Soulmate Notebook

Chapter 4 - Virgil

Trigger Warning: Panic attack

Virgil was an anxious little bean the first time he wrote in his notebook. His mom told him that his soulmates would accept him, including his flaws. He saw that they all wrote in different colors. The colors on the notebook matched the colors of the people writing in it.

Virgil was a siren and his song was deadly to anyone who heard it. The only two things that were immune to it was other sirens and his soulmates. Virgil loved to sing though, and he would sing everyday if nobody else could hear him. One day however he was singing, and somebody heard. The person nearly died because of it, and since then Virgil won't even hum to his favorite songs.

One day when he had an extreme anxiety attack, he wrote about what had caused it in his notebook. They all wrote encouraging and comforting words for him to read whenever he needed to. He was grateful, because as he grew up the anxiety only got worse. He knew that he always had his soulmates, or the ones who wrote in their notebooks. He noticed that there was every color except for whoever the yellow belonged to.

Virgil's parents passed away in a car accident the year before he began high school. Now he was living with his Aunt and Uncle. Virgil was very anxious about starting at the new school, but the first day wasn't that bad. He managed to stay out of the spotlight. The next day came too quickly though.

Virgil was running a little behind this morning. He tried to get to class on time so, the attention of the class wouldn't be on him. He made it to class at the same time as the class bell rang through the halls. He quickly took his seat in the back of the class. The teacher took roll call, and the worst day had begun for Virgil.

The day was going pretty much the same as yesterday, but Virgil just couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible was going to happen. Virgil tried to tell himself that he was just being paranoid, when he got shoved into a locker by two boys fighting. One boy was wearing a green hoody and had cool looking horns on his head. The other boy was scrawny and was wearing a football jersey. Another boy quickly came and pulled the boy with horns away from the football player. The boy who broke the fight up was wearing black jeans, a yellow hoody, and yellow gloves. He whispered something to the boy with horns and looked around the crowd.

He then pointed to Virgil and said, "You, come with us. I might need your help with something." The boy then helped the boy with horns walk away from the football player. Virgil tried not to make eye contact with any of the students that were watching the fight. "I'm Janus by the way," the boy in the yellow said as they came to a classroom, "Purple hoody, can you open this door for us?"

Virgil quickly opened the door for the other two students. Janus helped the other boy to a chair. He then started digging through his bag for something. Virgil assumed that it was medical supplies of some kind. The injured boy clearly didn't want anybody's help.

"Let me help you! I know what I'm doing and if you don't want your parents to know that you were in a fight on the second day of school, I suggest you stop being so stubborn," Janus said frustrated, "What's your name?" He was trying to get the other's mind off what he was doing.

"Remus. My name is Remus, and if either of you see my identical twin, Roman, don't tell him what happened," Remus said as Janus worked.

"What's your name, purple hoody?" Janus said as he bandaged the cut on Remus's leg.

"V-Virgil," Virgil stuttered. He was extremely anxious around these two for some odd reason. Sure, he had social anxiety, but he never felt this anxious around people before. "If you don't mind me asking, what was the fight about?" Virgil asked.

Remus looked over at him and decided on how to answer the question, "Well, he made fun of my demon horns. I threatened to feed him his intestines. Then, he said I'd like to see you try. So I tried and almost succeeded until Janus told me that he wasn't worth having to switch schools," Remus explained with a crazy look in his eyes. Virgil decided to check his notebook while Janus finished up with Remus.

He dropped it by accident, and the front landed on the ground. Virgil froze up in panic as he saw two names added to his. Janus and Remus looked down and saw. When Virgil realized that they had seen, he went into a full blown panic attack. Janus quickly went over to the trembling boy.

"Virgil, it's ok. We are ecstatic to learn that you are our soulmate. I need you to breathe though, ok?" Janus said gently. Virgil just nodded his head to acknowledge that he had heard him. "Ok, breathe in for four seconds. Good job. Now, hold for seven seconds, Virgil. Release the air for eight seconds. Excellent job, Virgil, keep breathing just like that," Janus instructed and breathed with the panicking siren.

Once Virgil had calmed down, he looked up into Janus's calming green eyes. Virgil didn't know what to think. He had never come out of a panic attack so quickly before. It made him curious as well on how Janus knew how to calm his breathing. Janus saw the question in his eyes and quickly came up with a lie before the boy in purple could even ask.

"My younger sister has panic attacks sometimes and I just thought that if it worked for her then it could work for you," Janus said still in the same calm and gentle voice, "Now I have to finish with Remus's leg, before going to the principal's office." He finished up quickly and left to tell the principal that he had started the fight, even though he knew that he would be whipped and at least half of his scales would be removed.