Smoke & Mirrors

Prologue

Nicholas Piberius Wilde is many things. And by his third year at Cherryton Academy, he managed to get quite a reputation for himself. He's heard it all and at this point in all his 17 years of life (almost 18!), you can't intimidate Nick even if you wanted to.

"Hey... Are you Wilde?"

Nick lifted his shades, raising an eyebrow. "Depends on who's asking."

It was a faceless, ordinary wolf. The guy was so tall, he was blocking all the sunlight. Ugh, Nick hated wolves, they were the worst.

The wolf was nervously fidgeting, looking everywhere but Nick, as if embarrassed by simply being in his presence. Heh, Nick was used to that. As mentioned before, he has quite the reputation. Not moved, Nick simply looked around. He was chilling on the grass with his sunglasses and avoiding his chemistry homework while listening the Mammal Mia soundtrack. All animals can easily find Nick outside the school building, staying out of the teacher's radar.

"I'm... looking for some wild times.", the wolf whispered.

Ah... So you're one of those, Nick thought absent-minded. Oh well, it wasn't his place to judge (it really, really wasn't) and the guy said the code, so...

"Ah, yes, what can I get ya, my fellow canine?", Nick asked amused.

"Hum...", the wolf fidgeted. "I-I'm not sure... I just... I have been having some insomnia and my friends told me that you could help me with some b-b-b..."

This guy is a virgin, Nick thought. By the looks of it, he was a first-year. Nick didn't know him before, so he's definitely new. Nick knew everybody.

"Blood?", Nick helped. "Yeah, some carnivores like to drink a little of blood during exams, so the stress don't get them so hard. Do you have any preferences?"

The wolf took a deep breath, he was basically sweating and looking like he wants to bolt.

"... What do you recommend?"

"Oh geez, that's so personal. You can't just ask a carnivore what kind of meat they like!", he mock-argued. "Anyways, rabbit blood is kinda popular now. You might enjoy some deer or elk blood more, though, considering your size."

The wolf paused for a second, for the first time since he interrupted Nick's lazy day, not trembling. He was in serious thought, his eyebrows frowning.

"I guess... I'd like some deer blood, please."

Nick was pulling his notebook out to write down the order, completely unfazed. But, unfortunately, some people just can't stop themselves to explain their decisions.

"Cuz, you see, there's a bunny in my class and that'd be too weird... We're not even friends or anything, but I wouldn't be able to look her in the eye later."

Yeah right, they all say that at first. It won't be long until this wolf start eating rabbit meat at night and then smiling innocently at this bunny girl in the morning.

"I see", Nick deadpanned, in lack of having anything else to say. "Look, buddy, my deer supply is a little low so I'm gonna have to make the trip to the Black Market. That'll cost a little extra fee, nothing much, don't worry. I'll need your name though.

The wolf hesitated, all nerves again.

"You write our names down...? Isn't that a little dangerous? What if you're caught..."

Oh God, that one Nick won't let it slide.

"Buddy, I'm gonna be honest with you here. I'm in this business you know how long? Since I was twelve. That's five years of dealing with this shit. You know how many times the authorities caught me? None, zero. My clients are safe. I just need a control so some smartass carnivore who thinks they're big shit just because they're a carnivore bigger than me won't bust me because they refuse to pay up later. Are you going to pay up later, wolf?"