Page 66 of Monsters Within (The Creatures We Crave 1)
The only time I’d even displayed powers was when my monsters had fed on a student's emotion to show their powers, so of course all of my markings had flared to life as they fed my energy. I had been given curious looks, but they quickly morphed to pity and distaste when they realized I couldn’t do anything with it.
Professor Benignus had been so patient with me, bless his kind old heart, walking through a multitude of exercises until he’d had to move onto the next student. Despite my clear frustration and impatience with myself, he maintained his faith that I would find what worked for me and said he wouldn’t give up on helping me until we did. I could see why he had been chosen to lead this class, with his gentle composure and the hope he kept alive within my mind through the frustration.
Each time he’d touched me platonically, though—to walk me through where to focus my mind in the exercises—I had to give Lucien a stern look to stop growling at our old professor who was not a threat in any way.
Men, apparently even the supernatural kind, were sometimes ridiculous.
At first I had thought it strange to have an incubus for a teacher, but he’d proven to use his powers in a way I didn’t think possible when calming me and a few others down, soothing us to guide our energy the right direction.
“How did you manage to wield it during the testing on Saturday?” Elwin asked as we made our way to Tactical Combat, where I was sure to be a dud again.
Thinking back on it, I recalled the fear I’d felt as the first professor lunged at me in his wolf form, followed by the sense of being prodded all the way down to my core with the witch professor, and finally my anger at Helen for touching Kylo.
“Hey, maybe this class will help them surface then,” Alora commented cheerfully, refusing to let me stay down in the dumps. I really appreciated that she didn’t rub it in my face that she’d performed absolutely fucking flawlessly with every power our professor had asked her to use.
He’d been delighted and discussed her even becoming a teacher’s aide with her masterful understanding of her craft. That had made her receive roughly a fuck ton of dirty looks from our classmates, and she’d shielded herself with her hair as she’d thanked Professor Benignus and declined.
However, she offered to help me back at our dorm if I felt like I needed a low-pressure environment to work on my own skills. She kept proving over and over that she was a good egg, and I was becoming increasingly pissed off at how the others were treating her.
Our next professor quickly divided us up into pairs as we entered the room, grouping us based upon the abilities we’d displayed in our previous class. Apparently the school had a database all the professors had access to, and they filled out our individual student profiles as we went.
Facing off against a guy who had shifted into a hellhound in our previous class, I wondered how the fuck I was supposed to defend myself without a weapon or knowledge of my power. Thankfully, he seemed to be a quiet and reserved dude, so I was hoping he’d take it easy on me.
“Okay, I have paired you to the best of my ability with someone similar in power level but with opposite strengths to try to bring out the best in both, challenging you to think outside of the box,” Professor Potestas explained as he walked up and down the middle gap between the students facing off.
He was a scary looking dude, spanning close to the same height as my monsters with a buzzed haircut and tons of runes on display in his tank top, spanning his broad shoulders, arms, and neck. He even had a lip and septum piercing. I was actually thankful his name made me think of potatoes, as it made me fear him just a little bit less.
I glanced over at Lucien a few people down, who was paired with a girl that had succubus wings and glowing power. So it would be possible seduction against a monster who fed on anger. Perhaps she’d use her power in a calming way like Professor Benignus did.
Elwin was on his left and was paired with a girl I didn’t recognize yet, so I wasn’t sure what her opposing power was. But he ate away at disease and pain, so possibly something to do with growth of life?
Then, finally Kylo, who was paired with a fallen angel to my right all the way at the end of the line. We’d learned in our first class briefly that fallen angels held themselves to an exceptional moral code, which would be interesting paired against a monster who fed on envy and greed. I was thinking he could win if the fallen also had a lot of pride in their honor.
This was going to be interesting, to say the least.
“The only rule in here is that if your partner is struggling to defend themselves, you back off and reset before you hurt them. We will eventually advance to higher stages of combat with more intensity, but this is going to be more introductory for at least the first month as we rotate pairs and you get an idea of the different powers everyone here holds.”
What a fucking relief that I couldn’t get my ass fully kicked just yet. It gave me time to get my shit together and shine like I wanted to. I wanted to hold my own and earn the respect of my professors and classmates, even if it was begrudgingly.
There was no way I was going to be kicked out at the end of this year for lack of advancement. I would study and practice all night after classes were over if necessary.
“Alright, go!” he yelled as he reached the end of the line and crossed his arms over his chest to observe.
Unsurprisingly, the dude across from me shifted into a massive black hellhound, but what freaked me out was seeing his eyes change from a golden color to literal fucking blazing fire. The same fire began to lick at the bottom of his paws, and I glanced at Professor Potestas to ask how the fuck he thought I was supposed to be paired against this, but before I could, my opponent was running towards me to attack.
Planting my feet and reminding myself I had power within me to fend him off, I shook out the nerves and tried to connect with my power. Doing as Professor Benignus had said in the last class, I didn’t try to yank on it, but instead tried to coax it out in every direction, letting an even flow spread through me.
The calm side of me lasted for all of two seconds before the hellhound descended upon me, knocking me to my ass in a manner that sent pain shooting through my tailbone with how heavy the fucker was, landing on me with his full weight, it seemed.
I expected him to get the hell off of me so I could reset and try again like the professor had instructed us to, so when he didn’t and his fire began to lick through my clothes and sear my skin, I howled in pain. “What the fuck! Get off!”
He began to growl as his lips curled back, revealing rows of sharp teeth that were way too damn close to my face for comfort. I saw Alora and my monsters running towards us out of my peripheral vision, but as his teeth descended toward my face, my power sparked in defense as it had yesterday morning. Finally!
Although, this time there was a bit more of a power punch behind it. It wasn’t a tiny flame in my palm or shadows curling around someone’s wrist. No, this time a blazing wall of my own purple fire encompassed the hellhound, causing him to yelp in pain and jump back as he began to run around in circles. I struggled to try to call the flames back to me, and my heart began to beat erratically in fear of not being able to stop them.
“Shit,” I muttered, actually feeling really bad about his howling pain now. Blisters were appearing on his skin, and it didn’t stop until the girl who had been facing off against Elwin flashed in front of me and smacked the shit out of my cheek.
The howling tapered off as I was left in shock at having just been bitch slapped.
My monsters reached me right after she apologized and flashed away, surrounding me and helping me up. Alora stood in front of me, wings fully extended to give me privacy, which was much appreciated with the burnt holes in my top that were dangerously close to revealing my tits if I moved the wrong way.
“In my office, now! The two of you!” the professor yelled, making me groan and sigh in defeat.
Although I couldn’t help the smug smirk that came to my face as I heard a girl whisper that my flames had been stronger than his hellfire–which was apparently quite the feat.
I wasn’t a dud after all. I just needed to finesse and refine my power. Preferably before I accidentally killed a classmate.
