Chapter 2

The periods before lunch went by in a blur. It was only when I got to lunch was I aware of Kat hounding me. She stared at me as if I was some kind of science experiment.

"What? Did I grow a mutant pimple on my face?" I let my voice drip with sarcasm. Kat winced at my harsh tone. I sighed. "Sorry. I'm just in a crappy mood today."

Kat shook her head as she grabbed a lunch tray. "I can see." I followed her silently, picking a strawberry muffin and apple juice.

When we sat down, Kat popped the killer question. "So is Damen just like the hottest or what?" It took me a moment to realize who she was talking about. I thought about it while I chewed a piece of the muffin.

"Damen is his name?" I asked thoughtfully.

Kat gushed over it. "Yah. I know that it's your first year of school here and everything, but we've been friends for a long time, and I've lived here a long time." My memory suddenly switched over to the past. Until this summer, I had always lived with my dad. He died of cancer May 31. We had lived in New York, where the only way to survive was to be strong. Having divorced parents wasn't too bad for me. Until now. I had to live with my totally preppy mother, who owned a business in the clothing industry. She threw parties three times a week and even though I got showered with perks, I didn't get her attention.

This is fine with me.

Now I'm stuck going to Jefferson High, a charter school in Oregon. Welcome to the land of wet, green and cloudy. Every summer before dad died, I had come to visit Mom for a month. I met Kat at a carnival, waiting in line for faice-paint.

I was five.

Snapping back to the present, I asked Kat a question in return.

"Is he new here?" I took a sip of my apple juice.

"Yep. If he wasn't, I would've already snatched him up!" Kat fluttered her mascara covered eyelashes.

"Wait, I thought you were with Mitch? Do you recall saying 'he is only the hottest sixteen year-old on the planet'?" Kat was nice, but she could be really shallow.

"Well that was until I met Damen. But yah, I guess I'll stay with Mitch until Damen bites." I shuddered at her choice of words, not exactly sure why though.

"Poor Mitch," I muttered under my breath. Kat was too busy texting on her Iphone to hear me.

I looked at my friend, seeing that she was exactly the rich cheerleader kind of girl. With blonde straight long hair that never seemed to tangle and light blue eyes that looked innocent, Kat looked like the captain of the cheerleading squad. She could have been too. She had the looks and the money for it. Instead, she decided to hang out with me, the girl who doesn't get noticed. Well, that is, for the first day of school. Things would probably change later on. Kat would probably move to different people.

Lunch went on slowly, Kat texting on her phone while sat on the wooden bench and picked at my muffin. A question came to my mind.

"Does Damen have any family?" I stared at Rose, waiting for her to pull away from her phone.

"Yah…he does. He has a foster father and mother, one sister and two brothers. But, none of them are related. Except for him and one of the brothers."

"Can you name them?" I asked, digging further.

"Oh yes!" Kat gushed out all the names. "Charlie, Aislinn, Alyssa, Jack, and Lucius. Charlie and Aislinn are the foster parents, even though Damen and Lucius are emancipated." I gaped as she went on.

"Alyssa and Jack are together, but they live with Charlie and Aislinn. No one really knows where Lucius is. Rumor is he's way hot. If only there more cute guys like the Shae's, the world would be a better place." Kat sighed dreamily.

Before I could hear more of Kat's gross fantasy, I asked "So who is Damen's blood brother? Jack or Lucian?"

"Lucian."

"Oh."

I let Kat dose off while I contemplated the new information I had. The rest of lunch I sat there, clutching my English notebook, waiting for the bell to ring.


As I walked to English, the only painting that caught my eye was one of a man holding a small boned girl, her face twisted in fear as he kissed her. I shuddered at it, the image sticking in my mind. I took a seat in the back, hoping to avoid much attention. Of course, when Ms. Clemont puts a seating chart on the board, I'm in the front row. I sat by a girl named Abigail, who had red orange hair that didn't fit her face correctly. She was nice, because she didn't have to keep up small talk. "I can live with this", I thought. Ms. Clemont gets the rest of the class into their assigned seats, walking around and making sure the seating looked perfect.

When we were all settled, Ms. Clemont starts off the class in her shrill voice. "Welcome to Literary English. This term, we will be learning about grammar, analytical essays, and myths. I expect your undivided attention, and If I see you passing notes or chewing gum in my class, you will have detention." I saw many girls stop their jaws half-way through a chew. I couldn't help but smirk.

"We will start off with some myths from right in our town. Mmmm…." Ms. Clemont looked down at her seating chart, trying to find someone's name. "Ms. Abigail Sharsh." Abigail sighed before speaking.

"The oldest myths here are of three origins. The first one is supposedly people with fins who could live underwater. Basically, mermaids. The second one was of shape-shifters, who could transform themselves into animals or glob or some mutant kind of thing like that. The third one is the D.F. This stands for the death feeders, who supposedly suck blood or eat people, or something like that. I don't really look into it much." Abigail paused. "Why is this important? These are old-people legends."

I hid a laugh with a cough. Ms. Clemont stared hard at Abigail until she started to fidget.

"Ms. Sharsh, for your information, not all of these are myths." The class erupted with laughter. Even I couldn't stop a smile. There were no such thing as mermaids, shape-shifters, vampires or for that matter, even zombies. "Hush up, all of you!" Ms. Clemont yelled at her class, but nothing could stop the bursts of laughter now. I watched her shake her head and return to her desk, taking her round glasses off and rubbing her temples.

I noticed how Ms. Clemont was a petite woman, short and thin, but also reaching her 50's. Gray strips of hair emerged from under the dark brown pixie cut she had. Her nose was small and round, not pointing out at all. Her eyes were a dark green. Overall, she wasn't very unique. Just a standard teacher look. Well, except for the fact that she believed in myths. Taking my gaze away from my English teacher, I looked around the room. It was small and the pale gray desks were wedged into corners. Paintings of hobbits and dwarves, elves and fairies, even werewolves and vampires filled the walls. I gazed at each picture for several moments, trying to scribble each brush stroke, each color into my mind. I had gone through at least ten paintings when I came to one.

It was the same painting outside the classroom. The same girl with the flaming red hair was held by the tall, overpowering man. He bent over her, smiling, as she dipped down, trying to get away. His grasp on her waist was gentle but firm. He was breathtaking. She was pretty, but a dull flame compared to him. He had sharp angles along the planes of his face. His eyes were so dark brown they almost looked black. His long, lean, muscular body twined around hers, locking her almost in a cage. It looked like he was possessive of her. His lips parted over a fabulous set of teeth as he grinned at her. All the while, her flaming red hair hung in the air as her small body tried to bend away from him. Her hazel eyes stared up into his face, pleading with him for…something. The round edges of her face gave her a softer look. She was locked in his embrace, terrified every moment he held her. While he seemed gentle in the picture, I could tell he was strong, and this girl couldn't escape whether it was a matter of life or death.

I stared at the painting for a long time. Then it hit me. The girl in the painting looked exactly like me. The hair was the exact same shade of flame red. Her hazel eyes had the same almond shape as mine. Her height was the same. I could see the bones in the face that matched mine. The last thing that was a sure fire that she was me (or an ancestor) was that she wore the same ring. It was silver and small, curls running around the silver. At the middle sat a flower that was soaked in some sticky, thick liquid that I had never understood. Water and sap, maybe? I had debated over it for years. Still, there was no point in denying it.

The girl in the picture was me. I sat in my seat, frozen, not able to move a muscle until I ran out of oxygen. I tore my gaze away from the girl to find myself staring at the guy. There was something in his face that seemed…familiar. But after staring at it until my eyes watered, I still couldn't put a name to the face. It frustrated me, and I hadn't noticed how much time I had spent looking at the picture until the bell rang, alerting us that there was one more period before school was out. French went by in a blur. I didn't pay attention to what our teacher said.

I thought about the painting on the walk home, unable to get it out of my mind. I faced my house after walking for around ten minutes. It was still overwhelming to see. It was an old French house that had been remodeled. The glass windows reflected all of the colors of the rainbow on certain parts of the glass. The wooden doors were carved with symbols that made no sense at all. Everything was luxury. I even had a hot-tub in my room, a plasma, a mini fridge, and a huge bathtub that stretches farther than how tall I am. All of it is nice, but the one thing that annoys me sometimes is my mom thinks she can make up for ditching dad and I by showering me with presents. It's not like it cuts into her own personal life, so why would it matter? I roll my eyes as I open the front door.

Mom isn't home, so I fling my sneakers off and take the white-carpeted steps two at a time. Reaching the top, I run down the hallway to my door. The hallway is long and even with speed on my side, it takes me about three seconds to reach the end. I swing open the wooden chestnut door. My bed sits on the far side of the room, the satin purple sheets looking very comfortable right now. Knowing I can't relax right now, I sigh and move towards the left. The marble desk that stands high in the corner is clear of papers, reminding me that I have homework to do. Light streams through the crystal window that is placed right in front of the desk. Prisms of light bounce off onto the desk, hurting my eyes. I sit down on the tall chair that is covered in pink faux fur. The fur is soft and plush, letting me sink back into it. I close my eyes and sigh. It feels so nice to just relax after the first day of school. I fade into a daze, keeping myself in that position for minutes. I might have never been able to get up if it weren't for the phone ringing. My head jerks up, eyes snapping open. I reach for the phone that lay on the edge of the desk. I answer wearily.

"Hello?" I sound like I'm recovering from a hangover. Great.

"Hi!" The voice is perky. "Is Jesse there?"

"Um..yep. This is she."

"Jess! It's Alyssa. Alyssa Shae." I snap up. Is this Damen's sister?

"Uh…Damen's sister?" I sound like a retard.

"Yes! So glad you know me. Anyways, I was wondering if you had seen Damen today."

I think as hard as I can, trying to fight the block in my mind that suddenly appeared. "Um…."

"Oh. That's okay!" There was relief in Alyssa's voice. I wondered why. "If you can't remember then I'll just call…"

I cut her off. "Wait! I do remember. I saw him today in first period History. He was rumored to have left at lunch. Does that help?" I finished lamely.

The phone was silent for minutes. I can't even hear breathing from the other line. All I hear is the buzz of the heater from my room and my own steady breathing. Just as I was about to hang up, Alyssa replies. "Yes. Thank you. Good day." Her voice was curt and formal now, and half a second after she spoke, the line went dead.

My head rings. Something was off about her. About the family. I shake my head again, trying to conclude whether or not I just made the call up in my head. After making sure I was awake in various ways, I flash over to the laptop sitting on my bed. I know I won't be able to do homework right now. Waiting for the MacBook to turn on, I get up to brush my hair. I brush through it again and again until it's silky smooth.

When I'm finished, I walk over to my bed, grabbing a plush throw to wrap around my arms. I bring up google, but write as I'm about to type, I realize something. "I don't know what I'm searching." I haven't even met this guy, yet he sends me over the edge. I sit there, realizing my stupidity.

"Just because someone scares you doesn't mean they are bad," I mutter to myself. I check the time. It's 6:30. As if on cue, mom walks through the front door shouting "Jess! Chinese for dinner! Come down!" I close the laptop and make my way across the room to endure another dinner with my mother.