Going back

9|| The Devil

A/N: Here's chapter 9. Enjoy, people.

Iris didn't want to go to school.

Which was understandable, of course- it had been barely a fortnight since her mother's death. She didn't really need to go anyways, but it was the one front both Harry and David united on- that Iris needed to develop social skills in order to be a functioning member of society.

To Iris's delight, Harry managed to pull some strings and get Jax admitted to the same school. It was really the only reason she agreed to go there- she couldn't leave her best friend to suffer alone.

The only downside was that it was the same school her brothers go to as well. She would be in the same year as Oscar and Will, a year younger than Julian and Brandon and two years younger than Damien. But Iris was very good at hiding, and was confident she could evade them.

Another irritation was that she had to wear a constricting school uniform- black skirt, white shirt and red jumper with a tie. At least it was less itchy than the last one.

It was still pretty early, so Iris was surprised to find Lisa busily typing away on the laptop in the kitchen. She tried to backtrack up the stairs, but Lisa must have super-hearing.

"Iris?" She called, leaning back in the chair and trying to peer around the hallway, "Is that you?"

Iris sucked in a sharp breath, despair collapsing on her face that she managed to mask in time, "Yep! Good morning."

"Morning," Lisa grinned, shutting her device, "You excited for school?"

"God no," Iris snorted, pouring milk into her cereal and taking a seat next to Lisa, "It's gonna be hell."

"School usually is."

"Cheers to that... What time do the others usually wake up?"

"Well, they should be up right about now," A devilish glint appeared in Lisa's eyes and Iris suddenly felt scared for the others. "I usually give them five minutes."

"I'll go warn them," Iris pushed back her chair and sprinted up the stairs.

"BOYS!" She called, walking down the corridor and slamming her hand on the doors. "WAKE UP! IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL!"

"Go away Iris!" Brandon yelled.

"Five minutes!" Oscar cried out sleepily.

"Fuck off!" Damien groaned tiredly.

"Shall I get Lisa?" Iris taunted.

THUD! CRASH! BANG!

"What time did you say we were leaving?" Oscar poked his head out the door, all traces of tiredness magically disappearing.

"DON'T!" Julian and Brandon shrieked at the same time.

"Fifteen minutes." Iris laughed. Lisa was notorious in the way she woke the others. It ranged from a simple splash of cold water, to an air horn being blown in your face. So far, Iris had escaped such dire punishments.

"Are they up?" Lisa asked, perking up hopefully when Iris entered.

She deflated when Iris nodded, "Shame..."

Iris shuddered and made a mental note to set her alarm a lot earlier.

Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket, grinning and swiping left on the cracked screen. "Hey, what's up?"

"The sky. Listen, wanna hang out after school today? Harry said he'd get us ice cream," Jax said.

"Sure. Text me a picture of your schedule when you get it- I wanna compare our timetables."

"Alright," Jax yawned, "I'll see you in a bit."

Iris cut the call and she looked at Lisa, "Can I hang out with my friend after school?"

"What time do you think you will be back?"

"Not long- maybe an hour or two?"

Lisa chewed her bottom lip then slowly nodded, "Fine. But make sure to text me your location just in case."

"Thank you so much!" Iris beamed, knowing she had made the right decision in asking Lisa and not David. She went back to her cereal and happily munched on it, a buzz of excitement hummed in her bones as she thought about seeing Jax later on.

* *

School was hell.

Iris was prepared to fling herself from the second story window if she had to listen to one more monotonous voice drone on about stuff she already knew. The people were no better... so friendly and sociable. It made her head hurt.

To ward off these strange beings, Iris took out a book and started reading. There was an unspoken universal law that interrupting a reader was likely to end in severe injury or death, and not at the fault of the reader.

However, it seemed this law was unknown to one person.

"Um, hello?"

Iris looked up, already irritated. A boy with hazel coloured eyes and messy dark hair stood a few feet away, a nervous smile tugged on his lips.

"Hi. Hello. Your name is Iris, right?"

"Do I know you?"

"I- uh, I don't know if you remember, but we used to play together as kids. I used to come round to your house? We almost died trying to bake muffins once? Before you, uh, left."

A vague memory tugged on Iris's brain- of screams and large flames as the oven combusted- and she frowned as a name floated to the surface. "...Aiden?"

He seemed relieved she remembered. "Yeah! It's been a while- how have you been?"

"Alright... is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"I, uh, wanted to invite you to sit with me and my friends at lunch in the cafeteria? Y'know, catch up a little?"

"Okay," Iris nodded, "I'll meet you there. Can I bring my other friend?"

"Yeah sure! Great!" Aiden grinned and did an awkward little wave, "See you then."

"Okay," Iris nodded, turning back to her novel. She couldn't care less about the boy, but decided to humour him for her own amusement. Plus, it would help to evade her family more easily.

Iris texted Jax at the first break by her locker, asking him to meet up. But he responded that there was an emergency with his sister and that they could talk more after school. Iris was concerned, and dropped Tracy a quick check-up text.

"Oh Iris! I didn't know our lockers were so close together."

Iris slammed her door shut and forced a tight smile on her face, "Hey Aiden." Her gaze slid over to the person next to him, "Who's your friend–"

She froze, a sudden tightness squeezing her throat as she gazed into frighteningly familiar green eyes. Her head felt lighter, as if it was stuffed with helium and would float away at any moment.

"Hey Iris," the Devil smirked, "long time, no see."

"Alex," she breathed out, "you should be dead." Iris would know, because she'd killed him herself.

*********

I had fun writing this chapter! A lot of twists are coming up- some of which might make you guys hate me.

I hop you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)