Sunday, March 13, 2011
Hallow's City Revamped
wow. I just realized the irony in 'revamped'. Anyway I'm scrapping the old draft and re writing it. the original plot has changed and i personally like it better. it explains Salix and Thanatos's past a lot more than the old one. I really like it. and it brings in a new pack of characters who are very, very sinister and admittedly a little smexy. i dunno, maybe i just have a thing for bad boys. and bad boys these boys are. i can't wait 'til they show up! mwahahaha!!!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Chapter 6!!! (HURRAH! finally!)
I was one of the last in class again, stil not used to the hike up the tower. He was talking with Dr. Alucard, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I sat down in my seat, and he approached me without making eye contact. He didn't even look at me, he just acted like I wasn't even there. He sat down; I didn't look at him.
"So are you going to tell me what happened last night?" He chuckled at that.
"Nope," he said. "Nothing's changed." He said. I turned to look at him.
"Why do you always laugh?" I asked, slightly anoyed.
"Because you amuse me." He said quietly, not even looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
"So glad I keep you entertained," I said sarcastically as Dr. Alucard demonstrated some strokes with a paint brush on a paper hung on the board. I didn't pay much attention to the lesson; I knew everything he had to say. Salex looked over to me briefly from the corner of his eye.
"You already know this lesson," He stated.
"Yeah, I took this class last year."
"Why did you sign up for it again?" He looked confused.
"I didn't," I explained. "My dad signed me up."
"And he didn't consult you?"
"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be here where you glare at me for no apparent reason the whole first day."
"Interesting,"
"What is?"
"Nothing," He shrugged. I rolled my eyes. He simply wanted to bother me, that was all, I had to remind myself.
"I'm not trying to bother you," he said, as if reading my thoughts. "It only bothers you if you let it,"
"Can you read minds or something?" He laughed out loud at that; Dr. Alucard took a seat at his desk, opening up a book as we started our assignment.
"No," He said. "Of the many things I can do, that is not one of them." There was a pause. "I know that's what you're thinking because you had that peeved look, and your body language read as such."
"You didn't even look at me!" I said.
"Didn't I?" He said, pulling out his brushes and paint, still not looking at me. I bent to my backpack, hich was between us, pulling my brushes out. I grabbed a hold of my brushes; it felt like someone smacked my hand, and all of my brushes went flying. They scattered across the floor; a pale hand struck out and picked three up in one swift movement as my fingers reached just one. His hand went across to pick it up, his fingers brushing across mine. It left a burning sensation where he had touched me; I pulled my hand back in shock. Our eyes met; his were an ashy color, and his expression was unreadable. His eyes focused on me for the first time that day, but only for a second. I looked back through my memory for a second, remembering the night before. His eyes had been a dark brown last night; how had his eyes changed to an ashy gray color?
"Did your eyes change color?" I asked, watching him as he put my brushes on my desk.
"You do realize how crazy that sounds," He said. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, don't tease me. Did they?"
"Yeah, they do that." he still wouldn't look at me.
"According to what?"
"Mood," He said. I watched him carefully, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He was always so cut off from everything else, and he never said what was on his mind. I wanted to know what he was hiding, and it was going to be difficult, especially when Jeff wouldn't help me with it at all.
"And what's this color?" I handed him my iphone, which had a mirror-like back. He glanced into it, and a shocked expression flickered across his face, and then it was gone. He handed my phone back to me, still not making eye contact.
"I don't know," he said after a moments pause.
"Why are you lying?" I asked.
"I'm not," he said, turning his eyes on me. He seemed to be willing me to believe him.
"Say what you want," I said. "You hesitated before you spoke. You're lying." I looked away from him, beginning my assignment. His eyes lingered on me for a moment longer, and then he began to work.
I tried to keep my eyes off of his nimble hands as I worked with limited success. His pale hands moved swiftly over the paper, completing the beginning assignment in less than a minute. He tore the paper out of his paint pad, setting it to the side and beginning a new painting. I couldn't tell what it was; it was too vague at that instance.
"Don't you have something better to do?" He asked in a quiet voice. It wasn't rudely, it was instead in a more kind way. I looked up at him, my eyes meeting his. I suddenly felt very self concious.
"Sorry," I said, looking away. He said nothing, only continued working. I completed my assignment quickly, so many questions going through my mind. This wasn't going as I had planned.
I leaned my head down onto my hands on the desk, closing my eyes.
"You look worried," He said. I opened my eyes and sat up; he was turned toward me, one arm on the table and the other on the back of the chair, sitting casually. I swallowed.
"I just want to know what happened last night." I said, making myself look him in the eye. I wanted an answer. His expression didn't change, but I could practically see the locks inside of his head turning, closing off any information from me.
"You don't give up easily, do you?"
"No, I don't," I said. "Especially not when I'm curious." A flicker of recognition seemed to go across his eyes, but I couldn't be sure because it was there and gone so fast.
"You talked to Jeff, didn't you?"
"He seemed to know you well."
"And what did he tell you?"
"He told me to stay out of it."
"You're not listening."
"No, I'm not." I said. "And I won't stop until I know."
"This isn't something you want to know,"
"Why not?"
"It's complicated."
"It's not too complicated for me." I said. "I have time."
"The bell's going to ring." He said, his eyes like black obsidian. "You don't have much time."
"We have the next four classes together," I said, throwing my brushes into my backpack. "I've got time." He picked up his assignment, taking mine in hand as well.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"I'm turning these in," he said, walking away. When he came back, I thanked him. He was baffling; one moment he was completely ignoring me and shutting me out, and the next, he was being polite. I didn't understand it.
"Why are you talking to me, anyway?" I asked.
"That's like asking why I saved your life," He said, packing up his things.
"Well, I"m not quite clear on that one, either. Usually people are more outgoing and friendly after something like that."
He looked up at me, zipping up his backpack. His eyes had calmed from black and gone to a deep forest green.
"Common courtesy," he said. "Being there when Tristan attacked you was pure luck, and lucky for you, or else right now you would be dead, and we never would have had this conversation."
"Wait, you knew him, and you still shot him?" my voice dropped low as I said the last few words.
"I didn't know him well," Salex confessed. "But I knew I couldn't get anymore information out of him. You don't have to be so quiet, everyone knows by now. I've made the Night Class very angry, as well, I suppose," he mused, looking off into space. "I know how his superior works, so it was easy."
"Superior?" I asked. I wondered how the whole school would know and how Salex wouldn't be punished for it. He growled and knashed his teeth quietly, anger flitting across his face. He seemed annoyed to the extreme.
"Why do you get so angry?" I asked, turning away. "I didn't even do anything."
"I say too much when you're around, and it annoys me." he growled.
"Maybe saying too much isn't a bad thing," I retorted.
"Trust me, it is," he hissed, looking at me with once again black eyes.
"You, Jeff, the blond- what are you hiding that is so life-and-death that you can't explain what's happening?" He looked at me furiously, his eyes flashing like black obsidian. I stubbornly looked back, even though he frightened me. I jumped when the bell rang, and he stood up and walked out the door quickly. I followed him and ran hot on his heels, walking up beside him.
"There's no avoiding me, I'm in almost all of your classes." I said. He turned to me and put one arm on either side of me, making me back up-- into the wall. His expression was murderous as his face came close to mine.
"Stay away from me," he growled. My heart pounded; he was a ton taller than me, I realized as he leered over me. At least six foot four versus my five foot six. His dark hair fell in his eyes, his expression deadly. He turned and stalked away down the hall and into our class. I stepped away from the class and into the throng of students, walking to class. That encounter had left me shaken but even more angry. What was his problem? Why couldn't I know what the heck was going on? I wondered furiously. I sat down at our table, ignoring him. Our eyes didn't even meet. He just sat there and stared at the door. Occasionally he would scribble something down, numbers of our assignment. My skin prickled as Mr. Feonicks popped around everywhere, always showing up over one of my shoulders. Salex had put me on edge, and this was not helping. The problems I wasn't sure about I skipped; I began on the hardest one at the end of class.
"Having any problems?" Feonicks asked, popping up over my right shoulder. I jumped; he had scared me. Again.
"U-um," I stuttered. I was sure it wasn't as obvious as it could have been that I didn't finish some of the other problems; there were enough scribbles and attempts to make it look like I had actually done the problem. I looked over at him; his bright red hair was falling in his eyes, hands clasped behind his back.
"She is, but she won't ask for help." Salex answered for me.
"Adri," Feonicks scoffed. "Salex here wants to help you," Both Salex and I jumped up and shouted "What?!" at the same time. We looked at each other, his eyes furious. I watched him carefully.
"He hates me!" I said breathlessly.
"Loathing is a better word." Salex growled. I glared at him.
"Tut, tut, you two," Feonicks said. "Salex, if you pay so much attention to her, I'm assigning you as her tutor."
"WHAT?" Salex shouted. "Feonicks, you know what will happen if-"
"No questions, Salex. You'll have to learn how to cope with it." Feonicks said in a formal voice. Salex looked at him defiantly, his pale hands clenched into fists. His jaw was clenched tightly, his whole body wound angrily.
I was thankful when the bell rang, hurrying to my next class. I took refuge beside Jeff; he and Salex had a glaring contest, Jeff behind his dark sunglasses and Salex with his obsidian eyes. I planned to skip lunch and talk to Feonicks about my unwillingly assigned tutor.
I walked down the quiet hall, my shoes making soft sounds as I walked toward my math class. The door was slightly open, light coming from inside.
"That's my final say in it. Just try it, for one day, and if it's too difficult, we'll discontinue it." I heard Feonicks say.
"What am I supposed to hunt in the meantime? It's broad daylight, Feonicks, and the Night Class has killed everything out there. There's nothing to hunt, and yet, you expect me to withstand her?" It took me a moment to recognize the voice, but it was Salex.
"Yes, I do. You don't give yourself enough credit, you're forgotten Isabel--" Feonicks's voice was cut off by Salex shouting angrily.
"Don't bring Isabel up! Don't mention her, Feonicks, that was a long time in the past." Salex hissed.
"And it wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was! I let her near Thanatos, and exactly what we knew would happen happened! Do you want that to happen to Adrianna? Because I don't."
"Salex!" Feonicks shouted. "Stop, for a moment, please. There's someone outside." It sounded like someone sniffed, like a dog, and then there was a noise like someone clearing their throat.
"It's her." Salex said stiffly. The door swung wide open and his tall, dark silouhette appeared in the doorway. His eyes were angry, as usual, and seemed hurt in some way. He brushed past me without a word, the breeze from the speed of his steps rushing up to meet me. Feonicks appeared in the doorway, sparks seeming to hover around him. His eyes were glowing, like embers. It scared me slightly; maybe it was just the lights. Candlelight flickered in his classroom. He looked exhausted.
"Adrianna," he began. "What did you hear?" he asked in a soft voice, sounding very tired. I shook my head.
"I didn't hear anything. I just walked up when you stopped him." I lied quietly. I hoped he wouldn't hear the curiosity in my voice, or the slight fear because Salex was so angry- and I had to spend the next hour or two after school being tutored by him. I was a bit shaken up, however. Who was Isabel, and why was it- she- such a soft spot for Salex? He said that it was a long time in the past- that made no sense, either. A long time could be two years or more- but for me, two years was hardly anything. We moved every two years. It wasn't a very long time. Feonicks ran a hand through his deep red hair, putting one hand in his pocket and leaning against the doorframe.
"Come in. I know there's something you want to talk to me about." He turned his back and gestured for me to come in with a sigh, walking in and sitting at his desk. I followed him timidly.
"I wanted to talk to you about Salex as my math tutor," I said. He had a red roman candle out, several lit on his desk, and was dipping the whick into one of the lit candle's flame.
"Flourescent lights bother your light eyes, don't they?" He said, seeming to either ignore or not hear what I had said. I nodded; it was always too birght for me in school. "Even though you don't think it, you and Salex are more alike than you know." he said.
"Look, Mr. Feonicks, I'm sorry, but I didn't come for a philosophy lesson. I just really don't need a tutor."
"From what he says, I think you do. I notice you struggle in class but you don't as for help. You're independent, aren't you?"
"Yes, but--"
"You and Salex are going to have to deal with each other for now, until I decide you don't need help. This is to help you excel in this subject." he sounded serious now.
"Mr. Feonicks, he hates me."
"This is my final word on the matter. He is your tutor until I decide otherwise." he looked at me with his burnt orange-colored eyes. It was a strange color. Bordering on a reddish color. I sighed, defeated. There was no arguing with him. He would win no matter what. I was hungry from skipping lunch and confused at the conversation I had overheard, and I had gotten myself nowhere. Plus, Salex was mad at me again for reasons unknown.
"Alright, Feonicks, but if I score an A on the next test, he's not my tutor anymore."
"Deal, Adrianna," Feonicks said as the candle dripped hot wax on his desk. He didn't seem to care.
I sat with my friends for the remainder of lunch, munching on a granola bar I kept in my backpack. I was trying to remember everything that had been said between Feonicks and Salex. Why had I been mentioned if Salex detested me so much? 'If it's too difficult' made me wonder what he meant. How would it be difficult for him if I was the one struggling with math? Maybe for some reason he couldn't stand me, but I couldn't imagine why. It wasn't like I was extrmely repulsive. Whoever Isabel was, that was a sentitive spot. Feonicks had touched a nerve when he had mentioned her. I considered going into the forest to think again, but I didn't want anything like last night to happen again. After today, even if Salex happened to appear, he probably wouldn't do anything. I tried to recall the memory of the boy with claws from the night before. How had he gotten those claws? They could be like knuckle dusters, but I had never heard of ones like that. I had only ever seen ones that were toys from X-Men, Wolverine's claws, but these looked nothing like them. They were on each finger, singular, as if his fingers themselves had morphed into a claw...
"Hellooo?" Jeff waved a hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my thoughts, my eyes focusing on Jeff instead of staring off into space.
"Sorry, what?" I asked, hoping I wasn't blushing. I was embarrassed for zoning out so easily.
"We were just making plans to go see a movie after school, do you want to go?"
"Sure," I said, texting my parents. They okayed it; I looked up and smiled at everyone. "I can go," I announced. I looked around as my friends smiled happily; I searched around the lunchroom quickly, searching for a certain brown-haired head. He was no where to be seen. I didn't want to go looking for him, either, but I wanted to confront him. What was his problem? When I had tried before, he had shrugged me off. He always managed to distract me or discourage me enough that I would stop. Class passed by quickly; there was no sign of Salex. I was happy that he wasn't there to glare at me, but curious as to where he went. Then I remembered what had happened to the blonde when Salex had shot him. He had turned to dust. And I knew now like I knew then that was not normal in any way.
Jeff was silent as we walked home; Jackie and the rest chattered away about the movie. It was an action movie apparently, lots of explosions. Those were usually cool; I liked those. But I was nervous about my tutoring session with Salex. I hated the word tutor- it made me feel stupid, like I needed someone to explain it to me. My parents always assured me otherwise, that it showed that I was smart enough to get help, but I always had a hard time believing them, and, well.... it was Salex. I didn't know him very well, but that was just more evidence for me to not let him into my house. I didn't want him in my area, he didn't like me. Plus he was a guy. That always made me nervous. In elementary school I had always played with the boys, it was better than sitting with the girls and pretending we were in highschool and giggling about the boys and 'how cute they were'. It was better to play soccer or climb on the swingset and get told to get down because we could fall, even though all of us knew very well that we weren't going to. This was a whole different ball game- it was highschool, and he was a guy. I decided to break the silence between Jeff and I.
"So where do you think Salex went?"
"Maybe he's playing hookey," Jeff said, shrugging. "He does that sometimes. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," I replied. "I didn't think he would miss a chance to glare at me." I said. Jeff chuckled. Another question crossed my mind. "Does his family hunt to eat?" I asked, looking down the street to the forest.
"They hunt," he replied. "What for, I don't know."
"Alright," I sighed. "Just wondering. Something he said made me wonder." Jegg shrugged, one backpack strap over his shoulder, and turned toward his house. I turned away to go to mine, Jackie and Max having left us behind. They looked around as the sound of wailing sirens reached me. They sounded like they were coming from everywhere. Jackie turned to Max, confused, asking him something I couldn't hear. The police casr sped past us, going at least sixty, sirens blaring. They looked at me; I shrugged. They shrugged in reply, heading home.
"That," I heard Jeff say behind me. "Was weird." I nodded, waving to him and heading home, walking slowly. I looked down at my feet. When I looked up to see how far I had to go until I had to turn, there was someone dressed in black there. Fear shot through me as I assumed Thanatos, my footsteps stopping immediately, my body frozen with fear. The voice is what made me move with a little more ease, though not by much.
"Hello," Salex said. I looked at him flatly, walking toward him.
"Playing hookey, huh?" I said, raising my eyebrows skeptically. He shrugged; he looked healthier than before. He kept his mirror lensed shades on, though, making him look something like Chuck Norris. There was slightly more color to his skin, too, for some reason. Maybe the lights in school just washed it out and made it look paper white.
"Are you ready for your math homework?" He asked. I sighed.
"I can't believe Feonicks made that call. I'm doing fine." I said. "Math just isn't my specialty."
"Feonicks told me it was my job to make it your specialty."
"You and I both know that's not what you two were discussing." I looked over and up at him, but his expression was unreadable, eyes straightforward.
"Alright, you got me. What were we talking about, then?" I was shocked. He gave it away, no fight at all.
"Someone named Isabel." I said, trying to recover. I looked confusedly down at my feet. We walked up the wooden stairs to my porch; I fumbled with my keys, ending up dropping them. He was putting me on edge. He reached out and snagged them, still holding a straight face, although a muscle in his jaw was twitching.
"I don't believe I know an Isabel," He lied smoothly.
"Apparently, you do."
"Well, I don't. Sorry."
"The one who married Thanatos?" I said, turning the key in the lock. He visibly stiffened as I opened the door. "That's what I thought," I said, walking inside. "Come on in." I turned to face him as he walked in behind me.
"It's not polite to eavesdrop," he said. A red liquid lingered on his tongue, like he had just eaten a red candy or something.
"Are your wisdom teeth coming in or something? I think your mouth is bleeding." I said, my mouth running too fast for me to stop it.
"No," He said, whipping his shades off and putting them in his jacket pocket, walking into my house like he owned the place. I rolled my eyes.
"You're so secretive," I sighed in frustration as I followed him into the kitchen. "It gets old quick."
"Well, that's too bad." He was already seated at the bar. "Because it's not going to change any time soon." He looked at me with a blank face, his eyes a deep crimson color.
"What's with your eyes?" I asked, not going any closer to him.
"Contacts," He shrugged. "I ordered them about a week ago, for Halloween. I'm just getting used to them today."
"Ok-kay," I said slowly. "How about this: I won't bring out my math unless you tell me who Isabel is." It was a feeble threat, and he batted it away easily.
"Then I'll leave," he said simply. There was a tan book on the counter with a badge stamped on it; the print across it said, "Operation Vampire Killet." and had a hammer ready to strike a stake held in a hand. Salex's hands flew out to the book and flipped through it, his eyes going wide. He relaxed, it seemed, and closed the book placing it on the counter.
"Isabel was a girl. Happy? Now let's get started so I can go."
"You're really irritating when you do that, you know." I said, sitting down next to him. I pulled my math book and notebook out, opening to the proper page. He shrugged.
"I finished it all at school anyway," I grumbled.
"Allow me," He gently removed my notebook from my hands, taking my pencil as well. His eyes scanned the page. A moment later, he gave it back to me, pointing out the ones that were wrong. To my frustration, there were several.
A half hour later, I was angry and frustrated. Salex let out an exasperated sigh.
"Do you want help or not?" He asked, looking at me.
"Just, please," I said. "Please, can we take a break?"
He sighed. "Fine," he said. I grabbed a can of coke out of the fridge and tossed one to hium. He caught it with one hand, still examining my work, cracking the top of it with a finger and taking a gulp.
"Thanks," he said.
"Sure," I leaned up against the counter where I had been sitting, opening mine with less finess than he had, and taking a drink. We both heaved a sigh at the same time.
"So what's the deal with Tristan?" I asked, refferring to the blonde in the forest the previous night.
"He's a Night Class student," Salex replied.
"I got that," I said. "Who was he working for? Why id he turn to dust? Why did you say he's not dead, just will have a hard time regaining hisbody? None of this makes any sense, and you know it."
"None of those I will answer,"
"Why?" I demanded, setting my coke down. "What is so freakishly secret you can't tell?"
"You had your break. Let's get working again."
"No," I said. "I want to know."
"Know what?" Dad asked, walking into the kitchen. "Who's this?" His expression became stern, the look he always got when he saw a guy near me.
"He's my math tutor," I said at the same time Salex said, "I'm her math tutor." Dad kept the look.
"So, you're Adrianna's dad?" Salex said. "I'm Salex, by the way, we have math class together. Our teacher assigned me as her tutor." Salex stood up, walking over to my dad and extending his hand. My dad shook it, seeming to relax a little bit.
"How old are you?" Dad asked.
"Seventeen," Salex replied. "Adrianna and I share pretty much every class, actually." He looked down at his pocket as it began to vibrate. "Excuse me," He said, answering his phone. "Hello? I'm at someone's house, tutoring. Yeah-- no, no, I got assigned. Right behind my house, why? No, Ty-- come on! She hung up." He sighed as he put it back in his pocket. Ishrugged. A moment later, there was a shrug on the door. I got up, just as Dad answered it.
"Salex, it's your parents!" Dad called. We both walked to the door, Salex behind me. It made my hair stand on end to have him behind me, I didn't know why. The man before us was about six feet tall and had white-blonde hair, pale skin, and pale blue eyes. He was wearing nurse scrubs, white ones, and said nothing. The woman was small, only about five foot, and had blonde hair with fair skin and blue eyes. A thought flickered through my head. If these two were his parents, he had to be adopted.
"Hi, I'm Adrianna," I said with a smile. Salex brushed past me.
"So nice tutoring you," He said. "But I'm afraid it's time for me to leave."
"Don't be rude, Lex!" his 'mom' said, catching him around the torso and keeping him in the house.
"I'm Tyree, and this is my husband, Satchell. We're Salex's neighbors." His 'mom', Tyree, smiled. Her short blonde hair was slightly flipped out, and Satchell's was in a thin, lengthy ponytail.
"You're not actually his parents?" Dad asked, perplexed.
"Oh, no, unfortunately not," Tyree replied. "As good as, though, right Salex?"
"Yeah," Salex agreed.
"We wanted to invite you over for dinner some time, is that alright?" Tyree asked. Satchell gave a small smile.
"It's perfect," Dad smiled. Salex had a slightly horrified look on his face, and I was sure I did, too.
"That way, Salex and Adrianna can get to know each other," Tyree smiled, pulling Salex back with more force.
"Should we bring anything? I mean, just come on over, let us know," Dad said. "I'm Dave, by the way," Dad said, shaking their hands.
"Oh, no, just yourselves! We'll take care of the rest. We'll have Salex run over and chat sometime soon, make plans, you know."
"Well, thanks!" Dad smiled. They waved goodbye, Salex going with them, walking down the steps. He closed the door and locked it afterwards. I grabbed my homework and stuffed it in my backpack, tossing it next to my bed. Now I had to have him glaring at me dinner with his near family. At least he was tolerable during tutoring, somewhat, I thought. I got ready for the movie, jittery from the days events. What could Feonicks and Salex possibly have been talking about that would mean so much? Whatever it was, I had to find out.
"So are you going to tell me what happened last night?" He chuckled at that.
"Nope," he said. "Nothing's changed." He said. I turned to look at him.
"Why do you always laugh?" I asked, slightly anoyed.
"Because you amuse me." He said quietly, not even looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
"So glad I keep you entertained," I said sarcastically as Dr. Alucard demonstrated some strokes with a paint brush on a paper hung on the board. I didn't pay much attention to the lesson; I knew everything he had to say. Salex looked over to me briefly from the corner of his eye.
"You already know this lesson," He stated.
"Yeah, I took this class last year."
"Why did you sign up for it again?" He looked confused.
"I didn't," I explained. "My dad signed me up."
"And he didn't consult you?"
"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be here where you glare at me for no apparent reason the whole first day."
"Interesting,"
"What is?"
"Nothing," He shrugged. I rolled my eyes. He simply wanted to bother me, that was all, I had to remind myself.
"I'm not trying to bother you," he said, as if reading my thoughts. "It only bothers you if you let it,"
"Can you read minds or something?" He laughed out loud at that; Dr. Alucard took a seat at his desk, opening up a book as we started our assignment.
"No," He said. "Of the many things I can do, that is not one of them." There was a pause. "I know that's what you're thinking because you had that peeved look, and your body language read as such."
"You didn't even look at me!" I said.
"Didn't I?" He said, pulling out his brushes and paint, still not looking at me. I bent to my backpack, hich was between us, pulling my brushes out. I grabbed a hold of my brushes; it felt like someone smacked my hand, and all of my brushes went flying. They scattered across the floor; a pale hand struck out and picked three up in one swift movement as my fingers reached just one. His hand went across to pick it up, his fingers brushing across mine. It left a burning sensation where he had touched me; I pulled my hand back in shock. Our eyes met; his were an ashy color, and his expression was unreadable. His eyes focused on me for the first time that day, but only for a second. I looked back through my memory for a second, remembering the night before. His eyes had been a dark brown last night; how had his eyes changed to an ashy gray color?
"Did your eyes change color?" I asked, watching him as he put my brushes on my desk.
"You do realize how crazy that sounds," He said. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, don't tease me. Did they?"
"Yeah, they do that." he still wouldn't look at me.
"According to what?"
"Mood," He said. I watched him carefully, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He was always so cut off from everything else, and he never said what was on his mind. I wanted to know what he was hiding, and it was going to be difficult, especially when Jeff wouldn't help me with it at all.
"And what's this color?" I handed him my iphone, which had a mirror-like back. He glanced into it, and a shocked expression flickered across his face, and then it was gone. He handed my phone back to me, still not making eye contact.
"I don't know," he said after a moments pause.
"Why are you lying?" I asked.
"I'm not," he said, turning his eyes on me. He seemed to be willing me to believe him.
"Say what you want," I said. "You hesitated before you spoke. You're lying." I looked away from him, beginning my assignment. His eyes lingered on me for a moment longer, and then he began to work.
I tried to keep my eyes off of his nimble hands as I worked with limited success. His pale hands moved swiftly over the paper, completing the beginning assignment in less than a minute. He tore the paper out of his paint pad, setting it to the side and beginning a new painting. I couldn't tell what it was; it was too vague at that instance.
"Don't you have something better to do?" He asked in a quiet voice. It wasn't rudely, it was instead in a more kind way. I looked up at him, my eyes meeting his. I suddenly felt very self concious.
"Sorry," I said, looking away. He said nothing, only continued working. I completed my assignment quickly, so many questions going through my mind. This wasn't going as I had planned.
I leaned my head down onto my hands on the desk, closing my eyes.
"You look worried," He said. I opened my eyes and sat up; he was turned toward me, one arm on the table and the other on the back of the chair, sitting casually. I swallowed.
"I just want to know what happened last night." I said, making myself look him in the eye. I wanted an answer. His expression didn't change, but I could practically see the locks inside of his head turning, closing off any information from me.
"You don't give up easily, do you?"
"No, I don't," I said. "Especially not when I'm curious." A flicker of recognition seemed to go across his eyes, but I couldn't be sure because it was there and gone so fast.
"You talked to Jeff, didn't you?"
"He seemed to know you well."
"And what did he tell you?"
"He told me to stay out of it."
"You're not listening."
"No, I'm not." I said. "And I won't stop until I know."
"This isn't something you want to know,"
"Why not?"
"It's complicated."
"It's not too complicated for me." I said. "I have time."
"The bell's going to ring." He said, his eyes like black obsidian. "You don't have much time."
"We have the next four classes together," I said, throwing my brushes into my backpack. "I've got time." He picked up his assignment, taking mine in hand as well.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"I'm turning these in," he said, walking away. When he came back, I thanked him. He was baffling; one moment he was completely ignoring me and shutting me out, and the next, he was being polite. I didn't understand it.
"Why are you talking to me, anyway?" I asked.
"That's like asking why I saved your life," He said, packing up his things.
"Well, I"m not quite clear on that one, either. Usually people are more outgoing and friendly after something like that."
He looked up at me, zipping up his backpack. His eyes had calmed from black and gone to a deep forest green.
"Common courtesy," he said. "Being there when Tristan attacked you was pure luck, and lucky for you, or else right now you would be dead, and we never would have had this conversation."
"Wait, you knew him, and you still shot him?" my voice dropped low as I said the last few words.
"I didn't know him well," Salex confessed. "But I knew I couldn't get anymore information out of him. You don't have to be so quiet, everyone knows by now. I've made the Night Class very angry, as well, I suppose," he mused, looking off into space. "I know how his superior works, so it was easy."
"Superior?" I asked. I wondered how the whole school would know and how Salex wouldn't be punished for it. He growled and knashed his teeth quietly, anger flitting across his face. He seemed annoyed to the extreme.
"Why do you get so angry?" I asked, turning away. "I didn't even do anything."
"I say too much when you're around, and it annoys me." he growled.
"Maybe saying too much isn't a bad thing," I retorted.
"Trust me, it is," he hissed, looking at me with once again black eyes.
"You, Jeff, the blond- what are you hiding that is so life-and-death that you can't explain what's happening?" He looked at me furiously, his eyes flashing like black obsidian. I stubbornly looked back, even though he frightened me. I jumped when the bell rang, and he stood up and walked out the door quickly. I followed him and ran hot on his heels, walking up beside him.
"There's no avoiding me, I'm in almost all of your classes." I said. He turned to me and put one arm on either side of me, making me back up-- into the wall. His expression was murderous as his face came close to mine.
"Stay away from me," he growled. My heart pounded; he was a ton taller than me, I realized as he leered over me. At least six foot four versus my five foot six. His dark hair fell in his eyes, his expression deadly. He turned and stalked away down the hall and into our class. I stepped away from the class and into the throng of students, walking to class. That encounter had left me shaken but even more angry. What was his problem? Why couldn't I know what the heck was going on? I wondered furiously. I sat down at our table, ignoring him. Our eyes didn't even meet. He just sat there and stared at the door. Occasionally he would scribble something down, numbers of our assignment. My skin prickled as Mr. Feonicks popped around everywhere, always showing up over one of my shoulders. Salex had put me on edge, and this was not helping. The problems I wasn't sure about I skipped; I began on the hardest one at the end of class.
"Having any problems?" Feonicks asked, popping up over my right shoulder. I jumped; he had scared me. Again.
"U-um," I stuttered. I was sure it wasn't as obvious as it could have been that I didn't finish some of the other problems; there were enough scribbles and attempts to make it look like I had actually done the problem. I looked over at him; his bright red hair was falling in his eyes, hands clasped behind his back.
"She is, but she won't ask for help." Salex answered for me.
"Adri," Feonicks scoffed. "Salex here wants to help you," Both Salex and I jumped up and shouted "What?!" at the same time. We looked at each other, his eyes furious. I watched him carefully.
"He hates me!" I said breathlessly.
"Loathing is a better word." Salex growled. I glared at him.
"Tut, tut, you two," Feonicks said. "Salex, if you pay so much attention to her, I'm assigning you as her tutor."
"WHAT?" Salex shouted. "Feonicks, you know what will happen if-"
"No questions, Salex. You'll have to learn how to cope with it." Feonicks said in a formal voice. Salex looked at him defiantly, his pale hands clenched into fists. His jaw was clenched tightly, his whole body wound angrily.
I was thankful when the bell rang, hurrying to my next class. I took refuge beside Jeff; he and Salex had a glaring contest, Jeff behind his dark sunglasses and Salex with his obsidian eyes. I planned to skip lunch and talk to Feonicks about my unwillingly assigned tutor.
I walked down the quiet hall, my shoes making soft sounds as I walked toward my math class. The door was slightly open, light coming from inside.
"That's my final say in it. Just try it, for one day, and if it's too difficult, we'll discontinue it." I heard Feonicks say.
"What am I supposed to hunt in the meantime? It's broad daylight, Feonicks, and the Night Class has killed everything out there. There's nothing to hunt, and yet, you expect me to withstand her?" It took me a moment to recognize the voice, but it was Salex.
"Yes, I do. You don't give yourself enough credit, you're forgotten Isabel--" Feonicks's voice was cut off by Salex shouting angrily.
"Don't bring Isabel up! Don't mention her, Feonicks, that was a long time in the past." Salex hissed.
"And it wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was! I let her near Thanatos, and exactly what we knew would happen happened! Do you want that to happen to Adrianna? Because I don't."
"Salex!" Feonicks shouted. "Stop, for a moment, please. There's someone outside." It sounded like someone sniffed, like a dog, and then there was a noise like someone clearing their throat.
"It's her." Salex said stiffly. The door swung wide open and his tall, dark silouhette appeared in the doorway. His eyes were angry, as usual, and seemed hurt in some way. He brushed past me without a word, the breeze from the speed of his steps rushing up to meet me. Feonicks appeared in the doorway, sparks seeming to hover around him. His eyes were glowing, like embers. It scared me slightly; maybe it was just the lights. Candlelight flickered in his classroom. He looked exhausted.
"Adrianna," he began. "What did you hear?" he asked in a soft voice, sounding very tired. I shook my head.
"I didn't hear anything. I just walked up when you stopped him." I lied quietly. I hoped he wouldn't hear the curiosity in my voice, or the slight fear because Salex was so angry- and I had to spend the next hour or two after school being tutored by him. I was a bit shaken up, however. Who was Isabel, and why was it- she- such a soft spot for Salex? He said that it was a long time in the past- that made no sense, either. A long time could be two years or more- but for me, two years was hardly anything. We moved every two years. It wasn't a very long time. Feonicks ran a hand through his deep red hair, putting one hand in his pocket and leaning against the doorframe.
"Come in. I know there's something you want to talk to me about." He turned his back and gestured for me to come in with a sigh, walking in and sitting at his desk. I followed him timidly.
"I wanted to talk to you about Salex as my math tutor," I said. He had a red roman candle out, several lit on his desk, and was dipping the whick into one of the lit candle's flame.
"Flourescent lights bother your light eyes, don't they?" He said, seeming to either ignore or not hear what I had said. I nodded; it was always too birght for me in school. "Even though you don't think it, you and Salex are more alike than you know." he said.
"Look, Mr. Feonicks, I'm sorry, but I didn't come for a philosophy lesson. I just really don't need a tutor."
"From what he says, I think you do. I notice you struggle in class but you don't as for help. You're independent, aren't you?"
"Yes, but--"
"You and Salex are going to have to deal with each other for now, until I decide you don't need help. This is to help you excel in this subject." he sounded serious now.
"Mr. Feonicks, he hates me."
"This is my final word on the matter. He is your tutor until I decide otherwise." he looked at me with his burnt orange-colored eyes. It was a strange color. Bordering on a reddish color. I sighed, defeated. There was no arguing with him. He would win no matter what. I was hungry from skipping lunch and confused at the conversation I had overheard, and I had gotten myself nowhere. Plus, Salex was mad at me again for reasons unknown.
"Alright, Feonicks, but if I score an A on the next test, he's not my tutor anymore."
"Deal, Adrianna," Feonicks said as the candle dripped hot wax on his desk. He didn't seem to care.
I sat with my friends for the remainder of lunch, munching on a granola bar I kept in my backpack. I was trying to remember everything that had been said between Feonicks and Salex. Why had I been mentioned if Salex detested me so much? 'If it's too difficult' made me wonder what he meant. How would it be difficult for him if I was the one struggling with math? Maybe for some reason he couldn't stand me, but I couldn't imagine why. It wasn't like I was extrmely repulsive. Whoever Isabel was, that was a sentitive spot. Feonicks had touched a nerve when he had mentioned her. I considered going into the forest to think again, but I didn't want anything like last night to happen again. After today, even if Salex happened to appear, he probably wouldn't do anything. I tried to recall the memory of the boy with claws from the night before. How had he gotten those claws? They could be like knuckle dusters, but I had never heard of ones like that. I had only ever seen ones that were toys from X-Men, Wolverine's claws, but these looked nothing like them. They were on each finger, singular, as if his fingers themselves had morphed into a claw...
"Hellooo?" Jeff waved a hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my thoughts, my eyes focusing on Jeff instead of staring off into space.
"Sorry, what?" I asked, hoping I wasn't blushing. I was embarrassed for zoning out so easily.
"We were just making plans to go see a movie after school, do you want to go?"
"Sure," I said, texting my parents. They okayed it; I looked up and smiled at everyone. "I can go," I announced. I looked around as my friends smiled happily; I searched around the lunchroom quickly, searching for a certain brown-haired head. He was no where to be seen. I didn't want to go looking for him, either, but I wanted to confront him. What was his problem? When I had tried before, he had shrugged me off. He always managed to distract me or discourage me enough that I would stop. Class passed by quickly; there was no sign of Salex. I was happy that he wasn't there to glare at me, but curious as to where he went. Then I remembered what had happened to the blonde when Salex had shot him. He had turned to dust. And I knew now like I knew then that was not normal in any way.
Jeff was silent as we walked home; Jackie and the rest chattered away about the movie. It was an action movie apparently, lots of explosions. Those were usually cool; I liked those. But I was nervous about my tutoring session with Salex. I hated the word tutor- it made me feel stupid, like I needed someone to explain it to me. My parents always assured me otherwise, that it showed that I was smart enough to get help, but I always had a hard time believing them, and, well.... it was Salex. I didn't know him very well, but that was just more evidence for me to not let him into my house. I didn't want him in my area, he didn't like me. Plus he was a guy. That always made me nervous. In elementary school I had always played with the boys, it was better than sitting with the girls and pretending we were in highschool and giggling about the boys and 'how cute they were'. It was better to play soccer or climb on the swingset and get told to get down because we could fall, even though all of us knew very well that we weren't going to. This was a whole different ball game- it was highschool, and he was a guy. I decided to break the silence between Jeff and I.
"So where do you think Salex went?"
"Maybe he's playing hookey," Jeff said, shrugging. "He does that sometimes. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," I replied. "I didn't think he would miss a chance to glare at me." I said. Jeff chuckled. Another question crossed my mind. "Does his family hunt to eat?" I asked, looking down the street to the forest.
"They hunt," he replied. "What for, I don't know."
"Alright," I sighed. "Just wondering. Something he said made me wonder." Jegg shrugged, one backpack strap over his shoulder, and turned toward his house. I turned away to go to mine, Jackie and Max having left us behind. They looked around as the sound of wailing sirens reached me. They sounded like they were coming from everywhere. Jackie turned to Max, confused, asking him something I couldn't hear. The police casr sped past us, going at least sixty, sirens blaring. They looked at me; I shrugged. They shrugged in reply, heading home.
"That," I heard Jeff say behind me. "Was weird." I nodded, waving to him and heading home, walking slowly. I looked down at my feet. When I looked up to see how far I had to go until I had to turn, there was someone dressed in black there. Fear shot through me as I assumed Thanatos, my footsteps stopping immediately, my body frozen with fear. The voice is what made me move with a little more ease, though not by much.
"Hello," Salex said. I looked at him flatly, walking toward him.
"Playing hookey, huh?" I said, raising my eyebrows skeptically. He shrugged; he looked healthier than before. He kept his mirror lensed shades on, though, making him look something like Chuck Norris. There was slightly more color to his skin, too, for some reason. Maybe the lights in school just washed it out and made it look paper white.
"Are you ready for your math homework?" He asked. I sighed.
"I can't believe Feonicks made that call. I'm doing fine." I said. "Math just isn't my specialty."
"Feonicks told me it was my job to make it your specialty."
"You and I both know that's not what you two were discussing." I looked over and up at him, but his expression was unreadable, eyes straightforward.
"Alright, you got me. What were we talking about, then?" I was shocked. He gave it away, no fight at all.
"Someone named Isabel." I said, trying to recover. I looked confusedly down at my feet. We walked up the wooden stairs to my porch; I fumbled with my keys, ending up dropping them. He was putting me on edge. He reached out and snagged them, still holding a straight face, although a muscle in his jaw was twitching.
"I don't believe I know an Isabel," He lied smoothly.
"Apparently, you do."
"Well, I don't. Sorry."
"The one who married Thanatos?" I said, turning the key in the lock. He visibly stiffened as I opened the door. "That's what I thought," I said, walking inside. "Come on in." I turned to face him as he walked in behind me.
"It's not polite to eavesdrop," he said. A red liquid lingered on his tongue, like he had just eaten a red candy or something.
"Are your wisdom teeth coming in or something? I think your mouth is bleeding." I said, my mouth running too fast for me to stop it.
"No," He said, whipping his shades off and putting them in his jacket pocket, walking into my house like he owned the place. I rolled my eyes.
"You're so secretive," I sighed in frustration as I followed him into the kitchen. "It gets old quick."
"Well, that's too bad." He was already seated at the bar. "Because it's not going to change any time soon." He looked at me with a blank face, his eyes a deep crimson color.
"What's with your eyes?" I asked, not going any closer to him.
"Contacts," He shrugged. "I ordered them about a week ago, for Halloween. I'm just getting used to them today."
"Ok-kay," I said slowly. "How about this: I won't bring out my math unless you tell me who Isabel is." It was a feeble threat, and he batted it away easily.
"Then I'll leave," he said simply. There was a tan book on the counter with a badge stamped on it; the print across it said, "Operation Vampire Killet." and had a hammer ready to strike a stake held in a hand. Salex's hands flew out to the book and flipped through it, his eyes going wide. He relaxed, it seemed, and closed the book placing it on the counter.
"Isabel was a girl. Happy? Now let's get started so I can go."
"You're really irritating when you do that, you know." I said, sitting down next to him. I pulled my math book and notebook out, opening to the proper page. He shrugged.
"I finished it all at school anyway," I grumbled.
"Allow me," He gently removed my notebook from my hands, taking my pencil as well. His eyes scanned the page. A moment later, he gave it back to me, pointing out the ones that were wrong. To my frustration, there were several.
A half hour later, I was angry and frustrated. Salex let out an exasperated sigh.
"Do you want help or not?" He asked, looking at me.
"Just, please," I said. "Please, can we take a break?"
He sighed. "Fine," he said. I grabbed a can of coke out of the fridge and tossed one to hium. He caught it with one hand, still examining my work, cracking the top of it with a finger and taking a gulp.
"Thanks," he said.
"Sure," I leaned up against the counter where I had been sitting, opening mine with less finess than he had, and taking a drink. We both heaved a sigh at the same time.
"So what's the deal with Tristan?" I asked, refferring to the blonde in the forest the previous night.
"He's a Night Class student," Salex replied.
"I got that," I said. "Who was he working for? Why id he turn to dust? Why did you say he's not dead, just will have a hard time regaining hisbody? None of this makes any sense, and you know it."
"None of those I will answer,"
"Why?" I demanded, setting my coke down. "What is so freakishly secret you can't tell?"
"You had your break. Let's get working again."
"No," I said. "I want to know."
"Know what?" Dad asked, walking into the kitchen. "Who's this?" His expression became stern, the look he always got when he saw a guy near me.
"He's my math tutor," I said at the same time Salex said, "I'm her math tutor." Dad kept the look.
"So, you're Adrianna's dad?" Salex said. "I'm Salex, by the way, we have math class together. Our teacher assigned me as her tutor." Salex stood up, walking over to my dad and extending his hand. My dad shook it, seeming to relax a little bit.
"How old are you?" Dad asked.
"Seventeen," Salex replied. "Adrianna and I share pretty much every class, actually." He looked down at his pocket as it began to vibrate. "Excuse me," He said, answering his phone. "Hello? I'm at someone's house, tutoring. Yeah-- no, no, I got assigned. Right behind my house, why? No, Ty-- come on! She hung up." He sighed as he put it back in his pocket. Ishrugged. A moment later, there was a shrug on the door. I got up, just as Dad answered it.
"Salex, it's your parents!" Dad called. We both walked to the door, Salex behind me. It made my hair stand on end to have him behind me, I didn't know why. The man before us was about six feet tall and had white-blonde hair, pale skin, and pale blue eyes. He was wearing nurse scrubs, white ones, and said nothing. The woman was small, only about five foot, and had blonde hair with fair skin and blue eyes. A thought flickered through my head. If these two were his parents, he had to be adopted.
"Hi, I'm Adrianna," I said with a smile. Salex brushed past me.
"So nice tutoring you," He said. "But I'm afraid it's time for me to leave."
"Don't be rude, Lex!" his 'mom' said, catching him around the torso and keeping him in the house.
"I'm Tyree, and this is my husband, Satchell. We're Salex's neighbors." His 'mom', Tyree, smiled. Her short blonde hair was slightly flipped out, and Satchell's was in a thin, lengthy ponytail.
"You're not actually his parents?" Dad asked, perplexed.
"Oh, no, unfortunately not," Tyree replied. "As good as, though, right Salex?"
"Yeah," Salex agreed.
"We wanted to invite you over for dinner some time, is that alright?" Tyree asked. Satchell gave a small smile.
"It's perfect," Dad smiled. Salex had a slightly horrified look on his face, and I was sure I did, too.
"That way, Salex and Adrianna can get to know each other," Tyree smiled, pulling Salex back with more force.
"Should we bring anything? I mean, just come on over, let us know," Dad said. "I'm Dave, by the way," Dad said, shaking their hands.
"Oh, no, just yourselves! We'll take care of the rest. We'll have Salex run over and chat sometime soon, make plans, you know."
"Well, thanks!" Dad smiled. They waved goodbye, Salex going with them, walking down the steps. He closed the door and locked it afterwards. I grabbed my homework and stuffed it in my backpack, tossing it next to my bed. Now I had to have him glaring at me dinner with his near family. At least he was tolerable during tutoring, somewhat, I thought. I got ready for the movie, jittery from the days events. What could Feonicks and Salex possibly have been talking about that would mean so much? Whatever it was, I had to find out.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Update
Chapter six will be up very soon! I finally got time to get it typed up, and now it's just finding the scraps in all my notebooks I have- very soon it will be up!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Chapter 5
See the post below as well please
All of the ideas and characters mentioned in this text are protected by copyright law and belong to me. This may not be duplicated without my written consent. Hallow's City and all related ideas are (c) me. Do not steal. I will find you if you do.
Jeff helped me up, handing me my things as I put my shoes on. I was still baffled as the bell rang; how had Salex moved so quickly? Maybe he was moving at normal speed, and my brain just hadn’t registered it because I was so sure I was going to win. I followed Jeff to the center of the school, to the grassy area where I had dashed through earlier trying to get to class. We sat down on the grass, sunlight pouring in from the skylight, the entire area seeming vast. Our group began to surround us, talking excitedly.
“What’s so exciting?” I asked. “Did I miss something?”
“No, no, you didn’t miss anything, you just haven’t lived here for very long,” Jackie laughed, her fingers entwined with Max’s. “Next week is Halloween, as you know,” she said. “For one, it’s the Halloween Carnival, which is even bigger than Christmas here, and for two, Halloween is my birthday, so I’m inviting all of you to come with me to the carnival for my birthday party!”
“What about Salex?” Jeff asked. I had been wondering about him as well, but I tried to act like I hadn’t been. Jackie turned away from us, still on her knees.
“Salex!” She called. “You’re invited to my birthday party!”
“Call me when and where,” he replied from a tree close by, where a pretty blonde wearing a red and white striped apron seemed to be taking his order. She finished and walked over to our group next.
“What can I get y’all?” she asked with a heavy Texan twang. She looked like she was just out of high school. Everyone ordered except me, and her eyes turned from her small notepad to look at me. Jeff put his hand up with two fingers making a peace sign.
“Two of mine,” he said. “One for her and one for me.”
“What did you even get?”
“You’ll see,” he said with a smile. I stuck my tongue out at him, trying not to smile and failing. Chatter filled the silence, and when they returned, a plate of honey-barbeque chicken pizza was placed in front of me. My mouth dropped open- it was my absolute favorite pizza, hot and right in front of me.
“How did you know this was my favorite pizza?” I asked, astounded.
“You should keep your diary hidden better,” he said, taking a bite of his. I glared, shocked.
“You don’t even know where my diary is,” I said, not believing him.
“It’s at your house, in your room, under your mattress on the side you sleep.” He said accurately, making me look at him in shock.
“I’m kidding. Is that really where it is, though?”
“Even if it was, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“So that’s a yes!”
“No it’s not!”
“I’m only teasing. Eat your pizza, before it gets cold.” I rolled my eyes.
“You sound like my mother,”
“Alright, then, I’ll eat it,” he said, reaching for it. I grabbed it and took a bite, watching him and trying not to laugh. I ended up giggling anyway.
“Okay then,” he smiled. “Enjoy your pizza,” I swallowed, sitting the pizza down but keeping my hand on it.
“So what’s the Halloween carnival about?”
“Obviously, Halloween,” Jeff replied. I gave him a look.
“Besides that,” I said.
“It’s the biggest party in town, it outshines Christmas, even,” Max answered, his own slice of pepperoni pizza in front of him. I was shocked.
“Wow. That’s pretty big,”
“You bet,” Jackie said. “It’s huge, and everybody goes- no exceptions.” She smiled, her perfect teeth almost gleaming in the light.
"Alright," I said. "Sounds cool,"
The rest of the day passed relatively quickly; Salex was in all of my classes, except biology, and in every one of them, he would glare at me or ignore me. I didn't even see him after school.
I left for home and walked with Jackie's group, trying to put thoughts of Salex out of my head. It was difficult; I couldn't figure it out. Why had he glared at me like that, every time he saw me?
"Jeff, does Salex usually eat lunch with you guys?" I asked before everyone had dispersed. We were the last to leave, everyone had gone home.
"He usually does, yes." Jeff replied.
"So what he did today wasn't normal?"
"Not at all," he said. "Maybe he was feeling sick." I just nodded, not wanting to reveal my suspicions that Salex may have avoided his group because I was there.
"Did he do this yesterday?"
"No," Jeff asked. "You think he sat somewhere different because you came?" I tried to hide my shock, though in all reality I wasn't very shocked that he had figured it out. He was smart, and it wasn't difficult.
"Yes," I sighed. "I think he might have."
"hat's not like him," Jeff said.
"It's also not like him to come into class angry, is it?" Jeff paused.
"Well, come to think of it, no,"
"Okay. Thanks, Jeff." I said, turning and walking away.
"Don't look too much into it," Jeff seemed to be warning me. It sounded almost ominous.
"Why not?" I asked, turning around to face him.
"You would be better off not to, that's all," My eyes narrowed. He knew something, and he wasn't going to tell me. I could tell that.
"What do you know about him?" I asked. Jeff had turned around and was walking home, his back to me.
"Jeff, please tell me," I said, beginning to follow him. He just shook his head. I was confused and a bit angry, frustrated that he knew that I knew that he knew something. Finding things out about Salex was going to be harder than I thought. I sent a quick text message to my parents, saying I was going to go for a walk in the woods. I walked the extra block to the edge of the woods, following a deer trail through the trees and roots. It began to get dark; I hadn't realized how think the canopy was. I climbed a simple tree with a low hanging branch, swinging one leg off the side of the branch. Here I could let my thoughts go without being interrupted.
First off: Why had he been glaring at me? I couldn't find a valid reason. It didn't make sense to me. I hadn't done anything to him, and I had only known him for a day, or less than that. He couldn't possibly have a grudge against me.
Second: Why had he not sat with his group at lunch? Instead, he chose to sit in a tree further away from them. Or was it further away from me?
Third: Where had he been after school? I knew it was none of my business, but I couldn't help but wonder.
Fourth: What was Jeff not telling me about Salex? He seemed like him and Salex were close friends, or at least hung out every once in a while. He would know and be able to tell me some things about Salex, I was sure, but he wouldn't, for some reason. Maybe it was the friends-dont't-tell-other-friends-secrets rule that went unspoken; I could understand that.
Fifth: Why wouldn't he tell me? It bothered me. When people wouldn't tell you something, they had something to hide. A skeleton in the closet. I knew I shouldn't be so curious about what it was, it was really none of my business, but I couldn't help but wonder.
I considered confronting him the next day, asking him why he was angry with me, why he was avoiding me when I had done nothing to him. He barely knew my name. Then it hit me. Maybe he knew more than my name. I couldn't imagine how, but it was possible.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
Are you coming home? from Mom, the message read. I texted yes back quickly, seeing the time on the screen once the message was sent. It was almost nine o'clock! I was thankful I didn't have any homework.
I jumped down from my limb, landing on my feet and falling forward to catch myself on my hands. I stood up to see a man walking down the path, dressed in all black. His hair was blonde, and his eyes glowed a strange amber color.
"Thanatos?" I asked, unsure. I wouldn't be as frightened if it was him. The man seemed to smile slightly. He looked like he was maybe a year older than me, but he was tall, over six and a half feet.
"So you know Thanatos," the man said, coming closer. I felt my pocket, wishing I had my knife. I always carried my knife during the summer breaks, just by force of habit. New towns, new types of people. Anything could happen, and I knew it. I swore in my mind, wishing I could take my knife to school, just for self defense on the way home. This man wasn't Thanatos.
"Yes," I said, looking for a way around him as I backed up. "Why are you here? What do you want?"
"I only came here to ditch school," The man said, his fingers looking longer than normal. There was about six feet between us now, but it was diminishing every second. His stride was longer than mine. His fingers looked more like claws now, almost eight inches long, I estimated. I didn't know how he was doing it, or if he just had something attatched to his fingers, or it this was some sort of joke, but I was scared. I was terrified. He licked his lips, still smiling at me.
"I was on my way home," I said. "I'd just like to get there,"
"No one told you to stay inside after dark, did they?" he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"No," I stuttered. He grinned, charging at me with his right hand, claws and all, poised to strike and slash across my face and neck. I closed my eyes and put my arms up to block him, turning away reflexively and letting out a scream. Someone grabbed my arm in that instant, pulling me back. There was a crushing sound, like two boulders crashing together, and when I opened my eyes, Salex was standing in front of me, fingers between the claws of my attacker. The amber-eyed man looked furious; Salex let my arm go, his focus on the man. Those amber eyes flicked to me and back to Salex angrily.
"You were going to finish her off yourself?" the man said. Salex increased his grip on the man's knuckles. There was a loud sound like large branches breaking, and the man's fingers were no longer bent normally, his knuckles crushed. Salex pulled out a gun with a silencer on it. The man's eyes went wide as he fell to his knees, cursing. He sounded like he was in a lot of pain, and I didn't blame him. I was astounded. How had Salex broken the man's hand so easily? I was just as frightened of Salex as I had been of the man.
"Thanatos sent me, I'm on orders!" The man said.
"You live with their lot. You have no family. Who will miss you?" Salex said coldly.
"I was ordered to find her!"
"But you were not sent with a message. Therefore, this action is not killing the messenger out of anger for the message delivered. This is to protect the newcomers." He pulled the trigger, and the gun went off. There was a mere click as the firing pin struck the bullet; right before my eyes, the amber-eyed man turned to dust. Salex placed the gun inside of his jacket, grabbing my arm lightly and pulling me with him as he walked away. I pulled against him, his hand falling from my arm easily.
"What just happened?" I asked.
"There's no time to explain. We should get you home." Salex said, turning and walking away. When I didn't follow, he turned to look over his shoulder.
"Fine, I'll leave you here then," he said. "He wasn't the only one." I looked around quickly, sprinting to catch up with him.
"Tell me what happened," I said. "Please."
"No," he said. "That's the second time I have saved yor life in the last 48 hours. It requires no explanation since I owe you no favors." I turned to glare at him, completely confused.
"How can that," I said, using my hands to point back at the dark forest. "Not merit an explanation? You just murdered someone!"
"He isn't dead." Salex said. "It's just hard for him to regain a body now."
"Then would you like to explain that last bit, at least?"
"Not really," He said as we came to the edge of the forest, walking across the deserted street.
"Then tell me something I'll understand,"
"Stay out of the forest at night. I think you can understand that."
"But-"
"I know that doesn't tell you anything. That's the idea." I fell silent, trying to commit every detail to memory as we walked down the street to my house. I misstepped and almost fell into the street, my ankle rolling into the gutter painfully. Salex caught me, pulling me back onto the sidewalk.
"And again," he said.
"You didn't save my life that time," I protested.
"No, but I did save you from falling and scraping your hands."
"Well-" I couldn't come back with a quick retort to that. It was like he had frozen my brain. "Thank you, I guess,"
"You're welcome," He said, stopping at my driveway. "Goodbye, Adrianna," He said.
"You know, you can call me Adri," I said, catching his shoulder as he walked away.
"Alright then," He said, continuing to walk away. I let my hand fall. He was so cryptic and confusing, I didn't know what to make of it. I watched him until I couldn't see him anymore, hoping he would turn around and explain everything, even though I knew he wouldn't. Fallen leaves were caught in a gust of wind, blowing across the sidewalk in the air and sweeping the ground. I turned and ran inside, closing the door and locking it.
The rest of the night was normal; I recorded the night's events, not wanting to forget any details that might help me further along in the future.
Journal,
Salex was strange today. He's strange anyway, but he avoided me all day. He couldn't during class, but he did during lunch. Jeff said that he normally sat with them; that confirms that it was me that drove him away, in my mind. I didn't see him after school, which is when I asked Jeff all those questions about Salex. I went into the forest that's by our house now, and I stayed there and thought about the days events. I guess more time must have gone by than I thought, because Mom had to text me to remind me to come home. I started walking and this man... he was dressed all in black, like the night class, and his skin was a pale white. He had blonde hair and his eyes were a strange color- I've never seen it before. It was a golden brown or amber color, and his eyes glowed. As if he wasn't scary enough already- his fingers turned into claws, and he tried to attack me. Salex came and pulled me out of the way, stopping the man's hand. It was scary- the man said something, and then Salex crushed his knuckles. I mean literally crushed the man's knuckles. It brought the man to his knees. That was when Salex pulled out a gun. The man said he was on orders, as if he was in some sort of organization, like a military of some sort. I didn't think Salex was actually going to shoot him, but he did. He shot the man, and the man turned to dust. I mean, literally, to dust, right before my eyes. Salex walked me home and wouldn't give me any answers. It's so frustrating, how all of this jumbles together- Jeff's whole warning about how I shouldn't look into it and then Salex acting that way, well, it's all so confusing. I don't understand, and I want to find out, but I'm slightly afraid. What if I find something out that I can't take back or ever forget? It's frightening. I want to know, but I don't know if I want to know that badly. No, that's a lie. I want to know really bad. I want to know what they're hiding.
I looked up from my journal to the clock beside my bed. It was nearly eleven! I fell asleep, my hair wet from the shower. Even the hot water hadn't helped calm me down. My muscles were still tight and I was still nervous. I had put my knife on my dresser, where it was easy to get to if I needed it. I was paranoid for the moment- I was scared. I knew that the probability of anyone actually breaking in was low, but just in case, I had it at quick access. I didn't like being defensless like I had been earlier that night.
It took me hours to fall asleep. Even then, I didn't sleep well. The man had frightened me, and Salex with his gun even more. It was surprising- I had been raised with guns, but I had never seen anyone shot, only in movies, let alone turn to dust right in front of me. It was all so complicated and out of the ordinary that I didn't know what to think.
I fell asleep very early the next morning, waking with a start to my buzzer alarm. My dream hadn't had anything to do with the previous night- instead, it was completely random. Just before my alarm had gone off, I was in a taxi cab with Salex. The roads had been snow plowed, and there were drifts on either side. A phone as in one of the snow drifts; our cab was stopped at a red light anyway, and I stepped out to get it. What I didn't know was that there was a cliff just beyond the snow drift. When I reached out to grab the phone, it broke off, sending me plummeting fown the thousand foot cliff. I could remember screaming in my dream; Salex was watching me fall as I grabbed at the frozen ice wall that was racing past me, his face written with horror. That was the last thing I saw before my buzzer went off. That morning, while I was getting ready, I couldn't get his face out of my head. When I left home, whiskers drawn on my face with black eyeliner and my cat ears on, I met up with the group. I immediately noticed that Salex wasn't there. I couldn't confront him. I couldn't ask all the questions I had, and I knew that Jeff wouldn't answer them, either. He was almost as elusive with his answers as Salex was. I decided not to ask and see if Salex came to first period. I could corner him there.
All of the ideas and characters mentioned in this text are protected by copyright law and belong to me. This may not be duplicated without my written consent. Hallow's City and all related ideas are (c) me. Do not steal. I will find you if you do.
All of the ideas and characters mentioned in this text are protected by copyright law and belong to me. This may not be duplicated without my written consent. Hallow's City and all related ideas are (c) me. Do not steal. I will find you if you do.
Jeff helped me up, handing me my things as I put my shoes on. I was still baffled as the bell rang; how had Salex moved so quickly? Maybe he was moving at normal speed, and my brain just hadn’t registered it because I was so sure I was going to win. I followed Jeff to the center of the school, to the grassy area where I had dashed through earlier trying to get to class. We sat down on the grass, sunlight pouring in from the skylight, the entire area seeming vast. Our group began to surround us, talking excitedly.
“What’s so exciting?” I asked. “Did I miss something?”
“No, no, you didn’t miss anything, you just haven’t lived here for very long,” Jackie laughed, her fingers entwined with Max’s. “Next week is Halloween, as you know,” she said. “For one, it’s the Halloween Carnival, which is even bigger than Christmas here, and for two, Halloween is my birthday, so I’m inviting all of you to come with me to the carnival for my birthday party!”
“What about Salex?” Jeff asked. I had been wondering about him as well, but I tried to act like I hadn’t been. Jackie turned away from us, still on her knees.
“Salex!” She called. “You’re invited to my birthday party!”
“Call me when and where,” he replied from a tree close by, where a pretty blonde wearing a red and white striped apron seemed to be taking his order. She finished and walked over to our group next.
“What can I get y’all?” she asked with a heavy Texan twang. She looked like she was just out of high school. Everyone ordered except me, and her eyes turned from her small notepad to look at me. Jeff put his hand up with two fingers making a peace sign.
“Two of mine,” he said. “One for her and one for me.”
“What did you even get?”
“You’ll see,” he said with a smile. I stuck my tongue out at him, trying not to smile and failing. Chatter filled the silence, and when they returned, a plate of honey-barbeque chicken pizza was placed in front of me. My mouth dropped open- it was my absolute favorite pizza, hot and right in front of me.
“How did you know this was my favorite pizza?” I asked, astounded.
“You should keep your diary hidden better,” he said, taking a bite of his. I glared, shocked.
“You don’t even know where my diary is,” I said, not believing him.
“It’s at your house, in your room, under your mattress on the side you sleep.” He said accurately, making me look at him in shock.
“I’m kidding. Is that really where it is, though?”
“Even if it was, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“So that’s a yes!”
“No it’s not!”
“I’m only teasing. Eat your pizza, before it gets cold.” I rolled my eyes.
“You sound like my mother,”
“Alright, then, I’ll eat it,” he said, reaching for it. I grabbed it and took a bite, watching him and trying not to laugh. I ended up giggling anyway.
“Okay then,” he smiled. “Enjoy your pizza,” I swallowed, sitting the pizza down but keeping my hand on it.
“So what’s the Halloween carnival about?”
“Obviously, Halloween,” Jeff replied. I gave him a look.
“Besides that,” I said.
“It’s the biggest party in town, it outshines Christmas, even,” Max answered, his own slice of pepperoni pizza in front of him. I was shocked.
“Wow. That’s pretty big,”
“You bet,” Jackie said. “It’s huge, and everybody goes- no exceptions.” She smiled, her perfect teeth almost gleaming in the light.
"Alright," I said. "Sounds cool,"
The rest of the day passed relatively quickly; Salex was in all of my classes, except biology, and in every one of them, he would glare at me or ignore me. I didn't even see him after school.
I left for home and walked with Jackie's group, trying to put thoughts of Salex out of my head. It was difficult; I couldn't figure it out. Why had he glared at me like that, every time he saw me?
"Jeff, does Salex usually eat lunch with you guys?" I asked before everyone had dispersed. We were the last to leave, everyone had gone home.
"He usually does, yes." Jeff replied.
"So what he did today wasn't normal?"
"Not at all," he said. "Maybe he was feeling sick." I just nodded, not wanting to reveal my suspicions that Salex may have avoided his group because I was there.
"Did he do this yesterday?"
"No," Jeff asked. "You think he sat somewhere different because you came?" I tried to hide my shock, though in all reality I wasn't very shocked that he had figured it out. He was smart, and it wasn't difficult.
"Yes," I sighed. "I think he might have."
"hat's not like him," Jeff said.
"It's also not like him to come into class angry, is it?" Jeff paused.
"Well, come to think of it, no,"
"Okay. Thanks, Jeff." I said, turning and walking away.
"Don't look too much into it," Jeff seemed to be warning me. It sounded almost ominous.
"Why not?" I asked, turning around to face him.
"You would be better off not to, that's all," My eyes narrowed. He knew something, and he wasn't going to tell me. I could tell that.
"What do you know about him?" I asked. Jeff had turned around and was walking home, his back to me.
"Jeff, please tell me," I said, beginning to follow him. He just shook his head. I was confused and a bit angry, frustrated that he knew that I knew that he knew something. Finding things out about Salex was going to be harder than I thought. I sent a quick text message to my parents, saying I was going to go for a walk in the woods. I walked the extra block to the edge of the woods, following a deer trail through the trees and roots. It began to get dark; I hadn't realized how think the canopy was. I climbed a simple tree with a low hanging branch, swinging one leg off the side of the branch. Here I could let my thoughts go without being interrupted.
First off: Why had he been glaring at me? I couldn't find a valid reason. It didn't make sense to me. I hadn't done anything to him, and I had only known him for a day, or less than that. He couldn't possibly have a grudge against me.
Second: Why had he not sat with his group at lunch? Instead, he chose to sit in a tree further away from them. Or was it further away from me?
Third: Where had he been after school? I knew it was none of my business, but I couldn't help but wonder.
Fourth: What was Jeff not telling me about Salex? He seemed like him and Salex were close friends, or at least hung out every once in a while. He would know and be able to tell me some things about Salex, I was sure, but he wouldn't, for some reason. Maybe it was the friends-dont't-tell-other-friends-secrets rule that went unspoken; I could understand that.
Fifth: Why wouldn't he tell me? It bothered me. When people wouldn't tell you something, they had something to hide. A skeleton in the closet. I knew I shouldn't be so curious about what it was, it was really none of my business, but I couldn't help but wonder.
I considered confronting him the next day, asking him why he was angry with me, why he was avoiding me when I had done nothing to him. He barely knew my name. Then it hit me. Maybe he knew more than my name. I couldn't imagine how, but it was possible.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
Are you coming home? from Mom, the message read. I texted yes back quickly, seeing the time on the screen once the message was sent. It was almost nine o'clock! I was thankful I didn't have any homework.
I jumped down from my limb, landing on my feet and falling forward to catch myself on my hands. I stood up to see a man walking down the path, dressed in all black. His hair was blonde, and his eyes glowed a strange amber color.
"Thanatos?" I asked, unsure. I wouldn't be as frightened if it was him. The man seemed to smile slightly. He looked like he was maybe a year older than me, but he was tall, over six and a half feet.
"So you know Thanatos," the man said, coming closer. I felt my pocket, wishing I had my knife. I always carried my knife during the summer breaks, just by force of habit. New towns, new types of people. Anything could happen, and I knew it. I swore in my mind, wishing I could take my knife to school, just for self defense on the way home. This man wasn't Thanatos.
"Yes," I said, looking for a way around him as I backed up. "Why are you here? What do you want?"
"I only came here to ditch school," The man said, his fingers looking longer than normal. There was about six feet between us now, but it was diminishing every second. His stride was longer than mine. His fingers looked more like claws now, almost eight inches long, I estimated. I didn't know how he was doing it, or if he just had something attatched to his fingers, or it this was some sort of joke, but I was scared. I was terrified. He licked his lips, still smiling at me.
"I was on my way home," I said. "I'd just like to get there,"
"No one told you to stay inside after dark, did they?" he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"No," I stuttered. He grinned, charging at me with his right hand, claws and all, poised to strike and slash across my face and neck. I closed my eyes and put my arms up to block him, turning away reflexively and letting out a scream. Someone grabbed my arm in that instant, pulling me back. There was a crushing sound, like two boulders crashing together, and when I opened my eyes, Salex was standing in front of me, fingers between the claws of my attacker. The amber-eyed man looked furious; Salex let my arm go, his focus on the man. Those amber eyes flicked to me and back to Salex angrily.
"You were going to finish her off yourself?" the man said. Salex increased his grip on the man's knuckles. There was a loud sound like large branches breaking, and the man's fingers were no longer bent normally, his knuckles crushed. Salex pulled out a gun with a silencer on it. The man's eyes went wide as he fell to his knees, cursing. He sounded like he was in a lot of pain, and I didn't blame him. I was astounded. How had Salex broken the man's hand so easily? I was just as frightened of Salex as I had been of the man.
"Thanatos sent me, I'm on orders!" The man said.
"You live with their lot. You have no family. Who will miss you?" Salex said coldly.
"I was ordered to find her!"
"But you were not sent with a message. Therefore, this action is not killing the messenger out of anger for the message delivered. This is to protect the newcomers." He pulled the trigger, and the gun went off. There was a mere click as the firing pin struck the bullet; right before my eyes, the amber-eyed man turned to dust. Salex placed the gun inside of his jacket, grabbing my arm lightly and pulling me with him as he walked away. I pulled against him, his hand falling from my arm easily.
"What just happened?" I asked.
"There's no time to explain. We should get you home." Salex said, turning and walking away. When I didn't follow, he turned to look over his shoulder.
"Fine, I'll leave you here then," he said. "He wasn't the only one." I looked around quickly, sprinting to catch up with him.
"Tell me what happened," I said. "Please."
"No," he said. "That's the second time I have saved yor life in the last 48 hours. It requires no explanation since I owe you no favors." I turned to glare at him, completely confused.
"How can that," I said, using my hands to point back at the dark forest. "Not merit an explanation? You just murdered someone!"
"He isn't dead." Salex said. "It's just hard for him to regain a body now."
"Then would you like to explain that last bit, at least?"
"Not really," He said as we came to the edge of the forest, walking across the deserted street.
"Then tell me something I'll understand,"
"Stay out of the forest at night. I think you can understand that."
"But-"
"I know that doesn't tell you anything. That's the idea." I fell silent, trying to commit every detail to memory as we walked down the street to my house. I misstepped and almost fell into the street, my ankle rolling into the gutter painfully. Salex caught me, pulling me back onto the sidewalk.
"And again," he said.
"You didn't save my life that time," I protested.
"No, but I did save you from falling and scraping your hands."
"Well-" I couldn't come back with a quick retort to that. It was like he had frozen my brain. "Thank you, I guess,"
"You're welcome," He said, stopping at my driveway. "Goodbye, Adrianna," He said.
"You know, you can call me Adri," I said, catching his shoulder as he walked away.
"Alright then," He said, continuing to walk away. I let my hand fall. He was so cryptic and confusing, I didn't know what to make of it. I watched him until I couldn't see him anymore, hoping he would turn around and explain everything, even though I knew he wouldn't. Fallen leaves were caught in a gust of wind, blowing across the sidewalk in the air and sweeping the ground. I turned and ran inside, closing the door and locking it.
The rest of the night was normal; I recorded the night's events, not wanting to forget any details that might help me further along in the future.
Journal,
Salex was strange today. He's strange anyway, but he avoided me all day. He couldn't during class, but he did during lunch. Jeff said that he normally sat with them; that confirms that it was me that drove him away, in my mind. I didn't see him after school, which is when I asked Jeff all those questions about Salex. I went into the forest that's by our house now, and I stayed there and thought about the days events. I guess more time must have gone by than I thought, because Mom had to text me to remind me to come home. I started walking and this man... he was dressed all in black, like the night class, and his skin was a pale white. He had blonde hair and his eyes were a strange color- I've never seen it before. It was a golden brown or amber color, and his eyes glowed. As if he wasn't scary enough already- his fingers turned into claws, and he tried to attack me. Salex came and pulled me out of the way, stopping the man's hand. It was scary- the man said something, and then Salex crushed his knuckles. I mean literally crushed the man's knuckles. It brought the man to his knees. That was when Salex pulled out a gun. The man said he was on orders, as if he was in some sort of organization, like a military of some sort. I didn't think Salex was actually going to shoot him, but he did. He shot the man, and the man turned to dust. I mean, literally, to dust, right before my eyes. Salex walked me home and wouldn't give me any answers. It's so frustrating, how all of this jumbles together- Jeff's whole warning about how I shouldn't look into it and then Salex acting that way, well, it's all so confusing. I don't understand, and I want to find out, but I'm slightly afraid. What if I find something out that I can't take back or ever forget? It's frightening. I want to know, but I don't know if I want to know that badly. No, that's a lie. I want to know really bad. I want to know what they're hiding.
I looked up from my journal to the clock beside my bed. It was nearly eleven! I fell asleep, my hair wet from the shower. Even the hot water hadn't helped calm me down. My muscles were still tight and I was still nervous. I had put my knife on my dresser, where it was easy to get to if I needed it. I was paranoid for the moment- I was scared. I knew that the probability of anyone actually breaking in was low, but just in case, I had it at quick access. I didn't like being defensless like I had been earlier that night.
It took me hours to fall asleep. Even then, I didn't sleep well. The man had frightened me, and Salex with his gun even more. It was surprising- I had been raised with guns, but I had never seen anyone shot, only in movies, let alone turn to dust right in front of me. It was all so complicated and out of the ordinary that I didn't know what to think.
I fell asleep very early the next morning, waking with a start to my buzzer alarm. My dream hadn't had anything to do with the previous night- instead, it was completely random. Just before my alarm had gone off, I was in a taxi cab with Salex. The roads had been snow plowed, and there were drifts on either side. A phone as in one of the snow drifts; our cab was stopped at a red light anyway, and I stepped out to get it. What I didn't know was that there was a cliff just beyond the snow drift. When I reached out to grab the phone, it broke off, sending me plummeting fown the thousand foot cliff. I could remember screaming in my dream; Salex was watching me fall as I grabbed at the frozen ice wall that was racing past me, his face written with horror. That was the last thing I saw before my buzzer went off. That morning, while I was getting ready, I couldn't get his face out of my head. When I left home, whiskers drawn on my face with black eyeliner and my cat ears on, I met up with the group. I immediately noticed that Salex wasn't there. I couldn't confront him. I couldn't ask all the questions I had, and I knew that Jeff wouldn't answer them, either. He was almost as elusive with his answers as Salex was. I decided not to ask and see if Salex came to first period. I could corner him there.
All of the ideas and characters mentioned in this text are protected by copyright law and belong to me. This may not be duplicated without my written consent. Hallow's City and all related ideas are (c) me. Do not steal. I will find you if you do.
Update
Alright so I am back in school. Joy. You can tell I'm so excited, but that's beside the point. Point is, I can't type as much or get on the computer flat out very much because I'm going to be so busy. I'll try. There's a sister site to this where you can find more chapters, I think chapter five. No promises on six yet, but I'm working on it. Just hang in there. It's all being scrapped and re-written, things are being moved around and changed, you never know what the final outcome may be. If I update something on the proboards site, I'll let you know with a big -UPDATED! mm/dd/yy on it next to the chapter name. Other than that, everything should be posted on here. Specially for you, Shay. ;)
Thanks for reading, I hope to be back soon.
-Okalii
http://hallows-city.proboards.com
Thanks for reading, I hope to be back soon.
-Okalii
http://hallows-city.proboards.com
Friday, June 25, 2010
Chapter 4
“Hi, is Adrianna home?” I recognized Jackie’s smooth voice all the way in the basement.
“Yep, come on in.” Dad said. “Adrianna!”
“Coming,” I said, throwing a breakfast bar into my bag and throwing it over my shoulder as I climbed the stairs.
“You’re wearing that?!” Jackie said, her eyebrows rising.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Have a good day, Adri,” Dad said. I smiled and nodded, giving him a hug and leaving with Jackie.
“I’m going to help you get ready, okay?”
“I’m good to go,” I said.
“Not in that, you aren’t,” she said. “Do you want everyone staring?”
“I look how I normally do,” I answered.
“And that’s just it. No one looks normal here. Our ‘normal’ is completely whacked out, Halloween style.” She said with a smile. “Come on, I’ll give you an awesome costume.” She grabbed my forearm and led me to her house, taking me down to her room and having me sit on her perfectly made bed. Her room was massive; her walk in closet was nearly as big. She pulled out a pair of black cat ears and a cat tail, having me put them on. She was gentle with the black eyeliner, and didn’t speak as she put it on. She just had me close my eyes. It was a cold liquid, the expensive kind, and she applied it with quick skill. When I opened my eyes, I looked like something out of a Halloween magazine, and the shadows under my eyes were barely visible. There were whiskers painted in it on my cheeks as well, little dots on my upper lip. She pulled out pink eyeliner, drawing a cold triangle on my nose for the cat nose.
“Voila,” she said. “The perfect cat,”
“Thanks!” I exclaimed, laughing. “Wow,”
“Ready to go to school?” She asked.
“Sure!” I said, standing. We left the house, walking to the end of the street where a group was gathering.
“That’s our group,” she said. Max turned and smiled at her, waving. She blushed.
“How long have you two been together?” I asked. She turned to me and blushed even deeper.
“A very, very long time.” Was her answer.
Dark eyes followed me angrily as I walked closer. His dark hair made his pale skin stand out shockingly, his black eyes following my every move. I returned his angry gaze every few moments, and when we started walking, he fell behind me. I could feel his eyes on me all the way there. I considered confronting him, demanding what his problem was, but decided to let it go and learn what I could from the people he knew. I didn’t want an uninformed argument.
The bell rang; I pulled my schedule out to look at my first period. It was an art class, taught by a Dr. Alucard. Room 1705? How big was this school, anyway?
I looked up to see a large wall of smooth black marble with Hallow’s High School chiseled neatly above the large archway. There were soaring glass towers on either side of the school, with one long sky bridge between them. It seemed impossible that it should hold, being so long, but there it stood.
“Hey, Jackie, where’s room 1705?” I asked. I turned to glance at Salex, and saw him flinch, his back to us. He walked away stiffly, completely ignoring me. Well, let him do what he wants, I thought. It’s not like I was interested anyway.
“It’s up in the left wing tower, top floor. It’s stairs, I’m afraid. Climbing up there should merit a physical education credit, if you ask me.” She said. “Salex has it, just follow him,”
“I don’t think he likes me very much,” I said, folding the paper up and pocketing it.
“That’s just Salex for you,” she laughed. “He’s a bit bipolar.”
“Really? He was acting kind of like this last night,” I said, confused.
“Catch up to him, quickly! He’ll warm up to you eventually,” When I turned back to look for his tall, dark form, he was gone.
“He’s gone,” I said. “I guess I’m on my own…” when I turned back, Jackie was gone. I sighed, turning to go into the school with the last few students.
A few minutes later, I was running up the stairs as fast as I could, my leg muscles burning, my lungs screaming for me to stop. This, of course, meant the bell rang when I was nearly halfway up the tower.
The stairs were made of white marble, but the wall of the tower was glass. I hugged the inside wall; I hated heights, and this wasn’t helping at all.
About five minutes more of dashing up the stairs left me wheezing and coughing as I clasped the handle of the classroom. An older-looking man with graying hair and glasses, tall and thin, turned to look at the door. I opened the door quickly, trying not to sound like a fish without water.
“You must be Adrianna,” he said in a tenor voice. He smiled at me. I smiled back, still trying to breathe. I looked around the classroom; my face was probably tomato red by now. What a great first impression, I thought sarcastically. My eyes picked out that dark-haired form sitting in the back of the classroom, his eyes focused on me with some emotion written on his face I couldn’t understand. He looked almost angry.
“You can sit back there by the young man in the black. Go ahead and get acquainted, quickly, I’m going to start the lesson.” I nodded, my throat dry. I walked to the back of the classroom, sitting next to him. He stiffened, as if someone was running an electrical current through him.
“Hello, Adrianna.”
“Hi, Salex,” I whispered. “Call me Adri, Adrianna is… well, really long.”
He just looked at me, as if to say, Do you really think I care how long it is?
I rolled my eyes, ignoring his reaction and trying to listen to Dr. Alucard.
The class period passed quickly, and when the bell rang, Salex stood and walked past me, backpack over his shoulder. He left a trail of an AXE-like smell, one of coconut and sweet coffee. I was confused, but ignored it, taking out my paper and looking at the next class. I asked Dr. Alucard where it was; he directed me. I sighed; I had sprinted down the tower stairs, nearly killing myself several times in the process. I had to sprint all the way across an open area with trees and grass, seeming as if lunch was being set up. This school was like a labyrinth. I made it to the mouth of the hallway the class was supposed to be in when the bell rang, giving it up and walking the rest of the way, catching my breathe. I understood what Jackie meant now- it really was as good as a physical education class.
“Ah! There’s the new student!” A pale, young looking man stuck his head out of the classroom doorway. He had bright red hair and reddish-brown eyes, as well as a perfectly white, friendly smile. “Come in, quickly, quickly, we’re about to start,” he ushered me in, offering his hand.
“I’m Mr. Feonicks,” he said. “You must be Adrianna,” I shook his hand, looking around the room. It was decorated in blacks, reds, and golds, the whiteboard at the front of the classroom completely untouched, though there were three markers there: red, black, and yellow. I assumed they didn’t make a gold whiteboard marker. Everything seemed ridiculously angular, straight, almost OCD. He was dressed in black dress clothes, his black church shoes shined to perfection. His hair was extremely red, like you only see with hair dye, but his roots were the same color. I was alternating between two possibilities: either he dyed his hair and was extremely eccentric, or it was naturally that color and he was OCD and a bit wild. His hair seemed to have gel in it, but it was messy, in a way that looked formal. It was a very different look for a teacher, compared to the previous period’s Dr. Alucard, but he pulled it off well. I nodded.
“Yep, I’m Adrianna.”
“Unbelievable,” I heard someone whisper. “She’s in this class too?”
“Apparently. Now shut up.” I turned to look at the two who had been talking; it was Salex and a boy I didn’t recognize. The boy had blonde hair and deep brown eyes, and looked at me with scrutinizing eyes. I watched him carefully. Salex’s arms were folded, and he watched me with careful anger as I found an open seat. Everywhere I went, I was turned away.
“Someone already sits here,”
“This seat’s taken,”
“They just didn’t come today,”
Mr. Feonicks sighed.
“I assumed you would all be a little more welcoming. Salex, Dawson, you two have some room on your table. Share,” Salex looked peeved, and the blonde boy looked blown away. “Now,” Mr. Feonicks’ voice turned hostile and dangerous; the room rose in temperature instantaneously. They readjusted themselves; I felt completely out of place sitting next to them. The class passed slowly as they both stared at me, even though the assignment had been given. I knew how to do it, though it took me some time and a few pieces of paper, since my handwriting was large.
“Having any trouble?” red hair appeared next to me out of nowhere, surprising me.
“N-no,” I lied, though there were several problems I was having problems with.
“She’s having trouble with sixteen, twenty-two, thirty-seven, and forty-one.” Salex said smoothly, his assignment already finished. I looked up at him, shocked. Why would he care what problems I was having trouble with?
“Well, Salex, since you’re already finished, why don’t you help her?” Salex turned angry black eyes on Mr. Feonicks.
“Re bai ne kert sva re an,” Salex said angrily. I couldn’t even recognize the origins of the language they were using, much less the meaning of their words.
“Er temo! Ku ner de va!” Mr. Feonicks barked. Salex growled, looking at Mr. Feonicks venomously, then to me. His expression changed to indifferent as he looked at me. But he didn’t really look at me; he was looking at my papers. His slim, pale fingers took it gently from beneath my hands, examining it with cold, bored eyes.
“Sixteen had a number error in the original written problem,” he said, going on to list the problems with the others and showing me how to do them correctly. He was careful not to make physical contact, and pointed with his pencil. I couldn’t help but wonder why.
Later on, once I was finished and Salex had begun ignoring me again, Dawson, his blonde friend, kept glaring at me. Salex commenced glaring at him; it was like this until the end of class. I wondered how such an unlikely pair could be friends.
I pulled my paper out to find my next class; I got directions as the bell rang, sprinting to class. As I stepped into class, I ran into the black-clad chest of one of the boys Jackie and I walked to school with. I struggled to remember his name, or even if we had been introduced, stuttering out an apology. His chain necklace and tan neck were all I could see for a moment, and then he was helping me to stand.
‘Whoa, are you alright?” he asked, my head spinning from the smell of his cologne.
“Yeah, I’m so sorry!” I said, completely embarrassed. Leave it to me to mess up on my first day.
“Hey, it’s fine,” he smiled down at me, still wearing his dark mirror sunglasses, even though we were inside. “Watch out for Salex, though. He looks pretty much like me but with pale skin, and he’s seriously angry for some reason.”
‘Yeah, I know him.” I said. “I had to sit by him in my last two classes.”
“You walk to school with Jackie, right?”
“Yeah, you do too, I recognize you,”
“We never got introduced,” he laughed, watching me carefully as we went down the steep spiral stairs to the classroom. “I’m Jeff,”
“Adrianna,” I replied. “Call me Adri,” from here, it looked like the whole room was just a large concrete area lit by candles. Shadows played on the walls with the dancing light, making everything a bit eerie.
“It’s unusual, but you get used to it,” he said, as if reading my thoughts.
“How can you wear sunglasses when it’s this dark?” I asked.
“I just can,” He answered. We walked to where the rest of the students were, a man in a white karate outfit standing at the front. Unbelievably, Salex’s eyes were focused on me, glaring, as per usual now. As we drew closer, he looked away angrily, heaving a sigh and staring at a point on the ceiling.
“Just stand back here,” Jeff whispered. “Coach doesn’t like being interrupted.” I pressed my back against the wall, finally getting a good look at the teacher. He had a shaved head and pale skin. Wide set blue eyes were hung above a pointed nose, and thin lips floated above his cleft chin. His eyes flew around the room, then came back to settle on me.
“Oh, hello,” he said with a British accent. “You must be the new student,”
“That’s me,” I smiled somewhat, lifting my hand in a half-wave to the people who turned around and looked.
“What was your name again?” He asked. “I’m terrible with names,”
“I’m Adrianna,” I said.
“Any preference for nicknames?”
“I go by Adri,” one pair of eyes focused on my with deadly anger; they burned into me fiercly, as if trying to destroy me. I turned to glare back at him, hoping he would look away when I did. Instead, he held my gaze, glaring at me with a look dark enough to kill. I shivered internally, still glaring at him. The shadows on his face made his cheeks and eyes look sunken in part of the way, as if he were deathly ill.
“Stop staring, it’s rude,” he said.
“At least I don’t act like somebody’s stabbed me whenever you’re around,” I snarled back.
“Keep this up and you’ll fail math,” he retorted.
“Who said I needed your help?” I asked angrily.
“A little birdie told me,” some of the kids from our math class snickered, as if it was an inside joke I didn’t get. It was clear he was witty, observant, and his tongue was as sharp as a razor. I shut my mouth, ignoring him, some of the students still giggling.
The teacher went on with the lesson, demonstrating difficult moves and having some of us try them. I was thankful he didn’t pick on me because I was the new kid, but I thought too soon. They had pulled out mats so that a fall wasn’t as hard, and he demonstrated a 540 degree kick.
“Now, I need someone to repeat this move. No one? Hmmm… Adri, would you like to demonstrate?” Some of the kids laughed, as if I couldn’t do it. I ignored them and removed my shoes. Salex only looked at me with curiosity in his eyes. He wondered if I could do it.
“Sure,” I sighed, dropping my backpack and striding to the front of the classroom. I stood on the mat and wound my body up like he had, executing the kick like I had when I had taken martial arts as a child. There was a stunned silence as I turned to look at the teacher, folding my arms.
“What else do you want me to pull off?”
“Let’s see how well you do with…”
“Competition!” Jeff had cupped his hands around his mouth to make a megaphone, magnifying his voice.
“Alright, competition. Get into pairs.” Jeff ran up to me, smiling.
“I’ll be your partner,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you,”
“You don’t have to,” I tried to assure him.
“But I will,”
“You don’t want to,” I said as he threw his shoes by his bag. He came at me jabbing, and I took his wrist and elbow in my hands, twisting them behind his back, pushing the back of his knee with my foot and sending him to the ground.
“I told you so,” I said in his ear. He only smirked.
“Adrianna wins her first round. Who’s next?” Coach called. There was a grunt, and Salex stood over a boy twice his width and the same height. The larger boy wheezed; Salex looked over at me, unimpressed.
Eventually, I came head to head with Salex; he was alert, and had watched me fight over and over, since his fights were over quickly. I didn’t know how I could beat him, but he seemed to be limping on his left leg slightly after one of the more recent fights. From what, exactly, I didn’t know.
He stood in front of me, jacket and shoes off, staring off into space. I waited for him to attack out of nowhere unexpectedly, but when he didn’t, I waited more. I waited until I was certain he wasn’t paying attention, and then went to kick his left knee. As soon as my foot should have met his leg, he grabbed my hair and had jumped from one side of me to the other, kneeling on my legs with one of his and using his other hand to grab my wrist and twist my arm around my back. I felt like a pretzel. He bent to speak in my ear, just like I had to Jeff.
“Nice move. Next time, you shouldn’t wait so long.” He was gripping my hair hard enough to make tears spring to my eyes. I hated losing, and I felt humiliated. He let me go; my shoulder was sore, and my knees felt like jelly. He hadn’t gone easy, that was for sure. He stalked off the mat silently, slipping his shoes on and grabbing his backpack. He flew up the stairs silently, like a shadow, before I could even get up. I heard the door slam shut, and he was gone.
“Yep, come on in.” Dad said. “Adrianna!”
“Coming,” I said, throwing a breakfast bar into my bag and throwing it over my shoulder as I climbed the stairs.
“You’re wearing that?!” Jackie said, her eyebrows rising.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Have a good day, Adri,” Dad said. I smiled and nodded, giving him a hug and leaving with Jackie.
“I’m going to help you get ready, okay?”
“I’m good to go,” I said.
“Not in that, you aren’t,” she said. “Do you want everyone staring?”
“I look how I normally do,” I answered.
“And that’s just it. No one looks normal here. Our ‘normal’ is completely whacked out, Halloween style.” She said with a smile. “Come on, I’ll give you an awesome costume.” She grabbed my forearm and led me to her house, taking me down to her room and having me sit on her perfectly made bed. Her room was massive; her walk in closet was nearly as big. She pulled out a pair of black cat ears and a cat tail, having me put them on. She was gentle with the black eyeliner, and didn’t speak as she put it on. She just had me close my eyes. It was a cold liquid, the expensive kind, and she applied it with quick skill. When I opened my eyes, I looked like something out of a Halloween magazine, and the shadows under my eyes were barely visible. There were whiskers painted in it on my cheeks as well, little dots on my upper lip. She pulled out pink eyeliner, drawing a cold triangle on my nose for the cat nose.
“Voila,” she said. “The perfect cat,”
“Thanks!” I exclaimed, laughing. “Wow,”
“Ready to go to school?” She asked.
“Sure!” I said, standing. We left the house, walking to the end of the street where a group was gathering.
“That’s our group,” she said. Max turned and smiled at her, waving. She blushed.
“How long have you two been together?” I asked. She turned to me and blushed even deeper.
“A very, very long time.” Was her answer.
Dark eyes followed me angrily as I walked closer. His dark hair made his pale skin stand out shockingly, his black eyes following my every move. I returned his angry gaze every few moments, and when we started walking, he fell behind me. I could feel his eyes on me all the way there. I considered confronting him, demanding what his problem was, but decided to let it go and learn what I could from the people he knew. I didn’t want an uninformed argument.
The bell rang; I pulled my schedule out to look at my first period. It was an art class, taught by a Dr. Alucard. Room 1705? How big was this school, anyway?
I looked up to see a large wall of smooth black marble with Hallow’s High School chiseled neatly above the large archway. There were soaring glass towers on either side of the school, with one long sky bridge between them. It seemed impossible that it should hold, being so long, but there it stood.
“Hey, Jackie, where’s room 1705?” I asked. I turned to glance at Salex, and saw him flinch, his back to us. He walked away stiffly, completely ignoring me. Well, let him do what he wants, I thought. It’s not like I was interested anyway.
“It’s up in the left wing tower, top floor. It’s stairs, I’m afraid. Climbing up there should merit a physical education credit, if you ask me.” She said. “Salex has it, just follow him,”
“I don’t think he likes me very much,” I said, folding the paper up and pocketing it.
“That’s just Salex for you,” she laughed. “He’s a bit bipolar.”
“Really? He was acting kind of like this last night,” I said, confused.
“Catch up to him, quickly! He’ll warm up to you eventually,” When I turned back to look for his tall, dark form, he was gone.
“He’s gone,” I said. “I guess I’m on my own…” when I turned back, Jackie was gone. I sighed, turning to go into the school with the last few students.
A few minutes later, I was running up the stairs as fast as I could, my leg muscles burning, my lungs screaming for me to stop. This, of course, meant the bell rang when I was nearly halfway up the tower.
The stairs were made of white marble, but the wall of the tower was glass. I hugged the inside wall; I hated heights, and this wasn’t helping at all.
About five minutes more of dashing up the stairs left me wheezing and coughing as I clasped the handle of the classroom. An older-looking man with graying hair and glasses, tall and thin, turned to look at the door. I opened the door quickly, trying not to sound like a fish without water.
“You must be Adrianna,” he said in a tenor voice. He smiled at me. I smiled back, still trying to breathe. I looked around the classroom; my face was probably tomato red by now. What a great first impression, I thought sarcastically. My eyes picked out that dark-haired form sitting in the back of the classroom, his eyes focused on me with some emotion written on his face I couldn’t understand. He looked almost angry.
“You can sit back there by the young man in the black. Go ahead and get acquainted, quickly, I’m going to start the lesson.” I nodded, my throat dry. I walked to the back of the classroom, sitting next to him. He stiffened, as if someone was running an electrical current through him.
“Hello, Adrianna.”
“Hi, Salex,” I whispered. “Call me Adri, Adrianna is… well, really long.”
He just looked at me, as if to say, Do you really think I care how long it is?
I rolled my eyes, ignoring his reaction and trying to listen to Dr. Alucard.
The class period passed quickly, and when the bell rang, Salex stood and walked past me, backpack over his shoulder. He left a trail of an AXE-like smell, one of coconut and sweet coffee. I was confused, but ignored it, taking out my paper and looking at the next class. I asked Dr. Alucard where it was; he directed me. I sighed; I had sprinted down the tower stairs, nearly killing myself several times in the process. I had to sprint all the way across an open area with trees and grass, seeming as if lunch was being set up. This school was like a labyrinth. I made it to the mouth of the hallway the class was supposed to be in when the bell rang, giving it up and walking the rest of the way, catching my breathe. I understood what Jackie meant now- it really was as good as a physical education class.
“Ah! There’s the new student!” A pale, young looking man stuck his head out of the classroom doorway. He had bright red hair and reddish-brown eyes, as well as a perfectly white, friendly smile. “Come in, quickly, quickly, we’re about to start,” he ushered me in, offering his hand.
“I’m Mr. Feonicks,” he said. “You must be Adrianna,” I shook his hand, looking around the room. It was decorated in blacks, reds, and golds, the whiteboard at the front of the classroom completely untouched, though there were three markers there: red, black, and yellow. I assumed they didn’t make a gold whiteboard marker. Everything seemed ridiculously angular, straight, almost OCD. He was dressed in black dress clothes, his black church shoes shined to perfection. His hair was extremely red, like you only see with hair dye, but his roots were the same color. I was alternating between two possibilities: either he dyed his hair and was extremely eccentric, or it was naturally that color and he was OCD and a bit wild. His hair seemed to have gel in it, but it was messy, in a way that looked formal. It was a very different look for a teacher, compared to the previous period’s Dr. Alucard, but he pulled it off well. I nodded.
“Yep, I’m Adrianna.”
“Unbelievable,” I heard someone whisper. “She’s in this class too?”
“Apparently. Now shut up.” I turned to look at the two who had been talking; it was Salex and a boy I didn’t recognize. The boy had blonde hair and deep brown eyes, and looked at me with scrutinizing eyes. I watched him carefully. Salex’s arms were folded, and he watched me with careful anger as I found an open seat. Everywhere I went, I was turned away.
“Someone already sits here,”
“This seat’s taken,”
“They just didn’t come today,”
Mr. Feonicks sighed.
“I assumed you would all be a little more welcoming. Salex, Dawson, you two have some room on your table. Share,” Salex looked peeved, and the blonde boy looked blown away. “Now,” Mr. Feonicks’ voice turned hostile and dangerous; the room rose in temperature instantaneously. They readjusted themselves; I felt completely out of place sitting next to them. The class passed slowly as they both stared at me, even though the assignment had been given. I knew how to do it, though it took me some time and a few pieces of paper, since my handwriting was large.
“Having any trouble?” red hair appeared next to me out of nowhere, surprising me.
“N-no,” I lied, though there were several problems I was having problems with.
“She’s having trouble with sixteen, twenty-two, thirty-seven, and forty-one.” Salex said smoothly, his assignment already finished. I looked up at him, shocked. Why would he care what problems I was having trouble with?
“Well, Salex, since you’re already finished, why don’t you help her?” Salex turned angry black eyes on Mr. Feonicks.
“Re bai ne kert sva re an,” Salex said angrily. I couldn’t even recognize the origins of the language they were using, much less the meaning of their words.
“Er temo! Ku ner de va!” Mr. Feonicks barked. Salex growled, looking at Mr. Feonicks venomously, then to me. His expression changed to indifferent as he looked at me. But he didn’t really look at me; he was looking at my papers. His slim, pale fingers took it gently from beneath my hands, examining it with cold, bored eyes.
“Sixteen had a number error in the original written problem,” he said, going on to list the problems with the others and showing me how to do them correctly. He was careful not to make physical contact, and pointed with his pencil. I couldn’t help but wonder why.
Later on, once I was finished and Salex had begun ignoring me again, Dawson, his blonde friend, kept glaring at me. Salex commenced glaring at him; it was like this until the end of class. I wondered how such an unlikely pair could be friends.
I pulled my paper out to find my next class; I got directions as the bell rang, sprinting to class. As I stepped into class, I ran into the black-clad chest of one of the boys Jackie and I walked to school with. I struggled to remember his name, or even if we had been introduced, stuttering out an apology. His chain necklace and tan neck were all I could see for a moment, and then he was helping me to stand.
‘Whoa, are you alright?” he asked, my head spinning from the smell of his cologne.
“Yeah, I’m so sorry!” I said, completely embarrassed. Leave it to me to mess up on my first day.
“Hey, it’s fine,” he smiled down at me, still wearing his dark mirror sunglasses, even though we were inside. “Watch out for Salex, though. He looks pretty much like me but with pale skin, and he’s seriously angry for some reason.”
‘Yeah, I know him.” I said. “I had to sit by him in my last two classes.”
“You walk to school with Jackie, right?”
“Yeah, you do too, I recognize you,”
“We never got introduced,” he laughed, watching me carefully as we went down the steep spiral stairs to the classroom. “I’m Jeff,”
“Adrianna,” I replied. “Call me Adri,” from here, it looked like the whole room was just a large concrete area lit by candles. Shadows played on the walls with the dancing light, making everything a bit eerie.
“It’s unusual, but you get used to it,” he said, as if reading my thoughts.
“How can you wear sunglasses when it’s this dark?” I asked.
“I just can,” He answered. We walked to where the rest of the students were, a man in a white karate outfit standing at the front. Unbelievably, Salex’s eyes were focused on me, glaring, as per usual now. As we drew closer, he looked away angrily, heaving a sigh and staring at a point on the ceiling.
“Just stand back here,” Jeff whispered. “Coach doesn’t like being interrupted.” I pressed my back against the wall, finally getting a good look at the teacher. He had a shaved head and pale skin. Wide set blue eyes were hung above a pointed nose, and thin lips floated above his cleft chin. His eyes flew around the room, then came back to settle on me.
“Oh, hello,” he said with a British accent. “You must be the new student,”
“That’s me,” I smiled somewhat, lifting my hand in a half-wave to the people who turned around and looked.
“What was your name again?” He asked. “I’m terrible with names,”
“I’m Adrianna,” I said.
“Any preference for nicknames?”
“I go by Adri,” one pair of eyes focused on my with deadly anger; they burned into me fiercly, as if trying to destroy me. I turned to glare back at him, hoping he would look away when I did. Instead, he held my gaze, glaring at me with a look dark enough to kill. I shivered internally, still glaring at him. The shadows on his face made his cheeks and eyes look sunken in part of the way, as if he were deathly ill.
“Stop staring, it’s rude,” he said.
“At least I don’t act like somebody’s stabbed me whenever you’re around,” I snarled back.
“Keep this up and you’ll fail math,” he retorted.
“Who said I needed your help?” I asked angrily.
“A little birdie told me,” some of the kids from our math class snickered, as if it was an inside joke I didn’t get. It was clear he was witty, observant, and his tongue was as sharp as a razor. I shut my mouth, ignoring him, some of the students still giggling.
The teacher went on with the lesson, demonstrating difficult moves and having some of us try them. I was thankful he didn’t pick on me because I was the new kid, but I thought too soon. They had pulled out mats so that a fall wasn’t as hard, and he demonstrated a 540 degree kick.
“Now, I need someone to repeat this move. No one? Hmmm… Adri, would you like to demonstrate?” Some of the kids laughed, as if I couldn’t do it. I ignored them and removed my shoes. Salex only looked at me with curiosity in his eyes. He wondered if I could do it.
“Sure,” I sighed, dropping my backpack and striding to the front of the classroom. I stood on the mat and wound my body up like he had, executing the kick like I had when I had taken martial arts as a child. There was a stunned silence as I turned to look at the teacher, folding my arms.
“What else do you want me to pull off?”
“Let’s see how well you do with…”
“Competition!” Jeff had cupped his hands around his mouth to make a megaphone, magnifying his voice.
“Alright, competition. Get into pairs.” Jeff ran up to me, smiling.
“I’ll be your partner,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you,”
“You don’t have to,” I tried to assure him.
“But I will,”
“You don’t want to,” I said as he threw his shoes by his bag. He came at me jabbing, and I took his wrist and elbow in my hands, twisting them behind his back, pushing the back of his knee with my foot and sending him to the ground.
“I told you so,” I said in his ear. He only smirked.
“Adrianna wins her first round. Who’s next?” Coach called. There was a grunt, and Salex stood over a boy twice his width and the same height. The larger boy wheezed; Salex looked over at me, unimpressed.
Eventually, I came head to head with Salex; he was alert, and had watched me fight over and over, since his fights were over quickly. I didn’t know how I could beat him, but he seemed to be limping on his left leg slightly after one of the more recent fights. From what, exactly, I didn’t know.
He stood in front of me, jacket and shoes off, staring off into space. I waited for him to attack out of nowhere unexpectedly, but when he didn’t, I waited more. I waited until I was certain he wasn’t paying attention, and then went to kick his left knee. As soon as my foot should have met his leg, he grabbed my hair and had jumped from one side of me to the other, kneeling on my legs with one of his and using his other hand to grab my wrist and twist my arm around my back. I felt like a pretzel. He bent to speak in my ear, just like I had to Jeff.
“Nice move. Next time, you shouldn’t wait so long.” He was gripping my hair hard enough to make tears spring to my eyes. I hated losing, and I felt humiliated. He let me go; my shoulder was sore, and my knees felt like jelly. He hadn’t gone easy, that was for sure. He stalked off the mat silently, slipping his shoes on and grabbing his backpack. He flew up the stairs silently, like a shadow, before I could even get up. I heard the door slam shut, and he was gone.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Update
Alright everyone, I promise, I am working on chapter 4!!! It's a little hard when your own characters define themselves so clearly that they hijack the story.
In other news:
Vampire Knight english Dub comes out July 20th, with Vic as Zero's voice, only making him more epic
I found a theme song for Salex and Thanatos. It fits their story so well. My friend Zizi-chan showed it to me at an all-nighter last night, i actually fell asleep listening to it. I will explain it, but beware, there are major spoilers. And I mean MAJOR. Well, no one really gets on here anyway, what does it matter I guess?
Thanatos:
White walls surround us
No light will touch your face again
Rain taps the window
As we sleep among the dead
Salex:
Days go on forever
But i have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will i
Salex:
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
Thanatos:
Cold light above us
Hope fills the heart
And fades away
Skin white as winter
As the sky returns to grey
Thanatos:
Days go on forever
But i have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will i
Thanatos:
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you
But i can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels
Then say the last goodbye
Salex:
Your're dead alive (x4)
Both:
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you
But i can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
White walls surround us
No light will touch your face again
Rain taps the window
As we sleep among the dead
(The wedding night...accident.)
Days go on forever
But i have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will i
(Salex wondering what to do now that she is gone.)
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
(Salex on Adrianna)
Cold light above us
Hope fills the heart
And fades away
Skin white as winter
As the sky returns to grey
(Thanatos on Salex in the beginning)
Days go on forever
But i have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will i
(Thanatos on Isabel)
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you
But i can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels
Then say the last goodbye
(Thanatos on Isabel)
Your're dead alive (x4)
(Salex on Adri)
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you
But i can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
(Both of them on Adri and Isabel)
if you're clueless on Isabel you'll find out later.
In other news:
Vampire Knight english Dub comes out July 20th, with Vic as Zero's voice, only making him more epic
I found a theme song for Salex and Thanatos. It fits their story so well. My friend Zizi-chan showed it to me at an all-nighter last night, i actually fell asleep listening to it. I will explain it, but beware, there are major spoilers. And I mean MAJOR. Well, no one really gets on here anyway, what does it matter I guess?
Thanatos:
White walls surround us
No light will touch your face again
Rain taps the window
As we sleep among the dead
Salex:
Days go on forever
But i have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will i
Salex:
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
Thanatos:
Cold light above us
Hope fills the heart
And fades away
Skin white as winter
As the sky returns to grey
Thanatos:
Days go on forever
But i have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will i
Thanatos:
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you
But i can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels
Then say the last goodbye
Salex:
Your're dead alive (x4)
Both:
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you
But i can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
White walls surround us
No light will touch your face again
Rain taps the window
As we sleep among the dead
(The wedding night...accident.)
Days go on forever
But i have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will i
(Salex wondering what to do now that she is gone.)
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
(Salex on Adrianna)
Cold light above us
Hope fills the heart
And fades away
Skin white as winter
As the sky returns to grey
(Thanatos on Salex in the beginning)
Days go on forever
But i have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will i
(Thanatos on Isabel)
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you
But i can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels
Then say the last goodbye
(Thanatos on Isabel)
Your're dead alive (x4)
(Salex on Adri)
There is nothing left of you
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you
But i can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
(Both of them on Adri and Isabel)
if you're clueless on Isabel you'll find out later.
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