Read Emerald Prep :: Chapter 5

I was watching the waves from the front of the boat when Bram walked up next to me. He leaned on the railing as he sighed, looked over right as the breeze started to blow his hair away. Due to the direction of the wind, I could see more of his red hair. It is strange how this year his hair started to slowly turn as red as his dad's. He says that when his hair lightens in the sun, it goes from black to red.

"At least you know some of the students and teachers here, when I went to my very first school in Oakgrove, I was all alone until I came to see you when the school day was over," he said with a sad smile on his face.

"Don't worry, this time you won't be alone because I will always be here." I grabbed his hand and squeezed lightly. "I will never leave your side, no matter what happens."

"Well, I hope to be your roommate because I know you won't stake me in my sleep."

"I hope you get to be my roommate, and I hope that I don't get a werebeast hater. They might skin me in my sleep. I hear that fur coats are all the rage in Silvermine."

I had to smile at the craziness of our lives.

"So that means we have an equal chance of dying in our first year!"

We did a high five because of how funny the truth was.

"Sounds fun!" he started laughing, "I was worried that this school might be too boring for us!"

For some strange reason, I felt my heart flutter when I heard this true version of his laugh. He had such a lovely gleam in his eyes that were so rare on his face. Right when he turned to look at me, a wave hit the front of the boat, drenching us in salty seawater. At least I got a couple of fish out of this strange situation. Bram had me throw the fish back into the ocean even after I pouted at him.

"You don't eat raw fish like that; it will hurt your stomach. Hold still, you have a piece of kelp in your hair."

He brushed against one of my ears, which made it twitch. I did not know until he showed it to me, that kelp was a dark green sea plant. It looked weird but I wanted to eat it.

"Is it edible?"

"Yes, but it is better to get it at a restaurant than to eat it like this." He tossed it overboard before continuing. "Gives you fewer chances of getting sick. Maybe we could find one near the port next time for you to try it."

I was having fun talking to Bram but then I started to hear the whispers from all the other students.

"Why would anyone in their right mind talk to a werebeast? They are just pure animals! Look at that ugly mixture of human and beast!"

"Ugh, how dare he talk to it? That thing might have fleas or diseases. I have to go to school with it. Ew, that is so gross."

"Ugh! I bet that the beast smells like sewage and shit!"

"Hey Ash, look at me."

I looked up at Bram and I did my best to ignore the whispers. However, it was so hard to do. He started slowly breathing and motioned for me to follow his example, his help stopped me from almost having a panic attack. I have done nothing wrong with them but all it takes is one look at my ears and they hate me. They hate me just because I was born part animal but I did not wish to be born like this.

"Don't listen to them, they are all dicks. They don't know you at all and I know you don't have fleas because we used to share beds in our sleepovers growing up." I started to smile at his words. "Besides, I got pieces of their hair so we can give it to Joy. She can make them dance if you want. It is easy to steal hair when controlling their shadows. All it takes is one light movement to grab one loose hair without them realizing it."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the back of the boat. Right as we were about to reach our large group, someone made a comment that hit me straight in the heart.

"Hey! Why should beasts go to school just to pretend to be human? Most they have in their little brains is how to eat and shit! We should throw all the werebeasts overboard because they all should have died when they were born!" The crowd cheered at his words and he grabbed the nearest werebeast to him, which just so happens to be me. "Let's all grab one!" He told them as he lifted me.

I started fighting his grasp as he dragged me towards the edge. I saw that quite a few other students grabbed some werebeasts as well. He lifted me to throw me off and then someone tackled him.

Bram caught my hand as I fell over and he started pulling me up. Somehow, he managed to save my glasses from falling into the water. He used the shadows to create a net to stop any other werebeast from falling over. I watched as other students started to help bring the other werebeasts back onto the boat.

"I may be a werebear, but you are a disgusting pig!" Alex said in between punches.

His sharp teeth and claws were showing as he fought my grabber. I almost forgot how frightening he could get when he gets mad at someone. He was always the background protector in the family, so it is rare to see him in close range fighting. He normally used slingshots and bows to attack bullies.

"Alex! Stop! We may have been hurt by what he said but we are better than him," I told him as I grabbed his fist, "or do you want to prove that we are mindless animals, just like they believe we are?" I could hear some people agreeing with me in the crowd as I spoke.

Alex walked away and then the guy punched me in the face. I fell backward as I covered my nose. Joy walked over and I finally understood the old saying 'hell hast no fury like a woman scorned'. I would rather be bleeding in front of a hundred hungry vampires than be the target of that rage. I never realized how violent some of the people I know could become until now. I did not know to be more terrified for my own life or my enemies' lives.

"Oh boy, you made the worst mistake of your life by picking on my buddy." Joy said as she pulled out a doll.

He tried to hit her, but Bram kicking him in the chest stopped him. Joy got a piece of his hair from Alex and she used it to hold him still.

"But, you two are human! Why are you defending that beast?" he asked while holding his chest.

"Wrong! I'm not human at all, I'm a vampire mage."

"You fucking moron, I'm a human mage and he's a better person than you will ever be."

To my surprise, other students started to yell at the anti-werebeast students. I was surprised that many humans were joining the side of the werebeasts. Bruce tapped me on the shoulder while I was watching in shock.

"Come over here so I can heal you. I don't want you to have an infected cut under my watch."

I saw Joy remove the hair off the doll as I followed him to a chair to sit down. He pulled out a small first aid kit that was hidden in his pants pocket.

"Bruce, do you think that the fighting will ever stop?" I asked as he started to put some stinky herbs on the cut.

"Nope, because it is in all of our basic natures to fight each other. The main problem is humans; we fight against others and ourselves. When humans hate werebeasts, vampires, and mages, it is a basic 'you are different and we hate that'. However, with other humans, it gets complex with 'we hate you because you have a different coloration than me and you think that a different deity moves the sun across the sky'. If it gets bigger and messier then war is wanted by most but it is not needed at all. I swear that humans crave blood more often than most vampires." He said before tilting my head. "Wow, I think he was wearing a sharp ring when he punched you."

"Wow, that was very insightful. I think that is the right word I was looking for."

In the corner of my eye, I saw Joy hand him some cloth right before she sat down next to me.

"This is clean and it might help you get rid of the blood to make it a lot easier to heal him."

"Shit, I'm not skilled enough in magic to heal this. It is too deep. I don't want to make it worse by accident."

"Move over then, I am skilled in stitching. Ash, do not move. Bruce, watch, and learn. This will be good for you to learn when you can't use your magic."

Not moving was easy for me, the idea that my first day of real life is me getting stitches was not. My fingers twitched every time the needle moved in and out of my face. I guess making dolls is the perfect practice for healers. I looked over to her and saw that the guy was about to hit her from behind.

"Um, Joy! Behind you!" I tried my best to not move too much as I spoke.

The guy froze as Joy was finishing the stitches. She got up and punched him in the face. I saw that she had one of her dolls in her hand with a piece of hair tied to it.

"Ew, I got some blood on me. Here you go, Bram."

Bram came out of the nearby shadows, licked up the blood on her hand, and then went over to help me up.

"He tasted gross, livable, but still gross. Just like his personality." He said before wiping his mouth.

Joy used the doll to move the guy towards the door to under the boat. We followed her down to the guard's room. She opened the door and made him go in first.

"I may be a werebear, but you are a disgusting pig!" Alex said in between punches.

"Oh boy, you made the worst mistake of your life by picking on my buddy." Joy said as she pulled out a doll.