1

“I’m nervous and my head hurts,” Nia whines.

Her mom gives her a sympathetic look. “I know it’s hard, baby, but it’ll be okay. Tell me; what would Autumn Thunderfur do? Would she be scared?” asks her mom in her thick African accent, popping her medications into another long pill box.

Nia adjusts her large, circular-rimmed glasses, pushing them up her wide nose. She knows exactly what her fursona would do– she wouldn’t care about starting a new high school, and would leap forward towards the challenge. “I dunno.”

Nia’s mother gives her a knowing, pearly white smile. “I think you do.” She walks over and places in her pale palm a handful of pills and a glassof cold water on the table.

Nia swallows them, including her Xanax for the nerve wracking car-ride. Ever since her accident that took away her ability to walk, she’s had terrible anxiety on the road. And for good reason— cars are simply socially acceptable metal death machine, constantly inches away from a fatal collision.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Is she ready?” asks her father, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Almost!” She turns her gaze back over to her daughter’s direction. Did you do your checklist?”

"No, I forgot,” she admits.

“That’s fine! Let’s go over it together.” Her mom goes down the list taped to the fridge, rattling off all the things Nia needs for Lakepoint. Nia nods along and gives affirmatives, and eventually they pack her many items and herself into the cramped car.

Nia closes her eyes, earbuds playing loud music to drown out the sound of other cars whizzing by, dangerously close. She wonders what sort of people will await her at Lakepoint.

2

Never did she think that going to a certain boarding school would have such a powerful and bizarre influence over her life.

Nia hits the wet ground bottom first, ruining her pants. She looks around, confused. Beside her out of arm’s reach on a shiny rock is a pair of pistols, a magazine of bullets, a holster and a small brown sack.

“Is this for real?” she asks no one in particular at the same time a quiet voice says, Eat?

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Just then, a hissing sound emerges from up above. Nia looks up to see a navy blue snake stick its forked tongue out as it slowly lowers itself to the ground from where its wrapped around a thick branch. She didn’t know snakes could even do that.

Eat. Eat. Eat… it goes on and on as it comes closer and closer.

Nia is frozen, eyes locked with the snake’s beady ones that are pitch black.

She’s going to die here.

She doesn’t want to, though.

“Go away!” she manages to blurt out.

The snake halts, and Nia uses all her willpower to squeeze her eyes shut and begin dragging herself through the drenched dirt towards the gun and the bag.

Bad to eat.

She looks back to see the creature, which is now completely in the mud, start slithering in the opposite direction. Find something else. Eat. Eat. Eat…

“Hello?” someone calls out from a distance.

“HELP!” cries Nia.

Footsteps splash through the mud until a guy reaches her, her age or older. He has blonde curls and is dressed in an olive green trench coat and matching pants tucked into a pair of laced up black boots. He’s also wearing a brown newsie, and beneath his coat a white collared shirt pokes out.

But, most notably is a pair of black furry ears sticking out of his head and a pair of mysteriously yellow eyes.

A panther creeps up behind him, and Nia nearly screams before the boy places a hand affectionately on its head.

“No way,” he whispers, clearly in awe.

Nia’s eyes blur with tears. “Where am I?” she croaks. “Was I drugged? Who are you?

The boy pulls out a stick, nearly dropping it in his shaking hand. He murmurs something, and a ticking rings out until it suddenly stops.

“Lina?”

Nia opens her mouth to ask again when a tinny voice erupts from the piece of wood.

“What? I told you I was busy!”

“You need to get down here to JoT. I think I know where the board went,” he says.”

“Excuse me? Explain yourself. Like, right now.”’

“Yeah, explain yourself! What the hell is going on?” demands Nia.

“There’s a girl here and…” he picks up the small bag on the rock. He opens it, removing Nia’s card and game piece. “She has her starting items.”

“What’s she doing now?”

“She’s laying on the ground. Why are you on the ground?”

“Because I need my fucking wheelchair!” Nia snaps as though this is obvious. She scoffs, clearly exasperated.

“They didn’t teleport her wheelchair?” wonders Lina.

“Nope,” he says, popping the P.

“Hmmm. Can she ride Midnight in the meantime?”

“I don’t think it’ll be very good for her back, but we can try. Meet me in the southern village.” He mumbles something again, then tucks the stick (Or is it a wand?) into his back pocket.

He closes his eyes, and an extremely vivid image of her on the back of the wild cat pops into her mind.

The panther huffs as the boy leans down. “I’m going to grab you, okay?” he says.

“It’s about time!”

He picks Nia up bridal style, smearing mud on his own clothes before placing her down on the muscular animal. Nia clings to Midnight with her arms, unable to sit up without likely losing her balance and falling off.

“We can get you something better later. I’ll make sure of it,” he promises.

Her head is beginning to ache, and that familiar, uncomfortable feeling of intense anger is beginning to show its sharpened fangs. “You haven’t answered any of my questions,” she points out.

“Oh. Sorry. I’m Matthew. And you are…?”

"Nia. Why am I even here?”

He looks over at Nia, yellow eyes piercing straight through her. “Do you believe in magic?”