Pilot
The waves crashed against the shore. The wolves howling cries in the night to the full moon created the perfect ending. I took the last few steps to the edge and looked down. It was steep, but I wasn’t afraid, I took the step. I fall.
~Benjamin~
I lay awake in the cold, desolate hours of the morning in the basement meant for storage that became my room and shivers from the freezing temperatures. My heart and mind were racing, I couldn’t wait. Tomorrow would be my eighteenth birthday and I would be able to leave my cruel and spiteful family. I really couldn’t wait. Ever since my secondary gender came out on my sixteenth birthday to be an omega, the world flipped upside down for me. I was ostracized from my real family as well as the pack as I was a confusing existence, one that shouldn’t have occurred as my mother was a beta and my father was an alpha. The rest of my siblings also turned out to be either alphas or betas, but I. I am an anomaly, I am a disgrace. A burden that sullied my family line and my father’s name. I went from a beloved son to an unpaid and unappreciated house worker that night. I would have never thought that I would be disregarded and given nothing but disgusted stares from everyone. Their muttering between themselves is still vivid in my head while they snuck glances at me. It was my father who spoke openly first.
“Benjamin,” he said before he stopped, he never called me Benjamin, just Benny.
“I think it’s best that you, um, pack some stuff and head down to the basement”, he spoke coldly, but traces of sadness lingered in his eye.
“But I-, but why?” I choke out, on the brink of tears, fear obvious in my voice as it quivered and broke.
“Just do this for us, please...” my mother piped in, not daring to look at me. It hurt too much, I broke down in sobs. It still hurts. I blinked away my tears, straightening my thoughts, thinking positively, hopefully. That way I can survive. I remove the tattered rags I use as covers and let my bare feet touch the icy-cold concrete floor, it never fails to shock me awake. I rise slowly off the bed, grabbing my socks with the least holes and my least destroyed shoes. Grabbing my bag by the door, I walk out from the back door that leads outside quietly so, as to not disturb or wake anyone from the house. I leave now to make it to school on time. I lock the back door and walk the same path I have walked since my sixteenth birthday. It’s cold and lonely. Very lonely.
-Lone Pine Academy entrance-
I’ve always felt intimidated by the large doors of Lone Pine Academy. They reminded me of how small, insignificant of an existence I am. I take a deep breath in and exhale. I push the door open and am greeted with the loud chattering of classmates and strangers, all in their separate worlds with each other, intermingling amongst themselves. I scan the room, searching for potential danger and people to avoid. As I was searching, I felt someone push me to the ground very violently and forcefully. I slowly turned my head up to see it was the queen of the school, Ms. Guinevere Bates, the person who comes second worst to run into beside Nicolas, her boyfriend.
“Ugh, don’t block the way next time, you freak.” Says Guinevere while looking between me and her hand, shaking her head with disgust. I get up and straighten myself up while staring at the ground, noticing her stiletto-high heels. She moved closer to me and stomped her foot hard and pushed deep onto my shoe, it hurt yet, there was nothing I could do, with a wave of her hand and her mind set on it, I could become whatever she wanted. It would have been easier to stand up against it had she not been born a witch.
“Tsk, now you’ve soiled my hand and shoe, disgusting little Mut.” She says while walking further away from me towards the bathroom to presumably wash her hands and maybe change her shoes. We used to be friends, but like the flick of a light switch, she became one of my worst tormentors. Her harassment has only increased as we grew up.
“I can’t believe that he’s still here, he should’ve killed himself instead of being a disgrace to the pack,” says one of Guinevere’s minions. The other snickers while agreeing. I just stood there in silence for a minute before starting the walk to my locker.
Scanning the halls till I reach my locker, I avoid the most dangerous halls that contain members of the most elite group at Lone Pine Academy, The Pinsters, which contains the wealthiest and most dangerous people from each species. Guinevere Bates, representative of the witch’s coven, Nicolas Carson, representative of the wolves of the west, Jacob Ramirez, representative of the vampire village, Alicia Adorma, Vice President and representative of Elves, Michael Witticker, President of the Pinsters and representative of the lizard folks, or better know as the shapeshifters. The most elite and powerful of each race was the representative of their species in the school. Tolerance was the biggest key that kept an all-out war from breaking out as the pact from previous generations made sure that they could coexist. There were originally eight species on the Pinsters Star, but with time they either died out or were forcibly made to yield their positions as their species no longer remained as strong as the others. Just like Rosemary, my only friend. She was once part of the Pinsters Star and represented the death screamers, banshees, but due to fewer and fewer being born and them being less powerful each generation, she was forcibly made to renounce herself from the Pinsters Star and was stripped of the honor of having a species representative. Rosemary had pale ivory skin with ocean clear blue eyes and the lips color of stained red wine. Her naturally jet black hair lightened by the white highlights she added. Her family pearls that became an heirloom clung to her skin like they had been with her since birth. She was gorgeous but avoided by the masses as she was the death screamer, the teller of misfortune and it caused her to be disliked as people feared her power. Facing the same type of ostracization, I put my hand out for her and ever since then, we’d been inseparable.
“Good morning Ben, you excited for tomorrow?” She asked excitedly, smiling brightly towards me momentarily blinding me by her pearly white teeth.
“Of course I am, I honestly can’t wait anymore. I hope they would care for me and cherish me but of course, I just want to be wanted, you know?” I say to her, flashing her a brief toothy grin as I open my locker gather my first block supplies, and leave my book bag in there.
We walk to class together, thankfully having the same first block, the only downside being that it’s with two of the worst members of the Pinsters Star, Ms. Guinevere Bates and Mr. Nicholas Carson, the worst tormentors of the bunch. Rosemary and I go to our seats by the window while keeping a lookout for thrown projectiles. The school hosts way too many Neanderthals’. We continue our peaceful conversation before the educator arrives and quiets the class down. While starting on the morning warm-ups, in walks in Guinevere and Nicholas with their mini posse behind them. The teacher glares daggers at them but dares not say anything to them while they just snicker amongst each other while looking in Rosemary’s and my general direction, we ignore them to not give them the satisfaction of a reaction from us. Rosemary and I continued with our work and listened attentively to the professor explain the lesson in detail and the assignment we were meant to partner up with. Rosemary and I had already decided to partner together to complete this assignment with ease, but the next thing the professor said caught our attention.
“On the board, you will find the name of your designated partner and will work with them to complete the assignment, any failure to do so will end with an F as the project grade that equals 60% of your grade. Good Luck.” I turn to Rosemary and see she’s having a premonition of misfortune.
“I’m sorry Benjamin,” she says sadly, “but you’re paired with the worst of the worst,” she says sighing as the vision ends. “Nicholas” we groan in unison before I feel a heavy weight on my shoulder.
“You called?” he said with a slight chipper of sarcasm as his arm got heavier on my shoulder over time.
Rosemary and I say nothing but sigh. She gets up from her chair and mouths a sorry before leaving to find her board partner, leaving me here alone with my worst nightmare.
