Chapter 8 - Murderer

"...And unfortunately, Christopher Band will be in the hospital and not attending school for a while. He suffered from a stroke last night around twelve fifteen P.M. From what the school has heard, there were no symptoms. That is all."

That had been the worst day of home room in my existence. As Mr' Douvant spoke, the icy hands of fear wrapped themselves mercilessly around my silent heart. Christopher. Usually I would just feel sorry for the kid and get over it, but I knew the reason why he was in the hospital. The real reason.

Last night...last night I had hoped that Christopher wouldn't be at school today. And just like that, he wasn't. Because he had a stroke. Because I made it happen. I could turn myself invisible and make clothes appear by accident; was it so hard to believe that I could unintentionally kill someone? Mr. Douvant had only said that Chris suffered a stroke, but I had read countless stories where people didn't get over strokes. That only the very fortunate survived..

The fear wound tighter around, until I couldn't breathe anymore. I couldn't take it. I was..I was a murderer.

As I opened my locker, Molly O'Dell's voice sounded from down the hall. "Charlotte, Charlotte!! Did you hear!? Prince Christopher is nearly dead!! Oh what will we do?!? I'm sure the rest of the fan-club is hyperventilating by now!"

" 'Prince' Christopher...?" My unbearable guilt was smothered for a moment.

" Yeah," Molly looked at me as though it were obvious he was royalty. Was I missing something..? " He's the most popular boy in school. Didn't you know that? The fan club is dying to get at you for spending time with him at lunch that one day, but don't worry. I told them that he would be upset if something happened to you, so they won't pounce."

Now I understood. So it wasn't just an innocent boy I had killed. It was the most popular one as well. Great. The guilt came back double time.

" I- I'll see you later– Molly." I managed to choke out before fleeing to the cafeteria.

My lunch was like sandpaper in my mouth. I was only slightly aware of the bland substances scraping against my teeth, but not much else. The guilt and fear never left me for a second, nor did it begin to fade even slightly. The bell was loud enough for me to hear through my morbid thoughts; though that gave me little, or no relief. I often found myself wishing that a miracle would happen, and Christopher would recover, maybe even be back in school soon. Even if he was pushy, he didn't deserve to die.

Jacob's POV.

Charlotte took another infinitesimal bite of her sandwich. She hadn't even eaten a quarter of it though she'd been taking tiny pieces out of it the entire lunch period. Her eyes were far away, lost in that gigantic mind of hers. They were troubled as well-- her eyes. More than troubled ; dreading. Like she'd just remembered that she was supposed to turn in some huge project, when she hadn't done any of it. Worse than that. I guess you could put it as inexplicable. I was sort of...well, worried about her.

Yeah, yeah, I get it. You don't need to 'Ooooh Jakey is worried 'bout his little giiirl' , me. She was just a friend. And she looked insanely pale, like some bloodsucker. Her usually rosy cheeks were of a chalky pallor now. The life sucked out of her. Heck, her freckles were a shade lighter.

Id been trying to catch her eye the entire day, trying to unravel a few of the many thoughts bouncing around in that complex and complicated mind of hers. Her face was usually so easy to read; I could almost always tell right off the bat wether she was hungry, or confused or thoughtful.. But not today. Today, her face was kept carefully blank. Wiped free of the excruciating pain I had witnessed at lunch.

Only her eyes expressed any form of emotion. The soft emerald had been lit ablaze exuding fiery shades of dark scarlet and burgundy. I noticed whenever she was angry or worried about something, her eyes would abruptly shift in color. I wondered why that was. I had never seen a human's eyes react to emotion this way. And why didn't she say anything? Charlotte sat there next to me ;and not a word was uttered. Not one. It was maddening trying to decipher her frequently differentiating whims, but impossible to stop. I needed to know. And I was going to know. I wouldn't stay in the dark forever..

Later that day I was lounging around on my bed, pondering over Charlotte's mysterious attitude that day, when a howl ripped through the resinous silence. It was Sam. Ugh, what did he want now? Despite my grumbling, and morose reaction, I hauled myself off my bed, and ran into the forest once again. Not bothering to slow down or stop, I yanked my shorts off, and tied them expertly with an old brown cord to my ankle. I felt a familiar shimmer, as my body shifted, already knowing what my mind wanted before I even thought it.

My heavy paws thudded against the bracken, and I felt the rest of the pack join into awareness.

What's up boss? Paul wanted to know as we ran, not bothering to run together, as we knew where Sam was headed.

I think I've picked something upon the northern rim. Might actually be something, so everyone keep alert. Collin and Brady, you two go check out the eastern circle, Leah and Jacob, take the West, I'll surf southern circle with Paul, and the rest of you take whole. Now split.

Great, I was stuck with her again. Ugh. Maybe she'd keep quiet..

Not a chance moron.

Jeeze Leah, you'd think you couldn't be any more contradicting.

She didn't bother to reply, but she did, however, proceed to imagine herself tearing me apart, limb from limb. How pleasant.

I ignored Leah, and set to work. As much as I strained to shut them up, thoughts of Charlotte began to raid my head. She was so– ugh. Nononononono. Shut up Jake, shut up! But it was too late. Everyone had heard.

Welll now Jacob. What do we have here? Paul teased; and soon the entire pack joined in. Sam saved me eventually, his Alpha command easily silencing the torrents of ribbing, and I gratuitously took the refuge.

Later on back at home, I lay stretched out again on my too small bed. So now the guys knew. That I thought of Charlotte often..But she was just a friend. I kept telling myself, over and over again that she was only a friend. Besides, Charlotte didn't like anyone...Right?