Runners

Chapter Six

This had to be the strangest room Wesley had ever entered. It was coated wall to wall with bookcases, but most of them did not shelter books. They contained different orbs with a billowy shadow inside of them. There were goblets, statues, and more assortments. There was a screen on one of them, which showed a complete view of the school grounds.

 The door slammed behind him.

 "Well, well. Wesley." Wesley turned around to be greeted by a tall man with a beard and long brown hair tied back with a hair band. He grabbed Wesley's hand and shook it jovially.

 "You've kept me waiting a long time to meet you. Yes, you have. Please sit." The headmaster motioned to an oversized chair. Wesley carefully positioned himself in it. The headmaster cloaked in a long, green garment, circled the desk and took his seat. He stared at Wesley for a moment before speaking.

 "You seem confused."

 Wesley nodded. "Yes, sir. A lot has happened in the short period of one night."

 "Indeed it has. Recount your events to me."

 Wesley told the headmaster about losing his brother, getting attack in the woods, being saved by the dark man, and being dragged into the school. He left out the part about his transformation. He figured with all that he'd been through, he was imagining things.

 "Well all of that is very tragic, but it seems to me you are leaving out some details." His smile was warm and wise. Wesley recalled the rest of the events.

 "Yes," the headmaster began when Wesley had finished. "I expected as much. Do you know what that transformation is called?"

 Wesley shook his head still at awe that this man had believed him.

 "Those wolfed creatures are known as Lycanreins. There are many different stages of this transformation. The stage you entered is the first stage known as Runners. The animal you fought…. That was one of my students Schuyler. He's very abrasive. The stage you fought him in is the second one, but will get to a better explanation later. So, Wesley, here is a list of your courses and here is your dorm key. The boy your rooming with should be a lot more friendly than Skye."

 "Umm, sir. I'm already enrolled in a school. And I really don't think your explanation explained anything."

 "Pish, posh. The ideas children can come up with nowadays. Off you go. I'll call you back into my office at another time."

 He turned to mess with one of the monitors on his bookcase, so Wesley backed out off the room and shut the giant doors as quietly as possible. It was hard for Wesley to know where he needed to go, but luckily the headmaster had mapped out his course for him. As Wesley headed toward the east side of the school, he noticed that the main dormitories were all here together. Wesley noticed one odd thing; Schuyler and Paisley lived more toward the back of the school.

 After awhile Wesley found the dormitories near the rear in the east of the castle. There were four floors based on division. Wesley guessed the division was based on the forms the headmaster spoke briefly of. Wesley was in the first division of the second floor. Each floor had a kitchen and sitting area. By the looks of it, the bathrooms were joined to the bedrooms. The sheet in Wesley's hand indicated that the dorms were two to a room. Wesley had never like the idea of a roommate.

 He finally found his room and opened the door, wondering if he would disturb his roommate since it was so late. On the hardwood floor laid a boy about his age with red spilling from his neck and mouth. Wesley gasped and fell beside the boy.

 "Holy-!" Wesley restrained himself from finishing the phrase.

 "Gotcha!" The boy shot off the floor, grinning widely. "I've been waiting for someone to come in here. You must be Wesley?"

 It seems everyone was expecting my arrival except me," Wesley mumbled to himself. The guy tilted his head inquisitively at Wesley.

 "So you like to talk to yourself, huh? I'm down with that. Drayton," he extended a hand, "Can I call you Wes?"

 Wesley smiled at Drayton. He was going to like his roommate after all. "If you promise never to do that again." Wesley shook Drayton's hand. Drayton retracted his hand and used the back of it to wipe the fake blood from his mouth.

 "Well," Drayton moved to sit on one of the single beds, "You must have a lot of questions."

 "Yeah, yeah I do."