Chapter one

“Could you be any more of a Geek?” I asked Max as we left the movie theater.

He looked at me over the tomahawk on the table that lay between us. He had a smile on his face and a file stone in his hands. I had walked into the weapons room to find him filing a sword, throwing blade and the tomahawk he had his hand on now.

It was a Sunday and he knew we had the day off.

“Could you be any more of a slacker?” he asked in retort to mine. His voice was deep and I imagine that if there were a vision to it that it would be the same black that his hair sported.

I shook my head. “I’m not a slacker, I just know how to relax.” I told him, a smile on my face.

“Well, if you relax any more then you already do, Black isn’t going to let you into the field.”

  At that I straightened.

“What are you talking about? He has to let me through! I’m in the same grade as everyone else, and I’m at the top of the combat class.” Fury rose in my throat but it quickly died down, I never could keep any strong emotion.

“Exactly; you’re top of the combat class. That’s not the only class we have Drupe.” The use of my nickname caught me at surprise. Max hardly ever used it; he’s the one who gave it to me. He’s the only person who ever uses it.     

We were at the School of Trants. Trants are the beings that hunt what goes bump in the night. We’re the beings that were born from angels. The story goes that when an angel fell that his grace split from him, and when it did it landed-on a human. Now usually the grace would land in any other field or body of water and make a magnificent creation, but this time its flight pattern was off.

Hit a man straight square in the heart. Or was it his sole? I don’t know, I barely ever listen in history class. Well, any way, and when it did hit man, it created a different race.

A race of Trants.

Now most people-who knew of us- would think to call us Nephilim- the ignorant bustards they are, but scene we weren't the offspring of angels and humans then that’s not what we are.

We have a secret society that the rest of the human world doesn't know about, and we go to schools that hold only twenty-five students per school.

The grades are based on your age, ages 1-5 are called Plebeians (full name for Plebes).

Ages 6-10 are called Co-Grant and they start with first grade to third. Then you got your Grealens who are ages 11-15 that go through fourth grade to ninth. Then the Transvices - which is where Max and I are now- whose ages are from 16 to 20 years old; grades tenth through fourteenth. Yeah, I know. Two extra years sounds insane right?

Well, we have a lot to learn.  You mainly learn your basic Geometry, Geography, history, science, art, music (every Trant must learn to play an instrument, I don’t know why.), and English when you’re a Yanver but you have combat training twice a day. When you become a Transvice you have more of your Trant training. Like Combat now pushed up to three times a day and outdoor training, field studies, medical training, detective training, tracking and lots more.

I’m good at most of it except for the desk work subjects like medical and Psychology; I’m failing them both.    

            “Dru, you’re not going to do anyone good if you don’t get those grades up, I've talked to Charlie, and she said that she can tutor you.” Max had put down the small axe and was standing with his arms crossed still on the other side of the table. I knew he was only trying to help but rage caught in my throat for the second time today, which didn’t happen a lot.

            “I don’t care what you or Charlie can do, I can take care of myself and if I’m not mistaken, I can take care of a lot of people.” At my outburst Max’s eyes had grown wide.

He knew I wasn't the type to lash out, to be honest, I surprised myself too.

            “Dru, are you okay?” At the words my head started to spin with thoughts and feelings. Pushing with effort, I made it stop.

            My face betrayed nothing. “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be? Can’t I get mad?” God, there I go again. I started to think coming in here was a bad idea.

I started to walk out the door but as I opened it I ran into a familiar- but highly unwelcomed- face.

            “Well, well, our own little Dru.” A smile formed on Daff’s, undeniably, handsome face.

Daff was a graduated Transvice but had only been in school since the twelfth grade. He had been a Trant since he was born, but he didn’t know it. His mom had taken him to live with the humans and she was his only parent. When Daff was 17 his mom had been killed in an attack by Haired Hounds, awful creatures, near imposable to kill due to the fact that they are invisible, but somehow, Daff could see them, and he had killed them. No one said how but he did.

            When he was a 14^th year, I had been a 10^th, and a while into the year, Daff started to look at me. Not in the way that was affectionate, or just friend kind of way. He seemed to be watching me. It hasn’t stopped.

            He seemed to always know where I was and what I was doing, and sometimes I could have sworn he knew what I was thinking.

            But it wasn’t just him. When he walked in the room, it seemed to get hotter, and I knew how to find him most of the time, I could tell how he would assist a major situation. I didn’t like it.

            I avoid him at all costs and manage to block out that stupid bond thing 90% of the time  but when I have major emotions run through me �"like for example what had taken place ten seconds ago- my guard would go down or be completely blocked out. I would have known he was at the door.

            “Hey Daff punk, how’s the stalking going? Better than usual I hope?” Sarcasm dripped from my words. Behind me, Max sighed. But Daff’s smile grew.

            “Not quite, dru-zy baby, but it wasn’t like stalking was my main goal.” He said stepping further into the room, I didn’t move, making him get closer to me. I could smell the after shave on his closes that showed every toned future to his body. I couldn’t give you a reason, but I felt his heart rate give a kick start and beat faster.

            “If you don’t mind I have to get to my room to study.” I told him tightly.

            “Dru? Studying? Why, I do believe that as an unheard of concept.” Daff replied to the air above my head, well it wasn’t hard, seeing as how he stood at 6’’5 and I only stood at 5’’11. Its tall for my age but when you’re fighting or ranger demons, it has its ups and downs.

            “Daff, I don’t like you in the slightest but I’m going to have to agree with you on this.” Max said behind me. I didn’t take my eyes off Daff, and he happily returned my glare with a look of triumph. Max stood closer to Daff’s height, 6’’4, but he made up for it in bulk. He laid a pale hand on my shoulder. I hadn’t even heard him walk over.

            “C’mon Dru, I’ll help.” He made no move to turn me or move me.

            “I can help too, but I don’t think little Dru wants my help.” I smiled. It was a ‘nice’ smile, a fake one, but that’s all I could muster. This threw Daff off. He didn’t except a kind jester, but I could feel his heart rate give a small kick. What’s his deal?

            “Though it was wonderful to talk to you Daff, I have to be going now.”  I turned my eyes on Max, but when I looked at him my gaze grew hard and icy, I could tell by the return look he gave me.

            “I don’t need anything from you.” When I turned back to Daff he had the craziest look on his face: worry. I hadn’t seen any other look but triumph, amusement, sarcasm and his stupid lazy grin that he gave no one but me. I stepped closer until the tips of our boots mate.
“Move.” A tinny glint of fear caught in the worry I saw in his eyes. Good.

            I didn’t know what made me so angry I hadn’t been that angry scene my mom came to visit me. Being seventeen and stuck in a Mansion with 24 other Transvices plus eight professors and… well Daff. There was a consular, brought in for Daff five years ago, but she decided to stick around and help the staff here with students. Her name was Charlotte Crovesskie; she told us to call her Charlie. Right now, I’m not too fond of her.

            I couldn’t muster a reason Max had thought of to go up to her and discuss me. Me! A girl who has no bad feelings for anyone (I don’t count Daff as anyone) and doesn’t go on rampages all the time, (Well, that’s an if-y subject) and goes to class, (doing the work doesn’t count I think).

            I turned out the long corridor and entered the girl’s dorm. There were 11 girls and 14 boys but if you’re counting Daff, its 15. This schools girl count would make it the second largest in the state for the Trant race. They usually don’t come to school, staying home to learn the human way and rise children, never telling them what they truly are, but if they did they wouldn’t allow the female children to go to school to train, just the males.

My mother was one of those women. She went off when she graduated to be a Transvice and found a male Trant, though he had no idea of the fact for he was raised to be a human. My mother married this man and he soon became my father and he became aware of his true race, for my mother told him what he was. He was a lawyer and he was a good one, we had money yes but we never flaunted it like most people did. We had a decent sized house with a nice yard and a dog named Yarely. When I turned ten my mother told me what I was, I didn’t take it well. I ran away and stayed away for two weeks, until something crossed my path. It was a demon, I didn’t and still don’t, know what kind of demon it was, but I did know that it didn’t want me alive. I started to chase me and I ran wild threw dark night streets, there was no one awake and nowhere to run but I kept going, but finely the demon caught up with me and started to beat me.

A body came out of nowhere and pulled the demon off me. I sat up to see a boy that looked the same age as me maybe two years older, pulling a knife out of his belt and swing down and kill the demon, of course at the time I had no clue it was demon and I started to scream at the boy that he had just killed a human being. The boy looked at me and smiled a sad looking smile and turned to someone running up behind him.

            “Dru!” A very familiar voice came from the dark figure in the night. “Glena?”

It was my older sister, she was 16 and had been going to a boarding school in France, that’s where my mother and father had sent her, they planned to send me to Europe, and they had me learning the language since I could talk. She ran up to me with a hard look in her eyes, she looked at me with protection and anger; that’s when splotches of black hit me. She looked at my wavering face and called to me, I only saw the blackness and her lips moving beyond it.

I fell into the dark black pit of unconsciousness.

            When I woke, everything came into the clear; my mother was sitting next to a mirror- wait… That was my sister! They wore the same dark blue leather looking vest type thing with matching pants, with a tool belt around their waste, an array of weapons, all different sorts.

My mother leaped from her set when she saw I was awake, but my sister stood in her way to get to me. The look on her face knowing, and she sat back down. Glena turned towards me and told me where she had been in the last six years, telling me about what I would learn there, how I would be doing things so much more deferent from now.

She took me to France with no protest from my mother. I haven’t heard from her in seven years, mainly because we aren’t allowed to communicate during the trimesters and we only have a month for break before starting the next level. Glena keeps me updated on the family, she had her Pass-Over last year, it was suppose to happen three years ago but she wants to be a Tracker, a Trant that tracks down families like ours and Daffs.

I put my ruin key(my name in the Accent Language) on the door knob and turned it and stepped inside. I had a desk in the corner with a brown chair tucked underneath, and a mattress and box spring on a tiled floor, my white thin blanket folded at the end of the bed with my white pillow on top. I took a deep breath, I loved it in here.

I went to my desk and pulled my bag onto it. I pulled my Psychology book a notebook from it. I placed in front of me and opened it.

For the next 10 minutes that was all I did. I could’ve sworn I passed out setting up, until the knock came at the metal door.

It couldn’t be my roommate who forgot her key, I have no roommate, it wasn’t Daff; I would feel it (gross). The only other person it could be was Max, but he wouldn’t be stupid enough to interrupt me when I get pissed.

I thought all this to myself as I walked the three feet to the door. When I placed my right hand on the door knob I placed my left on the knife I kept on the wall. I did it every time someone knocked. Never had to use it though.

Male, 6’4”,  18-20 years of age, blonde-brown hair down to the lobes, gray-green eyes, left handed, light build, leather brown boots, blue denim jeans, white tank top, blue and white plaid shirt. Strong jaw, quick eyes(saw me seeing him) high cheek bones.

This is what passed through my head the second I opened the door, I could tell he was doing the same to me.

“Dinnen, Dinnen Quarts. I’m your new roommate.” He put his hand out to me but I kept my eyes on his, his never left mine.