CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: I’M A CRIMINAL

Aiden entered the dorm apartment he shared with Julian with heavy steps, his body still tense from everything that had happened. All he wanted was to be alone. He walked straight past the sitting room and into his room, shutting the door behind him with a soft click.

The moment he stepped inside, Rainbow, his ever-loyal spirit companion, flitted in behind him, wings beating rapidly as it flew circles over Aiden’s head. Rainbow followed closely as Aiden crossed the room and pushed open the bathroom door.

Inside, the bathroom lights were bright and white, reflecting Aiden’s image back at him in the mirror above the sink. What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

His face was streaked with dark, drying blood. The silvery strands of his hair were stained with it, sticking together in thick clumps. He raised a shaky hand to his cheek and felt the sticky texture against his skin. His palm came away red, Aiden’s breath came into a halt and he could feel himself going into panick mode.

Aiden’s stomach churned violently. He turned the faucet on and began scrubbing at his face and hair with frantic urgency, splashing cold water over himself again and again until the sink ran pink with diluted blood. The hammer, still clutched in his other hand, caught his eye.

Its head was smeared with crimson. And worse, small bits of what looked like Carl’s broken skin clung to the metal.

That sight was enough to break him.

Aiden dropped the hammer with a loud clatter and stumbled to the toilet, barely making it in time before his body convulsed. He vomited up everything he had eaten for breakfast, his whole frame shaking as bile burned his throat.

Rainbow landed gently on the edge of the sink, its head tilting as it watched Aiden. Its voice rang in Aiden’s mind, unusually worried.

"Aiden, are you okay? I was still cheering you for beating that wolf boy even though you’re just a supernatural with no real power. Why aren’t you happy about your victory? Why are you here vomiting your guts out instead?"

Aiden wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, still crouched on the bathroom floor. Tears blurred his golden eyes, spilling down his cheeks until he was crying outright.

"I did this to myself," Aiden whispered, his voice cracking. "I should never have come here. My whole life, my parents protected me from the dangers of this world. And look at me now. I just bashed someone’s head in with a hammer. And the worst part?" His shoulders shook as he sobbed harder. "I don’t even feel regret. I feel like I did the right thing. But I shouldn’t feel that. It’s wrong to hit someone like that. It’s basically a crime. What would my parents think if they knew their sweet, innocent son had done something like this? Rainbow, I’m a criminal."

Rainbow’s little body ruffled as if he was sighing. Though he felt pity for Aiden, he knew he needed to speak sense into him before guilt consumed him entirely.

"Aiden," Rainbow said firmly through their mental link, "you need to remember who you are now. Even if your powers haven’t shown themselves yet, you carry the blood of three races. You are no longer living in the human world, and human rules don’t apply here. What you think is a crime, the people here see as nothing more than a quarrel between students. No one is calling this a crime. If they thought it was, they would have called the authorities by now, but you are still here, which means no one sees you as a criminal. This was simply a fight. And without your powers, this is the only way you can protect yourself. Honestly, I didn’t think you had it in you. But you did it. And I am proud of you."

Aiden sniffled, hugging his knees to his chest as he sat on the bathroom floor.

"That wolf boy will be fully healed in two days," Rainbow continued gently. "You’ve sent a clear message that you’re not someone to mess with. That’s a good thing. So stop feeling guilty and beating yourself up. You survived. That’s what matters."

Aiden lifted his tear-stained face and stared at Rainbow with wide, pained eyes.

"But why?" he asked in a broken voice. "Why does the school treat me almost beating someone to death as if it’s just normal sparring between kids? I should be sitting in a cell right now."

Rainbow let out another mental sigh.

"The school might punish you," Rainbow said, "but that isn’t because they think what you did is horrifying. They care more about the rule you broke. They can’t let students think they can just start brawling anywhere or the school will descend into chaos. Even so, your punishment might be mild or even nonexistent, since you were only defending yourself. Carl attacked you first. And as for why they see what you did as normal? It’s simple. Something that would be a grave injury for a human is just an inconvenience to a wolf. His head will heal in two days, and he will be fine. You need to understand that Skyline Academy is full of beings with immense power. Their ability to endure pain and injury is far beyond human limits. A punch that could knock a human’s teeth out will barely faze a wolf. The fae would heal instantly, and the witches would never stay still long enough to be hit at all. The level of danger here is always high, but so is everyone’s resilience. You cannot judge the supernatural world by human standards."

Aiden’s tears slowed. He sat quietly for a while, his breathing evening out.

"But I’ve always been used to the human system," he said softly. "What should I do?"

Rainbow’s mental tone became firmer, almost commanding.

"Then you have to get used to this system," Rainbow said. "You have to remember that in the supernatural world, sometimes it’s kill or be killed. And even here, in the safest place you could be, it’s injure or be injured. If you let yourself look weak for too long, they’ll think you’re someone they can trample on. My original plan was to find you someone powerful to rely on until your powers manifest like Ryker perhaps since you and him have something interesting going on, but now I see you can handle yourself. You just need the determination. Don’t lose that now. Don’t start showing weakness."

Aiden pressed his forehead to his knees for a moment, then slowly sat up straighter.

"I’ll try," he said at last, his voice low but resolute. "I won’t let them bully me. My pride won’t allow me to stand there and just take it."

Rainbow’s delighted voice echoed through his mind.

"That’s the spirit, Aiden. That’s the spirit."

For the first time since he entered the bathroom, Aiden laughed, a small but genuine sound. He looked up at the little bird fluttering above him.

"Rainbow," he said suddenly, "do you really think my powers will manifest?"

"Of course they will," Rainbow replied confidently. "You have three bloodlines. You were never meant to stay powerless. People don’t just carry blood like yours for nothing. I have a feeling it will happen sooner rather than later."

"Really?" Aiden asked, his voice still carrying a trace of doubt. "Do you truly believe that?"

"Why are you still questioning yourself?" Rainbow scolded lightly. "Be sure of yourself. Be confident. Maybe your powers are taking so long to awaken because you have no belief in yourself. You have the highest blood potential in this school, Aiden. Act like it. Go wild. Believe you can do it. When my former master found me two centuries ago, I was just like you, small and unsure of myself. I didn’t think I could ever grow big enough to carry my master, but he told me to believe. And I did. Within three months, I was able to transform into my larger form, and within two weeks of that, I mastered switching between the two forms at will. Power stems from confidence. So stop doubting yourself."

Aiden rose to his feet, gripping the edge of the sink. His reflection still looked pale, but his golden eyes were starting to regain their fire.

"Rainbow," he said with conviction, "from now on, I will have confidence in myself. If anyone tries to bully me again, I will fight back twice as hard."

Rainbow’s voice rang cheerfully in his mind.

"Yes! That’s the spirit. You can be taught after all. Now, I’ll leave you to bathe. After that, I expect my own long soak. You made me miss it this morning with your rush to get someone beaten up."

Aiden chuckled and shook his head, watching Rainbow fly out of the bathroom. After the bird left, Aiden finally closed the door, stripped out of his stained clothes, and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water wash away the blood, sweat, and lingering fear from the day.