Chasing Shadows | ✓

Part Two: Chapter Nine

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once upon a time

an angel lay dying in the mist

and a devil knelt over her and smiled

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THE LOUD BUZZ OF THE STUDENTS AROUND ME GREW LOUDER AND LOUDER.

My hair seemed to be frizzing up by the second, but I didn't even care that I probably looked like I had a mini Afro going on. Beads of sweat were gathering on the top of my forehead, slowly making their way down the sides of my face; none of which I bothered t wipe away. My cheeks were flushed a violent red colour, yet my body was shivering at the same time. I wrapped my jacket around me tighter, trying to keep in as much of the warmth as I could, but it didn't stop the shivers from wracking my body. Pain seared through my abdomen harder than a branding iron, my mind conceding to the torment, unable to bring a thought to completion.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I peeked up through tired eyes to see Noah crouching beside my seat, peering at me through concerned eyes. A small crinkle had formed between his brows, and his hand twitched a few times before he gently laid one on top of mine. I pushed back the weird feeling that encompassed me at the touch of his hand, and instead tried to mumble out a response, but all that came out was gibberish.

"Shit, you're burning up," he frowned after placing a hand on my forehead, "Why the hell did you come in if you're this sick?"

"I. . . I didn't want to miss school," I groaned out, "We have a test today."

The pain had an unpleasant warmth to it, eating at my stomach. There was nausea too, just enough to make me hold onto the table for support and breath slow. Without meaning to, my body curled into a fetal position in my seat, and my throat gurgled as I struggled to breathe.

"Screw the test, anyone could tell you're sick from half a mile away," he snapped suddenly, the shift in his tone taking me by surprise, "Do you want me to go down to the office and call your parents?"

"They're working," I shut my eyes briefly, "They won't pick up."

"Well come on then," he held out a hand and I barely managed to peek up at him without feeling like my head was about to explode.

"I'll take you to the library or somewhere quiet where you can rest," he explained as he looked around the room with narrowed eyes, "It's too loud in here."

"I don't even have the energy to blink," I lolled my head back into the hood of my jacket, "It's okay, I'll just rest here. . ."

"Everybody shut it!"

The loud and unexpected sound of a hand slamming down on a table made my eyes jerk open and my heart to start erratically pounding against my rib-cage. Noah's lips were screwed up in a sneer while he glared at the slightly terrified and surprised expressions of my classmates. I watched as his brown irises seemed to turn pure black. I had never seen Noah look that way; his eyes had a deadness and a stillness to them that would chill anyone to their core. The boy who laughed often, the one who was everyone's friend, had developed a hardness, colder than the Antarctic.

"I'll take her."

At the softer sound of a different male voice, I peeked one eye open to see Travis standing beside Noah. Much like each other, they mirrored similar expressions of concern and worry. I tried my hardest to muster up a smile, but even I knew it was lopsided and barely visible. Travis pushed past Noah to settle beside me and his golden-brown irises flickered back and forth between mine.