Bloodlines:Awakening

Selene *Sniff sniff* His scent is getting stronger. Now I just have to pinpoint which floor he’s on. Hopefully, the professors won’t say anything about me leaving my sector. I’m not fully allowed to be amongst the student body, but since I keep a low profile, Headmaster Silva doesn’t make a big fuss. I pulled my hood over my head and proceeded, following his scent. Shit, two of them are talking on the other side of the door. Screw it, it’s now or never. I walked through the doors with confidence and continued down the stairs. “Sorry, excuse me, just going down to the next floor.” They both practically ignored me and kept with their conversation as they walked in the opposite direction. When I got to the next level, I realized I was in the lower common room. There were a few students there, studying, talking, and doing various other things. Then it hit me. My heart started to race, a magnetic sensation coursing through my body, and his scent hugged my nostrils. I scanned the room, and my eyes landed on him. He stood around 6’4”, his hair, midnight black with a tint of silver, pulled into a loose high knot, a few rogue strands softening his jawline. Charcoal grey eyes, muscular build, but not overdoing it. He was in the game area, getting bullied by what smelled like werebears, two of them. The one that was doing the talking was a little taller than my target, with teak brown eyes and a tan complexion. His hair, dark brown hair with an undercut—with a longer top pulled back into a messy knot; shaved lines at his temples, and muscular. The one behind him matched my target’s height, with fair skin, forest green eyes, a muscular build, and wearing a Captain Valor shirt. His hair, blonde, cut close to the sides with clean etched lines, the longer top swept back in a style that framed his features as a few strands fell forward. Really? Out of all the Revengers. Anyway. Why are they harassing my target? I cautiously moved closer when the taller one was punched in the gut by my target, causing him to get extremely aggravated to where I thought he was about to shift. My eyes widened, and I briskly moved to the guys, causing a draft across the room. I jumped on the tall one’s shoulders, quickly jabbing pressure points, causing him to stop moving and pass out, falling to the floor. ‘Captain Valor’ didn’t take too kindly to that, nor did the other three werebear guys that stood up. Why is this so difficult? “You guys deal with him, I’ll take care of her,” stated ‘Captain Valor.’ At that moment, one of the other guys grabbed my target and threw him to the floor. Instinctively, I let out a low growl; my canines elongated, and my claws came out. I stood there in a defensive position while Captain stared at me as if I had four heads. While he was dazed, I took the opportunity to help my target. He was putting up a good fight, but I could tell he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. Quickly, I moved, facing the others—positioning myself protectively over my target as I analyzed their movements. “I’m Greysen, by the way,” he said, stumbling to his feet. I didn’t openly acknowledge him; my focus was on the werebears and the crowd of students watching. My eyes darted between them, trying to find an escape. And there it was. The emergency exit door on the other side of the room. I had to get there. While I was focused on everything else, Captain rushed over, grabbing Greysen by the throat, lifting him. This time, Greysen let out his canines and used his strength. He used his elbow to chop into Captain’s arm, causing him to wince. It gave him just enough wiggle room to get out of Captain’s grasp. Greysen began giving jabs to Captain’s gut. Meanwhile, I’m still standing off with these three, with neither of them looking like they want to attack. So instead, one of them took it upon himself to grab Greysen’s left arm. Moving like the wind, I jumped over and shoved him, sending him flying across the room into the wall. I looked back at Greysen, and he stared in amazement or fear. The others stepped a little closer to us. “Stand down!” I growled fiercely. Seemingly taking the hint, they backed off. I grabbed Greysen’s hand and pulled him through the crowd to get to the exit. I stopped abruptly, turning around, realizing I needed to do something about the witnesses. I quickly signed hand signals, interlocking my thumbs and putting my middle fingers together. As I blew through the opening of my fingers, the room was filled with a violet mist. Grabbing Greysen’s hand once more, we went through the exit. But with luck, it caused the fire alarms to go off. Fun. We climbed the winding fire escape staircase—one of the few emergency exits that bypassed the school’s enchanted floor plan. The higher we went, the more the air shifted, colder, thinner, magic vibrating through the rails. Once we got high enough to one of the landings, Greysen kept his distance, rightfully so after what had just happened. I took a step forward. “Selene…” I softly said, “I wasn’t ignoring you back there, I just didn’t want to let my guard down. So again, my name is Selene.” I smiled and held out my hand. Greysen looked at me with curiosity, his charcoal grey eyes searching mine as if trying to decipher my intentions. He let out a deep breath, his body relaxed as he reached out to shake my hand. “What was that back there? The hand movements and the mist?” “Oh! Just a quick memory spell, to semi-erase what happened. My part in it, mostly.” “But you didn’t say an incantation…or anything.” I just stood there, not sure what to say next. Greysen’s expression shifted to a mix of intrigue and caution as he asked, “Did you do the same thing on your way here? There are usually professors around. And definitely other students.” “Well…I mean, I do have ways of staying unseen,” I said carefully. “I did come across two professors, but I wasn’t thinking straight. I was thinking of you—your scent, I mean. I just kept walking and hoped they wouldn’t stop me.” He raised a brow. “Anyway, it seems you risked a lot to come after me, especially with those guys around. Why? I don’t recognize you. What do you want with me?” “Well, to start, there’s something about you that feels…different. Smells different and yet familiar. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s compelling.” He stared, a hint of a smile forming on his lips. “Compelling, huh?” I nodded slowly, feeling a connection start to form, but there was still a wall between us. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “You sure know how to flatter a guy.” He crossed his arms. “Sooo, are you going to finish telling me why you went out of your way to find me?” “Oh! I caught your scent at the baseball pep rally a few days ago. It was the only scent like it. Well, other than me, but yours is different, but very similar to mine. So I just had to find you. But your scent was very faint, and I swore to myself to commit it to memory. For some reason, I didn’t smell you again until today, though today you smell different from the rally; still, I knew it had to be you.” I rambled. “Finding you didn’t go as I hoped, so once I got you alone, I wanted to ask you an important question!” I said, way too excitedly. I didn’t notice I had been standing there like an i***t until he asked. “Uh, so what’s the question?” I shook my head, clearing my mind. “Sorry! I wanted to know if you could help me figure out what I am. You’re the only other person I’ve come across at this school, and living on my own, that’s similar to me in scent. Will you help me?” Greysen started to open his mouth. “I know we don’t know each other, but isn’t that what makes this all intriguing? The unknown? Please, pleaseee will you help me?” I begged with my head low and on my knees before him. Greysen helped me to stand, but I kept my head down. He gently lifted my chin to tilt my head up and smiled. “I’m not sure what I can do, but I’m willing to try. We should figure out our next steps,” he said, glancing at the fire escape we climbed up. My eyes widened with uncontainable excitement, and I could feel the corners of my mouth stretching into what had to be the widest smile imaginable. I threw my arms around him in a tight embrace, the warmth of our connection wrapping around us like a cozy blanket. In that instant, an unexpected burn shot through me, as if fire flowed through my veins. I glanced at him and noticed his expression mirrored my own; he, too, seemed to experience that fiery surge, as if an invisible force had momentarily united us. Pulling away, I came to a realization. “We have to go, Grey!” “Why–” “Something like this isn’t going to go unnoticed, now c’mon.” **** And I was right. After Greysen checked in with one of the professors—the one of my choosing—we took our seats, followed by Headmaster Silva coming on stage to address the students. “Hello all, glad to see that everyone is safe. That was a bit of a scare, wasn’t it? After a short investigation, we concluded that there was no fire, nor danger or trouble. Well, the trouble part isn’t quite accurate. It seems the cause of the alarms is that an emergency exit was opened, and a student may have left the grounds.” There were whispers and looks going on amongst the student body. I sat there, stiff, trying not to draw attention to myself, keeping my powers in check. Then, the five werebears joined the stage along with Professor Wyatt. Professor Wyatt stepped aside with the Headmaster, explaining something I couldn’t quite make out with all the chatter. Headmaster Silva leered at the werebears and shook his head, and walked back to the microphone. “Thank you for your patience, everyone. It seems that these five here were the cause of the commotion, due to a heated argument, leading them to fight.” I sat there stunned as the tall one made direct eye contact with me. As much as I wanted to look in a different direction, I couldn’t. After Headmaster Silva finished his speech about behavior and rules, the students were dismissed to go back to their assigned areas. Greysen and I walked down the hall with everyone else, but were soon approached by the werebears. Instinctively, I stood in front of Greysen, though he tried to do the same with me. “Whoa, there, Tiger. Please keep the teeth and claws inside. We’re here to talk,” the tall one stated, but I didn’t let my guard down. “How are you guys not affected by my spell? You shouldn’t have remembered me. I specifically cast it so only the one meant to be around me wouldn’t be affected, meaning Greysen.”