Call My Name

"I'm telling you there's something not right about that girl."

Scarlett rocked back on the edge of her chair as Eric's voice rose over the chatter. She watched as he and another disappeared into the stacks. Scarlett slid out of the mahogany study nook that she reserved for times such as these and followed them.

"You're just jealous, never had someone show you up in every class?" The other voice responded, his voice was higher-pitched but still strong. Scarlett knew this one as well.

The stacks that separated the three of them shook as Eric shoved the other person into them. Dust from the books flew into the air, and Scarlett had to do her best not to inhale to avoid a sneezing attack. She walked towards the corner, gliding her fingers along the stacks of books. She'd read every book in this section maybe three times over at this point.

The shadows would hide her here; how many times had she been in this position at this point? Not that it would matter. Ignorant Eric Wright thought too much of himself to think anyone would be listening in, though the tone in his voice now seemed to be showing cracks in his ever-shiny façade. Perhaps he wasn't as cocky as he made himself out to be.

"Percy, there is something seriously strange about her." His eyes darkened as he looked at his friend.

Perseus McCormick, not as smart as Eric but useful in his own way. He shoved his friend off just the same as he had a few moments before. "Whatever you say, man."

A sly smile tugged on Scarlett's lips. "Let's get out of here, this place gives me the creeps at night, besides the guys are waiting for us at the Quad."

They walked back the way they came. She glided her tongue across her teeth.

Eric Wright. His name had earned him some points this time. He had been right about Scarlett. Scarlett Jude was far from normal; in fact, that wasn't even her real name. Though at this point she'd changed it so many times she didn't even remember what her true name was. Scarlett Jude fit who she was for today and tomorrow, and that's what mattered.

A static voice clattered over the microphone, "Library closing in ten minutes." Scarlett returned to her alcove and collected her things. She made for the exit. If she was quick and unseen, she could catch up with the two of them before they reached the Quad. Their friends wouldn't even think twice about their absence.

She walked through the empty stacks towards the stairs. Lights flickered ahead of her.

"Hello?" Scarlett called out in her best victim voice.

No answer.

She looked around, making sure she was, in fact, the only student left in the area.

"Who's there?" She yelled her voice harder now. She flicked out her fangs, daring whoever it was to come out of the shadows.

Still, there was no answer. Scarlett strained her eyes across the darkness. In the far side of the Library, she saw an arm wrapping around a shelf. In a second, she was across the distance. Kicking down the shelves between her and the mysterious stranger. But before her foot could connect with the shadow, an arm knocked her clean on her back.

"Ow! What the Hell!"

Scarlett rubbed the back of her head where she was sure a bump was already forming.

"Odette Castilean?"

The name felt like a shock to the system. If he hadn't already knocked her on her ass, it would have felt like he'd just pushed her off a cliff, then pulled her up back by a tether just before hitting the ground. That name, there was a reason she hadn't used it in a century.

"Odette!" The other man stepped out of the shadows. Scarlett recognized him. He was one of the old guards.

"Odette, you are charged with desertion and ordered to return to the Athenaeum for sentencing.

The Athenaeum, the home of all of the Vampires in the L0ndon. She bit down on her lip. If she had left this Library just a few moments earlier, she would have likely had her teeth sunk into Eric and his lads by now.

She groaned as the men moved to attempt to pick her up off the floor. "Hands off, boys," she brushed them off dramatically. "Is this really necessary? I mean, we're already at a library. Why trade this ambiance for that dusty old hovel?"

The old men exchanged annoyed glances. She could attempt to outrun them; these old carcasses likely hadn't had a drink in a few days. Though they also had a few centuries on her. She took a delicate step backward.

"If you're thinking about running, don't bother." Another voice sounded from behind her. A shiver went down her spine, and Scarlett ground her teeth together.

She turned to see Harrison Beal, commander of the High Guard, standing before her, behind him another familiar face, Perseus McCormick. Ahh, the irony was not lost on her now. As she laid her eyes on Perseus's ignorant friend, he was setting a trap for her. How long had he known about her? All semester? All year? Had he known when he started flirting with her last spring? Ugh, she was just as ignorant as that human.

"You rat! It was you who told them where I was." She lunged towards Perseus, but Harrison stepped in front of her.

"It's funny, Eric was right there was something off about you. Originally, I thought he was picking up on the fact that you were a vampire, but he never picked up on the obvious hints I left about the both of us, so that's when I knew it had to be something else." Perseus stepped out from behind Harrison, "Did you know this university keeps meticulous archival records. I would have thought someone like you would have known better than to leave such a trail in her wake. I bet you didn't know that my family was in that wake."

Scarlett stood inches from Perseus; she could kill him here and now, but it would only make her list of crimes longer. In her years living as Scarlett, she had broken almost every code of conduct for living in the shadows as a vampire. But that was nothing compared to what she did when she lived as Odette.

Odette was merciless; she had killed almost everyone who crossed her path, vampire and human alike. Of course, back then, only the Vampires picked up on her trail, with the plague ravaging through London, no one was looking for a killer, let alone a woman. She didn't react to Percy's story; she wasn't unemphatic. Her life as Scarlett had taught her some human traits, though she chose when to use them. He was right, she had killed some of his family members, and had she not saved the others, his family line would have died then. She'd found it peculiar that so many chose to become vampires in the following generations; they lived on, so she wasn't sure why he was complaining.

"I turned you in because you need to stand trial for your crimes, Odette."

Fear crossed the guard's faces as her name left his lips.

“Oh Perseus, so naïve. Do you think it's a coincidence that these are the guards who were sent to retrieve me? Dressed in their protective warding necklaces."

She felt the change come over her as the words left her lips. The prickle across her skin, as her nails grew two inches longer, the strain on her gums as another set of fangs pulled from beneath her soft palate.

"I am a monster, as defined by the not only the Tomes of The Athenaeum, but that is the nature of my design. I am the tool wielded only by the ones in the shadows. Each victim slain by my hand was chosen, isn't that right, Harrison?"

Harrison stood behind Perseus, though he'd increased the distance between the two of them significantly. Perseus' body shook with fear now, his lower lip trembling.

"Under any other circumstance, I would be at your will to command, as it was you who said my name, dear Percy, but unfortunately, you don't have the spine for it."

Odette raised her clawed hand to bring it down on Percy, ready to clamp her jaw around his throat.

"Scarlett, please!" He cried out!

Her nails were inches from his face when she felt it, that same tether, pulling taut in her chest. Scarlett cocked her head. Was it possible? Had his boy just commanded Scarlett's will over Odette's?

"Say it again." Her voice was soft.

"Scarlett…" he pleaded. Memories flooded her brain. Late nights with Percy, whispering in the shadows, sharing victims in the streets after nights out. He'd loved her, and he'd still betrayed her. "I only want to rid you of Odette."

The tether snapped again, and Percy screamed, realizing his mistake. But this time Scarlett caught Odette's palm before it could touch Percy. She redirected it to tear into one of the guards.

"You intended me to kill him tonight, regardless of whether I came with you to The Athenaeum." She yelled at Harrison.

"He knows too much."

Before she could protest, the other guard clamped down white marble manacles on her wrists, and the marble began to seep up her arms. He pulled her toward the back of the Library, where a shelf was pulled back to reveal a doorway. This whole time, the entrance to The Athenaeum was this close. They could have come to get her at any time, so why did they wait so long?

The descent into The Athenaeum was not something she'd forgotten, even in the centuries since she'd been back. The walls were covered with shelves; not even a vampire could live to read them all. The air was thick with the smell of dust and fresh blood. The entire Court was in attendance for her arrival.

"Quite the turnout," Harrison said upon seeing her reaction.

"Guess it doesn't matter the era, no one wants to miss a public execution."

"Ohh, I don't think they'll go that far. After all, as you said, you're our weapon."

A chill ran down Scarlett's spine, and she swallowed her fear. Fear, it had been a long time since she'd felt genuine fear. But as she stepped into the circular room to stand in front of the High Court of the Vampir, she realized she was no longer the strongest in the room as she had been moments ago.

Scarlett struggled against the stone bonds, facing forward.

"Charge Castilean, you are being charged with desertion. If found guilty, you will be stripped of your fangs and sentenced to drown for eternity."

Scarlett didn't make eye contact with the High Court. They'd already made their decisions before she stepped into this Court. As miserable as drowning for an eternity sounded, she'd rather prefer it over trying to rid herself of the horrors that Odette would commit under their palm.

"Odette, look at me when I'm talking to you.:

She did not look up.

She ground her teeth together. "My name is Scarlett."

Harrison pulled on the bonds, forcing her to make eye contact with the High Court. Though perhaps that was a mistake, as they saw the reds of her irises were now revealing themselves the way they only did when Odette would rise to the surface. The Court was out of their seats before the first fractured pieces of marble hit the floor.

"Odette!" Harrison attempted to pull on her tether once again.

"Strange…" she said, rising to her feet, "There's no one here by that name."

Once again, the sets of fangs emerged; this time, she did not pull them back as she lunged for Harrison's throat. It felt like she'd opened the floodgates. Odette had been freed by the one person she'd been using to shadow her for centuries. She was finally free.

"Scarlett?" She looked to see Percy standing at the top of the winding steps into The Athenaeum. Shit. She looked around to see her destruction. Why had he come back? Was he here to try his hand at commanding her as Harrison had?

"Leave Percy! I am going to take my revenge, and I won't stop at your regard."

"I didn't come to stop you, Scarlett." There it was again, the softness in his tone. She turned toward him.

"I only came to offer you another path, to leave with me, we can run away as you did before. But it will before real this time." He reached out his hand to her. Scarlett strode over to him and placed her hand in his, then embraced him. She smelt the attack before she felt it, the change in his smell, from fear to anger. A vampire could smell fear from miles away; of course, a new vampire like Percy wouldn't know a thing like that.

She pierced the back of his neck with her nails, his arms went limp immediately, and the dagger that had been poised to strike her in the back clattered to the floor. Not something he would have been able to come by alone. It must have been a backup plan crafted by Harrison. They'd always intended to lure Scarlett out then.

"Do you want to know how I knew? Or have you already pieced it together?"

Percy whimpered.

"It was your rancid smell, you've always smelt like fear, even when you would come crawling into my bed trying to cover it with your lust for me. Your fear and desire for revenge were all over you."

Percy attempted to pull away from her, but it only caused her nails to dig in deeper.

"Your ancestors were dying of the plague; if I didn't turn them, they would be dead. Yes, I killed some of them. But the rest begged to be turned. And look how you repay them."

She pulled out her nails, letting him fall to the ground. Around her, the High Court stood stunned; none of them attempted to restrain her or stop her. "And to think my cold, dead heart ever beat for a moment with you."

She strode towards the stairs. "Scarlett—" Percy croaked out, blood gurgling from his mouth. "You can't just leave."

"Oh, but I can, you see it's as easy as changing my name."