Chapter 9
Friday had descended across the school with buzz of the first big party of the year. If one was to believe the chatter that rose and fell tremulously amongst the giddy students, all whom gathered in bigger than usual circles, jeering and teasing who’d get the girl, who’d make a fool of themselves, the party was to be unforgettable. To Fay, it sounded ridiculous, stupid given what she’d seen with her own eyes but, she reminded herself, the humans at the school hadn’t seen through her eyes. To them, the world was full of resplendent opportunities – not thieves looking to stab you in the back, where allies and intimately trusted partners betrayed you.
Still, it seemed everyone was deciding how the party would end; quietly dwindling away into the night, with some new kid jumping into the lake naked or doing some other stupid stunt. Fay found herself, somewhat briefly, swept up in the feeling flooding the school. Her footsteps felt lighter as she wandered down the hall, a little time before the first class started, towards her History room.
She hoped her teacher was in, as she wanted to have a chat about the assignment. Mainly about her subject and how little information there was about him, besides the obvious military side. She hadn’t expected to become invested in any school related tasks but the report captured her mind. It gnawed at the fringes persistently. Part of her felt like she was making connections out of nothing, that she was finally sliding off the edge everyone at the Bureau had whispered scornfully about. She didn’t want to prove them right but her mind had latched itself quite firmly onto the assignment, that it weirdly linked to her visions and dreams. Which she hadn’t told Abe about but that was a conversation she was saving, at least that’s what she told herself, until she had more than half concocted theories with no evidence. Abe was the practical one of them and he’d take a leap of faith, if only because it was her, but she wanted him to believe her. Really believe her and not out of some misguided pity that was swirling around in his head.
At the door she knocked and waited with bated breath. A murmured reply came, beckoning her in.
“Miss?” Fay’s voice skittered through the room like clattering marbles.
“Come in Miss Childers.”
Fay sat down before her and read the thin plaque with her name bar, which she hadn’t noticed before.
Miss Louisa Carlin.
“I want to ask you about my assignment. Do I have to cover his personal life, the family?”
She nodded and Fay was struck with a curious feeling fluttering in her chest as she noticed her teacher properly. Auburn hair was bound neatly back in a bun, a few strands dangling haphazardly about her plain face. Her eyes, however, were sharp and intelligent, and watching Fay.
“You had General Alexandros, didn’t you? Personally, he’s my favourite character. He became a soldier quite young, rose quite rapidly through the ranks, and married a woman from a good family.”
Fay frowned. “How did you know his wife was from a good family? I couldn’t find anything on his personal life.”
“A villa fire destroyed much of the records, though there were records found in the family’s home after Cyrene in Alexandria. Unfortunately, much of that wasn’t popularly known and only a few books ever include the records from Alexandria. The family was in decline then. Look, the local library has the records. We had a lovely professor stay here a few years ago and donated the books there. That’s where I learnt about your subject.” She glanced down at her watch. “Class is about to start. You should go.”
Fay rose reluctantly. Something still gnawed at her mind. Not a bad feeling. They followed her everywhere, a hazard of what she was. No, what she felt was sharper, clearer with its persistence in her mind. She headed out, pausing briefly at the door before heading out. It was strange how at second glance some people could look completely different.
Tash waited for her outside the school with a small duffle bag. She held up the bag with a conspiratorial grin as Fay approached, waggling her eyebrows. Fay glanced between the bag and then Tash, wondering if she’d forgotten about something.
“My aunt lost her shit when she found out about the party, said I couldn’t go. So, I snuck out this morning with a bag and thought I could get ready at your place.”
Fay arched an eyebrow. “She won’t send the cops after you tonight?”
“Oh, she won’t do anything like that,” said Tash carelessly.
“Oh, really?”
“Yep now where’s that delicious brother of yours?” Tash eyed the carpark with keen eyes.
Fay groaned and gestured for Tash to follow. Abe was parked in his usual spot. As they approached he saw Tash following and shot Fay a questioning look, his lips drawing back into a thin line. Oh, he’s not thrilled, she thought and flashed him a smile before Tash climbed in. Fay got in the front and ignored Abe’s questioning glance.
“Tash is getting ready with me tonight,” Fay declared as the car pulled away from the school.
Abe’s hands tightened fractionally on the steering wheel. “That’s fine. I’ll be in my office tonight but I’ll drop you off.”
“Oh, that’s not needed,” chimed in Tash. “My friend is picking me up. He can give Fay a lift too.”
Abe went to protest but Fay cut in. “That sounds great.” She glanced towards her partner. “Looks like you don’t have to take me.”
When they got home, Abe said nothing as he retreated to his office. Fay led Tash upstairs to her room and showed her the ensuite. Tash spun around in the room, looking rather impressed.
“I didn’t know you were rich. I mean, I kind of figured it given your old family but in town?”
“My brother owns it,” she said mechanically and went to the wardrobe, realising she had very little to wear. Parties hadn’t been planned or in the mission brief.
“Fancy,” she murmured as she knelt down to her duffle bag and fished out some clothes; ripped jeans, boots, and a t-shirt off one shoulder. “So, what are you wearing?”
Fay eyed her wardrobe scathingly. “Didn’t have the time to grab anything. It’s going to be warm, so I’ve got some denim shorts. Not sure on a top, though.”
As she turned around Tash was rummaging around her bag. After a few seconds she lifted a high-collared dark red singlet. There was a cut out just below the neck, plunging just enough to reveal the wearer’s cleavage. Tash winked as Fay plucked it from her hands and eyed it disdainfully. It was unlike anything she wore, even from before she turned. Not that she had much time for parties afterwards but, for the moment, she had to fit in, put in a bit more of an effort she had to that point.
So, reluctantly, she lifted the top from Tash’s hands and grabbed the shorts, walking into the ensuite. She closed the door behind her and started to change. When she stepped out Tash was tugging her shirt down into place.
“How do I look?”
Tash glanced up and let out a low whistle. “Damn. I like what you did with your hair. Didn’t think I’d ever see it down. Nice makeup, too.”
Her hair had simply been left to its own devices, semi-curly, and likely to look like a bird’s nest by the end of the night. As for her ‘makeup’ that had simply consisted of some foundation, mascara, and some lipstick. It had been packaged up in a small parcel, part of her attire to fit in at high school – or so the intension was meant to be.
When Tash and her went downstairs Abe was nowhere to be found. She assumed he was hiding out in his office, likely after ensuring anything incriminating was out of sight. So Tash and she chilled in the living room, watching movies, until about eight when Tash’s phone rung. Their lift had arrived.
It was still early for the party, with people only beginning to trickle into the makeshift carpark off the dirt road, well hidden from the main road and only a little walk to the lake. Tash’s friend, a stony-faced guy of rich dark skin and cropped black hair, who introduced himself only as Finn, parked the car and turned to Tash.
“I’ve got to find Mel. I’ll find you later for a drink,” he promised.
She held his gaze for a fraction than might’ve been normal friends before nodding. When he got out of the car Tash watched him vanish into the trees, her gaze strangely guarded, betraying very little. Fay didn’t know if they were ‘friends’ who could pry into stuff like that, so she silently got out, followed by Tash, and looked around. She recognised a few people from school, humans so far, though as she lifted her nose a fraction to a low, stirring wind, she caught the scent of wolves.
“Come on, this way to the lake,” said Tash, though Fay could’ve easily just followed the crowd or her nose to the lake. She fell into step with Tash, unsure what to say.
Before her change she’d never struggled to talk to people or make friends. She’d been outgoing, she supposed, and found laughter and social interaction easy. Now, as a hound, she stared at everyone around her and felt like a stranger. An alien peering into a strange world. Some people glanced at her, smiled but she quickly looked ahead, probably looking hostile and off-standish. It was her default. Why trust someone who would stab you in the back? Even Abe had betrayed her, though she was far more comfortable with him than anyone else. As much as she was loathed to admit it. She was more at ease with a man who could control her at a whim, which really was an unfair statement about him, than she was with strangers. Humans that looked more like a job to her, something she might have to deal with when they died. Wolves just made her angry, their presence biting into raw, festering wounds.
Only the sight of the lake – vast, blue and stretching a couple miles wide – dispelled her thoughts. Several bonfires had already been erected along the sandy shore, three of which were already burning. There was also a car that had somehow squeezed through the bush and a music system was being set up on it. Fay glanced beyond it and saw two trucks with their trays filled with beer drums.
“Who gets all the booze?” Fay asked quietly.
Tash chuckled. “That’d be Melody Reed – that’s Finn’s girlfriend, Mel for short, the town’s local heiress. She lives with her grandmother, whose pretty much out of it on booze herself. She started all of this as a source of fun in this place and supplied all the booze herself. As for the music that’s her friends, two local dropouts, twins Mac and Walker. Famous DJ’s if you ask them but they’re pretty good. No one complains anyway and knows what music to expect. As for the rest of the organising I help get it together, along with a few others.”
Fay let out a low whistle. “How the hell don’t the police know any of this?”
Tash smiled conspiratorially. “Dear Mel has her talents.”
That seemed to be all that would be said on the subject. Fay followed her over to a bonfire, where they hung until Tash suddenly stiffened beside her. Her eyes flickered over Fay’s shoulders, chilling slightly. It vanished suddenly as footsteps crunched close behind Fay. She turned and saw Finn walking up to them, arm in arm with a striking beautiful girl – far too beautiful. As tall as Finn with willowy dark olive limbs, long black hair that tumbled down over one shoulder, framing a perfectly featured face. Two pale green eyes, scarcely a natural shade, with what Fay swore were flecks of gold, flickered coolly to Tash, lingering with a flash of jealousy. When they moved to Fay, as if perceiving after a moment, they flashed – if only for a second. Far too quick for a human to catch. Eyes that turned almost completely gold.
Ice rushed into Fay’s chest as she realised who – no, what – stood before her, having only seen them in mission reports and read about them in books. Mel, perhaps having a similar realisation that Fay wasn’t quite human, looked cornered for a moment. She quickly kissed Finn’s cheeks, saying she forgot something and hurried off. Beside Fay Tash quickly latched onto Finn, luring him into a conversation. Fay drifted away from them, hurrying after Mel, who retreated into the trees.
She lost sight of her but she kept her scent, which intensified with Mel’s whirling emotions. Then she found her, leaning against a tree, staring at the ground.
“So, what is a Siren doing so far away from the ocean?” Fay mused.
Mel looked up, startled, and met Fay’s gaze. “I haven’t killed anyone.”
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