Avery Adlam (averyisgone) wrote in low_tide, @ 2009-11-15 13:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | avery adlam, corbett renfroe |
Teacher-Student Meeting
He sat on a bench on the Stock Island campus of Florida Keys Community College. His eyes were trained on the Cow Key Channel, which separated the campus from the rest of Key West. When Avery had first heard the name, he had laughed. The school was small by modern standards, like a microcosm of a larger university. It suited the vampire's needs, though. He had found someone, she'd been studying late at the library -- that had brought back a small piece of nostalgia -- and he walked alongside her. Using his words to distract and corral her, they had ended up near the waterfront. Avery had bitten her, just like that. No pretense. She tried to scream, but he muffled it. Besides the two fang marks in her neck, he didn't hurt her.
The vampire pretended to lose his grip on her, and she ran. Dropping her bag, too caught up in her own escape to notice he wasn't giving chase. Now he remained on the campus, and he knew that wasn't the smartest of moves. But it had been an hour and security hadn't come calling. The girl had probably gone straight home.
He felt as if a lead weight had settled inside him somewhere, and he was rooted to that bench. When had the water become so hypnotic to him?
As was often the case, Corbett had been so wrapped up in his work that he had lost track of time. The Watcher always tried to leave campus before the sun set; a man his age had better things to do than go face-to-face with a vampire or other sort of supernatural beast. Though Corbett had been a hand-to-hand combat expert in his younger years, time had robbed him of some of his strength and quickness. Already limited by the constraints of humanity, Corbett found that age was a further inhibitor.
Between working on lecture notes for Wednesday's class and combing through the latest round of Council-supplied data, Corbett hadn't noticed the sun setting. It was a good thing the Watcher didn't have much of a social life; otherwise, these late hours would be a tad pathetic.
Campus was quiet, and Corbett felt himself shudder. The place, for all its tropical overtones and inherent serenity, was actually sort of creepy when there was no one here. The sooner he got to his car, the better.
The distant footsteps somewhere behind Avery shook him out of his semi-trance. He quickly wiped the blood from his lips with the sleeve of his jacket. He had the girl's tan-colored backpack beside him. He rubbed his eyes, which had been starting to water. A human would turn around and look, right? Usually when you heard someone approaching on an empty college campus at night ... the vampire turned his head, and caught sight of a distracted-looking man headed toward the parking lot. Definitely not security. They tended not to wear sweaters and pressed slacks.
Avery pegged him immediately as a professor. He recognized that weary gait. Even the way he carried his bag reminded him of his father.
A figure several feet off caught Corbett's eye, and he nearly stopped. What was someone else doing out here this late? Corbett at least had the excuse of losing himself in his work; something told Corbett no one else had that problem here. His instincts weren't screaming at him, so Corbett slowly approached the other figure. As he closed in, Corbett noticed it was a young male -- probably a student, a theory supported by the backpack by his side.
The Watcher didn't recognize the student, not that it meant that much; Corbett had only been working here for two weeks.
"'Ello," he said once he was within earshot. "Nice to see I'm not the only one who lives here."
The corner of Avery's mouth turned up. "I was studying and fell asleep in the library," he lied easily. "Just sitting here, trying to get my bearings before I drive home. Being tired and driving is almost as bad as drunk driving." The vampire feigned a yawn. "I've been working overtime lately for finals." It was a bluff, but an informed one. The academic calendar didn't really change much over the years.
He stood and shouldered the bag. It was heavy with books; no wonder the girl had dropped it. Not that it would have helped much, had he decided to really chase her down. She would probably think he was some crazy person with a biting fetish. Vampire wasn't always the first thing that popped into someone's mind.
Maybe later on he'd toss the bag in lost and found. He didn't have any use for textbooks or lecture notes.
Corbett chuckled, shaking his head. "If only half my students had your work ethic," he lamented.
Not that academic laziness was a huge problem in his class, but Corbett got the impression that a few of his students weren't taking the class seriously. He knew there were students who didn't think community college was the real deal when it came to higher education; he actually overheard a student last week call it "high school with ashtrays." The Watcher laughed at that, imagining the wake-up call that awaited the student when he tried to transfer to a four-year school, only to be turned away because of his grades.
Maybe his background as a professor at the Watchers' Academy skewed his opinion, but Corbett felt every class was important, no matter where it was taught.
"What are you studying?" he asked, noticing how heavy the backpack must've been.
Avery smiled in commiseration, but the next question caught the vampire slightly off-guard. "I'm doing general studies," he replied after a moment. "I'm doing all my prerequisites here, because they're cheaper. I figure I'll decide my major when I transfer." He paused, then added. "I'm interested in law, though."
Deciding to shift the subject back to the professor, Avery asked, "What do you teach? I don't believe I've seen you around school."
Corbett smiled. That was actually quite smart on the kid's part. From what little Corbett knew about the American higher education system, a lot of those "general studies" classes were available at both community colleges and four-year schools, so if students could save money taking those while trying to decide on a course of study, then all the better. Considering how expensive a higher education was, that wasn't a bad idea.
"I'm new," he said. "I'm Dr. Ivanov's replacement in the history department."
Corbett extended his right hand. "Mr. Renfroe."
Returning the gesture, Avery shook the professor's hand. "I haven't taken any history classes yet," he remarked. "Did Dr. Ivanov retire?" He grinned sheepishly. "I kind of get lost in my own little world and tend to miss some pretty important announcements." It wasn't hard for the vampire to seem slightly spacey. He usually was lost in thought; it was the sound of someone's thudding heartbeat, or the taste of blood on his tongue, that usually brought things back into focus. Had he grown up in this modern generation, he probably would have been bestowed the attention deficit disorder tag.
The question caught Corbett a little off-guard. "Erm, not exactly," he offered. "We're ... not exactly sure what happened to him."
The young man's hand seemed cool to the touch, but the Watcher chalked at up to the relatively mild evening air. Even though the days were still quite warm on the southernmost part of Florida, nights were often at least a little on the cool side. A slight breeze came off the water, and Corbett could feel his gray hair fluttering in the wind. It was the only reason he had on a sweater over his shirt and tie.
"I'm teaching American History After 1865," he added. "Might add a Latin History course next semester, too."
Avery frowned. That sounded ominous. He knew he couldn't be the only vampire in the city, but wouldn't they have found Dr. Ivanov's body if he'd been drained? Maybe he ran away. He shrugged away the thought; it wasn't really his concern. "I took a course like that in high school, but it was probably a lot less comprehensive." The vampire began walking toward the parking lot.
"Maybe I'll take one of your classes next semester." He glanced at Dr. Renfroe. "Britain, right? I'm not the best at placing accents."
The Watcher nodded, also heading in the direction of the parking lot. If the night hadn't been so chilly, he might've driven his motorcycle to work, but the wind would've been too much, so Corbett brought the car instead. Fortunately, the Council paid him well enough that he could make that choice; Corbett loved his motorcycle, but he knew also having a car made sense on a couple different levels.
"Yes, I'm from London," he said. "And don't think my students don't notice the irony of a British man teaching American history."
He glanced the young man's way, simultaneously fishing the car keys out of his pocket. "Are you from here?"
"It's not any more ironic than an American teaching British history," Avery replied, giving a small shrug. "As long as you know the material. My father was a teacher," he added. "So I have respect for the profession. I've also heard plenty of horror stories."
The vampire glanced over at his 'borrowed' Kia sedan. "I'm from Miami, originally. I moved out here when I was eighteen. I was thinking about joining the armed forces," he improvised. "But I changed my mind when my father died. I decided I'd give school a try. It's what he would have wanted."
"I'm sure your father would be proud," Corbett said with a forced smile. He felt a little awkward making such conversation with someone he didn't know, and he hoped he was hiding that fact. He approached his maroon Camaro, almost feeling as if he was showing off. He was pretty sure his salary from the school wasn't enough on its own to pay for the car; thankfully, Corbett's actual career made up for that.
"Best of luck to you," he said as he unlocked the driver's side door. He glanced the young man's way again, finding him paler than usual. Then again, the moon was bright in the night sky, and it was bouncing off the water. Maybe that was all it was; besides, if the man spent as much time studying as he said, getting sun wasn't his priority.
His instincts called out briefly, but Corbett ignored them.
"Perhaps I'll see you next semester," he said. "Mr. ...?"
The professor had a nice car. It would be so easy to get rid of Dr. Renfroe and take it. "Adlam," he replied. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll see you around again." It would be a while before he used the campus as a hunting ground again, but the teacher seemed determined to stay at the school. "And good luck to you, too," the vampire added, taking his own keys out of his pocket and walking over to his car.