I got a hard punch to the gut for that.

“No!” she leaned next to my ear. “It’s Nova, and I don’t want Bram to hate me because of his scar.”

“You do realize that he wouldn’t care about that. Even though Nova did hurt him, I know that Bram would not dare to break off the friendship we have, just for that petty thing.”

“Even though I like him, I might see if I like any of the other fish in this ocean of a school more before I tell him.”

“Now, where’s your snarky smile at? I might start worrying that you might be an imposter soon.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“There’s the Joy I know!”

I got another punch to the gut for that, sadly, I was laughing too hard and walked into someone.

“Were-freak,” She said as she pushed me away.

“I need to watch where I’m going.”

“Yes you do, I don’t feel like getting you out of fights all the time. Though, if you get into a fight, you might get less stick-like arms.”

I flipped her off as we finally got to the medical wing.

“Welcome! Ms. Ravenwing, could you go talk to Wayland? I want to talk to Mr. Snowpelt privately.”

She nodded her head and walked over to Bruce.

“Madam, may I ask why you wanted to see me?”

“I wanted you to come here because I could sense that you were hiding some injuries this morning. Also, I saw your energy change color from a red to a dark black,” she must have seen my confused look, “I can see the colors of people’s energy. Red is anger and black is a rare color for me to find.” She pointed to my arms. “Could I see the marks on your arms?”

I just nodded my head because I felt so embarrassed that she found out my secret. She pulled out a special cream and my wounds scarred up as she applied the medicine.

“There! Much better! No one as young as you should have battle scars like some of the older folk.”

“This wasn’t from the war,” I honestly told her.

She leaned closer to me after putting the cream away. She lightly put her hands on top of mine.

“Not all battles are fought on a physical battlefield,” she moved her sleeve and I saw matching marks to me. “Some of us fight battles on the inside; I suffer from panic attacks due to my past.”

I was surprised that someone had a similar problem to me. I thought that I was alone and weaker than everyone because of the anxiety attacks.

“How can I get rid of these ‘battles’, as you called them?”

She started to laugh.

“There is no true way to get rid of the inner battles, but there are ways to make them easier to handle. Let someone who cares about you, know about all your battles. Also, it is always good to find ways to block out the noise in the world like reading or knitting.” she put her hand on my shoulder, “and if need someone to talk to, I’m always here.”

“Thank you for this talk.”

“You’re welcome,” she got up, “well, I have to check my medicine stock and I think you and Ms. Ravenwing need to go get ready to eat dinner soon.”

I bowed my head before getting up. Then, I saw something starting to come out of my shadow. I jumped, as the weird shape got bigger and closer to me.

“Good Evening!” Bram said as he walked out.

I did not mean to, but I accidentally punched his arm.

“Sorry, a force of habit,” He used to try to scare me when we were younger and I would always hit him on one spot on his arm.

“Eh, I think I’m numb right there after all these years.”

Joy picked this as the perfect moment to throw a rock right on that spot. He did not even flinch from the hit. I guess he is numb in that spot from all the old hits we gave him. I am not even sure where she got the rock.

“Shame! I guess I need to find a new spot to hit!” She said to him.

“Well, I won’t be bored at all this year, thanks to you three,” Nightsong told us.

“Hey what am I? Chopped Liver?” Bruce said.

“Ew, not enough blood and too much alcohol,” Bram and Nightsong said at the same time.

“Hey! I’m not like my father!”

I could not stop laughing at Bruce acting fake panicky. I know that he looks up to my uncle for being a great mage, but I know that he is always making sure to never touch a drop of alcohol. Towards the end of the war, his father was known for looking for answers at the bottom of a mug.

“You know that we are joking, right?” Bram told him.

“I know that, if my mom thought that I was drinking, she would kill me then ask someone to bring me back just to kill me again.” He started cleaning up the room. “I just hope that this year is not as exciting as last year.”

“Well, sorry children but I have to kick all of you out, so you four could go eat dinner.”

Bram started to pull on my arm to make me stand up.

“Dude! You have to see our new room! There’s a big window in it!”

“Mr. Harker, is that even safe for you?”

“I’m an oddball when it comes to vampires, sunlight doesn’t hurt me. It just bugs me a bit.”

I barely had a chance to see her surprised look before Bram pulled me into the shadows. As we came out, I saw the red sunset shining in the window.

“See! Look at the beautiful scene! It’s so enchanting to watch.”

I looked over to him and the red glow did not look that bad on him. He doing a small scream that interrupted the perfect tranquil moment.

“Ah! I am so nervous about the class! What if they think that I am a freak because I can stand in the sunlight and eat food?! I do not want to be hated for being so different. Otherwise, it would be just like home!”

I had to snicker at that as he started to pull on the black parts of his hair. Bram’s hair is so different from everyone else due to the strange mixture of his parent’s hair. I had to shake my head from the strange thoughts that kept slipping in my mind.

“It’s not going to be that much different from before we got here. If they judge you for being different, it is not as bad as the way the villagers did before. Because I’m pretty sure that they don’t have any firewood to burn you with or stakes to try and stab you in the heart.”

“Thanks, you always give the best pep talks.”

He started to wipe his eyes clean from any tears.

“Strange, I could say the same about you.”

He smiled and the way the light shined on his teeth, made them look like they covered in blood. However, it did not scare me as it used to, it made me realize that the two parts of his life are more together than he thinks. He always tries to suppress his vampire nature but it is always there even he does not realize it.

“Well, I better get Joy over here before she makes me with her magic. Then time for my class!”

I watched him step back and fall into the shadows. It still surprises me when he becomes one with the shadows. The way that his pale skin slowly morphs and the original shadows come together when he finally disappears from my view.

“All I was trying to do was protecting you from his evil darkness.”