WUNDERHEIN ACADEMY: BOOK 1- AWAKENING

Chapter 7

"Hey, watch where you're going meat-bag."

"Get out of the way."

"Watch where I'm walking."

Catai ignored the grumbles from the students making their way around her on their way to their class before lunch. The place seemed different from the other hallways she had walked in, with students crowding around her from all sides. It seemed more like an intersection that linked most of the passageways together. She never recalled using it before and for a brief moment wondered if they were taking it for Aleksei to make a point.

She noticed the slight turn of Aleksei's head, enough to check that no one was attacking her before he looked away again.

She didn't think they dared hurt her with him around. Instead, they all eyed her like she was some kind of sludge before moving around her.

She swallowed before stopping altogether, wondering if Aleksei was even paying attention to her.

Maybe she could slip away in the crowd. She took a deep breath before taking another but felt her arm being grabbed.

She was about to scream as she was pulled out of the crowd to the lesser crowded area of the passage.

In a somewhat nimble twirl, she found herself facing the grinning features of Dmitri.

"Hey." His smile widened as he looked her over. "I caught a catfish."

"Let me go." She pounded him with her free fist, her scream dying in her throat. She felt like being sick when she noted the dried blood on his shirt from the fight earlier.

"Dmitri, let her go." At the familiar growl of their captain, Dmitri seemed to perk up. Instead of obeying, he drew Catai into a one-armed hug. His arm covered her shoulders and she dropped her bag to try and pull them off, scrapping her fingers against his skin.

"Awe." Catai heard a teasing note in Dmitri's voice. "And miss all the fun?"

"Dmitri..." She saw Aleksei's eyes narrow. The corner of his mouth lifted into a snarl.

"Mine." Dmitri lowered his head next to hers. "Ya weren't watching."

"Do we have to do this now?" Aleksei removed the pencil from his mouth that he had been chewing. "We have class."

"Exactly." Dmitri laughed next to her ear. "We do this now."

"Hey guys." A cheerful voice interrupted as Boris joined them. He blinked in surprise seeing Dmitri hold her.

"Boris." She called, holding out an arm. "Help me."

"Hey."...Boris looked up at Aleksei in confusion for a moment. "Are we allowed to hug her?"

"Oh for..." Aleksei rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Boris, she's a person, not some weird object."

"Yeah Rat." Catai heard Dmitri chuckle. "Come hug her."

"Dmitri do not encourage him." Aleksei snapped but Boris was already shyly putting his arms around her.

Boris smelt like dirt and sweat, breaking up the salt, blood and cigarette smell that clung to Dmitri. Boris was roughly the same height as her but he hunched over slightly as he put his arms around her waist like he was hugging a teddy bear. The tips of his hair rubbed against her cheek. For a moment she felt him squeeze her. It didn't feel like when the other boys did it. This one seemed like he was afraid that she wasn't real.

"I'm glad you're here." She could have sworn she heard him whisper.

"Mmm." A deep voice interrupted them. Boris jumped away from her as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't.