Spike + Vampire: Highschool of Monsters (Freshman)

It was a nice and calm summer morning in the home of Spike Roman. The sun was shining. The birds were filling the air with the sweet songs they sing. And Spike was sitting in his bed, holding something that he made sure to keep hidden from the rest of his family. Though, his parents weren't home. They were off on a couples retreat and left the brothers in charge of the house.

It was a mature-rated manga! It wasn't hentai, but the scenes were quite graphic and left little to the imagination of a hormone-addled teenager. It was one of his favorites. It was called "Monster Island Dreamscape". The story revolves around a guy named Akira Minamoto and he finds himself transported to an island full of monsters with the intent of him being a human sacrifice! But, instead of the monsters eating him, the female monsters all fall in love with him. He then tries to live a peaceful life on an island full of horny she-beasts. Akira always finds himself in compromising positions with his harem from hell. Spike was getting to the part where the Lamia girl coils around Akira and starts licking his neck when he heard a knock at his bedroom door, which he always kept locked when he had his reading sessions.

"Yo, Spike! Can I talk to you for a minute?", his older brother Garble asked from behind the door.

"Yeah!", Spike replied before putting his manga in his hiding spot and opening the door.

Garble walked into the room followed by their dog Amy.

Amy was a sweet dog. She was a short-legged dog that was mostly white except for a few black spots here and there. She had a patch of brown that covered half of her face. Her floppy ears perked up at seeing Spike, one of her favorite humans. Whenever someone sat down, she'd go right up to them and roll over onto her back and expose her stomach to someone. That was her way of asking for belly rubs. Amy was also terribly afraid of thunderstorms.

She waddled over to Spike, looked up at him, and then proceeded to roll over onto her back. Spike just smiled and rubbed Amy's stomach vigorously. Amy just closed her eyes and started enjoying the affection she was receiving. After a little bit, Spike stopped and looked up at his older brother.

"What's up?", Spike asked.

"Breakfast is ready. Better eat it now before it gets cold.", he informed Spike.

As if on cue, Spike's stomach began to growl.

"I think I will eat breakfast."

"Good. Don't worry, I made sure to make a lot of food for you. You're still a growing boy, after all.", Garble said while ruffling Spike's hair. Spike playfully pushed him away.

"Oh please! Once I get into high school this fall, I'll go from being a boy to a man!", Spike exclaimed. Garble just chuckled.

"Okay, but eat breakfast before becoming a man.", Garble said.

The brothers went into the dining room to find a spread that was more akin to a royal banquet. There were stacks and stacks of pancakes, eggs that were sunny-side-up, strips of bacon, bottles of syrup, and glasses of orange juice on the table. Spike was always impressed with how good of a cook Garble was. He said that if he ever had kids one day, he should be able to cook for the family as well as his girlfriend Ember. Spike liked Ember, as she always treated him kindly and watched over him when his parents weren't home. He really wanted to have Ember as a sister-in-law, but Garble always got nervous about that particular subject.

After the Roman brothers sat down at the table, they put their hands together and closed their eyes.

"Thank you for the meal.", they said in unison. After saying the blessing, they both dug in. Spike loved his brother's cooking. Everything was delicious and always left him with feeling like he could sleep for three days straight. Amy was off somewhere enjoying her dog food along with her owners.

After finishing breakfast, both brothers looked like they were ready to pass out.

"That was awesome, bro. No wonder why Ember loves you as much as she does. You're a great cook!", Spike praised.

Garble just smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Oh that's why she loves me? I thought it was because of my rugged charm and good looks."

"If that image helps you sleep at night.", Spike said laughing.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Amy started barking and making her way to the door, like she always does whenever the doorbell rings. But this time, when Amy got close to the door, she froze in position and stopped barking.

"That's weird. She's never done that before.", Spike thought as Garble got up and made his way towards the door.

Garble knelt down to calm Amy. It was so bizarre. She wasn't moving, except for the shivering. She just kept staring at the door. She hadn't made a sound. When Garble tried to pet her head, Amy yelped at the contact and ran off. Garble looked at where Amy ran off, then to his brother, then back to the front door. The doorbell rang again. Then, with slight hesitation, Garble opened the door.

What stood before him was a bit weird. The person who stood at the door looked like a Victorian-era carriage driver. He was thin and tall, reaching over six-foot, eleven. He wore a black hat, coat, pants, and shoes. All of these were black. The man was wearing black sunglasses with round lenses. There was no hair to be seen from underneath the man's hat, suggesting that he might be bald. From where Spike was sitting, he could see that the man's ears were slightly pointed. He also had a big grin on his face, showing teeth with prominent canines.

Garble didn't know what to make of this stranger. He was giving both himself and Spike the creeps. The man reached into a pocket on his long coat and pulled out a manila envelope with a seal stamped in red wax. The creepy man spoke while still smiling.

"Important letter for Spike Roman.", the man said in a smooth Cajun accent. He handed it over to Garble.

Garble was confused. Did this creepy stranger know his little brother? Who would send Spike a letter? More importantly, who would send this scary individual to deliver the letter? Garble opted to be the responsible big brother that he is and slowly took the letter from the man, who hadn't stopped giving that disturbing smile of his.

"T-thank you, good sir.", Garble thanked the man with a sliver of fear in his voice.

The man's already big smile somehow grew even bigger. He looked as if half of his face was nothing but pearly white teeth.

"You're quite welcome, young man! Make sure your brother gets his letter of acceptance.", the man said before turning around to leave.

Garble looked at the letter and looked back up to ask the man some questions. But the man was nowhere to be seen. He was gone! As if he vanished into thin air.

"How the hell did he do that?! I only looked down for two seconds!"

Garble decided not to focus on it and walked over to Spike and handed him the letter. Spike was just as confused as Garble.

"'Letter of acceptance'? What does that mean? Accepted into what?", Spike thought to himself.

He hadn't signed up for some weird club or anything like that. He looked down at the envelope to examine it. It was quite nice. It looked like the paper used to make the envelope was aged and soft to the touch. Spike turned the envelope around to look at the red wax seal keeping it closed. It was a stylized image of a ram's head with the letters "D.A" right below it.

Spike picked up a knife and carefully opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. The writing was in a Gothic font and was barely readable to him, but he could make it out. Spike decided to read the letter aloud.

"Dear Spike Roman,

I am the Headmaster of a school called 'Dreadmire Academy. After speaking with your previous teachers and looking at your grades up until now, we here at Dreadmire have deemed you fit to enroll here at our esteemed alma mater. Here, the curriculum is adjustable for all students, the students and faculty are friendly, and free tutoring is always available. Food and lodging will be provided. If you or your family are worried about tuition, don't be. We don't believe in tuition. We believe that exceptional youths like you are our future. We sincerely await your answer.

Sincerely, Headmaster William Johnson. "

After Spike read the letter, both he and his brother were stunned. Spike got accepted into what sounds like a private school! And no tuition needed, either! That sounds a little too good to be true. But then again, the letter did look fancy enough to have come from a private school. But still, Spike felt a little unsure about this. Spike looked at his brother.

"What do you make of this?", he asked.

"I don't know, bro. I mean, getting accepted into a private school? Just because they looked at your grades? That sounds a little suspicious to me."

"Or maybe this is legit. I don't know. Maybe I should call Mom and Dad?"

"Good idea. Oh! Send them pictures of the letter and envelope, as well. At least that way, they'll believe us about the letter arriving."

"Good call."

Spike took out his phone, took pictures of the envelope and letter, then called his parents. The phone rang for three whole minutes until the call was finally answered.

"Hello, Spike! What can I do for you?", Spike's dad asked his youngest child.

"Hey Dad! Nice to hear you. Listen, a creepy guy came over this morning and gave me a letter."

Spike's dad's voice turned serious. "What kind of letter, son?! Was it some lunatic threatening you?", he worriedly asked.

"No! No! It wasn't a death threat or anything. It was a letter saying that I got accepted into some fancy-shmancy private school. Here, I'll send you the pictures I took beforehand."

Spike then sent the pictures from his phone to his Dad's phone. After a while, he could hear the voices of both his dad and his mom. His mom spoke first.

"My baby boy, I'm so proud of you! You actually got yourself enrolled into a private school without even trying! You really are an amazing boy!", his mom gushed over the phone. His father spoke next.

"And there's no tuition to pay, either! If anything, I'd say you really lucked out on this, my boy! I must be the proudest father on the planet, right now!", his father exclaimed while gushing as much as his wife.

After a few more minutes of blubbering, Spike gave up trying to talk to them anymore and hung up on them. He looked to his brother and shrugged.

"Well, I guess that settles it. I'm enrolling in Dreadmire Academy.", Spike said.

When the day before the first day of school rolled around, Spike was waiting outside by the bus stop. There was no one else there but him. It was an overcast day today, but there shouldn't be any rain. Spike stood there with a large bag filled with basic necessities such as dental care products, shampoo and body wash, and a few pairs of clean socks and underwear. He also packed his collection of "Monster Island Dreamscape" manga. He counted it as a necessity that he simply couldn't live without. He stood there casually waiting for the bus to Dreadmire Academy to arrive. What the Academy did send, however, was not a bus.

The first thing he noticed was the sounds of clopping hooves and horses breathing. Following these two sounds was the sound of wheels grinding on asphalt. Spike eventually saw the source of the sounds.

It was a carriage. A long, black, and ornately designed carriage pulled by two huge black horses rolled into view. The carriage was being driven by the same man who first delivered Spike his acceptance letter!

"No wonder why he looked like a Victorian-era carriage driver. Wait, how are these still around? You'd think that a place as prestigious as Dreadmire Academy would be able to afford a bus. Then again, the Amish and Mennonites still use horse-drawn wagons.", Spike thought.

As the carriage got closer to the young Roman, the driver pulled on the reigns of his horses. This got the horses to slow down until coming to a complete stop with the door to the carriage being in front of Spike. The driver looked at Spike with the same smile he gave him before, only a bit warmer and gentler, somehow.

"Glad to see that you're enrolling in Dreadmire, kid.", the driver said with the same smooth Cajun accent as before.

"Glad to be enrolling.", Spike replied. The driver still made him feel uneasy, but decided to ignore it.

The door to the carriage opened to reveal a lovely interior with the seats cushioned with dark red velvet padding and curtains on the windows. The floor was made of black-painted wood. There was a small window at the front of the carriage for the passengers to see, situated below the driver's seat. A small set of steps descended as soon as the door open to allow Spike to climb into the carriage.

Once Spike was inside, the door closed and the driver got the horses to move again. Spike thought that it was a little strange that a school would send horse-drawn carriages to pick up students. The ride was a bit bumpier than riding the bus, but Spike quickly got used to it. The carriage ride made Spike feel like he was a king ready to greet his subjects after a few more minutes of riding in the carriage.

Suddenly, the carriage made a sharp turn to the right to ride down to the countryside. They seemed to be heading into the backroads parts of the town.

"That's weird. Why are we heading out here? I've been down here before and there's no large buildings for miles and miles.", Spike said to himself.

As time passed, Spike began to notice some really creepy stuff happening. At first, he felt something similar to a static shock go through his whole body. He noticed that, even with the day getting overcast, it started getting darker until it was as dark as night. The trees seemed to change, too. What were once healthy and full trees turned into dark and leafless ones. It was as if autumn had slapped Mother Nature in the face.

Spike began to feel the carriage slowing down quickly and looked right out the front window. He saw that there was a pack of wolves blocking the carriage's path. Now he understood why the driver slowed the carriage down. Once the carriage stopped, Spike began to stare at the pack of predators in front of the carriage. The golden eyes and sharp fangs of the wolves were glistening in the faint light of the lanterns that hung from the side of the carriage. The wolves were growling and snapping their jaws at the carriage. The horses were rightfully freaking out when facing the wolves.

Before Spike could freak out at the idea of the horses getting attacked in front of him, the driver confidently leaped from the seat and stood between the wolves and his horses.

"What are you doing?!", Spike called out to him. "Do you want to get eaten?!"

The driver didn't keep his eyes off of the wolves for a second, but responded. "Don't worry, kid. I can handle this situation.", the driver said with a calm confidence in his voice.

The driver looked at the wolves for what felt like a few minutes until the wolves stopped growling and snapping. Instead, the wolves looked calm and peaceful. Then, with a wave of the driver's hand, the pack disappeared into the surrounding forest. That was the most amazing thing Spike had ever seen in his entire life! Once the driver turned around, the boy finally remembered how to talk.

"That was awesome! How did you do that?", Spike asked eagerly. The driver just smiled.

"I simply have a way with wolves, my boy. Anyway, we'd best be getting to the Academy before daylight.", the driver said.

The driver got back onto the carriage and had the horses take off for their destination.

After ten more minutes of riding, Spike could finally see their destination: Dreadmire Academy. Spike had never seen such an amazingly designed building in his life. Gothic in structure, the high-vaulted ceilings and spires were an intimidating sight to behold. The tall iron gates parted as the carriage drew near. After the carriage passed through, the gates closed. Spike could see that there were multiple buildings making up the school, with the main building being the biggest and at the very center. In front of the main building was a fountain displaying a statue of a horned and winged demon with fire coming out of its mouth. Surrounding the fountain and going between it and the steps to the main building was a driveway for the carriage to come to a stop.

As Spike got out of the carriage, the driver spoke to him again.

"Good luck surviving in this place, kid. You're definitely going to need it.", the driver said before taking off with his carriage.

"Okay, that was weird. Why would he tell me I need good luck surviving here?"

Before Spike could think about what the driver meant, a voice came from behind him.

"Spike Roman, I presume?"

The boy quickly turned around to see a woman standing at the top of the steps and making her way down to him. Spike thought the woman walking toward him was quite beautiful. Indeed, she was quite beautiful.

She wore a dark gray business-style suit, a matching dark gray skirt, blue heels, and a red tie. She had dark blue hair, aquamarine eyes, and slim yet curvaceous figure. Spike couldn't look away from her. He snuck a quick glance at her chest.

"Looks like a very respectable C-cup.", Spike noted to himself.

Once the official-looking woman made her way down to Spike, she gave a small bow with her right hand over her chest.

"I am Vice-Headmistress Luna, but you can just call me Ms. Luna, one of the individuals who helps to run this esteemed institution. I'll be the one showing you to your new dorm room.", Luna said before walking off toward one of the buildings, located to the right of the main building.

Spike grabbed his bag and jogged off after her. As they walked, he noticed that they seemed to be the only ones out and about. There was no one else around. No students, no teachers, no groundskeepers. Nothing.

"Where's everyone else? I thought that the other students would be here, seeing as this is the day before school starts.", Spike relayed to Luna. Luna gave a small chuckle.

"Oh, the other students are here. It's just time for lights-out. They're all asleep.", she replied.

"All of them? Asleep? But it's only barely past noon!"

"Here at Dreadmire Academy, we adhere to a different sleep schedule. We sleep during daylight hours and exclusively hold night classes and events."

That is a little weird, but Spike could see himself getting used to it easily enough. He used to pull all-nighters doing homework or reading his raunchy manga. If this school is strictly nocturnal, the so be it.

Once they got to one of the dormitories, Luna quickly turned around and spoke to him.

"This is the boys' dorm. The girls' dorm is right across the field.", Luna said while pointing to the other sex's dorm. "Also, the Headmaster wants to see you before classes start in the evening. Have a good sleep, Mr. Roman."

And with that, she walked up the stairs and led Spike down a fancy-looking hallway until the got to one of the rooms on the twelfth floor. It was labeled as Room 1213. Luna produced a key in her hand and unlocked the door.

Spike was amazed. The room had a high-vaulted ceiling, a large stained-glass window depicting a purple dragon, red couch, a TV, personal kitchen, bathroom, and a large bed that looked like it could fit ten people at once.

Luna smiled at the young man's amazement and put the key in his hand. "This is your room key. Don't lose it. I'll see you later when you go see the Headmaster.", she said before walking away and closing the door behind her.

Spike went into the bedroom and plopped down on the bed. The bed was amazing! he could feel himself sinking into the mattress and pillow as if it they were made of gelatin. He stared up at the ceiling and smiled.

"I think I'm going to love this school.", Spike said with no small amount of confidence.

Little does he know the terrors that await him.

Monster Guide

Werewolves

Werewolves are classic monsters in terms of their prevalence in popular culture. Werewolves are monsters who appear human during the day and turn into a wolf-like creature at night. The werewolf, like most monster species, becomes more powerful on nights of a full moon. They are one of the stronger species of monster, earning them a high place on the supernatural food chain. Like true wolves, werewolves live and hunt in packs led by an alpha. But solitary individuals have been known to exist. They reproduce by either breeding with other werewolves, biting a human to turn them, or breeding with a human. Human-born werewolves gain the ability to transform. Humans that were bitten have less control over their wolf instincts or transformation. The only weaknesses a werewolf has is silver and decapitation. Purebred werewolves are the strongest of their kin save for the Progenitor Werewolf. Due to their transformations, werewolves tend to live on the fringes of human society or out in the countryside. Werewolf packs defend their territories fiercely. Packs that live in cities will often work around the same place, such as a motel or butcher shop. Like most monsters, werewolves are known for eating humans.