Chapter 2: The Devil's Children Attend Public School.

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"Dad?" I called out, taking the stairs two at a time. I'd moved into one of the second floor bedrooms after my leg had healed. "Where are you?"

"Living room," was his gruff reply. Still angry then, I gathered.

I stuck my head around the door that opened into the spacious room. We were still in the process of unpacking bits and bobs, so it was pretty bare. Well, except for the mantelpiece. That was the first thing to have excess items placed on it; pictures and a violin, to be precise.

Dad was in his favorite armchair, watching a football game on the television. A steaming mug of tea was on the coffee table in front of him. He looked up when I walked in.

"I'm going to Sadie's house. Is that alright?" I fetched my school bag from where I'd dumped it earlier that afternoon.

"Sort of late, isn't it?" His voice was so void of emotion, it almost made me sick.

I shrugged. "It's only seven-thirty. I won't stay long."

"Okay," he said simply, before turning his attention back to the game.

"Uh… bye, then?" I offered. He ignored me. Shaking my head, I retrieved my shoes and jacket from the entryway, and I left, taking care to lock the door behind me. God knows Dad wouldn't bother to lock it himself.

The Hooper's house was only four houses down from ours, which caused Sadie to figure that any time she needed me, it was perfectly acceptable to call, no matter the hour. "Well, it's not like it's a hassle for you to come over," she had said in her defense when she'd knocked on our door at two in the morning once.

I'd shut the door in her annoying face after that, and from then on, I made sure to lock every door and window in the house before bed to at least try and prevent her from getting in.

The sun was mid-way through setting as I scurried up her front steps and rang the doorbell. On cue, her two cats, Toby, Sr. and Toby, Jr. began to howl at me through the glass. I gave them each a little wave, which they returned with several hisses, snarls, and bared teeth.

"Anyone going to get the door?" Mr. Hooper yelled from inside. There was only silence in response. "Fine! I guess I'll get it, again."

This was the routine that occurred every time I came over since the beginning.

There was the sound of muffled stomps traipsing down the stairs, and the door flung open to reveal a very-annoyed Mr. Hooper, clad in his usual blue dressing gown and pajamas.

"Oh," he grumbled. "You again." He opened the door wider, turned back around, and stomped back up to the main floor, muttering, "Might as well get you your own key, since you're over here all the time…"

I crossed the threshold and closed the door with my elbow. I didn't wait for an invitation to come up; I was pretty certain that I could appear in their home at any time of day, and not a single one of them would even notice until I spoke up.

Mr. Hooper had retired to the sofa, and was now laying on his back with his palms together as if in prayer. I'd been over often enough to know that that was his thinking position. Toby, Jr. began to weave himself between my legs. To anyone else, it might look like a symbol of affection, but I knew that it was really an attempt to trip me and hopefully crack my skull. I really think he was starting to like me.

"I'm in the kitchen, William," I heard Sadie call.

"Not today, Toby," I muttered, picking up the giant cat and depositing him on the armchair nearest me. He growled unhappily.

"Took you long enough," Sadie snapped as I entered the kitchen. I ignored her and sat on one of the stools at the counter. Sadie herself was preparing a test tube of some sort of blue liquid by the sink.

"Sorry that I had to leave earlier."

She shrugged. "I managed without you. I finished feeding the wire through the vents, at least."

"Yeah, what was that all about, anyways?" I asked, spinning a stray paper clip around on the counter.

"It will mostly be a communication device, if I can get it to work. That way, the next time we get separated while in the vents and you forget your phone, we'll still have a way to communicate." She pushed a strand of her reddish-auburn hair behind her ear and set the test tube up on the window sill.

"What's that?" I pointed to the blue liquid.

"Hydrogen peroxide and blue food coloring," she muttered, adding another drop of blue dye to the mix. "My dad asked me to set it up. Anyways, check this out." From the pocket of her skirt, she withdrew a plastic baggie and slid it across from me. I plucked it off the counter and held it up to the light.

"So, you think the murder over on Amelia Avenue has something to do with the Ginger Society?"

"I definitely won't rule it out."

I huffed and let the baggie fall from between my fingers.

"Sadie, this is a murder we're talking about here. We shouldn't get involved."

She rolled her eyes and gave me a patronizing glare. "You can stay out of it if you want. I'm already involved, whether I like it or not –"

"Which you do," I cut in.

"You saw the signs, Liam. Just a few days after the problem with the statues, they suddenly appeared. There had been no such thing as a 'Ginger Society' before then. But as soon as we started making the papers, and a club strictly for red-haired people opened up. My hair color isn't exactly a secret, and they made it their mission to recruit me. And further more, not a single one of their hair color is naturally red. Explain that," she finished haughtily.

I shook my head. "Fine, fine. You win. They're connected or whatever."

She hesitated, thinking through my words. "That was sarcasm."

"No shit, Sadie."

"Don't swear."

"Please accept my humble and sincere apology, your highness."

"Seriously, stop with the sarcasm," she snarled, folding her arms across her chest defiantly. "Do you want in on the case or not?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

She merely raised her eyebrows and waited for a more definite answer.

"Yeah, I'm in."

She smirked. "Thought so."

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The next day after school, I called and told my dad that I was staying late for a service club meeting. Our school didn't even have a service club. I sort of felt bad for lying, but not really.

I ended up sitting in the commons with Hannah Elliot, my first friend here and hopefully, my future girlfriend. Well, I suppose I can always dream, right?

Hannah was small, blonde, loud, and also a cheerleader. And she was the one who had introduced me to Sadie.

School today had been a quiet, reserved occasion following the murder of Kate Jones on Amelia Avenue the previous night. I hadn't known Kate, but apparently she was a student at the local high school. The police really had no leads as to who had killed her, besides a few hairs that had been left behind at the crime scene which were the same as the one Sadie had.

We had an assembly before lunch that basically talked a lot about Kate's achievements in a sort of memorial for her. Sadie had been worried they would call off club meetings today in light of the tragedy, but they didn't, and so here we were, Hannah and I, waiting for the meeting to get over.

It didn't take long for the small talk to drift into more personal things, as it always did with Hannah. There was nothing she loved more than talking about feelings. Today, her subject was crushes.

"No, really, Hannah. I'm not going to tell you who I like."

"Please?" she whined, brown eyes big and pleading.

"Nope." I hugged my backpack closer to my chest and pulled my knees up.

"But, Liam –" she started to say, but she was cut off by the sudden appearance of a figure behind us.

Startled, I looked up into the smiling face of Elizabeth Tirmoary, new student.

"Hello, guys!" she sing-songed, dropping down to plop herself in between us.

Elizabeth Tirmoary and her twin brother, Eamon, were two of the weirdest people I had ever met. They had shown up three days ago, and with their slight Irish accents and dark charm, they had managed to wrap nearly everybody around neatly around their fingers. Both twins had dark brown hair and eyes to match.

I couldn't stand them.

I'm not sure why, but just being near either of them gave me a sinking feeling of dread.

Hannah was the exact opposite.

"Lizzie!" she cried, engulfing the other girl in a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm excellent," Elizabeth exclaimed, and after that, I just tuned the rest of the conversation out. I hoped the stupid ginger club meeting was over soon. Now I was anxious to go home to get away from Elizabeth. But at least Eamon wasn't here too.

"Did you and your dad have a fight last night, Liam?" Elizabeth's question knocked me out of my stupor.

I jerked my head around to face her. "How did you know that?" I demanded.

"And I'm sorry to hear about your mom," she added with an expression of fake sympathy.

"Who told you?" I growled. Hannah shrunk away from the two of us.

"No one told me," Elizabeth shrugged. "I just noticed."

I had never wanted to punch someone more in my life than that moment.

But before I could do anything stupid, Sadie entered the commons via a hallway across from where we were sitting. Thank God.

I shot up so quickly, I almost toppled over as my still-weak leg seized up under me. I ignored it and walked as fast as I possibly could over to where she was standing. For a moment, she looked confused, but then she saw Elizabeth and that stupid little smile, and it all seemed to click.

She grabbed my arm and towed me out of the building, ignoring Hannah's half-hearted goodbyes.

We were halfway down Center Street before Sadie began to talk.

"I was right; there is something really, really suspicious with the Ginger Society. I now have reason to suspect that there could be a potential mass attack on the school, which is so extremely pointless. Why select our school of all places? It's not as if we're some hugely influential place – oh." She said all of this without pausing for a breath.

"What?"

We turned the corner that led onto TARDIS Drive. I'd never worked out exactly what TARDIS stood for.

"Stay away from the Tirmoarys, Liam. That's all I'm going to say."

"You think they have something to do with this?"

But true to her word, that really was all she was going to say.

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Author's Note: I'm so overjoyed that so many of you decided to stick around for the sequel! I loved reading all of your comments. You guys truly are the best readers anyone could ask for.

I apologize for how boring this chapter was. I promise that in the next chapters, there will be more action-y stuff.

So, Elizabeth and Eamon Tirmoary. What do you think of them so far?

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter. Review!

-Sketch