It was just a matter of time.
He didn’t know how he felt about that.
Part of the Curse wanted the boy to find a way to stop him. Dying at the hands of the last Merryweather would be a fitting end for Sha’ha’Zel. But he knew that this was an impossible wish. If the boy’s grandfather couldn’t stand up to his blades, than the boy didn’t stand a chance of defeating him.
Sha’ha’Zel looked at the torn and bloody corpses of the grohlm and shook his head. The time was coming. His end was near. He just hoped that Brandon Merrryweather would be the last.
Chapter 31
Claire went up to her room as soon as she got home, careful not to let her parents see her reddened face and the tears streaking her cheek. Upstairs, her bedroom door closed and safely locked, she threw herself onto her bed and began to weep in earnest. This kind of pain was completely new to Claire. The tearing heart-wrenching feelings coursing through her now were nowhere near the small disappointments she’d known in her short life so far. It felt like somebody had punched a whole into her chest and pulled out her heart, whole and beating.
She lay that way for a long time, sobbing into her pillow, before she heard her mother’s soft knock on her door. “Claire?” Her voice was soft. “Claire, please open the door.”
Getting up and answering seemed like far too great an exertion to her, but Claire forced herself up and trudged to the door. Leaning against it, wiping at her face with her sleeve, she said through the door. “I’m okay, mom. I’m just tired, is all.” She tried to make her voice high and happy. She failed miserably.
“Open the door, honey.” Her mother said. She sounded firm, it was her I’m not leaving until you do as I say voice.
Claire waited a beat before opening the door and meeting her mother’s concerned gaze. “I really am okay, mom.” Though she knew she looked anything but. Her face was flushed and red. Her one good eye was swollen from crying. And her damn nose was running. She sniffed and wiped at it with her sleeve.
Her mom just looked at her, her eyes compassionate and the exact same shade of green as Claire’s. She didn’t say anything. She just stepped into the room and wrapped her arms around her daughter and gave her the hug that she knew the heartbroken girl needed. There would be time for talking and motherly advice later. For now, she would be there for her daughter and listen if she wanted to talk and hold her if she wanted to be held.
Chapter 32
Brandon’s first day back at school was a nightmare. That morning, he took his new friend with him, hoping that the rock in his pocket was more than just a delusion conjured by a fractured young mind. The night he found the strange stone had already taken on the aspects of a dream, like his glimpses of his grandfather’s world, and he found himself holding the stone in his palm just to prove to himself it was real. The entire walk to school, he tried different conversational gambits in order to get Rok to talk to him, but the God was stubbornly silent. It was as he reached the front steps of the school that Rok finally broke his silence. The Kruegers were standing outside, watching as Brandon walked up. Both boys stared daggers at Brandon as he took the steps up to the front doors.
As Brandon passed them, Perry said. “What’s up, mama‘s boy?” Luke laughed and snorted, nudging his brother with his elbow.
“Let him be, bro.” Luke’s smile was ugly. He said. “Don’t you know? Guy’s got a girlfriend now. Sure, she’s a freaking Cyclops, but pansy here is in love.”
Brandon stopped and looked at the two boys. All he did was look at them, but both of them blinked at him and took a step back. Not saying anything, Brandon went inside. Rok spoke inside his skull. “I have allied myself with a coward.”
That was all that the god said.
Brandon didn’t respond. Moving through the crowded hall, he made his way to his locker. As he was getting his books out, there was a hesitant touch at his elbow. He turned, hoping it was Claire, but Albert was there instead.
“Hey, Bran.” Albert said, his voice hushed. The kid was far too shy. He looked around, checking the hall. “I’m glad you’re back. It’s been hell with you gone. The Kruegers have been all over me.” “Sorry, Albert.” Brandon said, closing his locker and walking with Albert to class. “A lot of things have been happening. They weren’t too bad, I hope.”
“Not too bad, I guess.” Albert said. They rounded the corner, almost to Judkin’s classroom. “The teachers seem to be keeping a closer eye on them. I think it’s because of what they tried to do to you and Claire.”
Brandon didn’t say anything. As they reached the door to Judkin’s class, Claire appeared at the end of the hall. She saw Brandon as she was going into her 1st period class. She stopped, staring in his direction, then turned away.
Albert was looking that way too. He nudged Brandon’s elbow. “We’re going to be late.”
“Yeah.” Brandon said, watching the place where Claire had been standing. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”
Chapter 33
1st period for Claire was Miss. Sawyer’s Spanish class. Miss. Sawyer, a young woman with dark black hair and chocolate skin, always began her classes by greeting the kids in Spanish and telling them about her day. She spoke only in Spanish as she recounted the day before and her morning, and they would be quizzed at the end of the week on her little speeches.
The quiz would only be for bonus points, but it was a matter of pride for most of the students to be able to pass the quiz. Claire had yet to fail one. She went to her seat and placed her bag on the floor beside her desk. As she was sliding her book out of her backpack, her friend, Emily, leaned forward in her seat and whispered. “Hey, Claire.”
“Hey.” Claire said, sitting up and opening her book. The bell hadn’t rung yet, giving everyone a minute to visit before class started. “How was your weekend?”
“The same as always.” Emily said, shrugging her shoulders. She leaned close, whispering. “So what’s up with you and Brandon? You guys going out, or what?”
Claire shook her head. “We’re just friends.”
“Why?” Emily said, giving Claire a sultry look. “Are you playing hard to get?” When Claire didn’t answer right away, Emily arched an eyebrow and said. “Is he?”
Claire shook her head, not quite knowing what to say. “He’s going through a lot, right now. And I don’t think he’s ready for any kind of relationship.”
“God, I’m sorry.” Emily said, putting her hand over her mouth. “I’m putting my nose where it doesn’t belong, aren’t I?”
“No, it’s okay.” Claire said, turning in her seat. “It’s just, I’m not sure what he wants from me. He confuses me.”
Emily laughed and said, on top of the bell. “That’s because he’s a boy.”
Claire wished that she could smile at the truth of her friend’s words, but she didn’t have the heart for it. She couldn’t stop thinking about Bran and the night before. She wanted to stop loving him, to put away the hurt that was making it so hard for her to concentrate on what Miss. Sawyer was saying, but she couldn’t make herself do it. She loved him so much that it hurt to even think of not seeing him anymore.
But she would do what she had to. If he thought that being with her would put her in danger, then she would just have to stay away from him.
Up front, Miss. Sawyer was talking about what she had for breakfast. Claire pushed Bran as far out of her mind as she could and tried to concentrate on the lesson. She noticed absently that her friend Tina was gone and tried to remember if she had seen her the day before. She would ask Emily after class, she decided.
Chapter 34
As the day wore on, Brandon zombie walked through the halls, paying little attention to his surroundings. He stayed on autopilot, navigating around amused glances and concerned looks like a WWII Submarine pilot driving through a field of depth charges. Nobody commented on it except for a couple of his teachers. And all they did was ask him if he was feeling okay? Was he really up to being at school?
Brandon would just nod and go on to the next class, ignoring the looks that people in the halls threw his way. He had no idea what all the curiosity was about, but he felt like a bug underneath a microscope. At lunch, he wanted to sit by himself, but Albert wouldn’t allow it. He knew enough not to say too much, but he nattered on about how the last few days had been. About the things that the Kruegers had done to him.
The first day that Brandon missed, the twins tossed Albert into the girl’s restroom, yanking his shorts down around his ankles before they did it. The girls inside had ran out screaming and a crowd had gathered by the time Albert worked up enough nerve to leave the restroom. They applauded when he stepped outside, laughing at him the whole time.
The second day, they caught him outside after lunch and took turns shoving him into the long hedge that ran around the perimeter of the cafeteria. The leaves were hard and sharp, pricking like a hundred needles every time he was hurled into the bushes. He was crying and bleeding from dozens of shallow scratches by the time they finished.
The third day, he said, they caught him in the hall, between each of his classes, and tortured him with wedgies and slammed him into lockers. Nobody did anything to stop them. The kids in the hall just watched, some of them wincing, as if remembering when it happened to them, but none so much as saying a word to stop them from beating the hell out of Albert.
Albert told Brandon all this while they were eating lunch. Brandon could only nod, every so often, and say. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to stop them, Albert.” “It wasn’t so bad.” Albert said, shrugging his round little shoulders. “I got to see the inside of the girl’s restroom. Did you know that they have a tampon machine in there? I swear to god, it’s the craziest thing.”
Brandon could only nod his head, faking a smile. He could see Claire, sitting with some girls at another table. He tried not to look in her direction, but it was hard. He watched her from the corner of his eye, his pulse quickening every time she looked his way. The girls that she sat with looked his way, as well, giggling into their hands and talking to Claire.
He never saw Claire giggle.
Not once.
After lunch, the day seemed to slow way down. He faked his way through art class. They played dodge ball in Phys Ed. Brandon took out a lot of his pent up aggression on the other kids, making a special effort to pound the jerkier of the kids in his class. He used every trick Gerrick had taught him so far to keep from being hit and went through the whole period without getting knocked out once. He was pretty sure that Coach Thomas was going to pull him aside and try to talk him into joining the football team, once class was over, so he made sure to be the first person out of the gym.
He nodded off during computer class. But there were no dreams. He was thankful for that.
Chapter 35
6th period was Art class for Claire. Once again, she was sitting next to Emily. Brandon’s friend, Albert, was sitting behind the two girls, trying to draw a picture of an elephant. Emily leaned over, whispering at Claire. “So, since you’re not going to be spending every waking hour with the new boy, do you want to go out tonight?”
Claire looked at Emily and started to shake her head, saying. “I don’t know. I don’t really feel up to entertaining. Or running around.”
“Come on.” Emily said, her tone pleading. “There’s going to be a raging party out at the old mill tonight. You have to come with me.”
“I don’t know, Emily.”
“Please, Claire. Everyone’s going to be there.” Emily said. “And you need to get out. You’ve been so wrapped up in Brandon that you’ve been ignoring your friends.”
Claire looked at Emily. Her eye patch that day was blue, with a single yellow star in the center of it. Other than Emily and Tina, Claire didn’t have many close friends. Most girls were put off by her eye patch. She wasn’t completely ostracized, mostly because of how pretty she was and how upbeat and outgoing she stayed. But making friends had always been hard for her. Her dad was a Pediatrician at Matheson Medical Center and one of the most respected doctors in the state, so most kids just assumed that she was a spoiled little rich girl. It took a lot to get Claire to let down her guard and really trust somebody. Like she trusted Emily.
And how she had trusted Brandon.
Claire said, looking down at her hands. “I know.” She looked up, smiling. “It’s just hard not to want to spend all of my time with him.”
“And look what that got you.” Emily said. “I know it sounds bitchy, but he’s a jerk if he can’t see how great you are. You have to come to the party with me. We’ll drink some punch, flirt with cute guys, and you wont have to think of what’s his name at all.” Claire thought about telling Emily that she and Brandon had spent a lot of time hanging out at the mill and that it wouldn’t be the best place for her try and forget him. But she didn’t. She said. “I guess I do need to get out and relax a little.”
“That’s my girl.” Emily said, smiling broadly. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”
Brandon sat through Underhill’s class without looking up once during the whole lesson. He couldn’t look up or else he had to stare at the back of Claire’s head. At the way her hair swept down past her shoulders or the way she cocked her head while listening to Underhill talk about the effects of the civil war on the north. Brandon sat there, staring down at his desk, and realized that he wasn’t going to be able to pull it off. He wasn’t going to be able to fool anyone into believing that he didn’t love the girl.
Claire could feel Brandon behind her throughout the whole period. She could feel it every time his eyes touched her and she wanted to turn and talk to him. To just look at him. But she didn’t. It was hard for her not to get up and leave class. Just leave. No explanation or excuses. But she didn’t. She sat there, listening to Mr. Underhill, and pretended that her heart wasn’t being crushed inside of her chest.
After the bell rang, Claire was the first person out of her seat. She got up, shouldering her bag, and left without looking once in Brandon’s direction. She was very proud that she was able to do that.
Brandon took his time gathering his books and leaving the classroom. Mr. Underhill stopped him on his way out, asking. “Is everything all right, Bran? You seem out of sorts, today?”
Brandon nodded and tried to smile. “Everything’s fine, Mr. Underhill. I’m still just a little under the weather.”
Underhill nodded, staring into Brandon’s eyes. He said. “You know, if there’s ever anything bothering you, you can talk to me. Me or the school councilor, Mrs. Edwards. We may be old, but we weren’t always teachers. I used to be a kid, just like you.” There was something in Underhill’s voice when he said that last part, as if he understood more about Brandon than he was letting on. But that was impossible.
Brandon’s smile faded. “Not just like me, Mr. Underhill.”
He left before Underhill could say anything else.
Albert was waiting for Brandon at his locker. He was practically bouncing from toe to toe. Brandon walked up, staring suspiciously at the other boy. He stuffed his books in his locker and closed it before saying to Albert. “What’s up?”
“I know how you can get Claire back.”
Brandon looked at the other boy and suppressed an urge to punch him in the throat. That was the last thing that he needed to hear today. Instead of crushing Albert’s windpipe, Brandon said. “Who says I ever had her? And if I did and then I broke up with her, why would I want her back?”
“Because I can see how bad you feel.” Albert said. “And if I can see it, everybody can. Why did you break up with her anyway? She’s hot.”
“Who said that I broke up with her?” Brandon said, heading outside. Albert hurried to follow. He had his bag, which looked oversized, hanging off of his shoulder. Brandon wasn’t carrying a bag. Brandon wasn’t even sure that he was going to finish high school. Why should he? When he turned 18, he would inherit a pretty sizable chunk of change. Enough to live on for most of his life. He
could become a writer, like his father. True, he had no interest in writing, but how hard could it be? Sit at a type writer for a few hours every day? Tell stories?
Albert said. “I overheard Claire talking to her friend, during art class. She told her that it was your decision not to see her.”
Brandon stopped walking and looked at Albert. “She said that?”
“Yeah.” Albert said. “She also said that it was hard not wanting to be with you.” “Really?” Brandon was quiet for a long time. Then he said. “I love her, you know?”
“Then why aren’t you with her?” Albert asked, looking like he knew that he was asking for a punch in the mouth.
“It’s complicated.” Brandon said. They were outside now, standing under the front awning of the school. The buses were just starting to pull away from the curb, hauling their precious cargo. The Kruegers were walking down the sidewalk. Neither threw so much as a backward glance at Brandon and Albert.
“What’s complicated about it?” Albert said, shifting his backpack on his shoulders. Albert lived in the opposite direction from Brandon, somewhere near the lake. Brandon had never been to Albert’s house or seen his parents.
Brandon said. “People close to me get hurt, Albert.” As the last of the buses pulled away, Brandon saw Claire climbing into her father’s vehicle and closing the door behind her. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to Claire.”
“Everybody dies, Bran.” Albert said. “Just because your parents died early, doesn’t mean that everybody you love is going to.”
Brandon looked at Albert and felt a chill worm its way down his spine. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hug the kid or hit him. It was surreal hearing the Goddess Nina‘s words repeated to him by a boy his own age. He didn’t hit Albert. Instead, he asked. “So, what do I do?” Albert shrugged. “How should I know? I’m just a dumb kid, same as you. But I know what I would do.”
Rain Of Stone (The Merryweather Chronicles Book 1) Page 16
