Chapter 4 ~ Hound of Lies

            “So, Miss Grey, did you get your homework done?” Wesley asked mockingly as we bounded down the front steps of the dormitory, the autumn leaves crunching beneath my black, All Star Converse.

            “Nope,” I confessed nonchalantly. “Why? You might ask. Well, my dear friend, the answer is simple. It’s because I don’t give a howl,” I scoffed.

“Sweet,” she grinned, her canines glinting under the light rays of sun. “I knew you were a keeper.”

            “I’m always a keeper,” I returned playfully, allowing my eyes to flicker their animalistic silver. Wesley rolled his eyes as he walked behind Jade and I. Ahead of us, other werewolves from our dormitories walked and I noticed that a group of girls were glancing back at us with dirty looks, their lips twisted into a slight snarl as they muttered to each other. Jade noticed them, too, and growled loud enough for them to hear. The four of them winced and hurried towards the school.

            “What was that about?” I asked, glancing at Jade. She rolled her eyes and I noticed that they were glowing toxic green with primal anger. She growled quietly to herself and waved it off.

            “You girls are weird,” Wesley murmured from behind us as we bounded up the front steps of the school. Jade’s fiercely glowing eyes flickered back quickly at him before she sighed and retreated to her first class.

            “What’s up with her?” I questioned Wesley as he walked beside me towards English while watching Jade storm off down the crowded hallway.

            “How the heck am I supposed to know?”

            “Uh, maybe because you’re her roommate,” I exclaimed, looking at him curiously. “I would think she would tell you more than she tells me.”

            “The thing about Jade is that she’s more of a ‘lone wolf’ than a pack member. Her parents may have been alphas, but she’s not really a social person,” he shrugged as we walked into English together.

            “That reminds me; what happened to her parents? You guys keep talking about them in past tense.” I knew it wasn’t really any of my business, but the curiosity was killing me and I hated being the only one not knowing.

            “Well-.”

            “Alright class, settle down and pay close attention.” The teacher, Ms. Scarson, interrupted. I glanced up at Wesley, but he was already heading for his seat and so I turned and went for mine-on the opposite side of the room, of course. “Now that I have your attention,” Ms. Scarson began. “I would like to introduce your first project.” A chorus of moans filled the air and I couldn’t help but add my own.

            “As I was saying, this project is worth a quarter of your grade. You and a partner will be assigned to read the Odyssey and write a report on the book. You’re partners have been assigned, and to widen your horizons I havecreated a different project for each of your groups. So, once I finish reading off the names please collect a book and find your partners.” She smiled as she grabbed a paper from her desk and began reading the list. I waited patiently for my name, fidgeting nervously in my feet in fear that I would get stuck with a nerd, or worse, a Hell Hound. There were plenty of them in the class, and what I could see so far; the groups Ms. Scarson was calling weren’t limited to one breed or species.

            “Ash Grey and Sterling Blackwell,” Ms. Scarson announced, glancing from me to someone on the other side of the room. I glanced over and a frown immediately fell on my face when a pair of pale, silver eyes met mine. The sun-deprived, blood-sucking freak grimaced and looked ahead of him, his lips pulled into a tight scowl. The feelings were mutual. Of course I got paired up with something worse than a hound; a vampire.

            Coolly, I slid out of my seat and walked towards the front of the class where a stack of books rested. Beside them, Ms. Scarson leaned against the desk, preoccupied with a piece of paper.

            “Um, Ms. Scarson,” I said, grabbing a book and standing in front of her. She lowered the paper and smiled kindly at me. “Is there any possibility that I might be able to switch partners?” I asked innocently, knowing just how to get on a teacher’s good side and stay there.

            “I’m sorry, Ash, but partners are final. I paired you up with Sterling for a reason like I did with many of the other students; you all must learn how to interact and coincide here at Nightshade. For one thing, fights between breeds, between any students in fact, are not tolerated and that’s one reason why we’re starting the peace making in the beginning of the year.” Her smile was beaming with friendly energy and I had to admit it made me sick.

            “But-.”

            “Forget about it, dog breath,” Sterling growling as he grabbed a book. He made sure to stay arm’s length away like he was disgusted by me. “We’re partners and we’re just going to have to suck it up and deal.” He turned on his heel and skulked back to his seat, leaving a wretched scent in his wake.

            “Yeah, because sucking is exactly what you do best,” I muttered viciously under my breath as I returned to my seat and hesitated before I opened my book and began to read. Soon, Ms. Scarson came around and left a paper on each desk; the project no doubt. I didn’t even bother looking at it.

It felt like an eternity went by before I finally walked through the door that led to my Diverse Habitation class. Wesley and Jade were already there.

            “Who’d you get stuck with in English?” I questioned Wesley as I walked up beside him. He glanced down at me before rolling his eyes.

            “A hound named Conley,” he groaned. Jade glanced at the both of us with an amused smirk, her arms crossed and her green eyes glowing teasingly. Wesley looked to her and growled, “What are you smirking at, Park?”

            “I’m in Honors English so I don’t have to do that pathetic project,” she sang, sticking her tongue out childishly at us.

            “Yeah, but we’re roommates,” Wesley grinned slyly.

            “No shit, Sherlock,” Jade returned, staring at Wesley as if he were a moron.

            “That means I’ll have to have Conley over a lot to work on our project,” he confessed and Jade’s smirk immediately disappeared and her eyes darkened.

            “Wonderful,” she droned sarcastically, turning forward just as Mrs. Kroxly appeared from, what seemed like to be, out of nowhere.

            “Hello again, class,” she began, her wrinkles moving aside for her thin-lipped smile. “So, yesterday went exactly how I had expected it to be; poorly. Not a single one of you were able to last twenty minutes with your human coexistences, but I guess that is the reason why all of you are here at Nightshade Academy to begin with, isn’t it?” The room remained silent for a moment as she stood there with her tight smile. Then, she held up her clipboard and began reading off a series of names and numbers like she had the day before.

            When she called my name I caught the number twelve and didn’t even look around for my partner or partners before I began walking through the maze of sets in search for set twelve, which happened to be a park. I hopped onto the set and sat down on the opposite side of the bench to where a male manikin sat, reading the newspaper in a suit and hat. I waited for a few moments before a girl stopped in front of the set, her hands stuffed nonchalantly into her pockets.

            “Ashlyn, I presume?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow at me. I tilted my head back and groaned in agitation.

            “It’s just Ash,” I stated gruffly before smiling apologetically at the girl as she hopped up onto the set. She smiled back in understanding and sat on the other bench that sat a couple feet away from where I sat.

            “I’m Eris Oxford,” she introduced. I smiled at her, but made sure to keep my distance. I knew she wasn’t a vampire, that part was obvious. For one thing, if she was one of those blood sucking demons she wouldn’t be so nice and neither would I. Secondly, her eyes were an electrifying blue, not red, silver, or amber, which would’ve implied that she was a hell hound. That left me with a very small amount of options, but I had to guess that she was a witch. Hopefully not the one that stuck a snake to Wesley’s skull.

            “Good day, ladies,” Mrs. Kroxly chirped as she rounded the corner and walked in front of our set, a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. “Today, you two will be playing best friends at the park.” Eris and I exchanged a casual glance, but I knew Mrs. Kroxly wasn’t finished. “You two are jogging when a man on a bike accidentally crashes into you. How do you respond to that?”

            I clenched my teeth and growled, “You’re not seriously going to hit us with a manikin riding a bike, are you?”

            “No,” she smiled. “Unfortunately, just Eris got hit.”

            “What?” Eris gaped and a moment later a manikin on a bike sped out from behind a door on the side of the set and crashed into Eris hard enough to knock her over. I gasped in surprise but Eris, who had scraped her elbow on the fake gravels, cursed.

            “Accendo!” she hissed, flaring her fingers at the manikin on the bike and immediately the plastic man went up in flames. It triggered the sprinklers and the set was instantly doused with water. I growled angrily as I quickly ran off of the scene, Eris behind me and sopping wet. Mrs. Kroxly stared at the witch with pursed lips before she jotted something down on her clipboard and turned to walk to the next pair of students.

            “Glad to know I’m not the only one who hates being abused by plastic people,” I grumbled to Eris as she wrung out her short, curly, platinum hair.

            “I can’t remember the last time somebody actually passed this class,” she scoffed, muttering another spell and waving her hand over herself. Droplets of water were pulled away from her clothes until they were dry and they formed a clear, liquid orb in the air. I watched in interest as she held it like a baseball and pitched it at the manikin that was sitting on the bench, taking its head clean off.

            “Sweet,” I mused, admiring the witch’s spunk.

            “May I?” she offered, ushering to me, but I shook my head and smiled.

            “No thanks, I got this,” I grinned and shifted, my fur dripping wet and clinging to my skin. I took a few steps back away from Eris and shook out my ruff until I was dry, then I shifted back.

            “Werewolf girl, cool,” she laughed, her electric eyes brimming with excitement. I shrugged and was about to say something when a girl with pale skin and ebony hair literally popped up beside Eris, purple eyes harsh yet charismatic. She held her coat in her hands and her almost colorless arms were revealed. Traveling up her arms were black tattoos that formed intricate designs that were beautiful and mesmerizing. They disappeared up her sleeves, but I could see on her hand that the tattoos led to a crescent moon on her palm.

            “I hate this class,” the girl murmured to Eris, her voice inhumanly melodic and charming. When Eris returned her a nervous smile and glanced at me the girl raised a questioning eyebrow and realized I was standing a few feet away. She hitched her hands firmly onto her hips and looked me up and down, her magenta lips pursed.

            “Ah, you’re Ash Grey, aren’t you?” she finally said.

            “Uh, yeah,” I replied, surprised that she knew my name, but not too much. This was Nightshade after all, and the girl standing next to Eris didn’t look like any witch I’ve ever seen before. Not that I’ve seen very many, or have paid attention.

            “I’m Circe,” she grinned, her purple eyes glinting slyly. I crossed my arms and stared at her, returning a half smile. “It was nice meeting you Ash, but we’ve been excused so I guess we’ll be seeing you around.” Her tone was mysterious and secretive as she grabbed Eris’s wrist and began dragging her towards the exit, Eris waving at me.

            “Whatever then,” I shrugged watching them leave before I walked back through the sets to see if I could find Jade or Wesley. I turned the corner and found Wesley on a parking lot scene with Mickey, the guy I was partnered with the day before. On the set, two cars were piled on top of each other in what would appear to be a crash, and I had to guess that Mickey and Wesley were directed to be the drivers of each of those cars.

            “My fault? You’re the one who needs to watch where he’s going!” Wesley yelled, fists clenched at his sides and his eyes furiously trained on Mickey.

            “No, you must be effing blind! Who even allowed you behind the wheel?” Mickey returned equally aggressive.

            “Boys; they really get wrapped up in these kinds of scenes,” Jade said as she walked up beside me, watching the boys continuing to bicker in front of us. I glanced over quickly at her and noticed that her face was completely black; her green eyes the only color among the dark substance. Jade noticed me staring and growled lowly before turning her attention back to the boys.

            “Chimney malfunction on set two,” she confessed, giggling at Wesley and Mickey’s foolish argument. Wesley was growling and snarling like a wolf and Mickey was cursing in some foreign language, bright balls of light engulfing his hands. Hmm, a warlock perhaps?  

            “Why do guys take it so seriously?”

            “It’s just a guy thing, you know?” she said, but I shook my head. “When Mrs. Kroxly pairs up two guys to be opposing forces and not friends or brothers the boys use it as a chance to argue who’s the better, stronger, and wittiest man. The best way to describe it is like two low ranked wolves fighting for the Alpha position.”

            “Intriguing,” I replied, crossing my arms.

            “Yeah, just wait till you see them in Shifters E.D.; male werewolves facing off against male hounds is like war,” she laughed and I joined her as I imagined the situation. Then, the bell sounded from above and Wesley and Mickey’s conversation immediately seized as they laughed about it and headed off the set, hesitating when they saw us.

            “Uh, how long have you two been standing there and what the hell happened to you?” Wesley asked the both of us and then turned to Jade, ushering to her face.

            “Want me to get that for you, beautiful?” Mickey mused, raising an eyebrow at Jade. She narrowed his eyes at him and flashed him an elongated fang.

            “How do you know I’m beautiful if my face is covered in soot?” Jade bit, starting towards the door.

            “Detergeo,” Mickey recited and Jade flinched before turning around, her face spotless but her features hinting that she was angry. “Hey, you didn’t say no,” the warlock shrugged and Jade bared her teeth at him in annoyance before continuing out the door.

            “Word from the wise, don’t mess with Jade,” Wesley muttered to Mickey as he walked past him towards the door. Mickey chuckled as he dug his hands into his pockets and began meandering out.

            “Got to love them feisty werewolf chicks,” he said and I rolled my eyes as I adjusted my shoulder bag and headed towards my History class.

                                                                        ***

I walked into Shifter’s E.D. just as all the students were shifting and immediately I dropped my bag and joined them, finding the sleek black wolf standing beside the light grey one and going to stand beside them. As I skirted around the clan of hounds I narrowly avoided a pair of snapping jaws that came out of nowhere, aimed for my ankles. Baring my teeth and snarling, I looked up at the hound I had fought the day before, Kenna. She hissed back at me, her flaming tail flickering back and forth, her eyes glowing fiercely.

            “Hey, break it up you two!” Coach Hale snapped at us, quieting our hisses and snarls, but intensifying our glares. “Save the claws and fangs for your partners, and today they’re assigned.” Kenna’s and my heads snapped in the coach’s direction, our intentions of ripping each other’s throats out shattered.

            “Today, Ash you’ll be fighting Conley Willows, Kenna you and McKayla, Wesley and Saraphina….” I didn’t listen any more as I skulked towards the matts that were scattered around the gym, picking one and sitting in one of the corners, lowing my head in a sign of pouting. Seconds past and I slowly swayed my tail back in forth in boredom as I waited for this Conley kid to show up. Then, a black paw stepped onto the other corner of the mat and I slowly dragged my eyes up, along a slim yet muscular fury black leg that led to a toned body and a flaming mane of fire. And above that flickering mane was that handsome hound face that I had met in the woods.

            “Told you I’d be seeing you around, flicker,” the hound hissed with dancing flames of amusement in his eyes. I growled ferociously at him as I got down in a defensive stance, my front paws out in front of me and my hind legs slightly extended so that I was ready to pounce. “How’s life been?” he asked slyly.

            “Wonderful,” I gnarled, beginning to walk around the edges of the mat, Conley doing the same so that we walked in a clockwise circle in a face off like two wolves battling for territory. But as I said that, I recounted all the odd things that have gone wrong within the past day; getting locked out of my dorm, getting partnered up with a vampire in English, getting partnered with Conley in this freaking class, oh, and he’s going to be working with Wesley on a project in the dorm next door for about a month.

            “I bet,” Conley replied, his lips pulling back into an animalistic grin. A ferocious snarl then ripped through his lips and he lunged for me. I swiftly dodged his claws paws and rolled across the mat, jumping onto my paws and pouncing back at Conley, fangs snapping for his neck. But, when my teeth pierced flesh, fire filled my mouth and burned my face, forcing me to jump back, whimpering and pawing my sizzling face. The smell of my burning fur made me wince.

            In that split second, Conley pushed me to the ground, his large paws pinning down my chest. He lowered his face to mine and a growl rumbled from behind his closed lips, but his amber eyes reflected a smirk.

            “But, you know, I’m still waiting for that deal,” he mentally chimed. I went limp under his weight and watched as his muscles relaxed.

            “Make a deal with the devil? No thanks,” I said and with all the force that I could muster up I pushed my paws against his chest and my hind paws against his soft underside and flipped him onto his back, jumping on top of him before his mind could register my trick.

            “Look, Ash, I can see that you’re a smart girl,” Conley lured, barely moving beneath me. “So quit avoiding it and let’s make a deal.”I stared hard at him, teeth clenched behind my closed lips and silver eyes narrowed fiercely, trying to read his intentions.

            “What kind of deal are we talking about?” I questioned cautiously. A flame suddenly flickered on in Conley’s black pupils; small and dancing like the fire at the end of a match. I couldn’t help but watch the embers that swayed and crackled in the rings of deep amber that were his irises. It was like the world around me was a darkening, distant background, sneaking out of my senses. The flames stole my attention and held it, but there was an annoyance at the back of my mind that was screaming at me. I blinked, then again, and the sounds of growls and snarls and roars filled my ears. I then realized that Conley had somehow managed to get back on top and he was in his human form. As I ripped my gaze away from his eyes I realized that I was also in my human form and Conley’s hands were pinning my wrists against the ground on either side of my head. When my head cleared, I growled furiously and tried to lunge for him, but Conley’s hands forced me down. Slowly, he leant down beside my ear, brushing my hair aside. His hot breath fanned my face, but still it somehow managed to send a detestable shiver down my spine.

            “Finally got you, flicker,” he whispered before he jumped back cackling. I sat up and rested my upper body on my elbows as I stared quizzically at him, my fangs elongated and claws ready to tear into hound flesh. “There’s no deal,” he forced out between chuckles. “But man, you should’ve seen your face when you finally believed me.”

            “You ass,” I retorted propelling myself towards him. I crashed into him and the both of us rolled across the matt, my hands tightly gripping the collar of his shirt. He smirked as he chuckles died down and he stared at me.

            “Oh, that’s the oldest trick in the hound book. Trust me, us hounds are asses to everybody,” he smoldered, rolling his eyes as if I were just being childish. I growled as I pulled on his collar sharply and then pushed, hitting his head against the matt. He winced, but his smirk didn’t falter. “Nice cage rattler,” he said, reaching up to rub the back of his head. “And here I thought hound girls were feisty.”

            “Shut up,” I grunted, pressing down hard on his chest before getting to my feet. I walked off of the mat and moved around others as I headed for my bag which rested beside the doors.

            “Where are you going, Grey?” Coach Hale called from across the gym. I didn’t even turn around as I answered.

            “I’m sparing the janitors hours of cleaning up hound blood.”

There I sat, reading The Odyssey like a good little werewolf when a knock sounded at my door.

            “Thank you!” I yelled to the Moon Goddess as I slammed down the book and jumped from my couch, hurrying towards the door. I eagerly pulled it open and was not at all surprised when I met Jade’s smirking face and Wesley’s questioning stare. “Please, I beg you, save me and come in.”

            “Save you from what?” Jade laughed as she walked past me.

            “The Odyssey,” I grumbled, kicking the door closed once Wesley entered. I walked over and collapsed onto my couch, face planting into the pillows.

            “It’s not that bad. It’s actually kind of interesting,” Wesley shrugged and slowly I lifted my head up and turned towards him with a “what the eff?” look. He shrugged and leaned against the wall. I noticed that I was lying on the couch and not Jade so I quickly looked around the room for my mischievous friend, concerned that she was getting into somewhere where she didn’t belong.

            “You have no food!” Jade howled angrily as she stomped out of my kitchen before collapsing onto the carpeted floor.

            “No, because if you haven’t noticed, Nightshade Academy is in the middle of freaking nowhere and there isn’t a food store for miles,” I answered grouchily. Jade and Wesley exchanged a glance before bursting out into laughter. I stared at them as if they both have lost their mind, which was weird because I swear it was going to be Jade losing her marbles years before Wesley did.

            “Wait, you’re serious?” Wesley stopped laughing when he noticed that I wasn’t kidding.

            “Are you telling me that there’s actually a food market around here?” I gasped, staring at Wesley with wide, prying eyes.

            “Uh, yeah, girl,” Jade chirped. “You really thought that this place would deprive us of food?”

            “Yes.”

            “Fortunately for you, they don’t,” Jade smiled as she sat up and crossed her legs as she leaned back on her hands. “There’s a town about a mile away from here. Every couple weeks we’re allowed down there to get what we need, but only if you have a partner. For some reason, they won’t let anyone go alone.”

            “And I’m just hearing about this now because?”

            “You never asked,” Wesley and Jade replied indifferently in unison.

            “Our first trip down there is this weekend actually,” Wesley informed.

            “Awesome, thanks for letting me know. Seriously, if there’s an apocalypse, I’d leave it up to you guys to tell me last second,” I droned, rolling my eyes as I rolled onto my back so that I could stare at them more comfortably.

            “Hey, no need to be nasty,” Jade exclaimed, collapsing back onto her back.

            “Speaking of being nasty, what with the dramatic exit at Shifter’s E.D.?” Wesley raised an eyebrow at me.

            “Ugh, you sound just like my dad!” I complained, grabbed the pillow and pressing it against my face in agitation before throwing it at him. He swiftly ducked below it. “I swear, all the hounds have it out for me.”

            “The Hell Hounds are after everyone, don’t take it too personally,” Jade rolled, shifting onto her side so that she could look at me. “Especially Kenna; she’s just made up of hell’s fire. I bet you that’s the reason why Lucifer sent her here.”

            “Uh huh,” I murmured. “But Kenna’s not to bad compared to this other hound, Conley.”

            “My English partner?” Wesley asked.

            “Unfortunately,” I moaned. “I warn you; if he goes to your dorm to collaborate on your project keep an eye on him. I don’t need to be woken up by the fire alarm going off in my room.”

            “I don’t think these rooms have fire alarms,” Jade said.

            “Great, even better,” I said sarcastically.       

            “Don’t worry, Ash, he won’t leave my sight. Besides, hounds don’t prey on anyone for too long. They get bored easily,” Wesley assured me, a small grin on his thin lips.

            “Or they just have incredibly short attention spans,” Jade mused humorously.

            “Well, in that case, good luck getting anywhere on your project, Walker,” I said to Wesley who rolled his eyes at me.

            “Right back you and blood boy,” Wesley snickered and I threw him a vicious glare.

            “The sound of people I hate is nauseating me!” Jade complained as he slowly stumbled to her feet and hobbled exaggeratedly out the door. “See you tomorrow, gorgeous,” she called from the hallway before I heard her door slam close.

            “Is it just me or does she seem a little drunk tonight?” I looked to Wesley who just shook his head.

            “I honestly wouldn’t even be able to tell. To me, Jade always seems drunk.”

            “Touché,” I agreed. I heard a faint click sound from the hall. Wesley’s jaws tightened and he looked to me before glancing back at the hallways.

            “And Jade just locked me out,” he sighed. “If Jade doesn’t agree to let me in within the next ten minutes, you mind letting me stay here tonight.”

            “I’ll think about it,” I said, smirking.

            “Thanks, I knew I could rely on you,” he said sarcastically as he turned and walked towards the door, flipping me off before he closed it behind him.

            “Now the answers definitely no!” I yelled to him and I knew he could hear me.