[hr][center][h1]|| [color=slategray]Toby Yazawa[/color] & [color=teal]Irvette Reimer[/color] ||[/h1][/center][hr]
[b][code]Eisbeulf University, 8:58 AM[/code][/b]

Day Two of college class was no different from yesterday, but at least the attention on Toby wasn't as intense. Maybe he needed a few more days to be able to blend in with the students here completely. He should be grateful to Meg for giving him a chance to go through the rest of his human routine he that was cut short due to an unfortunate incident that happened to him a year ago. Taking the usual seat near the top-end of the lecture hall, the young Asian man settled down with the laptop all booted up and ready before him on the table, but his mind was on the hunt with Meg last night:

[indent][i]Nighttime was the perfect time Toby would go out for a hunt. With the enhanced senses that came with vampirism, it wasn't much of a problem for him to feel his way around in the dark. However, tonight was different from usual.

He had been running after Meg through the woods for hours (at least that was what he felt, since he was pretty much dashing through the greens non-stop for a long time), but they had yet encounter a single animal, let alone their dinner - a bear.

[color=slategray]"Hey, Meg,"[/color] he called after his vampiric mentor. [color=slategray]"Hold up a moment. Something doesn't feel... right."[/color]

[color=seagreen]"You sense it, too?"[/color] Meg suddenly stopped in her tracks, balancing herself on one of the bigger branches of a coniferous tree. [color=seagreen]"Even if humans might have been starting to poach around this region lately, it shouldn't have such a[/color][/i] [color=seagreen]drastic[/color] [i][color=seagreen]effect on the ecosystem here in such a short time."[/color]

Toby scanned his surroundings, taking in the thick vegetation while looking out for anything suspicious. Other than the both of them, there wasn't any other creature - animal or human - within miles of his superpowered sight.[/i] Where could they have gone to? What's going on here?

[i][color=seagreen]"Speaking of which..."[/color] Meg spoke again, hopping down from the branch to the ground below. [color=seagreen]"In all my years I've lived in this town, the recent news has been strangely livelier than before."[/color]

[color=slategray]"Huh?"[/color] Toby couldn't help feeling annoyed at Meg's overly laid-back attitude as he followed suit, landing next to her. [color=slategray]"Why would you care about some news?"[/color][/i] They'd probably be repeating the same old human mistakes over and over again, for eternity[i], he thought sarcastically.

Meg didn't seem to catch the irritation in his tone - or she just didn't care at all. [color=seagreen]"Unexpected encounters with stray wildlife, missing people... Sounds awfully busy for a small, secluded place like this, hmm?"[/color]

[color=slategray]"How would I know?"[/color] Toby could only shrug in response. Eisbeulf wasn't his true hometown - Meg brought him here in order for his... new appearance to blend in with the humans better than where he had originally come from.

Meg turned to give him a look. [color=seagreen]"...Seems like you still have much to learn, my dear."[/color]

Before Toby could make a snide comeback at her, his nose caught something the scent of something - it wasn't as sweet as Irvette's, but he was already at the limit of his thirst. Ignoring the amused expression on the older vampire's face, Toby's instinct as a vampire kicked in, and in no time he had wrestled a wild deer to its knee, his teeth sinking into the fur and skin as he began to suck the poor animal dry.

[color=seagreen]"Hey, hey,"[/color] Meg's chimed as she caught up behind him. [color=seagreen]"Take it easy. But I'm honestly amazed that you could hold out for this long without blood - and broke my record when I was still a newborn."[/color]

Toby wiped off the deer blood around the corner of his lips with a hand and stood up. [color=slategray]"Whatever - I've won the bet, so you owe me a favor. Which I'm going to put you in my debt until I need to use it."[/color]

Meg rolled her eyes at him. [color=seagreen]"Is this how you talk to your[/color][/i] [color=seagreen]mother[/color][i][color=seagreen]?"[/color]

[color=slategray]"[/color][/i][color=slategray]Sister[/color][i][color=slategray],"[/color] Toby corrected her automatically, turning around to go back to their cottage house when Meg grabbed his arm to stop him. "What?"

[color=seagreen]"Well, well,"[/color] Meg muttered with narrowed eyes. [color=seagreen]"I think I've found our supposed[/color][/i] [color=seagreen]dinner[/color][i][color=seagreen]... on the loose."[/color] Something in her serious expression told him that there was more to what she was saying...[/i][/indent]
In the end, Meg had him in her vice-like grip to prevent him from going after whatever Meg had felt with her 'power' and dragged him home. The lady vampire seemed vexed for the rest of the night, so Toby was glad to get out of the house as soon as he could. Facing a bunch of ignorant humans was much better than being anywhere near an irritated Meg now. He wondered what could have made his normally nonchalant benefactor so riled up all of a sudden, and for hours.

Though, that same girl next to him from yesterday was a different story altogether. Thanks to last night he now had more self-control over his hunger for human blood, but this one was oddly intoxicating. It was taking him all the mental power he could muster just to ignore her very existence. Not helping when her scent was testing the limit of his sanity.

[hr]
As she'd woken up with the first blip of her alarm, Irvette arrived in her math class fully awake and alert. She had been rather on edge lately, especially at night. Although she figured it was just her being paranoid, Irvette always felt like she was being watched at night, like something was following her and hunting her down like in some thriller film.

[color=teal][i]It's just the first year spooks[/i][/color], Irvette told herself, reminding herself that it was just paranoia. Still she couldn't shake the feeling even though she did her best to ignore it. [color=teal][i]At least I still sleep fine.[/i][/color]

Plopping down onto her seat, Irvette pulled out her notebook and pen, uncapping it and spinning in before looking at the boy next to her. [color=teal]"Morning Toby,"[/color] she said brightly. [color=teal]"Ready for a morning of math?"[/color]

[color=slategray][i]Speak of the devil.[/i][/color] Toby didn't even need to look up from his laptop screen to know who was speaking to him. There could only be one person with that overpowering sweetness that almost made him lost his cool yesterday. And he prided himself for having better self-control than his century-old 'mother'.

[color=slategray]"Morning,"[/color] he responded back without looking at the speaker, determined to keep his unblinking eyes straight ahead at the screen. Though, he couldn't help trying to crack a joke at Irvette's next question. [color=slategray]"Who wants to be ready for Math this early in the day? Unless you're a nerd for numbers."[/color] Then he smirked to himself.

[color=teal]"True,"[/color] Irvette said, laughing lightly at the joke. The professor entered then, sliding the whiteboard down to begin scrawling down numbers for his lecture.

Toby was certainly [i]not[/i] ready for class - the page on his screen had nothing to do with Math. Calculus was the least of his worries when Meg's queer reactions were still fresh on his mind. His companion wasn't kidding when she commented about how busy this supposedly quiet town seemed to be these few days. He didn't bother to hide the news article on his laptop monitor, because he was more concerned about this than some number theories he probably wouldn't need them in his daily life - for eternity.

Finally turning to Irvette, he asked her in a low voice, only enough for the girl to hear him, [color=slategray]"Do you know... anything about last night?"[/color] He paused for a moment to choose his words carefully. [color=slategray]"I heard there's a beast of sorts on loose in the residential area..."[/color]

[color=teal]"A beast?"[/color] Irvette echoed, eyes wide as she turned to the boy who'd shared the news. [color=teal]"No, I haven't heard anything about that. Is it... here? In Eisbeulf?"[/color] 

Irvette's mind swirled back to the night before -- the ominous atmosphere, the rustling bushes, the creeping feeling that someone or some[i]thing[/i] was following her. [color=teal][i]Was it... the beast?[/i][/color] Irvette thought, thoughts skipping to the worst possibilities before she stopped herself. [color=teal][i]It shouldn't be -- why spare me then?[/i][/color] She thought, refocusing on Toby.

Toby continued to watch Irvette closely. Seemed like she knew something - from the fleeting moment she looked away before she refocused on him again - but he wasn't sure.

[color=slategray]"Mhm,"[/color] he replied, still not taking his eyes off her. [color=slategray]"Some said it's a bear. It's [i]strange[/i] how wild animals are moving away from the woods to the town areas, isn't it?"[/color]

[color=teal]"Definitely out of the ordinary. Has anyone figured out why they're leaving the woods?"[/color] the girl asked, frowning. [color=teal]"Usually animals are smart enough to know to avoid areas where humans dwell."[/color]

[color=teal][i]See, Irvette. Nothing to be afraid of, it's just a lost bear wandering around. Nothing more[/i][/color], she thought to herself, trying to ease off the nervousness she felt. It worked, to a certain extent -- the nipping nervousness she felt receded to a light tapping that only bothered her when she thought deeply.

Toby couldn't help thinking back about Meg's words last night. He had a feeling that she wasn't talking about the bears or wildlife in this area. It sounded like something else, something [i]more[/i] than just animals--

[color=slategray][i]Hang on.[/i][/color]

He remembered Meg telling him that the two of them were the only vampires in Eisbeulf. None of the covens would come here - or rather, they wouldn't want to risk coming here. For one, this town was packed with people around Irvette's age... A perfect place to feed on these young bloods, or even turn them into a powerful army of newborns. Those would be enough to get the dreaded Volturi coming down and ending this quiet town with a bloodbath.

Just like what had happened with the Cullens. Every vampire knew about their story, the battle at Washington for turning a girl Bella Swan into a vampire, and even giving birth to a hybrid - half-immortal - child.

He wondered why Meg was bold enough to bring him, who was still a newborn (until the end of the month), to this place. Maybe their allegiance wasn't with the Volturi? Some Asian vampire organization he didn't know?

He realized how little he knew about the woman who had saved his life, even if she granted this curse on him. Well, he had a very long life ahead to find out.

...If he and Meg could live long enough without getting eliminated by the Volturi.

Noticing Toby's brows furrow, Irvette turned to him and opened her mouth to ask if he was okay. The frown on the boy's face completed a portrait of conflict that made the girl hesitate to interrupt. [color=teal][i]Something from home?[/i][/color] She wondered briefly, figuring that the boy needed some space to think. Focusing her attention on the professor, Irvette put her pen to paper.