The Big Four Families were four of the most powerful, well-renowned and established old werewolf families in the world. It consisted of the Callaghans, Revelwood, McAllister and Williams.
Their ancestry could be traced back hundreds of years to 15th century Europe, stemming from royalty. They produced many famous and notable offsprings that dominated the world of business, entertainment and education. They were so incredibly rich, they had more wealth than many of the developed countries combined.
"Revelwood?" I murmured, that sounded familiar, where have I heard of that name before?
Molly nodded excitedly, "yeah, Professor Revelwood, the Headmaster? His family owns the school."
Oh, that's why I've heard of it.
Then she blushed, "and back at the tennis courts, did you see the guy who was playing doubles? That's Kevin Revelwood, he's the grandson of Professor Revelwood. He won the Junior's Championship at Wimbledon last year. He also has a brother called Nick, they're twins. No one could tell them apart because they're completely identical, but I can...Kevin is the better looking one..."
Her voice drifted off as her face got redder and redder. She placed her hands over her cheeks to cool them down and smiled, making her look even more like a rabbit.
I tried to remember what he looked like but struggled since I hadn't been paying attention to who was playing. He was tall, that much I could tell, but then again, most of the guys in the school were tall, well apart from Charlie...
"So this Theo thinks he can be a big bully just because he's from a powerful family?" I asked.
"Shhhh!" Molly hissed, darting her eyes back and forth to see who was nearby, "don't say it out loud, people will hear you!"
I didn't care who heard me or not. "I thought no werewolves were allowed to be harmed on its premises?" I asked.
"No one will get 'killed'," Molly explained as we walked towards the school cafeteria. "They will just torture him." She said quietly.
"What?" My eyes widened in disbelief, uncertain if I had heard her correctly.
"Not physical torture obviously," she quickly explained, "just emotionally."
Of course. No one would ever be able to see the bruises and scars from emotional abuse, only the bearer of it knows the extent of the pain and suffering it can cause. I suddenly lost all my appetite.
We joined the queue outside the school cafeteria waiting to go in. I could see standing at the entrance was Dr Sarah Black, she was talking to a boy with gold buttons. Then she turned in our direction and smiled.
"Good morning girls," She said, walking over to us. "How was your first night, Aria? Did you sleep well? Is Molly looking after you?"
Molly nodded her head eagerly.
"Yes, thank you," I said.
Dr Black looked at me for a few seconds, her amber eyes seemed concerned, then she said, "don't worry Aria, I'll deal with it."
Deal with what? I wondered.
"You really should try to eat something, even if you don't feel like it, you'll need the energy for tonight." She said.
I looked at her blankly. Tonight?
"Molly will fill you in on the details." She winked before gesturing for us to go in. "Why don't you two go have your breakfast first."
Molly nodded again and we said our 'Goodbyes'.
Inside the cafeteria was bustling, it was already filled with people and everyone was eating and chatting loudly, the noise of cutlery clicking ran across the room. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the air causing people's mouths to water.
Over at the food counters, staff were dishing out eggs and bacon and pancakes, it all looked and smelled delicious. There were also baskets of fruit and the chilling cabinets were filled to the brim with soft drinks, cartons of fruit juice and different flavours of milk.
Molly picked up two dinner trays and handed one over to me.
"Thanks, what's happening tonight?" I asked.
She looked at me, surprised to see that I didn't know, "tonight is the full moon."
"Oh," I was momentarily stunned, of course, it's the full moon tonight. I have been so busy thinking about other things, I'd completely forgot about it. Would tonight finally be the night that I transform and become a fully pledged werewolf?
Then I asked the question that had been playing on my mind, "Molly, do you know why some werewolves can transform at will, I mean, not just during the full moon?"
Molly was busy sifting through the yoghurt section trying to find a strawberry flavoured one, "Usually only the Pure-bloods can transform at will." She answered without looking up, "what flavour do you want?"
"Any," I said.
That's why he can be in wolf form, I thought.
She managed to find two strawberry flavoured yoghurts and placed one on my tray. "Who did you see transform?" She asked.
"Dr Carlton," I lied. It wasn't who I had been thinking of at all.
"Yes, he's a great teacher, isn't he? He is part of the Big Four families too, you know." She said.
"But his surname is Carlton." I was pretty certain that wasn't one of the surnames she'd mentioned.
"His mother's side is the Williams." She said.
The lunch lady smiled at us: "What can I get for you dear?"
"Can I have pancakes please?" Molly said.
"And for you, dear?" The lady asked me.
"Same please." I said. I had no idea why I said that, it was as if I no longer could make any decisions. Before, I just ate whatever Julien made. He didn't ask me what I wanted but that suited me perfectly.
And now, he was gone.
I felt a lump in my throat, the sense of loss was so acute, it was painful.
"Are you ok?" Molly asked, her voice gentle and soothing.
Then strangely, the pain slowly began to ebb away...
I looked at her amazed, "thank you."
She grinned at me, then started grabbing knives and forks from a basket.
In the end, our trays contained the same things; one carton of strawberry milk, one pot of strawberry yoghurt, pancakes with strawberry jam and a punnet of strawberries.
Molly must love strawberries because, on her hair, she even had a hair clip that was shaped like a strawberry.
"Let's go sit over there." She said.
I glanced over to the seated areas and suddenly my body froze.