September 16th, 2011

Rebecca twirled her pencil boredly as she waited for her computer science class to begin. She looked around the room and saw Dana standing by the door talking to someone. Rebecca couldn't tell who it was because they hood was up and had his back turned to her. It looked like Dana might've been scolding him for something. Whoever she was talking to just shrugged off her reprimands and walked away. As Dana sighed and entered the room, Rebecca sat up in her seat and waved at her for her to come sit by her. Dana glanced over her should to make sure that Rebecca wasn't waving at someone else then hesitantly walked over and took the seat beside her.

"Scoldin' your boyfriend for something?" Rebecca asked.

"No, that was my brother," Dana laughed, "He'd probably kill any boyfriend I had."

"Must be pretty protective."

"A little too much at times…He's more concerned about my well-being than his."

"Wish I had a brother like that," Rebecca sighed, pulling out her phone and typing a text message.

"No, no you don't," Dana replied with a half-hearted laugh.

xXxXx

"…Do you feel like he's watching us?" Desmond whispered.

"Like he's trying to glare holes into the back of me skull," Ezio replied.

Both boys were finding it impossible to focus on what their mathematics professor was explaining because of who had taken a seat behind them. They'd thought he was a new student until the professor had welcomed him back to the college. Alex Mercer. Desmond heard a few of his other professors mention him before; he was supposedly among the smartest students they'd ever taught. Desmond found that hard to believe, judging by his appearance.

As Alex had taken his seat, he'd given Desmond and Ezio a dirty look for no reason. Now they were sure he was watching them throughout the entire class, making them uncomfortable. The second their class was over, they gathered their things and hurried out of the classroom.

Desmond got to his history class early, as he always did, and watched while other students made their way into the lecture hall. He noted the professor, Ms. Greene, was late for once. When the door swung open again, he saw her talking with Alex. He looked around, hoping there would be other open seats beside the one next to him. Of course, there weren't.

"Why didn't I take the same class as Lucy and Connor…?" he sighed quietly, preparing for another uncomfortable class.

Alex sat down beside him without so much as a word or even a glance. He leaned his elbows on the desk, holding his head up with one hand, and went perfectly still. It should've been a relief for Desmond, to know Alex wasn't watching him, but he couldn't shake the paranoid feeling. Several minutes into the lecture, Desmond tried to distract himself by texting Lucy. A few messages went back and forth before a low grunt tore his attention from his phone. At first, he thought the professor had caught him, but then he realized it was too deep to be from Ms. Greene. Cautiously, he glanced to his left to see Alex glaring at him in annoyance from under his hood. It felt like his icy blue eyes were piercing into his soul.

Desmond swallowed thickly and slid the phone back into his pocket without taking his eyes off Alex. With the phone put away, Alex returned his attention to the lecture.

xXxXx

"Is Malik working through lunch again?" Lucy asked.

Altair nodded.

"You know, the whole reason we all made sure not have classes at noon was so we could all hang out together…." Lucy sighed, "Malik's screwing that up."

"That's what I told him," Altair shrugged.

Lucy rolled her eyes and picked at her food until Desmond showed up. Everyone at their table murmured some kind of lazy greeting as he sat down, glancing over his shoulder like he was making sure it was safe.

"What's the matter?" Ezio asked.

"That Mercer guy from our math class is in my history," Desmond answered, "He's scary as shit."

"Yeah, he's not much of a social person," someone said behind him.

Desmond nearly jumped out of his seat. He turned around to see the girl from yesterday standing with Rebecca, who laughed at his frightened expression. The two girls sat on the opposite side of the table, next to Connor and Altair, who seemed like he was trying to remember who Alex was.

"I'm pretty sure that's her brother you were talking about," Rebecca laughed.

"Is he the one with the dark leather jacket and wears like three layers?" Altair asked.

"Yeah, that's him," Dana nodded.

"…Why?"

"It's kinda hard to explain…I still don't get it, but I stopped questioning it a long time ago."

Altair shrugged, he didn't care that much, he was just curious why someone would wear so many layers when it was still warm outside. The group of them began talking about random everyday things, all the while Lucy caught Connor everytime he glanced at Dana. Lucy grinned knowingly at him and decided she would try to set them up, with Rebecca's help of course.

"What the hell is this?" Malik barked, "Altair gives me a hard time about never showing up to lunch, and when I do, I find that my seat has been given away?"

"I can move…" Dana offered.

"Please."

"No, it's alright," Connor said quickly, "If Malik wants to sit somewhere, he can show up on time."

Malik stared at Connor as if he'd just slapped him. He huffed angrily, dragged a chair up from another table and sat at the end of theirs with his arms crossed. Desmond then noticed Alex walking into the cafeteria. He kept to the sides of the massive room as he scanned through all the people, looking for someone; almost like a predator looking for prey. Ezio saw him as well as his eyes locked onto their table and began making his way over. Both Desmond and Ezio tensed slightly, being the only two who had really been near Alex. He walked straight up to Dana, without so much as a glance at the others, and held a cell phone out to her.

"You dropped it outside your computer class," he mumbled.

"Oh, I didn't even notice," she said, taking the phone from him, "Thanks."

He didn't reply; his cold eyes swept over the group suspiciously before he turned and left.

"…Well he seems pleasant," Malik stated.

xXxXx

"Wha….ugh, what happened…?" William groaned as his eyes adjusted to the dark room.

"Hm, I guess I should start using a more potent form of chloroform. People have been waking up sooner than I'd like."

"T-that voice…!"

William attempted to sit up but was held down to the examination table by its restraints. He lifted his head as best as he could and looked around until he spotted a man at the counter with his back to him, examining a scalpel. Appearing satisfied with it, the man turned and started walking towards him.

"Dear god, it's true…" William breathed, "You really are the one going around killing and eating people…!"

He ignored William, setting the scalpel down on a metal tray and taking hold of William's sleeve. In a single swift motion, he ripped the fabric away and tossed it over his shoulder. Then he picked up a marker from the tray and started drawing lines over his arm. He always liked to start there. The arms weren't as soft as the abdomen, but they also weren't as tough as the legs.

"You don't have to do this," William said quickly, "GenTek…GenTek is working on a cure, you don't have to keep doing this…!"

"I'm through with GenTek and its experiments," the man growled, "Besides, even if they did come up with a cure for that fantastic virus, that's not the only thing wrong with me now."

"If you're through with them, then why do you still wear the lab coat you had when you worked there?" William asked.

The man set the marker down and looked at William with a blank expression. He hadn't given it any thought. He took a half step back, trying to come up with a reason. While he thought about it, William was trying to come up with a way to reason with him. He hoped that he could talk the man out his satanic acts.

"I suppose…" he said, "It's because I want people to know that GenTek is the one who's really responsible for their deaths. I would've never considered human flesh had it not been for them."

He shrugged and picked the marker up again to finish his lines on William's arm. William bit his lip, trying to stay calm; he still had time. He watched the man dot lines over his shoulder and noticed he'd begun to shake. At first, he thought maybe the man was getting nervous or feeling regretful. But the hints of a smile told him otherwise. The man slammed the marker onto the table, cursing under his breath and covering his face with his other hand. William could see the deranged grin through the man's fingers as he began to laugh quietly.

"W-what's so funny…?" William whispered.

"Nothing!" the man barked, keeping his face covered.

His shaking worsened and his laughter sounded completely unhinged as it became louder. If William lived through this, the sight and sound would haunt him and give him nightmares for the rest of his life. The man cursed again and whipped around back to the counter where he'd retrieved the scalpel, he was quickly losing his patience. William noticed the man's walk was broken; halting as he moved. That was the last thing he needed to know.

"That's what you meant…" William said.

He grabbed something out of the drawer, straightened up, and staggered back over to William. William glanced down to see what he was holding, but the man raised it above and behind his head before William got a chance to see exactly what it was. He tilted his head, still wearing that mad smile. Metal flashed in the dim light as he swung his arm down and drove a cleaver straight through William's shoulder.

o0o0o0o

Author: no, not William Miles. WoI target William Weber, just fyi.