The Cursed Academy

A new name

I don't know for how long I had been standing in front of the mirror in my room. Disassociating, I was jolted back to the present by my mother's voice.

"Sophia!! Your grandmother is here!! It is time for your flight to school!"

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement. There was shopping and packing and boxes to label. Friends to say goodbye to, tests to take for class credits and transcripts prepared for my new school. With my new name, of course. My father was busy with documents to prepare for my new identity and I had a new identity to learn.

'I mean, I can be myself. right?  I just have to start acting less... wolf-like?' I thought to myself. 

Since I had not yet shifted I really didn't think it was going to be any issue. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I look like a normal teenage girl. I am about 5'6" tall and I have a great build, thanks to the pack trainers. They insisted that I train, primarily run, even though my wolf had not yet emerged. Hopefully, there will be some athletic teams I can join to keep up my training without raising any suspicion. My hair is dark brown, almost black,  with a solid white shock of hair at each temple, just like my mother's hair .  My grandmother's used to look the same way before it went all white. It is a birthmark in our family.  I have my father's hazel eyes.

Training outdoors all year in our beautiful Spanish countryside has left my skin a golden brown color. I sure hoped that wherever it was we were going had a place to get some sun or spend some time outdoors. I loved to feel the sun on my face and arms when I would run. I do my best thinking then.

'There is no way I am going to school in some gloomy old spooky castle'

The only thing that I got any input about in this whole catastrophe was... my name. I really was insistent that I got to pick my new name for school. It wasn't much, but it was who I was going to be known as for the next two years. It took me a few days to decide, but I still ended up being rushed because everyone needed it to start on the documents. I decided to keep my first name. I am sure there are a lot of Sophia's from Spain. So, I changed my middle and last names.

" Sophia Quinn Lilylight" I said out loud. My mother understood Lilylight. It was in honor of my Godmother, Lily, who had been killed by rogue werewolves that had wandered into our territory earlier that year. But, she had no clue why I chose the name Quinn.   Not that she pressed me about telling her, I just could NOT tell my mother or my grandmother that Quinn was the name of one of my favorite authors. She is secretly a werewolf herself and writes werewolf stories for the human communities. My grandmother would come totally unglued if she knew this. That made it all the more appealing, to be honest.

"SOPHIA!!" My father bellowed "Get the lead out! Let's go!!" I took one last look in the mirror. I had my hair tucked under a black felted beret that was held on by a pair of swim goggles that I had grabbed to protect my eyes.  I had my warmest scarf around my neck and my hoodie that had the fleece lining. Flying was cold, right? I made my way down the back stairs and walked through the kitchen, stopping at the utility closet in the corner. I opened the door searching for a broom but all I could find was the cheap angle broom my mom uses for sweeping the crumbs up off of the kitchen floor.

"Oh well!" I said "I guess this will do!!" I slipped the goggles down over my eyes. I grabbed the broom and walked out into the great hall where my entire family was waiting to say goodbye and wish me luck on my first flight. I expected cheering and howling and yelps of excitement but instead...

…..you could have heard a pin drop.