Call of the Siren (Obsidian Cove Supernatural Academy)

"I've got your assignments emailed to you. Finals are next week, but seniors don't have to take them. Apparently, it’s a surprise they do for graduation, so you should be done easy," Tristan announced as he walked back through the bathroom into my room. I had everything of importance packed already, each guy waiting in front of the boxes and ready to lift them and go. In just a few minutes, they had taken everything out to the car.

"How are we going to fit it all in there?" I questioned, looking around at the five boxes I had, unable to imagine what else the five of them might be adding to the pile.

"Oh, my brother already came and got the others. He was in town shopping anyway," Calev said, waving off my worry. “We just have to load yours in the back, and then we can head across the ferry.”

When they all grabbed my boxes and left, I stood there in my empty room, taking one last look around. It wasn't my room the entire time I was here, but it was definitely the closest to having a home I'd ever felt. With so much mystery and danger popping into my life, I wasn't sure I'd get the safety of a school like this again. Who are you kidding? This place was hell to you. Yeah, but it was still my home for almost four years. With one last glance and sigh, I walked out of my room, closing the door on my past.

We’d only made it to the bottom of the main stairs, when I heard someone yelling. "Where are you going?" Dhara's voice called down the hall as she ran toward me, stopping at a safe distance so the guys didn't say anything.

"I almost got abducted yesterday, so we're going somewhere safe," I explained in a quiet voice to keep other students from hearing.

"It wasn't my people," she revealed. "I'm the lead on this one."

"Either way, I'm not safe, so we're going. Thanks for trying to give me the chance to learn more," I said quickly, hating that emotions were creeping up. She was my first potential friend, and I was leaving before it could even begin.

"Here, take my number and email. If you want to talk, or need me, then don't hesitate to reach out," she rambled, looking just as upset as I felt. She grabbed the pen that was tucked behind her ear and scrawled her information on my hand, before holding her hand out and extending the pen to me. I did the same, having to make the effort to remember my number, since I never really used it for calling or texting. There’s never been someone who needed it before.

"Bye, thank you," I said one last time, before turning and following the guys out. They got the car packed, and we were on the road in record time. The ride was somber this time, everyone scanning our surroundings nonstop, waiting for another attack. This time, not even our old shadow followed us. I guess Dhara called them off of us.

Needing something else to think about, I turned to Calev, "So, where does your brother live?"

"He lives with his girlfriend above the bakery. It's right on Main Street, so there will be plenty to do to keep us occupied," he said as he pulled off of the ferry and into the hidden Obsidian Cove.

"So, is this also called Obsidian Cove?" I asked, hating how similar they both sounded.

"Yup, the actual town was named after us. A group of supes moved to the human side after the initial split, then they named it that just to be assholes to our council. Something about not wanting to live like they're ashamed of their powers... which made zero sense, because on that side they have to hide it, or the council will intervene," Evander explained absently as he looked out of his window.

"We should have the loft to ourselves until super late, so don't expect to see them until breakfast. His girlfriend is a bartender at The Hallowed Veil, and they're both working tonight. I have a key, though," Calev said, pulling into a parking garage and finding a spot. "Our other stuff should be inside, but we'll figure out where to go from here later. For tonight, we should settle in, eat some food, and pretend the world isn't going to shit around us." He shot me a grin and grabbed my hand, leaving the others to grab my boxes.

The loft wasn't anything like I expected. I pictured human loft apartments, with open floor plans and no real bedrooms. This was bigger than a normal house with two stories. It had that modern loft feel, with brick walls and industrial style lighting, but there were normal bedrooms upstairs. Everything was perfectly organized and spotless

, down to the vacuum lines on the plush carpet in the living area.

"Lilah has OCD, so she gets anxious if her stuff isn't exactly how she wants it. She's really sweet though, just don't offer to help her clean, and don't clean your own stuff. She's got her routines she has to do. I know it sounds like a dick move, but I legitimately threw her into a full blown panic attack, hyperventilation and all, by washing my dishes last time I was here," he explained as I looked around with wide eyes.

"You know, that's something I never considered. I didn’t really think that supes could have mental health issues too," I said, realizing how silly it sounded.

"It's a bit more rare, but we still experience the same things that cause humans to have them. Like trauma, abuse, PTSD. It's just the genetic ones that don't manifest in supes," Aeson explained as he sat my box down by the door.

"That makes sense," I said, knowing damn well I had my own issues from my parents and bullies.

"We get the two spare rooms upstairs. There are two twin beds in one room, and a full in the other with a pull out couch. So, we're going to have to get super comfortable," Calev teased, leading us up the wide staircase to the top floor.

"We going to the club tonight?" Tristan asked excitedly, but Calev shot him down right away.

"Too many opportunities to be seen right after the incident. I say we go somewhere we can surround her. Sorry, Little Psycho. No more running off," he said, actually sounding genuinely apologetic.

I shuddered at the reminder. "No worries, I learned my lesson."

Lachlan brushed past and dropped his box on the empty bed. "There's a really good restaurant down the street. They do themed weeks, mixed with random customer favorites, so food from different parts of the world and cultures each time. This week is breakfast food and Greek food," Lachlan said, flipping his phone over to show the menu. It was a really ridiculous combination, but I was intrigued.

"Sounds fun," I shrugged, not really caring where we went. I just wanted to forget about this morning and have a second to breathe. Plus, another chance at really getting to see the city was more exciting than anything. The glimpses I got didn't really give me a good representation of how things usually were, just the nightlife.

"What was it like growing up on this side?" I finally blurted out, looking up to see only Lachlan in the room with me still. They tended to make sure that someone was around me at all times now.

"Well, I grew up in what you'd probably call 'the country'. It was a lot of forest and farms and rural areas, so my experience was a bit different than Calev, who was raised by his brother," he said, plopping down on the bed with a small bounce. "My parents own a mining company, and our pack occupies a huge chunk of the forest. We were the biggest pack in the Pacific Northwest, so our bears and wolves protected the smaller packs. It was a lot of camping, cook-outs, swimming, and outdoorsy stuff. Mom’s a baker, and she would make cookies by the dozens and send them out with us to share. I love it there," he finished, his expression faraway as he described it.

"It sounds amazing," I said, sitting next to him. "I grew up not far from here, but my parents were super reclusive, so I didn't have a lot of kids to play with outside of school. There would be the occasional business clients that had children, but it was rare."