The Academy

Chapter 1 

I park my old beater car and get out after grabbing my bags… I’m here finally. This place was the only contact I found from my parents. Someone here or associated with this place was working with them…. I don’t have a clue who though. Unfortunately for me my parents didn’t keep documents or emails I could access.

I’m glad I was accepted here or else everything would have been a fucking headache… not that supernaturals usually get rejected, but knowing my luck…I look up at the massive imposing stone building, reading the sign with the words “University of Supernaturals”. Not a very creative name if you ask me but this school is for Supernaturals, werewolves, witches, mages, you name it. So I guess the name is on point. Most people just call it The Academy though.

I make my way to the entrance checking my email for the map and my dorm room number. Classes don’t start for a few days so I have time to settle in.

I get to my room pretty quickly. It’s nicer than most of the places I’ve lived. It has a small bathroom with a shower, one bedroom and a small open kitchenette/living room. Way nicer than any human college dorm I’ve seen, some are just a tiny room with bare cement walls.The best part is that I can’t hear my neighbours… The silence is nice, perks of having spell casters. Having heightened hearing is nice and all until you constantly hear things you don’t want to.

I unpack the few items I have and my clothes before having a shower. I quickly dry my black long hair and get dressed in a black tank and black leggings…. Yes, lots of black… It’s my favorite colour or should I say shade…

When I go to pick up my phone I notice I have a text message. I enter my pin so I can read it. It’s from Shani.

Shani- “Hi Milana I just wanted to see how you’re doing. We haven’t talked much, I heard you are going to UOS. Everyone on this end is doing okay, in therapy and recovering… Anyways…thank you. Take care of yourself. Don’t be a stranger and give me a call or shoot me a text once in a while. “

Milana - “Hi Shani. Just settling in. I’m glad everyone is doing okay. Thank you, you take care too…..I’ll try 😅“

I shove my phone back into my pocket.

Shani is one of the supernaturals I helped. I wish I could have done more sooner but I worked with what I had, I didn’t know… I need to find the root of this all, that’s why I’m here… I’m worried it will be much bigger than I’m prepared for… but I also don’t want to involve anyone else, not right now at least.

I will do this one day at a time, look for anything out of the ordinary. This university is well respected and I don’t believe it’s wholly corrupt which means that there is a person or group of people tied here that are… But I won’t rule anything out. I thought I knew the whole picture of my parents but even then I didn’t until I stumbled upon it…

I head to the cafeteria, it’s buffet style so you just grab what you want. I pile a couple plates full and claim a table in the corner. I observe my surroundings and the people as I eat. There are so many conversations going on, I try to listen for anything useful.

There are the typical groups you see in schools, the cool kids, the ones seen as nerds, etc. There’s an assortment of supernaturals but I see mostly werewolves. There are also groups of witches, mages and vampires.

I see a few curious glances my way especially from a specific group of male werewolves.

Hmm. I catalogue their names and faces from the conversations I hear going on between them. Maybe one of them could be of interest for something else… Listening in on conversations there is nothing really of interest. But it’s to be expected it’s only my first day here. I didn’t expect a lead to fall right into my lap. It would have been nice though.

I finish my food and deposit the plates in the return tray. I’ll take a look around the rest of the school and maybe, explore some of the surrounding forest. It’s a huge school and I explore it all day but find nothing suspicious. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe some small mark on the wall or special statue that leads to a hidden passage? Would have been convenient.

When night falls I head into the woods. I pile my clothes by a tree and shift. Others are in the woods but I’m not concerned, just other students busy with their own activities. My hearing is very sharp even by shifter standards so I am not worried about anyone sneaking up on me. I spend a few hours running checking out the forest. There is still much more to explore but it will take me some time and I don’t need to do everything in one day. This forest surrounding the University is massive and magic keeps it concealed from humans. It is actually a relief not having to worry about coming across a human.

Once I’ve finished looking for the night I head back to the cafeteria to fuel up again. It’s more quiet now but I still see a few groups of students. I glance over to the table where the werewolves were sitting earlier and they are a few still lingering around. Do they just sit there and eat all day? I mean I get it, we burn a lot of calories.

They have some women with them this time. I pieced together names and faces from what I have observed. Lincoln keeps glancing my way, probably curious who the loner is. His buddy Daven and Allen keep looking too. I hear them whisper asking who I am. The woman in Lincoln’s lap named Brittany answers.

“That is Milana, she’s a herbology major. She’s also in accounting and the usual classes werewolves take. But enough about her, I want your attention…”

Seems like they know of me already. I haven’t interacted with anyone really so far so I guess they are curious and did some digging themselves. Nosey wolves. After I’m done eating I head back to my room. I shower again and take some sleeping pills before heading to bed.

I’ve struggled with sleeping for a long time but it became worse after everything that went down with my parents. I don’t take them all the time but tonight I’m exhausted.. Even with me reporting everything anonymously to the supernatural version of the police it was covered up. My parents were reported to have died from rogue wolves, no mention of anything else. One of the reasons I need to handle this myself is that corruption and I’m sure if it’s found out what I’m trying to do, well lets just say nothing good will come of it.

My dreams used to be worse, I’d wake up in a cold sweat reimagining all the cages, the blood, the chains. Fuck I need to think of something else… I think back to the group of werewolves, maybe one of them could give me a small distraction soon… I need to keep up appearances anyway right? I’m just a horny adult werewolf attending University. The face of one of the guys sticks out in my mind as I fall asleep.