Aries Academy of the Unknown

Aries Academy of the Unknown -Chapter Two-

~Chapter Two~

“I am alive!”

“Well, we’d better hope so!”

Phoebe woke up with a start, sending two fluffy pillows soaring through the air. She realized immediately that she had been placed in a bed. Sunlight shone through the drawn curtains attached to the window next to her, stating clearly that it was dawn. Had a whole day really passed without her knowledge? If so, it had been twenty-four hours since she last ate. All she had eaten for breakfast had been a bagel with strawberry jam so shouldn’t she be collapsing from hunger sometime soon? Maybe she had already. Oh, how she longed for something to take her mind off food. And then she remembered the other voice. 

Quickly and quietly, Phoebe peered into the mysterious room. The first thing she saw was a pair of snow white ears. The ears were moving in a circular motion as if the owner was running around in a circle. At first she assumed they belonged to a dog, but after a second glance she noticed that these weren’t regular dog ears. In the left ear dangled a large gold hoop earring. Was giving your pets earnings the “in thing” now? Phoebe wondered. Raising her head a bit, a searing pain ran through her forehead and she cried out. The dog stopped chasing its tail and stood up.

“Wait, dogs can’t stand up!” Phoebe exclaimed, backing into the metal bedpost.

The ears that had seemed friendly were attached to a head, and not just any normal animal head. The mint-coloured hair beneath the dog ears was wild and matted but in a way that looked neat. Two purple-red eyes peered back at Phoebe in a playful yet concerned manner. The white button blouse, pleated black skirt and emerald tie that covered the dog-girl looked as if they had been messed around with to accommodate her long body figure. She was mainly human, besides that fact that she had a huge poufy tail sprouting from her skirt and two ears on top of her head. The rest of her was all teenage girl right down to her scabby knees.

“I thought you would never wake up,” moaned the dog-girl softly as she rolled onto her back.

Phoebe, thinking she was going to attack, got ready to defend herself with one of the fallen pillows. But what came next was something she wasn’t expecting.

The dog-girl sniffed the air. “You got any bagels?” she asked curiously, her jaw falling open and her saliva-covered tongue licked her canine teeth.

“DON'T EAT ME!” Phoebe screamed, throwing the covers over top of her like a child. It was a moment before she could digest exactly what the dog-girl had said. “Wait a minute, why do you say that?” She poked her head out to face the strange creature.

“I smell bagels on you, and…” The dog-girl took another whiff of the air. “Ah, strawberry jam.” She sighed happily. This girl was nothing but a mere puppy.

“But I ate that over 24 hours ago!”

“Nemmos have an amazing sense of smell,” the dog-girl said. “And to answer your inquisitive mind, I am not gonna to eat you; I am a vegetarian, not a werewolf and pretty damn smarter than one too, if I do say so myself.” This girl was also a bit full of herself, Phoebe noticed.

“You’re a… You’re a… dog,” Phoebe stuttered, still utterly shocked that this dog-girl or Nemmo was communicating with her. Maybe she would wake up in the morning and everything would be back to normal. But what exactly was normal? Phoebe hadn’t collected all her memories from last night or her life previous, as she was still in a daze.

“I’m Mindy, nice to meet ya too,” said Mindy the dog-girl sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “Actually, it’s pronounced Nemmo. Neh-moe.”

Phoebe pinched the skin on her arm to make sure she was dreaming. Nothing. “You speak English?”