Taint (Formerly Claimed) Dark Midnight 1

Chapter 41

 Planning to post one more chapter after this.  After that there's not too many left!!

Chapter 41

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Miriam didn’t waste any time.  Immediately after lunch, she ditched Sidney with an excuse about being late for gym and rushed to her locker.  There she pretended to fish her gym bag from the bottom shelf, every muscle tensed on high alert.  

She waited.  If one thing had stuck in her mind from Eliot's predator vs prey lesson it was that most so called 'hunters' couldn't resist an easy mark.  

Here she was alone...vulnerable.  She just hoped the 'wounded bird routine' would work this time.  

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for a shadow to fall across her as someone crept up from behind.

Right on cue.  

“Hey.”

She flinched, hunching her shoulders.  The voice wasn’t familiar, but somehow she could instantly put a face to it; a tan one with bright green eyes.  

“It’s Miriam, isn’t it?”  He asked innocently.  “I’m Devlin...”

Taking a deep breath, Miriam slammed her locker shut and turned to face him.  

“You know my name,” she snapped.  She wasn’t sure how, but something about him reminded her of Eliot—that same knowing glint in the eye. 

She had a feeling that he knew a lot more than just her name.  

The corner of his mouth twitched.  “I know a lot about you, Miriam,” he admitted, lowering his voice.   “Good and…bad.”

“Like what?”  Casually, she scanned the hall for Sidney, or anyone or anything, she could use as an excuse to leave if he decided to skip the small talk and start...

Howling.  

He was one of the things from last night—the fact that he had taken to bait to talk to her alone proved it. But she wasn’t sure if he was one of the shadowy whats-its or the furry werewolf.  So she deiced to play it safe and just assume the worst, scary-sounding option.

"What do I know about you?"  Devlin seemed to think it over for a moment.  “I know that you are a very unique girl.”  His mouth formed a smile that could have been charming, if it reached his eyes.  “I also know that you also like to keep…strange company.”

Alarm bells went off.  

Nervously Miriam stumbled back, clutching her gym back so tightly that her knuckles turned white.  

“I-I have to go.”  She turned—only to find Devlin behind her, but that crooked smile had vanished.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he said softly.  “But we really need to talk.”

“About what?”  

It was just them left in the hall now, she realized—everyone else had already rushed to the next period.

“About you,” he said simply.  “And your…friend.”

Eliot.

Miriam tried her hardest to keep her face blank.  Poker straight, she told herself.  Don’t give anything away.  

“W-what about him?”

Devlin raised a brown eyebrow and moved to lean back against the row of lockers.  “He, my friend, is bad news.”  He whistled under his breath.  “Very bad.”