Hollow Mate: The Roma Academy

Chapter 6

-Tinsley POV-

"I see, so they want to wait and see how this all goes." Leon says and nods. "Okay, and do you know anything about our kind?"

"Not a thing other than when I saw Dr. Daniel shift. That was a punch to my psychological state."

He laughs but I am not really joking. That scared me and messed me up a bit.

“So we are going to the cafeteria first?” I ask.

“No, I’m taking you to my room.”

I stop. “Your room? Why?”

“Why do you think?” He gives me a flirty smile.

I squint my eyes at him. “Do you want me to slap you? Is that what you want?”

He starts laughing. “No thanks. Yes, I'm taking you to the cafeteria girl. You really don’t trust people, do you?”

I don’t answer and continue walking with him.

He opens a door for me and lets me go in first, then settles next to me as we stare at the big open room. There aren’t a lot of people. Everyone in the cafeteria stares at me but it doesn't bother me. These kinds of things don't really get to me. I am more taken with the food.

My eyes shine but internally sigh because I don't want to look desperate. I have to remember that I am not in the streets anymore and I will have a meal every day here. That might be the only reason I accepted to be here in the academy.

Leon leads me to the buffet table.

"Get what you want and use your card." Leon says. "And I do mean get whatever you want. They give you a lot of money in that card."

He starts filling a plate with food, he puts so much food in it that it could rival a mountain.

I take a plate and start doing the same but I don't overdo it. I just get what I need but then my eyes spot a cheesecake and my eyes shine. At first, I hesitate feeling like I am overindulging but then I take one anyway and now I feel like I am spoiling myself. We then grab drinks and then we pay.

I follow Leon to a table where he pulls the chair out for me. It is not something I am used to. I sit and he sits next to me. People around us start to whisper as they look at me.

(Oh don't start to piss me off.) I say in my head as if they could hear me.

Leon leans in. "Don't mind them. You smell like a human so they are confused."

"So, you can smell me then?"

"Yea, we all have unique scents mixed in with the werewolf one or human. Not vampires, they all only have vampire scent."

I drop my fork. "... Vampire?"

"Yea."

"Vampire?" I ask again making sure I heard correctly.

He turns and looks at me confused. "Yea." He repeats.

"Vampires are real!?"

He chuckles. "Yes."

(Mother-)

“So Ezekiel is really a vampire?” I ask.

“Yes, he is.”

I narrow my eyes at the table. “The little fucker wasn’t joking about drinking my blood!”

Leon chuckles. “About what?”

“About drinking my blood.” I repeat.

“Oh, he was joking. He doesn't drink from humans... not directly anyway.” He says.

“Oh... do you know him well?”

“Yea. I’ve known him since I was little. He is a friend of the family sort of speak... anyways... what about your family? Wait... are they not... werewolves too?”

“I never knew my real parents.” I quickly say.

“Oh, so you’re adopted?”

“No, I’m a foster kid so I jumped around family after family until now.”

He gives me the same look that others give me when I tell them that.

“Don’t do that.” I say.

“Do what?”

“Don’t pity me. Yes, I’ve lived a less than ideal life but I don’t feel sorry for myself and I don’t want others to look at me like that either. So don’t give me that look.”

He nods. “Okay. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

I smile. “Thank you.”

He takes a sip of his water and then looks at me. “Have you thought about trying to find your parents?”

“I never really cared to know about my real parents. Never really gave it much thought, to be honest. So no... I want to focus on the now. Not the past and I am not bitter about it, I just don’t want to be stuck in the past.”

I stare at my plate with my eyes wide now as I notice that I have basically inhaled my food as I was talking. When I look at Leon, he is holding his laugh.

“So... you are a foody?” He asks.

I cross my arms and look away, feeling embarrassed.

I try to change the subject. “So, what can you tell me about werewolves.”

I take my water bottle and bring it to my lips. His eyes follow my movement and linger on my lips as I drink.

“We are always horny.” He says.

You know what happens next, I spit the water out, splashing it all over the back of a guy’s head that was sitting on the table in front of us. 

The guy looks back wide-eyed and I am so embarrassed.

“I am so, so sorry.” I say with my eyes also wide.

The guy doesn’t know what to say. He nods, looks at Leon, and then turns back around, wiping his head with a napkin.

On my side, Leon is franticly laughing. I clean my mouth and stare at him.

“Why would you say that?” I ask, still surprised about what he said.

“Because it's true.” He says and continues to laugh.

“Really?”

“Yep. Sorry for being so forward but that’s how it is sweetheart. We werewolves run on instincts and one of our main instincts is to fuck... a lot.”

My mouth is open because I can tell that he is not joking.

He takes a deep breath after laughing so much. “We can also hear from far away. Our sense of smell is stronger and Oh! Our wolves...”

“Your wolves?”

“Yea, we have spirit wolves inside of us.”

“Really?” My face scrunches in confusion.

“Yea. Once you shift for the first time, you get a spirit wolf.” He says.

“That... sounds terrifying.”

“It’s not. They can be annoying sometimes but despite that, he is my best friend.”

“Annoying?... wait, do they talk to you?”

“Yes. They have their own names and personalities. My wolf's name is Ares and... he really likes you.” He says.

I am a little taken aback. “So... you have someone in your head... talking to you?”

“Ah... yeah, but you make it sound creepier than it is.” He says.

“It is creepy! Last time that happened to me I-” I stop talking.

“What happened? You’ve heard your wolf before?” He asks.

I look down trying to remember but it’s no use.

“I don’t know. When I was young, doctors said that I did, or that I said I heard a voice in my head...”

“Oh, what happened then?” He asks looking genuinely interested. He gives me all his attention and I don’t like it.

I don’t like drawing attention to myself or my past.

“I... I did something bad and they gave me those pills that I have been taking.” I look away ready to be done with this conversation because I am not about to tell him about my dead foster parents and what I did to them. I already told Marco and Daniel and that are two people too many.

I think he gets the hint because he doesn’t push it and I am grateful that he changes the subject.

“So, Tinsley, what do you do for fun?” He asks.

I stare at him with a serious expression. “Hobo tipping.”

“What?... do you mean... like money tipping?”

“No... like cow tipping.” My face is as serious as I can get it to be.

“What?!” He almost shouts with a terrified expression.

I want to laugh so much but I hold it in.

“You know... because I am- was homeless so all I really had to do for fun was tipping hobos over. You go for the really old ones that can barely move. The noise they make is hilarious.”

He still stares at me for a few seconds and I am surprised that I am able to hold it in.

“You’re kidding... right?” He finally asks.

I start laughing. “Yes, I'm joking.”

He sighs looking relieved and smiles. “So, the girl does have a sense of humor.”

I smile. “Sometimes.”

We look at each other with smiles on both our faces. He then looks down and his eyes linger a bit too long on my lips again. Heat goes down my back and I have to look away because my eyes went directly to his lips too.

“Alright, come on pretty lady. Let’s show you around more.” He says.

I can’t help smile at what he calls me but I don’t let him see it.

He picks up his trey and mine and throws them away, then walks out and I follow.

“Where to now?” I ask.

“My room.” He says again.

I roll my eyes ready to argue with him but as we turn a corner, I accidentally slip on the glossy marble floors. I manage to catch myself but I bump into a girl. Her books go flying and fall all over the floor.

I turn around and see a gothic chick. She has long red burgundy hair, the kind that is dyed. She has a black shirt and a black skirt with ruffles on it. She has black socks up to her knees with black shoes. Her face is super pale and her blue eyes have heavy black eyeliner around them with dark red lipstick. But it is not overly done. She looks beautiful, almost like a gothic porcelain doll.

She kneels on the floor and starts to pick the books up. I am so in awe of her appearance that I don't move.

Leon does a movement that seems like he wants to help but then recoils back. I can tell that he wants to help her but something stops him from doing it.

People around us watch as she starts to pick up her books but no one does a thing to help. In fact, they move away from her.

"What is wrong with everyone?" I whisper.

I finally move close to the girl and bend down, grabbing her books for her.

"I'm sorry. I slipped." I say.

When I look at her, she is staring at me with wide eyes.

"What?" I ask her.

"Nothing. Thank you." She says as she takes the books from me.

She quickly gets up and almost runs away.

Leon comes and stands next to me as I watch her.

"That was Amy Wraith." He says.

"And?" I ask waiting for him to elaborate.

"She is a witch."

My eyes widen and I look at him. "What? They are real too?"

Leon nods. "But they are very few of them. They were hunted down a long time ago and very few remain. She is also... dangerous."

"Dangerous how?"

"She is not evil or anything like that is just that she doesn't have very good control of her powers.”

"Oh, so people are scared of her." I say.

He nods.

“Do they bully her?”

“Oh, hell no! No one here would dare. They are too scared of her.”

"Does she have any friends?" I ask.

"Not that I know of." He says.

I nod as I stare at the direction she left from.

We start walking again but we stop when a guy comes up to Leon.

“She is exhausting.” He says to Leon.

It is hard to miss how cute he is. He has green eyes and brown hair. He is not as big as Leon but still has a nice body and they both have similar features.

“I know. Did she leave?” Leon asks.

“Yea, she was excited about something. I think she was going on another trip.” The guy says.

The guy looks at me and his eyes go to my clothes then he looks at my face.

He gives me a big smile and I can’t help smile too. His smile is refreshing and contagious.

Leon clears his throat. “Connor, this is Tinsley. Tinsley, this is my cousin, Connor.”

“Hi.” Connor says.

I wave. “Hey.”

“So... she’s... human?” Connor whispers at Leon.

“Nope.” I say.

It feels so weird to say that.

Leon explains everything and now I notice how annoying it is going to be to have to explain to everyone that asks.

“That’s... really weird. How can medication suppress your werewolf side?” Connor asks.

“Daniel said something... he thinks it’s because I have been taking them since I was little.”

“Oh. I see... I’m still confused.”

I smile. “So am I.”

I look down feeling a bit of pain in my head. I started getting a small headache in the cafeteria but now it’s getting a bit stronger.

Connor then looks at Leon. “Is she... the girl...”

“Yes.” Leon says.

At this moment, I don’t know what they are talking about but I am distracted. I suddenly start feeling sick. My stomach is in knots and I am even colder than I was outside.

“Hey, I think I’m going to go rest. I’m not feeling so good.” I say.

“Yea, you don’t look good. You are looking really pale right now.” Connor says.

I start feeling dizzy and my body sways a bit but I balance myself. When I look back up at them, Leon is already next to me, picking me up.

“What are you doing?!”

“Shh! Woman. Let me take care of you.” He says and my feet are suddenly off the ground.