Inked: The Reaper Chronicles

One

It seemed that this was probably the only place he could catch his thoughts. 

Ethan huffed as he leant back in the cornered chair, leafing through the pages. The school library was probably the last place in the world anyone expected to find him in the morning but then again, he didn't really care what anyone thought.

The laminated title in gold-printed bold glared out at him from the hardback cover.

The Outsiders.

Sure the pacing could be a little slow, and the language a little rough at times, but it was surprisingly engaging. He'd preferred The Woman In The Dunes which he'd read a week before, but Ponyboy was starting to grow on him with his odd way of talking and overall coolness, which he secretly wished to emulate more often. So was Darry, in all his over protective brother characterisation. He'd put more effort into pouring into the book and all it's characters.

But books seemed to take the stress off the new school. That, and the library seemed to be the only place he could get away from the prying eyes of the teachers. 

Tenatively fingering the blurb, he thought about it. They were nice, yes, maybe even welcoming, but the fidgeting suspicions and the subtle watching were all the same once they had gained word of his full record.

'Five schools in three years doesn't exactly make comforting, young man.' the principal had made bluntly on his first day. 

Ethan almost appreciated his honesty.

Though, the first few incidents hadn't been his fault- he'd been provoked. At every school he had gone to there, there had always been one person who had it out for him- maybe it was because he was the new kid, or because, or he liked to think of it as, some intangible substance that leaked through his pores and signalled them all to him. Then, the unbreakable cycle came and went- awkward introductions, encounter with the bully, fight, broken noses and fractured cheekbones, then expelled before the lunch even rang out. 

But the window one at his last school hadn't been his fault, or as he had so tried to explain to the overly furious principal- that sometimes, he underestimated his own strength and that he had just slipped over a cardboard box and just so happened to send the other guy flying out the open window. And everyone had found it hilarious, even the teacher on duty couldn't conceal her chuckling snorts.

No dice. 

Before he knew it, he was already exiled from that particular school after just two days.

But he couldn't help it. Trouble seemed to come to him.

But the person he felt the most sorry for was Mom. Unlike the principal, she'd even tried to comfort him on his first day of breakfast, in that same quietly-chiding, gentle tone of voice that he'd become so accustomed to.

"Be yourself, Ethan," she had told him, cupping his cheek, "life is a battlefield- but character is your weapon. Just remember that in that school and probably every other school, everyone has problems of their own."

But still, almost two and a half weeks had to be some kind of record, Ethan mused as he placed the book back on the shelf for later, having only precious seconds now to waste until the morning bell.

He looked around the library- still as comfortably dim and devoid of company it had been when he had first come in. He revelled in the quiet. 

That was, until the bell had rang.

Ethan sighed, He knew it would never last.

Shuffling his way out, He managed to expertly blend himself into the flowing crowd of pupils-jostling,playing, talking- that seem to come from all directions. Even with people he had been resigned to a nondescript identity.

Ethan knew that he had never considered himself particularly special. He was wallpaper, simple as that. 

Still he couldn't complain against that order.It was school, after all.

But in the boy's mind, the natural order was still resettling from the quiet that he had so embroiled himself in- it was weird to think that so many centuries ago that it -the Earth- had been just as quiet as that so many centuries ago.

In the almost hive-minded crowd, it seemed barely believable.

Teachers were perched on the other ends of halls, just watching, or already beginning to hurry to their own classrooms, clutching multi-coloured files stacked a foot upwwards.

A shoulder jostled against his own in the crowd, startling him out of his thoughts. A dimunitive head of long brown hair already had hurried past him before he could realise just what-or rather who- had hit him.

The head only briefly paused to shift around, leaving Ethan with only a futile glimpse of a hazel yellow eye, unreadable as ever, before disappearing behind a corner in between the mesh of faces that crowded his line of vision.

It took some few seconds for Ethan to scramble his brains for the identity of the mystery girl, but it soon came to him.

Alice McKinney.

Apparently a new student who had transferred in only a few days after him, she had become a particular subject of gossip along the school grape vine on account of her reticence and consistently high scores in class. No-one knew she was- she had brushed off all attempts at friendship, making it clear that she wanted to be alone, for some reason. 

Ethan oddly respected that. He knew that not everyone was meant to be part of some great machine. 

Before he had time to contemplate her sudden rush, something much larger barged past him, duitifully followed by two smaller, though heavier footsteps. 

But the brown buzz cut of the first head that had ran past, slicked back until in a certain light until it looked almost bald was unmistakably Austin Buckland. He could only guess that the two other figures were his ever-loyal cronies- Brian and Finn.

As repuations went here, these three were not to be crossed with. Though popular, it had come with intimidation and a near religious dedication to rugby and any other sport that enabled them to beat their chests and holler like the apes they probably where.

Ethan was smart.  He knew what they were in pursuit of now, judging by the sardonic cackle that echoed away from the corner.

He looked begrudgingly to his passing classmates and teachers, but their expressions (of the few that remained) were as unreadable as ever. 

Three well-built guys against one gangly girl. He wasn't one to tally up the scores, but those odds did not look good.

He looked down to his bag, and then back down the stairs, where he knew he should have already been in form class by now, but something kept him rooted to the ground.

Ethan huffed, and threw it down. He knew he was going to be late. 

But right now that worry was limited to how the teacher was going to accept 'sudden act of heroism' as a viable excuse for being so.

He raced down the corner after them, his fists clenched as he inwardly prepared himself for whatever action - and potential suspension, he hoped- awaited him.

But Austin had had a rare moment of genius or a follow of thrill in cornering his prey. Like any expert predator, he had taken his hunt into the most secluded savannas, ready to make the kill now that he knew he was surrounded by others. Here, where he knew most students would be occupied by their teachers with whatever morning announcements there had to be relayed.

Ethan's lip curled upwards as he scarced himself into the wall, trying to imitate the same level of surprise. 

And sure enough, with his ear to the wall, he followed the vibrating sound of voices that emanated from the walls in the twisting corners. 

"......say, SOMETHING, you stuck- up bitch!" 

She doesn't deserve this.

Though no-one ever really did.

Eyes widening at the sudden discovery of voice, he ran along util he caught sight of the three figures cornering a slightly shorter, indistinct one.

"Gonny answer?" brayed Brian, sticking his square-jawed maw close to her face. Ethan almost winced for the girl, knowing the smell of his breath from a distance. Though shorter than Austin, he was all the more muscular, with a bulging, veiny neck that bristled whenever he got angry.

But Alice's face was stone to the insult, instead shifting away, only to be caught by the elbow of Austin, effectively pinning her to the wall. 

"I think I know the problem here," he sneered, pushing Brian aside, "you think you're too good for the rest of us, smart girl. You get the big scores in every class, and you just think we're all morons. That right!"

Alice said nothing, but there was a dangerous inch added to her stoic expression-one that made her almost look glowering.

For a while, she looked as if she was contemplating something.

Then she spoke.

"Please allow me  to go class."

The boys were stunned for a second by the sudden sound of her voice. But they promptly burst into obnoxious laughter at the request.

He scoffed. "Seriously? For a genius, you're not being smart here." 

Alice took the new space on her left side as an opposrtunity of escape, but quickly found both possible exits blocked by the hulking forms of Austin's friends.

All the while, every cell in Ethan's body was screaming at him: what are you doing? Get in there and help her!

However, she didn't look as distressed as any other girl would have been in that situations. In fact, Ethan could practically feel an air of confidence radiating from her enclosed form. He was unsure whether or not he should step in, but he knew it had to be now.

Her eyes narrowed. "You misunderstand." she continued.

The chuckles dissipated. 

"That was not a request." 

Ethan wasn't even sure himself what exactly had happened because of how incredibly fast it had been. One minute, the three looked ready to pounce at her, the next thing he knew, Austin was sprawled out on the floor, yowling in pain like a scalded cat, while both of Brian's nostrils were dripping with fresh red. Finn was pathetically sprawled out against a bin, clutching his now bruised inner thigh.

Alice stood among all  the injury, untouched. And from the light panting she gave off, fists clenched, it seemed the culprit of her rescue wasn't as far-off as it seemed. 

Ethan, like anyone, couldn't contain his shock.  "What the-"

Her andrenaline-fuelled daze snapped at the abrupt addition of words. With a swish of her hair, Alice moved to turn away, only to be caught by her wrist.

Ethan fumbled for words as he perched over the fallen bodies over towards the girl, who was all but barely breathing now.

"Look, how did you do.... I mean-are you okay? Do I need to call the nurse or something? I mean for them-you-a teacher, maybe-"

It was then he saw it.

Peeking out of the torn cuff of her blazer was a silvery dark trail- one that had been clearly inked on to the skin, longer than it appeared, twisting up the wrist to the forearm, a twisting line path of design.

A tattoo- but nothing unlike Ethan had ever seen before. 

At once, he had fallen under the spell of  it's intricate chain-like design, his lips going dry.

Before he even had the chance to ask, Alice pulled her hand away so quickly that he barely had time to feel the impact that it had left on the right side of his face, before picking up her fallen schoolbag and running away down a hallway, without even a look backwards to him this time. 

A low groan resounded from an impained Austin, hands still clutched impassionately over his crotch.

Ethan winced, stepping over to avoid trodding on his left arm, looking around at the others while rubbing the back of her head.

He knew that no ordinary person, nevermind a girl that small would have that strength. So why hadn't he found the courage to ask the question that meant the most: How did you do that?

But the stirring mounds that had once been thestars of the school evoked a bigger one: what was he going to do?

Ethan swore he felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle at the sound of heavy footsteps that had so suddenly emerged from behind a classroom door. Or put more seriously, heavy, adult footsteps. 

"Ethan Hall!" 

Slowly, he opened his eyes from the deep roar that had rattled the ceiling tiles and for better measure, the inner workings of Ethan's ears. Oh, of course, he had sighed internally, it just had to be you.

As the boy begrudgingly turned around, he was met with the six foot sight of a face already flaring wide nostrils like a cartoon bull, mouth contorted into a grimace, angular, smug face already beginning to redden beneath the facade of glasses.

Mr Evan.

The 'physical education' teacher.

Although it was just morning today seemed to have it out for him. Ethan knew the same twisting feeling in the pit of his stomach all too well.