My Absence (Revised)

3 - Aiden

*Trigger Warning - abuse and gore*

After my fifth period science class, I managed to find my locker. I wouldn't have been able to navigate these halls or find my locker without Nala's help. With the way the school's architecture is laid out, the middle school and high school aren't separated. All of the core subjects are by each other - the sciences are together, as the English rooms, math, and history. Both middle school and high school rooms of that subject are together, so you can't differentiate where a high school room or middle school room is, and same with the lockers - lockers are arranged only by last name, not grade. 

I wanted to see Nala again, to thank her for all of her help today. I wanted to get to know her better. She seemed like a wonderful and kind girl, but I couldn't get a proper reading on her. It seemed as though she had walls around her exterior that were impenetrable. 

Since Nala and I's lockers were close to each other, I went over to her locker to wait for her. I hope I didn't miss her. The teacher I had before let the class out early, so I doubted I'd miss her. Maybe her class is late letting out. 

I waited till after the warning bell. She still hadn't arrived, which is odd, since between fifth and sixth periods is when the school gives us a few extra minutes between classes to organize our things and regroup. 

She didn't come. Maybe she didn't need to switch out her books. 

I was going to my next class when I saw her, being beaten by Dylan and his gang of minions. I had met Dylan and Cody previously a few classes before. I was seated beside them, and I already didn't enjoy any of their presence. 

I hated that our hallways are curved -  this makes it hard to see if you were going to crash into anyone. This makes it the perfect stop for bullies to pick on their victims. 

"Hey!" I shouted, but they mustn't've heard me. 

'Thwack'

I didn't know what I heard, but I knew it wasn't anything good. I peeked around Cody's shoulder. He hit her upside the head with a baseball bat; there was what must have been her blood dripping off the end of the bat. There was blood splattered all over the cream colored wall. 

I knew that Nala was a werewolf - I could smell that even with her walls, but why wasn't she healing? All werewolves start healing almost immediately after a fresh wound has appeared, unless they've been hit by something poisonous. 

There was another hit to her head with the baseball bat, and there was blood starting to run out of her ear. 

"Hey, leave her alone!" They still didn't hear me. How sadistic can someone be as to be so absorbed in hurting an innocent girl so as to not hear someone else yelling? 

Nala had blood running all down her head, appearing to originate from a cut on the side of her frontal lobe. She had what seemed to be several holes in her skin, and several slap and punch marks martyred her skin. 

"Hey you dogs! What the fuck do you think you're doing with her?" I shouted again, finally beckoning their attention. 

"Why is the new transfer so interested in her? All she's good for is beating and following our commands! She's a lowly omega, so why would anyone be interested in her?" Dylan yelled. He clearly didn't know who he was talking to; if he did know who he was talking to, then he would never raise his voice. 

"Just because she's an omega doesn't give you the right to beat her to death like that! Now get out of my way!" I bellowed, trying not to use my power. It's best to try and resolve situations without the use of brute force first.

"And why should I listen to you? You're just another run-of-the-mill werewolf. I'm an Alpha, you should be listening to me, not the other way around. So bow down to me, peasant!" Dylan demanded. I chuckled. He really thought I was just another average werewolf. I had masked my scent halfway, so I wasn't emitting my high position. It wouldn't be ideal if half the student body would kneel every time I passed them in the hallway. 

I let out an audible laugh. "You're so dull."  I unmasked my scent, and the looks on their faces were priceless. "You truly don't recognize your superiors when you see them, do you?" 

I expected all of them to down. A few did bow down, some ran away. Cody was half bowed, but Dylan was standing straight up, though he was shaking. I just caught him in a lie. 

"Alpha, you said? If you were truly born an alpha, then you wouldn't be standing here shaking in your boots. Only a true born beta would be shaking. A true born alpha would be the only one to stand up to me at my level with my baseline authority." I knew most of the alpha's-in-line, and he wasn't one of them. "So where do you think you have the right to call yourself an alpha? You know that's a punishable crime."

"That's none of your business!" He was quick to say.

"YES IT IS!" I used my full authority. Who does he think he is in order to disobey his Alpha King? The king of all werewolves, the man who all werewolves answer to, even the most powerful alphas. No one in the werewolf world is stronger than me. 

"Boys! Shouldn't you be heading to class?" Mrs. Jensen, one of the English teachers scolded. "Aiden, was it? You don't want to get a bad reputation on your fir- OH MY GOODNESS!" Mrs. Jensen had finally noticed Nala. Dylan, Cody, Brenna, and the rest of the kids who were there ran off. 

"You see miss-" 

"We need to get her to the hospital right away. You take her down to the office. Drop her off at the nurses' station and tell the principal I have to go and I need a sub to fill in for my last class. Please go!" 

I carefully picked Nala up bridal style, trying to be as gentle as I could with her head, and rushed as quickly as I could to the nurses' station. As soon as the nurse saw her, she almost fainted.