hot off the presses! here's chapter 5, and its a long one!
Mel's alarm clock went off far too early that morning. She hadn't been able to get to sleep until around 1 a.m., and the worst thing about that was that it was the first day of school. She punched the snooze button, and rolled back over, fully intent on going back to sleep. That plan was short-lived. Caleb came into her room about three minutes later, wearing sweatpants and a white T-shirt.
"Come on, Little Sister, time to wake up!" he said loudly, shaking her shoulder. She proceeded to throw her pillow over her head and roll over.
"Mmmph." Her muffled response came from underneath the pillow.
"Come ON, Mel. It's the first day of senior year, and I don't think Provost Higgins would be too happy if one of his star pupils was late." Caleb was getting annoyed now. Mel was definitely not a morning person (She needed to down at least two Starbucks French Vanilla Double-shots before she could function at school), and he knew he was probably just asking to be magically thrown off the third floor balcony, but when Mel woke up, she would be royally pissed if she missed school.
"Plus, Reid will be there" He enticed. "I know how much you love to stop and chat with him." From the sound of Caleb's voice, Mel could tell he was wearing a Cheshire Cat-like grin.
"Bite me." Mel spat, throwing her pillow at her twin's head and resolving to turn Tyler into a toad as she grudgingly got out of bed, throwing her comforter off of her and muttering under her breath about stupid brothers and hexing them into oblivion
Ten minutes later, she was behind the wheel of Caleb's Mustang (Caleb had taken the Mercedes, saying that he was going to go get something checked at the shop in Ipswich after school.) and trying not to fidget too much in her school uniform. It was weird, she thought, to look up into the rearview and see her own car following behind her. She whipped out her cell phone, bringing up a blank text message.
Care to race, Golden Boy? She typed, hitting send.
She faintly heard Caleb laugh as he got her text, she wouldn't have heard at all if it weren't for the Mustang's top being down. (Mel took full advantage of her brother's car when she drove it, especially on a nice day like this.)
She laughed when she heard the Mercedes' familiar snarl, but was shocked when she saw that it was pulling alongside her, on the wrong side of the road. Mel shot her brother a glare, not at all pleased with the grin that was spreading across his face.
She heard him laugh as he put on speed and pulled ahead of her, passing through the gates to Spenser about two seconds before her. Mel slowed down when she got into the parking lot, the officer assigned to their school just loved to give out tickets.
She pulled into the parking lot and spotted an empty spot next to Tyler's Hummer. Even though he and Reid lived in the dorms, they were still too lazy to just walk to school in the mornings. With a groan, Mel climbed out of the Mustang, grabbing her messenger bag from the passenger seat. She made sure her plaid skirt was straight, since she'd had it since about the eighth or ninth grade and it was very short. A wind blew through the campus, and she was glad that she'd worn the heavy school blazer today. She loved fall in Massachusetts, but it was getting really chilly. She loved to hear the leaves crunch underneath her scuffed black Doc Martins. Something was wrong, though. There was a chill in the air that had nothing to do with the weather.
She made it to her first class, English Comp, just seconds before the bell rang. She looked for a place to sit, and saw an empty space near the middle, where Kate and Sarah were sitting. She headed over, saying hello to a few people on the way.
"Hey!" She said, smiling at Kate as she unceremoniously dropped her schoolbag on the ground under her desk. She scanned the room, and noticed Reid and Tyler sitting about two rows below her. As usual, Reid had his head down over his crossed arms, almost asleep. Mel crumpled up a piece of paper from her binder and, aiming carefully, threw it at the back of his head. He jerked awake and looked around at her. She grinned innocently and waved cheerily at him. He rolled his eyes and mouthed what looked like "Real Mature".
Just then, the teacher called the class to order. He explained that they would be studying four authors this term, all of them from Massachusetts. She could almost hear Reid's remark when the teacher began to say Stephen King.
"And, last but not least, Stephen King." He said, writing the last name on the board with a flourish. A runner from the office came in and handed him a note.
"Yeah, Dreamcatcher was the shit!" Reid said loudly.
"Thank you, , but no, my choice is The Shining." Reid always goofed off in class, so the teacher was used to it by now. "Mr. Danvers, Provost Higgins requests the pleasure of your company after class."
Mel's eyebrows went up at that. Caleb hadn't been called to the Provost's office in living memory, except once to receive an award. She saw Tyler look around and give her a confused look. She shrugged her shoulders slightly, indicating that she didn't know.
It was finally time for the last class of the day: Gym. The boys were happy because this semester they were doing swimming, which basically gave them an extra hour of practice. All the boys were on the swim team; Caleb was captain and had taken them to State Finals twice. Mel loved swimming and everything, but soccer was more her game. In fact, she was the captain of the varsity girls' soccer team.
She hugged her arms around herself as she stepped out of the girls' locker room and headed over to where the boys were congregated around a diving platform.
"So what'd the provost want?" Pogue asked Caleb.
"He heard about the fight at Nicky's." Caleb answered, shrugging it off. Reid's face pulled into a scowl.
"You feel like elaborating on that?" He asked; ever the confrontational one.
Pogue must've sensed there was still an issue, because he reached over to Reid.
"I think you got a piece of glass stuck in your ear, there." He laughed. Reid smacked his hand away good-naturedly, as the entire group laughed.
Mel wandered away at that point, going to talk to her friend Corey Wilcox, who was in their gym class and on the soccer team with Mel.
"What's up, Wilcox?" Mel asked, looking around to make sure Coach wasn't watching. Since Mel was a Danvers, the Coach expected her to train hard and be as focused as her brother, but she wasn't as dedicated to training as Caleb was, he spent hours at the pool. For her part, Mel ran three miles after school four times a week, and went to the gym about three times a week.
"Not much, just-"Corey was cut short, however, by the appearance of Kyra.
"Didn't you see me calling to you?" she asked, hands on her hips and a glare pointed at Mel.
"Uh, I think the question should be 'do you care that I was calling you?' cause that answer would be no." Mel answered. She really disliked Kyra, especially the snotty way she'd talked to Sarah, who was actually a really nice person, despite being on scholarship.
"Listen, Danvers." Kyra spat, glaring daggers at Mel. "I don't care if you and your little club think you rule the school, but you don't. And you had better stay away from Aaron, or else."
Mel actually started laughing at that. "Kyra, I can't even tell you how funny that is. I wouldn't go near Abbott if he were the last man on earth."
"I saw you, at Nicky's. Simms and Garwin were there. You didn't seem to dislike him then." Kyra's tone was getting snottier by the second, and Mel could see that Corey was getting a little angry, her doe-like brown eyes narrowing into a glare she usually reserved for the soccer field.
"You're dreaming, Kyra. He ambushed me at the pool tables, and I told him how much I hated him." Mel said. Her arms tightly folded across her chest.
"Then what was that fight between Aaron and Reid about? Riddle me that." Kyra looked smug, like she knew Mel would never have an answer to her totally well-thought out question.
"Maybe because Aaron can't seem to stop making bets with Reid that Reid always wins?" Mel asked with an expression on her face that just screamed "Duh!"
At this point, Corey rolled her eyes and turned to leave, saying that she heard someone calling for her.
"Right. Oops. Looks like I scared your geeky little friend away." Kyra's smile was so self-satisfied, Mel half expected to see canary feathers sticking out between her teeth.
"Whatever, Kyra. It's been real. I have to go do something else." Mel said, not trusting herself to open her mouth to speak again. She went back over to the boys, who were watching a race between Caleb and the new kid, Chase. Mel watched, knowing that Caleb was an amazing swimmer, and that he was already in the lead. She cheered and hollered right along with Reid, Tyler, and Pogue.
No Way… she thought as she saw something she knew she couldn't. For a split second, just as Chase came up for air, Mel could swear she saw his eyes turn black as pitch.
Then something happened. Her stomach lurched, like she was about to throw up. She got dizzy, and her vision blurred. She sank onto the cold cement floor, feeling like she could barely hold her head up.
Then, as quickly as the feeling came, it went. Mel shook her head, clearing the last of the nausea away. The boys were all congregated around Caleb, who had hit his head on the side of the pool. She got up and went over to them, just as Caleb came to.
As the boys joked around with Caleb, Mel could only stare at Chase, trying to figure him out.
He couldn't have…Used…could he? No. Impossible!
The coach finally dismissed the class, and after checking with Caleb to make sure he was okay, Mel trotted off to the Girl's locker room, her head swimming with questions that seemed to have only one impossible answer.
"Yo, Danvers!" Reid shouted as Mel left the locker room a while later. School was finally out.
"Which one?" she called cheekily, turning around, shocked to see Reid about half a foot in front of her.
How the hell did he sneak up on me like that? She thought, silently cursing herself for not being more aware of her surroundings.
"You. The one that's not a huge jerk all the time." He smirked, slinging an arm easily over her shoulder and leading her out to the parking lot. Mel rolled her eyes. Years of hanging out with Reid had taught her to take what he said with a grain of salt.
"What is it?" she asked, grinning at Tyler, who had just joined them and who was pulling his keys out of his pocket.
"Are you going out to see your horse today or do you have work?" Reid asked as Mel began to fish for the keys to the Mustang, which were buried in the mess and clutter that was her book bag.
"Nah," Mel shook her head. "Jinx stressed a tendon, he's gonna be lame for a while. All the other horses are taken or aren't trained enough. I think I'm gonna just take a break until he gets better. And Nicky gave me the night off tonight."
"Sweet." Reid said, grinning at her. "Come hang out at the dorms with me and Tyler for a little bit, then."
Mel grinned wickedly, pretending to think about it.
"Hmmm…I dunno…" she pretended to mull it over.
"Aw, come on Baby Girl, live a little." Tyler chimed in, pressing the unlock button on the Hummer's keyless entry.
Mel rolled her eyes. "Fine." She mock-grumbled, glad it was only the first day and they hadn't gotten any homework that day except to get syllabi signed by their parents. She made sure the Mustang was locked up and climbed into the passenger side of the Hummer, giving Reid a cheeky smile as he climbed into the back.
They spent the next four hours goofing off, playing Mario Party and Halo for X-Box (Which Mel dominated at) and arguing about which character from the Real World was more of a train wreck. Mel knew she should probably tell someone about what she'd seen and felt, but she wasn't quite sure yet, so she let it be.
Finally, Mel looked at her watch, noticing that it was almost eight o'clock. She groaned and, stretching out, got up and said she was going home.
"We'll walk with you." Reid said, "It's really dark outside, wouldn't want to have to explain to Brother Bear why you got abducted or something."
"Nah, I'm good. It's not that far." Mel said, grabbing her things off the floor.
She shivered as she stepped out into the crisp night air, wrapping her heavy jacket around herself. She hummed tunelessly as she walked down the trail that led from the dorms to the school, passing a few people as they made their way back from the library or Nicky's. Mel had never had a fear of the dark, she was much to level-headed for that, and she knew she could hold her own with anyone who tried her, but this night seemed different, like there was something sinister in the air.
Shaking these thoughts away, Mel focused on the sounds of the leaves crunching underneath her feet, and the wind blowing her long black hair around her face. About halfway down the trail, though, she saw someone standing off to the side. She assumed it was some student out to have a cigarette before returning to the dorms for the night.
As she approached, though, she could make out the person's features. It was Chase Collins.
Resolving to tread lightly, and sticking her hand in her jacket pocket to close around her cell phone, Mel waved sunnily at Chase, a grin on her face.
"What's up, Collins?" She chirped, trying not to betray the slight fear she felt about him. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something not quite right about him, like he wasn't what he appeared to be.
"Not much, you're Caleb's sister, right?" he said, falling into step beside her.
"Yeah, I was just heading home; I hung out with Reid and Tyler for a while after class." Mel was choosing her words carefully, trying not to reveal too much.
"Ah, well, you see, I kind of have a problem." Mel noticed that Chase had stopped walking in the middle of the trail, a weird expression on his face.
"What would that be?" she asked, something telling her not to take her eyes off of him.
"I know what you saw while your bro and I were in the pool today." Chase's voice went from genial and controlled to icy and quiet.
Mel gulped. She knew it! He had been Using in the pool! "I don't know what you're talking about, Collins, but I didn't see anything, anyway."
"Don't lie to me!" Chase's voice was an angry snarl now. "Now, I'm going to show you what will happen if you tell any of your little boyfriends about this." His eyes sparked.
"How…?" Mel managed to squeak out before her air supply was cut off. It felt like something was crushing her throat, she could feel the pressure, and it became even harder to breath. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. She felt herself get lifted off of her feet, and she started to panic. She shifted her eyes to black, stopping his magic, and sunk to the ground, landing in a heap as she gasped for her breath.
"Now, now, we were just starting to have fun, weren't we?" Chase said, walking over to her as she struggled to her feet. His eyes shifted again, and Mel's stomach began to burn. She doubled over, a hand over her mouth to keep the bile from spilling over. She felt her mind start to fade, and she knew if she fainted, no one would find her, ever. She welled up all of her remaining strength and power. Her eyes sparked, and Chase was thrown backwards.
"This isn't over, Danvers!" He shouted, turning on his heel and walking away. "You're lucky you're no good to me dead right now." And he disappeared down the trail, not before Using his power one last time, causing Mel to double over in agony again.
She knew she didn't have much time before she fainted; her head was spinning from all the power she'd just used trying to fend off Chase, and her stomach threatened to upheave its contents. She opened her mouth, a loud scream piercing the otherwise silent night.
And then everything went black.