I heard people yelling as I started to wake up, so I slowly opened my eyes. I saw two blurry shapes yelling at each other. One looked dark and the other looked glowing. I reached over to grab my glasses. The images cleared up and I saw that Mr. Wilhelm was holding Bram and Mr. White was holding Nova. He was able to keep him still while being careful with his son’s wings. I saw that one of Bram’s eyes was bleeding and smoking.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

I got up and went to grab my cross except it was not there.

“We went to do morning wake-ups and found these two fightings.” Mr. White told me.

“I have done nothing wrong! I was protecting Ash from getting blood drained! This monster was trying to eat him!”

“Bullshit! Why would I attack him the day after giving him a cross?! I have blood bags! I don’t need fresh blood right now!”

“Then, why did I find you looming over him like you were about to grab him?!”

“Because I was going to wake him up, you fucking moron! Are your brains full of feathers or just dust!”

I saw my cross on the ground and picked it up.

“Nova, I am going to have a talk with you in my office.” Mr. Wilhelm turned to me. “Could you take Bram to the Medical wing?”

I nodded my head and Mr. White let go of Bram. I had to catch him because he fell to his knees with ragged breathing. Mr. White took the two of us out into the hallway.

“I’ll go show you where the medical wing is.”

“What exactly happened?” I asked.

“Wilhelm and I heard Bram scream out and we ran into the room to see Nova putting the cross against his eye. Then, we separated the two of them and you finally woke up a few seconds later.”

“Hurts.” Bram said while leaning on me, “you are a deep sleeper,” he poked me on the nose.

“I guess all his adrenaline from the fighting finally wore out. He is reaching the point of drunken blood loss.”

It took a while to get to the medical wing and the whole time, his eye was still smoking and bleeding. I was panicking because all I kept on thinking was that he was either going to die or just lose that eye. Mr. White opened the door to the wing as the headmistress was walking out.

“Hey, Serena! I got a patient for you!”

The nurse ran over and helped Bram to a bed.

“What happened?”

“Burned by a cross by Nova.”

I sat down and tried my best not to panic.

“Wayland! Get over here right now! We have possible light magic mixed in with a cross on a vampire.”

“Yes, Madam!” I heard Bruce yell out.

She grabbed my wrists and had me sit down in a nearby chair as Bruce ran over to Bram. I could feel one of the empty void-like panic attacks rearing its head at me.

“Breath; your friend will be okay. Wayland is one of my best helpers.”

“If I had worn the cross to bed instead of taking it off, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” I told her while sniffling.

“If it wasn’t for your cross, he could have pure light magic thrown at him and that would be way worse, so your cross saved him from a worse fate. Just always remember that this is not your fault.”

“I got good news and bad news!” Bruce yelled out to us.

“Give me the good news then bad news,” Nurse Nightsong asked.

“His eye is fully healed and he now has a cool cross scar!”

“What’s the bad news, Bruce?” I asked him.

“He is going to need fresh blood, and not blood bags, to heal the rest of the internal damages or he might not be able to see out of that eye.”

I saw that Bram was slummed forward on the bed, but I noticed that his eye stopped dripping blood on his shirt. I know that it hurts, but I know that the pain Bram is having right now is much worse than just a simple prick on the neck.

“I’ll donate mine.”

“Are you sure Mr. Snowpelt? He would have to bite you in the neck.”

“I’ll go get the painkillers ready,” Bruce said without asking Nightsong.

I sat down next to Bram on the bed and I saw his nose move as if he smelled something. Then, he leaned over and bit me in the neck. It did not feel as hard as the other times that he bit me. I could hear the two of them whispering. For some reason, people just really love whispering things about me while near me. With my hearing, I guess it makes it easier to hear them, so it is not their fault. Nevertheless, it might be their fault for wanting to talk behind my back in the first place.

“Why did you let him? He’s not trained like the main donors, it might kill him if the hunger becomes too much for Mr. Harker.”

“Nurse Nightsong, I have known the two of them for all of my life and I know that Bram doesn’t drink to kill. For some strange reason, Ash’s blood is the only one that he will drink fresh even during his blood rage. The only pain Ash ever gets from the blood-drinking is a sore neck. Something inside Bram’s heart or soul won’t let his vampire side drain Ash dry.”

“Interesting, I have never heard anything like that before. I want you to go to study this later and tell me your findings.”

“Yes madam, I will study them every day until we find the answers that we need. Although, it might have to do with the fact that Ash was there when Bram first turned into a vampire.”

“Maybe that might be it; you said that Bram was five when it happened to him? You said before that he was turned by a spell. Then those could be some elements of an idea.”

I tapped him on the nose and then he stopped drinking. I saw that Bruce bandaged the eye up, which made it where I could not see the new scar. Then, Bruce walked over and handed me a glass with some pills.

“Feeling any better, Bram?”

“Nothing like getting fresh blood after having your eye nearly burned away to wake yourself up in the morning. I wonder if the rest of my day will be as incredible as this moment!” He sounded chipper when he spoke.

“You are weird if you are that happy after you almost died!” Bruce yelled at him.

“It’s called being sarcastic! You should try it sometime!”

“No thank you! I prefer being blunt, like wanting to shove a nice wooden stake up your vampire ass!”

They hugged each other after a few seconds of glaring. I swear I do not know who is weirder, my family, or my friends. I took the painkillers as Mr. White walked in with two sets of clothing. I guess he must have left while Bram was drinking from me.

“I got your uniforms because the first-year orientation is going to start in a half-hour and there is blood on your pajamas.”

“You can change behind one of the curtains,” Nightsong told us as she pointed to them.

Both Bram and I ran behind the nearest bed curtain. As soon as we were behind it, I punched him in the arm.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Because you got hurt today!”

“So you punched me?!”

We could hear laughter on the other side.

“Yes! Because you scared me. I don’t think I can take it any longer if every day was this insane.”

“Aw! You are so cute,” He hugged me.

“Bram, thank you for the nice hug but could you please put your pants on or let me put mine on first?”

“But you are so fluffy!” He said as he started to squeeze my tail.

“Please let go of my tail, it feels weird,” I told him as I started to blush from the weird feeling.

“No, it’s soft like a mini pillow.”

We heard even louder laughter as I pushed him away, and then we finished getting dressed. We were about to leave the curtain then we heard the stomping. I was terrified because I know that stomping anywhere.

“Oh shit, she is going to kill us,” we said together when we looked at each other in fear.

“Where are those two idiots at?” I heard Joy shout.

My legs started to move on their own, around the curtain and stopped right in front of her. She had two dolls; they looked mini versions of Bram and me, in her hands that she was using to control us. She even had little outfits on them that added to the effect.

“We are going to the orientation then you two will explain what happened or I will use my big needles on your dolls.”

We just nodded our heads because we could not talk under the spell. She put the dolls away, and the first thing we did was check for any hidden needles. We both remember how she hid a needle on a doll in such a way one time that the girl did not figure it until it stabbed her in the butt as she sat down. After we deemed it safe, I started to wonder how long she has had the dolls of both Bram and me. Maybe she always had them since we first met.

“That is an incredible gift! Could you could please help me out occasionally with some patients? Are Moon’s Day, Wind’s Day, and Fire’s Day okay?” The nurse asked while bouncing at every word.

“Uh... sure!” she said before we all walked away.

“Oh Mr. Snowpelt, I would like to see you after the event as well!” She yelled out and then I nodded my head.

“Good job! You found a pure-hearted use for your magic!” Bram told her.

She gave one of her rare smiles when he told her that. I remembered that she told us that her father uses his gift for the good of the people and she wanted to be as good as him. Then, she would always tell me to stop making her feel sappy like one of those loser girly girls or she will chop off my privates slowly. I always believed her on her threat but I know that I would never hit that limit. She cares for me too much to hurt me ever, but I have gotten extremely close before.

“So, what do you think the orientation is like?”

“I think they make a schedule that fits what we might do in the future,” Joy answered, “that’s how it was like in middle school for me.”

“They might also tell us about other features of the school.”

“Cool! I wonder what they might make for me because I’m not a warrior type.”

“Ash, you fight by not fighting. You are like the perfect passive-aggressive warrior.” I am not too sure if that was a good thing. “You helped Alex realize that you two are not 100% wild like some of the idiot humans believe,” Bram told me, “it’s more like 63% wild and 34% tame.”

“What? Not a full half tame human and half-wild beast?” I started counting using my fingers. “You’re missing 3% of the total amount.”

“Oh, that’s just hunger because you always want food.”

“I agree with Bram, I have seen it when you get banned from your fish, you start to act like a half-starved monster.” Joy pointed out, “it’s extremely terrifying to watch.”

“Strangely, you act wilder when you act human. Maybe you prove the answer to an old question. What separates man from beast and beast from man?”

The question slipped to the back of my mind and I was smiling, as we got closer to the door until someone decided to bump into me.

“Ew, you better not give me fleas,” the guy said before walking ahead.

“Why do people always think I have fleas? I never have gotten them before. I always make sure my hair and ears are clean!” I said as I started checking my hair and clothing for any fleas.

I did not find anything that showed that I had fleas. Joy patted me right between my ears. It was so relaxing and my ears kept on twitching from her touch. I always thought it was weird that my ears were so sensitive.

“They are just jerks that are blindly following their dumbass parents’ footsteps. Please do not listen to them at all. Besides, if you ever got fleas, it means that they gave them to you and not the other way around.”

Bram grabbed my hand and squeezed it lightly.

“Always remember to follow your dreams and to remember that your dream was to go to school. Also, remember that we will do our best to stay by your side as long as you stay by our side. If they pick on you anymore, I might use them as a fresh midnight snack.”

I could not tell if he was serious or not, so I just nodded my head as we walked into the hall. It looked completely different from last night. The four tables were placed against the wall with stacks of papers on them. I saw a person with the firecrest on his jacket, holding a stack of papers and giving them out to other students.

“I think that we need to go to that person to get started on our schedules,” I said.

“Names?” The person asked when we walked up to him.

“Harker, Bram.”

“Ravenwing, Joy.”

“Snowpelt, Ash.”

It took him a while to find Joy’s paper and mine, but we each got a paper each. There are moments in life where I hate my last name due to the line order, but then I remember that Nova and Viktor’s last name is White, and I start smiling. All three papers had three fill-in marks with a pen attached to them.

“What are the blanks for?” I asked them.

“It might be for electives, in our old middle school we had to take one each year. You chose the classes that you want to take to fit with your future or for fun!” Joy said.

“This is why I get upset over the fact that this is my first time going to school!” I told her. “I never get to have classes like that!’

We started to look at the many different packets of the classes. All of them seem so exciting and strange at the same time; it made me want to try them all this year.

“Hey! I found a great class for us to try! Come look!” Bram told us, “They have magic classes! It is perfect for the three of us! We can learn how to perfect all of our magic!” He looked closer at the paper. “Mandatory for all mages so I guess we have to take it.”

“I found a cooking class!” Joy said, “We could learn how to make tomato basil bisque or an apple pie!”

“Hey! I found an astronomy class!” I told them, “We can study the sky just like we used to do at home.”

“Sweet!”

“That sounds cool but I can’t take it, the days that it is on might clash with the times I’m going to help the head nurse. But, I bet that you two would love that class. Both of you always have your heads in the stars.”

“Don’t you mean, heads in the clouds?” Bram asked.

“No, I mean heads in the stars because you two love watching the night sky.”

“Don’t worry Joy; I will hang out with you during Bram’s Vampire class so you won’t feel alone anymore.”

I started hugging her while she started cussing me out.

“Screw you bear boy, quit being such a fucking sap.”

I was hit in the back of the head for that comment.

“I wonder what we do next,” Bram asked us.

“I don’t know, technically the orientation didn’t start yet, so I think we have to wait a few more minutes before anything happens.”

To pass some of the time, we started to rock-paper-scissors on the floor. Bram managed to beat us after six rounds, I have a feeling that he has been cheating somehow with the game. We stopped as soon as we saw Foxglove walk into the room. Everyone got up and made a small path for her.