Pandora's Triangle
Chapter Ten
After the interview I felt good. Almost euphoric. Nothing could dampen my mood! Nothing.
"Pandora! What a pleasant surprise."
Oh no! NO! NO, NO, NO! Ever so slowly, I turned my head, praying that I was just hearing things. Nope, just my luck. There was Aido. Fuck.
"What are you doing here? Don't you bother that Kaname guy after school?" I asked, though that was probably a bad idea: Talking to him is always a bad idea, really.
He pouted and slumped his shoulders. "Not today. He's with that Yuki." He looked at me as if expecting I would pat him on the head, and whisper soothing words to him. Yeah, not happening.
"Well, don't bother me about it. You have a cousin, talk to him about your guy problems. Though I'm sure he's tired of all your ranting." I shrugged whenever he shot me a small glare.
"You're not very nice Pandora. Maybe I should do something about that."
"Yeah, like, leave me alone. Ignore me, you could do that. I would prefer you never talked to or even look at me." I gave a small nod. Yeah, please ignore my existence! "Now, leave me be, okay? I need to get home."
He shook his head, "Now, why would I ignore such a pretty girl, hm?" Rolling my eyes, I turned back around, needing to get away from him before I punch him. "Hey! Why are you walking away?"
"Because I don't want to talk to you or be around you. It's bad enough you bother me at school I don't need you bothering me after school too." I sighed as I picked up the pace of my walking.
Aido grabbed my arm, pulling back towards him. "My, that's rude Pandora. It wounds me, greatly."
Forcing my arm out of his grip was a bit harder than I thought it would be, damn he's stronger than he looks. "Let go, Aido." I demanded.
"No."
"Why the hell not?!" I glared at him, still trying to pull my arm out of his hand.
"I don't want to."
"If you want to live, you better let go of my damn arm!" I nearly fell over with the force I put in that last pull, successfully freeing my arm. "Leave me alone, Aido. Get the hell away from me, now."
He roughly turned himself around and started to walk away. Stealing a glance over his shoulder, he said "I'm not gonna leave you alone. Just leaving before a certain man decides to point a very dangerous object in my face. Watch yourself, Pandora."
Confused but happy that he was leaving, I slumped a little. Thank whatever gods have heard my plea. I grumbled at thinking that he would never leave me alone, I turned around, and nearly falling on my ass at what greeted me. Yagari, my history teacher. Shit. What the hell is he doing here? Oh, right. I'm still by the market.
"Mr. Yagari." I greeted, nervously shifting my feet around. I think he is a little intimidating, I admit.
He had a cigarette hanging from his lips, ever present bored expression still in place, and looking a little put off. He seemed to like appearing at the oddest times. Just like Cross.
"Hm? Oh, you're one of my students, right? Cross ran into you at those apartments. Miss…"
"Wyatt."
"Right." He pulled out the cigarette from his mouth, dropping it in an ash tray on the trash can outside the market.
"Yeah. Um, excuse me, Mr. Yagari, I need to get home." He nodded a little and moved to the left letting me by him.
"You should be careful around that blond brat." He said, not turning around and started to walk to the doors of the market. The doors opening for him, then sliding shut behind him once he was inside.
I watched the doors for a few seconds, processing his words. What did he mean by that? Aido? What the hell was he going to do, annoy me to death? Stalk me and shit in Hero's litter box? I swiftly turned around and sped walked the hell out of there. I felt like I was going to choke on my own thoughts if I didn't boogie on out of there.
I didn't want to go home. I wanted to clear my head a little. But I wasn't sure where to go. The park? No, I don't feel like seeing ducks at the moment. Hmmm… Maybe the school track, they allow people back there off school hours. Yeah, I could totally do some more walking. Sarcasm. Well, there's that bridge leading towards Mike's Pub and Grill; it hangs over a dam. Yeah, it's not too far from here, and it has benches. Bonus. Destination in mind, I made my way to the dam.
The dam was a nice place to think and be with people you are close to, which is why all the benches were occupied when I got there. Just my luck.
Knowing that it will take forever for one couple to leave, I leaned on the guardrails. Places like this really clear my mind. I don't know why but I feel so free in high places. I could never understand why anyone would be afraid of heights.
I must have been there for quite some time because when I finally came back down to Earth it was already sunset.
'What the hell? Did I get knocked out or something?' I somehow made it to a bench during that time I was out of it. Rubbing my face, I stood up. I looked around, searching for any other life forms in the vicinity. None. I was alone.
It's odd, this bridge is so busy during the day, now, it's like death has taken it. Not one sound but my breathing and the occasional insect filled the air. There was a dense haze over the bridge, adding to the eerie environment.
I looked in the direction of the restaurant it was just beyond the trees to the right. You'd see the light; you'd always see the light. I saw nothing. What was in place of the light, bouncing off the moisture in the air, was darkness. It was pitch black over there. The only lights to been seen are the street lamps on the bridge.
Unease filled me to my core; I knew something had to be wrong. Ever scene I was by the school, checking the damages, I had felt off, like every cell in my body told me to run at the slightest touch, at the smallest noise. I honestly felt like I was losing my mind. This feeling scared me; I had no idea how to handle this… dread of something I did not understand.
With everything I had in my still waking body, I ran. I didn't know what else to do. What could I do? Fight something I could not see, something that was nothing more than a feeling down in the pit of my stomach? I don't know. My only viable option was to run. I ran as hard as I could, as fast as I could. I felt as though that if I turned even the slightest bit, I would see something that only lived in my childhood nightmares. Make no mistake, I am not fearless, I am terrified of seeing something I had know to be unreal.
I ran and ran; my breath leaving in great huffs, my head was airy, light. I needed to stop but I couldn't. In fear of seeing something I wished never to see, I refused to stop. As I was running, a few cars flew by, all racing past me, headed towards the restaurant. All these cars looked expensive. And all of them filled me with fear. Like, whatever was in them was what my body was telling me to run from. I needed to get home, now.
Yet another car went past me, only to screech and pull over on the side of the road. That made my body freeze and damn near fall over. I was hunched over, hands on my knees, staring wide eyed at the pavement before me, gasping for air.
"Miss Wyatt? What are you doing out here?" Mr. Cross! My lord and savior!
I turned around so fast I fell on my ass. "Mr. Cross?" He quickly came over to me and helped me off my ass. "I was just… going for a run."
He stared at me, as if gauging my honesty. "It's dangerous here, you could get hurt." He sighed, looking towards his car. "I would offer you a ride, but my car is at full capacity, right now."
Shaking my head, I looked towards the road to Mike's, "That's alright, I think I'm safer now than I was earlier." Oh god, I just made it seem like I was in any real danger other than losing my mind.
"Miss Wyatt, did some thing try to attack you back there? You can tell me, I won't judge you." His question puzzled me, was there some thing that would attack around here. There was not any wildlife around here that would normally attack humans. Why would anything attack me? What puzzled me more was how serious he looked, how he sounded.
"N-no, I panicked and took off. The bridge was empty and too quiet; it scared me so I ran." The fear suddenly crashed into me again when I saw the lights to another car, it flying by only seconds later. Cross must have noticed my fear because he grabbed my arm and started to pull me with him towards his car.
"I'm taking you home. You'll have to squeeze in there, but I need to drop some of these things off near the pub up there." I tried to pull away from him but when he opened the door to the backseat, my surprise froze me. Yuki and Mr. Takamiya were there, along with some boxes.
"N-no, thank you. That's very nice of you, but I can walk, really." I wasn't surprised to see Yuki, she was Cross' adopted daughter, but Takamiya on the other hand was a surprise. He must be another teacher Cross seemed to chauffer around, I guess.
"Why don't you want to ride with us, Miss Wyatt? Afraid we'll bite?" A voice asked from the passenger seat. That voice, that voice, I know it. But I can't place it. It's a voice I don't hear often. I've only heard it once or twice. And I can honestly say I don't like it. Like the cars that went past us, it scared me. I leaned down only to see the schools "King", Kaname Kuran.
Mr. Takamiya kicked the seat Kaname was sitting in. "We won't cause you any harm, Wyatt. Cross-girl, hold that box and move over. Let her sit right there." Yuki smiled at me grabbing the box and scooting to the middle seat.
I looked towards Mr. Cross, I felt sick. "I'm not comfortable with this, Mr. Cross."
He looked sympathetic and smiled. "I know. It'll be over before you know it. I'm dropping off Kaname, Kaito, and those boxes off up there, it won't take long, I promise."
Nodding, I sat down beside Yuki, Cross closing the door once I got situated. Quickly, I buckled my seatbelt. Cross got in the front and drove towards the pub.
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the bridge. Just thinking about being on it scared me. I felt a hand on my clenched ones. I looked up, knowing full well it was Yuki.
"It's okay, Charlie. Nothing will hurt you when we're around." I gave a small nod, just to make her stop. I did not want any attention drawn to me. I moved my hands away from hers, and nodded again.
Closing my eyes, I felt more fear creep up on me. If I were to open my eyes, I would see hundreds of monsters. I ducked my head down, and squeezed my eyes shut. Cross stopped, and along with Kaname and Takamiya he got out of the car. Yuki, moved over again, to where Takamiya sat previously. I saw nothing, but I heard everything. I heard people talking, people I did not know. Though, one did sound like Mr. Yagari's.
Boxes left the car: Yuki was the only one taking out the boxes from the backseat, wanting to be the only near me at the time. She went to the trunk after all the boxes in the back were cleared out.
I pulled myself together a little and chanced a look at my surroundings. Trees: lots of trees. When I looked in front, beyond the drivers seat, I saw a big house, a mansion. I also saw lots of people, some of them had me on the edge of my seat. They walked in and out of the house, some with boxes others just observing. I saw someone I wished to kill near the entrance, who was with Kaname at the moment, Aido. Rolling my eyes, I turned my attention towards Mr. Cross, who seemed to be arguing with Mr. Yagari.
I could not make out what they were saying, but every now and then, Mr. Cross gestured to the car. Mr. Yagari was looking in the direction of the car, staring at me. He let out a huge puff of smoke and shook his head. He stepped away from Cross and was slowly walking towards the car, Cross following suit.
I jumped back when they reached my door, Mr. Yagari roughly pulling the door open. I'm amazed he didn't rip the door off. He squatted down in front of me, and let out another puff of smoke.
"Did you see anything, Wyatt?" Straight to the point, as always.
"What exactly am I supposed to have seen, Mr. Yagari?" I asked, unsteady and shaken.
He narrowed his eye and stood up. Mr. Cross took his place, "What he means is, was there something there that scared you off?"
I shook my head, "No. It was a feeling. All I saw was darkness and haze, no one else was there with me."
"Describe that feeling." Yagari demanded.
I looked at my hands wringing them and watched them shake. "Like every part of my body was heavy, as if some thing was weighing me down, like, I was being watched. And when I started to run, it felt as if I would turn around and I would see something from a nightmare, inhuman. My body was screaming at me to run, as if my life depended on it." I looked up at Cross, "When those cars went by me it scared me. When you stopped, I froze. I froze because I felt that same fear when those other cars went by."
Yagari stared right through me, like Cross had done. "If I asked who among these people scare you, would you point them out?"
Cross, suddenly shot up, glaring at Yagari. "We can't do that. I promised it wouldn't take long, she needs to get home." He crossed his arms, ready for an argument. Yagari just sighed, and left.
"We'll talk about it some other time then." Were his parting words.
The passenger door opened, entered Yuki, blush present on her face. "Cross, we need to get going."
"Call me Papa!" Cross cried falling to the ground, a river running down his face. I moved away from the door wanting to leave, desperately. "But you're right; we must get a move on!" He closed my door again, and climbed in the driver's seat. "Let's get you home, Miss Wyatt."
We reached my apartment, didn't take long at all. I was squirming in my seat the whole ride there. Being in Cross car, was very odd, the ride beyond the bridge was fine; I was ignoring the outside world as best I could then. Now, it was so silent and awkward. Mr. Cross tried to make conversation, I only gave one worded responses'.
I open my door, after unbuckling my seat belt, "Thank you, for taking me home." I looked at Cross through the rear-view mirror. He smiled and nodded. "I guess I'll see you guys at school tomorrow?"
"Bright and early! I'll greet my students like I always do." Cross exclaimed, nearly hitting Yuki in the face, if she hadn't caught his arm in time, he would have definitely bonked her nose pretty hard.
Nodding, I got out of his car, thanking him one last time, and then closed the door. I slowly made my way to my apartment. Looking back, I saw they were still there, waiting me to make it to my apartment safely. They waved, smiling. I gave a small wave in return. Turning back around, I picked up my pace, having just remembered I need to feed Hero.
Reaching my apartment, I scrambled for my keys, hastily shoving it into the key hole and finally opened the door, slamming it shut behind me. "Hero?!" Hero came running towards me, meowing his little head off. I scooped him up, cooing in his ear. "Let's feed you."
Once Hero was feed I got a look at the time, I didn't realize just how late it was until now. The clock on my wall read, 1:21 a.m. What? I was out for that long; I must've been asleep for a long time on the bridge. But, how exactly did I go to sleep up there? How did I even get to a bench, did no one notice I was lying there? I could've been dead, yet, no one bothered to check on me. Yeah, lots of people are asses, but a teen lying on a bench, in clean-ish clothes, would cause me worry.
I had showered, thoughts running around my mind. Every thought that came to me raised more and more questions. Nothing made any sense, not one thing did. The cars didn't, Mr. Cross, Kaname, Mr. Yagari, Aido, and the pub, none of them made a lick of sense. The pub closed at 2 am, every night. Why would it be closed so early? They were bustling when I got to the bridge, I didn't even have to see the actual pub and I knew it was busy, they always were. And what exactly was going on at that mansion? I knew Aido and Kaname were rich but why would Mr. Takamiya, Mr. Yagari, and Mr. Cross be there, dropping off boxes? Was there something going that the students at Cross High would come to find out, soon?
I no answers to my questions, I couldn't exactly ask any of the three mentioned teachers what was going on there. Like hell was I going ask Aido. Kaname freaked me out, so, Yuki. Yuki was the only option, one that I wasn't scared of or I didn't hate. Alright, I'll ask Yuki what was going on at school but, when? I can't really bother her when she's on duty. We don't share any classes, I could ask Kiryu: I share Language Arts with him. Kiryu is bound to know something, right? Umm, no, let's not. He's a little… off. And I feel like if I asked him anything he would take straight to one of the teachers, saying stuff like "She was snooping around." So, it's still Yuki. Damn. I guess I'll have to make things up as I go along. Just, wing it.
Lying down, I sighed. 'I've had enough excitement for one day. Maybe, maybe I should bother with finding out what was going on. It's really none of my business. I don't know, I'll about this when I wake up.' I rolled over on my bed, setting my alarm. "Goodnight, Hero." I said to the big, fluffy orange cat at the foot of my bed, making bread by my feet.
Tomorrow might be another exciting day. We'll just have to wait and see.
Until the next day…
Yay! I updated. I didn't mean to take so long, I really didn't! I was just busy with stress. My family issues have got gotten worse, honestly. Things will be that way for awhile it seems. I tried to work on this every time I got on my computer, but I hated what I wrote in the first page, I still do. But, I worked with it and I like how things came out in the middle. I'd like you guys to tell me what you thought about the resent fear Charlie went through.
Comment time!
"My Hopes and Dreams:
Thank you, for understanding. I hope you work through whatever writers block you may have! Fluff would be nice, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, this is going at a turtles pace. I really wish it was going a little bit faster, my brain disagrees with me though.
I find the parents being hunters unlikely. They left her with her grandparents because of money troubles, and they have quite a few other kids. The grandparents are more likely to have known Cross than her parents. The grandparents that had already died might've been hunters, one could only theorize, at the moment.
As for how she looks, she is pretty average. She has short, layered dark brown hair. Freckles dotting her face, here and there. Charlie walks around a lot, so, she is pretty fit, kinda muscular legs. She's a little on the tan side, spends a lot of time in the sun. She defiantly not a beauty like the vampire ladies, but she isn't bad looking per say. But, really, Aido was just being Aido.
Thank you for commenting, it really means a lot to me!"
"LynnStark:
Yeah, it's so slow. I try to make it as fast paced as I possibly can, but I don't have a good relationship with my brain when it comes to writing. Sorry, if it get's a bit too slow for you. I'll try to make this a better fanfic!
I've been doing my best to shape her life outside of school, as you may know, she doesn't have any friends. So, hanging out with people is kind of out of the question, for now. She may gain some friends in the chapters to come.
Thank you for commenting! It makes me very happy to see people questioning or reviewing my fanfic."
I hope this chapter was a bit more exciting than my previous chapters. As you may see, she is changing. Whether or not that's a good thing will be discovered soon-ish.
My grammar is shit, so mistakes are bound to be every where. Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you think so far, I'll answer any questions you may have at the end of every chapter! Until chapter eleven!
