It was a new day and another attempt at being a normal teenager. The idea that anything about me or this town was normal was becoming a joke.
The world seemed so much crueler now that I'd lost another person that was important to me. Yet again, I was left with one person to stand beside me in this life. I looked at my uncle with fear in my eyes.
"It's going to be okay, Evie. You've got this."
I nodded, even if I didn't believe him. I had nothing.
"Those kids out there, they don't know about what happened. They're oblivious."
As if life could get any worse, Audrey and her friends walked past the car. They were laughing and chatting, more absorbed in their own lives rather than the world around them.
I blamed her father for Niko's passing. If he'd kept his mouth shut, Niko would still be here, and I would still have my friend and confidant.
"Sure," I murmured.
"Hey, I know it's ahead of schedule, but I thought that you might appreciate it. After all, you keep dropping enough hints."
Brad held out a box with a red bow on it. Pulling the ribbons, I lifted the lid and smiled. It was a new phone.
"Thanks. How much did your boss spend on this?"
"I am offended."
Brad pretended to be deeply hurt by the statement, but the smile was a giveaway. His cheeks lifted as the smile grew.
"Fine, I got it for free. Don't complain. You got the phone that you wanted."
"Oh, I'm not complaining, but you will do better for my real birthday, right?"
"Sure, I guess I can get him to supply a case for it."
I chuckled and pulled the phone out of the box, ignoring the bell that was sounding.
"It's good to go. I even charged it for you. My number is loaded as well as the real estate if you need to call them. Don't know why you would, but it's there just in case. Someone that we know, I guess."
"You are a legend, Bradley."
"I try my best. Now, I heard the bell sounding."
I nodded, but the door wasn't opening.
"You wanted to come back today, Evie. You said that you needed to keep your mind active and not dwell on Niko. I know that you've got a lot on your plate at the moment, but you said you were good for this."
"I am,"
Glancing at the clock on the dashboard, I could see why Brad was getting antsy. He had to clock on by nine am, and it was eight forty-five. It was only a five-minute drive, and Hades had virtually no traffic, so there was no issue here. I guess he didn't want to hang around while waiting for me to figure out what I was doing. He was right, though. I wanted to come back. I said that I was good for it. Was I, though?
"This is worse than the first-day jitters. Alright, I'll see you at three."
I opened the door, lifting my bag in the process. With my new phone tucked into my pocket, I closed the car door and began the descent into Hell. Life in high school was always difficult. Being the outcast because of my choices was never on my agenda, but I could see that it would be that way regardless of what I wanted.
As I reached the top of the stairs, I turned back. Brad was still sitting in his car, watching and waiting. He trusted me, but given the current events, he was probably worried that I'd turn around and walk to another location once he'd left. I couldn't do that once I'd walked through the main doors. The teacher on duty would stop me and send me to the office to call him back to collect me. There was no escape from this particular nightmare.
The corridors were full of students. I weaved through them, desperate to avoid their attention. As the new kid, I always attracted far too much of it. This place, though, was different. I was already a blur in the landscape.
The people of Hades were odd. I haven't ventured far in this town, just a few spots on Main Street and home. From what I could see, the people went about their lives without a care in the world. Some knew of the vampires but most didn't. At least, that's the way that it appeared. Unless I asked every single person in Hades, I'd never know the truth.
All I wanted was to get through each day and have no issues. That was another feeble dream. I should know better than to waste my hope for such things.
Reaching my locker, I opened the door and unloaded the books for my afternoon lessons into it. Checking everything was in order, I closed the locker to see that I was not alone. Audrey smiled sweetly at me, and I knew that this was the beginning of a bad day.
Audrey was her usual perky self. Looking extra pretty today with a soft blush across her cheeks, highlighting the gentle curve. She'd donned false eyelashes, and it looked as if she'd just swiped cherry-colored gloss over her lips.
Today's ensemble was not that different from any other day. Only today, there was a string of black pearls around her neck. They were stark against the white cashmere sweater.
I looked at the line of friends, noting that they were all wearing black pearl necklaces. That was interesting. I'd never seen that before. I would have thought wearing the same thing would be a fashion crime.
As usual, they pushed the school uniform to the limit. It made me wonder how they got away with it.
"Evie," she said in her saccharine sweet tone. "Can we have a moment?"
"Sure," I offered with a disinterested shrug.
Audrey smiled, gripping her books in front of her stomach.
"Great. I just love to chat with people. You like to talk to other people, right?"
I stared at her, wondering what she wanted. The friends behind her, they formed a wall that hid us from the main corridor. I was in my little hovel of darkness, wondering if the janitor would ever turn the light on in this section.
The smile slipped as a hesitant laugh escaped. Audrey gritted her teeth, forcing a smile to remain.
"Well, I guess you may not know because you're new to Hades, but my dad's got this great job as a builder. He's the only builder in this town, and that's because he's helped someone out. Everything was going great until someone stuck their nose into this town's business, and now his friend is angry. He said that my dad is going to lose his placement if things don't go back to the way that they were. You can help him out, right?"
Lifting my bag over one shoulder, I stepped away from the locker and looked at Audrey with a defiant glare.
"Your father is a snake that sold out an innocent person to a murderer. I wouldn't help him if he was the last person in the world. Did you know what he did, Audrey? Did he tell you what happened? Someone died because of your father. He was the one that stuck his nose into something that didn't concern him. I don't care if his friend is angry. That friend knows where I am, and if he has a problem, then he can come and tell me all about it rather than buying you and your friends off with bits of crappy plastic beads."
Audrey looked offended, her fingers scraping over the black pearls. Then anger consumed her. She pushed me back into the locker, slamming me into the metal door.
"This is all your fault." she hissed. "My father lost his job because of you."
Pushing back on her, Audrey grabbed my shirt. The first few buttons popped open. Her eyes lowered to the pendant. Since Niko gave it to me, I have worn it constantly. No matter what, it was always close to me, and in turn, Niko would be as well.
The anger fell instantly as Audrey sucked in a sharp breath of air.
The rest of the group moved to look at what had quietened Audrey. An audible gasp surrounded me, and the other girls began to back away. Anger began to fill me as I lifted from the locker door, swelling enough to make them all step back to the main corridor, Audrey included.
"You're a freak," Audrey hissed, then turned to walk away quickly.
I huffed, rolling my eyes. I knew that I was still not alone. Turning around, I saw the Nephilim boy behind me.
There might be a day when he wasn't hanging around like a bad smell. Though I shouldn't wish for such things. The day that the Nephilim boy wasn't here was the day that his kind had arrived to take me down.
"They're coming?"
He stared at me and slowly faded into the darkness.
"You know," I called out to the darkness. "You could be a little more helpful and offer something else."
I got nothing in return.
A little information would be great. A few details about how I could deal with the other Nephilim when they turned up. Maybe there was some kind of lawyer I could hire and defend myself.
Clearly not.
Leaning down, I picked up my bag that I'd dropped.
"Who are you talking to?"
Gasping, I turned to the amused voice at the end of the corridor. It was a guy from my year level.
I don't know his name. He wasn't in any of my classes. I'd seen him around in the couple of days that I'd been to school since arriving in Hades.
"Just my friends in the darkness."
He chuckled, leaning against the wall.
Despite this school being fairly strict on hair color, this guy had streaks of blue through the thick black hair. Short at the back and long at the front, the hair fell into his eyes until he flicked it back over his head, revealing more of the blue. It was a close match to his eyes.
"Sometimes, it's a more interesting conversation. I'm Kannon."
He held out his hand, offering a gorgeous smile as well.
"Evelyn, but everyone calls me Evie."
The smile grew, and I saw that all too familiar sign of what I was facing.
"You're a vampire."
"I am. What gave it away?"
"The fangs. Are you a part of Drakkus's coven?"
Kannon scoffed. The smile lessened as he frowned.
"Not a chance in Hell. There are not many of us, but we do exist. The tale of the forest fight swirled pretty fast but unfortunately for Niko, not fast enough."
"You knew Niko?"
"Not personally. I am only eighteen."
I frowned. Kannon shrugged with a cheesy smile.
"It's standard practice to hold us back a year so that we appear a little older. Not that anyone in this town is fooled. Drakkus has most of the townsfolk in his pocket, one way or another."
We began to walk through the main corridor. There were fewer people around now.
Lessons were not starting for a few more minutes. We had time but not a lot.
"As for Niko, my parents told me about him. They thought he'd left to search for his wife and daughter. When they heard that he'd been walled up in the house, they were distraught. No one thought he'd be right under our noses."
I stopped next to the door for my first class, giving Kannon a vague smile.
"This is me. It was nice to meet you."
"You too."
Kannon leaned closer as a girl walked into the classroom. His eyes watched her until the door was shut, and we were alone. Turning back to me, Kannon shot me another one of those dazzling smiles. I'm sure it had all the girls in this school spinning.
"You have allies in this town, Evelyn. Do not give up hope."
He lifted upright again, smirked at me, and then turned to continue down the corridor. I stared, even though I should have been getting into the class.