“Derik get your head out of your ass.” I whispered quickly, glancing towards Mr. Hanna to make sure he did not catch us talking. “I don’t go anywhere with Daston because I don’t know him. I have more important things to do than go out with a stranger and pray they don’t kill me.” I made my voice as bland an emotionless as possible.
He tapped his finger against his forehead. “I’m not stupid, Brianna. You and Daston somehow both disappear after first period for two straight days in a row. That’s a little suspicious, don’t you think.” He grinned at me showing his yellowed teeth. “What did he do, give it to you good in his car. Because I know Daston and a quick fuck in the car is his usual style. Of course, that’s right before he drives off with their panties. Or wait did he give you his special you suck I relax trick.”
“What the hell are you talking about, creep?” Talking to Derik was beyond disturbing. I could see the amusement in his eyes, the mocking smile his thin lips transform to.
He laughed. “He didn’t give you any of those, did he? What, he didn’t find you good enough for a good fuck. I mean, you’re no Rebecca but I would still give it to you good.”
My cool façade shattered. My brain overheated and my whole body boiled to the point of eruption. How dare that disgusting thing mention my sister’s name. I leaned in close to him, closer than I would normally have let myself and let my anger talk. “I will beat the living snot out of you if you ever say my sister’s name again.” I hissed. “You’re not allowed to even think her name, do you get that.”
He smiled, thrilled. I had given him the rise he wanted. He had baited me, and I fell for it. “Don’t worry, Rebecca’s not the one I want.” He winked. We both glanced back to look at Rebecca. Her head was bowed down looking intently at her paper. Her hair hanged around her, framing her face. She was doing her work, I realized. Her two friends were beside her chatting away with the group of guys in the table beside them. Their heads were butted together, and they were all giggling quietly. And meanwhile my sister was ignoring them, choosing to do her work instead. It was the first time I had ever seen her choose school work instead of socializing. Maybe she really was changing for the better.
“Would you look at that, Rebecca’s doing her work.” Derik’s voice had an edge to it that I didn’t like. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way. “Wouldn’t it be a shame if something were to happen to her?”
My head snapped towards Derik. I did not have to say anything for him to get the warning. My face said it all. It spelled violence with a promise. No one else seemed to notice the exchange Derik and I shared. Maybe because we were just two nobodies that no one cared about. It was different when I was talking to Daston, he was a somebody.
I did not do any work. The whole class period I kept replaying Derik’s words over and over. It would be a shame if anything happened to her. What did he mean by that? What was he planning to do? Whatever it was I could not let it happen. I would not let it happen.
Derik managed to fan the flames of my anger when he started mouthing Rebecca’s name to spite me. I hated him. I kept picturing different ways he could get the crap beaten out of him. I Enjoyed the image of Derik lying in a pool of his own blood a little too much. I did not know what I was going to do about Derik yet, especially since I had to keep Daston’s orders and stay at home. But I would need to find something, soon.
I went straight for Rebecca after class. She was putting her folder away when I got to her seat. She looked up, surprised to see me. I did not visit the back of the classroom often—try never.
“Brianna, to what do I owe this visit?” She asked mockingly.
“Can’t a girl come talk to her sister without getting questioned?”
“A girl can. You, not so much. So, what do you need?” She inspected her nails, a tiny frown settling on her face when she realized a nail was chipped.
“Nothing, I just want to talk a little, while I walk you to class.” So that you won’t be alone while creepy Derik’s on the loose. I thought.
She stood up and slung her book bag on her slender shoulder. Mussing her hair over with her fingertips, she looked at me suspiciously.
“You never want to just talk.” Her eyes brightened. “But as long as I talk and you listen, I don’t really care what your ulterior motive is.” She looked positively cheery. It was as if the whole world had just shitted chocolate glazed donuts in Rebecca’s eyes.
We walked—well mostly I walked, Rebecca skipped—out of the classroom. My class was in the opposite way of Rebecca’s but I didn’t want to separate from her. I would not move until I knew she was safely in her class. I would even walk her to her seat as a safety precaution. I could not do any more than that, unless I could somehow convince the teacher to let me stay. But I could not do that for every one of her classes.
Rebecca kept up a strong current of chatter. Even when she was waved at by several of her friends in the hallways, she did not stop. She gave them all friendly nods and continued talking. I caught the bewildered looks they gave each other when they spotted her next to me. It was no secret that I was Rebecca’s sister. But everyone seemed to ignore that fact because of our rare contact. It was also my belief that several people forgot that Rebecca and I were related.
Rebecca fluttered her hands widely trying to get me to picture the monstrosity of her friend Janelle’s dress. “It looked like she was growing feathers. And her hair, don’t get me started on it. She put the whole bottle of jell on it, just dumped it on her hair. There were still huge clumps of it in different spots, it wasn’t even smoothed out.” She went on to talk about each fashion mistake her friends had committed. And even though most of it was boring, it was kind of funny hearing what the popular were judged about.
We were a couple doors down from her classroom. The round clock that hung in the hallway showed that there were only two minutes left until the bell. Rebecca noticed too. She stopped midsentence and turned to look at me. “Brianna, you’re going to be late. Go now so you could make it.” She said, pushing me away. I did not budge.
She gave me a haughty look before walking into her classroom. I did not move from my spot until I saw her sit down on her desk.
She did not like that I was acting careless at school. If only she knew that I was not acting careless in fact I was being extra careful when it came to Rebecca.
I turned around and went back towards my classroom. I took hurried steps, hearing each tick of the clock growing louder—more pronounce—than the next.
The hallway seemed to grow longer—never ending. It looked like someone had stretched it out like play doe. I walked through, feeling smaller and smaller as I went on. I felt drugged. All the blood seemed to rush to my face until it was pounding in every vessel. I could not breathe. I clutched at my throat, I was suffocating.
What the hell is this? I thought desperately.
Two things happened at once. Derik was standing off to my right, leaning casually against the lockers. His eyes were locked on me. A lazy smirk spread across his face, but of more importance, a familiar hand grasped my shoulder. His hand was a tie to this world; it helped my head become level. I clung to it, swimming out of the dizzying prison my mind had entered.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Derik leave his spot by the lockers. I did not think it was a coincidence that my mind suddenly became level when Derik left.
The hand gripped my shoulder tighter, reminding me that he was still there. I turned around and found the dark eyes of the hand’s owner staring down at me. His eyes were always a comfort to me. I knew that no matter what happened he would be the one constant in my life. Robert and his dark eyes. Now, looking into the dark abyss of his eyes, I noticed they seemed to have a tint of gold in them.
“Why aren’t you in class yet?” Robert’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Did you forget something?”
“No, I was just…” I took a glance back in the direction Derik had gone. He had disappeared. “I was just going to class. My first p
eriod let us out late.” I shrugged.
Robert stared darkly in the direction Derik had gone. “Yes, I’m sure.” He tightened his grip around my shoulder. “Especially since your first period class is in the other side of the hallway. Seems like you covered quite an unnecessary distant for someone who was let out late. But I’m sure you have a positively brilliant excuse as to why that is.” He finished calmly. Nothing in his voice or even his face would have given away his anger. The only reason I noticed was because his hand was, at this point, cutting the circulation of blood on my shoulder.
I slapped his hand away from me, the sound of flesh against flesh ricocheted through the hallway. I looked into his eyes and the reflection of my face caught me by surprise. I was mad. More than mad, I was furious. The bell rang but it sounded far away. In that moment the bell was part of a different universe, living so distant from the universe Robert and I were in.
“You have no right to question me.” I hissed.
“Really, I don’t.” He said sarcastically. “Because I think that I do have a right to question why you are lying to me? And better yet, where have you been these past two days. You just send me one text, and that’s supposed to appease me? Do you know how worried I was?”
I scowled at him. “I might have kept secrets from you, but don’t think you can act indignant about it when you yourself have been keeping secrets from me. You act all self-righteous when the truth is, we are both at fault. So, don’t try to focus this on me only.” My voice was no louder than a whisper, but the weight of my words, my tone, held nothing light.
He searched my face, trying to find something in it. What was it? What was he looking for?
When he finally stopped, he looked troubled. “You’ve been through a lot these last few days haven’t you.” He said it more like a statement than a question, but I still answered with a quick yes. “I thought so.” He nodded to himself, his face turned pensive.
I looked around the empty hallway. Every classroom had their door shut, there were no eaves dropping ears about. How long would it take for an administrator to come walking down the hallways? I wasn’t sure. But they wouldn’t be too happy seeing two students out in the hallway, seemingly ditching.
I leaned in closer to him, our foreheads almost touching. “Robert what is it?” No matter how mad I was at him, how mad I wanted to be at him, I knew I could not hold it for long. I slowly felt my anger slip away.
Those six years of friendship formed a bond between us. A bond I will never be able to tear, a bond that caused me to feel this huge amount of trust towards Robert. It did not matter if he purposely kept the book away from me. I would always trust him. Even when I didn’t trust him, I trusted him.
Robert’s eyes squeezed shut, he looked like he was having a migraine. “I’ve totally fucked this up.” He groaned. “I should have never tried to call her. She’s dead, that should have been the end. I should have left her alone.” He muttered to himself. He brought his fists against his forehead and began to beat against it, hard enough that I feared he would give himself a concussion. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” He chanted,
I managed to catch his fist in my hands, struggling to keep them away from his forehead. “Stop! Robert, stop it!”
And then suddenly he went still, so still that it looked impossible for any human to sustain it for any length of time. He stayed frozen for several seconds. His hands were locked with mine in a tight grip I could not break.
He pulled his hands away from mine when he seemed to regain life, his lips parted, uttering something for only me to hear. But when his quiet voice reached me, my face drained of blood. “Take me to Jackie.”
Chapter 16
I was out of it for a while. The only coherent word in my mind was Jackie. Why Jackie? Why does he need to be taken to her?
A snapping sound called my attention, and I noticed for the first time in what felt like forever, fingers in front of my eyes. It took me a second to connect the fingers with the snapping sound. Robert was trying to get me out of my head. I focused on Robert and he seemed to notice that I was actually seeing him.
“Oh thank goodness. I thought you were never going to come to.” He exhaled, relieved. I did not have time to get caught up in Robert’s concern for me. I needed answers and he was going to give them to me.
My eyes tightened, “Why do you need to be taken to her?”
He put his hands up in a calm down jester, but I did not want to. He had already kept too much from me, if he wanted my patience, he would have to earn it.
“Robert.” I warned.
He looked at me cautiously. “Don’t be mad.” He said; which instantly made me worry. What could Robert do to make me mad? “Jackie’s helping me with my underworld search. Apparently, she’s as into this whole supernatural thing as I am.” He finished sheepishly.
“Jackie, barbie doll Jackie, is into demons and the underworld?” I said disbelievingly. It just didn’t seem plausible. In what universe does Jackie have something in common with Robert.
“Yes, she does. She actually approached me the day before yesterday. Told me if I know what the Rora is, and then the conversation just took off after that.”
“Let me get this straight. She approached you.” I said carefully. He nodded. “And you’re sure we’re still talking about the Jackie that goes to our school.”
“Yes, Brianna, girls actually approach me.” He looked annoyed. “I’m not such a loser that I can’t attract girls.”
“Sorry.” I said, quietly.
I mean Robert did look a little scary, but he actually was not bad looking. His hair was messy black, but it went with him. His features were angular and straight, the jaw line hard. He was actually pretty cute. Now if he would just stop dressing in that ridiculously long coat and didn’t button each button from his Adam’s apple to his ankle, girl’s would actually be all over him.
“It’s alright, I guess. Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Bri.” He smiled, a real smile, one that warmed up his whole face. But there was something deep in his eyes that looked off.
I still wasn’t buying the whole Jackie supernatural thing, but I let it drop. There were more pressing matters. “Are you going to tell me the rest of your secrets?” I asked. The secret with Jackie was one, but there were so many others he was hiding. I feared I already knew the answer.
“I can’t. Not now. I need to fix my fuck up first. It wouldn’t be fair if I brought you into this now.”
“Robert, stop this. If something’s going on just tell me. Maybe I can help.”
“I can’t tell you.”
“But you could tell Jackie.” I replied angrily.
“She’s different from you.” He covered his mouth quickly with his hands, but it was too late. The words were already out. “Brianna.” He looked at me pleadingly. “That’s not—“
“I’ve heard enough.” I said before I walked away. I walked down the empty hallway. Going to class was the last thing on my mind. I could not go, not in the eve of what just happened.
Robert, my best friend in the world, had done many things. But he had never trusted anyone more than he did me. Who would he trust anyways? We were two lone creeps. We had no one but ourselves. Was that over now? Had we broken up—friend wise.
“Brianna, that’s not what I meant.” I heard Robert call from behind me. But I did not listen, I did not want to hear anymore. I needed to be alone. He seemed to get that because he stopped following me. He let me go off on my own.
I did not know where to go. I just knew I had to get out of there. I walked to the end of the hallway and went out the big double doors. It felt strange, ditching by myself. I had only ever ditched with Daston. It was strange knowing that just yesterday I went out these same doors with him. But yesterday I had Daston’s car, today I would have to rely on my own two feet.
I walked through the parking lot, before I reached the gates that let me exit out into the sidewalk. I figured I would walk my anger out.
&n
bsp; The streets were empty, save for a few passing cars, and the sidewalk was clear of pedestrians. Big pine trees aligned the sidewalk. The morning air was crisp and cool; the heat of the day still a few hours away.
I walked for too many blocks just thinking. Robert and Jackie. Jackie and Robert. Whichever way I said it, it sounded wrong. In this world Robert and Jackie do not become friends. Maybe in a different world but in ours they are supposed to never talk.
Jackie, the girl was perfection, second only to my sister. How could Robert do that, how could he choose her—the girl that everyone envied—over his best friend. I wanted to scream, to yell. Jackie had everything, beauty, money, popularity, and now she had my best friend. Robert who was the only person who stuck by me when no one else did, and now he was gone, trading me in for someone better. What I could not understand was why she would be risking her social status by making friends with Robert. Nobody except for me wanted to be friends with Robert. What was Jackie playing at? Was she aiming to change my perfect sweet friend into something unrecognizable? Or was she really into demons and hell?
I tried to rule out the former, but I couldn’t. Jackie and hell just don’t mix.
I stopped walking and took a deep breath. I had calmed down enough to realize I was being unfair. I had technically done the same thing with Daston. But I did not trust Daston more than Robert. If Robert had asked me point blank about my problems, I would tell him in a heartbeat. Still, I could not stay mad at Robert for long.
The sun was climbing quickly in the sky. I didn’t know if time was passing too fast or too slow. The sky was a deep blue, and there was hardly a cloud in it. It looked clean, pure, untouched. I stared at it for a long time until a shadow blocked my vision.
“Brianna, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I almost smiled. I had heard that a lot lately.
A Night of Flame and Blood Page 16
