Chapter 11

That night, I didn't go with Chase and Scarlett back to the dormitory.

Instead, I went to the library. I had to find out more about the Valeskas and the Mavras because they were very important because the vampires were after me because I was a Mavra and I was after the Valeskas because I had to kill them. The library was a vast building and when I walked in, the bookshelves all had varnished wood and the carpet was a blood-red colour and it was velvet. Let’s put it this way, imagine your average library and times it by say one-hundred and that was this library. Sighing to myself, I went to find something on the Mavras. It would be in the History of Lycanthropes section indubitably.

“How may I help you?” a man asked, from the reception desk at the front. He was a short man with white, thinning hair and a kind, wrinkled face. He had half-moon spectacles joined together by a metal beam and then he came out from his desk.

“Um,” I started, “I’m looking for everything you have on the Mavra clan and the Valeska clan please.” I smiled politely, sounding a lot lighter than expected and that made me smile. The man’s face paled and then he recovered quickly,

“Follow me,” he smiled sweetly as he led me down the vast forest of bookshelves. As expected, he led me to the history section and then he showed me a huge book that was dusty and looked to weigh about one kilogram or something. It was a leather book and it had lots of dust on it, like it hadn’t been used in a century or something. I took it from him gladly and thanked him. “Be careful,” he warned cautiously, stepping away slowly and reluctantly to resign to his post at the desk. I placed the book on a desk at the end of the isle and began my reading. I was not going to make it through the whole book and didn’t really know where to begin... the very beginning.

The Mavra clan dates all the way back to the 1600s. They originated from the Russian city of Siberia. A man named Vadim Mavra, once a highly respected Russian citizen was publically shamed when he was put into the stocks for being a conman and a thief. Mavra was an avaricious man with a particular fondness for silver and gold and his greed had finally got the better of him and he robbed the wealthiest man in all the land and was sentenced to the stocks for ten years. Barely getting by, Mavra was finally released from the stocks, stealing whatever food he could get his hands on and then, he attempted to rob the wealthiest man again and was sentenced to exile from Russia. He was exiled to a little town named Skeldergate in East England, where the Siberian Mayor had heard there was no gold. However, Vadim had heard differently and he had heard there was in fact silver inside of Skeldergate’s main Cathedral and he gladly, without protest, was deported there. Little did Vadim know that Skeldergate was home to many Magus and Adept witches and it was also a very religious village. For many years, Mavra had been searching and plotting ways to get the silver from the Cathedral and he was conning the rich in the process. One bitterly cold evening, he decided to take action. Standing outside the Cathedral, in the light of the full moon, he smiled at the townspeople who were unsuspicious and minding their own business. Vadim went into the gothic church and looked around for the basement; the room that contained the silver. The room he had heard was the old priests’ tombs, but he did not care where he got the silver from, as long as he had the silver in his grasp. When he was caught snooping around the basement, the priest kicked him out. Smiling politely, he escorted himself out of the building and his husky dog - that he had shipped over on the boat after him - was waiting for him. When a light gale brushed past him, it was alleged that a demon, in the form of a cold wind, was acting on it and told him to break the windows of the church to distract the priest, while he went in and got the silver. The old town clock, lined with cobwebs had only just struck twelve as he ran out of the building. The plan worked and Mavra got the silver and got away with it because he shortly went into hiding. One morning exactly two months later, when Vadim Mavra had become the richest man in Skeldergate, he was on his way to the market to purchase some food when he saw a woman with a purple skirt and a white shirt nd she had a silk cloth covering her face and she spoke to him and said, “Thy shall not be blessed by the lord above for the slaughter of God’s humble place of worship. Thy shall not proceed to walk in the light of the full to admire his creation as a human being but as a Siberian husky. you will remain this way until somebody is to dismember you with silver like what you desire so deeply.” Thinking nothing of it, Vadim laughed it off and then that night, his temperature began to rise and his senses were altered. He suddenly became short-tempered and then it happened at midnight, when he transformed into a Siberian lycanthrope. This was the beginning of the lycanthrope virus that spread throughout Skeldergate. He demanded that the woman explain what she had done to him but she averted her eyes and fled Skeldergate before he had a chance to ask her how to be rid of this curse and she replied, “when the blood of a Valeska vampire is spilled shall thee have thou freedom.”

A piece of the page had been ripped out. I needed to see the rest, but I didn’t bother because by the time I’d been to detention and did my studying, it was time to be back at my dormitory. I wanted to take it back, but that was not permitted.

On my way back, I heard Jake almost yelling at Charlie. I quickly blended into the shadows so that they couldn't see or hear me. I wasn't usually a nosey person - okay, so I was sometimes - but these guys were my family and I hated it when they fought.

"I'm not saying that at all, Charl, I'm just..." Jake exclaimed, chasing after Charlie while they made their way to the Skelder cabins.

“Then, what are you saying, Jake, huh? What?” Blinded by fury, Charlie turned to face him and he sighed,

“I don’t know! I just don’t trust Ashley Jacobs!” He exclaimed,

“And why not? You don’t even know the man, so why are you judging him?” When he avoided her eyes and sighed, biting his lip, she figured it out, “you can’t be... in love with me?” Jake snorted and then added,

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he told me, “I just don’t like him, is that such a crime?” Charlie let out a sigh.

“Come on, we better get to the dorm before lights out,” she walked on, letting Jake linger behind and then I let out a sigh, indicating to Jake that I’d heard it and I was going to grill him whether he wanted me to or not.

“You heard that, huh, Avril?” He asked, sighing, hoping I hadn’t but knowing full well that I had. I nodded instantly and then began my interrogation.

“Why did you lie to her?” I asked bluntly. He didn’t think I knew about his love for Charlie but Tegan and I always said it behind their backs, but I didn’t want to tell him that.

“I didn’t lie to her,” he told me but then he did his thing when he was lying. That indicated to me that he was lying about lying. I was surprised that Charlie wasn’t able to tell when he was lying or not and they were best friends. “I have a problem with Ashley Jackson, okay? He’s...” He replied curtly but then he trailed off. I wanted to retort with the fact that he only had a problem with Ash because Charlie was hanging out with him more often now.

“Yeah? Exactly. Tell her that you like her. It’ll save us all a hell of a lot of trouble.” He went to say something snappy to me but then went against it - a wise decision - because he knew I was right. I walked up to Vadim and he sighed,

“Avril,” he called, and just as I was about to make my way up the stairway to heaven - a.k.a. the quickest way I could go to get to my bed, unless there was some secret elevator Chase and Scarlett weren’t telling me about. Finally, I got up there, but Chase wasn’t there. Scarlett was sitting on her bed, painting her toenails.

“Hey, Avril! Did ya want me to paint your nails? You and I haven’t had a proper chat since you got here!” she exclaimed happily, gesturing me to sit beside her. She’d just finished doing her foot and was beginning her hands. I nodded. Usually, I hated nail polish but if it helped me get to know my roommate then it was worth a bit of pain. But as soon as she took the cap off, I regretted it instantly.

“So, did you hear about the masquerade?” she asked happily as she painted her nails metallic black. I looked at her blankly. A what-now? Attending a masquerade was not in the job description of being a lycanthrope, thank you very much. I’d watched something about a masquerade once. It was some time after I’d escaped from Little Sisters. We met this girl named Tess who had escaped from Little Sisters and was an orphan. She was the girl that had a laptop back when Sister Meredith declared it as a toy. She was always able to get the latest movies. It was some Cinderella or something and it had Selena Gomez in it. Scarlett kind of reminded me of Tess but then I thought of how different they were and dispelled the thought.

“What’s a masquerade?” I probably sounded like a total dumbass. From what I’d picked up from the movie, it was some sort of ball thingy with masks. Great. I cannot dance. Scarlett looked dumbfounded and then her expression turned soft.

“Oh, that’s so cute! It’s when you dance with someone but you don’t know who it is because they’ll be wearing a mask! Isn’t it genius?” and after that, I was the one who was dumbfounded. She did not seem like the type to be crazy over things like this. Noticing my expression, hers turned back to her normal sullen one and commented, “Just so you know, I’m not usually like this. I just like the idea of masks.” I nodded and a wave of relief swept through me because I thought I would have to tolerate a non-clique Barbie as my roommate rather than the person whom I had a lot in common with. After she’d finished painting her fingers, she sprawled my hand over her Rip it up magazine and began to paint mine. She was awfully skilled at it, I had to admit. I thought about Jake and how he was in love with Charlie. I really had to do something to let Charlie know without embarrassing Jake. This was going to be a bit of a mission. Or, I could let Jake tell her in his own time... No, that wouldn’t work. If I left it up to him, he would never tell her and then he’d be miserable as he watched Charlie be happy with someone else. As his sister, I felt obligated to not let that happen. This masquerade thing would be perfect for it!