An Unwelcome Visit

Bambi

~This. Place. Is. Magical!~

We arrived at the university by following the advice of Everly, Tenessa, and Brielle. Keeping to the Stars of Mendola, it only took us one day and night of travel to finally see the shimmering lights of the campus.

But we had not been expecting something as majestic as this…

I stood frozen, mesmerized by the unbelievable sights. Witches and wizards walked, floated, and teleported all over the beautiful green yards and hulking stone towers.

Several shades of ivy adorned the buildings, making it appear as if we had walked into a city growing straight out of the earth. Flowers of all shapes and sizes littered the grounds.

Everly had warned us that the witches and wizards of this institution didn’t take kindly to campus trespassers. But I couldn’t imagine how a place so beautiful could be so unaccepting.

I laughed as Max spun in a circle, trying to decipher numerous signs pointing in several different directions.

“Do we want the Dean of Students?” asked Max. “Or should we instead head to Nelward’s Dormitory for Witches?”

“The dorms are as good a place as any to start,” grunted Ekon. “I can’t imagine Holly being too far away.”

Ekon had been unbelievably calm since our run-in with the witches. It was most certainly the spell that Everly helped place on Ekon to calm his nerves. He hadn’t been a grouch and I only wished his desire to drink was completely gone. I only wished it would remain that way forever.

Regardless, I was proud of my mate for trying so hard to change into the person he and I both needed him to become.

As we crossed a courtyard with a large fountain depicting a siren spitting water toward a school of hungry sharks, we heard someone shouting and quickly stopped.

A large man wearing a ridiculous wizard’s hat and black and gold robes came storming up in a huff.

“Hold it… just… hold it right there!” he exclaimed.

Ekon sniffed the air and his face showed disgust. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.

“Hold what right where?” said Max, obviously annoyed by the odd display.

The wizard straightened his robe and took in one massive puff of air.

“I am Headmaster Witznow and it is my duty to inform….” he looked us over and cleared his throat, “whoever you might be, that you are trespassing on our campus.”

“There were no walls or gates to stop us,” said Ekon. “I mean, you did have some type of magical aura, which I must say is wonderful for keeping out the humidity. But did you really think that would stop us from entering? If it’s an open campus, how can we trespass?”

“Well… because you’re werewolves!” Witznow snapped, reddening with frustration.

“You, sir, are very observant,” Max fired back.

I stepped forward, trying to de-escalate the situation.

“Hello, Headmaster Witznow. I’m Luna Bambi Rosebud Woodard Jedrek. This is my mate Alpha Supreme Ekon Helmer Jedrek and my brother Alpha Supreme Maximus Woodard,” I said, pointing to Max, who was wearing a sneer better than most villains.

“Yes, yes, hello,” Witznow replied, clearly annoyed.

“We’ve escaped lockdown in North America. We’ve witnessed a gruesome assassination at the Supernatural Parliament in Austria. We've traveled thousands of miles to be here...”

I tried to keep calm and give him just enough details to help our case, but I could tell he wasn’t interested in what I was saying.

“We’re looking for our friend, who is currently one of your students,” I said, shifting tactics. “Her name is Holly Stone and seeing her is of the utmost importance. Once we talk to her, you have my word that we’ll be out of your hair.”

Headmaster Witznow looked at each one of us carefully, unsure of how to answer. Finally, with a wave of his hand, he produced a quill and paper out of thin air. The quill began writing furiously and I realized that it was writing out each of our names.

“Thank you for the information, ~Luna Bambi~. And due to the rules agreed upon in the treaty for No Wolf’s Land, I must now write a formal complaint to the Supernatural Parliament explaining your intrusion on our campus. Wolves are not allowed, even if they claim to be friends of a witch.” Witznow frowned. “If I see you here after nightfall, it will surely not end well.”

“For us or for you?” Ekon growled.

Headmaster Witznow puffed his chest and gave a quick bow. “Good day. And do heed my warning,” he said before stalking off past a group of curious witches.

“Well, that guy seems like a real prick,” grunted Max.

I nodded and sighed. “Let’s just find Holly and get out of here.”

Max

Headmaster Witznow left us slightly shaken, but no less determined. It even occurred to me that writing to the parliament could possibly get something done for once.

It took us longer than we expected to find the dormitory, but once inside we located Holly’s room quickly enough. The other name on the door read “Serena Freund.” We knocked but received no answer.

“Holly?” my sister called, putting her ear to the door.

Ekon became impatient and tried the handle. To our surprise, the door was unlocked. Behind it was a quaint little room with all the trappings of two young women away at school. But neither Holly nor her roommate were anywhere to be seen.

“Smells like cheap perfume,” Ekon said, disgusted.

“Oh, stop. It smells just fine,” replied Bambi.

I shrugged, trying to stay as neutral as possible. I didn’t care what it looked like or how it smelled. I just wanted to be gone before Headmaster Witznow made an even bigger scene than before.

Bambi found Holly’s side of the room by the photos on the nightstand. She checked the class schedule taped to the wall.

“She doesn’t have any classes right now,” Bambi said.

“What about dinner? Perhaps she’s in the cafeteria,” Ekon mused.

Bambi shook her head. “No. Dinner was over nearly twenty minutes ago.”

I sighed and sat down on the bed across from Holly’s. “Where could she be?”

“Not here,” said a female voice.

Standing in the doorway was a young woman with jet black curls, wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans.

“You must be Serena,” my sister said.

Serena nodded and then pointed a finger at me. “That guy’s stinking up my bed!”

I stood up quickly and wiped off the comforter, annoyed and embarrassed that a college girl could make me feel so stupid.

“You’re the ones making all the commotion,” realized Serena. “Witznow isn’t happy about your presence on campus.”

“Tell us about it,” Ekon said sarcastically.

“We’re looking for our dear friend Holly. She was supposed to be expecting us, but we can’t get ahold of her.”

Bambi to the rescue, as always!

Serena took her words into consideration as she filled up her backpack with books and a few sets of clothes.

“I haven’t seen her in days. Went off campus with one of the professors to do some ~field work~ and they haven’t been back.”

Bambi touched Ekon’s shoulder and then looked at me. Even though Ekon couldn’t see us, he could no doubt sense the awkwardness in the room.

“What do you mean exactly by field work?” Bambi asked.

“I heard Holly saying something about going off-campus with Professor Zillana for some advanced research. She wouldn’t shut up about it, actually.”

Serena finished packing her things and dropped a bit of food in a bowl of water, which contained a very lethargic goldfish.

“Best bet is to look in her planner. She writes everything down. I’m surprised she didn’t take it with her,” Serena said, nodding to a small book on a shelf inside Holly’s headboard.

With that Serena left the room and closed the door with a slam.

“Well, I see Holly’s been making some friends,” I quipped.

“Enemies, more like it,” Ekon corrected, picking up on the tone of Serena’s voice.

Bambi spread open the planner and looked through the past few days. Finally, her eyes lit up as she pointed to something written in Holly’s handwriting.

“There’s a place called the Glades of Ire,” Bambi read. “Seems like she drew a nice, detailed map.”

I shook my head, amazed at how intuitive my sister really was. It was only months ago that she was such a scared, unmotivated girl who could only dream of leaving our house for a design internship. Now, with all that she has been thrust into, that little girl had grown into an intelligent, determined woman.

I watched as Ekon shifted halfway into his wolf form, his eyes becoming pitch black. He looked at the hand-drawn map, memorizing as many details as possible before shifting back.

He was having trouble focusing on anything outside of the alcohol that nearly consumed his life. But ever since we crossed over into No Wolf’s Land his focus was on helping the pack… not drinking himself into a stupor each night.

We were all growing up.

Slowly changing into the people that we needed to become.

I tried to think about the changes I’d made since Matthias and Devina reemerged. Instead of finding an answer, I could only think about their reign of terror.

Once we found Holly, we’d have a better idea of what we were up against. Then maybe we could stop them.

Ekon

We left the serenity of the campus for the uncertainty of the deep forest. Bambi led the way, trying hard to decipher the minutest details in Holly’s drawing.

I had looked at it myself but felt that it was better to leave the map-reading to the two people in my party who could actually see.

They set a fast pace, but I could easily keep up. The constant worry of finding Holly now fed my mind instead of the desire to drown it in whiskey… or rum… or….

~Goddess, I’m thirsty!~

I shook my head and continued running, able to hear the footsteps of the others as they pressed forward.

We’d been traveling for several miles. Much further than I would’ve expected a professor to take her star pupil. Something about all of this felt terribly wrong, but I didn’t want to voice my worries to the others.

They were stronger than I was in that sense… holding out hope for the light even when things looked darker than ever.

I ground my heels into the ground and my body slid to a halt. Something was moving in the trees around us… following our movements…

The others noticed I was no longer following and circled back.

“What’s wrong?” Bambi asked, worried.

“Something’s following us.”

The trees rustled again, helping me pinpoint the hidden location. I partially shifted, and my vision came alive.

I looked over and saw Max begin to shift as well, but Bambi stayed in her human form, ready to follow suit if need be.

I vowed to myself it would not come to that… I would let my utter rage destroy whatever happened to emerge from the—

Two figures emerged from the trees: bloody, bruised, and their clothes in tatters.

Seeing their faces caused me to falter, my legs nearly giving way.

Bambi rushed to Ela’s side, crying out for her friend as her arms wrapped around her, trying to hold her head upright. She was still awake, but her eyes looked dazed. She’d no doubt been through a lot and somehow managed to survive. But for how long?

Max sprinted to Hunter, but it was too late. He had already collapsed into an unconscious heap on the ground, his blood staining the grass a deep red.

~What the hell happened to them?!~