Blood Bound (Permanently ON-HOLD)

CHAPTER FIVE; So Long as I Hate the Hayes'.

CHAPTER FIVE

In time we hate that which we often fear.
- William Shakespeare.

Juliette

I gingerly brush the blood from Perry's burst lip, mirroring his wincing face. I'm glad the nurse had to leave so that she couldn't see Perry's blood. As part of the Blood Clanns, it's a given that our blood would be different to a human's. Each Clann has a different type of blood. Ours – the Soren Clann – has blood so light it's almost orange, shot through with what seem to be shimmers, but are really areas of white or silver. Our counter-part, the Hayes', have blood as dark as black.

Mirroring their souls.

I apply more pressure and he hisses, screwing his face up. He clenches his fingers around the ice-pack he's pressing to his eye, and grits his teeth.

"This really freaking hurts." He mutters, swallowing hard.

"That's what you get for getting into a fight with a douche like Hayes." Saying his first name aloud would be testing Fate too much. Like they say; Speak of the Devil and he shall appear...

"I had to, he..." He trails off and shakes his head as I pull away. Throwing the bloody rag in the trash can, I wash my hands in the sink, looking around the empty Nurse's office.

"He what?" I wander over to the bed, jumping up and sitting on it as he leans against the table, probing his lip with his index finger.

"You're a girl, you wouldn't get it."

"Just because we have different genitalia, doesn't mean I don't understand trying to protect your ego. He made a height joke and you flipped, anyone would in your position."

He sighs through his nose, and it's a wonder Heath didn't break the thing. Perry walks over to me and sits down beside me, slumping.

"I know I'm short. I know it better than anyone else and, to be fair, I don't care. I'm not even that short, in the grand scheme of things. The only thing that pisses me off is when guys like Heath – guys who think they're better than everyone else just because of their looks, even though they did nothing to earn those genes - think they have the right to shout out in front of everyone just how short I am." He slides the ice-pack over both of his eyes, his head falling forward. "I just lost it."

I throw an arm around his shoulder, squeezing him against me. Even though he's older, I've always felt equal to Perry. Sometimes, I feel like the older sibling. He never talked down to me or acted as if he knew more when we were kids, like the rest of our brothers did. But, I guess it's because we're both at disadvantages in our family. Him for his height and me for my gender.

I'm closest with him. That's not to say that I don't get on with my brothers or love them any less, it's just that Perry gets it. All of our other brothers are picture perfect Sorens. They're everything we should be. Whereas Perry and I aren't.

When the bell signalling the end of first period after lunch and the beginning of second sounds, we start to make our way to class. After already missing one, we decide that it's best not to test the principal's hospitality any longer and leave the Nurse's office.

Molding into the sea of voices and sweaty teenagers, we soon realise that we have no idea where our English class is. Perry, still holding the ice-pack to his face, catches my elbow and pulls me into an alcove between two sets of lockers. People gives us curious stares as they walk past, but luckily, nobody stops to talk to us. I'm not in the "friend-making" mood anymore, shockingly.

"So, English. Where's that?" Perry looks to me, and I shrug. I pull a crumpled piece of paper out of my pocket and flatten it against my hand. The map the secretary gave me at the beginning of the day has seen better times. I try to follow all the hallways and little doors printed on the piece of paper, but it's as intricately designed as a maze.