Chapter 11

Have you ever woken up with the feeling that something is going to go horribly wrong? I've woken up with the feeling of dread several times. Usually it's just a small and temporary bout of paranoia, but there have been a few times when something has actually happened. It's a bit like being able to see the future, but nowhere near as awesome. That's why I wasn't going to ignore the feeling of dread I had woken up with that morning.

Anything could go wrong, so I was extra cautious that morning. Instead of pulling on my uniform in a sleepy haze and hoping nothing was on the wrong way, I carefully checked every article of clothing for anything that could possibly make my day take a turn for the worse. I even checked my undies for spiders. Nothing went wrong on my way to the cafeteria, and my breakfast didn't seem to be poisoned (although I didn't know how to tell if something was poisoned or not. I supposed I would find out if I got really sick or something after I finished eating).

That was when I thought that maybe nothing bad was going to happen to me, but instead to my friends. I studied Scott and Joshua, but nothing seemed to be going on with them… But what about Artemis? Artemis was definitely in danger since Richard was back. I looked across the cafeteria to where Richard was eating alone and sent him a warning glare. He noticed me looking, and stuck his middle finger up at me, the bastard.

"What's up with you?" Scott asked through a mouthful of toast.

"Yeah, you're acting weird," Joshua said. "Well, weirder than usual."

"It's nothing," I said, then, "Can I ask you a favour from you guys?"

Scott and Joshua shared a look.

"I don't know, it depends on what the favour is," Joshua said.

"Could you guys keep an eye on Richard today?"

"Callum, Richard isn't going to do anything," Joshua said. "He may be a creep, but he's not stupid enough to try something after getting suspended last time."

"Yeah, dude," Scott said. "Besides, I totally do not want to spend the day competing for the title of school's creepiest stalker with Richard." He shrugged. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's fine," I said. "I shouldn't have asked you guys in the first place."

It looked like I was going to have to take matters into my hands.

xx

I decided that the best time to talk to Artemis was after English, the only class we had together. I'm actually good at English, and I think the teachers don't really know what to do with someone as smart as Artemis, so they just shove him into all the top classes. I bet he could skip all his classes and still manage to pass, which, I will admit, does make me a bit jealous.

After class, I hurried to catch up to him, and then matched my pace with his. He looked up at me and casually slipped his hand into mine. I grinned and squeezed his hand. Although we had only gone as far as hand holding in our relationship (if you could even call it that yet) I wasn't going to complain. I was reluctant to bring up Richard when Artemis was willing to hold hands with me in public, but I felt I had to.

"Artemis-"

"It's about Richard again, isn't it," he said.

"Well, yeah," I admitted.

"You shouldn't worry about me so much," Artemis said. "Besides, if I ever feel that I am in danger, there is nothing to stop me from calling my bodyguard, Butler."

That did make me feel a little better, and managed to calm my nerves as well. We came to a stop outside of Artemis' maths class.

"I suppose I'll see you later," Artemis said.

"Yeah," I said. Then I did something that shocked even me. I leant down and gave Artemis a quick kiss on the lips. "See you later."

"Goodbye, Callum," Artemis said, and walked into the classroom. I made sure the door was completely shut before punching the air. "Yes! He shoots, he scores!" I could hardly believe I had actually done that, and that Artemis hadn't seemed to mind at all. I celebrated a bit outside of the classroom a bit more, before making my way to my own maths class.

xx

"You're in a good mood all of a sudden," Joshua commented as I sat down next to him, a huge grin still on my face. "Why do you look so happy?"

"Oh, no reason," I said. "I'm just having a good day, that's all."

"Did you finally get in Arty's pants?" Scott asked.

"That is none of your damn business, Scott," I replied cheerfully.

Scott leaned over to Joshua and whispered, "He hasn't." But I didn't let Scott ruin my good mood. At this point nothing could ruin my day. I was on cloud nine, completely above it all.

"Alright, class, I have an announcement to make so shut up," Miss Moss said. The chatter around the classroom eventually died down. "Next week we have a test!"

The smile dropped off my face, and Scott sniggered as Miss Moss outlined what would be in the test, and how much marks it was worth.

"So much for your good mood," he said.

xx

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Scott asked me as we left the cafeteria after dinner. "Joshua and I are watching all the Lord of The Rings movies."

Of course I wanted to join them, Lord of The Rings trumped work every time, but I was behind on my homework and I needed to study for the upcoming test. It felt weird actually caring about schoolwork, but I suppose I was maturing and finally turning into the fine young adult that my parents always hoped I would be. Or, more likely, I just wanted to impress Artemis.

"No thanks," I said, "Maybe next time."

We went our separate ways, and a few hours later I was desperately wishing I'd joined my friends and watched the movies. The problem, as always, was maths. I know I complain about it all the time, but the only good thing about being miserable was complaining about and annoying the hell out of everyone else.

Eventually I pushed myself away from my desk from my desk, gathered up my work, before making my way to Artemis' room, hoping he would still be awake despite how late it was. I was about to knock on his door when I realized that it had been left open, just a bit. That was odd; Artemis never left his door open and he rarely left it unlocked. With a sense of unease, I pushed the door open wider, turned on the light and looked around the room.

Artemis' bed was empty, though it looked like it had been recently slept in. A brick had been dropped at the foot of the bed, and Artemis' phone lay abandoned on the floor at my feet, screen cracked. I stepped over the phone and moved closer to the bed, feeling a bit sick to my stomach. Something was definitely not right here. I looked down at the bed, and almost gagged.

Blood. There was blood on Artemis' pillow. And I was willing to bet that if I had a closer look at the brick there would blood on it as well.

That was when I felt a cold object press against the back of my head, causing me to drop my homework and almost jump out of my skin. I hadn't even heard anyone enter the room.

"Put your hands where I can see them," a deep voice demanded. I instantly did as I was told.

"Is that a-"

"Yeah, it's a gun," the man said. "Now where the hell is Artemis?"

A/N – I'm sorry for such a big delay between chapters, but I've finally finished this one and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon.