❝❞

♕ ♕

"Where do you think he is?" I asked, looking around the nearly empty parking lot.

Hadlee and I had been standing here waiting for her brother to come out of the building for the past twenty minutes. I got so tired of standing, I decided to plop my bag and me on the grass next to the sidewalk.

Hadlee had sat down next to me and we were still patiently waiting. I have been staring at the double doors for most of the time. For some reason, I felt anxious.

It was really awkward during the study session I had with Harley during the rest of lunch period. Even though he managed to make me feel better, I really didn't want to talk about what happened with Nolan.

Ugh, I get chills down my spine even just thinking about him and what he did. What worries me is how he just let me go after he saw Carson's necklace. Almost like he'd seen it before.

"I don't know, but when he gets here I'm going to berate him." Hadlee made a fist and narrowed her eyes.

I couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. Here I was thinking she was quiet and fragile like me. When it came to her brother, she became a slightly different person.

Hadlee frowned at me and dropped her fist. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing" I smiled and shook my head.

Hadlee only stared at me, her blue eyes studying me. I continued to smile when I noticed a shadow move in the corner of my vision. I slowly turned my head towards the movement and saw someone walk out the doors.

It was only Reece. His brown eyes were narrowed and his hands were buried in the pockets of his blazer. He looked angry like he got into a fight with Carson again. I gulped as he stomped down the sidewalk.

Hadlee was watching him too, her playfulness disappearing like a puff of smoke. We could only remain sitting on the grass as Reece got closer. I noticed that Hadlee had stiffened slightly beside me.

When Reece came out of his angry daze, he glanced at the both of us. His face went blank and he stopped walking, his body slightly starting to relax. I watched as he stared at Hadlee, observing her almost.

Hadlee turned her head away from his and I spotted the movement of her fist clenching tightly. Her skin turning pale. There was definitely tense air forming. And it was hard to breathe.

All of sudden, Reece smiled and continued to walk on past us. He glanced at me and for some reason when I caught his eyes, they seemed darker. Almost deadlier.

I watched his back as his figure retreated into the parking lot. When he was out of sight, I sighed loudly which caught Hadlee off guard.

"That was weird..." I grumbled as Hadlee let go of her clenched fist.

She still had her head turned away from me and that made me slightly worried. The chilly wind blew, causing the nearby trees to rustle loudly. Autumn would soon be ending and winter would come.

"Yeah." Hadlee's sudden and low reply caught my attention.

I stared at her, afraid to say something. In an instant, the friendly mood turned unbearably quiet. What was I supposed to say? I still don't know much about the relationships of this school.

Though, according to what has happened so far, I could probably guess who were friends and who were enemies. I rested my chin on the palm of my freezing hands.

The double doors on the side of the school building flew open which had Hadlee and I both turned our heads to the abrupt noise. Thank god it's the guy we were waiting for.

Harley stepped out and I instantly noticed the grim expression on his face. I cautiously stood up from my sitting position and grabbed my backpack. Something's off about him.

"Harley!" I called out and he snapped his head up.

I gulped and realized something was definitely off. His crystal blue eyes weren't bright and had a dark look to them. When Harley saw it was me, he broke the eye contact immediately and looked at his shoes as he walked towards us.

Ouch. Ignoring the small blow, I tapped Hadlee on the shoulder. She looked up at me and then turned her attention towards her brother. She stood up and grabbed her bag.

Harley continued walking and we followed behind him, he didn't dare look at us. I glanced at Hadlee who seemed to notice this too. Her fighting spirit washed down the drain.

I coughed awkwardly. "We were waiting for you for a while."

Harley spared no glance at us, he just continued on towards the parking lot. I stepped off of the sidewalk curb and onto the black payment of the lot.

"Sorry," Harley whispered.

It didn't sound genuine at all. It was emotionless. This was a first for me to see Harley like this. Then again, it's only my third day here. I haven't had much time to get to know everyone.

"Is everything okay?" I slowly forced myself to ask him.

I had barely caught the small nod of his head, if not for his curls slightly bouncing. Harley pulled his keys out and unlocked his car. I opened the backseat door and threw my bag in before I sat down.

Quick! Think about something to talk about! Anything!

"Um...are you two going to the carnival this Saturday?" I asked as they both buckled their seat belts.

Hadlee glanced back at me with an unreadable expression. It almost looked like she was conflicted. I turned towards Harley to see if he would answer my question. His knuckles turned even paler from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.

"Yes." Harley strained out.

Hadlee quickly turned her eyes to him, a look of shock on her face. "What?"

"I said, we're going," Harley said harshly, backing the car out of the lot and driving down the road.

I stayed quiet. Maybe that was a bad topic to bring up. Obviously, Hadlee had no idea that Harley decided they would be going. How was I supposed to know?

"Since when do we ever go to school functions?" Hadlee narrowed her eyes at Harley.

I shuddered, the anger starting to rise off of her. There are a lot of firsts for me today. I've never seen Hadlee this upset or angry before. It kind of scares me.

"Since now," Harley growled back.

Wow. He was starting to become royally pissed off. I have a gut feeling that Reece might have pissed him off earlier. It would explain why the both of them came out with a tense aura.

"When did you start making decisions for the both of us?" Hadlee was gripping the passenger seat.

"I'm not making any—"

"Yes you are," Hadlee stated and looked out the window. "I'm not going."

Harley turned the wheel roughly, causing me to fly into the door. My shoulder took the hard hit and I'm pretty sure I'll have a bruise. Ouch. What the hell was his problem?

"Fine. I'll go by myself. You can stay home." Harley growled at her as we drove down the street that led to my house.

Hadlee took a sharp intake of breath and I noticed she glared at him. "Don't leave me at—"

"Then come Saturday." Harley cut her off quickly.

Hadlee only stared at him, uncertainty in her blue eyes. She sadly shook her head at him. I kept mouth closed, afraid to say something.

"I can't," Hadlee muttered dejectedly.

The tense atmosphere quickly changed into a saddened one. Harley slumped his shoulders and sighed. I could feel the anger between them disappear into thin air.

"I know." Harley sullenly admitted.

Hadlee gave him a sad look. "Then why do you want to go?"

Harley tensed up and gave his sister a conflicted expression. He stopped the car and I looked out my window. He'd parked right outside my house.

"There's something I have to do," Harley answered vaguely.

Why do I have a feeling that Harley is going to murder someone at the carnival? Maybe I really shouldn't go.

The sky looked ominous. The dark gray clouds covering every inch of clear sky left. It looked like it was about to storm again.

"Saige, could you come down for a moment?" My mother called from downstairs.

My bedroom door was partly open so I could hear her better. I hopped up from my cross-legged position on my bed and out of my room.

I skipped down the creaky, wooden stairs and into the dimly lit living room. I peeked around the wall and saw my mother standing with papers all around her.

Oscar trotted towards me and stuck his nose in a very inappropriate place. I lightly pushed his snout away and he only looked up at me with a wolfish grin. Pervert dog.

"What is it, mother?" I stepped out from behind the wall and into the living room.

I was careful to not step on any of the scattered papers. I tip-toed my way around them. Oscar obviously didn't care and just walked through the room on top of them.

"I found this and was wondering what—" My mother turned around and held up the crinkled carnival flyer I got from Mrs. Neille.

My eyes widened and I stepped forward and snatched the paper away. I crumbled it and threw it behind my shoulder. My mother had a shocked look on her face as I nervously smiled.

"That was nothing," I said as she blinked at me.

She mustn't find out. Even if she sent me into that death trap of a school, she couldn't know about vampires. I want to look out for her and keep her safe from all the scary fangs I've encountered.

Huh, now I sound like the concerned parent.

"I was just going to ask if you were going to the carnival." My mother said slowly as if I couldn't understand her.

Am I going? I'm not sure I want to go at all. I'll have to help prepare after school Friday night. That reminds me- I still have to bake some pastries for the event.

"No, I don't think I will," I said, watching her facial expression change to disappointment.

My mother took a step back and sighed. "Why not?"

I froze up. What was I supposed to tell her? That I didn't want to go because everyone there would be vampires? I couldn't tell her that. Make up some lie!

"Well...um...you see there's this I have to do Saturday night..." I said unsurely. Crap, that was totally see through.

My mother tilted her head at me. It was only then that I noticed how tired she looked. The bags under eyes were more noticeable and her hair wasn't brushed.

"What thing? And I swear if you say you have to sleep Saturday night-" She raised her voice, threatening to bring up my past excuse.

I quickly interrupted her with wide eyes. "No! No! That's not it."

"Then what is it?" She asked a little annoyed.

I was now sure that she was extremely tired and probably overworked. My mother put her hands on her hips. I stared into her brown eyes and sighed.

"Fine. I have nothing going on." I gave in and went to plop myself down on the couch.

"Then why say you didn't want to go?" My mother persisted.

I took a sharp intake of breath and could now feel myself become extremely annoyed. "It's the students, okay? I don't want to go because of the students."

My mother stared at me with widened eyes and I realized how suspicious that sounded. My mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

What will she think now? I could have possibly blown this thing up. Crap. What will I do? Maybe she won't question it, but that's highly unlikely.

"If that's the case, you don't have to go then." She suddenly said.

I looked up at her surprised. "What?"

My mother sighed and gave me a sad smile. She turned to walk out of the room but stopped under the archway. She glanced behind her shoulder to look at me.

"I won't be able to go to the Carnival with you. The company offered me to go on a business trip for a few days. I leave Saturday." My mother said with the sad smile still on her face.

I stood up slowly from my sitting position on the couch. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you." She said and turned away from me.

My mother walked out of the living room and left me standing alone in the living room. She was acting really strange lately and I had this very bad gut feeling about it.

My head was filled with tons of unanswered questions. I need to distract myself. I glanced down at the floor and saw the tons of papers and books. That's it!

I need to find some sort of cookbook. So tomorrow I can run to the store and pick up ingredients for whatever I choose to make for the carnival.

I got down on my knees and searched through the papers and books. When there was nothing there, I went into the kitchen where some boxes filled with items weren't emptied yet.

I groaned and shifted my position so I could check every cabinet. Absolutely nothing. Where does she keep her cookbooks? I really need to pay attention more.

I rested my hands on the cool slab of the countertop. It was starting to get chilly outside. The wood and tile floors sometimes got so cold I had to wear my fuzzy socks all the time.

Suddenly, what sounded like the doorbell ringing resonated through the rooms softly. With a confused frown, I slowly made my way towards the front door.

As I walked down the eerily quiet hall, I could see a figure through the glass of the front door. I should probably check through the windows, but by the time I got to the door the figure started knocking.

Which scared the crap out of me. I put my hand on the knob and opened the front door slowly. I blinked when I saw who it was and opened the door wider.

"Sebastian?" I questioned, recognizing his brown hair flipped over.

His eyes turned to me and he pulled out one of his earphones that I failed to notice he had in. The chilly wind suddenly reminded me that I was only wearing a tee shirt and sweatpants.

"I need to talk to you," Sebastian said, a cold puff of air coming out of his mouth.

Sebastian glanced behind me and I suddenly remembered my mother. I quickly stepped out onto the porch and embraced the cold air. I closed the front door behind me and wrapped my arms across my chest.

"How did you find my house?" I asked.

Sebastian shook his head. "That's not important."

"Okay?" I questioned even though it was slightly important to me how he knew.

I glanced down at Sebastian's outfit. He really looked different without a school uniform on. He had black boots and jeans with a large leather jacket on. Kind of reminds me of a bad boy.

"Don't go to the Hallow's Eve Carnival this Saturday." He stated.

"What? Why not?" I asked even though I hadn't planned on going.

Sebastian glanced at him and I could tell he was slightly nervous. "Look, I'm not trying to be mean. For your safety, just don't go Saturday."

He was acting weird. Everyone was acting weird. Today seemed to be the 'everyone act weird' day. I just don't understand anything anymore.

"I don't understand—" I tried to finish.

"Please Saige. Don't go." Sebastian pleaded.

I looked into his brown eyes very confused and gave in. "Okay. I won't go."

Sebastian looked very relieved. I nodded my head and mumbled out a 'goodnight'. I turned and opened the door and stepped inside. The warm air starting to melt me.

Him showing up to my house and pleading me not to go has got me all the more curious. Earlier, I was conflicted about whether I should go or not. Well, now I know that I should go.

I'm sorry Sebastian, but I want to know what's going on. Why did Reece act bizarrely today? Why did Harley? Why did my mother? And last, of all, you showed up acting strangely.

"I convinced her not to go you asshole." Sebastian's almost inaudible voice came through the door.

My eyes widened. Who was he talking to? I slowly pressed myself against the door, straining my ears to try and hear the conversation.

"She can't get involved anymore." Someone else's voice came through the door.

It was deeper and sounded almost like- oh crap. My hands felt sweaty and I could feel my heart start pounding in my chest. I glanced down and saw the glint of the crystal from the necklace. It was swinging back and forth.

It was Carson. Sebastian was talking to Carson.

"I think it's already too late for that." Sebastian sighed.

"That's why, no matter what, she can't attend Saturday's Carnival." Carson's statement flamed my curiosity even more so.

I'm definitely going Saturday. And there's nothing you can do to stop me, Carson.

♕ ♕

★ @within_days

★

★ : @within_days