Breaking Barriers

by Bob Dattolo

  My roommate isn’t messy, nor is she entirely neat. Maybe more “normal” than anything else? Her bed isn’t made, but there aren’t clothes everywhere. No dirty dishes or anything like that. The room smells clean, although I can pick up something woodsy and natural, although I can’t place it.

  Her side of the room is covered in various posters for things that I can’t really place. I recognize some of them, but the rest are a mystery to me. I see at least one for something about a death punch, and I can’t tell if that’s a threat, a band, a movie, or a desire. She also has a number of nature scenes in the mix. Forest pictures and things like that peek out between the movie posters and other things that just don’t make much sense to me.

  Closing the door, I cross to the bare bed and put my bags on it. She has a laptop and a bunch of papers out on her desk along with some books, although I can’t tell what they are. They’re not textbooks, so either pleasure reading or maybe something for an English course? No idea.

  So…yeah, this is my home now? This is where I’m going to live for the next two years? No family? No loved ones? Just a bunch of strangers and no adults. While that may sound like a good thing to some folks, it doesn’t sound that great to me. Maybe it will once the shock of my messed-up life wears off…but maybe not.

  Truth be told, my parents never showed love to any of us, so that part isn’t a shocker. It’s not like I was torn away from the loving bosom of parents that would have died for me. No, I ran away from parents that wanted to murder me.

  Still, though, I should be more broken up than I am about things. I guess that could be the shock talking, but I don’t think so. I don’t miss my parents. At all. I miss my brothers and sisters, but even that’s nebulous. My parents set it up so that we were at odds with each other almost all the time. Granted, I took care of the younger ones, but that’s because it was expected of me. It wasn’t really done out of love.

  Does that make me a bad person? Maybe it does. I just don’t know. I can’t even begin to judge that. Not even close. I’m not even sure where I’d start. It’s not like I have anything to compare it to. I’ve never had friends that I could point to and say, see, Abby’s parents don’t do that.

  The shock I’m feeling is that my life has changed so drastically from where I expected it to be right now. Maybe in a good way? I can always kill myself later, I guess. Not that I want to. I just know that it’s not completely off the table for me. I was on the cusp of doing it before, and I can get there again pretty easily. I guess we’ll see how things go here. Maybe I can meet a friend? Or even two? I can dream. Maybe not big dreams, but even a small one would be a huge improvement over what I’ve had in my life.

  Chapter 6

  My little fog of thought dissipated as noise behind me announced that someone was opening the door. I didn’t have a chance to even turn before an angry voice called out. “Who are you and what are you doing in my room?”

  My first glimpse of my roommate was not what I was expecting. What exactly was I expecting? Well, for starters, I was not thinking that my roommate would be at least 6’5” and built like an Amazon warrior woman, assuming they took a ton of steroids and feasted on the young of their enemies.

  What I’m saying is that she’s big. Really, really big.

  “Uhh, hi? I’m Ceri? I’m your new roommate.” Is this how I die? Here I thought it was going to be due to a box cutter in an abandoned building, then from a weird vampire, now my new school roommate is going to punch a hole through me and wear me like a bracelet.

  She squinted and looked me up and down before looking at my bags and the packet of papers sitting next to my bag.

  “Who are you? School started two weeks ago.” She closed the door behind her and cut off any chance that I had of escaping if she decided to crumple me up like an old soda can.

  “My name’s Ceri? Ceri Driscoll. I’m…I’m kinda new? Not just to school, but to everything?”

  Is it shocking that she got bigger as she walked closer? It shouldn’t be, but dang, she’s huge. “What do you mean new to everything?”

  I shrugged. “Just that. Up until a couple days ago I didn’t know that my parents were mages.” Gesturing at my eyes, “I still don’t know what’s happening with this or what I’m supposed to be able to do.”

  She sniffed the air a few times before taking a deeper breath. “You’re a mage?”

  “I guess? No idea. I’ve never been able to do magic. Or even seen it before. Heck, I’ve been taught my entire life that supernaturals are evil and even talking to one will mean I’m going to hell.”

  She snorted. “Are you serious? Where did you grow up?”

  “My parents kept us all locked on the family compound. Until I ran away, I never stepped foot outside of it before.”

  Her whistle made me twitch. I just wasn’t expecting it. “Okay, that’s bizarre.”

  “You’re telling me.”

  “I’m a shifter, does talking to me mean you’re going to hell?”

  “Since I’m whatever I am, I doubt it. My parents…aren’t good people. I’m still not sure what all they lied to us about.”

  She cocked her head. “Why’re they sending you here if they’re not good?”

  “They’re not sending me. I’m a ward of the FBI, basically. My parents killed 31 agents and my six younger brothers and sisters when the agents assaulted our house.”

  “What the fuck?”

  I’ve never been one for cursing, knowing the punishments my parents would put us through if they heard us, so hearing it from her is a little shock to the system. “Like I said, here I am. That’s why I’m late. Or, part of the reason, I guess. The FBI doesn’t have a foster family to send me to, so they figured the school can do it for them.”

  Her angry features softened. “That’s a special sort of messed up. You’re really a mage, though? With those eyes? You don’t smell quite like a mage.”

  Another shrug. “No idea. I didn’t look like this until…until some things happened to me. That’s what the FBI thinks, but they’re not really sure.”

  She looked me up and down a few times. “Well, I’m Steph. Nice to meet you. Sorry about before…I’ve had some problems with other students wanting to mess with the only bear.”

  “I’m sorry?” I know I had to look crazy confused. “I understood everything up until the end. Bear? What bear?”

  Her laugh caught me by surprise, sounding light and happy. “You’re funny. Me. I’m the bear. Shifter? I’m the only one this year. There was one last year, but he graduated. Kind of a dick, though, but that’s neither here nor there.”

  The light dawned in my head. “Oh…okay, sorry. This is really, really strange for me.”

  “I bet. Your parents sound like whack-jobs.” She paused. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you.”

  “You didn’t. Maybe I’ll tell you why I ran away at some point. Then you’ll see why it’s not an insult at all.”

  “You hungry? It’s just about lunch time. That’s one thing I can say that I love about being here, the food is amazing.”

  My bags are still packed and I have a ton of paperwork to look through, but my stomach is positively roiling at the thought of food. “Yeah, that’d be great. I’m starving.”

  She locked the door and then tested the handle. “The doors here are sort of there to keep out curious people. Almost everyone here could get through them if they really wanted to. Most of the mage kids could get the door open with magic of some sort. Most of us shifters could tear it down or kick it down. Rachel could kick it down.”

  “Does that happen a lot?”

  She shrugged as we walked slowly through the hall. “Not really. Messing with another student is a bad idea. As is damaging school property. All of the shifters fight for dominance. You mages fight for dominance. Everyone wants to be on the top of the heap.”

  I snorted. “I couldn’t care about any of that.”

  She stopped short. “What? Really?”

 
; I stopped with her. “Really. I don’t know the first thing about shifters or mages or the supernatural other than evil. Not a thing. I don’t know what anyone is capable of. None of that. I didn’t even know you were a shifter or what your name was.”

  “They didn’t walk you through everything in admin? They’re supposed to do that for new incoming students.”

  “She tried, but then told me that other students are going to be coming for me or I’ll end up getting someone upset and then someone will possibly kill me. I just don’t care. I can’t even force myself to care. So I told her to give me my paperwork so I could leave.”

  “What? Why would you say that? Everyone cares.”

  She took a half step back from me as I stared up at her. “I don’t. Not really. I was in the process of killing myself when everything went to hell and I’m not even certain why I bothered to come here. As far as I can tell, there are three options for me right now. Either I get ignored and keep moving on, someone kills me for some stupid stuff I don’t even understand, or…” More graphic visuals fill my head.

  “Or?”

  I focused back on her. “Or I experience some of the things running through my head.” I shrugged and nodded down the hallway before starting to walk again. “I just don’t care which it is.”

  We were quiet until we reached the stairs.

  “What can you tell me about the other students?”

  She didn’t start talking again until she reached my side. “Umm, we’re broken up into four dozenals. We’re group three. Arguably, that means we’re juniors, but it’s not quite the same thing. Close enough, though. I think you’ll like our group. I can introduce you to everyone. We’re a good group. Pretty laid back for the most part. Then again, we worked out our pecking order over the last two years.”

  “Pecking order?”

  “Yeah, like who’s the alpha?”

  “And who would that be?”

  She shrugged again. “Tom and Sarah, mostly. Tom’s a lion shifter and Sarah’s a tiger shifter. Leticia is a close third. She’s a wolf. From a mage perspective, Armand. He’s really nice, but powerful. Most mages don’t mess with the whole pecking order thing, except with other mages. Then again, that doesn’t always happen, either. We also have Rachel, but she’s outside the box.”

  “Rachel? Why is she outside the box?”

  “She’s a vampire?”

  “Oh! Really? How does that work?”

  “She’s young. Only 17. Been a vampire for about six months, I think. Maybe eight months? She joined us mid-year last year. She’d be at the top of the heap for our Dozenal if she wanted to be. But she’s a new vampire, so kinda iffy on her powers. She just wants to graduate like most kids.”

  “Do you think I’ll have issues from anyone in our group?”

  “You might? Maybe not, though. Like I said, everyone’s really nice. Once they know you don’t care about where you fall, they’ll probably accept you pretty quickly. It’s the other groups that might not let it go.”

  “Other groups?”

  “Yeah, the other dozenals? Some of them are vicious dicks. We’ve had issues where we’ve had to go around in twos just to stop them from messing with us.”

  “Lovely. Who do I have to watch out for there? Everyone? Or anyone in particular?”

  “I’d say watch out for everyone. Don’t even talk to them unless they talk to you first, and always be polite. If it seems like they’re trying to be bigger than you, just let them. It saves a lot of issues that way. The only one that likes to push anyway is Corey. I’d say not to go anywhere near him if you can. He’s 18 and a wolf shifter, and has mage powers from his mom’s side or something like that. He specializes in fire. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts something with you.”

  “Lovely. Why would he start something with me?”

  “Because you’re new? You’re new and you’re beautiful. Plus, you have the cool eye thing going on.”

  “Why would that mean he’d start with me, though? What does any of that have to do with anything?”

  She grunted, as if I were being ignorant. “Because he’ll want to fuck you and he’ll want to be the first one to do it.”

  I stopped in my tracks and stared at her when she turned back to me. “Are you kidding me right now? He’s going to rape me?”

  She shrugged. “Sort of? Not really? You really are new to this then? Please don’t tell me you’re a virgin.”

  I couldn’t stop the blood from rushing to my face. “Of course I’m a virgin! I’ve been locked on a family compound my entire life and taught that sex is evil along with everything else out there, where exactly would I lose my virginity?”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Holy shit. Okay…I have no idea how to help you here. Here’s sex 101 for supernaturals. You’re gonna get fucked by someone stronger than you.”

  I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. “What? Are you kidding me? That’s it?”

  Spreading her hands, she smiled, but it was sickly. “That’s it. If you can’t stop them and aren’t willing to be killed for it, you’re going to get fucked. I don’t know anyone that’s ever made it to 17 as a virgin. You just have to hope they’re not into some painful shit and deal with it.”

  “You’ve been raped?”

  She shrugged. “We don’t look at it as rape, usually. I mean, it’s not wanted, but it’s not like we don’t have a choice. Either get our asses kicked or killed or have sex with them. Pretty much everyone just goes with the flow and does it. Hell, I’ve done it to weaker shifters that looked cute.”

  “Holy…you’ve done it? You’re like them?” I wanted to run away again and find a razor.

  Another shrug. “It’s part of our world. Your world now.”

  My blood ran cold and the strange feelings inside of me blossomed again. “So…what? I get to come to school here and get raped? I don’t think so. I didn’t run away from home so my parents didn’t sacrifice me only to come here and have someone decide I’m cute enough to rape.” I felt my eyes go dead as I looked at my roommate. “Am I in danger of you doing that to me, too? You said I was beautiful?”

  “Most roommates do things together, but we’re friends in our dozenal, so it’s more friendly that way?”

  Fire travelled along my limbs and images popped into my head of truly horrific things that made me want to run screaming. Or to do them. Honestly, it’s 70/30 towards me wanting to do them.

  “I won’t be forced. People need to sleep at some point, and I will find them. Nothing on Earth will stop me from killing them.”

  She raised her hands. “Jesus, okay, chill. I was just trying to explain things. Besides, everyone in our group will just ask. You don’t have to say yes, just don’t be a bitch about it, you know? Stay the hell away from Corey and most of the other kids outside of our group, though. I…honestly, unless you’re really willing to be killed, or hurt then fucked, I wouldn’t put money on you making it through the weekend as a virgin. It might be better for you to find someone in our group for your first time so you can see what it’s like. Then make up your mind about if it’s worthwhile being killed.”

  What she said hit me hard at that point, letting me bypass the idea that someone would want to force me. It’s so matter-of-fact to her that it’s a done deal. Completely expected by everyone. Even her recommendation that I find someone to do it with as my first time is her honest assessment of what I should do to make things less traumatic for me.

  “What have I gotten myself into with this?”

  She gave me a tentative smile. “Welcome to being a supernatural. I’m just trying to be honest here. I’ll even go so far as to tell you that it’ll probably be worse for you because you’re new, you’re beautiful, and you’re weak. Or, you seem weak. You really don’t know how much power you have or what you can do?”

  “No clue.”

  “That’s bad.” She shook her head. “You don’t smell like a strong mage, although that happens. You just don�
�t smell like a normal mage, either. You smell like a weird combination of things, but nothing is strong enough for it to make sense.”

  “Oh…goody. Now I get to be the flavor of the week on top of my parents being murderers. That’s just lovely. Now I wish I would have just found another razor and ended it.”

  She clasped my hand and tugged me forward. “C’mon, let’s get you some food. Things may look better on a full stomach. I know they do for me. Don’t let what I said worry you. Much. It’ll either happen or won’t and there isn’t much you can do about it. Just try to fly under the radar without looking like you are. The others will pick up on your fears and run wild with that. If that happens…yeah, don’t let that happen unless you want to be fucked a dozen times tonight.”

  “They’ll pick up on it and pounce?”

  “In a heartbeat. Nothing protects in this world like strength. You just need to be willing to use it to watch out for yourself and anyone you claim.”

  “Anyone I claim?”

  She continued holding my hand. “You know, anyone you put under your umbrella? That’s normal for our world, too. The strong protect the weak or take advantage of them, depending on their relationships.”

  “So, what, do you protect anyone in our group?”

  “Me? No. Bears are lone shifters for the most part. We don’t have big families or close-knit groups. Everyone in our group is a friend, but I don’t watch out for anyone else, and they leave me alone too. It’s sort of how I’m wired.”

  “What about the other mages? Or the wolves?”

  “That’s a little different. Tom and Sarah do a decent job of looking out for others in our group, but there’s only so much they can do. Corey’s stronger than anyone in our group, so we need to watch for that.”