No More Regrets!

6 - Di Angelo Awakening

The car ride to the school was the most silent she had seen Nico be in a while. The first thing he did when he got inside the car was summon one of his two wolves -- the white one -- and have it sit on the front of the car with Ms. Dodds. He was telling her, "if you cross us, I'll kill you before you can move." He was so confident about it, that he simply let himself close his eyes and rest. 

His head fell on her shoulder and Bianca could hear his soft breathing as he slept. Despite all the intense things happening, he was still her younger brother. 

"You will have a rough life if your brother keeps acting like that," Ms. Dodds turned her head and looked behind. The white wolf whipped his head at her and growled lowly. She immediately went back to looking forward. "I suppose you will be fine... but his attitude will definitely cause much grief... Ehehehe" Ms. Dodds laughed eerily, like she knew exactly what would happen in the future. 

Bianca felt sweat fall from her forehead. She wiped it and kept bringing her foot up and down constantly. As if feeling her discomfort, the shadow beneath her feet rose up and a small black wolf sat on her lap. She put her hand on its soft fur. 

Her stress melted away as the small puppy quietly lay on her. Bianca looked to her shoulder, her brother was making a face she recognized. He made it when he wanted their mother to carry him to bed from the sofa, he was pretending to be asleep, or trying to fall asleep but not fully there.

She sighed and kept petting the wolf. She wouldn't call him out on it this time. She wrapped her arm around him to keep him as comfortable as possible. It was so warm and cozy that Bianca herself fell asleep. 

She woke up when Ms. Dodds knocked on the window from the outside. They had arrived to the school.

Bianca and Nico were brought to a boarding school which looked like the average high security penitentiary. 

The boarding school was cold. Just looking at it, Bianca felt cold. Even in the middle of summer, she couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine just looking it at it. More than a school, it looked like a prison. With barbed wire on the outside and general dark look, it didn't look the most inviting. 

Nico woke up immediately and began glaring at the school. "Curses," he whispered in my ear. He glared around at empty space, "lots of them." Bianca dismissed him, she did feel an eerie feeling coming from the building, but whatever curses Nico was talking about, she could not see.

Ms. Dodds had an enchanting-like effect on people inside the school, ironically. She may look like an evil hag-witch, but she could enchant people. Have her agree to anything and everything she said. Nico attributed it to "Jedi Mind Tricks" from that movie they watched together inside the hotel. 

"With this the binding vow is met." Ms. Dodds nervously walked back while keeping an eye on Nico. "I will tell you right now, younger Di Angelo. Your life will be full of hardship. Do not expect a peaceful death." She cursed him as she left, but Nico did not let her have the last word.

"No Sorcerer dies peacefully, that doesn't mean they die with regrets. Curse me all you want, but we'll see which curse is stronger. Mine or yours." Nico's stare made Ms. Dodds' evil eyes narrow, maybe in worry, maybe in mischief. Bianca wasn't sure. 

The weird bat lady disguised as a hag wearing a leather jacket left. That's how she would be remembered.

***

Nico adapted to the environment pretty easy, but he was unrelenting. With his motto being "No regrets" he would call out the teachers when they were wrong, or when he disagreed with them, which would put him in trouble with the administration office more often than not. He would also get in trouble with other students, using violence to keep them at bay, telling Bianca he wouldn't regret standing back and letting them bully others.