"Ash, where do you think Marcus and Tyler are? They haven't been at school all day," Winnie whispered as Mr. Dun droned on about mitochondria.
"Who cares? At least they're not here to torture us with their existence," I whispered back. "Why do you care anyway? Haven't they been major assholes to you for years?"
Winnie frowned. "Just because they don't respect me doesn't mean I don't have to respect them. How else would things change? Besides, they have never missed a day of school in their lives. This is weird for them. Where could they be?"
I knew exactly where they were. Therapy. I scarred them so badly they had to be put in a rehab center for trauma victims. But I wouldn't tell Winnie that. His pretty little face would scrunch up at me in disappointment or outrage. Most likely both. "Probably off fucking each other somewhere."
Winnie's pretty little face scrunched up anyway and was about to respond when Mr. Dun clapped his hands together loudly. "Alright, class, we have two new students here with us."
I lazily directed my attention to the front of the classroom and felt my breathing stop. No. No, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening!
I forced myself to remain calm as the two introduced themselves. The girl rested her head on her boyfriend's chest as she said, "I'm Natasha, and this is my boyfriend Baxter! We can't wait to meet you all!"
My breathing started to get heavier and my pulse quickened. This is bad. This is really, really bad.
"Why? Ash, what's wrong? Why is this bad?" Winnie asked quietly as he put his hand on my shoulder. His mismatched eyes shone with worry. I didn't say anything and grabbed his hand. Winnie didn't have any time to react before I was pulling him out of the classroom and down the halls.
Leave.
"Ash! Wait! Where are we going? What's wrong?" Winnie asked as he struggled to keep up.
Leave. Leave. We need to leave!
"Get in the car," I said as I pushed him towards the passenger seat.
Now. Go. Go!
"No! Tell me what's wrong!" Winnie said as he shook my hand off his shoulder.
They're coming for you.
"I'll tell you on the way!" I said as I glanced back towards the school.
Leave! Go! Get away!
"No, Ash! You can't just drag me around whenever you feel like it!"
LEAVE!
"Damn it, Winnie, not here!"
GO!
"Yes, here! I deserve to know!"
GET AWAY!
"GET IN THE FUCKING CAR NOW WINSTON!!" I screamed at him.
Winnie's eyes widened as he fell silent. He got in the car and quietly shut the door. I sighed and got in the driver's side. I glanced at Winnie as I started the car. He was resting his head against the window, right arm holding up his head. His hair perfectly hid his face from my view.
The car ride to my house was made in silence. The air itself seemed to suffocate me. To make it worse, an emotion strange to me resided in my chest. I hated it. I had read about this emotion before.
Is this what regret feels like? No, there's something else there, too.
I didn't have time to dwell on it because about halfway there, I heard a quiet sniffle.
I sighed and pulled over. I unbuckled my seatbelt and faced him. "Look, Winnie, I'm sorry for yelling at you. Those people back there, they mean bad news. They made me worried and panicked, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I'm sorry for pushing you," he said as he turned to me and wiped his eyes.
I shook my head. "No, you were right. You deserve to know. Don't apologize."
He sniffed again. "Okay. Sorry."
I ignored the last comment, thankful he was at least talking to me. The ride to my house was silent again after that, but it wasn't the same suffocating silence as before. I pulled into the driveway and quickly dragged Winnie inside, shutting the door behind us. I sat Winnie down on the couch and sat next to him.
Winnie folded his hands in his lap as he waited for me to begin speaking.
"Those two, Natasha and Baxter, they're also demons," I decided to start with the obvious. "They work under Belladonna, one of the Big Three. The Big Three are the bosses who are in charge of all the Underclass and Upperclass. Those two are in charge of executions under Belladonna. They're here to kill me, and maybe even you too." I said bluntly.
Winnie just stared at me. After a minute, he stood up off the couch and started to pace around my living room while running his hands through his hair.
His hair looks like it would be fun to pull.
"Why me? What have I done wrong? Who did I anger? Where did I go wrong?" he muttered as he dragged his hands down his face. He started tugging at his hair again as he went back to pacing.
I stood up and grabbed his hands. "You're going to tear your hair out if you keep doing that," I said as I rubbed his knuckles in hopes of calming him down.
Winnie wrenched his hands from mine and threw them around my waist. He buried his head into my chest and muttered, "I didn't sign up for this."
I smiled and rubbed his back. "I know, and I'm sorry. You'll be okay. I promise."
He looked up at me with wide eyes. "Me? What about you? You were completely freaking out not even ten minutes ago!"
I grimaced. "I'll figure something out. I just hope they don't figure out where I'm staying. That'll be bad," I said as I continued to rub his back. It was very therapeutic for us both, judging from the fact his racing heart began to slow down.
Winnie was about to respond when I heard a knock at the door. He and I both tensed up. Winnie dropped his arms from around my waist.
"Shit," I hissed under my breath at the same time Winnie whispered, "Crap."
I carefully walked to the hall closet and pulled out the metal baseball bat I keep in there. I cautiously crept towards the front door, Winnie following closely behind. I looked back at him before facing forwards once again and ripping the door open.
***
Okay, a tiny, little cliffhanger here, though it's probably easy to guess who was at the door. I hope you enjoyed!