The Trouble with Hades

Chapter 4

James was waiting outside the office when I walked into the main corridor. He gave me a fond smile as he opened the door.

"Good morning, Evelyn. Jane has your new schedule."

"Thank you."

He didn't follow me into the office, remaining outside to greet the students as they walked to their classes. I was a little late, but after the meeting yesterday, James said that my schedule was altering anyway, so it would be okay.

Jane smiled at me as she passed it over. With my gratitude given, I made my way out of the office. James was distracted by talking to a student. I moved quickly, noticing that my first class of the day was starting in half an hour.

When I turned the corner, I was surprised to see the second locker door open. It shut, and I was faced with Karina.

"Evie," she said with a beaming smile.

"Uh, hey Karina. Did they stick you in the,"

I was going to say the darkness, but I looked up and saw the light was on.

"Typical," I muttered.

"Is something wrong?"

"Just that they finally turned the lights on in this corridor. They never used to, and the doors open the wrong way for the light coming from the main corridor. I was considering buying a battery-operated light."

"Well, lucky you didn't, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Opening my locker door, I stuffed the books for the afternoon lessons and shut the door. Karina was all smiles, but it soon faded. Her gaze landed somewhere behind me. Seeing the uneasiness on her face, I turned to see Audrey and the cashmere brigade behind me.

Audrey smiled supremely.

"Oh look, the freak has a friend. Now there's two freaks."

"So ingenious," I muttered. "How do you cope with all that brain power?"

She ignored me, which was not surprising. Audrey tilted to the side, looking at Karina.

"You might have the potential to join our group, but you need to lose the whole grunge vibe with your makeup and, of course, ditching the loser beside you. You're new in this town, so I'll fill you in. We are the ones that you want to make friends with. I'm sure that you don't want to be labeled as an outcast like someone else has been."

I looked at Karina, who had a fearful look in her eyes. She didn't want to upset me because I was the clan leader, and she was the newly approved member. In all honesty, I didn't care if she was nice to Audrey. If she became a part of the cashmere brigade and started taunting me like Audrey does, then I might be a bit angry. Then, I would be having words with James because, clearly, it would be an issue. I couldn't tell Karina what I knew about Audrey and Kannon unless we were alone. There was nothing I could do about this. I just had to accept that leaving this to Karina to figure out was the only option I had.

"I can't recall if I told you yesterday, but they know about your species."

"Vampires?" she whispered.

I nodded and smiled. Surprisingly, she smiled back. When it was directed at me, the smile was sweet. It soon turned dark as the corners increased and the mouth opened. Her fangs appeared, and the innocent new girl just got bitey.

Audrey and her lackeys stepped back. Their eyes widened in momentary horror and shock.

"I guess you didn't get the memo. The new girl is a vampire and knows who the true leader of this town is. Run away, little girl. Run before this vampire decides that she didn't have enough for breakfast."