached out and snatched up my collar, pushing me back against the table and almost knocking me over, only giving me a second to brace myself.
He was inches away from me, so close I could smell that faint scent of his shaving cream and I could see the pale scar above his right eyebrow that his wulf healing properties hadn't gotten to.
"Don't tell me what to do," he growled in a feral voice that was barely above a whisper. The sound made a shiver crawl up my spine with spider like legs. A lot of kids called it the Alpha voice; it dripped with power and authority and even though there weren't packs or actual Alpha's within this small town, the tone still held a deadly weight.
I braced myself carefully against the table, my arms folded uncomfortably behind me to the point that I thought my shoulders would snap against the strain. "I don't want a fight," I said equally as quiet. Maybe if I said it aloud I would believe myself.
Something flashed across his face and then a grin uncurled across it, "Too bad, Ethan Creek. Too bad.