"There. There. It is almost over now. Just a few more pushes." The midwife consoled the middle aged woman who lay on the floor with her legs spread apart. The birthing room was nothing exuberant. It was relatively small and the air seemed moist and stifling. "Almost there. I can see the baby's head. Quite an enormous head" she teased. The birthing mother screamed as she pushed harder than before. "Excellent. Now breathe. Breathe. And push!" Once again the woman screamed as she pushed even harder this time. In a second the room was filled with the cry of a new born baby. "It's a girl" the midwife revealed as she smiled at the baby and rocked her in her arms. Just as the mother stretched forth her hand to carry her baby, the scene faded to black and suddenly the atmosphere changed. There were dead people, wolves and blood scattered all over the grounds of a dark forest. Then there was Natalia dressed like a lady from the 15th century, she was running along side two elderly women and a girl her age. She did not know what or who they were running from but from the looks on their faces and the way they ran one could tell that they were in grave danger. They ran so fast their hearts began to beat like they were about to explode and their footsteps were all so loud and thunderous that they made the ground shake.
It was 4:00am and Natalia tossed, turned and murmured in her sleep. For the past five days she had had this same nightmare. At first she had thought that that was all it was. A nightmare. But each time the nightmare came it felt more real than the last and now she was really terrified. Her restlessness had lasted for hours and the noises she made in her sleep made it difficult for her roommate to get any sleep.
"Nat. Natalia" Charlotte called out her name as she tapped and shook her several times in an attempt to wake her from what she assumed was a bad dream. By the time Charlotte shook her for what felt like the 100th time, Natalia's eyes flew open. Her body now as still as a plank tightly secured in place by nails. Her heart raced and her eyes quivered. Fear glaringly written all over her.
"Some dream you were having" Charlotte spoke. "Would you like me to turn on the lights?"
Natalia who lay facing the ceiling and was still too frightened to speak only turned to face her and give her a subtle nod.
As Charlotte walked over to the light switch Natalia slowly sat up leaning against the wall and bending her legs so that her knees were closer to her chest. She began to speak "It felt so...so real." She thought out loud "If you had the same nightmare over and over again. Would you be worried?"
"Depends." Charlotte was now sitting beside Natalia. "Sometimes nightmares are just dreams. Sometimes they are much deeper than that. A revelation perhaps. If I kept having a nightmare that was so scary it affected my sleep and my health or it had something to do with someone I loved or was acquainted with then yes I would be very worried." Natalia was silent. "Do you want to talk about it?" Charlotte inquired. Natalia shook her head "I wouldn't know where to start. It's too chaotic to even explain. Its like random flashes. Sometimes it feels like a memory..." she paused "but other times... other times it's just fear. It's like my brain is trying to tell me something. Trying to put me in a scene but I... I don't just get it." She looked scared and confused like a little girl who had just seen a terrifying monster under her bed.
"So you think it could mean something? Something real"
"I certainly hope not." Both girls sat in silence for a few seconds and then Charlotte made a suggestion.
"We should see one of the school doctors. I can't say for a fact that she will know what your dream means if it means anything at all but she would definitely have something that can help."
Natalia was surprised that Charlotte didn't discard the matter as just a mere nightmare. She thought about how sweet and thoughtful Charlotte was and how she almost made her feel safer just by talking to her. They had only met about 12 hours ago but she liked her already and she believed that Charlotte liked her too. Unlike Natalia who was relatively tall; about 5 foot 10 inches, with long shiny black hair, Charlotte was on the short side at about 5 foot 5 inches and had beautiful red hair with a short fringe that made her look all too serious even though in reality she wasn't that serious. Both girls were freshmen at Elvira Fenrir Academy but Natalia had only resumed the previous day and had had issues finding her way around. She bummed into Charlotte and her mate Henry; who was a sophomore, had resumed school about three weeks ago and Charlotte was more than delighted to help her find her way. Imagine the look on both their faces when they discovered that they were roommates. Charlotte showed her the way to the room and immediately she was done settling Henry called and invited them out for drinks.
"I'm truly sorry for disturbing your sleep" Nat was really remorseful.
"Oh. Its no issue. Its almost time for school anyways. Lets just say you were an alarm clock" Both girls laughed.
"Almost time for school?" Natalia looked at the clock. "It's 4:45. School doesn't start till 9."
"I like to get up early and prep myself. We should be out of here by 8. Do you want to see professor Esmerelda before classes or after?"
"Professor Es...?" Natalia inquired with a puzzled look on her face. She had no idea who that was and she was not about to bite her tongue trying to pronounce that name.
"Professor Esmerelda. She is one of the school doctors."
"Oh oh. Before classes is fine by me if its fine by you."
"Perfect. Then we should we about of here say 7 ish."
Natalia was surprised that Charlotte had so much school spirit. She loved her vibrant energy and her 'let's get to it' vibe. She smiled at Charlotte and when she smiled back she felt a little tingle in her heart. It was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship, she thought. She had never had any serious friends and so it meant a lot to her that she felt like she would be getting one now. Both girls sat and chatted. Charlotte wasted in no time in telling Natalia all about her and henry. They were pack mates, Henry's father was the most prominent Alpha in all of london. He was also incredibly rich. Her own father was the beta of the pack so her and henry had practically grew up together and they discovered they were mates as soon as they were old enough to know what mates were. Two years back they wanted to get married and just live together the traditional way, but their parents insisted they went to school and got formal training both as wolves and academically and unlike Natalia, who attended strictly human schools, they had attended schools like Elvira Fenrir their whole lives.
Time passed as the girls chatted and laughed. Suddenly Charlotte's alarm clock went off. It was 6:15am already. Natalia felt a sense of relief as she got ready to hit the shower while Charlotte laid her bed and prepped her clothes for school.
As Natalia walked to the bathroom, she thought about how great it was to be attending a school like this. A school where everyone was just like her and she did not have to hid or pretend that she wasn't who she was except of course for the witch part. Her parents always made it sound like being both a witch and a werewolf was some kind of curse. She had to pick one to identify with and she very much loved being a wolf. Besides, her mother made witchcraft sound horrible and she never practiced it so Natalia knew little to nothing of it.
She was very grateful that her parents let her come here even though her mother was strongly against the decision in the beginning. Her parents were separated, they still communicated like friends and co-parents but they lived in different countries and were seeing other people. In the shower, as Natalia hummed and scrubbed, she realized that she had forgotten all about her nightmare already. Talking with Charlotte had been somewhat therapeutic for her. She never had any serious friends because she went to regular human schools and whenever she got close to someone, they'd cut her off because they felt she was being too closed off to them. Which she was but not because she wanted to be but rather because she had no choice.
After her shower, Nat returned to her dorm room where she met Charlotte prepping to hit the shower. It was a very spacious room well decorated with modern facilities. There were two queen sized beds, one on each side of the room. The desk tables were made of dark wood and were accompanied by black chairs. The was a small table in a corner with a microwave on it and a mini fridge just beside it. Natalia especially loved that there were two separate closets and enough storage space for all their belongings.
After about 45 minutes and at exactly 7:25, Charlotte handed Natalia a slice of pizza from the fridge which she ate as they both walked down the hallway to the school clinic.
Elvira Fenrir Academy was over five centuries old. It was one of the only schools in the world for just werewolves and witches. Being a school for supernatural creatures it was hidden from human eyes and what was even more fascinating about was that it changed location every year. Still within London of course. Right now it was somewhere in East London. There was only one other school like it in London; Morgan Le fay University but it was not half as populated or prestigious as Elvira Fenrir so no one really spoke of it. The school had separate campuses for wolves and for witches and it even had a human affairs campus where they taught regular human courses ranging from science, engineering, Art and humanities and even legal studies. The school operated in a some what secretive manner. It was a school that could only be found by those who already knew of it's past locations and as such eighty to ninety percent of the students who attended the school were descendants of past students. Nat was no exception to this. Her father had attended Elvira Fenrir when he was her age and so had Charlotte and Henry's parents. Natalia had picked up legal studies as her human course and so did Charlotte. It was another reason why they got along so well. Henry on the other hand had picked up architectural science. Whatever that was.
The school clinic was about 5 minutes from their dorm and Nat and Charlotte walked side by side talking and laughing about nothing in particular.
They were only a few more minutes from the entrance of clinic when Natalia felt a strange pull in her chest. There was a strong scent that filled the air around her and she wondered what it was. She tried to ignore the scent but she couldn't, she looked at Charlotte who was completely oblivious of the scent. It was an irresistible and addictive scent and just as she looked around in curiosity, her gaze met his and she wondered if he could feel the same thing she felt, if he had a tug in his heart and perceived her scent so strongly as well. He was stood about 10 feet apart from them with two other guys. At least 23, she thought. He was at-least 6'3 and had beautiful black hair just like hers but much shorter. It was parted side ways and stopped a little above his right eye. His jaw line was chiseled to perfection and his body looked magnificent. They held an unwavering gaze as she stood at the entrance of the clinic. She wanted to look away but she couldn't. His gaze was intense and it was much too difficult to turn away.
"Earth to Natty." Charlotte was able to finally get her attention causing her to break eye contact with him. "Are you okay? You totally zoned out there."
"Yeah. I... I... I'm good" Natalia smiled at Charlotte and walked into the building. Charlotte looked back at where the man stood but he was no longer there. She knew exactly what just happened. She saw that look in Natalia's eyes. A look she knew too well but she wasn't going to say anything about it. She would let Nat figure this out on her own. Let her figure out that she had found her mate on her first day of school.