Zoophobia: An Anomaly At Its Finest

Chapter 2

  Well this is odd enough. I find some magical society full of talking animals and whatever else exists here, I find a school in which holds many of those animals and whatever else exists here, I find out that I can't go home due to..... Reasons? And so... I blacked out because I guess I just couldn't handle the overwhelming shock I had just experienced...

EXCELLENT.

So, I wake up in a room in which was rather dull. When I had awaken from my accidental slumber and realized that I was in the nurse's office due to it being dull and well.... Normal, I had originally thought that I was back where I had came from before, which was the disgusting and vile area of New York City which left a bad taste in my mouth. In a way I was rather relieved, but also somewhat disappointed as well. Remember, I hate the neighborhood that I had came from, and so I didn't have any real reason to be amused in the first place. And so, I grew depressed. Well, for about a damn millisecond due to the nurse looking completely different than what I imagined him to be.

The nurse that I came face to face with had pretty basic blond hair, blue eyes, and seemed somewhat unstable. I mean, he had some stuffed animal that he'd speak to I guess when he was bored? I wasn't too sure, and I didn't really pay much attention to what he was doing because I still thought I was dreaming. No, I didn't enjoy that supposed dream, especially when I realized that he started to laugh hysterically for absolutely no reason.

Seeing the nurse laugh in such an odd and peculiar way made me think "What the hell am I doing in this place?"

I got scared, but I didn't move because the fear of him charging at me with some random medical equipment rushed to my mind faster than the speed of light. Well, it didn't actually reach my mind THAT fast but... Yah know... It was pretty damn fast. Fast enough to make me hold myself back from running through the exit at the time. He started to speak while laughing in between syllables whenever he spoke. I could tell he was trying to speak rather sincerely, but that obviously was a failed attempt at its finest.

"H-H-HEY THERE! Y-Y-YOU OKAY BOYYY?" He said as he was trying to sound stable.

It was such an imbecilic question. Obviously, if someone ends up passing out, they aren't going to be "OKAY." As a nurse, you'd think he'd be a little bit less stupid than what he actually was. Honestly, I felt like he was trying to start some ridiculous conversation with me concerning my life and how I've survived life itself. Then again, why would some mentally unstable nurse try to make a conversation with me? Better yet, why the hell is he even a nurse? Where's this guy's degree? Where's this guy's sense of reality? Talk about an odd school, my school at least had a nurse that was somewhat sincere and wasn't 100 percent full of shit unlike everyone else who was on campus. This only got weirder, and weirder for me as he began to wield a drill. It's funny, I don't even think the drill was supposed to be used for medical purposes due to it's shape and color. The drill was red, and was about the size of a drill you'd use for hardware purposes instead. The drill bit was also very long, as it was long enough to actually go through my entire kneecap. Looking at the drill bit was how I discovered that the drill wasn't used for medical purposes. So why did he happen to have a drill used for hardware purposes in his own office?

As soon as I took immediate notice to him starting to power up the drill, he looked back at me from the direction he was looking towards and said "WILLIS SAID YOU NEEDED A CHECK UP! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"

I darted out of that office so quickly that by the time I had stopped running I was deep into the maze of hallways that the academy had contained. Therefore, I was lost once again. I was honestly starting to hate this school more than I hated my old one. Like seriously, why are there so many hallways! Although, I couldn't hate the school only because of it's vast amount of color, and life it brought among its attendants. Like, the sights of just the patterns on the walls were just astonishing! Even though the patterns were dots organized in a colorful spectrum (I'm not really into dots), it was another sight that I'd have yet to forget for many years to come by. It took me a while to notice, but all of the students in the hallway that I was currently in were looking at me like they knew why I had ran through the hallway so rapidly. I stopped to look back at them, but just like before, they turned their heads as they realized that they were reluctant to look at my face once more. And so with that, all of the students simply moved on with their day like nothing had happened. I couldn't tell if they felt sorry for me, or viewed me as a joke. Either way, I could care less.

It was still in the midst of school hours, and so I began to feel even more lost as time passed by. Luckily, I remembered my way to the vice principal's office in which happened to be very close to me at the time. When I found the office, I simply opened the door, walked in, and just sat there silently. Shortly after, the vice principal had arrived with documents in which he held in his tail. I'd imagine being one to work on documents, and having paws must not be the easiest task on the planet. He looked at me with his soulless, stern face and began to put random documents on the desk at which he sat at. There was a total of three documents.

The first one simply acknowledged one's existence within the large province of Safe Haven.

The second one referred to one's enrollment within the school system of Safe Haven.

The third one was an agreement to abide to the laws of Safe Haven.

I immediately knew what was going on here. The vice principal had wanted me to register myself as a citizen within the vast borders of Safe Haven. He pushed the documents towards me, and expected me to read them, and then sign them with my damn signature.

"Sir, I cannot sign these documents. I'm here by mistake and as I said, I don't even know how I got here!" I exclaimed with passion.

" Derrick was it? Listen, you have been given no choice but to sign these documents with or without consent. Meaning, you must sign these in order to be able to inhabit this province. Do you understand who I am Mr. White?" He said striking back with confidence.

God I hated my life at this point. This was becoming an absolute disaster, and I'm not even allowed to go home!

"Can I be real with you sir? I just want to go home! I don't belong here! I'm a human being for God's sake! Am I being held here against my own will?!"

"No... We have valid reasons for you not to be able to return to your old home. This place is now your home Mr. White. Understand that this is the regulations we've had to take in order to ensure everyone's safety. You aren't exclusive to these laws and documents in which must be signed. All of those who happen to have stepped on Safe Haven's grounds must sign these documents no matter the cost." He said striking back once again.

I swear he had no sympathetic feeling for me or anyone else. He hardly had any emotion in his voice and that just simply killed me deep inside. I was beginning to dislike the vice principal, but I realized that he was just doing the job in which he was assigned to do. Strangely enough, how did a vice principal gain the power to make someone a citizen?

"How are you even allowed to do something like this? What are you, the president or something like that?" I retorted.

"I am the peacekeeper of the academy district young man. I'd advise you to speak to me in more of a calm manner. I understand that this must be hard for you, and it will continue to grow even more difficult. But let me say this, I will not allow you to be harmed within this province. We are not here to hurt you, oppress you, or to take away your rights. But these documents are mandatory for your citizenship Mr. White. You are similar to someone that I know quite well indeed. If you ever get the chance, please speak to Ms. Walden."

"Sorry, but I don't know who that is." I responded.

"She is our respectable guidance counselor at Zoo-Phoenix Academy Mr. White. She too, is a human just like you. She came here unexpectedly due to a transfer in which she was unaware of. Well, when regarding to the location of course. She was in dire need of a job. And so with that need, she became rather hasty with her choices, and chose whatever was available while completely disregarding the location in which she may have been transferred to. Our staff feels some sympathy for her due to her diagnosis of zoo-phobia. However, her fears have seemed to dimmed down a bit, and is now functioning quite well."

I knew what zoo-phobia was. My caretaker had it for pretty much her entire life. Mrs. Boetner (my caretaker at the orphanage) was afraid of pretty much any wildlife that crossed her path. I mean, she was even afraid of the cutest of puppies! She never told me how she was diagnosed with such a phobia, but I'd imagine that there'd be a damn good reason to be afraid of some cute ass puppies.

"Am I gonna be going to school here?" I asked hoping for a straight-forward answer.

"Yes! As a matter of fact, once you sign these documents with your signature, I'll be calling down a student guide to assist you during your first week. That week, which happens to start today." He responded.

This was rather shocking news. He acted as if he'd dealt with this issue millions of times over with other humans or people outside of Safe Haven just now coming in. It was truly remarkable, and I could honestly look up to this... Cheetah... Odd, I know.

"Your name is Zechariah right?" I asked sounding a bit nervous for some unknown reason.

"That it is, Mr. White." He responded.

"So like... Do I call you Mr. Zechariah or what? Sorry if I sound rude."

He looked at me as if I was crazy. Him popping up his head so rapidly was too hilarious for me to not laugh at. Thankfully, I've mastered the art of laughing restriction by watching a shit load of YouTube videos in which were based off of pure comedy. No, no, not the bullshit "Don't try not to laugh challenge" videos, I'm talking about the real good stuff! Anyway, he returned to his old dull and serious look and responded with sincerity for literally the first time during our long conversation. What a surprise that was to see.

"Just Zechariah is fine or Zechariah 'sir' as well, Mr. White." He responded.

And so after that long and rather annoying conversation in which I realized that I shall not be returning to that shit hole I came from, I decided to abide by the laws of Safe Haven, and sign the three documents. So now since that was taken care of now, Zechariah gladly welcomed me into this new society that I was going to have to adapt to. In a way, this was what I've kind of wanted for pretty much my entire life. However, it's much more scarier than I thought it was going to be, and so I wasn't ready to adapt to such a diverse and different society.

When I got all settled in the Zechariah's office, He ordered a certain teacher to tell a student to report to his office to be appointed as a student guide.

"Ms. Cyde, could you send down Jackson Wells so that he may be appointed as a student guide for a new student?"

Talk about tech savvy, he had like this odd looking watch that seemed to have features even more advanced than some of our wearable technology back in the U.S. Again, remarkable.

"Yes sir. Jackson, I need you to go to Zechariah's office please." She said.

Her name sounded old, and she herself sounded quite old. I'd imagine she was... Well, old.

This was too funny to think about. I've just arrived in this place I've never been to before, and now all of a sudden I'm being enrolled into a school that just so happens to be in the damn place.

After about 5 minutes or so, the student had finally arrived in the office and spoke with sincerity and also a bit of reluctance at that. I could imagine that he was a more less sociable person than most, so I thought I'd get along with him fine. Those type of people are usually the ones that are a bit more intelligent than others, and are also a little bit less formidable when trying to approach them.

I was happy.

Zechariah spoke to this... Jackson, and said "Hello Jackson, you'll be assigned as a student guide for our new student here."

Jackson and I connected eyes for the first time. And boy did he look like a sad person with a sense of bad luck.

I'll say this right now... He was torn up. Not emotionally, but physically. Jackson was a Jackal, or at least I thought he was, who happened to have patches of fur missing across his body, who happened to be bipedal, and who happened to be just as tall as I am! I was 5,9 and he also looked like he was 5,9. He and I looking at each other for a good minute or two had grown to become a bit awkward. I had known just by looking at him that he had had some issues in his past and still probably does even today. Even though I didn't really know him too well, he gave off the vibe that you know you should just automatically have the need to just feel sympathy for him, and I sure as hell felt sympathy for him.

After our extensive staring session, I took the initiative to get off my ass, and say hello to him. I have no idea why, but I wanted this person to be my friend. This was the first time I've ever had the real urge to just talk to someone I've never even met before, and so I felt joy rush through my body as I got up to speak to Jackson. I wasn't anticipating a rude response nor was I anticipating a direct response either, I just sort of winged it.

"Hey there! My name is Derrick White! It's cool to meet yah man!" I exclaimed with a bright smile on my face.

As soon as I spoke with happiness, he too grew a smile on his face.

"Oh! Well, I'm Jackson! Uhm, Jackson Wells! heheh..." He said.

Just from us speaking with simple terminology and some vernacular, I knew for a fact that we were going to grow rather close as friends. Deep inside my heart, I began to feel happiness that made me gain the urge to cry. This was a whole knew experience for me.