Nodding, I held his hand tight. “Okay. What are you going to do now? Where are you going to stay?”
“I think you need a pet rabbit.”
“But you hate that,” I said, surprised he would even suggest that idea.
“This way, I can investigate things and I won’t be far from you.”
“I can help—” I said, but he put his finger on my lips.
“You’ve got to study like the initial plan was and keeping away from anything that screams trouble is the ideal plan.” I prepared to protest, but he reminded me, “You wanted a normal life, remember?”
My face contorted. “But I want to help!”
“Well, you will since you can see what’s happening inside, but I don’t want you to deliberately involve yourself in anything. You might not understand it, but the whole situation is even more dangerous than anything you’ve faced before. Shapeshifters have hidden powers and predators are more likely to have a handy power that will turn out to be lethal. Just keep your eyes open for anything that seems out of the ordinary and I’ll do the rest. Promise me?” His eyes pleaded with me and sighing, I nodded.
“Okay, but I won’t just sit here and watch while the world crumbles into pieces.” I crossed my arms while giving him a glare.
“I know, but when the time comes, we’ll figure out something. For now, just enjoy your university life. I’ve heard it is quite exciting.”
“Fine.” I huffed and scowling, I turned to the window.
He tapped my shoulder, but I made a point of not looking at him. “Wanna go exploring?” I tried to hold back a smile, but the prospect of exploration in an unknown place with him was irresistible.
I took his hand. “Just so you know, I’m not done being mad with you.” I pointed out and he gave me his sarcastic smile.
“I know, but I’ve been told I can be very charming when I want to be.” He winked and I blushed while we were stepping outside the academy.
Chapter 3: Predators
The first days dragged as I tried to adapt to the ways of the academy and even if I tried to memorize the building from the first day, it was hard. It was a small building, but the architecture of the rooms made it hard and the somber colors on each floor confused me.
“…and apparently, I am not as good at Math as I thought I was, even if I aced it in school. Am I being tiring?” Jacques was sitting on my bed, listening without interruption with a look of absolute concentration on his face.
“No, I like listening to you. I always discover something new about the human world and the university seems exciting and terrifying at the same time.”
“How can it be exciting for you? If anything, it must be boring,” I said, thinking of him all alone during the day, waiting for me to come back from classes.
“I’m not bored. I get to explore the halls and hunt for private conversations about supernatural things, but so far I have uncovered nothing. Did you know there was a terrace on the fifth floor? It has quite a view and the hallway is painted yellow instead of the usual dreary browns or grays.”
I laughed at his excitement. “So, you get to have adventures while I am stuck in boring classes?” I looked at him with a hurt expression and he tugged me on his lap.
“There’s always the weekend and the afternoons if you’re not busy.”
“I’m never too busy for you,” I said, feeling my cheeks warming up. “But it’s still not fair.”
“Oh? And what you’re going to do about it?” His eyes danced and his mouth curved into a mischievous grin. Before I could react, with a sudden move, he laid me on the bed and kissed me.
They say there’s nothing like the first kiss, but every time we kissed or we were even together, my heart rose up to the skies and let’s not talk about my stomach, full of energy balls. Sometimes, I accidentally shot sparks from my fingers, but they were small and since no one was in the room, we avoided trouble. For now.
Craving more, I pulled him closer and an animal sound came out of him, making my heart beat harder. His tongue teased my lips, but suddenly, I found myself with a rabbit on my chest and the door opening.
“Hey, I’m heading out…oh! You have a rabbit? It’s so cute!”
Lena, I’m going to kill you! I thought as I smiled. “Yeah. Where are you off to?”
“Oh, didn’t you see the announcement about the freshmen meeting?” Lena said and I tried not to roll my eyes.
“Right. I might come by later. Thanks for the reminder.”
Lena beamed. “No problem. What’s his name?” She pointed at the rabbit and I was at a loss. We never had a pet and I didn’t know what to say.
“Jacques.” Of course, as soon as I opened my mouth, I cursed myself and Jacques stared at me, folding his ears disapprovingly. I was certain I was going to hear an earful later.
“Oh, French. Maybe you’re into French?” She winked and shut the door.
Putting my hands on my eyes, I peeked through them to see Jacques giving me a deadly stare.
“You could have used any other name.”
“Sorry?” I whispered. “I never had a pet before,” I said and seeing the look on his face, I amended, “I mean a real pet, so I don’t know what kind of names they use.”
“You’re going to regret this,” he muttered and turning into a rabbit, he positioned himself on the windowsill with his back turned.
“I’m sorry.” No matter how many times I said it, he didn’t give any signs of movement so I put on some better clothes and headed to the party for the freshmen. I didn’t want to go, but for the sake of spying, I went in the hope of learning something new.
The “party” was as boring as I thought it was and I didn’t learn anything except who I should turn to if I have a problem, which amounted to the two boys who showed up the first day. James and Raid introduced themselves in a rather pompous way and while I didn’t let them out of my sight, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary either. Just annoying teenagers.
“They are cool, aren’t they?” Lena said when we headed back to our room. She, on the other hand, was fascinated with both of them and especially Raid who was the most somber one of the two.
“Well, they didn’t make much of an impression to me.” I shrugged and counted the minutes until I made it back into my room and saw Jacques. While I was at the party, I thought of apologizing, but at the same time, I was puzzled. Why would he be so upset about me giving his name to the rabbit? It was his name after all.
“Oh, no! I forgot my phone,” Lena exclaimed, and having a sudden thought, I jumped in.
“I’ll go get it. Don’t worry, I’ll meet you back at the room in just a second.”
“Thank you so much, Violet. I will owe you one.”
“My pleasure.” I left and headed to the place where the party was held. I didn’t want to go back, but maybe I could find something of use when everyone was gone. Lena’s scarf was lying on the floor and picking it up, I made a round of the room without success. I was ready to give up, but I heard the click of the back door and quickly hid behind the wall.
“So many new victims, so much fun to be had,” a voice said, but I couldn’t recognize it. I waited a while before investigating.
“You always miss the bigger picture. These are only temporary, but the real food is the juice of the tree!”
Another one? I wondered. Peeking from the corner, I watched the two boys I saw before but they seemed different. Their faces had edges and they were not the soft texture of teenage boys, but had a wild and dangerous appearance to them.
“I’m hungry, how much do we have to wait?” James said, his silly attitude gone.
“A little while longer and the real fun will begin. For now, we have to eat human food,” Raid said in disgust.
“Fine,” James said and I watched as he slowly shifted. One body part at a time.
“Careful, idiot! Someone might see you!” Raid admonished, scanning the room and I hid behind the wall, hoping they wouldn’t start scour
ing the room.
“No one is here and besides, I can tear them to pieces before they can yell for help.” James completed his transformation and Raid smiled.
“That would be fun!”
Raid shifted too, and seeing the two large animals out of the corner of my eye, I paled. On my toes, I turned from corridor to corridor while the terror built up inside me. I ran without thinking, up until I felt arms around me and I screamed but a hand covered my mouth. Fighting, I tried to escape.
“Violet, it’s me!” a voice so familiar penetrated my fear. “It’s me.”
Blinking, my vision cleared to reveal Jacques holding me. I was so shocked, I couldn’t utter a single word. I only nodded.
“What happened?” He helped me sit and swallowing, I tried to relay what I had seen. “They…they…a tiger…a lynx.” Tears claimed my next words and gathering my knees on my chest, I stared at the paintings of the boats hanging on the wall.
Jacques gathered me against his chest while he rubbed my back. “The shapeshifters are a tiger and a lynx?”
I nodded as I took sharp breaths. “White.”
“A white tiger. That’s unusual.” He continued making circles on my back and I listened to his steady breath. “Did you see anything else?”
“No. They were talking about…food. I thought shapeshifters ate human food. They were talking about waiting for something…stronger.”
“Stronger?” Jacques’s hand paused. “But we only eat human food and animal food when we’re in our animal form. I prefer to avoid it because then, I crave only carrots.”
I managed a small smile. “What could it be? It seemed like they were talking about something like blood for vampires.”
He shook his head, puzzled. “I’ve no idea.” Casting me a sideways glance, he said reluctantly, “Do you think you could describe them tomorrow? Maybe it will help me find out more.”
“They were the two boys who barged into our room. The quiet one seems to be the leader, but he has a twisted sense of humor, I think. He’s the white tiger and the one who gave silly grins to everyone is a lynx. I have only seen these animals in books and on TV but they didn’t have anything distinctive about them. They devoured every piece of meat on the tables without caring if someone saw them. One of them said, they could…eat them.”
Jacques bit his lip. “So, they are in alignment with their other side. That is certainly strange. Predators don’t usually control their other side. Anything else?”
“Yes, they transformed slowly. It was like a slow-motion movie. I could see their arms turning into legs with paws and so on. You don’t do that.”
Jacques’ frown deepened between his eyes. “I can’t do that. As far as I know, no one can and I don’t see the use of going slowly. It’s painful turning into an animal because the human composition is different and the more complex the entity, the more pain you get. Invertebrates are the best, but shapeshifters of that kind are rare.”
“You’re in pain every time you shift?” I said, widening my eyes as I hadn’t thought of what it meant to be a shapeshifter.
“I’m used to it, but it’s only a little. I’m not a big animal. Their pain is excruciating compared to mine. They didn’t show any signs at all?”
“No, on the contrary, they seemed to be enjoying it.”
“That is not normal, I must search for what this means.” Looking at me, he smiled gently. “But not tonight. Come on, I wanted to show you something.”
He helped me up and that’s when I realized I was in the woods near the academy. Did I end up here on my own? I thought as I walked with his help. My legs felt weak and Jacques had his arm wrapped protectively around me.
“Here.”
Casting a look, I noticed one of the biggest trees I had ever seen, not only that, but where the trunk should have been, a giant hole had formed a small cave with room enough for a small human.
“What is that?”
“Our meeting point,” he said and I felt the excitement in his voice. “It’s safer and away from the academy.”
“Oh, it’s nice. I hope I can fit in,” I said, trying not to destroy his happiness.
“Well, you can make the hole bigger if you want. I doubt it requires much of an effort,” he said and I blushed.
“Right, I didn’t think about it.” Kneeling, I examined the hole and I smiled at the care he had put in everything. Warm blankets, water and even a stack of food rested inside.
“What do you think?”
“I like it,” I said and his eyes lit up.
“Good, because we’re staying here tonight.” He crawled next to me, pulled the covers up and wrapped me in his arms. I took some breaths as he kissed my hands.
“It’s okay,” he whispered.
“When are you leaving?” I was afraid he would make it a long time until he got back and I needed him.
“Maybe on Monday, but I’ll get back before you know it.”
“Okay,” I whispered as tears ran down my face.
“Shh,” he hummed and kissed the top of my head. “My Violet…”
His smell enveloped me and I was content in his arms that I fell asleep with the touch of his fingers on my face.
Chapter 4: Headmaster
I woke up from a light breeze, trailing on my shoulder.
Opening one eye, I placed it to Jacques trailing his slender fingers on my arm.
“You know, you can let me sleep a little more,” I said, sighing and he bent to brush a light kiss on my forehead.
“Maybe, but the sun is well up so you must wake up. The adventure of exploration begins!” he pulled my arm and I sighed again.
Dragging myself from the covers, I rubbed my eyes. “Why are you so cheerful in the morning?”
“I’m always cheerful when I’m happy.” He gave me a bagel and some tea. “Your roommate is grateful for having her scarf back.” I raised my eyebrows in surprise and he grinned. “You said you wanted to give it to her this morning.”
“And didn’t she question who you were?”
“Nobody questions rabbits.” He rolled his eyes playfully. “I just left it in the living room. Seems to be her favorite since she made these animalistic noises of happiness.”
I slapped him in the arm while I tried not to laugh. “She did not! You’re in an awfully good mood.”
“And you’re not,” he said and I detected a tone of complaint. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” I said, but my voice quivered. “Just not a morning person.” I ate the bagel to avoid conversation, but I noticed his somber expression.
“I’ll take care of everything,” he promised, “and you won’t have to worry about anything.”
I felt bad that he had to take the burden, but I was starting to feel a change inside me. “So, what do we do today?” I said and his face lit up.
“Explore!”
I had never seen such an energetic person in my life. We explored the woods and the city where we stayed for lunch. All the while, he talked and made me laugh with every joke he shared. I never had a boyfriend before, but he was the one every girl dreamed about. Sure, he had his flaws and made mistakes, but his heart was true and his best intentions always centered around me. Caring about himself came last but he put me first and I loved that. I was sad to see the day come to an end since he had pushed my worries and fears away.
“Lena invited me to spend the day with her tomorrow,” I said when we were sitting on a bench, watching the sunset.
“Okay.”
“What is it?” I said when I saw him absently rubbing his fingers—he did that when he was thinking or was nervous.
“Then maybe I should leave tomorrow.” Startled, I turned to him while he explained, “The faster I go, the faster I will return. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.”
Reluctantly, I nodded and shuddered as I tried not to think about what I would do without him.
“I can call Kristy—”
Shaking my head,
I said, “No, it will be fine.” I didn’t want to drag her here because there were a couple of crazy shapeshifters on the loose.
He walked me to the academy grounds and on the way, we exchanged no words, each of us was mired in our own thoughts. When the gate came into view, a lump formed in my throat. Gathering my courage, I formed the words with difficulty, “When are you leaving?”
“Now. It’s best to gain time than to lose a day,” he said, decisively and my heart sank. “I’ll be fast.” He held my necklace in his hand and it opened, revealing its empty compartment. With his other hand, he took out a glowing object from his pocket and placed it inside.
“That’s the flower!” My voice shook as I realized it was the flower he left on my cupboard as a birthday gift.
“Kristy gave it to me when she was yelling at me.” He chuckled. “You would have been proud. She has never yelled at anyone before, but it was raining insults when you…left.” He bit his lip.
“I would have liked to see it.” I suppressed a smile. “I haven’t heard her yell at anyone.”
He placed the flower inside the secret compartment and it fell closed. When I looked down, I noticed the necklace was now decorated with a silver frame around the stone.
“Thank you,” I said and he kissed me gently.
“It belongs to you.” Pulling away, he cast me a look full of tenderness before shifting into his rabbit form.
I watched as he ran on the grass and disappearing from my sight as the night covered him.
Inside my room, I pulled the covers and pretended he was still there with me, bringing to my mind the memories of last night but the feel of him was gone. Pain coated my heart and tears gathered in my eyes, but a silver light shot up from my necklace. A warm sensation enveloped me and I smiled as I felt him close to me. Closing my eyes, I kept the sensation alive in my head and sleep claimed me. My dreams were full of him, keeping me safe.
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