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Ashworth Academy was, to the outside world, a school for the unusually gifted and talented. The Manchester Journal even quoted ‘The most promising students ever known anywhere dwell through the very corridors of that place…’ And it wasn’t the only paper to say so. Countless times, the name of said academy appeared in newspapers. There were articles stating how every student in the school managed to get full marks on their exams; especially in Ancient History. It seemed that the prestigious private boarding school was home to some of the finest students in the state, and quite possibly the entire nation. Not one school had ever beaten them in any sport; the students were said to be ‘fast as lightening and strong as oxen’, and no school out there ever beat their record for highest test scores. It was every student’s dream to walk through those doors and join the impossible academy and its inhabitants. But, of course that was not possible, for this school, like everything else in this strange world, was not what it seemed…and held its own dark secret.
There was a reason why the campus was closed off. There was a reason why the students had no contact with anyone outside the towering stone walls. To the outside world, this was just another private school. But to all those students who roamed the halls, it was a school for immortal souls.
At one point in time, Ashworth truly was a regular, private boarding school. It was only twelve years ago that a vampire was appointed headmaster (due to a mysterious death of the previous) and began the renovations to transform the school into a haven for adolescent vampires. Their unique abilities made it possible to keep the scores to Ashworth standard and not cause anything suspicious, but the weekly "field trips" to nearby cities were hard to mask. Fortunately, Ashworth had a fairly small number of students, so the disappearances were never connected with the isolated students.
For twelve years the school was only home to vampires; but now that's changed. Many businessmen who were involved in the school's financial aspects came up with a new scholarship program-the Ashworth Project-to aid the most prospecting students across the nation in order for them to attend Ashworth. The large sum of money that the government was offering Howard Strand was too much to pass up. And so many of the nation's most promising students, as well as the children of the people working on the Ashworth Project, were accepted to the school; and every single one was human.
Now, Strand knew that this would be a hardship for his students. But, he knew he couldn't let anything happen to the children of the dedicated workers of the Ashworth Project, what with getting weekly funds for supporting the plan; so, he created rules for the vampires, rules prohibiting the murder of the humans attending the school. But how long will the vampires be able to mask their murderous identities? How long will it be before the humans find out the deep, dark secret of Ashworth? The choice is yours, and yours alone.
© rachel&moony
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PLOT
