Later part of the Kiira Draknin Story
The new student stood before the class, something about him drawing the eyes of everyone in the room. He was gorgeous. His long hair, pulled back, was so blond it was almost white, his eyes were brown, but seemed to flicker with an inner light. Yet something about him was cold, and I could feel the intelligence behind those eyes. The Girls in the Back Row were lost in those eyes, and though his smile was warm, it seemed false. "Kiira," the teacher said. "You've been here a while, now, but you know what it's like to be new. Will you be Samen's student guide?" Their eyes met and the room filled with tension. I have never claimed to be psychic, but I could feel the heavily disguised hatred that passed between the two.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Alda," she said, polite but firm, "but I still don't know the school well enough to guide him." She looked around. "Perhaps Carolina would like to show him around?" The girl in question, a blond airhead, nodded emphatically. The look on her face as he sat down next to her was sickening.
"I think I'm gonna barf," I mumbled to Kiira. She didn't respond. "Kiira?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, it's disgusting," she replied absently. I could tell her mind was on something else.
"What's wrong, Kiira?" I asked, concerned. Worry was in her different-colored eyes and her eyebrows were knitted in concentration.
"Nothing." Her voice kept me from pressing it, but I knew there was something about the new student that bothered her. Someone from her old town, perhaps? I was determined to find out.
A few days later, I heard two voices in a disused classroom when I was passing by, so I stopped and listened. Kiira's voice and one that I couldn't place, though it sounded familiar, were talking. "The girls who sit at the back of the classroom have aalready fallen into his trap. Kayra is nice, but I can't say for sure if he's been affecting her." A pause, then she continued, bitterly, "Every day he wears white, and I'm still with the goths in the circle of outcasts. How can I warn them if they don't even listen to me? They'd trust handsome, popular Him over me any day… and yet I'm the one who's going to end up having to save them! Tell me what to do, Lady." My eyes widened. Lady? And why was Kiira talking about Samen with a stranger? The whole thing was starting to confuse me. The other voice said something I couldn't make out.
"I know, Lady. I'll think of something."
A third voice added, "Be careful." There was a whoosh, and I had to step away from the door so that Kiira wouldn't suspect me of eavesdropping.
Kiira walked out as I was 'innocently' 'just walking by' and I said, "Oh, hey Kiira. Why were you in there?"
She said, "I was meeting with someone."
I purposely jumped to the conclusion she wanted me to. "Mmmmm, is he tall, dark, handsome, or all three?" I asked.
"Heheh, more like tall, dark, and utterly gorgeous," she agreed. "He'll come out later, because he's not from this school."
"Like Miri?" I asked, in a your-point-is way. She started, and I wondered why. And why she had been talking about saving us from Samen. Sure, I didn't like him, but he wasn't evil. Or was he? He did have that coldness about him, like a cat luring a mouse with its eyes. Predatory. That was it. He was a predator. I wonder if Kiira had seen it too. "Kiira, want to come over to my house?" I asked suddenly. She brightened. "Sure! I've got something to do in the library first, but I'll meet you afterward."
"I'm in the library tonight, too. We'll walk out together."
"Alright."
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Kiira, who had been reading (and being amused by, for some reason) a Kingdom Hearts manga, put it down. "It's amazing the way artists can catch the semblance of life in a series of still pictures. Even more so how manga artists can communicate the personality of a character through the shape and style of the eye, revealing who they are and giving a hint as to their destiny without completely giving away their life story." It was an innocent comment, one I'd heard in various guises from many people, but somehow, I could hear more than that. The way she said made it seem like she was comparing, basing the artist's work with a real person in her mind. I knew that couldn't be true, but still, the feeling was hard to shake.
The moment was shattered by the Librarian's shout (and despite the fact that there is very little talking in the library, she shouts very loudly). "Library closes in five minutes!"
Kiira's eyes got wide as she checked her watch. "By the Lady, it's almost 3 o'clock!" she shouted. "I forgot to tell my dad that I was going home with you! He's probably very upset." She closed her eyes in a visible attempt to calm down. "OK. He probably hasn't sent out the search yet. He's probabl still waiting. Calm. Calm."
"Search?" I asked. "It's only been an hour since school let out," I said.
"He's very… paranoid," she said, in a voice that told me she wasn't telling the whole truth. Flipping out a cell phone, she left the library, with me close behind. Walking behind a locker, casually, she dialed. I listened carefully, but I didn't need to to hear the response to her calm, "Hi, Dad."
"WHERE WERE YOU?"
She laughe nervously. "I was in the library," she said. Evidently, he quieted down, because I only heard a pause before she replied, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Pause. "No, he's still keeping a low profile," she answered, quieter this time.
Pause. "Yeah, I'm keeping a watch out. The girl who's working with him is easy to read." She smiled. "Heck, I don't even have to read her to know what she's doing, she brags about him so much."
Pause. In a more serious tone, she said, "Yeah, he's already got her. I just hope he doesn't drag her into this."
Pause. "Listen, Dad, I have to go," she said. "Can I go over to Kayra's house this afternoon?" She smiled again, happily this time. "Thanks, Dad, you're the best. Gotta go now. Bye!" She hung up, then came toward me. "I can go!"
"Awesome," I exclaimed. Inside, though, I was wondering about the conversation. So Kiira's dad knew about her little plan, and evidently was in on it. Then something else hit me. When Kiira swore in the library, she had sworn, 'by the Lady.' The same Lady she had been talking to? I had to find out.
