What did I get myself into?

Ashley had no idea how he got here.

He looks up to see the large group buildings he was dragged to. He feels this overwhelming power coming from the intimidating structures. He thinks this must be how a rabbit feels when they catch a hunter’s eyes.

Ashley looks around him to see others his age and older going inside the imposing building, with some older people standing around, making sure none of them leave. They all have different expressions on their faces. Some looked happy and excited, some indifferent, some nervous, but he bets that none of they looked as confused and anxious as he is. He gulps as he begrudgingly starts to go inside the largest building with the everyone else.

.....

August 21st, 2015, Kennett, Missouri

Summer was nearing its end. The oppressing heat is slow going away and would soon be replaced by the much more cool and comforting air. This brought joy to Ashley’s mind.

“God damnit all!”

This joy was stopped in its tracks by the shouting of a familiar voice. Ashley groans out as he looks down at the kitchen floor with his head in his hands, dropping his spoon into the bowl. beneath his annoyance though, he feels his hair stand up and goosebumps grow.

The owner of the angry voice bursts into the kitchen. The older man glares down at Ashley, his brown eyes like that of a hungry hawk. Ashley hesitantly glares back at him, his hazel eyes matching his in intensity.

The man harshly scratches his graying hair. “Where’d your mother go?” The mans tone getting only slightly softer.

“Stepmother.” Ashley adds. The man grits his teeth.

The man slams his fists down on the table. “Damnit Ashley, it’s been years! You have to let go!”

Ashley quickly stands up. “That’s easy for you to say! Did you even love her, dad?”

The man, his father, steps closer to his son. “You better quit while you’re ahead boy. Don’t be speaking about things you know nothing about.”

Ashley feels heat getting into his head. “I know enough! I know she had enough of you and left!”

His father gets up to his face. “She left us! She left us and never came back, and I honestly don’t blame her. I would have left you too if I could!”

Silence fills the room. All the heat leaves Ashley as his fathers’ eyes glare down at his smaller form. His father takes a step back as his face stays as stern as ever. Ashley opens and closes his mouth, failing to speak.

His father lets out a loud grunt “Listen boy, you better-”

Ashley takes a step back.

“Ashley, don’t you dar-”

Ashley runs out of the house, slamming the door as he ran.

“Ashley!”

Ashley didn’t know how long he’s been running. He doesn’t know where he run to or where he’s heading. All he knows is that he wants to get away.

‘I am never going back!’ The words scream out in his head. ‘Not there. Not that goddamn prison. I am done!’

After a while, the energy in Ashley begins to give out. He crashes down in front of a large tree with a thud. Ashley grabs onto his chest.

“No! No, I have to keep going.” The grip on he has on his chest gets tighter. Soon, a warm energy begins to flow into him. As he stands up, a few fiery sparks pop off of his skin. Ashley jumps back from the light and sound, almost falling over.

Ashley lets out a heavy breath as he rubs his eyes. “I’ve been able to do this for years now, but yet it still scared the crap out of me?” He lets out a small chuckle as he looks up at the clear night sky. “What the hell has gotten into me?” Ashley wonders aloud.

This moment of calm was soon interrupted by the sound of cracking leaves. Ashley quickly snaps his eyes over to where the sound came from. “Who’s there?” His hands ball up into fists. “Don’t try anything funny, or I swear I’ll-”

Those words stop dead in their tracks as, not a person or an animal, but a light like that from the moon above comes out. Ashley has no words or remarks as he stands there and stares at the glowing, spinning ethereal. The mysterious light begins to take up more of the space.

Ashley snaps out of it as he realizes that the light is spinning faster and is even pulling him towards it. He tries to run, but the ever-glowing, ever-spinning light proves to be stronger than he is as it pulls Ashley towards itself. He grabs onto the trees around him with as much strength that he could muster.

“Let go of me! Who are you!? What are you!?” Ashley screams out. He gets no response other than the light pulling him in with more strength than before. The grip on the trees weaken, before giving out completely.

“Damn it!” Ashley yells out as he is pull in.

-----

???

His eyes were heavy and his body felt sore. Ashley didn’t know how long he stayed laying like this, but he knows it was too long. After a few tries, he finally opened his eyes.

What he saw put a long since lost energy right back into him as he stood up with wide eyes. He sees tall buildings that look like those in history class. He sees creatures and animals that only existed in myth and stories, like three-headed dogs, winged cats, and even a unicorn. He sees people with horns, people with hooves, and people with both.

One of those people with both, a... man? He goes up to Ashley with a warm smile and a wabble in his step. He grabs on to the shoulder of his still shocked form.

“H-He-Hey kid.” The man starts, his speech slurred. “You-Your-You’re new around here, I-I can te-tell. It-It’s customary... I think... to give ne-newbies like yourself a war-warm welcome”

The man lets go of Ashley as he starts spinning. “Welcome to New Amsterdam! Capital city of New Amsterdam! Not the most creative, I kn-know.”

Ashley finally snaps out of his shock as he steps toward the man. “What is this place? How did I get here?” Ashley grabs onto the man’s green shirt. “Am I fucking hallucinating!? How do I get out of here!” Ashley yelled out in a small panic, causing some of the people around to stare at him.

The man stares blankly at Ashley for a few seconds before his own eyes widen. “O-Oh! You-You’re a new student! Going up to Benjamin, ri-right?”

Ashley quickly shakes his head, but the man doesn’t seem to notice. “Wel-Well, what you do is you go north up here. Than you go towards the gr-group of buildings. Af-After that, you-”

“Can you please stop accosting the student.” A calm, stern voice says as the voices owner comes up to Ashley and the horned man. Before Ashley could even look at the man, the horned one runs off, his hooves loud against the ground. Ashley slowly turns his head to get a good look at the new man.

The man was tall, almost twice as tall as Ashley. His hair is long and gray and his eyes were almost as gray. His wrinkles seemed almost like cracks across his face. The man wore plain looking clothes with a black cloak over his shoulders. The cloak itself has these strange golden marks or letters all across its form.

The man grabs onto his Ashley's arm and starts dragging him away. "What the hell man!? Where are you taking me!?" Ashley yells out with a combination of panic and anger.

The man glares at Ashley. "That's quite enough out of you. Students shouldn't be loitering around with drunken fools, especially not right before school is about to start." He shakes his head. "Since this is your first offence and the first day of school, I'll ignore this, but I'll have my eye on you from now on boy."

The man drags Ashley away, all the while completely ignoring his yelling. and words.

Right before he goes inside, he takes one last glance at the words at the front gate.

Benjamin School for Mages

'What did I get myself into?' Ashley shakes his head as he goes inside.