Chapter 2: Friends
+Kaira+
I used to think that fighting Mortem was the most unsettling and energy burning task I would ever have to do, I was wrong. High school was nothing like I thought it would be. Though La Push high wasn't very big, it still seemed overwhelming to me. With its crowded hallways, loud obnoxious students, and consistent buzzing of the intercom, I was sure I might commit suicide at some point. The only reason I was able to get through the day was because Leighton had been constantly at my side. And though he portrayed a calm and cool exterior, through our bond I was able to feel his confusion and irritation.
The "bond" that kept me going was actually the psychic link between us. No we couldn't read each other's minds, but it allowed us to keep track of each other, allowed us to know what the other was feeling, but it was mostly there so we could keep tabs on each other during a battle that was what made The Risen such strong warriors. Our ability to work together with a partner overwhelmed the Mortem, who attacked as individuals, never helping one another. Though the bond was useful during battles, it wasn't any help during training.
"Fuck," Leighton cursed under his breath as I struck out with my hand, fingers clawed, scraping roughly against his cheek. Using the time he took to wince from the sting, I kicked out, aiming for his side.
No such luck, L could read my strategies too well. His hands shooting out, he grabbed my leg, using the momentum to shift my weight, causing my other leg to buckle from the sudden jolt. I fell to my back, the air whooshing from my lungs as Leighton landed on top of me.
"I like this position K," he panted, smirking devishly, the white wife beater clung to his sweaty body.
"Then you'll love this even more!" I snapped. Wrapping my leg around his waist I pushed off the ground, forcing us to roll over. L's eyes popped open as I now stared down at him, my fake dagger pointed directly at his heart, "What now bitch?"
Leighton burst out laughing holding his hands up in a sign of defeat, "Okay you win this one."
I couldn't help but smile as I let the dagger fall to the ground, shifting so I was straddling his hips. "I do believe I broke the tie," I stated, smiling proudly.
"You have, huh," Leighton raised himself on his elbows, smirking; "Don't worry Kai, by tomorrow, we'll be tied again."
"Oh you keep believing that sweet heart," patting his cheek I stood, shaking my hair free from its ponytail. "Have fun cleaning," I waved absentmindedly while walking into my room, smirking as L cursed at his defeat task.
The bed felt like a haven as I fell to my back, staring at the cracked white ceiling. Everything about this place, form the constant raining, to the kids at school had wound my chest tighter and tighter. There was something going on there, and I wanted to know what it was. Though common sense told me that I was over exaggerating, wanting to find a reason to worry, my Risen sense told me that there was indeed something going on at La Push High.
Sighing deeply I pushed myself up, unwinding the black rosary from my wrist and falling to a kneel in front of the small bedside table. Striking a match, the saint candle came to life, filling the room with a scent of cedar wood. Abiather had told me that since god raised me for a purpose, I needed to be grateful and show him respect and love and compassion every day. Though I had no recollection of ever being religious in my first life, I was now. There was beauty hidden in this world, in nature, in people. But even though I was taught to forgive, that I was to love even my enemies, there was a black hatred that consumed my soul whenever I thought of Mortem, whenever I heard stories of the horrible things humans could do to each other.
Enough! I mentally scolded myself as I pressed the cold crucifix to my lips, now is not the time to be having such horrible thoughts. Swiping my mind clean of those malicious thoughts, I bowed my head and started my prayers.
+JaredPOV+
Sam didn't believe us, he never did. To Sam the world was peaceful, and even though we were enemies with bloodsuckers, he chose to turn a blind eye to their kind and follow Jacob and his love for the sick creatures. When Paul and I had replayed the scene to him, our Alpha merely shook his head, dismissing us with the scold that we shouldn't be quick to judge. I stalked away angrily, teeth clenched so hard that I was sure I cracked a tooth. Paul was right behind me, cursing his superior the moment he shifted back to his human form.
"Why can't he fucking believe what we saw?" He snapped, fist connecting with a tall pine, the branches quaking under his wrath. I had no answer for him, my own anger keeping any sarcastic comments at bay. "No human smells of blood the way they did! They. Are. Vampires!"
"And your proof would be?" I snapped my eyes to Leah as she walked from the trees, arms crossed as she smirked at us. "Without any proof Sam will never believe you."
"Go away Leah, we don't need your bitchy comments at the moment," I growled, fisting my hands.
She smirked before leaning back against a tree, "Down boy. I was just going to make a suggestion, offer some help."
"And why the hell would you help us?" Paul breathed deeply, calming himself.
"Because I believe you guys," hell must have frozen over. Leah Clearwater, believed Paul and me? The two people in the pack, that she hated the most.
"Why?" I asked, Paul mirroring my own confusion.
"Because I ran into someone in town today. His name is Abe Walker; supposedly he's going to start teaching at the high school. Your new history teacher or something like that," Leah answered. I motioned for her to elaborate. "He seemed human, but when I smelt him, he smelt of blood and….and of death."
Leah bowed her head at the last word, obviously remembering the experience. My eyes met Paul's, nodding slightly. Sighing deeply I swallowed, "Alright, what are we going to do about this?"
"Obvious isn't it?" Leah questioned finally looking up. "We don't have Sam to back us up, and we sure as hell can't have too many of us trying to figure this out. So we need to do this ourselves, just the three of us. We need to find solid proof that they really are bloodsuckers."
"And how do you plan on doing that genius?" Paul snapped. "Are we going to go up to them and be like 'hey bro, are you a bloodsucker? Really? Awesome!'"
Throwing him an acidic look Leah shook the hair from her face. "No boys. We are going to befriend them."
A smile slowly contorted over my face as I realized Leah's intentions.
"Tomorrow boys," Leah smirked, "you will both become very close with the bloodsuckers. Best friends in fact."
"Leah Clearwater," I started, "you might be a bitch who I can't stand, but at least you're smart." Leah merely smirked before turning on heel and walking away.
I've done a lot of strange things in my life. I've turned into a huge dog, battled against vampires, and watched as one of my good friends imprinted on a baby. But what I was about to do now couldn't even match up to those experiences. Never in my life had I willingly tried to befriend someone who was so different, someone who made my skin crawl to even be near them. But here I was, doing just that.
Kaira , she was my mission according to Leah. Le believed that I was more approachable then Paul, which I couldn't help but to agree with. The only problem with Leah's plan was that Kaira was never by herself, everywhere she went her follower went. Leighton, he was a problem. Paul had tried talking to him, and they seemed to get on well enough, but the moment Kaira walked past the classroom Leighton became serious and turned back to the lesson.
The new plan was to try and get each of them on their own, that way it would be easier to try and talk to them unfortunately we had both been failing at this throughout the day. I couldn't help but give a sigh of frustration as I fell onto the worn couch in the back of the library. It was getting ridiculous, maybe Leah was wrong, maybe the only thing we could do was corner the monsters and force them to admit to us what they really were.
"Sorry," someone whispered as their bag knocked into the back of my head.
"No problem," my thoughts halted as the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Twisting around I clenched my jaw as I saw who had hit me. It was Kaira, sitting at the table near the frosted window, tapping the end of her pen against a closed notebook. I swallowed down the wave of nausea that swept through me as her strange scent slowly traveled towards me. Every cell in my body screamed to turn around, mind my own business, and walk away. But for some strange reason I couldn't help but stare at her, something in my mind told me to watch, that there was something utterly fascinating with this strange girl.
Kaira sat staring out the window, watching as the rain slowly ran down it, the glass frosting over. She reached out and wiped away the fog with her jacket sleeve before crossing her arms around her tightly. Her long hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, pieces spilling out. Her eyes, almost looking ghostly white because of the dim lighting, stayed transfixed on whatever was outside. Her whole body was tense, as though at any moment she was ready to jump up and run away.
Swallowing I finally pushed myself to stand, walking silently to the back of her chair. Clearing my throat she looked up suddenly, her jaw clenching as I took the seat next to her, facing Kaira and smiling slightly. "I'm Jared Talon. I don't think I've introduced myself to you yet. We have English together."
Kaira's mouth parted slightly before she blinked and answered, "I'm Kaira ."
I allowed myself to relax, "So why did you move here from Denver."
"My, uh, guardian got offered a job here," Kaira said after a slight pause. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and I swallowed heavily as once again her scent washed over me. It still was tinged with the undeniable scent of death, but there was something hidden there. She smelled of old cedar wood and roses. Silently I inhaled deeper, the three clashing smells making my head spin.
"Oh isn't he the new history teacher?" I asked taking deep breaths to calm my spinning head.
Kaira nodded, "Yes, but he won't start until tomorrow."
We fell into silence as I tried coming up with something else to say. Kaira turned her gaze from me to the window again, her fingers clutching to the ends of her jacket tightly. When she spoke it shocked me, "Is it always raining here?"
"Usually," I whispered back following her gaze. Sighing she leant forward, knocking her pen to the table. I reached down to grab it at the same time she did. Her icy hands shocked me, making me drop the pen again before she hurriedly grabbed it again. Kaira stood suddenly, forcing her things into her bag, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"I'll see you later," her voice had lost the soft edge it had as we were talking. Just like when she had been snapping at Kim, there was a sharp tone to it, hardened like ice.
"Wait," I reached out and grabbed her elbow. Racking my brains I came up with something, "There's a bonfire tonight, most everyone in our grade goes. You should too."
Kaira looked down at my hand to my face. Her grey eyes softened a bit as she bit her lip. "We'll see."
I smiled brightly at her, "Well I hope to see you then."
Nodding she turned on heel, walking silently away, I caught her meet Leighton at the door, he placed an arm around her shoulders before they both turned to look at me and then walked away.
I twisted my hands together, still feeling the chill of her skin. But for some reason, I couldn't help but wonder if it was from the weather that made them that way, or if it was because of her being a bloodsucker. Slowly her unique scent disappeared, allowing my head to clear. I leaned back in the chair, flicking the reading lamp off. There was something about her, something that made me think of her face, of the way she had looked out that window. Kaira , in the corner of my heart it softened, as though it was feeling regret or sadness for her. That there was some kind of hidden story of her that I shouldn't overlook.
"Hi there handsome," I jumped as Kim suddenly slid onto my lap.
Instinctively I wrapped my arms around her, now breathing in the floral fruity smell that clashed with Kaira's so much. "Hi beautiful," I kissed her forehead as Paul joined us at the table.
"So have you made any progress in the plan?" He asked, folding a paper into an airplane.
"Yeah or at least I think. I told her to come to the bonfire tonight. Thought it might be a way to get the others to see what we see," liar. A tiny voice rang in my head. Liar? I didn't even know what it was talking about, but I still pushed it back.
"Good, I told Leighton the same thing," Paul nodded, "It looks like we're in for a long night."
I squeezed Kim tighter to me as I nodded in response. Looking out the window I caught sight of a dark shape staring at me from the edge of the woods. Another shape joined it, and together they retreated back into the forests depths. For some reason, fear didn't course through my veins, instead I felt calm, as though they were of no immediate threat. And for some reason, that scared me more than thinking they could be of something evil.
As we left the school I glanced once more to the woods, Kaira's face came to mind, and the fear that had been evident in her eyes now ran through me.