Chapter 4

One. Everyone in the room sits rock still. Two. The surrounding silence envelopes the shrill sound of the fire alarm, pulling it in and deadening it. Three. Gregor counts the third heartbeat. Chaos begins. While Professor Dalton attempts to get the students exiting the classroom to form a single file line, Gregor slowly stands up from his desk, grabbing Danny by the sleeve.

"Take a deep breath, and relax. Panicking won't get us anywhere." Gregor speaks very calmly, looking into Danny's eyes. Gregor watches Danny's shoulders drop a few centimeters and, though his eyes are still wide with fear, visibly relax.

Dragging Danny behind him, Gregor files in behind the straggling students who weren't strong enough to push their way to the front. Stepping out into the hallway, Gregor sees a blur in his peripheral before someone slams into his right side…again. He looks down to see Selena sprawled out on the ground at his feet.

"We have to go," Selena says, standing up and looking Gregor in the eye. "I'm sorry I didn't get to explain before, but I need your help." Selena inclines her head backwards where Gregor sees the boy bearing down on them with an icy glare.

Herding Selena and Danny in front of him, Gregor sets off after the rest of the students down the hall at a brisk walk. Gregor can't help but notice Selena clinging tightly to his arm as the three of them hustle down the hallway in the midst of the rest of the students, but what surprises him is the warm tightness that he feels gathering in his chest. He quickly forces his mind to move on to more pressing matters and glances over his shoulder to find that the young man is no longer following them. Gregor turns to the feeling of the early summer breeze tickling his skin as the three of them exit the school. Settling in with the crowd of students milling around in the courtyard, Gregor turns to face Selena.

"Care to explain who that was?" Gregor asks, raising an eyebrow as Selena purses her lips at the question.

"You do seem like the kind of girl who would have some crazy ex-boyfriends," Danny snorts, flashing a big goofy grin to Selena's glare.

"He's not an ex-boyfriend," she mutters, aiming a pointed glare at Danny. "I don't know him personally, only that he's been hunting me for the last few months," Selena continues, biting her lower lip and watching Gregor for his reaction. He simply just raises an eyebrow and waits for her to elaborate. But before Selena can further explain, she suddenly stiffens up and her eyes go wide. Turning around, Gregor sees the clean cut young man ghosting his way through the crowd. He moved through the densely packed crowd of teenagers seemingly without touching anybody at all. It was…eerie.

The young man glides right up to Gregor and, for a moment, looks Gregor right in the eyes like they were a gateway into Gregor thoughts. Then he glances over Gregor's shoulder and the feeling passes.

"Selena," he says, with a voice as smooth as the way he carries himself through a crowd. "It's been quite difficult tracking you down."

Selena surprises Gregor by giving the young man a vicious sneer and a few choice words.

An arrogant smile plays across the man's face as he attempts to step around Gregor, only to be stopped by Gregor's hand clamping on his shoulder with brute force. "You don't get to talk to her yet, you're talking with me right now," Gregor, staring the young man in the eye says in a quiet, steady voice.

"Trust me boy, you don't want to get involved in this. You have no idea what I'm capable of." Giving Gregor a sneer, the man again tries to shove his way past Gregor, only this time when Gregor grabs his shoulder, he uses enough force to spin the man around to once again face him directly.

"Trust me; you have no idea what I'm capable of," Gregor whispers with calm deliberation. Gregor watches the man take him in, his eyes lingering on the lone scar standing out on Gregor's forehead. The cords stand out on Gregor's neck, and his cheeks twitch in anticipation; these things the only evidence of the tension in his body. Everything else about him looks at ease, like he's done this a hundred times before.

The young man looks like he is about to attack when he seems to realize for the first time that there are students all around. "You're making a big mistake boy," the young man says, his face all seriousness. He gives Selena one last glance before spinning and disappearing in the crowd.

Gregor feels Selena squeeze his arm, and turns to see her matching smile of appreciation. "Don't thank me yet, you owe me an explanation," he pauses, "and if I don't like it I'll be way scarier than that guy."

"I don't believe that for even one second," Selena says, giving Gregor a wink.

"I think we should take a day off from school," Gregor says with a dry smile. "You two stay close to me, we're going to my apartment."

Gregor spins on his heel and takes off through the crowd without turning to see if Danny or Selena choose to follow. "It's a bit of a walk. Care to fill me in?" Gregor says as Selena pulls up beside him.

"I tried to tell you several times. This morning I came really close, but I was scared." Selena starts with a sigh. "I'm originally from Ontario Canada. I played basketball, dated guys, and lived a normal life. Then one day I show up at my house to find that both my parents are gone. That guy back there, his name is Sabek. He was waiting there for me, but I managed to get away. He's been chasing me around Canada for the past year, and now I'm here." They trudge on in the cold for a few minutes in silence, and just when Gregor is about to tell her that he knows she's not telling him everything Selena clears her throat and says one more thing. "It appears though, that I have finally found my Overland Warrior to protect me."

Selena watches Gregor stop abruptly, his shoulders tensing up and his chest going still as he sucks in his breath sharply. Gregor turns to Selena and when he looks her in the eye he sees the gleam of untold secrets, letting him know for sure that what she said was no coincidence.