Chapter Three - Don't Try (The Protector - Volume 1)

The bed Zane laid upon was firm, yet also soft. His cabin was, indeed, equipped with everything he’d ever need. It was a strange feeling to be taken care of so well; to have so much that he could call his own. Now you just need to add some colour to this place! Then you’ll be set! Yulia’s words seemed to echo in his mind. He hoped she wasn’t serious.
He enjoyed a few minutes relaxing before his alarm clock chimed. However, he knew Yulia’s first day of senior school would be a big one and Zane knew she would either be excited or cautious. He turned off his alarm and pulled the covers off slowly, sitting up and stretching his arms, feeling his spine crack slightly as he did so. First day at senior school… let’s see how this goes.

Around twenty minutes later, Zane had thrown on a clean set of clothes almost identical to the set he wore the day prior. Afterwards, he sat and ate some food he prepared the night before. Yulia explained she would knock on the cabin door when she was ready to go to class in the morning. Zane trusted her on this, she was an avid learner who never wanted to be late for school, he would not need to go over to fetch her. He sensed a familiar aura approaching his cabin after he’d washed the dishes and slipped on his fingerless gloves.

A few knocks came from the door, “You up, sleepy-head?” the voice was muffled.

Zane walked over to the door and opened it to see a cheerful Yulia, eyes bright with raw excitement. Zane smirked, “What did you call me?” he joked.

Yulia stood upright and tucked her hands behind her back, her eyes glowing and her smile infectious, “I didn’t know if you were going to be up all night… or sleeping like a baby!” she giggled.

Her Protector chuckled at the unusual statement, “I don’t sleep like a child, Yulia. Where’d you get that idea from?”
“You’d be surprised, Zane!” She twirled and began walking away from the cabin, almost skipping as she headed towards the classrooms. Happiness emanated from her cheerful antics. I guess she’s got herself excited again rather than worrying about her mother. It’s good to see her like this. Zane sighed at her lack of a real answer, closed the cabin door, locked it with his key and followed his master to her class.

The pair chatted whilst walking to the classrooms, Yulia explained the rundown of everyday activities to Zane. For new students, every morning they had to attend a compulsory class named ‘home group’, where they could get aid with school work and prepare for the day ahead. This class only lasted for half an hour and its main use was to make sure teachers know that their students are attending. Zane understood its purpose, he also saw this as an opportunity to study other students to recognize possible threats.

The hallways of the building in which all home groups were located was packed to the brim with students from all year levels. It was so crowded that Yulia stayed directly on Zane’s tail, refusing to stray more than one foot away, following him as he navigated through the crowd to find their room. The hallway was unbelievably long and packed, luckily, a familiar voice called out from the distance.

“Zane! Yulia!”

Standing behind a small group by himself was Nirav, waving and trying to get the pair’s attention. Zane helped Yulia make their way through the crowd and reach Nirav, who greeted them with a smile, “Sup, guys? Glad you made it!”

Yulia smiled back and said hello, however Zane was slightly confused at this change of tune. Yesterday, Nirav was incredibly nervous, barely saying a word as they walked to the school. Zane said hello then kept quiet for a short while, Yulia and Nirav were chatting nonstop. No stuttering, no pauses, no hint of shyness at all. Nirav seemed to have built up some real confidence overnight.

“So, there’s a few different home groups for our year level… do you know which one you’re in, Yulia?” Nirav asked, continuing their conversation.

Yulia paused and pondered for a moment. “Hmm… between getting all of my stationery prepared and checking out the school, I completely forgot what group I’m in.” She looked up at her Protector, not saying a word, but indicating that she needed help.

“Yulia… you are in class one-five! How did you forget that?”

She giggled at Zane’s remark, “Guess I’m just a forgetful person!”

What’s with her weird attitude? She isn’t forgetful at all.

“Oh! That’s awesome!” Both Zane and Yulia turned their attention to Nirav, who was now smiling with glee. “I’m in the same class as you guys!”

Yulia and Nirav continued chatting at this exciting revelation, both were much different from to the previous day, where Yulia was shy and Nirav was quiet. Zane was confused by this but was happy that his master had found a friend.

The hallway was seemingly endless and contained a swarm of students, all wondering around to find their classes or chatting with others. However, while peering around, Zane noticed a few random people looking at him. Mostly they were just glances, but some of the students outright stared at him with curious expressions.

One guy caught Zane’s eye. A rather buff, hairy student who seemed older then Zane was leaning against the opposing wall glaring at him. Hmm… if his aura belongs to the race I think he is, then this may be an issue.

As the thought crossed Zane’s mind, this person pushed off the wall and started walking towards Zane, with a few smaller students seeming to egg him on. The two kept their eyes on each other until the guy reached Zane and passed him.

“Hey there.”

Zane turned around to see this student speaking directly to Yulia. He decided to play bystander for now, he was curious what this guy’s intentions were.

“Umm… hello! How… are you?” Stuttered Yulia, reverting back to her shy-self.

Nirav was silent, looking back and forth between the buff guy and Yulia.

“I’m doing better lookin’ at you, sweetheart.”

Oh, he’s one of these guys: only interested in Yulia because of her looks. “Oh… ohhhhh…” Sighed Yulia. It seems she’s figured that out for herself. “What is… your name?”

The buff guy smirked and crossed his arms, “My name is Barrett. I’m the strongest bloke in this school. If you’re wondering why that is, it’s because I’m a Werewolf.”

“Really now?” Yulia wasn’t impressed by his statement, nor did she really care. “Now did you want something, or?…”
“Yeah, I think you and I should hang out. I promise I’ll treat you right, honey.”

He’s straightforward. I wonder if he will persist. Zane knew Yulia could speak for herself, this wasn’t the first time a random guy had tried to flirt with her, she always had the same response.

Yulia started to chuckle. This startled Barrett, who’s expression broke. “Wow, is that what you call ‘trying’?” Muttered Yulia.

Barrett was speechless, he wasn’t used to people denying him. “Uhh…” After a few seconds, Barrett suddenly smirked. “You must get this a lot, don’t you?”

Yulia moved her hands behind her back, her posture more relaxed now that she knew what she was dealing with, “I do. But I’ll say the same to you as I have to all the boys before you: I’m not interested. Sorry.”

There it is.

Silence filled the air after Yulia’s rejection. Even the boys egging Barrett on earlier had fallen silent. Zane stood straight with his arms crossed, watching yet another boy get turned down. Zane expected Barrett to turn around and walk away in defeat, but instead, he chuckled.

“Come on, babe, I’m sure you can tell from the look of me, I’m not like any other guy. Gimme a chance.”

He is persistent. Guess it’s time for me to step in.

“Didn’t you hear her?” Out of nowhere, Nirav stepped in front of Yulia, defending her. “She said she wasn’t interested.” What is he doing? Yulia was just as shocked as Zane, the shy, timid boy from yesterday was suddenly trying to act tough against this Werewolf.

“Nirav, I can take care of this myself.” Exclaimed Yulia, however her words didn’t even reach him, who remained standing his ground.

Barrett looked down at him, their height difference was significant, but Nirav didn’t appear intimidated.

“This ain’t your business, buddy.”

“I think you’re best off respecting Yulia’s wishes and leaving her be.” Nirav said with a seemingly deeper tone.

What is this? An act?

Instead of talking to Nirav, Barrett grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground with one hand, proving his strength. “Say something, punk?”

“Hey! Let go of him!” Yulia grabbed Barrett’s unoccupied arm and tugged it, trying to pull him away from Nirav.

Barrett peered down to meet her angry gaze, “What do you care if something happens to this numb-nuts?”

Yulia tried to tug his arm again, but to no avail. Like swatting a fly, Barrett merely threw Yulia off of him. She fell to the ground with a thud. Barrett moved his attention back to Nirav, who was struggling to get himself free. Barrett raised his free arm up and clenched his fist; he was going to punch Nirav directly in the face.

Zane stepped in. He hooked Barrett’s arm with his own, holding it back and preventing him from punching. Barrett peered behind him to see his yellow eyes piercing, he wasn’t happy.

“That’s enough.” Zane said. “Let him go.”

Barrett, eyes still on Zane, threw Nirav against the wall and turned to face this more threatening being. “What do you want, Demon?”

“For you to back off from my master.” He responded without hesitation, releasing Barrett’s arm.

The two glared at each other with deadly intentions, by now a small had crowd gathered to watch the confrontation. Zane glanced down at Yulia to see her next to Nirav, checking on him. When he looked back up at Barrett, he saw a fist flying directly at his face.

Zane’s speed allowed him to raise his hands in defence; one swept the attack outwards by striking Barrett's forearm, the other formed a well-placed chop to Barrett’s neck. Barrett exhaled sharply and stumbled backwards. Zane waited for the right moment, then kicked Barrett’s knee, forcing it to buckle and almost break. Zane used the momentum of his kick to hop onto his raised foot, swing the other around and strike with an accurate roundhouse to Barrett’s jaw. The Werewolf fell, face first, to the ground a good distance away from Zane.

“Piss off.” Growled Zane, it was unclear if this statement was towards the crowd or Barrett.

Zane knelt down next to Yulia to check on her, a couple seconds later, he noticed Barrett get up and hobble away with his hand on his jaw. His friends rushed after him, with the rest of the crowd departing in a frenzy. Aiding Yulia to her feet, Zane proceeded to ask, “You alright, Nirav?” peering down at the Shapeshifter.

“Yeah… dude, you owned him!!”

Zane chuckled at his remark and helped him to his feet as well.

While Nirav brushed himself off, Yulia launched herself at Zane and gave him a massive hug. “Thank you, Zane…” Yulia whispered in his ear. She was trembling slightly, Zane hugged her back to comfort her. It appeared to impact Yulia more than expected. I didn’t think that ordeal would have shaken her up this much…

After a few seconds, Yulia let go of Zane and turned to face Nirav, “Thank you for trying to help me, Nirav.”

“Eh-heh, well… you’re lucky you’ve got such a reliable Protector!” Retorted Nirav, not wanting to be complimented.

Yulia and Nirav looked up at Zane, who, in turn, glanced around to see that barely anyone was around. “Come on, you two better get to class.”

Hello Steemit! Today I am bringing you chapter three of 'The Protector - Volume 1'. I wasn't sure what to upload today and didn't have a YouTube video ready as I've been working hard on Volume 2. So I thought it would be good to release another chapter in order to build some hype!

For weekly content, check here or my YouTube every Saturday! Here's my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5OVF2RsP88khJ-5QrEmUXA

Read chapter 2 of 'The Protector - Volume 1': https://steemit.com/novel/@trentjm27/chapter-two-burn-it-down-the-protector-volume-1

Read chapter 1 of 'The Protector - Volume 1': https://steemit.com/novel/@trentjm27/chapter-one-shadows-of-a-setting-sun-the-protector-volume-1