The driver dropped them off at college, surprisingly at the same one. Clay and Tubbo had computer science as their major, Tommy's was social science and the girl's was biology. Their courses weren't that far; they planned to meet up at lunch. Clay waved goodbye as he strode east with Tubbo, Tommy took north-west and the teen girl went west. Entering her class, her eyes scanned the room- at least twelve students were pouring over thick books and noting key points down. She looked for a group to sit down with; a group of three caught her eye. One of them, wore a cyan blue shirt, had chocolate brown eyes and short, wavy, brown hair. The next boy had slightly long hair, held back by a white bandanna, a light stubble and pale green eyes. Sweet enough, there was a girl. She had doe brown hair, her bangs dyed blonde, her soft blue eyes glittered behind her glasses. They were huddling over thick books as they discussed silently, smug grins plastered on their faces. The girl noticed her staring at them and waved. Waving back, not knowing what else to do.
"Hey, you guys seem okay to sit with, may I join you?" the girl merely asked, her voice slightly trailing off.
"Why not?" the shorter boy accepted, his British accent clearly used, pulling out a chair underneath the table.
The rest off the group politely shook hands, either ink-stained or pleasantly warm. As the girl settled in, she took out her laptop and three books from her duffel bag. The boys were astounded at the amount of work she completed, the girl barely batting an eye at the pile of books that were nearly the same amount as hers.
"Woah, that's a hell lot of work. Me and George barely made a dent for ours, didn't we?" the tall one joked, nudging the Brit by the elbow. "By the way, I'm Nicholas, just call me Nick for short. This is George and this is Niki."
Niki humbly gazed at the new girl, giving her a name tag and a schedule.
"Here, somethings that might help you. The schedule changed again, I'm afraid." Niki hissed into her ear, a strong German accent escaped from her lips.
Thanking her now considered friends for moral support, she started sorting her notes on her side of the table. The lecturer arrived, trudging a rucksack filled with pens and notes. Giving only instructions and mere information about their goal for the day, they independently obeyed and reluctantly did 'light' research. Niki was sketching pictures of DNA and George was discussing with Nick what was the purpose of RNA. Niki pulled out her laptop and typed in her notes, looking at her paper then typing rapidly on her keyboard. After two hours of dreadful learning, it was lunch time. Students were filling out of their classes, footsteps echoing against the walls. Her group went last, avoiding crowds due to not wanting to be bashed on locker doors. Soon, they reached the cafeteria, a long line waiting for their meal.
As they waited in line, the girl's eye caught the sight of Clay, Tommy and Tubbo at the far right corner of the cafeteria. Tubbo was admiring the mint green walls, Tommy rocked himself on the blaze orange chair as Clay served their lunches on the table. Nick waved his hand above her eyes, signaling that they are at the front of the line. An old lady was there, a dry smile placed on her saggy face. She was wearing a stained apron, holding a ladle in her right hand.
"Uh, I'll have the meatballs with the cranberry jam, please." (Y/N) ordered, watching the lady scooped up a dozen meatballs, two scoops of mashed potatoes and a spoonful of jam.
Passing her a tray with her meal, she sauntered towards the table. She gently placed her tray and glanced at her friends. Clay smiled as he twirled his fork, scooping spaghetti into a ball. Tommy waved wryly and Tubbo grinned toothily. Nick called from behind, tailed by George and Niki. Clay sprang up to greet them, dabbing his mouth.
"Hey, my man Clay! Nice to meet you again!" Nick gestured, wrapping into a hug. "So, you've met (Y/N), huh."
"Yea, Nick. Oh, hi George! And pleasure to meet you, Niki." Clay replied.
They all sat beside each other, talking in a calm pace between mouthfuls of food. Niki was asking questions linked to classes to Tubbo and Tommy. Nick, George and Clay were howling as they told funny jokes and the girl was eying the whole cafeteria, she didn't liked talking too much. She then drifted her gaze onto the frosted windows, the snow piled on top trimmed bushes as miniscule snowflakes danced in the grey sky. Something moved. An ash grey shadow lurked behind an oak tree. Who ever it was, it had long hair that was tied into a loose braid, it was dyed pink. Its eyes were red and menacing. It wore a fuzzy coat, baggy jeans and a pair of boots that reached up till its knees. It then seemed to notice her attention to it and it disappeared into the blur of snowfall.
"Uh, (Y/N)? What are you doing?" Clay's voice interrupted. "You haven't touched your food, and lunch ends in like ten minutes."
"Sorry I was.. distracted by the snowfall." she answered, stabbing her fork into her meatballs, dunking them in mashed potatoes and cranberry jam.
Nick was whispering into Tommy's ear as the Brit frowned darkly at him. Tubbo was finished with his lunch and dropped it in the basin. Niki was flicking her thumb on her phone, mumbling German words under her breath. Just as she finished the meal, the bell rang. Students got up and brisk walked towards their classes. Taking a sharp glance back at the window, she saw nothing odd. Breathing out relieved, she followed Nick, George and Niki into the library, bidding goodbyes to Clay, Tommy and Tubbo.
Nick pushed the door open to tall, looming bookshelves filled to the very brim. At least fifty students were running their fingers on book spines, looking for the book they needed. Niki and George were at the librarian's desk, asking questions of a specific book's location as Nick grasped the girl's hand and explored the towers of books that lay to their rights and lefts.
"(Y/N), I found this secret place in the library. We just need to find it again." Nick informed, peering at the hundreds of books.
"Well, how exactly do we look for it?" the girl asked.
"We pull a special book that doesn't quite belong in here. Then, the entrance will open." Nick replied, tugging books out of their shelves.
They were in there for a while, tearing down books until Nick yipped in a hushed tone. He point to the book titled; Key. Like literally. No one was clearly suspicious of the 'book'. Nick tugged it halfway, before the heard a rumble. A door appeared at the wall behind them, the girl reached to twist the door knob. Nick shuffled in then pulling the door shut behind their backs, grinning smugly at the astounded girl in front of him.
"Oh. My. God. What the crap just happened." she gasped, her hands on her face as Nick flicked a light switch.
A light bulb hung dully over a decent pile of books, peeling wallpaper draped on the wooden floorboards, strange scratch marks patterned the façade. Posters were either stuck on the walls with their last spreads of glue or rolled into neat cylinders. It looked like any unused room but everything in it was connected to one thing: Wolves. The wallpaper was navy black like the midnight sky, the posters all had at least something to do with wolves, old drawings were dry sketches of canines and oddly the scratch marks resemble a wolf's. Nick picked up a dust-layered book and blew on it, sending dust particles into the dense air. Guardians of the Woods, the title shone in the scarce light. Nick rose an eyebrow and dropped it to the ground. The girl seemed awfully skeptical about the room, her eyes kept drifting its gaze. Then, she got out a ring from her pocket, unexpectedly to be in there. Reluctantly, Nick started wheezing, he fell to the ground, catching himself in his arms.
"What are you holding, (Y/N)!?" Nick squeaked, trying to keep his tone high as possible.
"Nick!? What's wrong!?" she replied, eyes widened as she approached him cautiously.
Silver. A werewolf's biggest weakness.
"Get that ring away from me, please..." he croaked, nearly growling.
The girl wasn't listening. She was aghast at Nick's reaction. She tried to get him to sit properly, but failed. Trying again as she wrapped her arms around his body, she gasped audibly. Hair sprouted on his arms as his nails sharpened. She glanced at his face, hoping for a response.
"Nick! What's happening to you!?" she yelped.
"Run.."
"Bu-but, you need help!"
"I said RUN!!" he growled deeply, glaring at the girl.
But the girl barely budged. She gazed at his face; his eyes were glowing gold, fur patches dotted his jawline and he had fangs. She was transfixed on the spot, fear written on her peaky face. Nick got up slowly and trudge into a dark corner of the vast room until the girl couldn't see him. She could hear him growling and grunting in the corner, then, a deafening silence. Then, a deep, eerie growl came from the corner. A lumbering wolf appeared; its golden eyes shone as it bared its dagger-like teeth. It had a thick black coat and its tail hung in mid-air. It locked its glare on its prey, ready to pounce.
"Nick.. It's me, (Y/N)... Please remember.." she pleaded, feeling death clasp around her.
She reached her hand out subconsciously, trembling and pale. She heard the beast, or Nick, growl eerily and restrained to hear it pounce. She closed her eyes just before it came, but it never did. Opening one eye, she saw the wolf's head nudging into her touch, its moist nuzzle grazing on her sweaty palms. Opening her other eye, she sighed. Holy crap. The wolf's chest rumbled continuously, like if it was purring. Smiling dryly at it, she let her hand go. The wolf woke up, whining softly at her. She chuckled lightly as she patted it gently. She stood up warily and strolled towards the corner where Nick once had been. His clothes was ripped, his white bandanna laid on the floor and his sable black Converses were half torn. The wolf behind her whined, then a grunt. She then heard something rustle, like clothes. A minutes later she heard the wolf grunt a few times then she heard footsteps. Out of the shadows, Nick appeared, shaggier than ever. He was blushing, his cheeks glowing red. Surprisingly, he had clothes, still she didn't want to press on that.
"Nick?" she wailed.
"Can we talk?" he asked, his voice dry, tying his bandanna on and kicking away his shredded clothes to a corner.
Nodding lightly, he placed his oddly warm hand to her wrist and steered her towards the exit.