Beautiful Monster 2(5)

 
I hadn’t revealed to them my secret – my motive for wanting her dead, beside revenge. If Selene was dead, the vampire curse was broken. Amy and I could live a normal life, grow old together. We could have children and watch them grow up.
 
Just thinking about it made my fists clench. Fists I wish were wringing Selene’s neck.
 
Sighing, I pushed myself back from my desk, putting my computer into hibernate, and left the office. I craved being anywhere but stuck between these four walls.
 
“I’m going out for a walk,” I said to my secretary, who gave me a look.
 
“Please have your cell phone on, Liam.”
 
“Of course,” I flashed her a dazzling smile.
 
It probably wasn’t a good time to be wandering around the school with it being orientation day for any new students. Those ranged from kindergarteners, entering our school at a young age, to transfer students from other art schools and full and partial scholarship winners, like Amy had been. Every single one of the students had to extensively audition to gain admission, and every one of them also had re-entry exams at the end of the year. To remain in Leopard Academy for more than a few years was truly a feat, and those who did almost certainly went on to fame and fortune. Our last full graduate, Deon, who had been here twelve years, was now a series regular on a TV show with a movie role in the works.
 
I was proud of him, I was, but I couldn’t help but also be a bit jealous. When I became a vampire, my life changed, and my career changed. I couldn’t continue to be the Hollywood superstar I was before, and so I accepted the headmaster position at the Academy. It was the only viable way I could continue acting. But still, every fiber of my body missed being a superstar. My gut wrenched as I watched the kids on stage.
 
I opened the door into the hallway and was met with high-pitched screams. Even though I had been away from Hollywood four years, it hadn’t affected my level of fame. In the hallway stood a gaggle of girls, gossiping. I could tell right away they were new students, or they wouldn’t have reacted the way they did. Most of the students in the school were used to me, and still, whenever I was out in places where there would be a big group of non-students, I usually went with an escort.
 
“Hi, ladies,” I said, grinning and giving them a nod.
 
They shrieked some more, rushing up towards me. “Please sign this!” One of them screamed, holding out a marker and her arm. I laughed, taking the pen.
 
“Don’t you have something that isn’t going to wash off?”
 
“This!” She held out her laptop and I rolled my eyes, but scrawled my name across it.
 
“What’s your name?”
 
“Talon!” Every word that she said was a scream, and her energy was infectious.
 
“Alright, Talon, what year are you going into?” I didn’t recognize her, so I assumed she had been found when one of my teams went cross country to hold auditions. She was pretty with long, brown, wavy hair and standing at about 5’8”. Her pixie face was sprinkled with freckles. A year ago, I would have checked her out, and when I was a Hollywood actor, I would have done more than that. But the past few years had aged me, and now, I only had eyes for Amy.
 
“Year 11. I’m from Swansea. I went to Cata Performing Arts there.”
 
“It’s a good school. I hope that we live up to their standards,” I replied, handing her laptop back. The other girls seemed too scared to say a word to me, their eyes huge. “Now, Year 11 is a senior and so you’ll have classes with me. I trust that one autograph will be enough, Talon?”
 
“Oh, no, sir,” She blushed. “But I won’t ask again.”
 
“Ok then,” I replied. “I’ve got to get going, but I’ll see you later.”
 
“Bye!” they called out as if they were one person.
 
I rolled my eyes, walking down the hallway to the theater.
 
The Red Theater was my favorite of all of them. All of our theaters were named after colors, and each of our wings were named after the classes they housed. Peter had once toyed with getting benefactors and donors, and naming entire buildings after them, but I shot him down. If they were successful, the students would spend their whole careers exposed to commercialism and sponsors. It didn’t need to start now. I wanted to keep things simple as long as possible so they could focus on their craft.
 
In the theater, there were several of my instructors sitting on the stage in a circle, in various positions. It made me grin, watching them. The dancers were sitting on the floor, contorted in positions that were natural to them, but wretched to anyone else. The technical instructors were sitting in chairs, leaning back, their arms crossed, and the drama instructors were pacing the stage, excited. The singers were calm and composed, sitting in straight back chairs, their chest rising and falling in full breaths. They each embodied their craft with every breath, which is why they hired me.