Back in the first-year dorms, Quinn was leaning against the door, trying to compose himself as he was panting.
He knew that if he went back in that room, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from lunging at Vorden.
Or to be more specific, his neck.
It was then that the door began to open.
Quinn jumped back in surprise.
Soon, Tsukuru walked out, and looked at Quinn.
Seeing the look on Quinn's face, made Tsukuru have an amused smirk.
"That anxious look on your face, I bet I know exactly what you're thinking…" He replied.
Hearing the amusement in his voice, Quinn's eye twitched in annoyance.
"This isn't a laughing matter, Tsukuru!" Quinn retorted.
Hearing the frustration in Quinn's voice, Tsukuru let out an amused snort.
"Hey, I'm not the one who gave Ms. Munrow a hickey in the library." He replied.
Tsukuru's words made Quinn want to slam his head into the hallway wall out of sheer embarrassment.
"Don't say it like that!" Quinn replied, before whipping back around, looking down the hall.
"We have to get back to the doctor's office. BEFORE Layla wakes up!"
The two exchanged looks and nodded, before they took off down the hall.
In the first-year nurse's office, Layla laid awake.
Images flashed through her mind of what had happened in the library.
She remembered everything.
As the images flashed through her mind, Layla started to get a weird, tingling feeling all over her body. It was as if her body was responding to the memory of Quinn biting her.
It wasn't a painful memory.
In fact, it was quite an…addictive feeling.
The sensation of the blood rushing through her body.
Her face started to turn red just thinking about it.
That's when she lifted her hand and placed it on her next where the bite marks had been.
"Huh, why can't I feel anything?" Layla asked.
Layla then heard a voice.
"Oh, you're awake." A feminine voice replied.
Layla looked up, and saw Hayley looking down at her.
"You were sleeping so peacefully there. I didn't know when you were going to wake up." Layla looked at her, a confused look on her face.
"How did I…get here?" She asked.
Hayley smiled.
"Oh, the boy with the black hair came in and dropped you off." She replied. "He said you were friends."
Layla thought back.
Black hair…that could only have been Quinn.
It must have been right after he bit her.
Hayley then noticed that Layla was rubbing the side of her neck.
"Oh, I got rid of those bite marks for you." She explained. "Do you remember what happened?"
Layla thought back to Quinn biting her.
The memory gave her goosebumps over her whole body.
"I'm not sure." Layla lied, looking away. "Maybe it was a Beast?"
Hayley raised her eyebrows.
"A Beast?" She asked.
Layla looked back at her.
"Yeah." She replied. "I hear a stray Beast can sometimes come in with students while they're training through portals." Layla said nervously.
"Whatever it was, I'm sure someone else will deal with it." Hayley said, as she began to walk away.
"It's just a good thing that you're safe now."
Meanwhile, Tsukuru and Quinn were running through the halls as fast as they could.
Of course, Tsukuru was slightly faster, giving his one-point-higher Agility Stat.
Meanwhile, Quinn's mind was running a thousand miles a minute.
He had to get to the doctor's office BEFORE Layla woke up.
He had NO IDEA how Layla would react.
Not only that, but what would be the consequences for biting someone?
If it was like the Vampire novels Quinn had read in the library, some Vampires had the ability to turn others.
Right now, Quinn thought that might be a better situation, compared to everyone finding out about his strange Ability.
Finally, they reached the door.
Tsukuru flung the door wide open.
As they frantically looked around for Layla, Hayley saw them, and smiled.
"Oh, hello again." She greeted. "If you're looking for the girl, she just left."
Tsukuru and Quinn exchanged looks.
"Did she say anything?" Tsukuru asked.
Hayley thought for a second.
"Oh, you mean about the wound?" Hayley asked. "She said it might have been from a Beast, but I highly doubt it. It looked more like a snake bite, but how did it get into the school, and get all the way up her neck?" Hayley rambled on.
Quinn let out a relieved sigh, causing Tsukuru to turn to him with a look saying he wanted to smack him.
"Thanks for letting me know." Quinn replied, as Tsukuru closed the door.
The two stood there, outside the closed door.
Quinn looked at Tsukuru.
"So, what do we do now?" He asked.
It was then that Quinn noticed Tsukuru narrowing his eyes.
"Ask her." He replied, pointing to someone behind Quinn.
Before Quinn could wonder what he meant by that, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Turning around, Quinn saw Layla looking at him, her hand on his shoulder.
"We need to talk." Layla muttered, rubbing her neck where Quinn had bit her.
Tsukuru led Quinn and Layla down the hall, and into the library.
The three of them sat at one of the desks, the Isolation Orb creating a sound-proof forcefield so they didn't have to worry about being overheard.
When they sat down, Layla took a deep breath.
"I…I've been watching you for a while, Quinn." Layla replied.
This statement completely stunned Quinn, but made Tsukuru narrow his eyes.
He remembered seeing Layla walk out of the woods with Shizuka last night.
"And…after observing you for a while, I came to a conclusion." She replied, before narrowing her eyes.
"You're a Vampire, aren't you?" She asked.
Hearing this, Quinn started laughing nervously, as if he was trying to laugh it off.
"What…What makes you think that?"
In response, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"Because she saw us last night." Tsukuru replied, glancing over to Quinn. "She was hiding in the woods when we were fighting Riley. And she saw…the aftermath."
Hearing this, Quinn's eyes widened, as he realized what Tsukuru was insinuating.
She had seen him…evolve.
Hearing Tsukuru's words, Layla gulped.
"I…I saw you lift up that boy last night." She replied, looking away.
Hearing this sent a jolt of panic through Quinn.
"I…I didn't know what you were doing. But…after what happened in the library, it essentially confirms it for me."
There was a tense silence.
Quinn started to sweat nervously, while Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
Both Quinn and Tsukuru quickly realized one thing:
Though Layla herself wasn't a problem, she could cause them trouble in the future.
Tsukuru glanced over at Quinn, deciding that he would wait to see how Quinn reacted.
Quinn on the other hand, didn't know what to say, and just ended up deciding to wait until Layla made her demand.
Layla took a deep breath.
"I want you to hear me out." Layla replied. "I want…you to turn me. Into a Vampire."
Quinn was shocked speechless by Layla's words, but eventually, he let out a sigh.
"It's not what you think." He finally replied. "I'm not a Vampire. I got like this from an Ability Book."
Suddenly, the smile on Layla's face dropped.
Tsukuru turned to him, a look of confusion on his face.
It looked like he had something he wanted to say, but decided to wait for later to bring it up.
Hearing this, Layla's smile fell.
She knew what that meant.
A human could only learn one Ability.
And since she already knew her Telekinesis Ability, she couldn't learn Quinn's "Vampire" Ability.
Over the next few minutes, Quinn proceeded to explain everything that had happened to him up to this point, only leaving out everything about the System.
"And I suppose…you want me to keep this a secret?" She asked.
The death glare Tsukuru shot her was answer enough.
"Fine." She muttered, looking away. "I'll keep this a secret. But only on one condition."
Layla turned to Quinn.
"Let me help you."
Tsukuru and Quinn raised their eyebrows in confusion.
"Clearly, you don't know much about this…'Vampire' Ability. " Layla replied. "To the point that you went out of control, and bit my neck."
At her statement, Quinn looked to the side, embarrassed by the memory.
"We can't have you going around biting people." Layla continued. "They'll take you away in a heartbeat."
Tsukuru glanced to the side.
"Agreed." Tsukuru muttered.
"So, if Quinn needs someone to feast on, he can feast on me." Layla replied.
Tsukuru turned to Quinn, who had a look of contemplation on his face.
Having Layla's help would be a big advantage.
Quinn actually wanted to test multiple things about the System, and here he had someone willing to help for free.
Also, it seemed that Layla truly was telling the truth.
Not only that, but it seemed that Layla was more knowledgeable about Vampires than himself.
Perhaps she would even be able to help him with research.
Tsukuru saw Quinn outstretch his hand towards Layla.
"It's a deal." Quinn replied, and he and Layla shook hands.
In truth, Layla hadn't given up on becoming a Vampire.
Unlike Quinn, Layla wasn't sure what Quinn had was an Ability in the first place.
An Ability was usually a specific set of Skills, but Quinn had completely changed, as if he was no longer human.
Layla smiled.
"Alright, then first thing's first." Layla replied, as she began to reach for her collar. "You're going to need some of my blood."
As she looked up at the two, she saw they both had nervous, guilty looks, with neither of them being able to look her in the eye.
Tsukuru coughed into his hand.
"Actually." He replied, as pixels began to appear in his hand.
The pixels clustered together, and soon, Layla could see a syringe filled with blood in his hand.
Tsukuru glanced to the side, unable to meet Layla's gaze.
"Quinn kinda took some from you when you were unconscious." He replied.
Layla turned to Quinn with an incredulous look on her face.
Quinn, in response, glanced away, laughing nervously.
Suddenly, something caught Tsukuru's eye.
Tsukuru placed the syringe back in his System's Inventory, the syringe breaking apart into pixels.
As Layla and Quinn continued to talk, Tsukuru got up from the table, and walked towards the entrance.
There, he found Vorden.
Looking at him, he saw that the alignments of the images had shifted again. And this time, the image that was usually on top was on the left.
"Well, well, well." Tsukuru said, causing "Vorden" to turn to him. "I finally get to meet the illusive Sil Blade."
The now-named Sil ignored him, as he kept looking at the couple.
Tsukuru glanced over at them.
"Oh, that." He muttered. "Yeah, remember that little 'situation' from this morning?" He asked.
Sil turned to him.
"Is she the 'mistake'?" Sil asked bitterly.
Tsukuru sighed.
"In a manner of speaking." He replied. "She's…helping him with some…personal issues."
Sil continued staring at Quinn.
"I won't be replaced that easily." Sil muttered. "He's mine, and I won't let anyone hurt him."
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes as he too looked at the two of them at the desk.
"Why don't we put on the breaks for now, Sil." Tsukuru replied, causing Sil to glance down at him. "She seems to be a complete anomaly and to actually be a GOOD person."
Tsukuru's developed a steely glare.
"But keep that attitude." He muttered. "In this world, you can never truly trust people."
Sil nodded, eyes still narrowed.