“We were fortunate in that none of our students and faculty were harmed by the attack last night,” the headmistress said the next morning as she stood before us in the mess hall.
I was beginning to wonder if I would ever eat a quiet and uneventful meal in this room. So far, the only thing I was certain of was the headmistress held a certain talent for making me lose my appetite.
“We will be taking extra precautions to be certain they will never be able to enter Imperium’s grounds again,” she continued. “I would appreciate each of you being vigilant and reporting any strange occurrences to me immediately.” At this, the crowd began talking amongst themselves. The headmistress’s eyes narrowed, and silence fell at once. “Classes will go on as scheduled, and I expect everyone to carry on as usual.” Without another word, the headmistress left.
“Yeah, I really feel like eating now,” a girl named Anna replied, echoing my own thoughts. As Lacy and I had left the dorm for breakfast, she introduced me to the girls in the room across from ours. Both were wolf shifters, but the similarities ended there. Mia was blonde and petite, while Anna looked very similar to myself with her average height and dark hair. I had known the instant their door opened which animal spirits they were. For the first time since I’d stepped foot into Shifter’s University, I didn’t feel awkward or out of place with my knowledge. Perhaps everything was going to work out.
“The headmistress does know how to turn a good atmosphere to dark and depressing in a split second,” Mia agreed. “But enough about that. Which is your first class of the day, Claire? Where are you heading once you manage to choke down your bacon and eggs?”
“To history with Professor Mulford,” I managed between bites.
“Ah yes, Mr. Squeaky.” Anna laughed. “Don’t get him too riled up. He gets very passionate about how things used to be, and his voice will raise more and more as he teaches. Your eardrums will be threatening to rupture if it goes on too long.”
“She’s right,” Mia agreed. “Don’t act too interested in what he has to say, and you’ll be fine.”
“So what about you guys? Where are you headed?” I asked.
“To the forest for Pack Mentality,” Anna replied. “Much better than dealing with history, I can assure you.”
“What about you?” I asked Lacy, who hadn’t said a word.
On our way to the mess hall, she had spotted Victor. When he saw us, he’d yelled out something that sounded like “You should have been at the lake.” Lacy had been quiet ever since.
“My lesson is at the lake,” she whispered.
I was about to ask her why the prospect of the class worried her so much when Benny, the centaur, slid into the chair opposite us. “Ladies,” he said, greeting us with a smile so slick it reminded me of a used-car salesman.
“Hi, Benny,” Mia and Anna replied in unison.
He looked a good deal different out of his centaur form, but muscles still rippled from his arms and it was easy to tell the two girls were quite taken with him. He wore a black t-shirt that sported a horse, tail blowing in the breeze, the word “stud” in bold letters at the bottom.
Not into himself at all, I thought with a grin.
“I have to go or I’ll be late,” Lacy said, not so much as acknowledging Benny’s presence as she stood. “I’ll see you later, Claire.”
I watched her go, then noticed the clock above the door. “I have to go, too. Which way to Mr. Squeaky’s class?” I asked Anna, who pointed upward with her index finger, her eyes still locked on Benny.
“Up the stairs, second door on the right. You can’t miss it.”
I found the right classroom easily enough, and slid into the first open seat near the back of the room. Several students filed in soon after me.
The teacher I had seen in the courtyard the night before arrived. Immediately, he began reciting dates of the first known shapeshifters in history, and every student in the room began slouching in their chairs, eyes glazed over from boredom.
I relaxed. With the exception of last night, this place was beginning to feel like any normal school. Boring.
“In light of yesterday evening’s events, I want to talk about the Yokai, who were the very first shapeshifters,” the professor said. Everyone’s attention perked up.
“And the very first to put our kind into danger,” a girl at the front added.
Professor Mulford pointedly ignored her and continued, his voice taking on a slightly higher pitch. “The Yokai were known as multi-shifters, able to tap into the magic of other shifters near them and take their form.” He paused, then fixed the girl at the front with an even look. “As such, they were noted in our history of being fierce fighters and protectors of our kind. Yōkai is the Japanese word for ghost or specter, so it is likely their kind originated in Asia.”
Sweat slicked my palms, and my heart started trying to beat a path out of my chest. That is who I am. That is what I am…Yokai…
“We could have used their help last night,” a boy in front of me replied. “Too bad the Dark Watch has hunted them into extinction.”
What? No! I’m proof that they didn’t. I’m here.
“Even if the Yokai weren’t extinct, it’s doubtful they’d help us. With that kind of power, they could put our entire race in danger,” another said. “They could drain our magic. They could annihilate us.”
Holding up a single finger, Professor Mulford said, “It is important to remember that the Yokai held human forms, just like any of us. They were shifters. Just as we are earth, air, water, or fire, they were Yokai. And just as we have the choice of following paths of evil or good, so did they. As easily as they could have annihilated our kind, they could have just as easily destroyed humankind. It all comes down to choice…” He gazed at each of us, but when his eyes found me, they lingered for a second longer than they had on anyone else. “It comes down to choice…and to conscience.”
Somehow I managed to make it through class, but the second it was over, I bolted outside, needing to get away from everyone. Each person I passed, I felt their magic—and felt my own becoming stronger. It was enough to draw out my strongest instinct—the one that had kept me safe in my life before Imperium. It overpowered all of the magic around me as I shifted to my fox.
Run. Escape. Survive.
I ran across the yard toward my dorm, but saw more students exiting the building and knew I wouldn’t be any better off hiding in my room than out here.
A huge statue of a phoenix sat just beyond the houses near the forest. One wing was curled toward the ground, while the other was pointed skyward. I ducked behind the wing nearest the ground and curled up in the grass near the smooth granite of the phoenix’s body.
Breathing steadily in and out, I willed myself to calm down. In an instant, I felt my magic still and I shifted back, as if simply wishing for peace had made it so, but I still couldn’t stop the tears that came.
I have never felt so alone. If I am truly a Yokai, am I the only one left?
Then another thought came, darker than the first.
If I am, I am truly alone. Now more than ever before. Will I ever find a place I belong?