Death in Her Eyes

by ERIN BEDFORD

  Ayden reminded me of Nikki. A less in your face Nikki but none the less someone I wanted on my side.

  Looking to Charity, I offered her a chilly smile. “I’ll take my chances but thank you for your concern.”

  Charity gaped as if she hadn’t seen that coming. Apparently, they couldn’t read everyone’s mind because it was clear as day that I wasn’t going to go with her. I tucked that little nugget away for later.

  “Come on,” Charity sniffed, tossing her silvery hair over her shoulder. “She’ll change her mind. They always do.” She and her friends slinked away.

  Turning back to my plate, I decided I wasn’t hungry anymore. I pushed my plate away and stood.

  “You’re leaving?” Ayden’s voice went up an octave. “I can’t believe you’re going to those crazies.” She huffed and clanked her fork against her plate. “Just great.”

  I paused. “Chill. I’m going to my room. Not changing sides.” I rolled my eyes and stuck my hand in my pocket searching for the other cigarette I’d tucked in there before. “I’m not on anyone’s side. I’m on my side.”

  Ayden nodded. “I get it. We all do.” She jerked her head around the table and the others copied her agreement. “You need time to adjust. Besides, tomorrow is class. You’ll feel better about it then. This time next week this will seem like the new normal.” She smiled brightly. I had no plans on being here that long, but I couldn’t bring myself to break her spirit just yet.

  “Yeah. I’m sure you’re right.”

  Chapter 7

  A grimace marred my face. My nose scrunched up as I took in the uniform that had been left for me the night before. The plaid of the skirt lay spread out on the bed the lines of it mocking me as if to say this is your life now.

  I'd prayed to whatever god was listening for years to make my time in high school shorter. To make me suddenly smarter and able to jump grades and be out of the massive hallways crowded to the brim with adolescents. As usual, no one answered my prayers.

  The rage of hormones alone set my teeth on edge but the brush of each of my classmates against her was almost too much for me to bare. Nikki had been my only solace and I barely had her. I was always last to leave and last to get to class. Choosing to wait until the final bell had rang and the hallways were empty before making my way to my locker and then to my next class. I spent more time in detention for being late than anywhere else, but it gave me plenty of time to work on my schoolwork and less time having to worry about running into anyone after school.

  It made sense that just the sight of a school uniform would bring back the anxiety of my thirteen years stuck in a death filled prison. Not that I ever had to wear a uniform. Thank God for that but I didn't see myself staying here long and since I already had avoiding people down to a science it shouldn't be too hard to fall back into old habits.

  A knock sounded on my door.

  Or so I thought.

  The door opened before I could answer, and Ayden popped her flaming red head of hair into the room. "You're not dressed yet? We're going to be late for first bell." Without asking for permission, Ayden pushed into the room and shut the door behind her. She walked over to my bed and bounced down onto the mattress.

  Normally, I would have thrown her out by her pleated skirt but for some reason she reminded me of Nikki and if I was going to get out of this place, which I hoped would be soon, I needed an ally on the inside. Better to be someone with some fire power, no pun intended, than no one at all.

  "I'm always late." I commented without explanation. I grabbed the skirt and pulled it on over my pajama shorts, then shimmed the shorts out from underneath. Chunking my shirt, I slipped the white button-down shirt on over my bra and painstakingly slow buttoned each button. When I reached for the necktie, Ayden snatched it from the bed before I could touch it.

  "So, they put you in the mind squad." Ayden's lips twisted to one side as she twirled the purple tie around her finger.

  I arched a brow and reached for the tie. "Why wouldn't they? My power is more mental than physical."

  She jerked it out of my reach with a smirk. "I don't know. You have something about you." She glanced over me with a curious spark in her eyes. "You've got the manic-depressive thing going on that is totally something the mentals have down pat, but I heard you in the office the other day." Ayden pulled the tie tight between her hands just out in front of her, her amber gaze locked on mine. "You have far more rage in you than they do. Perhaps your father had a bit of fire in him as well?"

  "Who knows." Not wanting to talk about my dad, I snatched the tie from her hands before she could stop me and tossed it onto the desk. I'd probably get in trouble for not being in full uniform but fuck them. I wanted to get kicked out anyway.

  I shoved my feet into my combat boots and stalked to the door. Ayden didn't seem put off by my action but simply followed after me with a particularly gleeful skip in her step.

  "Why are you so cheerful?" I finally asked no longer able to handle her skipping.

  Ayden grinned from ear to ear, her hand coming out in front of her to bounce a little fire ball in her hand. "Oh, no reason. Just Professor Rufus is going to blow a gasket."

  "Who?"

  "Your first class, Intro to Enoch." She explained as we turned down a hallway and then a pair of stairs. "Every new student has to take it. It's supposed to answer any and all questions we have about who we are and where we come from." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, the ball in her hand almost tumbling to the ground before she caught it. "As if one class is going to answer all of life's mysteries? Certainly not ours."

  "Right."

  I let her continue to rattle on until we reached my first class. Ayden had a different class to get to but if she cared about being late, she didn't show it. Definitely, not like Nikki, who was always on time to everything. She'd be on time to her own funeral if she could. Fuck, I missed her.

  After saying goodbye to Ayden, I opened the door to a classroom full of students dressed in similar outfits to mine but of all different ages. Some were closer to Ayden and my age, but others were significantly younger that they barely fit in the desks they were assigned to sit in without slipping out of the bottom. A man in his mid-forties stood at the head of the class a book in his hand. He seemed to be in mid-sentence when I entered and paused to give me the most aggravated glare.

  "And you are?" The slightly stiff tone to his voice which only came off more annoyed laced with his British accent made me believe Ayden had been right about him.

  "Elle Richmond."

  Something flickered across his face, recognition, and a careful curiosity I didn't understand. He snapped the book shut and turned to me, holding the book against his waist. "Well, Miss Richmond class starts at eight and it is now eight ten. Tell me? Did you get lost? Alarm not go off? Please tell me, because I am eager to know what catastrophe has befallen you to not only be late to my class but to not be in full uniform as well."

  Wow does this guy have a complex.

  Every eye in the room settled on me, them just as eager to know what I would say to their professor's condescending questions. However, I'd been up against people like him before. This wasn't my first ass hole with a school backing him and it seemed like he probably wouldn't be my last.

  My old school I would have gave them some snarky remark about meeting my dealer or getting in a gang bang between classes, anything but the truth - I didn't want to end up in a mental institute after all - I could be honest with Professor Rufus and that was exactly what I did.

  Adjusting the books in my hands, I stared down the crotchety man and blandly stated, "I didn't particularly feel like having a multitude of deaths shoved into my being by brushing up against every member of the student body on my first day but if you would just let me touch you I'd be happy to tell you how you die?" I held my hand out to him expecting to laugh me off or give me detention but the fear in his eyes...that was new.

  "N...no. No, thank you." Clearing his throat, Profess
or Rufus lifted his book up once more and then nodded toward an empty seat. "Well, then let's get on with attendance. Eleanor Richmond."

  I arched a brow but then muttered here before sauntering over my chair. Sitting down, I opened my book up to the page number written on the board. While Professor Rufus finished up roll call a boy no older than thirteen leaned toward me.

  "That was fricking awesome."

  I smiled. "Thanks."

  "I'm Trevor." He held his pale freckled hand out toward me, his bright green eyes and dirt brown mop of hair on his head screamed earth elemental even if the tie around his neck hadn't been the same shade of brown.

  I stared at the hand for a moment and quirked another brow at him. "Seriously?"

  Trevor glanced down at his hand and then back to me, his face going shock white before flushing a deep shade of red. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

  "It's fine." I muttered, blowing out a breath of air and I flicked through the pages of my book. Angels falling from heaven. God smiting them for their hubris. Lucifer taking control of the angels cast down to earth. It was all very doom and gloom. Not like I didn't have enough of that in my life.

  "So, why didn't you wear your necktie?" Trevor whispered, turning back to me when Professor Rufus gave us his back. "You're a mental right?"

  I didn't know what to say to that. I guess that was what they pegged me for but like Ayden had explained early I didn't feel like one of them. Their whole it’s-the-end-of-the-world-everything-has-to-be-taken-seriously vibe was so not me. Sure, my power sucked. Who wanted to know exactly how everyone around you died let alone feel it? That didn't stop me from being the best sarcastic asshole I could be. I certainly wasn't going to be one of those five seconds away from slitting her own wrists kind of girls.

  I gave Trevor a flat look. "I didn't like the color."

  Trevor stared at me for a long minute and the snort laughed so loud that Professor Rufus whipped back around. "Mr. Carlton, is there something funny about the battle of the giants?"

  Trevor choked on his laugh and one of the others behind him smacked him on the back as he struggled to breath. When he finally caught his breath, Trevor shook his head. "No. Nothing funny."

  "I didn't think so." Professor Rufus stared him down, his hand holding the marker he was using to write on the white board. "I would think you would have more respect for your heritage than that."

  "Why?"

  Every turned to stare at me. Even I was surprised that the word had come out of my mouth.

  Professor Rufus almost had an aneurysm by my question. “Wha…what do you mean why?” He stepped around his desk and met my gaze for the first time since I walked into the classroom. “It is your legacy, our legacy. If we don’t learn from our past, we are doomed to repeat them.”

  I leaned back in my chair and cocked my head to the side. “What repeat? The giants don’t exist anymore, do they? I mean,” I lifted my arms out to my sides and glanced around the room. “I haven’t seen any giants walking about, have you? I mean,” I huffed a laugh. “It’s be a bit hard to hide that kind of thing don’t you think?”

  The classroom erupted into a scatter of chuckles. Looks like at least here I was funny. My old classmates weren’t that entertained by me. Though, I wouldn’t have bothered to argue with the teacher like I was now. Maybe it was something about Trevor? The poor kid didn’t deserve to be talked down to like that and Professor Rufus seemed afraid of me for one reason or another.

  “Well, of course not,” Professor Rufus tried to bring the class back to his side. “The giants were taken out thousands of years ago, but the point of the lesson isn’t about the giants. It’s about not repeating the past.”

  “And the past being that the Nephilims grew too powerful and the angels had to put them down?” I fiddled with my pencil spinning it between my fingers. “What kind of lesson is that? Stay in your place or our mommies and daddies will give us a right spanking?” I snorted as the class chuckled once more.

  Professor Rufus didn’t argue with me this time. He slapped his book down onto the desk with a resounding thump. “Precisely.”

  The pencil flipped out of my hand and skittered across the floor. I didn’t bother to go after it.

  The class quieted as I leaned forward and listened to what the good teacher had to say.

  “You might think you’re all something special. More than human but not quite divine.” His gaze stayed steady on mine before sliding across the attentive classroom. “But the point of this lesson as Miss Richmond has so politely pointed out is that there are angels, real honest to God angels, who have powers beyond your wildest dreams.” The whole room was in a hush as we all sat on the edge of our seats. “If you get out of line, think you are more than you actually are…” he slammed his hand down on the top of his desk, making the entire room including myself jump in their seat. “They will squash you like the bugs you are.”

  If anyone was breathing in the room I couldn’t tell. My attention was focused completely on the man at the front of the room. A bug huh? That was a new one. I’d have to remember that for the next time I had a face to face with dear old daddy. That should be fun.

  Chapter 8

  I had physical education after this class which skipped completely. Didn’t like it in high school wasn’t going to take it now.

  After an uneventful lunch, I told Ayden I had to go to the bathroom so I could have an excuse to sneak a smoke. When I came out of the bathroom, I found Charity waiting for me. I took one look at Charity and turned the opposite direction.

  "Where are you going?" Charity’s Mary Jane's clacked on the stone floors as she rushed to catch up with me.

  I dug my hand into my bag and pulled out the cigarette I'd stashed their earlier. "To have a smoke."

  "We have the next class together,” Charity stated as if that were enough to stop me.

  "So?"

  Charity to my surprise grabbed my bag and jerked me to the left. "So, if you don't want to get caught and be on time, you'll go this way. They do field practice on Mondays."

  I surveyed Charity. What was her deal? She didn't have her little minions with her this time, and she'd made sure to grab my bag and not my arm which was no doubt the easier of the two. Plus, she was helping me get away with breaking the rules.

  Deciding to see where this went, I jerked my head toward the hallway. "Alright then. Lead the way."

  I followed Charity, acutely aware of my surroundings. It wouldn't be the first time I'd trusted the wrong person and ended up battened and bloodied behind a dumpster. Evidently though, I wasn't the only student who needed their nicotine fix. Or their high if the scent in the air was anything to go by.

  Charity brought up out a side door in a small courtyard hidden between two stone buildings. A handful of students all around my age leaned against the walls and slouched on the ground. Some of them were the purple necktie and others didn't. It seemed the so called them versus us line Ayden and Charity had drawn at dinner didn't apply to this place.

  "Come on," Charity took a joint from one of her purple neck tied friends and inhaled deeply. "We only have about fifteen minutes before the hallway rounds come by again."

  She didn't have to tell me twice. I shoved the butt of my cigarette in between my lips and flicked the lighter I'd made sure to remember this time.

  Taking a deep inhale, I scanned the little hidden alcove and harrumphed.

  "What?" Charity arched a brow taking another drag of her joint before passing it back to her friend.

  I shook my head and laughed. "Nothing. Just didn't expect this is all."

  She smirked. "You think that since we're Nephilim we're not also teenagers? We still drink. We smoke. We fuck. Just because we have holy blood doesn't mean we're not still part human. Besides..." she glanced away from me and stared off into the distance. "If any of us have a right to need an escape it’s us. You know?"

  I flicked the end of my cigarette and nodded. "Yeah. Right."

  We stood there
in not so awkward silence filling our lungs and heads with anything but what we were, what this life meant we had to be. No one moved until an alarm went off making everyone jump.

  “Relax.” The guy Charity had been sharing a smoke with pulled his phone out and hit a button on the side. “It’s the five-minute warning alarm. We better clear out of here.” He exchanged a look with a Charity, who nodded and kissed him on the lips.

  She walked past me and held the door open. “Come on, we have one more class before lunch break and this one you won’t want to miss.”

  Taking a final drag of my cigarette I tossed it on the ground before stubbing it out with my boot. I blew the smoke out the side of my mouth as I followed her inside.

  “Why are you being so nice today?” I finally couldn’t hold the question back.

  Charity gave me a sideways look. “What do you mean? I wasn’t being mean at dinner. I was stating facts.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You say potatoh, I say potahto.” When Charity gave me a confused frown, I elaborated. “You were being kind of a bitch. I should know. It’s kind of my thing.”

  “Oh.”

  She didn’t say anything else about the matter as she led me through the hallways taking paths I would never have thought to take but kept me from bumping into anyone on the way to our next class. When we reached the door, she stopped me with a hand once more on my bag and not my body.

  “You don’t have to keep your guard up so much here. Just so you know.” She locked eyes with me her face full of understanding. “We won’t call you a freak or beat the shit out of you for being different. And believe me,” Charity crossed her arms over her blouse and glanced down at the ground, “we all have our defense mechanisms to keep people at arm’s length. I’m sure the others told you we didn’t all come here at birth.”

  “Yeah. So, I’ve heard.”

  Her gaze lifted from the ground and a small smile played on her lips. “So, don’t be so hard on yourself. The world already does that no reason for us to add to the burden.”