The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 30

[Echo]

I worried all night about more hunters coming. It invaded my dreams and woke me from a dead sleep several times. I hated the idea of strangers coming into our home trying to hurt my Victor.

He did nothing but exist and these men thought they had the right to come and try to kill him. Victor said that they hunted werewolves too. I wondered if anyone was safe from people like this.

Tiredly, I dressed in jeans and a button up t-shirt. When Val messaged me last night, he said Harmony wanted me to know that I should wear something casual, but a little nice. She said it would look bad if I dressed up.

I would have to trust that she knew better than I did. Harmony wouldn't tell me wrong. She loved me as much as I loved her.

As I opened my door, I could smell food cooking. I wondered why someone was cooking. It was strange.

When I reached the kitchen, I saw Victor putting some food onto a plate. He took it to the table and turned to smile at me. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"It's your first day of school. I made you a breakfast. Sit, I'll get you some milk." He said.

I sat at the table. It was sausage, bacon, and toast. There was a bowl of sliced fruit sitting next to the plate. All things he wouldn't have to need to taste or know the taste of in order to prepare.

Victor put the glass of milk on the table and motioned for me to start eating. He did a wonderful job. I was really happy as I munched on some perfectly cooked bacon.

"I wanted you to have a strong start to the morning. You may have a difficult day, I wanted it to begin well. Remember, you are very important to me. I'll always make sure that you have everything you need. The master/servant relationship doesn't work if it's only one sided. We take care of each other."

With a smile, I finished eating my breakfast. Victor really was sweet and kind. I hoped he forgave me for the blood tea incident, but I didn't want a scolding first thing in the morning, so I didn't bring it up. "I'll clean everything up when I get home." I told him.

"No, I have plenty of time before I have to go to bed. I'll take care of this. Go get your lunch and get to the bus stop. You can't be late for your first day." He replied, shooing me out of the seat.

I grabbed my lunch from the fridge and picked up my backpack. Victor stopped me and pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his waist.

For some reason, I didn't mind when Victor was close to me. I had no idea why I had the aversion to Grayson's being nearby. I never had an issue with someone being close to me, who wasn't a vampire, before.

Pulling away, Victor gave me a kiss on the top of my head and let me go. He stroked my hair and caressed my cheek, looking at me like he was trying to memorize everything about me. I really didn't want to go to school, but he wouldn't hear any arguments.

I put on my backpack and headed out the front door. As I hurried to the front gate, I saw someone walking along the perimeter. I remembered the guards he said he would have Trent send. I waved to the man and he waved back.

Before long, I would make sure I knew their names. I wouldn't have people fighting for me who I didn't know. They were part of our household now, at least a little.

I got to the street just before the bus arrived. I'd seen Harmony and Val get on the bus and go off to school for most of my life. I always wondered what it would be like to climb aboard the cheerful yellow bus.

Carefully, I got on. The driver looked at me briefly. I felt nervous as I realized I didn't know what to do.

"Hello, I'm Echo." I said to him.

"Hi, Echo, I'm Harry. Find a seat so we can get moving." He replied.

"It's nice to meet you. Thank you." I smiled and headed to the first empty seat I saw.

There weren't a lot of people on the bus when it picked me up, but we stopped a lot and other people got on. Most ignored me, but a few stared. No one talked to me until one of the last two stops.

I was staring out the window when I saw the reflection of someone pausing next to the seat I was in. Turning, I looked up at the boy who was standing there with a worried look on his face.

He was tall, like Val, but thin. He seemed almost fragile. His hair was messy and dark blond. He had tanned skin with some freckles and wore big glasses.

"Umm.... There's nowhere else for me to sit." He murmured.

I moved my bag into my lap so he could sit next to me. The boy looked around nervously and decided to sit. He seemed on edge. I decided to try and relax him.

"My name is Echo Nightshade." I said, introducing myself.

"I'm Sean. Sean Flowers. Are you new?" He asked.

"I am. Today's my first day."

"That's why you're fine with sitting next to me, then." Sean chuckled.

"I don't understand."

"Pretty girls don't sit with me. I thought it was some sort of a trick when you moved your bag over." He replied.

"I'm sorry I worried you." I smiled.

He shrugged and pulled a book out of his bag, focusing on it. I wasn't sure, but it felt like I was being dismissed. I didn't like that. I needed to learn how to make friends. "What are you reading?" I asked.

Sean looked at me in an assessing way. He was considering something for a moment and shrugged. Closing the book, he showed me the cover.

"It's the rule book for a table top roleplaying game. I make up adventures for my friends to play out. They have characters who are adventurers with all sorts of different creatures in their party." He said.

"That sounds like fun. Like a video game sort of thing. What sorts of creatures, like elves and dwarves and stuff?"

"Yeah. We have one who is a half-orc and a couple humans too." He smiled. "I didn't think girls like you would be into that sort of stuff."

"I play a game with characters like that, too. It's a lot of fun. I love the story in the game." I smiled back.

"You know, you shouldn't tell people things like that, and you shouldn't try to be friends with me. You're pretty. You could easily be popular. I'd just ruin it for you." Sean whispered.

"I don't need to be popular. I just want to have friends who are interested in fun and fascinating things. I really don't need friends who only like me because of how I look. Those aren't real friends. Real friends are the ones who you can talk to and have fun with. Will you be my friend, Sean? Will you teach me how to play your game?" I asked, putting my hand on his arm.

He blushed a dark red and nodded. "I... I guess, if you really want to, I can teach you."

I grinned at him and scooted a little closer so I could see his book. Sean showed me a character sheet and a few different types of characters. As he talked, his confidence grew. He was really proud of his game. He pulled out another book and showed me some monsters they fought.

"Do you fight werewolves and vampires too?" I questioned softly.

"There have been a few in the game. My players took out a vampire king a couple months ago."

"Was he a very bad vampire king?"

"There's no such thing as a good vampire, Echo. They feed on human blood. They're monsters." Sean chuckled.

"I disagree. They may feed on blood, but not all of them are mean or violent. There can be good and bad in every species. Look at humans. We know there are very good ones, but we also know there are very bad ones. Just because some are really bad, it doesn't mean all of them are." I told him.

"That could make for a good story. Maybe I can work something up where the bad guy is actually the human who hired my players and the good guy is the vampire. It could be just the twist to add life into my story. Good idea, Echo."

It made me feel better that he was willing to think of things from a different perspective. I wanted everyone to know not all vampires were bad. I wanted to stop more hunters from existing and trying to hurt Victor. The best way was to make people understand. Until I could defend him and protect him properly, I would just work on changing minds.

Soon we arrived at the school. Sean put his books back in his bag. I stood and put my backpack on.

"Maybe I'll see you in a class or two, Echo. Have a good first day." Sean smiled and pushed into the tide of students streaming down the center of the bus.

I wasn't nearly as confident as he was in the safety of just stepping into the path of other students. I waited until the others had all gotten past me, then exited the bus, making sure to thank Harry for the ride on the way out. It was only polite.