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.

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!