AN: Just keep in mind that there are 12 members on the Student Counsel. Two for each supernatural category, one male and one female. You won't be meeting them all at once, I promise.

I slowly wake up to the sounds of countless people doing things. The noise only gets louder as I get my bearings.

'Where the hell am I now?' I ask myself.

The first thing I see is Eric starring at me.

I recoil back a bit until I notice that he isn't actually looking at me. Yes, his eyes are open and are focused in my direction, but he's not actually seeing me.

My best guesses are that he must be either spaced out, talking to his wolf, or mind linking someone.

I don't move a muscle because I want a couple more seconds of peace before he brings all hell down on my head.

It's not that I don't deserve it, I just want to hold it off for a bit longer. A quick look around doesn't really help me to figure out exactly where I am. My little space is blocked off by curtains in a dull abstract pattern. I'm going to assume this is some type of clinic.

Closing my eyes again, I will my body to get more sleep.

The sound of multiple feet running in my direction makes me sigh, my time is up. The barrier curtain is roughly pushed back and Eric startles out of his trance to see our new arrival.

"I'm so glad that you're alright! If I had know the sailor left you there, I would've-" The blind witch from earlier continues her rant but I stop listening. What is a sailor?

Instead I turn to Eric and wait patiently. What I wasn't prepared for was for him to rush up and hug me.

"You had me so worried Bex." Is all he says as he squeezes me.

I let him hold me until the pain becomes unbearable. Of all things, I wouldn't peg Eric down as a worried hugger.

"Get off." I gruff wiggling around.

Eric instantly looses his arms and leans back. His eyes change colors for a second and he takes in a deep breath.

"Has your scent changed? You smell different." He takes another deep breath and leans in to sniff my neck.

I stiffen up completely for multiple reasons and get instantly relieved when Eric moves away from me.

"It's not your scent at all, it's someone else. Who got you out of the water Bex?" Eric questions.

I shrug my shoulders because I honestly don't know. I need to find that vampire and thank her. She was rude and obtuse about basic care, but she got me out of the ocean and breathing again.
That's all that really matters.

Eric gives me a terse nod and then turns to the witch.

"Beth? Why aren't you at the meeting?"

"Why? It's not like I haven't seen David and Will go at it before." She scoffs while rolling her pale eyes.

"What about meeting the new interim's?" Eric asks patiently.

"I can meet them in three days when we have our next meeting and that's if they even last that long. Besides, you're missing out on it too." The witch, Beth, points out with a slight pout.

"That's because my friend is in the infirmary." Eric stresses the words 'my' and 'friend' which makes Beth clam up.

"Well from what I've heard your 'friend' doesn't want much to do with you." She snaps.

They have a sort of stare off, which I don't understand since the witch is blind.
But she can glare just fine.

It's now that the person who burst in with Beth decides to say something.

"How about both of you leave. The patient needs more rest and this bickering isn't relaxing." The lady butts in.

I could kiss the black haired shape shifter.

Eric looks like he wants to argue but then he gets a good look at me and walks away. Beth follows without another word.

I must look like hell.

"Get some rest while you're at it Eric! You look awful!" The shifter yells at his back.

He waves his arm to indicate that he heard but doesn't turn around. Beth turns around once she reaches the door with black lettering that says, 'Infirmary' and waves before disappearing into a crowd of students.

I give the chick in front of me a grateful smile but her growing scowl dampens it.

"Don't look so happy. What you did was 50 shades of stupid. That man hasn't left your side since I found you, just so you know. And poor Beth was worried sick, she was ready to make you a healing spell." She places her hands on her hips and her scowl deepens. (Healing spells take time and energy which is why it's not often that witches preform them.)

"I mean, what in the honest hell were you thinking!? The inside of the ship protects the passengers from the barrier spell, the outside isn't protected because no one should be stupid enough to stand outside of a submarine until they're ashore! You're lucky someone got you out of the water. Hell, you're lucky to have survived long enough for someone to even see you!" She rants.

A eureka moment flashes in my mind. It was the Isle's barrier spell that knocked the wind out of me! Well, I feel like a grade A dumbass.
I should've known.

The shifter in all black scrubs notices my shame and her scowl disappears. It's almost as if she was worried about me too which can't be right.

"Well, nothing we can do about it now. I'm Katy." She holds out her hand for me to shake.

My weak arm barely lifts but Katy just makes up the space and shakes my hand. A spark moves through my arm and in my minds eye I can see a black panther looking at me through her human face.

So that's what she shifts into, no wonder she's wearing all black.

Katy lets go only when I do.

I can tell she's waiting for me to ask her tons of questions but I don't have any for her. I already know all about shifters because of my dad teaching me. He was strict when it came to knowing about the other supernaturals, especially the differences between us all.

Shifters are different from werewolves because they don't have the animals soul connected to theirs. They are spirit infused with that animal so that they can shift, but that's it. They control both forms where as werewolves have two beings trapped in one body at all times. The only reason there isn't pandemonium is because the two souls are a perfect fit for each other. 

I give the panther, Katy, a brief nod to show my understanding and lie back onto my pillow.

She's shocked that I don't say anything but she just shrugs it off. I sort of like how she just brushes things off, it's refreshing.

"Well, I'll check on you in a couple of hours. We thought it'd be best if I be the one to check up on you since I'm the only nurse in the group, and because I'm the one that brought you in here."

I lift up my eyebrow in question but don't speak aloud since my throat is killing me. Katy notices my discomfort and gets me a large cup of ice water.

Katy has official become my favorite shifter.

"Oh! I forgot to mention that I'm one of the permanent members on the Student Counsel. We'll be seeing each other a lot for however long you stay on."

~

My evening is filled with sleep, so is my morning, and the afternoon of the next day. Katy did keep her word to visit me and she talks for a bit before disappearing again.

By the second day I'm ready to go.

My body isn't one hundred percent but I don't care. When the curtain gets pulled back, my feet are on the floor.

"Hey." Beth says shyly. Today she's wearing a black halter top with a long flowing blue skirt.

I give her a nod of acknowledgement and then force my legs to take my weight as I stand up.

She rushes to my side but doesn't touch me since I don't fall over.

"Good job Bex!" Beth cheers.

My pride is crushed when I try to take a step forward though. It's like my legs turn to jello, luckily Beth catches me before I fall taking some of my weight.

She's surprisingly strong.

Beth helps me back to the bed and I sit back down.

"Thank you." My voice still has a gruffness but at least people can know what I'm saying. My throat feels like it's been grated with sand paper. Y

She beams like I just showed her the sun for the first time. I should start being nicer to the witch, it's not her fault that her ancestors were cowards.

Eric bursts in with a set of clothes in one hand and a cup in the other. He stops short when he sees me.

"You should be fully healed by now." He states worriedly, the smell of coffee from his cup makes my mouth water.

It's been so long since I've had coffee.

"Magic affects everyone differently." Beth inserts her two cents.

I just shrug my shoulders, I'm too focused on his cup. Eric notices but doesn't let me get any.

"Well, whatever. I knew you wouldn't want to stay here any longer so I got you some clothes. They have a shower here if you want to take one now."

I shake my head quickly. I'm so ready to be away from these noisy people. Sleep was only easy to get because my body basically shut down. Now that I'm feeling a bit better I know I'll never get any rest here.

Eric sets the clothes on my bed and closes the curtain for me to change. Beth helps without me even having to ask and I feel instant gratitude for the witch. She even brushes my hair which takes a while because it's so clumped up.

After finishing, I actually grab her into a hug which surprises us both.

If I'm going to be nicer, I might as well start with the present. Going by the blush that creeps into her checks, it seems like she doesn't get nice gestures often.

Eric comes back once Beth opens the curtain and holds out his arm for me to take. We both know I wont be able to walk without support but we also know that my pride won't let him carry me.

My steps may be slow but at least I'm moving.

Freedom, here I come!

AN: This chapter is important, our Bex is slowly making friends! & because no character should be Billy badass all the time.