Guardian Demon

Chapter 3

Hecate was staring out the window at the courtyard below. It had been five minutes and the two girls had not yet said a single word to each other.

Grace started to fiddle with a pencil which had been lying on the teachers desk. She couldn't put her finger on it but something about this girl made her want to both get as far away as she could and go closer.
"Grace was it?" Hecate asked. Grace was relieved at a shot at conversation, "Yes!" She said a bit to eagerly.
Maybe the tone of her voice had made her uncomfortable because Hecate went silent and directed her eyes back to the courtyard.
Grace sighed and took tried again, "Hecate, interesting name," Hecate's eyes didn't move from the window.
Her eyes seemed to be glued to a specific thing and Grace thought she looked rather like a hunter stalking their prey. "She was the Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft and a bunch of other stuff right?" Grace asked recalling a conversation she had once had with a girl at a  summer camp who had given her quite the lecture on Greek mythology.
"I believe so," Hecate replied finally turning to face Grace, "You like Greek mythology?" She asked raising and eyebrow. "Kinda, I guess," Grace said and Hecate nodded.

They stood in silence before Grace once again broke it, "So what do you think of Mrs Scannel, I swear she's pure evil," Hecate smiled, "You have no idea," she said.
Grace didn't really understand but she was just glad the awkwardness had died, "So what do you think of our school so far?" Grace asked before instantly regretting it. That was the kind of a parent or teacher asked, "It's alright," Hecate said returning her gaze to the window, clearly done with the conversation (if you could even call it that).
Grace felt her slipping and desperately tried again, "What are you looking at?" She asked joined her at the window.

She scanned the courtyard and caught a glimpse of her friends and she smiled. Hecate noticed and followed her gaze to the group of girls.

A look of complete and utter shock grew on her face, then it changed.

Her face contorted until it became a look of pure and utter hatred and her eyes seemed to burn with absolute fury. Her hands curled into balls and her fingernails dug deep into her palms.
It was terrifying.

Grace had seen people angry before but this was a whole new level. Grace wanted to run and run until she had put as much distance as she could between her and Hecate as possible.

She stepped back as quietly as she could but it wasn't quiet enough. Hecate's eyes jumped to her and instantly the monster died.

Grace was lost for words so she just stared blankly at the girl standing in front of her. Hecate's gaze dropped to the floor and she looked ashamed?

"Sorry," she said, her voice so quiet that Grace could hardly hear it, "I-it's ok," she mustered, her voice shaking. Hecate looked down at her hands. Her nails had drawn blood and her palms were now crimson. She whipped them on her skirt.

The school skirt, blazer and tie were also, luckily, a dark maroon with a cream coloured blouse so the skirt did a good job of camouflaging the blood.

Curiosity got the better of Grace, "What was it?" She instantly regretting saying it but it was too late. Hecate turned to her and said in a calm tone, "Nothing you need concern your self with," she said. Grace wanted to press further but the monster behind Hecate's eyes seemed to be threating to take over once again so she let it be.

A loud ringing filled the room, "Time to go to class," Hecate said walking over to the door and existing without a backwards glance. Grace hurried out after her and soon caught up. "We have English first," she said hoping Hecate could hear her over the noise of all the students that were now fighting to get their classes.

A small first year, by the look of her, with red hair pulled into two plats and glasses bumped into Hecate. Hecate gave her a menacing look and practically spat, "Watch where you're walking," at her before shoving her back into the sea of students.

Grace lost sight of the girl before she could apologize for Hecate's actions, "Geez. Have ever heard the saying, if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all," she said glaring at her. Hecate stayed silent and continued to walk.

Eventually they made it to class. Grace double checked her timetable before stuffing it back into her bag and walking in. Instantly all eyes went to her before moving to Hecate. Grace found it really hard to ignore the stares of her classmates but Hecate showed no emotion besides slight irritation.

Mr Madison was on his computer but raised his head when he heard the door close. "Ah Grace, I was wondering where you were, Clara told me Mrs Scannel had wanted to see you," his eyes wandered over to Hecate, "I assume this is why. I'm guessing you're Hecate?" The class broke out into chatter, "Quiet!" Mr Madison said eyes on some of the louder boys. They smirked and got back work, as did the rest of the class though you could still hear some muttering.

Mr Madison turned back to Grace and Hecate, "Well Grace you know where your seat is and Hecate feel free to take a spare chair from the store room, welcome to the school." And with that he returned to his computer.

Hecate walked off to get a chair and Grace went to sit down. She shuffled through her bag and pulled out her folder. "So what's she like?" Said a voice Grace recognised as Fabian Clark's.
Grace turned to him and said, "Unique," Fabian frowned, "Good unique or bad unique?" He questioned. Grace was about to answer when Hecate re-emerged from the storage room, a chair in her hands.

She made her way over to Grace and placed her chair next to Grace's. "Hi, I'm Fabian," Fabian said in a friendly tone but Hecate just gave him a cold glare.

"Ok so I guess a bad unique,"  Grace heard Fabian mutter as he returned to his work. Keeping her eyes on her own work Grace whispered, "Does it hurt you to be nice or something?" But she said it so quietly that even Hecate struggled to hear it but she got the message and a twinge of sadness krept onto her face. "Not physically." She said.

Grace gave her an exasperated look. What's this girl's problem? Grace got the feeling that she and Hecate weren't going to get along.

"Well at least try to be a little friendlier next time."

Sorry if there are any typos. Sorry for updating so late. Thank you for reading!!!!!