Fangs PoV
I perched on the edge of the chair and put my backpack between my feet. Max was already pulling up tabs of browsers and opening blank word documents on her laptop.
"So," she said, not taking her eyes off the screen. "I was thinking we could do something taboo, ya know, something people are adverse to. Like Satanism."
I had to roll my eyes. "You just want to seem edgy and cool." I muttered.
She turned and faced me, her brown eyes hard and stubborn. "Listen, 98% of that class is already going to be doing either Christianity or Islam. The rest will do something like Buddhism. Most people already know at least a little bit about those. Ms. Lunsford likes originality, she'll give us extra points if no one else in the class does the same one as us. She'll also give us bonus points if we actually teach people something instead of just rattling off stereotypes. Trust me, if we do it right this will give us the best grade possible, even if we get docked points on presentation for your muttering."
She stopped ranting for a second and turned back to her computer. I could tell she had been rehearsing this speech all the way home.
"Plus, I already know a lot about it so we won't have to do much research."
Great, she's also into the occult. This girl just keeps getting weirder and weirder by the minute.
Well, I didn't have any better ideas, and she seemed to know what she was doing. I didn't have time to worry about it, so whatever.
"Ok, I'm just gonna start putting together some basic brainstorming stuff. You can work on whatever else you need to."
I shrugged to myself and pulled my first assignment out of my backpack. For the next half hour, the only sound was Max's fingers racing over her keyboard. She typed to a rhythm, like there was a soundtrack in her head. The sound was actually kind of soothing.
After a while, she stopped and rubbed her eyes, yawning.
Maxs PoV
God I was tired. The whispers never stop, even if I do manage to fall asleep I don't feel rested.
"I'm sorry Max. I know it's tiring. But you have to work hard to get what you want."
I sighed, knowing the voice was right. If I wanted the power he promised me, I needed to deal with it.
"Tired?" Fangs quiet voice broke into my reverie, and I forced a tired smile.
"Just a little. No big deal." I returned to the task at hand, and Fang turned back to his homework.
"When do you need to head home?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang pause.
"Not sure." he muttered. "Whenever you want me gone, I guess."
I shrugged. "Ok. We'll take you after dinner then."
There was no response, only the sound of my typing and his pencil scratching over the paper.
"So are you planning on doing this whole thing yourself? Because if you're going to do that anyway I don't see the point of me being here."
I turned to look at him. He hadn't even looked up from his paper.
"No, I'm not doing it all by myself. I'm just trying to organize what I already know about it so we know what we need to do more research on."
"Ok."
Nothing else was said.
When am I going to get my power? I asked the voice as I typed. You said if I killed Claudia-
"One more kill and I will start giving you power."
When will I get to kill again? As much as I hated to admit it, it was thrilling, holding life and death in your hands.
"Patience, Max. I will tell you when your time is right."
I barely held in a groan of frustration.
"You killed Claudia last night, Max. If you killed again now, people will get suspicious. With great power comes great responsibility, as they say. You must learn patience."
Fangs PoV
Dinner with Max's family was quiet and tense. The dining room table was obviously meant for a lot more people, so the other half of it was empty. Jeb sat at the head of the table, looking through papers as he ate. He apparently liked quiet, because every time Iggy or Gazzy spoke to each other, his eyes would flick up and shoot daggers at them.
Max's nicknames seemed to fit people better than their actual names, I noticed. I had managed to pick up that the taller one is James, or Iggy, and the younger one is Zephyr, or Gazzy. I didn't know the reasons behind their nicknames, but despite that, they still suited the boys perfectly.
Max kept staring at her dad with a look that sent shivers down my spine. This girl was scary. There was something off about her.
There were a couple of other people at the table as well. Her grandfather, apparently, and her uncle. 2 maids and a butler waited by the table, ready to serve whenever needed.
After dinner was over, the driver drove me home. I was tired when I got there, but I still had more homework to do.
I trudged into the living room. My mom was sat cross legged on the floor, pulling knick knacks out of a box.
"Hey, Mom?"
She looked up with a surprised smile. "Nick, sweetheart! How was your day?"
"Fine. I need my computer set up."
"The boxes are in the garage. I'm sure you can set it up."
I nodded silently and went to the garage.
About an hour later I finally got my computer sorted out. By then it was 8 o'clock and I was exhausted. I settled down to do my math, but my brain was melted and I couldn't think. Eventually I gave up and went to bed.
