Taste My Garlic Potion, Vampire

Lyla came out of the dorm with thick books tucked into her arms. Her steps hastily headed towards the Witch class building. But  as she passed the boys dorm, she suddenly stopped as few meters in front of her, three pale-skinned young man blocking her way.

"In such a rush?" Keegan, who was standing in the middle, chuckled.  His two friends were also doing the same thing.

"You, again!" She snapped. "Get out of my way, or I'll move the clouds up there so you'll get the sunburned." She threatened them.

Keegan and his two friends laughed at Lyla's threat. "She's idiot. She thinks we're afraid of the sun." Keegan said to his two friends.

"Yeah, I bet she read in the ancient books too much, and believed it like fools," said the young man on Keegan's right side.

"I just want to say good morning, Helliwell." Keegan said. A moment later, he sped up towards Lyla. The young man was now standing behind her, aiming for the girl's neck.

On reflex, Lyla swung the thick book she was holding into Keegan's face.

Pukk

"Auch!" shrieked Keegan, stroking his face.  Actually he didn't feel any pain, it was just that the girl's hard punch took him by surprise.

"Uuh, that's hurt," sneered one of the boy, met with laughter from the others.

"You Bitch!" Keegan cursed as he reached out to Lyla and his fingers made a gripping motion.

Lyla didn't have time to take something from under her coat because she had to fend off Keegan's attack. The two of them clashed with each other causing the dry leaves scattered on the ground fly around them.

Keegan's power seemed to be stronger. And Lyla desperately held back the young man's strong push, which continued to aim for her neck, causing her to be lifted into the air with strangling.

"Keegan, stop it!" A woman in a Victorian dress staggered out of the Vampire class building. "Let her go, Keegan!"

Keegan made an angry scoff. It was clear from the look on his face, he didn't like anyone interrupting his fun. But he obeyed the order of the woman---Madam Doyle---who was a teacher in the Vampire class.

Keegan dropped Lyla hardly. The girl's face was bright red. She coughed violently as soon as Keegan released her stranglehold.

"Are you all right?"  Mrs. Doyle helped Lyla to her feet.

Lyla just shook her head. She glared at Keegan who rewarded her with a light grin, then picked up her book on the ground. She ran towards the building that was her initial destination.

"Get to the class!"

Lyla could still hear Mrs. Doyle's voice giving order to her three students. The girl immediately entered the gabled-roofed building in front of her.

A dozen pairs of eyes stared at Lyla as soon as her feet stepped on the classroom.  Among them there was Deborah. The girl motioned for Lyla to sit beside her.

"Why are you late?" asked Deborah as Lyla put her butt on the wooden chair.

Lyla just shrugged. She was lazy enough to tell what had just happened to her.

"Hei! I'm talking to you, Helliwell. Behave, Girl, I'm in charge here!" Deborah said, annoyed. She felt slighted. "Understand?"

"Yes," replied Lyla casually.

Both were silent when a woman entered the classroom. Her appearance was eccentric.  Unlike the witches in general who like dark colors. The woman was actually wearing a pink dress patterned with green leaves.

Her face was made up with fresh colors, showing a cheerful impression accompanied by a smile that almost always appeared on her peach-colored lips.

"Mrs Morgan, potions teacher," whispered Deborah. "She is a little different. But, she's really good at her thing," explained the girl.

Apparently, Mrs. Morgan was a cheerful person. Whoever saw her, their heart would filled with flowers and happy. She always finished the words she said with a giggle.

"Healing!  Mrs. Morgan's shrill voice returned.  "The basic duty of a witch is to heal. There are two methods of Healing, can anyone name it?"

Lyla raised her hand, a few seconds faster than the other students. Mrs. Morgan squinted at her.  "Ah, the fresh girl. Helliwell."

"Energy and potions." Lyla answered quickly.

"Good." Mrs Morgan clapped her hands.  Then, she reached into the bag on the table, then slowly pulled something out. "You know what plant this is?" The woman showed a small plant with sharp green leaves and long purple flowers.

While the other students were frowning, again, Lyla raised her hand. "Lamia Divinerum. Its benefits are for detoxification. It expels black energy caused by witchcraft through the liquid that comes out of your mouth, or in other word, vomitting," explained Lyla, making the whole class stare at her.

"The explanation is in the Witch Potions book volume 13. Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Lyla while raising both hands and meeting everyone's gaze.

Mrs. Morgan giggled to break the ice. "You're an extreme reader, aren't you, Helliwell? Very good." She clapped her hands happily.

"Your task is to look for these leaves in the Caspian forest," continued the woman.

The whole room glanced at each other and whispered. While Deborah raised her hand asking Mrs Morgan to speak. "Isn't the Caspian forest very dangerous, Mrs. Morgan?

"Isn't that just a rumour?" The eccentric woman asked back. "The Caspian Forest is under the protection of the Moon Goddess, you will be fine, as long as you don't forget to bring your pentagram necklace with you."

"I want all of you to make a healing potion with Lamia Divinerum, and collect your work next week."

One class of sixteen students, divided into four groups, each would go to Caspian forest on a different day. Lyla was in the group with Deborah and two other girls---Sarah and Rebecca.

"You three, listen," said Deborah; as usual, the girl pretended she was the one leading the group. "This is a tough task. Looking for Lamia plants in the Caspian forest is very dangerous. We don't know what kind of monsters we will face in there. So, tonight, meet me in my room at eight." She explained, met by Sarah and Liana's heads nodding.

Lyla had her own plan. The library was the place that she could find more information about Caspian forest. A forest that everybody knew it was full of wierd things.

She sat on the library floor as she's struggling with a thick book about The Freaky world.  "Caspian forest, Caspian forest, Caspian forest ...." She whispered as she flipped through the thick book in her lap.

Her eyes caught a pair of black leather shoes that wrapped the two feet standing in front of her. The girl looked up and what she saw was Keegan's grin.

"Hello, Witch, looking for a potion recipe?"  chuckled the young man as he bent down, pretending to see the contents of the book in Lyla's hand.

Quickly the girl reached for something under her coat. A small spray bottle filled with a milky white liquid.  Lyla got up quickly, then sprayed it at Keegan's face.

"Ah, my face! My face!" Keegan shouted, startling the library's occupants.

"Taste the garlic potion from me," chuckled Lyla as she ran out before Mr. Burgog arrived to see what was happening. She didn't forget to grab the book she was reading earlier.

***