Chapter 18: One Panic Attack Too Many

The car ride to Mr. Samuel's office was awkward and silent, with Luka ignoring Keisha and her questioning gaze the entire way. He lived off-campus, so it took them about thirty minutes to drive from town to the university premises.

"You must be rich," Keisha tried to awkwardly make conversation as they drove through Henderickson's gates. "Affording a place like yours and a car like this isn't easy."

When he didn't respond, Keisha kept on talking to fill the embarrassing silence. "I'm not really a car person so I may be wrong about the car being expensive. I mean I don't even know if this is a Toyota or a Ford so I guess I shouldn't be talking. It's not like it matters though, as far as you can go places with it then any car is fine. I don't even have a car so-"

"Shut up."

Keisha fell silent at that, internally dying of shame. She was nervous and it was making her a babbling mess, but that didn't give him the right to be so rude.

What a prick.

They soon arrived at the Administrative Block and after Luka whispered something into the receptionist's ear, she let them up immediately. Walking in after Luka through the familiar double doors of his office, Keisha felt a sense of relief upon seeing Mr. Samuel smiling kindly at them from his desk.

"Would you look at that! I never thought I'd see the two of you together so soon," Mr. Samuel exclaimed, motioning for them to sit down. "I suppose I should thank my lucky stars."

"Don't get so excited, Bowers. We're here for serious business."

Luka scoffed, and nodded his head in the direction of the girl. "She's got some things she'd like to share."

The dean turned his head to Keisha, who had been feeling lost for their entire conversation, and offered her a soft smile. "Hello, Keisha. I hear you'd like to tell me something."

The way he said her name sent butterflies flurrying in her stomach, and she cleared her throat shyly to maintain her composure. "Umm…yes, Sir. Although I'm not really sure where to start."

"Tell him what you saw yesterday," Luka commanded, and she shot him a glare for his impoliteness.

"Yesterday?" Mr. Samuel queried. "Did you see something at the campout? Was it Ethan again? Did he hurt you?"

Mr. Samuel's fist tightened at that last part, his knuckles turning white. Keisha shook her head quickly, shuddering at the memory of the drunk boy who assaulted her.

"No, Sir. It's not that."

"Thank goodness. Then what is it, Keisha?"

"Well…It's kind of crazy. I'm not sure you'll believe- "

"Get to the fucking point," Luka impatiently interrupted, standing up from his seat. "We don't have all day."

He strode across the room and positioned himself against a wall, leaning casually as he scowled at her. Gritting her teeth, Keisha muttered curses at him under her breath. How could he be so rude in the presence of a dean?

What a delinquent!

Ignoring his behaviour, the dean focused his gaze on the freshman. "Forget about him, Keisha. I'm all ears."

"Thank you, Sir," she bowed her head slightly before continuing, "I saw some strange things in the forest last night."

"You went into the forest? Why?"

Keisha's eyes darted to the boy leaning on the wall in the corner, and he shot her a threatening glare. Getting the memo, she snapped her gaze back to the man before her, nervously fiddling with her fingers.

"I'd rather not say."

Looking between both of them, Mr. Samuel rose a quizzical brow. Something had clearly happened between them, judging from the odd look they shared at his question, so why was she lying to him? Deciding not to pry, he motioned for her to carry on.

"I know this sounds crazy, but I saw monsters, Sir."

"Monsters?"

She nodded, and for the second time that day, Keisha narrated her ordeal. Mr. Samuel listened keenly, interrupting to ask questions where necessary. By the time she was done, Mr. Samuel's expression was grim, his eyes trained on the girl before him.

"That's everything, Sir," Keisha concluded, looking between the men in the room. One nodded at her in acknowledgement, while the other completely ignored her, instead fiddling with his signature fidget spinner that he always seemed to have on him.

Mr. Samuel sighed deeply, before thanking her for informing him of what she saw. Turning to Luka, he rose his brow questioningly.

"How much does she know about this?"

"Not much," Luka responded dryly, spinning the toy between his fingers, "I didn't tell her a lot, other than that I'm a vampire."

"I see," Mr. Samuel ran his fingers through his hair, turning his attention back to Keisha who was gaping at him in disbelief. His reaction to Luka's confession was not what she'd been expecting, as the dean didn't seem shocked or afraid.

That's when it suddenly dawned on her; her mind going back to the strange incident that happened when she hugged Mr. Samuel. His glowing gold eyes, his ghost-pale skin, the mind-numbing entrancement – Mr. Samuel was a vampire.

What she had seen in Mr. Samuel's office was not hallucination, it was real. He really was a vampire, and something in her gut told her that he had tried to harm her that day. The way his predatory eyes looked at her, piercing through her and paralyzing her in place as he stalked toward her; if they hadn't been interrupted, he'd would've killed her.

Oh my God!

Keisha jerked up out of her seat, fear suddenly gripping her as she realized she was trapped in a room with two vampires with no form of protection. Both men gave her puzzled stares as her terrified eyes darted between them, her knees going weak in fear.

Seeing her distress, the dean stood up from his chair, holding his hands out to calm her. "Keisha, are you alright?"

"S-stay away from me!" she yelled, quickly backing away from him. In her panic, her foot got caught in her chair as she tried to put more space between them and she lost balance, falling backward. Her body hurtled toward the floor, and she let out a shriek as she braced herself for painful impact.

However, it never came, as she felt her body being held up instead by two large hands that gripped her shoulders from behind. Tilting her head, her eyes landed on Luka, who was glaring at her as he caught her from behind, his hands keeping her from falling. He stood dangerously close to her as he supported her body weight, and Keisha felt her heart go into overdrive with terror.

She needed to get away from these monsters!

Keisha instantly tried to push away from him, but instead of letting her go, his grip tightened around her shoulders. Pulling her toward him, she fell backward into him as he grabbed her arms, pulling them behind her as he restrained her. Gasping in shock, Keisha shrieked as he scoffed viciously, holding her firmly in his grip.

"Did you really think you could get away so easily, little girl?" Luka hissed, tsking disappointedly. "You really are fucking stupid."

"Let her go, Luka!" Mr. Samuel thundered, glaring menacingly at Luka, who just smirked sheepishly in response. Keisha whimpered in his grip, terrified tears beginning to spill out of her eyes. "You're scaring her!"

"No can do, Bowers. Our little friend here left out a very important detail," the younger vampire eyed the trembling girl leerily, unmoved by her cries. "She can't be hypnotized."

"What do you mean?" The dean frowned, his eyes flitting between Keisha and the younger vampire. "Every human can be hypnotized."

"Except her, Bowers. I already tried, twice! It didn't work."

"Are you sure, Luka?"

"You try it."

Pushing the girl toward Mr. Samuel, Luka motioned his head toward her. Keisha stumbled forward, clumsily falling against his desk. She peered up at him through her braids, her teary eyes pleading and Mr. Samuel felt a pang in his chest.

"Please don't hurt me," the utter fear in her voice made his stomach lurch, and he felt horrible. He may not be human, but he wasn't heartless; he could only imagine how scared the poor girl was.

However, he knew what he had to do, regardless of how guilty he felt.

"Keisha," he called out, his voice firm yet gentle as the infamous golden glow usurped the warm brown of his eyes. A tear rolled down Keisha's cheek as the familiar sensation of lightheadedness overcame her, and she awaited the vampire's command. "Come here."

A soft sob escaped the girl's lips as she involuntarily shook her head, gingerly backing away from him. Mr. Samuel gasped as she did, his eyes widening in shock.

"What? How?"

Luka smirked, seating back down in his seat as he watched the two figures before him. "I told you. She can't be controlled."

"That's impossible," Mr. Samuel mused, stalking toward Keisha, who flinched away. Putting his hands up in a non-threatening manner, he approached her.

"Relax, Keisha. I won't hurt you."

She shook her head vigorously, tears trailing down her cheeks as she continued to step back. "Stay away from me."

"Keisha, please. Trust me, I won't hurt you."

"No!" Keisha yelled; her voice hoarse from crying. "Leave me alone!"

Her breaths were starting to become shallow, her chest rising and falling rapidly as the familiar burning sensation began to form in her wrists. The heat quickly began to spread across her arm, the intensity rising as it climbed. She groaned in pain, grabbing her arm as the sensation increased.

Noticing her staggered movement, Luka stood from his seat, concern evident on his features. Was she having another panic attack so soon? Something felt off about her as she stumbled across the room, grunting as if she was in extreme pain.

This wasn't normal.

Collapsing to the ground, Keisha cried out as the sensation grew excruciatingly painful, finally reaching her head. Like the last time, it was unbearable, and she felt like her brain was about to burst from the pressure, screaming loudly. Both men rushed to her squirming figure, watching in horror as she writhed in pain on the ground.

"Keisha! Keisha!" The panic in Mr. Samuel's tone was evident as he tried to hold the wriggling girl, but he instantly pulled his hand away when he felt her temperature – she was cold.

His eyes widened with realization.

"What the hell, Keisha!" Luka yelled as he kneeled next to the screaming girl, confused by her odd manifestations.

"She's been poisoned," Mr. Samuel looked grimly at Luka, "It's ghoul blood. It's poisonous to humans if they ingest it."

"Ghoul poisoning?" Luka thought back to when he found her in the forest, and it dawned on him. "She was covered in ghoul blood when I found her and she had cuts all over her wrists."

Mr. Samuel gave the younger vampire a look, and Luka rolled his eyes. "Not those type of cuts. She's not suicidal, as far as I know."

Keisha whelped loudly, wriggling as her body burned. The voices of the vampires kneeling over her was nothing more than distant noises; indecipherable and incoherent. She couldn't feel anything but the searing ache that was ripping through her, and her head threatened to black out.

"Keisha!" Mr. Samuel screamed as he noticed her eyes glazing over, unnaturally rolling back into her skull. Her skin began to turn ashy, her pink lips turning pale and dry as her veins popped on her forehead, turning black. "She needs help now!"

The dean immediately moved to carry her, lifting her with ease off the ground as the younger vampire watched anxiously. Looking to him, the dean spoke. "Did you bring your car?"

Luka nodded, quickly getting up and heading for the door. The dean quickly followed after him, looking down at the screaming girl in his arms. She squirmed violently against him, her bone-chilling shrieks piercing through the air, the dean only able to watch anxiously as his student cried in torment.

"Hold on, Keisha. Help is coming."

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