Revealed

wall.
    “Damn, man, you’re strong. Fucking keg weighs a ton,” Jason said appreciatively, rolling it so that it was positioned against the stone wall. Then, carefully, he stood on it, balancing by finding finger holds in the stones. “Right here. You can see in.” The boy pressed his face against the wall, his eyes disappearing as he peered. “It’s damn dark in there, but sometimes, usually about now, you can see vamps. And it don’t matter how cold it is—they don’t wear much. I’ve seen some serious vampyre leg and tit.” He hopped down. “Check it out.”
    Feeling surreal, Aurox followed Jason’s lead. He balanced easily on the metal barrel and there, at eye level, was a fist-sized hole in the school’s wall. Through it Aurox could see the sidewalk that stretched between the girls’ and boys’ dormitories. As he watched, two female fledglings came into view. Their voices carried to him, but the words were lost in the night. He could see them, though he didn’t recognize the two girls. With a little jolt of surprise he realized they were wearing skirts that showed their legs and little tops that stretched tightly over their breasts.
    Aurox got off the barrel and faced the two boys.
    “Did you see any of them?” Zack asked, eyes bright with excitement.
    “No,” Aurox said.
    “Well, shit. There’s been all sorts of action going on in there tonight, but we haven’t hardly been able to see nothing,” Jason said. “So, want a beer? We got another cup.”
    Not sure what else to do, Aurox nodded.
    “I’m Jason, and this is my cousin Zack,” Jason said, opening a spout on the keg, and then handing him the full cup.
    “To hot chicks!” Zack said, as he and Jason lifted their cups. Both boys looked at him expectantly.
    “Yes!” Aurox tried to sound normal and enthusiastic. When the two boys upended their cups and gulped down the liquid, he followed suit and took a long drink from the plastic cup. The beer was cold and a little bitter, but he liked it. He liked it a lot.
    “Drink up,” Jason said. “We have a shitload of beer. The other guys who were supposed to meet us here turned out to be dickless no-shows.”
    “Hey, all the more for us!” Zack said.
    Aurox drank with them, thinking that there was something very relaxing in just standing there with the two boys, and not having them look at him like he was a freak.
    Aurox took another long drink, finishing the cup. He wiped the foam from his mouth with the back of his hand, and then he heard himself blurting, “I’m Heath. Do you guys come here often?”
    Jason refilled all of their cups, then the two boys sat on the grass, their backs against the wall. Aurox sat across from them.
    “Nah, we just found this place a few nights ago.”
    “How?” Aurox asked and drank.
    “Well, we was drivin’ by, mindin’ our own business, and Zack says to stop—he sees lights
through
the wall,” Jason said. “I thought he was crazy.”
    “You thought I was drunk,” Zack corrected him.
    “You were both, dude,” Jason said, and laughed.
    “Yeah, but I was right. When we got out and I gave him a leg up, Jason found the hole.”
    “It was easier to see before. They had a bunch of Christmas tree lights strung all over the campus in there. Got a good look at some vampyre pussy. Damn, those girls are hot.”
    “Fledglings,” Aurox corrected him automatically.
    “What’s that?”
    “You probably didn’t see vampyres. You probably saw fledglings.”
    “Like I care? I saw leg and tit and it was hot,” Jason said. “So, did you find a hole, too?”
    “No,” Aurox said.
    “Damn! I was hoping you found somethin’ with more to see,” Jason said.
    “Hey, dickhead, you need to be happy with what I found. This is the best look we’ve had at
real
vampyres,” Zack told his cousin.
    “Fledglings,” Aurox corrected again, holding his cup out for another refill.
    Jason opened the spout again, refilling his cup, but Zack was watching Aurox carefully.
    “How do you know so much about them?” Zack asked.
    Jason sat up straighter. “Hey, are you one of their donors? Like, do you let them suck your blood?”
    “And fuck you?” Zack added.
    “No. No,” Aurox said, shaking his head, noticing that it was feeling strange—woozy—and the ground seemed to be swaying a little under him.
    “Look, we won’t say shit to anyone if you tell us how to get that gig,” Zack said.
    “Seriously, nobody. Not one person will know,” Jason