Cora

Chapter 4: "One word goes through my head over and over again"

Upon entering the voluminous dining hall, both of us take a chance to admire the beauty and grandeur of our new home for the year. The dining hall is vast and split up into hundreds of circular tables that could hold at least ten people at each. At the end of the room sits one long table on a platform that is high enough off the ground that the teachers can watch us. Only to make sure that no one started any unnecessary fires or anything. My eyes trail to the ceiling where I make out thousands of floating candles and a ceiling that looks like the cloudless sky that lies beyond the widows. Wow. They must have gotten that from Harry Potter, how original. Windows lined the long room, letting the afternoon light shine among the students that are already sitting down.

"Lyra, where should we sit?" I ask my best friend who is still appreciating the room. She looks my way, her teeth shining, the same color as her hair as she smiles.

"I don't know." Her face scrunches up as she looks to her right to where some pirates are already sitting down. "Just not by the pirates."

"Definitely not." I agree, nodding my head. Pirates are bad news, especially the captain of one of the two crews Ashley Gladio. Ashley is captain of the crew that rode the Aurum, a ship that is always in search of gold and treasure. Like all pirates, she's bloodthirsty and another one of my arch enemies. One day back in the first grade or so I accused her mother of killing my parents who died because of pirates. Let's just say that she's still holding a grudge.

"Oh, look! There's Rose! Let's go sit with her and her pack."

"Yeah let's go!" Rose Calair is our third musketeer. The three of us do everything together. We are practically three peas in a pod. It is strange to watch us together; a mermaid, elf, and werewolf as friends, never.

"Hey, Rose how are you doing?" Lyra asks as we sit at the table that's full of the other wolves in Rose's pack. Rose and her brother Kaden Calair grew up in the pack house ever since their parents left them on the doorstep and never returned. Their pack was nice and all but I have never gotten past their sexist ways. They are too traditional to ever think that women have power which annoys me to no end. I end up sitting between Rose and Lyra, though, so it shouldn't be too bad.

"I'm doing great. Summer was awesome--"

An announcement cuts through Rose's response. "Students, if I may have your attention?" The dining hall quiets down as Professor Kalandriel speaks. "Once again, welcome to this year's school year. It's so nice to see all of your smiling faces again. I just wanted to remind everyone that everyone must stay in their dorm rooms during full moon days and nights so as to protect everyone. Our next full moon is in three weeks so please mark your calendars. This is going to be a great year!" Everyone claps and turns back to their tables where food now lays.

A full moon means that the vampires and werewolves go blood crazy. During this time, vampires become driven by their need for blood and werewolves are driven by their need to shift. After the shift, they roam the woods for the rest of the night and kill anyone they meet that's not in their pack. Even during the day, both species tend to be more aggressive and are more prone to kill people.

Lunch is delicious. Rose, Lyra, and I catch each other up on what we did during the summer. Lyra left the island with her family and went to Paris. I try to push down the feeling, but my heart ignites with jealousy as she continues to explain how amazing her trip was. Caleb and I have never been off the island since ever since our parents died, we have barely made enough money to stay afloat. Our old childhood home was a gift to us last Christmas from an old family friend. We would never make enough money to buy our own house, much less be able to go on vacation.

My train of thought is now far away from Lyra's trip to Paris and is solely focused on the pain of my parents being gone. So, I jump in fright when the doors open with a crash, drawing everyone's attention to five people in the doorway. My eyes follow everyone else's stare to the tall male standing in the middle. My blue orbs meet the green ones across the room. He was staring at me. As I watch his eyes, one word goes through my head over and over again, mate.

The five people stroll into the room, their heads held high as the male in the middle continues to stare right into my eyes. He's beautiful with soft black hair that makes his vibrant green eyes that much more pronounced. As I pay more attention to his eyes, however, I notice the emotion lying within them. Rage. Just as I perceive this, he looks away and the group continues to walk towards an empty table on the other side of the room.