I opened my eyes to deep reddish-green eyes, and so I threw a punch up. When I finally put on my glasses, I saw that Bram was on the ground.

“Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!”

I climbed out of bed and went over to his curled up form. The way he had his hands made me realize where I hit.

“Out of all the places, why my balls? What did they ever do to you?!” He yelled at me with a slightly higher voice.

“I’m sorry! Do you need some healing or ice?”

“No! I just need to stay right here for a few minutes.”

I guess I did not hit him that hard.

“Well, if you stay down there too long, you’ll miss breakfast.”

I felt a weight on my shoulder then I realized he was using a shadow and me to pull himself up.

“So, how did you figure out to hit me right in the balls?”

“Oh, you remember the few weeks that my dad was constantly limping?”

“Yeah, that was the summer that your siblings started school.”

“My mom used him to teach the three of us to protect ourselves from any kidnappers. He would wait until we were dead asleep then shake us awake. We had to figure out a fast way to get him to stop.”

“Your dad has my condolences.”

We got our school items, changed, and then walked towards the direction of Joy’s room. I had to use my nose to follow the smell of apples and tomatoes. When we finally got to her room, we decided to rock-paper-scissors on who knocks. I lost the game then Bram had to half shadow-walk back to his room to grab some blood, before reappearing again.

The door opened and we were surprised by what we saw. Joy was wearing a black nightgown with a red lace lining on it. As she rubbed her eyes, I noticed that both of her straps were down and that it almost showed her chest off completely. She looked like a regular teenage girl than the Joy we know and care for.

“Huh? What time is it and why are you guys red?” She spoke in such a soft voice that was so unlike her.

“It’s breakfast time, and we’re, um, not red! You’re still sleepy.” She blinked a few times after Bram answered.

“Oh, well stay out here while I get ready.”

She closed the door on us while we just stood there. After a few seconds of staring at her door, we started to rub our faces to get rid of the redness. We heard loud thumps from inside the room.

“COCK-A-FUCKING-DOO! GET UP KIRA! IT IS TIME FOR BREAKFAST!! IF I HAVE TO BE AWAKE THIS EARLY THEN SO WILL YOU.”

That sounds more like Joy with that level and volume of anger.

“I kind of feel bad for her roommate,” Bram told me.

“Don’t because her anger will be directed towards us in about ten seconds.”

Right as when ten seconds mark hit, the door opened and Joy gave us her pissed off look.

“Why the fuck did you wake me up?”

“Because you overslept and we have class today.”

I would have to say that Bram is one brave man, and then I realized that he was shorter than I was all of a sudden. I looked down and saw that he already had his feet in the shadows.

‘He’s planning on leaving me here if she gets too pissed at him. Sneaky bastard.’

“Don’t be so cocky,” was all she said before grabbing his collar.

I guess she knew because she started to pull him slowly out of the shadow. I did not realize how strong she was until I saw this moment. Then after she calmed down, we started to walk towards the main hall. Out of nowhere, I was tackled to the ground by a white blur.

“Your first class is the same one as mine! Oh my goodness! I cannot wait! You are going to love the class!”

Turns out that the white blur was my sister, Flo. Due to her strange gift, I could feel a few of my ribs starting to crack. Her magic has to do mostly with her emotions. The magic creates a type of protective aura that gives her strength and claws to fight with. The only problem is that she could not control it until last year. That is when we found out that both hers and Bruce’s magic came from our Grandma Rose’s Shaman gift. While she was still trying to squeeze the life out of me in a hug, I could feel her charmed claw necklace. Grandma knew that Flo’s gift would go crazy and made this necklace for her at least fourteen years before she was born. It made it where she was only at half-strength until she can handle more power.

“Sis, please you’re hurting me,” I said as I could feel the bones slowly caving in on me.

She quickly let go and backed away from me. I could see the bear-like aura surrounding her as she looked like she was about to cry.

“I’m sorry! I still can’t control it sometimes.”

I slowly walked up to her and I saw the aura slowly shifting around my hand to let me in.

“Hey, don’t worry about it; I’m used to Bram doing it to me every time.” I heard a ‘hey!’ behind me, then I made her look me in the eyes, “let’s go eat some breakfast. I think that there might be pancakes.”

She perked up and started smiling. I watched as she absorbed the energy back into her body. Bram quickly caught her as she fell back.

“Food sounds amazing right now.”

She slowly got out of his hold and wobbled in place. Taking back in the magic brings such a shock to her body that worries me. So, I walked right next to her and put my hand on her shoulder. Because she is the oldest, she always tries to look stronger on the outside. We finally got to the dining hall and I noticed that it was packed. Luckily, I found a space big enough for all of us to sit together.

“Flo! They have your favorite! Those chocolate spotted ones.”

“It’s called chocolate chip and give it to me! Gimme!”

She made grabbing motions until I started passing her some of the pancakes. I looked around and noticed that Nova was not anywhere to be seen.

“Hey, Flo-Flo! Are you okay? I felt your energy flux earlier.” Bruce asked as he and Alex came over to the table.

I finally had a chance to see the hall that they were in was the Spirit Hall. I would have expected Alex to be in Body hall because he is an excellent fighter.

“Yes, I just got a little uncontrollably excited.”

“Well, next time please be more careful. Every time that your magic acts up, I react to it as well.”

The way that she looked down at her food made it look like she was a punished puppy.

“She just got excited, no need to punish her,” I told him while giving them a small glare.

“But-”

“-Did anyone get hurt? No, then it is fine.”

I know that Bruce and Alex are both older than I am but they need to be nicer to Florence. They walked away as she started eating again. I saw the small smile that was her way of saying ‘thank you’. Unlike most people, I may be small but I love to eat my weight in food, mostly salmon and other types of fish. After we finally finished eating, the four of us got up and started walking towards the direction of the class.

“Since mages are rare to find, they only have one magic class for everyone,” she told us.

Right as we started passing the music rooms, I saw Nova sitting on a desk.

“Um, I’ll be right back, I think I forgot something in the dining hall,” I told them and they just nodded their heads.

I turned and walked into the music room that Nova was in.

“So, you came just liked I asked.”

“Yes,” I tried my best not to stutter, “Why did you want to see me like this?”

I was scratching the back of my head while trying not to look at him. I heard the door close behind me as he started to walk towards me. I looked down and saw the bent light around my leg. Then I jumped in surprise when I looked back up and right into his bright red eyes. Staring in those red eyes, I could tell the difference between his and Bram’s. Bram had a type of hypnotizing hunger with a tender passion hidden inside them. But, all I see in Nova’s eyes is a burning possessiveness and smoldering lust that scared me.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he pushed me against the wall.

“I am taking what should be mine.”

I was taken by surprise and I froze when he kissed me. I felt no love in the kiss. I felt his hand move and he started to rip my shirt off. As soon as I got over my shock, I pushed him away.

“Stop!”

“You know you want more,” he said as I started to push him away again.

He grabbed my wrist and my first reaction was to scratch him with my free hand. I did not realize that my claws were out until I already hit him. He had four bleeding scratches on his left cheek.

“Bitch!” He used my other arm to throw me to the table.

I was dazed from the hit but I could hear him storm out while cussing. Something smelled metallic but my brain was slightly hazy, which caused me to fall to the ground. My eyesight got extremely blurry when I attempted to focus.

“Ow, that hurt,” I said out loud to no one, “Damn, where are my glasses?”

I tried my best to look for them, but it was difficult because of how hard I hit the table, and that I am almost blind as a bat without my glasses. That is weird when I think about it, a werebear that is blind as a bat. I felt something tap my nose as my vision got clearer.

“Thank y-” I was in the middle of saying when I realized my helper was a moving black tentacle thing.

It made a weird purring noise as it turned a dark green then black again.

‘Could this be a small shadow that Bram is controlling?’

“Do you know Bram?” It nodded its ‘head’ at the question, “is there any way for you to tell him to come over here?”

It nodded its ‘head’ faster, and then I saw part of it break off and move away. I guess the shock of meeting the little shadow helped me focus but now the shock was over, I fainted.

* * * *

“Ash! Open your eyes please!” I heard someone calling me from beyond my senses.

I finally opened my eyes and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was Bram was calling my name. The words sounded a little odd to my ear as if I was hearing them from under a pillow. Then, I saw tear streaks down his cheeks and more tears still falling. It was strange to see his eyes as a mix of dark red and green.

“Hey, why are you crying?”

“Because you turned fully white and there was so much blood coming out of your head.”

“Oh.”

I started slowly sitting up and that is when I noticed that he was missing his button-up shirt. I never realized before that he had a nice fit body. It did not have too many muscles and he was lean. I tried my best to stop staring at the naked chest in front of me. Friends are not supposed to stare at friends like this.

“Where’s your shirt?”

“On you.”

“Oh.”

I watched as the little Darkie, the name I decided to call the small darkness, held up a small compact mirror and I finally saw the damage to my head. My face looked so ashen, I tried my best not to laugh, and the right side of my head was covered with parts of my shirt. One of my ears was slightly bent and covered in dried blood. I quickly fixed his shirt so it would not look strange on me. I looked over to the table and I saw a bent metal tray on it. I must have a hard head to cause that damage.

“Thank you, Darkie, for holding the mirror,” I told it and its body vibrated like it was purring.

“You called the sprite Darkie?” Bram asked while trying not to laugh.

“Well, it helped me put my glasses on and brought you over here, so I named it Darkie.”

Darkie slithered over to me and I petted it’s ‘head’.

“I feel better, so can I go to class now?” I begged with my puppy eyes.

“Fine, but if you look weak afterward then you are going to the nurse.”

“Yes sir!” I saluted him and I saw in the corner of my eye, that Darkie saluted as well.

“The first week isn’t even over and it seems that you have been to the nurse’s office every day.”

“So have you.”

“Shut up.”

“Nope!”