Unafraid

Okay, let’s see just how sophisticated. “The party planner arranged for us to go on another double date,” Ronan conveyed.

“Blimey, Michael, are you barking mad?!” Saoirse asked, her shriek showing not an ounce of sophistication. “Seriously, are you a glutton for punishment?”

“Oh come on!” he protested. “What are the odds of this double date also ending up in disaster and having equally tragic consequences?”

“Um, I’d say the odds are slanted in the favor of tragedy,” Ciaran deadpanned.

“Thank you, brother,” Ronan said.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ciaran brushed off the praise. “Just speaking the truth.”

Now it was Michael’s turn to pout. Turning away from the group, he faced forward and crossed his arms. “Believe what you want to believe, but this date is going to be brill.”

Saoirse slapped Michael in the shoulder. “Have you forgotten where you go to school? This isn’t The Academy For The Sunny and Preternaturally Happy! It’s Double A, Michael. If something bad or unexpected can happen, it probably will.”

As much as he wanted to defend his plans for the evening, Michael had to admit that Saoirse had a point. Double A was a hotbed for unfortunate phenomena. Unfortunately, there was no way to cancel, especially when Fritz announced the plans were securely set in motion.

“I bought our tickets online, gents. Consider it a birthday treat,” Fritz said proudly as he entered their row on the bleachers. Ruby was right behind him holding onto his hand, though it didn’t look like she needed any help maneuvering her way through the crowd. “And you can buy the popcorn and soda for everybody.”

Smirking, Saoirse whispered to Michael, “Your double date might be tragic, but since you boys don’t eat, at least it’ll be cheap.”

As Ruby got closer Michael and Ronan couldn’t help but forget about their disagreement regarding the evening’s festivities and come together in like-minded focus. Working as one, their minds and eyes zeroed in on Ruby and tried to see beneath her pale skin and red hair, go beyond the distracting physical characteristics and the body that was merely playing host to an intruder, and try to delve into the girl’s spirit, her soul, to connect with Rhoswen.

“Do you think Rhoswen is controlling her even now?” Michael asked Ronan telepathically. “Or is she kind of asleep?”

Ronan felt positively human. He couldn’t pick up on any unnatural presence around Ruby. Either this Rhoswen was like Michael suggested and was asleep, or she was so powerful she could camouflage herself in plain sight. Funny, Ronan had always thought being a vampire meant he was the most powerful creature on earth; it was a humbling lesson to learn that he shared the planet with many other species that were even more powerful than he was. “I don’t know,” Ronan answered honestly.

“But if Ruby is still blind and isn’t acting as if she has no idea how she got here, then Rhoswen must still be in charge.”

Okay, Michael had to take it back. Maybe Ronan did understand the bizarre ways of the world after all. “That actually makes sense.”

What made sense to Ciaran was that this was his chance to try and get closer to Ruby. Thinking quickly and acting even faster, he gave his sister’s foot a kick and darted his eyes to the row behind them. Ever savvy, Saoirse got up and sat behind Michael, acting as if she was just giving Fritz and his girlfriend more room to spread out. What she was really doing was helping Ciaran secure a seat next to the girl he was pining over.

As Saoirse vacated her seat, Ruby leaned over and grabbed Ciaran’s hand. “Did you cut yourself?”

she asked.

For a moment, Ciaran was confused. How could she know? Then he realized she must have felt the Band- Aid in between his thumb and forefinger. “Oh that,” he replied. “Just a cut, no big deal.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Ruby said, smiling shyly at Ciaran. Fritz didn’t witness their connection, but Ronan did. Unfortunately, he didn’t know if Ruby was smiling on her own or if she was just following some otherworldly order. Just when he didn’t think it could get any more confusing, he noticed Nakano standing on the gym floor looking straight up at the group, but acting as if he couldn’t decide which way to move. Glancing over to his left, Ronan saw the reason for his dilemma.

A few sections over, Morgandy was sitting in the crowd next to Brania, who Ronan figured must have finally decided to make a public appearance after lying low for months, and Alexei. When Alexei smiled arrogantly, revealing a pair of brand new fangs, Ronan was crestfallen. They had defiled another innocent student and added yet another body to their ranks. Turning back to Nakano, Ronan felt even worse, because it was clear Kano didn’t know whose ranks he wanted to join.

Nakano knew that he would suffer repercussions, but he didn’t care, he wanted to sit by Ronan, Michael, and the others. It wasn’t like he was choosing sides, forfeiting his membership or something.

It was just that Michael and Fritz and even Ronan’s kid sister were a lot more enjoyable to spend time with than Morgue and the Mistress of the Cave. He needed a break, and he was going to take it, whatever the consequences. “This seat taken?” he asked.

Saoirse turned her hand over, palm side up, and waved it across the empty space on the bench as if presenting it to Nakano. “All yours, Nakanosan.”

It felt good to laugh, and so he did. It was a nice distraction because the only other alternative was to look to the left and watch Brania, Morgandy, and the rest of their cronies glowering in his direction.

And so what if they were? Who cared what they thought? Nakano didn’t even turn his head when most of the kids in the gym started to cheer, signaling their headmaster’s entrance. Whatever David was going to say was going to be boring; he just knew it. The only thing Kano cared about was that he was among friends.

David wished he felt the same way. As the headmaster took to the podium to address his students and faculty, he felt the entire universe working against him as the gym was plunged into darkness. Not just shadow like the other times when he had spoken in front of an assembly, but as if a switch had been turned off and it was suddenly nighttime at nine in the morning. Hidden in the blackness, David clutched the edge of the dais, and he felt the blood from the previous night’s feeding drain from his face. Why was he suddenly weak? Why didn’t Zachariel have his back? This shouldn’t be happening!

David heard the voice in his head whisper frantically. Doesn’t the world know who I am? The sun should be bursting upon my entrance, embracing me, not shrinking from view. This treason needs to end now!

And it did. Ultimately, the interruption didn’t last long. It hardly caused a commotion among those gathered, but it was enough to rattle David even further than he already was. He hated disturbance; it signified a lack of control. Ever since Rhoswen had returned, somehow returned from wherever the hell she had been all these centuries, he had felt his control slipping away. It was time to reclaim it.

“And then there was light,” David said, as sunlight once again filled the gym. “I guess that makes me your headmaster and Mother Nature all wrapped up in one.”

There was a large burst of laughter, with most of the faculty members standing behind David joining in appropriately. However, there were a few mutineers, including Coach Blakeley and Sister Mary Elizabeth, who even before David spoke noticed that his appearance lacked its typical perfection. His suit was slightly wrinkled, and his complexion was spotty. Sister Mary thought he might be coming down with the flu; Blakeley figured the pompous oaf was finally feeling the stress of his position.

In the bleachers, Brania and her troupe led the applause celebrating their leader’s quick wit, but there were many who declined to join in the ovation. Ciaran refused to make eye contact with David and kept his eyes squarely on Ruby’s hands, admiring her precise manicure, how the red paint was almost identical to the color of her hair. Fritz didn’t even notice Ciaran’s wandering eye, since he was too busy using the time to jot down notes for another issue of Tales of the Double A, this one having something to do with a sea creature who crashes the upcoming swim competition, but who in the end is defeated because even though he’s super powerful, he’s allergic to chlorine. Score one for humanity! In fact, score two, because despite Nakano’s genetic connection to the speaker, he had no interest in listening to anything David had to say, and he and Saoirse were engaged in a cutthroat game of tic-tac-toe.