The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven

by Jessica Miller

  “Um Sienna, I don’t mean to frighten you, but there is a very large dog running freely over by the wall,” I said, slightly panicked.

  She stopped and looked over in the direction of my stare. “Oh, that’s just Mr. Miller,” she said nonchalantly.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Mr. Miller, he’s a werewolf.”

  “There are werewolves?” I asked, scratching my head.

  “Of course there are. Geez Ella, have you been hiding under a rock or something?” she laughed.

  Or something. If there are witches and vampires why not werewolves? “So are there students here that are wolves?”

  “Yep.”

  “Do they bite?”

  My question caused her to laugh so hard she snorted. “Only if provoked,” she winked. I turned my attention back to Mr. Miller and watched as his massive paws pounded the ground while he ran. “Ella, come on,” Sienna shouted.

  After lunch I went back to my room and decided to work on the tons of extra work I had to catch up on. I only had about an hour before Mackenzie came back and kicked me out for her ‘alone time’. I still didn’t know what she did during this time and frankly I didn’t want to know. I thought it be wise to head out before she came back to avoid a possible argument of my neglecting her rules. I grabbed what I could and headed to the library.

  I picked a table near the back where I wouldn’t be disturbed and cracked open my vampire history book. I had a report due by Friday on how the existence of our kind came about. From what I’ve learned so far most of us had come from Eastern Europe as in parts of Romania, Russia, others Greece, Italy, and Spain. According to the history book it was believed that a person became a vampire because of a birth defect, unnatural death, or conception on certain days. These were just some of the beliefs of the people who couldn’t explain what we were.

  There were many myths and stories about vampires, but there was one that stuck with me. An ancient vampire named Lasairian. He was amongst the first of the royals, the one who actually created the vampire court. He believed we could live civilly with the humans. Blend in and work together. Vampire society in the beginning was chaotic. Vamps killed without remorse leaving messy trails behind. Mobs were formed to hunt down the killers and take revenge on the loved ones they had lost. Lasairian was a different kind of vampire. He saw great things in the future for our kind but knew we needed a leader, someone who could show us a better way to live.

  They say he wandered all night in search of vampires who were worthy to join him on his journey causing death and destruction to those who dared to challenge him. In his search of those who he would deem worthy he stumbled across a large beast who we know today as the werewolf. This beast had come to his rescue one night while fighting several vampires who thought the idea of a royal court setting rule over our kind was a bad idea. They did not want to be ruled so they fought to take him down in hopes that his ideas would not be passed on.

  After the beast had helped him take down the rogue vampires he invited him to come along with him on his journey. Thus starting the beginning of how the werewolves became the protectors of vampires. Now that was definitely interesting.

  January 25

  So far everything was going by smoothly. No more issues with Mackenzie, thankfully, and even Roman was starting to live up to his so said reputation. Although I still wonder if these random acts of kindness I catch are staged or for real. I have yet to determine which. My main accomplishment was that I survived the first two weeks. Now I just needed to get through next.

  I managed to develop a normal routine of getting up, going to my classes, and hanging with my new friends. I actually had Mackenzie to thank for that last one. If it wasn’t for her ridiculous schedule and Dixon convincing me to be more social, I probably would have hidden in my room. I was glad I got the time to hang with the group. It gave me the chance to get to know them and helped me to believe I could possibly start to trust people again. I even adopted Riley as my study partner and we helped each other catch up on all the work we missed the first half of the semester, well, most of it at least.

  I was doodling in my journal when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I retrieved it to see who the text was from. It was Cameron asking me where I was. I replied, in the library at my normal location. I spent so much time there I was starting to leave a permanent indent in the chair.

  “Hey Ella,” Riley said, slightly startling me. She sat down in the seat across from me. “What you doing?”

  “Hey Riley,” I said, stretching my arms above my head. “I’m just working on a history report.” I quickly slid my journal into my bag hoping she hadn’t noticed how distracted I was. Riley was constantly lecturing me on not being more focused.

  “I’m good with research, want some help?” she offered.

  “No, I think I’m good, but thanks.”

  Riley sat there quietly, her eyes searching everywhere. I could tell there was something she wanted to ask me, but was too afraid to. Not able to concentrate anymore I thought I’d pick her brain. “Is there something you wanted to talk about?” I asked.

  She looked down at her hands. “Well, there’s this guy,” she started.

  “And…” I prompted her to go on.

  “I kind of like him, but I don’t think he even knows I exist.”

  “Did you talk to him?”

  “Well…no. I’m not good at the whole talking to guys’ thing,” she said sheepishly.

  “Maybe I could help you?” I suggested.

  “Really?” Her light gray eyes lit up.

  “I could try at least. So what does he look like?”

  “Well he’s tall, his hair is long, well not real long, kind of medium length I guess, and it’s blond and curly, blue eyes. He’s very athletic, well I guess he’d have to be, he is a wolf.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “Oh? Is that bad?”

  “No. I’m still new to this whole wolf thing,” I admitted.

  Now she was the one to say oh. “You don’t know a lot about this stuff do you?”

  “No. I only found out about my heritage this past year, long story,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t push for details. She was kind enough to drop it and go back to the subject of the boy she was crushing on. “So what’s his name?” I asked.

  “Who’s name?” Cameron asked as her and Sienna joined us at the table.

  “This boy Riley has a crush on,” I said teasing her. She blushed and I could tell she wasn’t comfortable talking about this with just anyone.

  “Ooh boys, my favorite topic,” Sienna said. She and Cameron stared at Riley waiting for her to reveal the mystery person’s name. I could see in her eyes that Riley wasn’t ready to blab to everyone about it so I quickly jumped in.

  “We were just discussing how Riley could approach him,” I said and she gave me a thankful smile.

  “You could always ask him to the dance?” Sienna suggested.

  “What dance?” I asked.

  “That’s not until the end of March and I’m sure she’d like to get with this guy before that,” Cameron said. “How about a group date?”

  “Oh, that would be good. You should ask him if he’d like to watch a movie or something and tell him it will be a group thing so he’ll feel more relaxed,” I proposed.

  “Yeah, Austin and I can be there. We can use the social room. They have a giant big screen TV in there with surround sound,” Cameron said.

  “Will you be there to?” Riley asked me.

  “Of course, I’ll even invite Dixon,” I smiled.

  “I’ll come too so that way it doesn’t seem so couple-e, if that’s okay?” Sienna asked.

  “No that’s great. The more the merrier,” Riley smiled.

  The three of them began to devise a plan on how Riley could ask him to watch a movie with her while making it not seem like a date. I drifted off somewhere in the middle of their scheming, distracted by the shimmery, bright light shining through the window. They were s
o into their conversation they didn’t even notice that I got up from the table. I made my way over to the window and pressed my hand against the cold glass. I watched the sun slowly melt what was left of the snow.

  “Looking for a way to escape?” Aidan said, startling me.

  I jumped, hitting my back against the wall. “Aidan, I mean Mr. Callahan,” I stammered.

  “I told you, you can call me Aidan and I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, noticing my tense expression.

  “You didn’t, I was just…”

  “Staring aimlessly out the window?”

  “Something like that,” I said, looking away.

  “How’s school going for you so far?”

  “Good, I guess.”

  “Any problems with anyone?”

  “With anyone besides Mackenzie…? No, no problems.”

  He smiled before his face turned serious. He took a step toward me, making my cheeks flush hot. “Listen Ella, I just wanted you to know I’m aware of your,” he stopped and looked around, then leaned in real close and whispered, “Situation.”

  I pulled back feeling uncomfortable with his close proximity. “Excuse me? My situation?” I said, feeling no need to whisper.

  “Yes. I know what happened back at your school in Vermont,” he said sympathetically.

  “Oh, that situation.” I pushed off the wall and walked into the book stacks.

  Aidan followed me. “I understand that it’s a subject you don’t like to discuss,” he said, keeping with a soft tone. “But I just want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to my door is always open.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I distracted myself by checking out the books on the shelves. I was tired of people telling me ‘they’re here for me if I need to talk’. I didn’t want to talk. Why couldn’t everyone understand that? Not wanting to continue with this conversation I turned to Aidan. “Look, I appreciate the offer, but I’m pretty much talked out,” I said over my shoulder.

  “I understand,” he said, almost like he did. I stopped and gave him a quick glance. His hazel eyes caught mine and I felt a sudden flutter in my stomach. I looked away busying myself with the books on the shelves. I tried hard to concentrate on finding a book for my report.

  “Was there something else?” I asked, when he didn’t make a move to leave.

  “Yes. I also wanted to let you know I talked to Mr. Miller.”

  “Talked to him about what, ‘my situation’?” Angry, I turned around to face him. How dare he talk to other teachers about me when he didn’t even know anything about me?

  “I didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender. He took a small step forward like he was approaching a wild dog. I narrowed my eyes at him, letting him know that yes, I do bite. He took the hint and stopped where he was.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, crossing my arms.

  “All of your teachers are aware of what happened,” he explained.

  “Great, isn’t anything private anymore?” I said, slamming my hand against the shelf and knocking books over on the other side. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the other aisle to pick them up.

  “It was your father who insisted that we be aware of it,” Aidan said, following me.

  “Of course it was,” I sighed, bending down to pick up the books. Aidan helped me replace them back on the shelf. Our hands brushed and I felt a sudden rush of heat. I pulled back and stood up. “So what does Mr. Miller have to do with this?” I asked, trying to get back to the subject at hand.

  “He told me how well you’re doing in your self-defense classes,” he said.

  “You’re kidding, right?” I thought for sure I was the worst.

  “Well…after you started to get the hang of it,” he smiled. “I also heard about the incident with Roman, but it was also your first day and these things happen.”

  “Uh, yeah, well…” I blushed, embarrassed, even though he deserved it for taunting me.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure it was an accident,” he winked.

  “Yeah…accident,” I said, looking away guiltily.

  “Anyway,” he continued. “Mr. Miller and I were talking and we believe you have the potential to progress really well in his class, with some extra help.” Great, here came the kicker. “If you’re willing to, Gabe said he wouldn’t mind spending some extra time with you to help train you.”

  I laughed lightly to myself. Of course Gabe wouldn’t mind. He probably felt like it was part of his duty. “Why are we required to take self-defense anyways?” I asked, curious.

  He thought for a moment before he answered. “Self-defense is something everyone should know, supernatural or not, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, it is something that could be useful, but why us? I mean, wouldn’t our powers be our best defense and aren’t we stronger than most humans?”

  “While yes our strength does surpass that of a human’s, knowing how to properly defend yourself is something you should know. Just in case,” he said, hinting at something that I wasn’t quite getting. It was hard to pay attention to anything he said. Every time he smiled his dimples showed and his eyes gave a slight sparkle, distracting me from the importance of the conversation. He leaned in closer, resting one arm on the shelf.

  “Are we preparing for war?” I joked. I caught a glimpse of something in his eye and I felt myself being drawn closer to him. I heard voices on the other side of the aisle and quickly spun away to cool my heated cheeks. “When will this training take place?” I asked.

  “That would be up to you and Gabe. You two can work it out and I’m sure he will make it so it won’t interfere with your studies.”

  “Oh, I’m not worried about that,” I laughed.

  “You have a nice laugh,” he said, taking a step closer to me – so close our bodies were almost touching. “I meant what I said earlier. If you ever need to talk, about anything, my door is always open.” He hit my chin with his finger, smiled a sweet smile, and then walked away leaving me breathless. My head was spinning. I grabbed onto the shelves from the sudden rush to balance myself.

  A thump alerted me, reminding me we were still in the library and not alone. I slowly regained a steady breath and made my way down the aisle to a book that lied on the floor. I picked up the book, ready to place it back in its proper spot when I was taken aback from the pair of dark blues eyes that stared back at me from the other side.

  Eyes so piercing they kept me rooted where I was, unable to look away. “Ella!” Riley called, breaking me from the spell. I turned to address her as she joined me. “What are you doing? We thought you disappeared. You were gone for so long,” she laughed.

  “I was?” I said, scratching my head. I didn’t think it was that long that I was talking to Aidan. I shrugged and held up the book I was holding. “I was just putting this back,” I said, returning it to the shelf. When I did, the eyes on the other side were no longer there.

  “It took you that long to put back a book? You know maybe next time you should ask the librarian for help,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Yeah…right,” I said, still staring at the now empty space in front of me.

  “Ella, you okay?”

  “Yeah…sorry…” I followed Riley back to the table where we collected our things and headed off to dinner. Riley was right, not only was I wandering around for over a half hour, but I also had just spent the past four hours in the library working on my report and not even realizing it. Leaving for dinner now was probably a good thing. I needed a break to refuel, plus some fresh air would be a nice change from the musty, old library.

  Before we even reached the food line, Riley grabbed my arm in a panic. “Oh my god he’s here,” she said.

  “Who’s here?” I asked, totally forgetting about our earlier conversation.

  “The boy I like,” she whispered.

  “Where?” I asked, my eyes perusing the cafeteria.

  “Over
there, he’s sitting with his pack,” she said, keeping her head down.

  “His pack?” I questioned.

  “Ella, we’re really going to have to sit down and discuss the basics of our world. If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were human.”

  I rolled my eyes even though she was right. There was a lot of basic knowledge that I still didn’t know and should. “We’ll worry about that later,” I said. “So which one is he?”

  “He’s the one sitting next to Roman.”

  I looked at her baffled. “Roman’s a werewolf?”

  “No, he’s a vampire. He just hangs out with those guys.”

  “You know, you know an awful lot for someone who just started,” I said, eyeing her accusingly.

  “It’s easy to learn about people when others forget you exist,” she said sullenly.

  Sadly, I knew what she meant. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. You were actually one of the first people to welcome me, so thank you,” she said appreciatively.

  I gave her a small smile before taking a look at the boy she was crushing on. “He’s cute, you going to ask him?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think I can,” she said shyly. I grabbed her arm and started to pull her to the table before she could chicken out. “Ella wait, I can’t do this.”

  “Yes you can, trust me. I may not know about our kind but I do know a thing or two about boys and confidence is always a plus,” I said, urging her on and giving her a slight push toward the table.

  At first she just stood there, not saying anything. I think this was the first time Riley was ever rendered speechless. I gave her another push encouraging her, because if she didn’t say something soon this would probably end badly. “J-Justin,” she started. The whole table went silent and turned their attention to Riley, which I’m sure wasn’t helping her nerves. I poked her in the ribs, giving her another slight push. “I was just wondering…if maybe y-you wanted to hang out and watch a movie.”