by K. G. Wilkie
CHAPTER SIX
Courtyard
She walked back to the courtyard, and started to run when she saw that her brother was walking away from it. “Wait!” she called. He turned around, and smiled when he caught sight of her. “Are you alright,” she fretted.
“Perfect now that I’ve seen the best person around,” he laughed and caught her up in a tight hug.
Jackie groaned at the sight, knowing her master would be happier if the girl spent as little time as possible with her adoptive brother. More importantly, she knew her own life would be smoother if her prince wasn’t constantly being enraged by the sight of another guy hanging out with the girl he was convinced was his own. She torpedoed into the courtyard and tugged the girl aside as she began yammering about how worried she was over the latest heartbreak an acquaintance had suffered and the latest news about the celebratory bonfire coming up in honor of the boy`s lacrosse victory. “More importantly,” she confided, “One of the guys from the team is having a party at his place. I don`t know how he can afford to live in that place by himself, but it should be lots of fun!” Darien stared at the two girls as their conversation quickly left him alone and they walked away from him together towards the English building, completely forgetting to even say goodbye to him, but he quickly brushed any annoyance aside and grinned as he thought, Girls just get so involved in talking they forget about everyone around them. He smiled, and disappeared into the crowd that had almost magically appeared once all the stressful currents had disappeared from the area.
Aeron was standing at the first row of lockers as soon as they walked into the building. “Ah, can you believe we have almost the same schedule! I`m so glad we get to share some time together!” Jackie was chatting and giggling while Alyss smiled and occasional spoke up as well. Both girls walked right past the boy and his smoky scent but Alyss seemed to find him invisible with the force of her grievances against him powering her icy treatment. His servant, however, was fully affected when he turned to glare at her for a moment, obviously blaming her for the result of his continued efforts to stay on her enemies list and not happy she hadn’t been able to make the girl forget he beat up her favorite person in the whole world somehow. He mouthed to her that he was going to have to talk seriously with her later, as if she couldn’t tell how that revulsion clearly rankled him without the added communication. Jackie shivered. When Alyss asked her, in concern, what was wrong, she hemmed and avoided answering. Aeron`s icy glare followed her around the corner.
She replayed the scene to Alyss in homeroom. She twisted her hands, back and around, and looked around them. “We can`t talk here, come on!”
She dragged her down the hall while the other ruefully thought of how this being pulled around like a dog on a leash was becoming a far too common occurrence in this town. Jackie would pause, peeking into one room after the other, as she continued flitting around the halls. People heckled her from their seats each time she poked her head into an occupied class, asking questions about her doings and musing more and more creative reasons why she might be holding someone by the hand to peek into the wrong class, the wrong hall, the wrong year. “Just checking pep rally day class attendance, seems good in here,” she`d cheerfully answer with a lie to each curious face and disapproving teacher before they left to the next room. Finally she lit up at one of the rooms and tugged Alyss in. Chairs were stacked up in a corner, and paint splattered canvas covers lay dusty and forgotten draped over a globe featuring the Soviet Union and a teacher`s desk. She closed the door with a snap. The resulting rush of air stirred the dust motes to dance around the silent room and she nervously glanced around the room once more, then crossed to the windows to pull down the blinds to block any view of them. She knew it was always best to be cautious of her employer’s spies and what tales inspired by this scene they might bring to him didn’t bear thinking of.
Alyss stared at her strange behavior. “What are you do-“ but she was cut off.
“Of course you don`t like him, but you can`t antagonize him,” she whispered. Alyss had known the girl was upset but to see her so abrupt and out of sorts helped her listen more carefully.
Still, she was pacing back and forth in front of her friend, hands fluttering in agitation as her feet wore through the floor boards. “It`s not safe, Alyss!”
Alyss looked at her doubtfully. Sure, she’d just decided to listen well, but seriously- what could one little creepy kid really do? They had adults, and the police. There were military boarding schools, and local schools for federally sentenced delinquents. Heck, there were even normal public schools. If he was so dangerous why was he still allowed at such a supposedly prestigious school? Why not send him and his problems away? If there was reason to be so scared about him why not just fix the problem and make him go away? If he’d actually done something real, actually hurt someone, the students or teachers or even the principal surely wouldn’t see the problems, the violence, and let it lie still and stagnant no matter how many people got hurt? She left the questions unasked, but they still rolled through her gray matter.
Jackie growled at her again, snapping her fingers in front of her friend`s face in irritation at her obviously drifting thoughts.
“I didn`t want to tell you this. I`ll get in more trouble.” She finally let out a reluctant sigh. “I’m already in trouble at this point though, so I might as well put my neck out a little more if that means helping the both of us.” She looked over at the other’s doubtful expression and snorted. “Clearly it doesn’t matter if I want to tell you or not because I have to. You obviously don`t really understand how big of a situation we`ve got here, and you just don`t act properly cautious around him.” Alyss urged her to continue, and finally it burst out, like a great river that had been kept behind a dam for too long. “Look, people have disappeared, ok? We had a Mrs. Hutchins for this class last year. Mr. Kirk had to step in when she disappeared last Winter, and he`s been here ever since. People who anger him somehow manage to fail out of the school, or their parents lose their jobs…Or they die,” she muttered.
Alyss raised her eyebrows. “Well if he’s killing people like you say then we need to call 911 right away,” she said and pulled out her phone. Jackie blanched and grabber her hand, assuring her that it was figurative and he only socially killed people in the school. Alyss didn’t think to prod on that specificness and ask if it was a more literal statement in other places, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyways- even in their own world there were the worst rumors of the guy but no one had been able to say with confidence he had definitely for sure killed anyone. Imprisoned a few thousand rebels trying to murder him and put his brother on the throne, maybe, but not killed anyone yet.
“He hasn’t killed people. That said, he’s still not someone you should cross, let alone constantly provoke,” Jackie added.
Alyss looked at her doubtfully. “Look, you aren`t being reasonable here. That teacher could have had a baby, could have moved… You know, personal stuff.” At each negative shake of Jackie`s head, the girl got a little louder in denial. “Look, I`m just saying, one instance is not enough to create a character profile from! You need facts. A pattern. We can`t just jump to conclusions like this. This isn`t evidence for a court case, it`s a bunch of gossip gone wild.” she finished, huffing indignantly. “And the social ruining thing? That’s not especially unique to him. People are catty, even guys, so I bet there are several other jerks in this place that have done the same thing. It’s pretty standard. Just talk to his parents, tell them he’s causing problems and needs to be straightened out, get a good scolding from the principal, and if all that doesn’t work he can get expelled. This is a private facility, it’s not like they have to keep troublemakers enrolled in here. They can get rid of him at any time. He can’t be that bad if not only the faculty haven’t taken any action, but the students and their families have let it all go.”
“He doesn`t have parents,” Jackie said hotly. “Well, sort of,” she then admitted. “The
y don`t really count for much because they’re all proud big wigs themselves. They care about him and all, but they’re way too busy to worry about their kid,” she said.
Something we have in common, Alyss thought, then she shook her head. “Be that as it may, someone would have stepped in by now if he were really such an awful guy. I mean, he`s obnoxious, but it`s not like he`s set any houses on fire or stolen a car. You can`t just string together a bunch of coincidences. This city is too big for such small town witch hunting behavior,” she laughed.
Jackie snorted at that. “You call this a city? Fayetteville has a population of maybe 10,000. We have one gas station, two grocery stores, a tourism stand, a marina with two whole boats in it, two clothing stores, a Chinese restaurant, and a place that sells pasties in a drive through. That’s it. I’d hate to see where you lived in Florida if you consider this city living.” She frowned and waved the matter aside. “Forget about it, I did not drag you in here to debate your definition of a city versus a town. It’s not just about some coincidences either. You think I`m stupid? There have been other things. Bad things. Much worse than an occasional disappearance or two. It should say something to you anyways that everyone on campus is scared of him, including all of the teachers.”
Alyss rejected that with a wave of her hand. “People will always jump to conclusions,” she said airily. “He`s got attitude problems, so people assume that means he`s practically in the mafia or something. I mean, I hate his personality. A lot,” she added. “But I don’t think every idiotic jerk out there must be a real actual criminal.”
Jackie leaned in, gently shaking her friend by the shoulders. “This is not just a matter of the ‘poor, misunderstood underdog’ scenario,” she said in earnest. “I mean, he beat the last gang that was here,” she whispered.
“Well, there you go!” Alyss pounced on this one point of proof. “He is way too big for his britches, but he did a good deed to get rid of a dangerous menace to society. He must not be completely thoroughly evil all the way through after all. It’s sad the conclusions people will jump to that just because someone does a little violence like to protect the public for a greater good they must just be a bad person in general.”
Jackie pursed her lips, but she refused to say any more and they both just ended up walking back to class together She steadfastly responded to each new question with a nervous giggle and chatter about random cute boys or chatter about the plans of the student government and refused to be drawn in to any attempts to continued the conversation with blatantly fake chatter.
Both of them were out of temper by the time they got back. Alyss sat in the corner by the door, talking cheerfully with sparkling peers at the front of the room. Some girls in the back of the class room looked on enviously from afar even while they eased their boredom as they pointed and giggled at Jackie, once the leader of conversation in their class, now sitting all alone deep in thought in her seat toward the back corner.
A few brave boys walked up to her, trying to spark conversation with her and each other. She ignored them, looking out the window. With a spark of surprise at the scene out side of the window, she pressed her nose flat against the window pane. One of the boys tapped her shoulder lightly to get her attention, but she waved him away impatiently. She stood up so that her chair crashed behind her. The boys were trying to comfort her startled nerves and set the chair to rights when she ran out of the door. She went down the hall and through the exit at the side. The boys crowded close at the doorway, staring at her retreating back. Defeated, they eventually went back into the class, too depressed to join in Alyssa`s group when they extended an invitation.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Pinned By Predator
Warren left at the end of the period and swaggered the two blocks over to his house. He stopped when someone pulled on his shirt and hauled him into his house. He was strong, and confident in it, so he didn’t notice there were two girls following him, one marching up and the other sneaking behind and doing her best to stay undiscovered.
“What are you doing this time,” the girl growled in his ear.
“Marina?” He looked back at the girl behind him and shook off her grip. “What is a good kid like you doing skipping school?”
She frowned at him. “Stacey is sick, so I stayed home to take care of her with my teacher’s permission. What I’d like to know is what you are up to being at home early.”
She was four foot something and stood there with every inch loaded with determination. “I see you looking like you’re on top of the world. Don`t you dare do more things that’ll get you in trouble with the school or the law and ruin our name for us. The kids are already getting bullied in school for the stupid stunts you do.”
He looked at her, raising a single brow. “Why should I care what happens to the squirts,” he said nonchalantly. “If it doesn`t affect me, why would you think I would act any differently because of this?” He pushed her back a foot so that she couldn`t continue to hover and buzz around him, walking determinedly away from her nagging.
“It matters,” she growled again. She paced determinedly behind him. She had to walk in double time to catch up with each of his strides, but she refused to back off from him. “I do all of this work to keep the family going and cared for, and all you are doing is goofing off. You’ve been goofing off for years. A decent person would have grown up by now. I`d think you`d be ashamed of yourself,” she continued.
“I`m never that,” he said. His own paces seemed to increase in speed and in length, but it hardly deterred her at all.
“What is wrong with you?” He didn’t react, just kept walking. She threw up her hands, finally giving up on him and walking away. “Fine. If you`re going to be like that, that`s just fine. I never thought you`d be a dead beat like them, but it seems like that`s what you`ve secretly always been.”
He stopped abruptly in the middle of the path. “Like them,” he whispered. He walked back to her, grabbing her up by the collar. “Did you just say ‘like them’,” he growled. She shook her head violently ‘Nope, not all.’ HE pulled her up harder, her air mostly closed off, and she flinched. She gave a single, hesitant, nod of yes. “Well, actually at least a little bit. You can’t see the similarities?”
“Never like them!” He yelled at her, flinging her away. “I`ve never been like, will never be like, them,” he snarled. “You got it?” She nodded vigorously, massaging her neck. “Then leave,” he said curtly, turning away from her. She stuck out her tongue at his back, discreetly so he wouldn`t notice and start flinging her around again, then she walked away to go to the pharmacy on the end of the block and pick up some cough syrup for her little sister.
Raucous cries and whistled catcalls followed her as she went down the street, a rowdy band of boys coming in to relieve her of her boredom or stress or curiosity, whichever led to her hanging out with them. She sneered at their backs as she went away as well.
“Hey Warren,” one of the boys called out. “Seems like Marina gets hotter every year.” Warren was silent, face stony. They took that to be an encouragement, continuing their noise. “Can I give her a whirl,” the one boy cackled. “I`d like to give her two,” another grinned. Warren glared. “I mean, she`s a real stick in the mud, so it might be fun to see how you could liven that up a bit,” the third called.
Warren swing back then punched him, straight to the gut. The boy doubled over, clutching his stomach. “Not my sister,” he said with menace. “You can mess with any of the girls but my sister,” he growled.
“I guess that includes Stacey,” a boy sighed. The others pushed him back, laughing at his stupidity. “You can`t mess with a Middle Schooler, especially if she’s his sister,” they laughed. “They break too easily and you don’t know if the repair cost’d be worth it.” The boy grinned sheepishly, but stopped when Warren gave him a death glare. “It was just a joke, I didn`t mean anything by it,” he muttered sulkily. Warren looked at him a second more, silently, then turned away when the
boy started to squirm.
“What are you lot here for, anyways,” he said. His tone was fashionably bored, but they all knew that it was best to change the subject when he acted that way. It was a sure sign they would have broken bones if they didn`t switch tactics soon.
“It`s about this new Alyss girl,” the one boy said. “Word around the school is that she is just soo lovely,” he sneered. “We want to do something about that.” The others growled in agreement, a pack baying for the hunt.
“Might show up that Aeon jerk, trying to take over our turf,” another muttered. It was a sore spot among them all. Their first attempt to bring the playing field back in their favor had left at least half of their members hospitalized, so they weren`t feeling up to any direct attacks anymore. But flirting with and breaking the heart of his latest conquest might work. It would irritate Aeron, but they were sure it wouldn`t get his hackles up enough that any heads would roll over it. Especially as she hadn`t really liked the guy in the first place.
“Not the new girl either,” their leader said. “I’m going to take care of her all by myself.” The group laughed.
Then a flurry of girls, giggling and chatting, came up to them. “Word is that you`re skipping class today,” one purred. She leaned forward, showcasing her rather low neckline. “Nobody even thought of inviting us,” another pouted. Her neckline was up at the usual height, but her shorts were much shorter than her pockets. They leaned in close. Another twined her hands through her boyfriend`s hair.
