Blood Queen Reborn-Chapter 17: Truth Bomb

There were rules that said that the boys couldn’t visit the girls’ dorm rooms, and vice versa, however, they weren’t strictly enforced like a lot of the academy’s other rules. Because of this, Quinn was able to go to the girls’ dorm room, so long as he wasn’t causing any trouble.

After checking to see if the place truly was empty, Layla, Erin, and Quinn were in the girls’ dorm room. Erin and Layla sat on their beds, while Quinn was sitting on a chair, and they were all facing one another.

"That thing you did to me in the library," Layla began, an intensity in her voice, "I think I know what you are."

Quinn gulped. There was some sort of hope that maybe Layla didn’t know what happened with her, but that was clearly not the case.

Layla continued, "Erin, you have sharp fangs, and you drank my blood. Not only that, but you asked me about this topic just yesterday. This could only mean one thing..."

"...You’re a vampire, aren’t you?" Layla concluded with a twinkle of excitement in her eyes.

"Correction. I’m actually a halfling," Erin replied.

Layla tilted her head, "A halfling? Like, you’re half vampire, half human? Either way, you’re a type of vampire. What else would drink blood?"

Quinn nervously chuckled, "We don’t know that for sure, what if Erin is actually, uh, part beast?"

Some part of him was hoping that whatever happened to Erin would remain a secret, and that he could explain it as something else. However, it was already too late for that.

"I’m not a beast!" Erin shot back.

"I don’t think beasts would do what Erin did," Layla replied.

Quinn sighed and waved his hands, "Forget it, let’s just get back on topic. You promise you won’t tell anyone about Erin’s secret, right?"

Layla shook her head, "Of course not. This is like finding out unicorns are real, I’d keep this secret to myself until the day I die."

The two let out a sigh of relief, but then Layla spoke up again, "But— I have a request. I promise to keep the secret if you do this one thing for me..."

Both Erin and Quinn glanced at each other nervously, waiting for Layla’s response.

"I want to be turned. Make me into a vampire."

The two almost yelled at the same time, "No you don’t!"

Layla was taken aback by this, "Well why not? They have superhuman strength, superhuman speed, superhuman powers, superhuman everything." As she was listing the things off, Layla was counting the pros on her fingers.

"You really don’t. I’m already having trouble just trying to manage Erin—" Quinn stated.

"Wow. You’re right, but wow," Erin gave Quinn a cold stare.

"—And we don’t have a consistent source of blood."

"And I’m weak in the sunlight," Erin added.

Layla’s eyes grew wide as she pleaded, "Come on, it’s a childhood dream of mine. This kind of thing only happens in fantasy novels or fairy tales, and you’re telling me you can make this happen right now?" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

’I— Is she crazy?’ Quinn thought.

{Quinn} It’s not just me, right? That becoming a vampire being your childhood dream is strange?

{Erin} I agree.

{Erin} Why would anyone want to become a human mosquito?

{Quinn} I guess that’s one way of describing a vampire...

"Even if I wanted to, I can’t turn you into a vampire," Erin stated, which caused Layla’s face to drop.

"You... You can’t?!" Layla almost squeaked out, "But wait— how’d you become a vampire in the first place?"

"Halfling," Erin corrected.

Layla’s eyes began to light up again, perhaps there was hope, "Were you bitten by someone?"

"No?"

"Born as one?"

"Nope."

"Then how?" Layla ultimately asked. She was completely out of guesses now.

"I bled on a book that this boy owned," Erin coldly commented, referring to Quinn.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Layla said before grabbing an arrow from under her bed.

She was about to cut the palm of her hand when Erin had stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"What are you doing?" Erin asked.

"You said that you bled on a book to become a vampire, right? Show me this book!"

They were both realizing the full extent of just how crazy Layla really was. Not only did she really want to become a vampire, but she was willing to go this far just to do it.

"We can’t because when Erin got turned by the book, it vanished," Quinn quickly explained.

For the second time that day, Layla’s hopes and dreams were crushed. If it happened a third time, then Layla was bound to be depressed forever.

"Oh..." Layla whispered.

"I get that it’s your childhood dream or whatever, but I lost my ability because of this," Erin said. "I doubt I can get a new ability again."

Layla paused at hearing Erin talk about her ability, "Wait, you lost your ability?"

Erin nodded.

It was then that she was beginning to understand the problem with being turned into a vampire. If she suddenly lost her ability, then there was no way for her to relearn a new one. Once you learned an ability, you couldn’t change it to anything else.

"It’s good that only Erin is a vampire," Quinn said, "If I gave you two blood, then I’m going to constantly worry about blood loss in fights, and... uh..." Suddenly, thoughts of having two girl vampires bite into him began to flood Quinn’s mind, which worried him.

"I... I’m not sure if I would have that much to give," Quinn eventually replied, with a slight flush on his face.

"Okay, fair..." Layla responded, before her eyes brightened up a little, "Wait, are you allergic to garlic?"

"No, I had garlic bread this morning. It was bland."

"What about silver?"

"My sword has silver embedded in it."

"What about crosses? I know the world back then had them," Layla continued.

"Why would I have that?" Erin said.

"Well, I’m struggling to see any downsides. You don’t really seem to have the usual weaknesses that a vampire might have aside from sunlight, but you haven’t died because of it. I would’ve been fine with being a vampire even if I could’ve disintegrated in the sun."

"You’re very adamant about this," Quinn commented.

"I don’t want to give up just yet. Erin hasn’t always been a halfling and was previously human," Layla then turned towards Erin, "Maybe you can turn me when you’re a full vampire?"

"Fine, but only if you’re willing to give me your blood in return," Erin stated.

"Deal," Layla said, holding out her hand for a handshake, "I was going to offer that anyway."

Erin looked at her hand, then slowly shook it.

"Well, if that’s everything—" Quinn got up from his chair, "Then, I’m heading back to my dorm."

As Quinn got up, Erin had taken notice of him holding his broken frames. Not only had they split in half, but they had clear signs of being hastily and poorly repaired over the years. Different kinds of tape, both clear and opaque, covered the black frames. Perhaps she was being too harsh and didn’t appreciate just how much he was trying to help.

A twinge of guilt wedged into Erin’s chest. She glanced at her arm to look at her watch, displaying the number one. She had a reputation as a level 5 ice ability user, but how long would it take for someone to notice she was now a lowly level 1? If what Quinn had said was true, she was going to need to find someone who could help her out eventually.

Quinn was at the door, his hand twisting on the handle. Erin then got up and lifted a hand out to reach him.

"Wait, Quinn," Erin called out, "Let me escort you back."

Quinn paused at those words, then he commented, "It’s only a short walk," before heading outside. Erin then turned to face her roommate, who looked to be troubled by something as she was absent-mindedly scratching her cheek.

"Did you seriously lose your ability?" she asked, "It’s only going to be a matter of time until they notice."

"I realize that now," Erin replied.

"Do you have a plan for that?"

"Get strong enough so that no one could do anything about it."

"...Right," Layla slowly said, "You’re going to need some serious armor and weapons if you’re going to do that."

They both knew there wasn’t much they could do about the situation. Unless she could find someone who could hack her watch, Erin would be on borrowed time.

Glancing at her watch again, there was still enough time to train at the gaming pods, and she was curious about her new skill. She grabbed her sword, which was leaning against the wall.

"I’m going out."

As Erin left the dorm, Layla stared at the door, and she began thinking about the fact that she had lost her ability. If someone was able to lose their ability from a book but gained some sort of enhancement to their body...

’Do I need to tell mom about this?’ Layla thought, looking underneath her bed.