9. School House Torture

Drake and I walked Astrid towards the school. She glared reproachfully at us the whole way. It was at times like these that my hatred for Drake ebbed slightly. As much as I hated to admit it: we were both in the same boat here. Hated by the members of society that suffered from the delusion that everyone in the world was nice.

The school had been deserted from the start of the FAYZ, Drake had made sure this morning. We led Astrid into one of the classrooms and flicked on the lights. I sat on top of one of the desks and crossed my legs in a way that I knew made them look a mile long.

"Have a seat. Read a book, if you want. I know you like that kind of thing." I said, waving my freshly manicured hand at a stack of textbooks.

Astrid flipped one open and grimaced. "Yes, fourth-grade math. I love that kind of thing."

"You know, I really dislike you." I told the truth; my good deed of the day was done.

"Of course you dislike me. I make you feel inferior." she challenged.

I tried to keep myself from laughing. Was she actually being serious? "I don't feel inferior to anyone." I said icily.

"Really? Because usually a person who does bad things recognizes that there's something a little wrong with them. You know? Even if thy suppress it, they know they're sick inside."

W-O-W. The psychiatrist angle didn't work well for Astrid. "Yeah, I feel bad about that. My evil heart and all." I said sticking out my lower lip in a sexy little pout. "Give me your hand."

"What?"

"I promise not to infect you with my badness." As if that were possible. Astrid made the Virgin Mary look like a whore. "Give me your hand."

"No," she said sitting up straighter, as if she had done something defiant. My eyes held hers in a menacing glare.

"Drake, make her give me her hand." Drake came off the wall, grinning hugely. Astrid's hand snapped forward like a snake to hold my hand. I smiled coolly.

"You read people," Astrid said. Realization flooded her voice. "I should have figured it out earlier. You have the power, don't you?" Her voice filled with awe as she said this.

"Yep," I replied nonchalantly. "I read people. But don't worry, I just read power levels, not your secret little thoughts about how much you want to make out with Sam Temple." To my immense satisfaction, Astrid turned cherry red. It was almost cute how innocent she was. Almost. "Oh, please, that's obvious. He's cute. He's brave. He's smart, but not as smart as you. He's perfect."

"He's a friend," she said shyly. Drake and I exchanged a smile. Ugh, Astrid was messing up my relationship with Drake.

"Uh-huh. Well we're about to find out how good a friend he is. He knows we have you. If he doesn't tell Caine everything Caine wants to know, and do whatever Caine tells him to do, Drake here is going to hurt you." I enjoyed the look of fear in her face. Oh my god I was turning into a sadist.

"What?" She squeaked.

I realized that I was going to have to explain this slowly. "Well, that's why we keep Drake around. He enjoys hurting people. We don't keep him around for his conversational skills." Drake shot me a death glare. Ah, that was the Drake I knew and loved. Not. "Go ahead, raise a hand against me, Drake." I challenged, knowing that he wouldn't dare. Not yet, anyway. "Caine would kill you. Better behave yourself, he's all riled up now."

I left Astrid to her fate. She really didn't deserve all the respect she got. I was sure that she had a lot more respect for me now, though. Now that she knew what I was capable of doing. It felt so good to be so bad.

Hello, my wonderful readers! I realize that this chapter is short, but the next one will be longer. Promise! I would also like to address the, 'Astrid makes the Virgin Mary look like a whore' line. I am not trying to offend anyone by saying this. I went to Catholic school for nine years, and I totally respect all religious affairs. If you are really and truly averse to this line: PM me. If you put up a good argument I'll gladly take it out. So that's all for now, folks! REVIEW!

~E