Dan grit his teeth in irritation.
"This isn't over, punk!" He spat, pointing a finger at Quinn hidden behind Vorden and Tsukuru, before walking off, taking Riley with him.
Before Riley left, he looked at Quinn and Tsukuru, and dragged his finger across his throat, mimicking the action of someone cutting his head off.
When they were gone, Vorden let out a sigh of relief, his gentle smile returning to his face.
"Oh my god, I can't believe that worked." Peter muttered, as he came up to the two, joining them.
The three of them joined Quinn at their regular seat in the canteen.
Tsukuru put his hands together, and activated his ability.
The sound of electronic interference filled the room, and pixels appeared between his hands.
The pixels clustered together, taking on the shape of an oval with three rectangles on top of it.
There was a bright flash of light, blinding them.
When it faded, Tsukuru had a plate in front of him with three rectangular shaped pieces of dough on top.
These pieces of dough appeared to be folded over, giving them the appearance of an old form of food called a "snack wrap".
As Tsukuru picked one up, and took a bite out, Vorden noticed a red sauce dribble out.
These were a form of food that had once been sold in school lunches called "Pizza Breadsticks".
They had the same concept of the snack known as "Hot Pockets", but bigger.
The group continued eating until they heard the bell ring, signaling that classes were about to begin.
Throughout the day, Quinn was incapable of concentrating on anything.
All he could do was calm down, stuck in class, as he watched his HP slowly tick down at the start of every hour.
It was driving him insane seeing the number go down, making him regret having not bitten Riley's neck when he had the chance.
Sitting next to him, Tsukuru periodically glanced over at him. He saw each and every System notification appear like clockwork.
Tsukuru grit his teeth.
'Should I have forced his hand?' Tsukuru thought. 'Maybe shove my arm in his mouth and make him bite my arm and drink my blood?' Tsukuru bit his lip.
'No, that would solve one problem, but create ANOTHER!'
As the bell rang, signaling the start of the transitional period between class and lunch, Tsukuru and Quinn saw the System message appear that they were dreading most of all.
[-1 HP. HP: 1/15]
Quinn shot up from his seat, and bolted out of the room.
"Quinn!" Tsukuru yelled.
However, Quinn was already halfway down the hall.
Seeing this, Tsukuru let out a sigh.
He then felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Vorden standing behind him.
He looked down at Tsukuru with a worried expression.
"C'mon, let's go get something to eat." He replied, jabbing his thumb towards the door.
Tsukuru sighed again, and nodded, a dejected look on his face.
He, Vorden, and Peter made their way down to the canteen.
Down the hallway with Quinn…
"What is happening to me?!" Quinn muttered, as he ran. His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Each time Quinn's HP went down, it became harder and harder to control himself. He had quickly realized that, sooner or later, he would go crazy.
Throughout the classes, he had had multiple visions of tearing the room apart, ripping the blood out of his fellow classmates' necks, sucking them dry into shriveled husks to sate his hunger.
Back with the group of Tsukuru, Vorden, and Peter, the three of them had just about made it to the canteen, when they all stopped dead in their tracks.
Tsukuru's and Vorden's eyes narrowed, while Peter's were wide and full of fear.
Standing in front of the door to the canteen like bouncers in a club, there was a group of students.
All three of the students had those same black bands as Mono, marking them as second-year students.
Tsukuru grit his teeth, and resumed walking forward, a notable aggression in his step.
Vorden and Peter followed behind.
When he reached the door, the lead student, a boy with long, purple hair, looked down at Tsukuru with a look of pure condescension.
It was the look one would give a cockroach.
"So you're that kid that General Duke told us to stay away from." He replied, adjusting his glasses. "I don't see anything that impressive."
Hearing this, Tsukuru gritted his teeth.
Back with Quinn, he kept running aimlessly down hallways.
Without even realizing it, Quinn had eventually found himself in the library.
Seeing it, Quinn gulped, and made a beeline for the Fantasy Section.
'Please, have something I can use!' He thought in desperation, and he began reading book after book about Vampires.
In some of the books, vampires were able to feed off of animal blood.
Unfortunately, Quinn's System had clearly stated that he needed to consume human blood. And even if that was the case, how the hell was Quinn going to find animal blood stranded on a military base, especially within the next hour?!
Quinn continued reading.
In other stories, Vampires had been made responsible for raiding hospitals for their supplies.
Unfortunately for Quinn, that was one of the most guarded places on the base, and even with his impressive speed, he wouldn't reach it before the hour was up.
For the first time ever, Quinn could feel himself getting weaker and weaker.
He sat on the floor and read one last book.
He found nothing of use.
Quinn let out a sigh, and closed the book.
As he did, he saw Layla standing there, in front of him.
Seeing her, Quinn's eyes widened in surprise.
"Are…Are you okay?" She asked, tilting her head. Layla had a look of concern on her face, as Quinn was looking extremely pale.
She bent down so she was eye-level with Quinn.
She placed her hand on his forehead, as if she was taking his temperature.
"You…You're so…cold." She replied, astonished. "Do you…want me to take you to the doctor's office?" She asked.
Unfortunately, Quinn couldn't hear her.
To him, her voice sounded muffled, like she was miles away.
All he could focus on…was her neck. He could see it. The bulging veins in her neck. The rhythmic pulse of her heartbeat.
As Layla looked at Quinn, she saw his eyes start to glow red.
It frightened her, making her heart race, which, unknown to her, was making Quinn's ordeal even worse.
The urge was uncontrollable now.
Without a word, he reached up and grabbed Layla's arm.
Layla looked at his hand on her arm for a moment, before she let out a weak "yelp!" as Quinn pulled her closer towards him, until her neck was right in front of him.
"Sorry." He muttered, as he bit into her neck, his sharp, vampire fangs digging into her skin.
As Quinn had opened his mouth, he felt his teeth elongate, like with Riley in the canteen earlier.
He didn't know what had come over him. It was like he was in a trance, as if his body had taken control and was just running on pure instinct.
Surprisingly to Layla, she didn't feel any pain.
Rather, she felt pleasure.
A tingling sensation ran through her body, as she felt the blood rush up through her, and out her neck. Even if she wanted to resist, she couldn't, as the bite seemed to have a paralyzing effect.
Quinn continued to suck her blood, him not having control over his own body.
Eventually, Quinn regained his senses, and he immediately let go of Layla, her body falling to the ground.
"What the?" Quinn muttered as he looked around, his memory of the last few minutes hazy.
Looking down, he saw Layla on the ground. 'Oh, SHIT!' He thought, as a System message appeared in front of him.
[A+ Blood Type has been consumed. You have gained 1 Strength point.]
Quinn's blood ran cold, as he quickly realized that he had to get Layla out of the library, now.
Even though they were in the quiet part of the library, there was no telling when a student would stumble in, and make a scene upon seeing an unconscious girl on the floor.
Thankful, Quinn could still hear Layla breathing. So at least he didn't have to worry about accidentally sucking her dry.
Unfortunately, he could see two clear puncture marks on her neck, Layla looking as if she had been bitten by a snake.
Frantic, Quinn brought his watch up to his chest, and pressed his fingers against it, activating the screen.
He brought up the "contacts list", and scrolled down towards a particular name.
Pressing it, he waited with bated breath for a response.
Back with the Group of Tsukuru, Vorden, and Peter, Tsukuru and the purple-haired second-year continued to stare at each other.
A second later, the second-year student's gaze then shifted to Vorden.
"Vorden Blade." The boy replied, causing Vorden's face to harden. "You're coming with us." He replied.
Hearing this, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"And if he refuses?" Tsukuru asked.
The second-year glanced back down at him.
"You are not part of this conversation, runt." He replied dismissively.
Hearing this, Tsukuru gritted his teeth.
He was about to respond when suddenly, his watch began beeping, the screen flashing erratically.
For a second, Tsukuru just stood there, motionless.
He then glanced from the purple-haired second-year down to his watch.
He brought it up to his chest, looking down at the watch with great annoyance.
Then his eyes widened when he saw the caller ID.
It was Quinn.
Seeing the number, Tsukuru inwardly groaned.
Somehow, he just knew that this was going to give him a migraine. He brought his finger to the screen, answering the call.
"Hello?" Tsukuru asked.
Back in the library, Quinn let out a sigh of relief hearing Tsukuru's voice.
"Tsukuru, I need you to meet me at the doctor's office." Quinn replied, as he looked down at Layla's body on the floor.. "I…I made a mistake."
Tsukuru and Vorden both glanced at each other, them both raising their eyebrows in confusion.