Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

8. ONE WITH THE WATER

Every now and then, Mathias' face would surface in my mind, causing a new wave of anxiety. It was the face that was staring at me on several earlier occasions as well. It lurked in the shadows, but I hadn't given it much thought. Once his wild side was revealed, it all changed. He was constantly on my mind. I could not stop thinking about what he had said about my parents.

I dreaded running into him again, but I hadn't seen him during that day nor the day after. My strained nerves were given a chance to relax a bit, however, the sensation did not last. On Wednesday, all of my anxiety came rushing back as another encounter with the werewolf occurred.

It happened right after lunch. Opal and I were exiting the dining room, accompanied by Nia. She really did her best trying to cheer me up. As we were walking, we faced her, so neither Opal nor I noticed him on time. By the moment I turned, he was already only few feet away. He saw us coming, he must have, but he just kept on walking, without any intention of stopping.

He slammed me with his shoulder, after which I staggered for a moment before falling on my back. He just moved along, without a single sign of remorse.

"Hey, you idiot! That's my friend you knocked down!" Opal could not keep her mouth shut, causing him to stop.

For a moment he stood there with his back turned to us. When he slowly begun to turn, it felt as if he moved in slow motion which only intensified my apprehension.

He glared at Opal and said, "Your friend? The one with human parents? She's a freak! Nothing about her is right!" His voice kept getting louder and louder, drawing other student's attention. "And you," he spoke to me in a much quieter voice, "you better stay out of my way, you filthy, stinky creature. They should have thrown you back into the swamp you crawled out from." Pure hatred seeped through his eyes.

It became obvious that the threat he made on parent's day wasn't a one-time thing. He still had an issue with me having human parents, and his proximity still made me feel utterly uneasy.

After that encounter, all I wanted to do was to run back to my room and use my bed covers as a shield against the world. Unfortunately, I did not have that luxury. Instead, I had to go to the gym and face Professor Fortius.

Our PE teacher was intimidating enough even when I was completely focused. I feared what he would be like if I were distracted.

As we neared the gym entrance, we found him standing there, not to greet us, but to tell us to go to the swimming pool. I sighed with relief. Swimming was something I could always count on to soothe me. In my former home, we used to swim all day long.

We headed to the changing booths, put our swimsuits on and we were ready to dive in. The rather large swimming pool was indoors, barely noticeable traces of steam rose from its heated water which wasn't salty, but it was something I could live with.

First contact with water felt healing. In its liquid embrace, I felt safe.

"For warming up, swim eight lengths of the pool," Professor Fortius said.

The pool measured twenty-five meters in length, so swimming eight lengths meant two hundred meters. I could hear some of the students groaning in discontent, but I knew none of them would defy professor Fortius.

He was the largest man I had ever seen. Every student in our class had to tilt his head if he wanted to look at his face, even Max and Leo, those two large and serious boys.

I found out which race they were. Max once had a quarrel with Lissa, and I overheard him saying, "You should never anger an orc. A mere nymph doesn't have what it takes to measure up to our race."

Orcs. A race I knew very little about, but I made an effort to find some answers. The common trait of the race was their superhuman strength. Due to the brawny bodies, they were much stronger than human beings. They were stronger than the rest of us, as well. Their skin could vary in tone, depending on their place of origin. All in all, they were relentless creatures, not known for their kindness.

Max and Leo were no exception. They often let us know that they mean business. No unnecessary words were spoken when they talked, and when there was a task to complete, their diligence shone through.

Even their chosen human names spoke of their power. I didn't know their real names. They have been using the names Max and Leo since day one. Sometimes Leo would refer to Max as Maximus which he obviously enjoyed. And Max would sometimes address Leo using the term 'king'. They must have been paying attention in class when Professor Ravens mentioned that lion is often called 'king of animals'.

Professor Fortius was a lot like them. Also an orc, I had no doubts about that.

He also picked a strong name – Rex Fortius. Just mentioning it, invoked awe.

His extremely muscular body looked as if a sculptor had chiseled it out of stone. His skin was dark, and his hair cut so short, you could see his scalp. His white and perfectly straight teeth were an advertisement for good dentistry work. I wondered if we had the same dentist. My teeth were also altered to look more human. They used to be pointy at the tips and sharp.

Swimming felt wonderful. I paced myself at first, but somewhere along the way, as water washed away most of the build-up stress, I accelerated, leaving the rest of them behind me. Swimming was my thing. None of my classmates could keep up with me. I finished my eight lengths when some of them were only half way through.

And then, without even knowing it, I let myself go. Without resisting the water, my body simply sank to the bottom of the pool.

I sat with my legs crossed, like Ardea used to sit so many times, and I finally felt the peace she must have been feeling. It was like everything else just disappeared.

I was one with the water. I ignored all the sounds around me – muffled voices, waves caused by swimmers, silent buzz of the water filter. If I hadn't done that, maybe I would have heard what was coming. Instead, I was unpleasantly surprised when two strong arms grabbed me and pulled me out of the water.

Max was gripping one of my arms and Leo another. There, on the edge of the pool, stood Professor Fortius. As he glared at me, I could feel his fury.

My day just went from bad to worse.

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