Over the next few weeks, Ivy and Gabriel had come to view Xavier as one of our own. I still kept an eye on them, riding home with them in Xavier's car most days unless I had work to do. Molly had convinced me to hang out with them occasionally with the condition that Maghen be included. We sat with them at break occasionally but we kept our lunch period to ourselves. They all seemed hyper focused on the upcoming dance, constantly asking what they would where, who they wanted to take them, how they would do their make up and hair.

I wasn't planning on going, so I tended to zone out when they got on this subject but it soon had a sense of familiarity that was almost comforting. Little did I know, that soon familiarity would come as a terrible omen. It happened in Ms. Castle's literature class one afternoon. Beth had been late, spending time with Xavier no doubt. When she came in, we'd been talking about a project we'd been doing.

"I've decided to allocate you all a creative writing task with a partner. Together you'll need to come up with a poem to read to the class on the subject of love, to preface our upcoming study of the great Romantic poets, Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, and Byron. Does anyone have a poem they'd like to share before we start?"

"I do." Said a smooth British voice from the back of the room. I found it odd since out of the 12 of us in the class, no one was British. It must have been the new guy I'd heard people talking about.

"Thank you, Jake!" Ms. Castle smiled brightly, "Would you like to come up and recite it?"

"Certainly."

He swaggered to the front of the room, scanning the class with piercing jade green eyes. He was tall, about Gabriel's height give or take a few inches, and lean. He had black hair that just brushed his shoulders. His face, though mortal, was undeniably beautiful, sharp cheek bones, low set brows, and a straight nose that drooped slightly. His lips though were curled into a sneer, as if he though he was better than us.

He didn't wear the uniform, instead opting for dark jeans and a black shirt and I wondered how he had gotten away with that. A tattoo of a serpent was wound his arm. There was something eerily familiar about him though, though I couldn't place him. I was almost sure I'd seen his face before, but I couldn't remember when or if ever it had happened. His gazed finally stopped on mine and lingered them, sending a a small, smirk like smile.

"'Annabel Lee,' a ballad by Edgar Allan Poe. It may interest you to know that Poe married his thirteen year old cousin, Virginia, when he was twenty seven. She died two years later from TB." His voice filled the room, demanding attention. it was confident, if not a little conceited. He had the aura of someone who always got his was and expected nothing less, no matter the situation he was in.

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

I and my Annabel Lee—

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsmen came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we—

Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in Heaven above

Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea—

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

When he finished, all eyes were on him entranced by the sad poem. That alone proved that he was different. I'd known teachers (and when I'd been a teacher) who'd have their classes falling asleep when reciting poetry. It simply wasn't something many teens found interesting. But some how he'd managed to hook them all, as well as Ms. Castle, simply with his voice. It had really sounded like he'd lost the love of his life to death.

"That was a very expressive rendition. We must keep you in mind when Jazz and Poetry night comes along..." Ms. Castle said, taking a gasping breath. "All right, everyone, I hope that's inspired you to come up with some poetry of your own. I'd like you to get into pairs and brainstorm ideas. The form is entirely up to you. Give yourselves free rein-complete poetic license!"

I was about to get up to join Bethany and Maghen. Since there were thirteen of us now, one group would either have three or someone would work alone. Before I could make a move though, Jake stopped in front of my desk. "Want to be partners?" He practically purred, "I hear you're new as well."

"My sister and I got here at the beginning of the year..." I turned toward Maghen and Beth, giving them a pleading look. Maghen shrugged and Bethany looked at me helplessly. They sat down together as Jake slid into the desk beside me, leaning back and resting his hands behind his head.

"I'm Jake Thorn." he introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Azrael Church" I placed my hand in his and to my surprise, he turned it over and brought it to his lips as if he were a knight and I a fair lady. Well I had a newsflash for him. The dark ages sucked.

"Named after the angel no doubt. How intriguing."He smirked and my eyes widened. In all my years, no one had called that out before, or at least made the connection. Strangely enough, he didn't seem like the religious type, so I had no idea how he'd know that. His eyes roamed over me, burning with curiosity. I felt like he could see right through me and in that moment, I felt more exposed than Adam and Eve had after eating the fruit of Knowledge. It was unnerving.

"Yeah. My family is really religious." I pressed my lips together tightly. I was curious about him. There was something different about him-the way he carried himself and acted. I felt like I needed to know more. If he found out too much he could be dangerous and I got the feeling that the Covenant wouldn't tolerate another slip up.

"So...Any thoughts?" he drummed his slender fingers on the desk, obviously bored.

"For the poem? I don't know. Love really isn't my thing."

"Very well, I'll start. Any preference for particular metaphors? Rain forests, or rainbows, anything like that? He laughed, "I'm partial to reptiles, myself."

"I've noticed." My gaze flicked down to the tattoo, "Why reptiles though?"

"Tough skinned and cold blooded." He smiled and turned away, scratching a quick note and, crumbling it into a ball, threw it toward the two goth girls, Alicia and Alexandra. They looked up irritated, but when they saw him looking, they melted and read the note, talking to each other excitedly. Jake settled back into his chair and got back on topic, "So the theme is love."

"Again. Not my thing." I crossed my arms.

"What's wrong? wondering what I said to those girls?"

"Nope. Who you talk to is your business."

"I'm just trying to make friends. It's tough being the new kid in town." his face suddenly changed to be very sincere and a little fore lorn. It made me want to help him, but I kept my guard up.

"You'll find your people eventually. Worst case you hang out with me and Maghen." I said the last part as the thought popped into my head. It would be easy to watch him if I kept him around.

"Thanks, Azrael," his lips curled into a sly smile, "I'd love to hang out with you more. So what do you do for kicks around here?"

"Most people hang out with friends, go to Sweethearts, the beach, the movies. That kind of thing. Small town you know."

"I mean what do you do for kicks."

"Well I spend a lot of time with my family and my sister, Bethany's, boyfriend when I'm not here."

"Ooh. So baby sister has a boyfriend." He smirked, " Love more her thing than yours?"

"Most definitely." I rolled my eyes. "She's always with Mr. Perfect School Captain, Xavier Woods."

"I'm sensing some hostility..."

"Don't get me wrong. He's a good guy. But their puppy love thing gets annoying."

"I see. So how do you like your new home?"

" It's ok. You might find it a bit boring. Not much goes on here." Save for all of the freak accidents.

"I don't think so." His eyes peered deeply into mine, "Not now-not with people like you around."

The bell rang, breaking the trance and we began packing up our books. He was definitely snakelike. That was certain. The scary thing though, was that I wanted to know more. It was the same curiosity I'd had with man kind once. That was dangerous. "See you later. Maybe we'll get more done next time." I said and walked out the door.