"You lost?" said a low voice from behind me. I spun around and froze. Small chuckles filled the hall. A two boys and a girl were leaning against the wall. There was nothing particularly special about them but I couldn't stop staring.
My gaze was locked in the eyes of the guy that had spoken. His auburn hair was spiked and swirled as if it hadn't been brushed; a look few can pull off correctly. Only a small scar across his cheek blemished his ghostly pale skin. I was tan compared to him. Compared to all of them! Not only did they all have their sickly pale skin in common, but they all had the same intense silver eyes that stood out against their complexions.
A huge grin on his face made me start to wonder if I should answer or try to ignore him and walk away. I decided to walk away but when I tried to turn I found I couldn't move. I couldn't even speak!
"I think she is Avice. Maybe we should help her find her way back." said the girl as she started walking closer; sarcasm written all over her face. I would have been stupid to not think something was up. She gracefully strode over to me and examined my face, still keeping a couple feet distance. Her long red hair swayed as she walked. She was tall and skinny. Her features sharp, adding to her abnormal beauty.
Come to think of it, all three of them were beautiful; drop-dead gorgeous actually. The last guy had golden blonde hair combed down to the side covering one of his eyes. The smirk on his face as he stared at me caused a wave of uneasiness to sweep through me.
"Oh come on Constance. Why don't we have a little fun first? I'm sure she doesn't have to go right this instance." Avice smiled and started advancing.
"I don't know? Why don't we ask her?" Constance said, never taking her eyes off of me. "Do you have to go?"
I couldn't believe I had a choice! I tried to say I did. I tried to scream yes but I couldn't. Instead I felt myself move my head side to side. What was I doing? My one chance at freedom and I threw it away!
"See, what did I tell you. She has time," Avice chuckled. Now even the blonde haired boy was walking towards me. They had me surrounded and I was being herded back towards the wall.
The realization that something was going to happen to me finally came through. Fear swept over me and my heart started pounding. My whole body trembled and I could feel my knees starting to give out.
"Just look at how scared she is," laughed Avice. "We should do this more often!"
"Most definitely," agreed Constance. How could they be having so much fun out of this? Were they the school bullies? Suddenly I noticed that all three of them were wearing a small silver pendant around their necks. Were they a gang?
I reached the wall and sunk down to floor. I closed my eyes and hoped that they were bullies and not a gang. I would rather deal with a bully than a gang member any day.
"Idiots, what are you doing!" a new voice boomed. My eyes flashed open and in front of me with arms spread open protectively a figure loomed.
"Quo est gemma. Vestri acts es inconcessus! You'll ruin everything!" he ordered.
"Inconcessus?!" the blonde haired boy spat incredulously. "Since when is it forbidden?!" he yelled, his voice rising with pure rage while his eyes grew crazy and wild.
A loud ripping sound erupted from the guy in front of me; a short beast-like growl. The sound came and went so fast I might have imagined it. Still, everyone froze. A quick glance at the blonde showed that the anger in his eyes was now replaced with fear.
I looked up at my savior who was now precariously close to him. He too was pale and had the same steely, silver eyes. His raven black hair nearly covered them. Red-brown highlights adding to his handsome punk look, even with the uniform on.
"Sibyl, never will you speak to me that way, for next time, I won't refrain myself regardless of our surroundings. Is this understood?" Even in his hushed tone I could hear the sharp edge to his voice. Sibyl merely grunted in response, his distaste for the boy still evident. "You will follow my orders, all of you, and I had better not catch you doing otherwise. I'm warning you now."
With one last glare at the group, he reached down and yanked me up from the back of my shirt. I barely had any time to get my bearings when he started to push around the corner from where I came.
Once we were out of view of the gang I could see his shoulders relax and his eyes grow slightly warmer. "I'm sorry about that. My name's Kayden. My…cousins… meant no harm. Really, they just have a strange way of greeting others. We all just came down here from Washington a couple months ago."
"It's okay," I lied. He was crazy. Just like the rest of them, but who was I to judge.
I kept my head down and continued to walk down the hall while he strode along side me. I couldn't hold back my curiosity and found myself asking him the one question which answer I dreaded.
"Are you a gang?" I braced myself for the answer.
"What?" He looked completely taken by surprise. "A gang? No, at least I don't think so. What made you think that?" he chuckled. Even though his face was lit up his eyes were intently planted on my face, as if desperately wanting to know what I was thinking.
After a couple of seconds when I hadn't released my tense position he added, "You know they weren't going to hurt you, right. Even if they were I wouldn't have let them."
He smirked as he saw my face twist in confusion. Pshhh, sure, they weren't going to hurt me. I could just see it in their eyes that they felt horrible for scaring me. Yeah right. Why was he kidding himself?
"It's just that they were all wearing that silver necklace around their neck." I quietly said. I paused then noticed he was wearing one as well. "Even you. I was thinking it was some kind symbol, you know. Like some gangs have a specific tattoo."
I picked up my head to see his response. His face was stone still and, if it was even possible, became paler. Before I could make anything out of his expression it quickly changed into a lop-sided grin that sent chills down my spine. A dark, low chuckle filled the hall before he answered.
"Don't worry, it's nothing like that. It's more like a talisman, our little good luck charm you could say."
Well, at least I won't stand out too much if there are this many weirdoes in this school. Maybe I need a good luck charm too. Then, maybe…I quickly shook the thought from my head. No, I'm bad luck, cursed, and that's just the way it is. I've learned to deal with it.
I kept walking until I finally remembered that I was late to class. I didn't even know where the class was!
Right on cue Kayden spoke. "Well, this is your class. You're pretty late, but just tell the teacher that you got lost and he'll let you slide this time. You are new after all."
"How do you know this is my class?" I asked shocked.
"Well, don't you have Mr. Bartley as your first class?" I glanced down at my schedule. He was right!
"How did you know!" my voice rising and getting more panicked. How the hell did he know that this was my class? I hadn't told him had I? A loud laugh cut off my thoughts.
"Man, don't worry! I'm not stalking you or anything." I could see a small glint in his eyes as he said the last sentence. "The teacher new ahead of time you'd be in his class and announced it to everyone. I'm in that class so I heard." A small sigh of relief escaped my lips. Well, now I won't have to introduce myself.
"See ya later, Lorelei. Oh, and don't worry, he told us your name too." A faint blush rose in my cheeks.
"Wait, didn't you say you're in this class too? Aren't you going in?"
"Not yet. I have some business to attend to first." His eyes glazed over as he thought of something that had happened. It must have been about whatever business he was talking about.
"Oh, alright. See ya." I held my hand out for a handshake. Me with my manners, but, whatever.
He just stared at it for a few seconds, as if unsure what to do. Then he put his hand out and the second our hands met a warm prickling sensation shot through my arm. It wasn't exactly painful but he quickly pulled back his hand with a sharp intake of air, as if the touch had stung him.
A few seconds of awkward silence passed but it was soon broken by Kayden.
"Well, that was…interesting." He said, that lop-sided grin once again making me shiver. Then, without another word, he spun around and walked back down the narrow hallway.
For some reason, he gave me the feeling of insecurity and I had felt very wary next to him, even though he had helped me. Before I could give myself time to let my emotions wander, I decided, right there on the spot that I hated him. Him and his ruthless gang. Who cares if he said it wasn't a gang. I didn't believe it and nothing would convince me otherwise.
With this new-found hate, I walked through the door into the classroom. All eyes, students and teacher alike, stared at me as I entered. I got myself ready for the boring lecture that was bound to come as I glanced at an already snoozing student. This was going to be a fun class. Oh joy!