NIGHT CHASER ---- original ---- HIATUS

Addition

Elena sat up groggily.

Ugh. Mondays.

It had been a couple of days since Yamila, Evan, and their sleepover, and they had gotten nowhere finding information about the new Tag virus, as the community had dubbed it. And now it was Monday, meaning that Elena had to go to school, and suffer through endless talk about the stupid Tag virus.

I mean, come on! Only one person has had it at once, and only two people have died. And we know it has a 100% death rate. It isn't spreading that quickly.

Jolon had eventually gotten a man named Defjad, who had had the virus for a couple of days now. He had been sitting on his porch steps, peacefully stargazing, when Jolon had jumped down from the porch roof, an extra boost of strength from the virus enabling him to tackle the middle aged man. Defjad had been detained every night once the sun had gone down. They were hoping to keep the virus contained in his body so that the doctors could study his body and hopefully find a cure. But they had gotten nowhere. And the government wasn't going to help since only three people had been infected so far. Highest Peak was on its own.

Reporters on the news had shown clips of Jolon's family grieving, which seemed cruel to Elena, given the fact that they had just lost a child. But the Tag virus was all over the local news, even though not many had been infected. Three was a lot in the tiny town of six hundred and fourteen people. Besides, nothing much really happened in Highest Peak, so a small virus? Huge news.

Elena drank her morning coffee with extra cream quickly. She had to get going to school in ten minutes, since she had woken up late. She drank coffee every morning. It was the only thing that got her through the day, as a teenager. But she knew that if Yamilia found out about her daily habit, Yamilia would chastise her. Yamilia HATED coffee, and always told Elena that it would kill her. It was surprising that Yamilia didn't drink coffee, for how hyper she was.

As Elena went upstairs to get dressed, she thought about her mother. Her mother was a scientist, a geneticist who had gone to a prestigious college outside of the small community college that Highest Peak offered for college aged students and gifted high-schoolers. What was its' name? Elena couldn't remember. She wondered if her mother would be the one to find the cure. Elena would help her, and learn more about the world of science that she so loved. Science was her thing, but she was too shy to show it at school.

As Elena ran up to catch the bus, just making it out the door after frantically snatching her coat, hat and gloves of the hook and yanking her boots onto her feet, she felt snow gather on her dark eyelashes. Snow tracked with her onto the bus, making the rubber floor squeak as all eyes turned to her. She caught sight of Evan and Stellan sitting on the right, and Yamilia patting the seat next to her on the left. She smiled and made her way back there, but was stopped by a senior, the girl that lived just down the road from Elena. She was sitting alone in front of Evan and Stellan.

"Hey, uh, I need to talk to you when we get to school. I'll wait for you outside the bus when we get there." The girl said.

"Me? You must be thinking of someone else." Elena told her, plopping down next to Yamilia, leaning out into the aisle as the bus started to move.

"No, I don't believe so. Elena, right? I'm Adelyn." she said with certainty. "And I would tell you now, but there's too many people here. I'll take you somewhere no one will hear us."

"Okay, sounds good, I guess." Elena gave a tentative smile. Adelyn grinned back, her bright green eyes staring straight into Elena's chocolate colored ones. She turned around until all Elena could see of her was her hand knitted black hat and her fiery red hair.

Elena turned to the seat next to hers and Yamilia's.

"Stellan!" she cried. "You're back early! We missed you!"