Chapter 6

 

-=Ravenwolf Magick School=-

-=Book 1: The Gathering=-

-=Chapter 6=-

***Dann’s Perspective***

The final two weeks before school started flew by WAY to quick. Robin, Ryan and I spent a LOT of the time messing around in the pool; of course Robin and I did our own bit of messing around in bed at night too, and on the basketball court. Ryan was actually getting pretty good on the court and he in turn taught us a few things about the X-Box games that I had.

Most of the days of that last week before school we were at home alone since our parents had stuff to do at the school to get ready for classes to start. We managed to talk our parents into us all going ahead and moving up to the school a few days early so that we could stake out our beds and rooms before any of the other students arrived.

Robin and I were just about finished with getting our room arranged the way liked it (which meant unstacking the beds and pushing them together), when I got this overwhelming feeling of dread. I bolted out of the room and out of the suite heading for the main lobby as quickly as I could.

Robin was yelling in my head wanting to know what was wrong, so I fed him the feelings I was getting from downstairs. I quickly understood and passed me the kid’s name after scanning him and told me that he was just scared and needed a friend.

As I finally made it to the ground floor, I breathlessly ran into the main office looking around frantically for Mark.

“Dann, I was just about to call for you,” Mrs. Corrin said, “Mr. Dowlin would like to see you.”

“Is Mark ok? I could feel his distress all the way upstairs.” I said as I looked at the school secretary. Even though I had not had a chance to spend much time with many of the faculty and staff here yet, I could already tell that she was nicer than her husband who taught the class on crystals.

“He’s ok Dann,” she was telling me as I headed toward Mr. Dowlins office, “ he’s just scared, but I guess you already know that. How did you know his name though?”

“Robin told me, he scanned him after I felt his distress.” I knocked on Mr. Dowlins door and walked in with a final look at Mrs. Corrin and seeing he smiling and shaking her head.

I looked right at Mark and noticed that he was fairly cute even if was just bit on the chubby side, like he had yet to lose all his baby fat.

“Ah, Dann, you got here fast, this is…” Mr. Dowlin was saying but I cut him off.

“Mark, it’s ok, you’re safe here, nobody is going to hurt you, and there are two guys waiting upstairs in our suite to meet you.” I plowed forward. “My name is Dann and I’m in the same dorm suite and classes as you. Here take my hand and let me help you calm down.”

Mark hesitantly took my hand, and as soon as he did you could instantly see him calm down as I pushed all the positive and relaxing feelings could through our grip.

Mr. Dowlin smiled when he saw what was happening. “Thank you Dann, I knew that if anyone here could settle this young man down it would be you. I see that you are starting to extend your powers; it’s obvious that you can now not only feel others emotions, but also affect them.”

“Yes sir, I can only do it through direct contact, but that seems to be changing as well.”

“Well that’s good; I think you’ll be able to help put a lot of the new students at ease. Now why don’t you take Mark here and show him around the campus and where his bed is.”

“Yes sir. Where’s your stuff at Mark?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen it since I got on the plane to come here.”

“Never mind, Robin just told me that they just delivered it to our suite. I told him to put you in the room with Ryan.”

Mark looked at me funny, “What are you talking about?”

Mr. Dowlin answered before I could, “Dann and Robin can speak to each other telepathically.”

“That is so cool!” Mark exclaimed.

I started giggling, “Come on Mark, Robin is dying to meet you.”

Without another word I dragged Mark out of the principal’s office and we headed upstairs to our suite.

As we ran up the stairs Mark asked me, “Can everyone here do things like you and Robin?”

I gave a small chuckle, “Nah, so far it’s just me and Robin, ever since we kissed we’ve been linked together.”

Mark stopped so fast that I didn’t even realize it until I reached the next landing.

“What’s wrong, why did you stop like that, come on the guys are waiting for us.”

“I take it from what you just said that Robin is your boyfriend?”

I looked him in the eye and reached out my mind towards him, but could not feel any animosity from him. “Yes, that’s not a problem is it?”

He grinned at me, “Heck no it’s not a problem. In fact I’m bi. It just kinda surprised me to hear you talking about it so frankly and openly like that.”

“Well, you’ll find that, so far, everyone here is very accepting. It won’t matter if you find yourself a boyfriend or girlfriend as long as you love each other that’s the only thing that matters. And I can guarantee that you will have the support of Robin, Ryan and myself regardless of who you fall in love with.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. So, I know that you and Robin are together, but what about this Ryan?”

I just about fell down the stairs I started laughing so hard. “Forget about it man, Ryan is straight. He’s also our best friend.”

“Oh well, I was just asking dude, calm down. At least now that I know I won’t be trying to put any moves on him. The last thing I would want to do is destroy a possible friendship before it can really get started.”

“Don’t sweat it man, come on, let’s get you settled in. Robin just asked what was taking us so long to get back to the suite.”

Mark had a touch of panic in his voice, “What did you tell him?”

“Relax man, trust me, Ryan will be cool with it, he’ll probably even be a bit flattered that you wanted to hook up with him sight unseen.”

“If you say so. Come on, I think I’m gonna need to lay down for a bit now. I haven’t even met the guy and I’ve already embarrassed myself over him.”

“Dude, I told you, relax. But you’re right, come on, we need to get going before they come hunting for us.”

We finished heading up to the suite and went in to find Robin and Ryan sitting together on the sofa talking with their heads together in a conspiratorial manner, not even paying attention to the TV.

“Hey guys, I want you to meet Mark.”

They looked over at us, then put their heads back together and started giggling. I could feel Mark getting very uneasy.

“Damnit Dann, you lied, you said you didn’t tell Robin.” He yelled just before running out the door.

Robin was instantly off the couch and out the door, “Mark wait. Come back. Dann didn’t tell me anything. We were just messing around.”

“You swear. He didn’t tell you anything about what happened in the stairwell?”

“I swear to you man he did not TELL me anything. Now come on back inside, Ryan wants to meet his new roommate.”

Mark looked at me for a moment before he reluctantly followed me back into the suite.

Ryan surprised us all when he walked over to Mark, embraced him and apologized to him. “I’m sorry man that was mean. Come on I’ll show you your bed.”

Mark was unsure about getting hugged from Ryan, “ummm, Why are you hugging me? Dann told me you’re straight. I’m confused.”

Ryan giggled, “Yes I’m straight, but friends give each other hugs when they need comforting. There is nothing sexual about it. Now relax and come on. It’s getting close to lunch time. Let’s get you settled and then head down to the dinning hall.”

“Ok.” And the two of them headed into their room to get Mark settled in before lunch.

“I think those two are going to become great friends.” Robin sent to me.

“I think you’re right babe.” I said as I pulled him into a hug and gave him a quick kiss.

Mark and Ryan came out of the room a few minutes later with big smiles on their faces. “Come on guys, let’s show him around the school before lunch and then we’ll show him the rest of the grounds after we eat.”

“Sounds good to me.” I said.

“Me too.” Robin added, “Let’s go.”

With that we all headed out. We showed were everything was located at inside the main building and then headed to the dinning hall to grab lunch.

Dad, pop, and Lisa were already in the dinning hall at one of the big tables eating their meal. “Dad, Pop, Lisa, this is Mark. He just arrived a little bit ago and Mr. Dowlin asked me to show him around the campus. Mark, these are my dads and Robin’s mom.”

“Hi,” he said timidly, “nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too Mark. I trust the Three Musketeers are taking good care of you?” Dad asked him.

“Yes sir. I was a nervous wreck until Dann showed up in Mr. Dowlin’s office. I calmed down right away as soon as he showed up.”

Dad looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

“I felt his distress upstairs and went down to see if I could help, turns out that Mr. Dowlin had just sent for me. I projected a sense of calmness into him and everything has been great since.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re learning how to use your powers to help others. We’re very proud of you son.” Pop told me. “Now why don’t you four go grab some chow and come back over here and join us?”

“Are you sure it would be ok for us to eat at the staff table pop?”

“School hasn’t started yet, and we asked you to join us, so yes.” He said with a smile.

The four of us ran off to grab some food and then returned to the table and joined our parents.

“So Mark, where are you from?” Robin’s mom asked him.

“San Francisco ma’am.”

“Ahh, was out there many years ago, before Robin was born. Was a very nice city. Met some really nice witches out there too.”

“Yes, I’m kinda missing it right now. I was really surprised to get the invitation to go to school here. Mom said she had heard about it through one of the magazines she gets and decided that it would be good for me to go to school here.”

“Are both of your parents witches?” she asked.

“It’s just me and my mom. Dad died in a car accident several years ago.”

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok. I’ve talked to him since then. Mom is a medium so we are able to talk to him periodically. He says it’s really nice where he’s at and that I should not be afraid or sad.”

“Well that’s good. I’m glad that you’ve been able to get some closure to it and have been able to talk to him from beyond the vale.”

“Thank you Ms. Starr. It helped a lot the first time that mom made contact. I’m looking forward to learning how to do all that while I’m here so I can contact him myself.”

“Well, if your mom has that ability, then I feel confident that you do too.” Pop said. “You should do really well in my class if you elect to take it in your fifth year.”

“Thank you sir. I’m looking forward to it. I just wish I could take it before then.”

“I know, but you have to have all of your basics out of the way first. You can’t build a house with the roof first. You have to start with the foundation. Besides, not everyone is interested in that branch of magick. So it was decided that it would be one of the offered electives for fifth years.”

“Your right I guess. I just wish I could take the stuff that interests me now.”

“I know you do. But take Numerology for example. You might be interested in it, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to take it until you have some solid math classes under you.”

“True, so I guess I’ll just be patient until then.”

Dad giggled, “If you know patience, maybe you can pass some of it on to Dann.”

“DAD!” I exclaimed.

“Just messin’ with you son.” He said as he reached over and ruffled my hair.

We had all managed to finish eating while they were all talking. Lisa looked at us, “Why don’t you guys finish showing Mark around the grounds and then hit the pool for a bit. That should give your food plenty of time to settle.”

“Great idea mom.” Ryan said, “Come on guys, let’s go.”

We all ran out of the dinning hall to complete Marks tour of the campus then ran up to our rooms to get changed for the pool.

We played around in the pool for a couple of hours before heading back up to our suite to get showered and dressed for dinner. “You know the one thing I don’t care about with using this pool over the one at home?” I asked no one in particular.

“What’s that?” Ryan asked.

“The fact that we have to wear suites here.”

“I agree,” Ryan said, “It was much better being able to swim nude at your place. I hope we get to back before it gets too cold to use your pool.”

Mark was aghast, “You mean you guys swam skyclad?”

Ryan put his arm over Marks shoulder, “Yeah, it was great.”

“And you weren’t worried about being naked in front of them?”

“Why should I be?”

“Well, I mean, most straight guys wouldn’t do that with gay guys around.”

“I don’t think of them as gay, they’re my friends. Besides, they have each other, so I know that I’m safe. Why, would you have a problem with it?” Ryan asked him with a note of concern in his voice.

“No, but Ryan, I need to tell you something and I hope it won’t be a problem for you since we’re gonna be roomies, but I’m bi.”

“That’s kewl. You know that I’m straight, so I trust you not to try and come on to me. I won’t mind if you look at me either. I actually find it kind of flattering when other people check me out.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I was a bit concerned.”

“Well don’t be dude, we’re going to be living together, so we will probably be seeing each other nude quite a bit.”

Mark gave Ryan a hug, “I’m so happy to hear you say that. Come on let’s get showered and dressed, I’m starting to get a bit hungry again.”

Ryan returned the hug, “Sounds good, let’s go, I’m starting to feel hungry too and those two love birds are probably going to be wondering what’s taking us so long.” He finished with a chuckle.

About 45 minutes later we were all showered and dressed and headed down to the dinning hall for dinner.

This time we sat at the table that was assigned to our year. We noticed that there were a few more students there for dinner. There were a couple of girls from our year already seated at our table; but most were from upper years.

I sat down next to a pretty red haired girl, “Hi, I’m Dann; since you two are sitting here I assume that you are in our year. This is Robin, Ryan and Mark.” I said introducing my friends.

“Hi, I’m Rachel, and this is Suzy,” she said indicating a very pretty black girl. “We just got here this afternoon.”

“Well welcome to Ravenwolf’s,” I said. “Mark just got here this morning himself. What do you think of the school so far?”

“It’s nice,” Suzy said, “Kind of makes me feel like I’m at Hogwarts.”

I giggled, “Yeah, except that the food doesn’t just appear on the tables and there aren’t ghosts floating around the castle, not to mention a few other differences.”

“Yeah, but that would be so cool if there were.” Rachel said.

I noticed that Ryan kept looking at Rachel. “Hey, check out Ryan.” I sent to Robin.

Robin glanced over at Ryan and started chocking on the drink that he has just taken a big swallow of. He started coughing and I had to smack him on the back. “Are you ok babe?” I asked in concern.

Robin started to snicker, “Oh yeah, I’m fine, but Ryan seems to have it bad for Rachel.” He sent to me.

About that time Mr. Black walked past. “Robin, Dann, it’s not polite to do that, talk out loud unless there is some reason that you are trying to hide your conversation from the others.”

I looked up into the light chocolate face of the spell casting teacher, “Sorry Mr. Black was just trying to save Ryan some embarrassment.”

“Ok, I’ll let is slide. I’m glad to see that you two are progressing and getting more comfortable with your powers, but please try and not carry on private conversations like that when you are in a group. Some people might get the wrong idea.”

“Yes sir, sorry sir.” I said as he headed up to the staff table.

Suzy gave me a puzzled look, “What was he talking about?” she asked me.

“Well, Robin and I share a bond that allows us to talk to each other like telepathy. He actually is a telepath, whereas I’m and empathy.”

“Ok, that’s cool, but what were you guys trying to keep secret?” she asked.

I noticed that Ryan’s attention had not shifted in the least; he was totally oblivious to what was going on around him. “Just take a look at the red head next to you.”

Suzy looked at Ryan and started giggling. “Hey Rach, you seem to have an admirer, and from the looks of it he’s got it bad. I think you might want to tell him before he gets any worse.”

Suzy finally noticed the way Ryan was looking at her and got an expression on her face that was a mixture of humor and sympathy. “Earth to Ryan, Come in Ryan.” She said trying to snap him out of it.

Mark popped him in the back of the head and he finally came out of his trance-like state. “Ouch, what you go and do that for?” he asked rubbing the back of his head.

Mark just started snickering along with the rest of us. “What’s so funny?” Ryan asked.

“I wish I had a camera so I could show you.” I said between snickers.

“I can do one better than that.” Robin said and sent an image of how Ryan was looking directly into his head.

“No way, you’re making that up.” Ryan exclaimed.

“Nope, everyone here saw you.” Robin told him.

Ryan’s face turned redder than his hair as he hung his head in shame and embarrassment.

“Hey Ryan,” Rachel said to get his attention, when he finally looked up at her she continued, “I’m flattered that you find me that attractive, but I just want to let you know that it could never happen. We could never be anything more than friends.”

“You think I’m short, fat, and ugly don’t you?” he bemoaned.

“Not at all,” Rachel said quickly, “It’s just that you’re not my type. You see Ryan, I’m a lesbian.”

The look of shock and surprise that came to Ryans face just made us all start giggling even more. “It figures,” he said, “I guess everyone is right. All the cute ones are either gay or taken.”

“Why thank you Ryan,” Robin said with a chuckle, “You’re right, Dann IS cute and he IS taken.”

That got us all rolling with laughter.

Suzy looked across the table at Robin and I, “You mean you two are a couple?”

I looked into Robins eyes and smiled, “Yep, and more than that we are soul mates and are bound to each other on a level most mundane’s would never understand.”

“That is so sweet, I’m so happy for you two. Most people go their entire lives without ever finding their soul mate.” Rachel said

“Thanks Rachel.” Robin said.

Ryan looked totally crestfallen. Mark put his arm over his shoulders and pulled him into a sideways hug, “It’ll be ok bud, you’ll find someone.”

Ryan returned the hug, “Thanks bud, I know.”

We all enjoyed our dinner while carrying on small talk and getting to know each other better. After we finished dinner we invited Rachel and Suzy up to our common room for a few hours to just chill. I could tell that these two girls were going to make a great addition to our growing group.

Around 9:00 the girls excused themselves to go back to their room for the night saying that it had been a long day and would see us in the morning at breakfast. We all said goodnight and they left.

“They’re right guys, it’s been a long day, and tomorrow is Saturday, the bulk of the students will be arriving. I have a feeling that Mr. Dowlin is going to need me to help with the first years like I did with Mark. You guys can all help me too. So let’s all get to bed.” I said as I started pulling Robin towards our room.

Ryan got a mischievous grin on his face, “ok, just don’t you two keep us up all night with your bed squeaking.”

I looked at him, “You’re just jealous. Now go to bed and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be even longer than today.” And with that I closed our bedroom door, quickly undressed and joined my love in our bed for a night of some serious snuggling before the school got overrun by the new students.

-=End Chapter 6=-