Punishment

We walk down the hall with my hand still held by him.

I had completely lost control and I wasn't myself.

Tears build in the corners of my eyes when I play over the scenes in my head. I had taken a few self-defense classes years ago - but I had never, ever, gotten in a fight before. This was something else, and if I wasn't driven by so much anger, I doubt I could have held my own in a fight any other way.

A paper crane comes soaring down the hall towards us, and Ryker snatches it out of the air and crushes it in his fist before dropping it on the ground.

"Ryker, I -" he looks back at me with a worried expression, and my words get caught in my throat.

His face softens when he sees my distress, and he pauses for a moment to hold my face in his other hand. "It's okay, Layla. He had it coming - but next time, I will be the one to put him down," he tells me with seriousness, his gaze on mine.

Words escaped me, so the only thing I could think to do in response was to hug him. He stiffens at first, but after a moment, he holds me tightly to him and nuzzles his face into my neck. Holding him this close to me is already helping, so I lean into him more and relax against him. We embrace each other for a few moments before he lets go and continues to lead me down the hall.

When we near her office, Headmistress Nacht is already waiting outside for us. Her face is expressionless, giving nothing away as I wonder how much trouble I am actually in.

She motions me inside, and turns to let Ryker know he doesn't need to wait for me. I have no idea how hard I'm about to be chastised, so I let him know that I will catch up with him later. He looks unsure, but I give him a reassuring smile, even though I don't feel confident about this at all.

I stand rigid behind one of the chairs perched in front of her desk, wringing my bloody hands while waiting for her verdict. The Headmistress silently retrieves an item from one of her drawers and walks back towards me slowly. With no preamble, she throws the items on the floor between us and a cloud of black swirls between us. I am pulled towards the darkness and suddenly I'm flying. The world blurs by me, even as I desperately try to retreat backwards. The unforgiving and relentless darkness sucks me inside, and I'm just as ungracefully spat back out, leaning too far forward that my arms are reeling in an attempt to balance myself.

A moment ago I was in the Headmistress' Office, but now I find myself in a room with three white walls, a brick wall and a few furnishings.

I turn back around in time to see the Headmistress elegantly sweep into the room, with an arm behind her back. The black smoke is still flickering behind her as she looks at her surroundings and barely sparing me a glance.

"I hear you have anger to spare and I coincidentally find myself in need of some reconstruction." She pulls her arm out from behind her back and my head tilts in confusion when I see that she's holding a sledgehammer. She places the sledgehammer down and leans against it the while while tapping her lips with one of her fingers. "I think the room could be improved and really open up with one less wall," she says as she angles her head towards the wall with bricks. "Well," she rubs her hands together and suddenly stands up straight. "I'll be back to retrieve you in a couple of hours."

With that, she walks into the black smoke that portaled us here and disappears, presumably returning to her office.

I gulp and look around again. There is no door in here.

After letting out a huff of frustration, I walk over to the brick wall, lift the sledgehammer behind me like a bat and decide to get to work.

An hour later, the Headmistress finds me panting for breath, covered in dust, sweat and debris. She looks around with an unimpressed raised eyebrow as she surveys the destroyed brick wall and furnishings I annihilated.

"What is this?" She asks me, and my face falls.

"What you asked me to do…" I trail off, looking over her face, hoping I didn't make yet another mistake today.

"I asked no such thing." I think back over when she brought me to this room and replay her words in my head.

"You said you wanted the wall taken down and brought me a sledgehammer to take care of it," I respond.

She frowns in my direction. "No, I brought you here to give you time to calm down, and I left the sledgehammer here to be stored with the rest of my items.

My eyes widen as I look around me again. I even smashed a damn porcelain vase into smithereens.

"No worries," she continues. Again, she pulls items from behind her back and realizations settles in my stomach when I see the items she has in her hands. She places down tools, glue, paint and mortar for the bricks currently scattered around what's left of the room.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I spit at her, anger overtaking me once more.

She clicks her tongue and points at the ground. "Sit," she demands, her voice resonating in my head and taking root before my body moves on its own to comply with her command.

She stands over me and watches me intently. "Consciously or subconsciously, we are impacted by the moods and emotions of others. When one of us is taken over by a negative emotion, people around them can sense it and their own demeanor will often shift to reflect the emotion."

"By losing control, you endanger yourself and the others around you. You can cause irreparable damage without meaning to. Don't get me wrong - as a werewolf, we bounce back quickly, in terms of physical prowess. Bez kontrole, nastaće haos."

She pats me on the head while I sit on the ground immobile. "But without control, we will have chaos. And chaos will not be tolerated at this academy". She pauses for a moment before continuing. "Mistakes will happen. It is only natural that you will have times in the future where you will lose your temper, given the circumstances that brought you to this academy. But regardless of what you have endured, the critical question remains whether the ire which, deep inside, you continue to feel will lead you down a road you cannot come back from. In the future, your limits will be continuously tested. Your emotions will be battered, and your mind will be beaten. You must ensure that in those moments, that you assert control to prevent catastrophe that you will never be able to undo."

She clasps her hands behind her back, and I feel the pressure on my shoulders start to lessen.

"You must face these challenges head on. You are a werewolf now, and although you are still learning what that means, you can be sure of one thing - you are resilient. Put in the work, and you will get through this."

With my body back under my control, I raise and look her in the eyes.

"So put in the work," she tells me, and hands me the tools I need to start repairing the wreckage all around me.