Chapter One: Cover Me in Cyanide
Why'd you leave me like this?
With scars across my heart and on my wrists
When I looked in your eyes
I didn't know happiness had a price
-Cassie Steele
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"Wake up." A male in his late thirties whispered, prodding his daughter awake. She shifted in the passenger's seat, looking startled. "School." He explained with a jerk of his head toward the grand building.
She nodded, opening the car door. The girl bent down to grab her messenger bag off of the floor board, an immature boy whistled as he passed, causing her to send her foster father a very annoyed look.
He gave her a weak sympathetic smile, "Have a good day."
"It's school." She grumbled, pulling the bag's strap onto her shoulder, "And I'm the new chick. I don't think I'm going to have a good day."
He rolled his eyes and waited for her to close the door. Once she did, he sped off, causing her to frown at the retreating black vehicle. Her dark blue gaze shifted up to the huge building that was Spenser Academy. She scratched the side of her head, ruffling her chestnut blondeish-brown hair. It was pin straight and ran three or four inches past her shoulders. She looked over her shoulder one more time before climbing the stairs toward the double doors that led into the school. She bit her lower lip and entered.
The young girl pushed her way through the crowded halls of Spenser in search of a boy her brother had demanded she talk to as soon as she possibly could. She looked down at the old, wrinkled picture her brother had supplied her with. Her glittering dark eyes traveled over each and every student she passed. The bell was due to ring in five minutes. She had to find this guy, and soon too or she was going to be late for her first class. Wouldn't that be a great first impression? She smiled in triumph when she spotted the brunette. She noticed that he was surrounded by three other guys who she assumed to be the covenant. The girl stuffed the picture into her bra, where else was she suppose to keep it? The school's uniforms didn't leave her with many choices.
She took a deep breath, attempting to swallow her nerves. She hated talking to strangers, but after all the things her brother had gone through, she felt like she had to ignore that horrible gut feeling, and approached the group anyway. "Um..." She cleared her throat to get their attention, "Tyler Simms, right?" The boy nodded, looking adorably confused. She could see why her brother was so attracted to him. He always had been attracted to the innocent ones, "Er, can I talk to you for a second?" She questioned, earning another nod of consent from him. The rest of the group exchanged weird glances at one another, which she promptly ignored.
She walked a couple of feet away from the other boys so that they wouldn't be able to listen in on the conversation. From what her brother had told her, she really doubted that this boy had told any of them his secret, "I'm Jaden Falcon..." She introduced before pausing for a moment, watching the boy closely, "Chase's sister." She said delicately.
Tyler's jaw dropped, he was absolutely flabbergasted. Chase had never mentioned a sister, then again he hadn't mentioned much of anything, at all. He frowned at the bitter thought, but quickly pushed it from his mind, shaking his head a little.
"He's still alive...barely, but he is, and he really wa-"
"How is he alive? Caleb..." Tyler trailed off, eyebrows furrowed.
Jaden shifted her weight uncomfortably, "We aren't sure. He should have died, but not because of Caleb. He hurt Chase very badly, but he didn't quite finish him off." She explained hastily, looking down at the silver and black Jeweled Pearl watch that clung to her tiny wrist, "He willed me his powers though, kind of, so he should have died. Something went wrong, probably because I lack a penis and I wasn't the first born, but I only received roughly a half of them. Look, I know this is all really confusing, but the bell is going to ring at any second. Just say you'll come see him, please." She pleaded, her long skinny fingers fiddling with the thick strap of her messenger bag.
Tyler rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, "I don't know." He mumbled uncertainly, "I'll have to think about it."
"Okay. I understand. Just tell me what your decision is after classes." Jaden said sincerely before bounding off to find her homeroom.
Tyler stood there for a few minutes, trying to process everything he had just learned. He and Chase had been dating before the whole ascension fiasco. He had been too terrified to 'come out' to the rest of the covenant, so the whole thing had been kept quiet, and then the boy had tried to kill one of his best friends. He shuddered, jumping a few feet in the air when the bell sounded.
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U.S. History had to be the dullest class ever. Tyler really was trying to take notes, but he hadn't gotten hardly any sleep the previous night; all thanks to Reid thrashing around in the dorm. God, the boy was horrible when he was sexually frustrated. He needed to get laid soon so that Ty could get some sleep. The fact that Chase was alive wasn't helping his concentration either. He had finally come to terms with his death after months of being depressed. The covenant hadn't thought anything of it. They figured his 'baby boy' nerves had just been shaken by the intensity of Caleb's ascension. He was almost asleep when a paper wad collided with the side of his head. He glared at Reid, who was smirking wickedly. Tyler uncrumpled the paper to reveal the words, 'How was your chat with that Vixen?', scrawled out in the blonde's almost illegible handwriting. Clearly he had mistaken Tyler's lack of concentration as a sign of a new love interest. Too bad he didn't know that his best friend had switched teams years ago. He wrote back that Reid was an ass and slid the paper back over to him. Tyler laid his head on his notebook, only to have the boy poke him in the ribcage a few moments later. He sat up with a soft growl, sending Reid a grumpy look, "What?" He hissed.
"If you don't like her, I claim her." Lover boy informed, giving him a vicious grin.
Tyler rolled his eyes again, showing his indifference for the subject, and laid his head back onto the table. He rubbed his sweaty palms against the heavy fabric of his trousers, the day was going by way too slowly. It was almost torturous. He wanted to see Chase so badly that it hurt, and yet...he was dreading it almost as much as he dreaded his own ascension...which was in a month and a half. Maybe he shouldn't go...What was really the point anyway? He couldn't forgive the boy for what he did, ever, no matter what excuse Chase was planning on giving him. Which meant that he wouldn't be able to kiss those lips ever again, or fall asleep in his strong arms, or...He grimaced, begging time to accelerate. Despite his anxious and restless thoughts, sleep quickly claimed the boy's body, and he became utterly oblivious to the professor's lecture.
"Baby boy, c'mon." Reid hit the boy's sleeping form with the back of his hand, causing Tyler to groan in protest. "Class is over man, get up." He commanded, pulling on the boy's arm.
Tyler rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up, stretching lazily, "Can I copy your notes later?" He asked, collecting his stuff off of the desk.
"You think he was actually paying attention?" Pogue joked, slinging an arm around Reid's shoulder.
Caleb, who was waiting at the door for them, shook his head disapprovingly, "You can borrow mine." He offered.
"Thanks." Tyler mumbled, blinking away the fuzz his nap had left him with.
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Sarah was already waiting for the group at their lockers, her petite frame leaning against the cool metal of Caleb's, "Hey you." She greeted pulling her boyfriend to her by his blue school jacket so that she could kiss him tenderly.
"Hey." He said back with a huge grin, "We still meeting up at Nicky's later?" He asked the group, opening his locker long enough to throw his books inside.
"I can't." Tyler informed meekly, pretending to be very busy with something in his and Reid's locker, "I have..uh...other plans." He looked up to see all of them giving him disbelieving looks, except for Reid, who was looking over his shoulder at something with intense interest. He turned around out of curiosity to see Jaden walking past them. Tyler muttered a quick 'goodbye' before darting off.
"It's about time." Pogue smirked, closing his own locker, his jade green eyes flicking around to locate Kate, but failing.
Reid shook his head, "He doesn't like her. I asked him about it this morning."
"He could have been lying." Sarah pointed out.
"No, he wasn't. He told me I could have her." Reid mumbled something about homework and stalked off.
"He said you could have her? That's horrible." Sarah said causing Caleb to chuckle, "It's Reid, what do you expect?" She smiled and nodded.
"Hey, Sarah, do you know where Kate is?" Pogue questioned, running a hand through his thick ashen blonde tresses.
"Yeah, she's at dance practice..."
"Right, it's Monday?" Sarah and Caleb nodded, suppressing their laughter. "When did that happen?" He shook his head and wandered off, leaving the couple to laugh at him.
"You know..." Sarah started, her fingers resting on the boy's stomach, "Kate won't be back for a while...How about we g-" She was cut off by an anxious Caleb yanking on her arm, already dragging her toward the dormitory hall.
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Jaden haulted when she noticed that Tyler was making his way towards her.
"I can't see him."
"What?" She questioned, surprised by the brunette's blunt anwser.
"I cant." Tyler repeated, "I don't want too." He added, sort of childishly.
"Look, I get that you're upset with him and all-"
"Upset? He tried to mur-" Tyler lowered his voice to keep from attracting unwanted attention, "He tried to murder one of my best friends. I'm a little more than upset." He snarled in a very uncharacteristic sort of way.
Jaden frowned, this wasn't going the way she had hoped and Chase wasn't going to like it very much when she came back empty handed, "Please, he just wants to talk. That's all."
Tyler shook his head stubbornly, "I can't. I have to study for a test tomorrow." He explained lamely before pushing past the girl who had turned his life upside down in just one day.