Angels Hide Demons
Chapter 3
Rowan's outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=88424956
When I kissed my dad's cheek and stepped out of his beat-up Honda, Something felt... different. Not necessarily bad, just different. The first thing I noticed was Brayden- rather, his abscence. Normally, we would talk for a while before school, and then walk to our first period (we had the same class) together. Today, for some reason, I couldn't find him anywhere. Weird, but why should I freak myself out? It's not like he had to tell me everytime he was out of school. He could be sick, or maybe something popped up at the last minute. Yeah, that was it. Right?
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"Also, if we all ate less meat, the obesity rate in America could decrease by..." In all honesty, I was listening to Tasha Silver's report about going vegan and its benefits to animals and the economy, but something more important came up. Alaia was absent, too. I didn't even give it a second thought until I started daydreaming- which almost always puts images in my mind of the day Alaia... where was she?
*****
"They skipped? Together?!" I nearly spit out my chocolate milk as Liberty nodded her head solemnly.
"See, Ro? It hurts when someone tries to take your crush away from you." Scarlett smirked.
"It's not about that. It's..." about Alaia being a psycho murderer, but I would never say that. "Well, maybe it is about that. It's just not a good idea to do something like that, in general."
"Duh! That's kind of why it's against the law." Liberty sarcastically shrugged and opened a tube of GoGurt. "They'll be fine, Ro."
"I hope you're right."
After school, I had to drop some books off at my locker. The halls were oddly quiet today. It seemed eerie, creepy, almost scary. I turned my combination and the lock seemed to squeak more than usual. I thought I heard footsteps, but there was nobody left in the hallway. All of a sudden, the power went out. I'm talking total, pitch-black, can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-you darkness. I blindly felt around my open locker, shoving the books in wherever they would fit. I pulled my hand back momentarily as the dim emergency lights flickered on, and the locker door slammed shut. I turned around, and there was Alaia- whispering my name with a knife in her hand.
It felt like a smack in the face and getting the air sucked out of my body by a vacuum, at the same time. Alaia placed her hands firmly below my shoulders and shoved me into the locker. She pressed the tip of the knife blade gently to my skin, and teasingly traced my cheek with it. She walked me through the hallway with the other hand around the back of my neck. I swayed beneath her grip, searching dizzily for a way out.
"What do you want?" I asked bravely.
"We meet again, Rowan," She cackled, as if my question had never been asked. "You seem to know something about that Brayden...?" Was that supposed to be a question?
"Whatdya wanna know?" I questioned, pushing the knife away from my face. She put it right back where it was, almost breaking my skin.
"I want you to promise that you won't say a word. That means you won't tell anyone, not even your stupid little friends, where Brayden and I were today. Or else." We were out of the school building, and at the edge of the campus woods. She ran her fingers along the metal blade. I gulped.
"I promise," I said weakly, feeling my body go limp. She let go of me and I fell to my knees. When the world finally stopped spinning, I ran home as fast as lightning. She was at it again.
emilygm*