Cherry Bomb

Pushing through the door quietly, I peeked into the darkened auditorium that looked as if it was filled to capacity. The door creaked as I pushed it open, making it all the more worse. At least the loud voice booming through the speakers drowned out the tiny squeaks the door made.

Lights lit up the faces of the people that were here, all watching the front, all engaged in the speakers opening dialogue. The tiers went down to the stage where the Dean of the university was addressing the crowd.

Good grief, I whispered.

I was late, and if Mortimer caught me sneaking in, she’d kick my backside into next week. That is after she made a public spectacle of me.

Cherry! Ellie whispered.

Scanning the crowded seats, I found her at the end closest to me, urging me to hurry up. Taking a deep breath, I rallied every strength I could find inside of me and glanced at the Dean again. She was distracted by talking. Quietly I slipped into the auditorium and closed the door as softly as I could. Mortimer didn’t see or hear a thing; her gaze was to one of the professors to her left.

Sitting on the first seat, I looked at Ellie as she offered a smile.

You haven’t missed much, just Mortimer’s opening dialogue, a little diatribe on society. You know, her usual perky self.

I chuckled softly as I turned back to the front of the auditorium. Everyone began to clap, I sat more upright and looked down to the podium where Mortimer stepped aside for the professor.

Thank you, Dean Mortimer. I am humbly appreciative of this opportunity to speak at Holyoake University.

He’s so dreamy, Ellie whispered.

I turned and saw her as she stared longingly at the professor, probably wishing that he would join this campus so that she could stare at him all day. Turning back to the view of the strapping form that held everyone’s attention, I was grateful he wasn't a professor in this place, he was far too distracting.

I could imagine his lessons already. Crammed tight with dreamy gazes and lustful thoughts from the first five rows and any males that managed to get a spot in the course would be relegated to the back of the room.

Today, I have been asked to speak to you about the paranormal life in this dimension, the analysis of various groups and the general study of interactions as a whole. I will be holding a series of lectures over the next week, today shall primarily focus on lycans and a secondary focus on vampires. In particular, the way that their feeding habits can or cannot be attributed to the lycan race.

His gaze lifted, mostly to the front row. Today it would be filled with the elite of academia. Usually, it was filled with those who had issues seeing the board or in some cases, the dreamy professor. I glanced at Ellie and wondered why she was at the back of the auditorium if she thought he was so good looking. Maybe this was the best that she could get. Knowing Ellie, she’d probably only just walked in the door, and this was all that was left.

And of course, my thoughts on the subject. The paranormal society of today can no longer hide within the shadows of the night. Too many humans are venturing out of their homes without a care for the dangers of what lurks so perilously close. They do this because they do not know what is out there. How many human murders can we attribute to the lycan race? The statistics of the government department charged with monitoring their activity says that one in three homicide cases across the world is a cold case with no leads. One in three, take that into consideration. They are swept under the rug, not reported by the media, not spoken about. These are handed over to the cold case department in each city across the world, and from there, they keep going because those in this department know the truth. It is not a cold case, it is merely marked as one because the government does not want the public to know that it was in fact, a lycan feeding. It does not stop at homicide. How many people go missing every single day? They are reported as human trafficking, the slave trade, runaways, possible homicide. Sometimes these people turn up alive, sometimes they are found dead and sometimes, they are never found again. We know this is because of the way the lycans feed. They do not leave any remains behind.

The professor paused for a moment, turning the page of his notes.

But we cannot attribute all the deaths in this world to the lycans. We know that some vampires do not adhere to the rules of their masters. Some live in such remote areas that they are not aware that such rulings have been agreed upon or have access to the blood donation system. How do we convey a message to a vampire that is hiding in the mountains, feeding on the villagers and perhaps taking no more than one life every few weeks? Vampires cannot feed and revitalise their bodies without the fear of the act being witnessed. They have to dispose of the body, an act that in this era, can be just as dangerous as the actual death of the human. I speak not for one species but all when I say that it is just as dangerous for us as it is for the humans. We are on the precipice, all that we know is crumbling beneath our feet.

His hands gripped the edge of the wood lectern, the dark strands of hair fell into his eyes as he scanned the crowd. Catching my gaze, I felt the weight of his scrutiny. I stood out in the crowd; I was obvious in a darkened room. Why? Oh, you know, just the orange eyes and all. Well, they weren't pure orange, they were more like an odd and pale sherbet. I wore sunglasses as much as I could, hoping to avoid the constant scrutiny.

Running late had left me flustered, I’d forgotten that my eyes were still orange. It was fine, I’m sure he didn’t see me. Maybe just looking in this direction, but not specifically at me. Yeah, we’ll go with that.

And what of our friends in the government? The professor continued; his gaze had turned elsewhere. They could spend an eternity tracking the lycans, disposing of them and ensuring that this world is a fraction safer. They care for the victims of a lycan crime, housing them in a safe house until the lycan is caught and destroyed. This department is an expensive venture, these tasks that they take on are large. The weight of such a cost mostly comes from the government itself. It is a burden upon the budget, and if anyone were to demand an audit, they would find great gaping holes. The lycan hunting department is that great gaping hole, they are a blank space in the government budget, they are hidden under many terms such as wild animal control, counter-terrorism measures and military training. If anyone bothered to delve into these, they'd find issues, mistakes perhaps. The government has taken a large risk in funding this branch. Not just the money that is outlaid but the fact that the paranormal creatures of this world are hidden from the humans. We know that no one likes a dirty politician, liars are not welcomed much either. My question to you all is, would it be beneficial to continue with such a resource as it stands today?

Did he just suggest that the department is disbanded? Ellie whispered.

It certainly sounded like it.

To answer the question, yes it would be beneficial. The threat of the vampire race becoming extinct due to a lycan uprising is real. In my days and nights of research, I have found the evidence weighs heavily against their kind. They do not wish to share this planet; they wish to own it.

There were a few soft gasps, murmurs breaking out in the crowd.

What would the humans say if they knew of the vampires? What would they say if they knew about lycans? Would one seem worse than the other? And what if they knew that this creature had intentions of a dark and perverse nature? They might cower in fear at the thought that they have cohabitated with vampires, but through the actions to protect them from the lycans, I believe that the paranormal community can show the humans that we do care for them as a species. After all, vampires would be dead without them. If the humans knew the truth about the lycans and their intention for world domination, then they could be given a chance to make this world safer for themselves and for us. They could join us in the battle against the vermin that kills without remorse, slaughters without care. The humans might argue that the vampires are no better, that they kill without mercy, but I believe that we as a community can show them that death is not necessary, that the vampires as a species can feed without the need to end their lives. Many vampires already use feeders, these humans who do know of us can spread the word that the word vampire is not synonymous with death.

Yeah, good luck with that one. This guy’s fairy trip through happy town was filled with a lot of people prancing around as if everything was hunky dory. Humans don’t work like that; the masses will see a vampire and think that they are everything that they have been told to believe. The movies had shown them to fear vampires and rightly so, they weren’t as nice as this guy would have everyone believe. Even Ellie had moments of being scary, and she was the nicest person I knew.

Ellie wriggled back in her seat, stretching to see over the guy in front of her. Her lips wriggled in disgust as her gaze turned to the back of the auditorium. Well, it was a wall. She lifted herself up onto the backrest of the chair and leaned against the wall. Smug in her attitude, she smiled and continued to watch the dashing yet single-minded professor.

And when we look to the endangered and extinct of the paranormal world, we could argue that there are some that the dimensions could do without. Not just the cursed creature that is the lycan but to this world and its own paranormal native, the ancients.

Another soft murmur erupted, no one liked to talk about the ancients, even if they'd been destroyed. They feared that if they spoke about them that somehow one of them would resurrect from the dead and unleash vengeance upon everyone. Specifically, the vampires. The majority of the vampires that roamed this planet were turned or born; the only true vampires were a handful in numbers. They were the ones that trapped the ancients, thousands of years ago. They were the ones that if the ancients were alive today, they'd hunt down first.

I know what you’re all thinking. It is dangerous to speak their names; it is dangerous to even talk about them indirectly. Well, I say that it is but an old wives’ tale and that speaking of them is not dangerous. They are dead. The devil has assured us that they cannot escape the Underworld and, in this statement, he has Heavens backing. We do not need to fear the ancients anymore.

I looked at Ellie, the glow of the lights from the stage area lit up her face. She was worried and rightly so, the past was deeply ingrained in their lives. They couldn't forget that the ancients could have easily awoken from their icy tomb and hunted down the vampires.

As for me, there was no doubt about my future if the ancients were alive today. I would be found and held hostage so that I could provide the ancients with visions of the future. That’s what happened to the seers when the ancients walked this land. I wasn't a native to this dimension, but I was a seer, and that would be enough for them. Personally, I didn’t want to be a captive and I didn’t want to be forced into seeing visions. I was grateful to hear they were dead.

Ellie slid back down the seat, looking at me with a lot of concern.

Cherry, She whispered. You can see the bad stuff, right?

I can’t force it to come to me.

In her face, I saw the desperation that I’d seen in so many faces before her. They wanted to know the future, they believed that it was necessary to keep their lives functioning. Unfortunately, I could not induce a vision. They came when I was meant to see them and not a moment before.

It’s going to be okay.

Ellie nodded glumly, and I knew that she didn’t believe me. That was okay, I didn’t believe me either.

Chapter 2

Before the masses started fleeing the auditorium in their droves, Ellie and I slipped through the doors and began walking through the lonely corridor.

So, what do you think of the dreamy Professor Ramsay now Ellie?

She huffed, rolling her eyes.

He’s going to cause the extinction of my people. If that’s the case, you’ll find me in Meuna. Do you think I should put in for a transfer now or apply as a refugee?

Meuna has stopped taking refugees. Tresel might be your answer, you could probably get in because of your mother. Waiting until the last minute could end in your demise.

True. Your eyes.

Her head tipped at me, frowning slightly. Ellie knew that I was hiding here, pretending to be a seer. Shifting my eye colour, I faded to a grey that was in keeping with what the paranormal people of this world expected.

We turned the corner, and I gasped, faced with Mortimer.

Ladies, She said in the terse tone that I was used to. How did you find the lecture?

Her gaze turned from Ellie to me, the smile on her face was forced, and we were in trouble.

I ask because as invited guests, you surely enjoyed listening to one of the world’s foremost intellects on paranormal life and inviting you to the lecture wasn’t a waste of time. Surely you know that many others would have been happy to sit in those seats that you managed to vacate prematurely.

Mortimer’s dark gaze swung to me, her frown deepening.

Or delayed.

Ah, so I hadn’t escaped her hawk-like attention.

You are both lucky that our revered guest was busy answering questions and did not see such rudeness. Miss Whitehall, you are not going to be formally punished nor have any notations made on your file however I do hope that there aren’t any lectures that you wish to see in the near future. Good day to you.

Uh, okay and thanks, I guess.

Ellie looked at