Harvest

"I thought, what a better way for you to learn about the new world you find yourself in, than to spend a night dancing and drinking among them? It's mostly werewolves, but a few other species come here as well. Much better than a boring lecture," She says, and I stand there gaping at her. "Plus, you have to have membership to this club - so I know it's not full of any creeps or weirdos," she adds with a wink and a smile that has turned sly.

I look up at and see the name of the club that is highlighted by an orange glow behind the black letters. Around the name 'Harvest' is a light grey moon outlined in a glowing white light. She puts her arm around my shoulder and leads me through the line, and my jaw is permanently on the floor as I take in the ornate black and orange building.

The line doesn't take very long, and when we reach the entrance the man at the door holds out a small flashlight. He has broad shoulders, has short black hair and a prominent scar that runs through his right eyebrow.

Teo raises the inside of her forearm for him to use the UV light on, and it illuminates a small 'H" inside a circle that is imprinted onto her arm. He waves her forward and looks me over as I move to pass him as well, but he quickly flicks his gaze back to the task at hand and I let out the breath I was holding as I make it farther from him.

The lights are low, and the music is thrumming in my ears and I can feel the vibrations below my feet. As we get closer, the music gets louder and my anticipation grows with each step we take farther into the club.

We turn the corner into the main dance floor for the club, and between the flashing lights I can see bodies moving to the beat and some people off to the side sipping on their drinks while talking to their companions or watching the crowd dancing. Along the left side of the room, there are lounges and seating areas sectioned off with sheer curtains. On the opposite side of the room, there are doorways leading to what is probably private rooms.

She brings me upstairs first, so we can lean on the railing and look over the dance floor before joining it. It's a little quieter up here and there are a few less people at the bar too. We order a couple of drinks for ourselves, deciding to stick with tequila so we don't get too sick before the night has even started.

She sniffs both drinks before nodding her head in approval and handing me one of the glasses.

It has been some time since Teo's first shot, and I wonder if she even still feels it since I now know a werewolf's metabolism will burn through the alcohol in their system quicker than a human's. Since I am in limbo between the two species, I find that I have a slightly higher tolerance than I have had before - but the difference is nearly negligible.

Teo gives a few subtle nods to some of the various people here gaze connects with, and they return the gesture in kind. It seems that she knows a few people here.

"Have you been here a lot?" I ask her over the music. The flashing lights highlight her face in different hues as it alternates between the colors.

"I have," Teo answers, taking a sip from her glass before she continues. "You can start coming here at the age of sixteen, although I started sneaking in a year before that. If you meet the right people, less doors can stop you and rules are obsolete," she says matter-of-factly with a shrug of her shoulders. She doesn't seem to be bragging, but is sharing the truth - as she knows it - with me.

"That must have been interesting," I say while looking around. "I did much different things when I was fifteen."

She snorts and gives me a slanted grin, her eyes sparkling while she looks me over. "Life in the higher tiers of werewolf society isn't as good as it may sound. People come here mostly to have a good time and hoping to find their mate, but it wasn't about that for me."

"What was it about, then?"

Teo gives a small chuckle and scratches the side of her temple for a moment. "There's a reason it requires a membership to get in here, it's because management needs to trust you. They trust that what has been seen and heard here doesn't pass beyond its walls. When you come here, you leave your name and your reputation at the door. We're nameless, essentially, since our names have no value here. My parents wouldn't be caught dead in a place they couldn't lord their own self-perceived worth over others. So that fact alone was enough to convince me to pursue membership, knowing that this is a place that I can be myself without being under the watchful eye of my family or those in the same circles. My family's money didn't buy my way in here, I earned it on my own...The harvest moon is known in lore to be a blessing, and that's what this place was...is for me."

Teo is so laid back, I wouldn't have realized she had grown up with that kind of family. I didn't expect that.

"That's an awful long way of explaining you come here for the booze," I tease, and she barks a laugh before tapping her glass with mine and taking a large sip.

"The booze and the beats, can't go wrong with that."

"Couldn't someone replicate that symbol on your arm though, and get in that way?" I ask her curiously.

She shakes her head at me, ruffling some of her blond hair. "No, the sigil is put there by the same Sage that spelled the flashlight they use at the door to only recognize their own specific magical signature. If a Sage tries to replicate it, they can tell it's a fake."

My attention piques at the mention of a sigil, and I glance at her forearm where the mark is hidden under her skin while I scratch absently at my chest where I know my own sigil lies. I wonder how many sigils exist and what they can be used for.

"Right," Teo starts, shaking me from my thoughts. "Before we drink too much, I said I would tell you what I know about Professor Asshole Ivanov," she says, causing me to choke on the sip I was taking of my drink. I pat the spilled drink from my chin and give a loud laugh.

"Yes, please tell me what you know," I supply.

"Okay, so keep this to yourself because not many people know about it and the Savet wants to keep it that way," she looks at me with an eyebrow raised in question, so I give her a nod that I will stay quiet about this.

"Before Headmistress Nacht, there was Headmaster Titus who worked at Alpine Crescent Academy for over ten years. Under his watch, student grades were declining and Professors were quitting after only teaching a short time. Soon, less students were enrolling or returning to the academy. A few years ago, he turned dark, corrupted and he colluded with his Sage to summon a powerful demon. It got loose from his control and went on a killing spree around campus before the Shadow Guard was able to defeat it and send it back to the underworld it crawled out of. The Headmaster was executed as well, and the Savet visited the academy to clean up the mess and keep it quiet. The Headmistress was hired not long after, and talk about the incident quieted down rather quickly. They have been trying to build the reputation of the academy since."

With my eyes wide, I listen to her intently. "Students died?" I ask her.

"A few did, yes," Teo says with a nod as she leans in closer to me and whispers. "But the families were told that it was a drunken pack fight, a power struggle amongst the ranks that wasn't stopped in time."

"And they bought that?" I ask with my eyebrows furrowed and I find myself leaning in closer to her too.

"When the Ponoćni Savet tells you something, it's not wise to question it," she says ominously, leaning back and breaking the trance I was in. "but my Uncle told us a little bit of what was going on. Information is power, after all." Teo finished her story with a long sip of her drink and then looks back at me.

I huff out a breath and shake my head. "That's intense, and sad for the families."

She nods her head in agreement. "Speaking of families…" she starts hesitantly and then clears her throat before continuing. "How are you holding up after everything that's happened? Do you feel settled in, yet?" She asks, concern overtaking her features.

"Well, let's see…" I say with both of my eyebrows raising and my head tilted to the side. "In just a few weeks, I was in a freak accident in which both of my parents didn't survive, and one that may have been my fault, I find my boyfriend cheating on me the night of their funeral, I dump him, he attacks me and turns me into a surprisingly bloodthirsty werewolf…I'm forcefully taken to a strange - but magical - academy a few days later. I haven't felt like myself at all, my emotions are all over the place and I find out that it's because someone has been slowly poisoning me and weakening me with -" I cut my ramble short, widening my eyes at my own foolishness.