Hiya

Thanks for all the reviews, sorry it's late I've been so busy and I'm about to go on holiday. The last chapter was just to show that not all people thought Alex is weird and some would still talk to him if he made an effort to make friends. (alex rider junkie dont worry i have no intention of abandoning this story)(crossMyheartHope2Spy no i havent read the Blue Sword is it good? and whos it by? also is it a ff or a book?)

Chapter 7

Alex woke up early next morning with a jolt. He had been caught in his usual vivid nightmares but, as always, not a sound had escaped his lips. He'd perfected that after scaring Jack half to death one night and decided he had to keep quiet so he didn't upset her any further, his sheets were twisted around him and he was drenched in cold sweet.

He lay there alert without knowing why. He looked at the clock as confusion set in. It was 4:00am he groaned and sat up, the only good thing about this was that it had stopped the nightmare. He sat there for a few minutes, just contemplating the dream he'd had, then with a sigh he hurled himself upright and headed for the door to his room thinking how nice a cold shower sounded.

He was about to leave when a breeze hit his face chilling the already cold sweet still shining on his skin. He turned on the balls of his feet already ready to defend himself but there was no one there.

He felt the draft again and walked to the window, he was sure he'd closed it last night actually he was sure it hadn't even been open yesterday when he got home from school, but there it sat, open, and as he reached out to close it he saw something out the corner of his eye his hand froze halfway to the window. His eyes locked on the moving object and as it passed under a street light he saw the small black cat from 2 houses down. He sighed again, why was he so jumpy.

His hand closed over the handle of his window, just as his instincts started to make themselves known. Alex froze, again, this time with his hand on the window. His eyes darting around outside, he saw nothing he turned back to the window and that when he saw it, a small wire protruding from the catch. It was so thin and well hidden if he hadn't been looking out for the smallest details, which would tell him if his theory was correct, he would have missed it.

Following the wire with his eyes he found himself looking at a small box. He examined it, the bomb was small and powerful he had no doubt it would blow at least the top 2 floors of his house, but he could disarm it pretty easily.

He thanked Scorpia silently for teaching him how to defuse a bomb. He had one tiny problem though; this bomb was built like a landmine, if his hand left the window handle the whole thing would blow. He cursed and set about disarming the small bomb one handed which proved only slightly harder but took a great deal more time. When it was disconnected he brought the whole contraption inside and shut the window. He examined it again, making sure it was harmless, then put it in a draw and made another round of the house.

He could not find any others and the clock now said 6:30. Now time for that shower he thought greatly annoyed. He didn't appreciate waking up to a bomb especially that early in the morning.

When he walked down the stairs slightly less annoyed it was to the sound of Jack singing in the kitchen, blissfully unaware of how close she had come to death. Alex walked into the kitchen smiling so as not to distress Jack, she worried about him enough as it was. He grabbed his cereal and deposited a generously large amount in a bowl.

"How are you planning to eat all that in 5 minutes" Jack asked curiously watching as Alex added milk.

"Skill"Alex replied shortly. Jack caught Alex's eye and they both started to laugh. Alex shovelled the cereal into his mouth as Jack started to describe what she was going to do today. Alex finished his breakfast and went upstairs to collect his bag, grabbing his mobile and keys off the bedside table, before walking back downstairs with his bag on his back. He paused in the kitchen doorway, Jack was still stood at the stove preparing lunch for a "little get together she was having" talking to, apparently no one.

"…So do you think they like that Alex?" Oh she was talking to him

"Probably" he hedged deciding not to mention that he'd been out the room while she was talking to him. Jack jumped and spun around to see him standing in the doorway.

"I got to go, see you later." He walked out leaving Jack staring at him in confusion. He shut the front door behind him and walked round the side of the house. He unlocked his bike and pushed off gaining speed before he was even off the drive.

"Alex, be careful" Jacked yelled from the door she had just walked out of and headed towards her car. What the hell I thought she was cooking Alex's trail of thought was quickly forgotten as he reached the intersection and started to weave in and out of the traffic. He pedalled hard to keep up his momentum as he spun round a corner.

Today he had decided to be suicidal. Alex had taken it upon himself to see how fast he could get to school, he only done this when he was feeling particularly restless and wanted to quit thinking as he let his instincts take over he was aware of the cars coming towards him, the people on the sidewalk and much more as he took it all in not even processing the information just letting his instincts deal with it.

His record was 10 minutes 57 seconds which was quite an achievement as the school was 3 miles away. Alex also done this to keep in shape he pedalled till his muscles were burning then pedalled harder and faster.

Alex reached school with a time of 10 minutes 52 seconds and locked his bike up at the bike stands, where he met an extremely annoyed and angry Tom. It didn't take long for Alex to figure out what was wrong with Tom, especially after Tom blurted it out after about 10 seconds. Alex's guess was half right Tom's parents were putting him in the middle of their arguments again. What Alex didn't expect is that Tom was angrier at the new rumour going round about Alex that apparently Dan had started, it must have been bad because by break Alex still hadn't managed to get it out of him, and he'd been bugging him all morning.

The interesting thing to Alex was that now no one was making snide or mean remarks about him in the corridors. Alex gave in at break, it had been a half hearted attempt to keep his mind of dwelling on what had happened that morning. Alex finally conceded that it wasn't going to work. He let his mind wonder back and spent the next lessons till lunch contemplating all the things that could have happened and did happen, as well as who could have done it and why. By lunch he was completely withdrawn and blank faced. Luke said

"Hi" and started trying to talk to Alex as he sat next to him, once again under the sycamore tree. Alex managed a

"Hey" before he sank again into his memories barely aware of Luke trying to talk to him, finally Luke gave up and joined in the main convocation. The sense of foreboding was back and this time it was stronger then before. Alex snapped out of his thoughts looking around. Tom caught his eye and frowned slightly but Alex ignored him.

The sound of the bell ringing startled Alex though he showed no outwardly sign of it, the sense of foreboding was getting stronger. Alex stood as his group, not all were friends so he wasn't going to call them that, started to head back to school. Everyone turned away from the school and looked around wildly, some screaming as a shot echoed round the clearing field.