Eternity (5 page)

Marco and his accomplices had beaten us there.

They were fully clothed this time in matching blue polo’s and light khakis. Their wings were gone, retracted into their bodies as they attempted to pass themselves off as actual human beings.

They filtered out to the hallway where Mr. Warden’s voice carried over to us.

“Ordinarily, our school is very secure. We have very few internal threats. There is only one incident I can recount which occurred last semester when a student blew up the biology lab.”

Marco nodded, serious and appearing official with his hands clasped behind his back.

Mr. Warden continued, apparently not aware that Eran and I stood a few feet away. “Yes, Magdalene Tanner is the student’s name. Her antic nearly cost the lives of several of our students. Luckily, no one was permanently injured.”

“I see,” said Marco. “Were any charges brought against her?”

“No…no.” Mr. Warden looked disappointed. “There wasn’t enough evidence to support it. But there is no doubt in the minds of the faculty or the students who was to blame. Indeed, you’ll need to keep your eye on that one. ” He drew in a heavy breath and shook his head. I wasn’t surprised he’d just condemned my reputation to apparent strangers even with the claims being baseless. The warden had never liked me. “Anyways…we’ve hired you as security more because of external threats. We only became aware of these threats recently but we wish to take every precaution.”

Security? Now if that wasn’t ironic… And recent external threats? I could tell the warden who had concocted those threats in order to win their way in to the safety of my school, though I was certain he wouldn’t listen.

My anger flared, which Eran must have sensed because he reached out an arm to hold me back. With my fury rising and without any way to release it, I tried to refocus and that was when it happened. I realized that the reaction I had to these Fallen Ones – the raised hair on my neck, the perspiration, the nervous shaking – it all had dissipated. Not very much, but enough for me to notice.

Eran had been correct. I only needed to change my thoughts and their impact on me lessened. Of course, I would need to learn to replace that nervous terror with something other than anger – more along the lines of a calmer, more astute reaction. Nonetheless, this was a significant leap for me.

As I tried further to concentrate on things other than my radar sounding off, it soon became clear to me that only Mr. Warden remained unaware of us. The others began glancing in our direction, fidgeting, and shifting their feet irritably. It reminded me that, when I was in their presence, the Fallen Ones felt the same sense of panic as I did.

Eran never flinched or took his eyes off them.

The warden was pointing down the hall, away from us, directing Marco’s team to their posts around the campus. He then he swung his arm in our direction.

There he paused and a frown rose up. He finished his sentence and said, “Gentleman, this is Ms. Tanner. You’ll recall her name, I’m sure.”

The eight of them stared in our direction, expressionless, except for Marco. He wore the same demented, mocking grin as the night before. I got the odd sense they were waiting for us to attack them.

“And who is the boy with you, Ms. Tanner?” asked Mr. Warden, without a hint of cordiality.

Eran answered though he didn’t approach them. “Eran Talor. I’m happy to reschedule our meeting as I see you are busy with-”

He confirmed my thoughts: Eran had no intention of leaving me, at risk, in the hallway with the Fallen Ones.

Mr. Warden wasn’t going to make it easy though. “No, no. I’ve just finished and your new student meeting is a requirement.”

The warden wasn’t going to budge. Both Eran and I knew it. That left us in a conundrum. There didn’t seem to be a delicate way to refuse the warden.

Eran looked at me and said almost inaudibly, “I’d like you to join us.”

It seemed that the warden had good ears because he immediately rejected that idea. “Absolutely not. These are private meetings. She will not be included.”

Apparently, the warden wanted Eran all to himself. I wondered what other malicious lies he’d planned to tell.

The Fallen Ones hadn’t moved, which I guessed was because they were interested in seeing how this struggle would play out. I desperately tried to think of some way for Eran and I to stay together but couldn’t come up with a single plan. The nervous terror was creeping back stronger, I noticed, which upset me and as a result it yielded again.

“Mr. Warden,” said a woman coming up behind Eran and me. Her pleasant persona was in direct conflict with the whirlwind of negative emotions surrounding the rest of us. “I’m terribly sorry to bother you…”

I turned to find a slender woman approaching us, smiling widely and without any realization that she was disrupting a battle of wills. My first opinion of her was that she would have a challenging time fitting in with the rest of the snobby faculty. The ankle-length dress she wore hung without shape from her boney shoulders and was made of a pattern that resembled drab, faded, green window curtains. She wore wire-rimmed glasses that were clasped to a simple chain around her neck. Her auburn hair was curled in a thick bun piled on the top of her head. She wore no makeup and no jewelry. The only pieces of her wardrobe that gave her any air of edginess were the black combat boots sticking out from beneath her dress.

I liked her instantly.

She had reached the warden and was hurriedly discussing something about a missing key that opened her classroom door. She’d spoken with the custodian but they couldn’t seem to locate the spare.

With the first day’s class starting in less than sixty minutes this set the warden in to a panic.

“Marco, scatter your team around the grounds and find that key. Go…go…go!”

Marco and his staff, disgruntled to be shooed away, left begrudgingly, sulking down the hallway and out the exit doors.

“Thank you, Mr. Warden, I-”

“You must be more careful, Ms. Beedinwigg. Situations like this just won’t do…They just won’t do.”

Properly chastised, Ms. Beedinwigg complied, “I absolutely agree. It won’t happen again. Thank you…Thank you…Oh, are you Maggie?”

Her change of pace caught me off guard. “Yes, yes I am,” I answered, perplexed. “How do you know me?”

“Oh, I recognize you from the student database. Mr. Warden has put together an exemplary background on each of his students,” which didn’t surprise me, “with their educational history…accomplishments…indiscretions…”

“Yes, yes…” Mr. Warden turned, not wanting to be called out on his own unethical indiscretions, and snapped his fingers at Eran. “Come. We have a meeting.”

Eran didn’t move.

“Maggie,” said Ms. Beedinwigg. “Would you be so kind as to help me look for my key?”

Eran clearly thought this was a good idea as he leaned down to whisper, “Stay in her presence. They won’t attempt anything with witnesses.”

“I will,” I said, enjoying his proximity and the way his breath caressed my face.

Eran and the warden disappeared into his office as Ms. Beedinwigg and I slowly walked back towards the main entrance.

“What does the key look like?” I asked, scanning the ground.

“Oh, silver, small, like nearly every other key. If we come across it, we’ll know.” She didn’t seem as interested in finding it as she had a moment ago. “So…Maggie…you’re new to this school, is that right?”

“Yes,” I said, figuring she’d learned that from the warden’s database.

She confirmed it by mentioning, “Your file said you were only here as of last semester and that you moved quite often before that. Every three months, in fact. That must have been challenging.”

“Sometimes.” I saw something glint in the corner of a row of lockers and approached it only to find it was a silver gum wrapper.

Ms. Beedinwigg didn’t appear to notice. She kept on with her inquiries. “You seemed to take well to fencing. Do you enjoy it?”

“Actually, yes.” I hadn’t considered it before, having only taken the class for semester credits, but it might come in handy against a Fallen One.

“Good,” she seemed genuinely pleased with my response.

“I enjoy fencing, too. I’m a fencing master capable with both foil and epee.”

“Oh, are you the new fencing teacher,” I asked, surprised they would replace Ms. Valentine.

“No…I’m the new biochemistry teacher,” she announced.

I stiffened, wondering whether my reputation caused by the explosion in last semester’s class had reached her yet.

“Don’t worry,” she said, confirming she’d heard. “Judge not lest ye be judged, right?”

I smiled up at her, liking her even more. “Right.”

I hadn’t realized it before but we’d unconsciously strolled directly to the Biochemistry room door.

Ms. Beedinwigg drew in a surprised breath then and pulled a key from the pocket of her dress. “Well…how about that? I had it with me the entire time…”

Something beneath her self-critical laugh, made me wonder whether she’d known it was there all along but I couldn’t be sure.

“Well, good thing we’re here,” I said. “You’re my first class.”

“I am?” she asked, fitting the key into the door and opening it to a darkened room. “Well isn’t that convenient…” she murmured.

As Ms. Beedinwigg entered and arranged her desk before drawing her name on the whiteboard. I took a seat at the back of the room and dropped my book bag over the chair in front of me, saving it for Eran.

Biochemistry was also Eran’s first class so he should be arriving any time. I was happy that we’d be able to spend an entire hour together because, as luck had it, we wouldn’t be together in the remaining ones.

He came through the door within minutes, an arrogant grin spread across his stunning face. At the sight of him, butterflies began battering my stomach. I mouthed a hello and he broke his grin to mouth it back, causing the butterflies to flap harder.

Other students were filtering in by then so he had to sidestep a few before reaching me. He was back to grinning, which made me curious. I’d never known anyone to leave the warden’s office in an upbeat mood.

I was in the process of removing my book bag for him when he picked it up in mid-lift and effortlessly placed it on the ground for me.

“I believe I have made it on to Mr. Warden’s delinquent list,” he proclaimed quietly, sliding into his seat facing me.

“Is that what your grin is about?” I asked, unable to hold back my own smile.

Eran chuckled. “Each time he tried to criticize you I wouldn’t allow it. After cutting him off in mid-sentence for the fourth time, he told me I had a bad attitude and that the teachers would be alerted of my behavior.”

He and I shared a private laugh together as Ms. Beedinwigg closed the classroom door to start the session. I quickly looked around the room, recognizing very few students, with the exception of two girls. Bridgette Madison and Ashley Georgian. It took a conscious effort to hold in a groan. They were sharing a private giggle, their expressions contorted in snobbery, while glancing in Ms. Beedinwigg’s direction.

They were the wealthiest students in school who had been trained from an early age to flaunt their upper crust heritage, so their immediate dislike of Ms. Beedinwigg was not surprising to me.

They would be the first to ridicule Ms. Beedinwigg for her appearance and from my experience with them last semester I knew they would enflame her infamy as much as possible.

Ms. Beedinwigg didn’t appear to notice. Instead she leaned against her desk set in the middle of the room, her combat boots projecting from beneath her dress, her slim arms used to prop herself against the desk’s edge.

She didn’t bother to call out the attendance list. Instead, she swept her gaze over the classroom, making note of each student. I realized she must have memorized the faces, and likely the history recorded in the warden’s database. I was impressed. She was obviously a quick study.

After a brief pause on Eran and me, she began the class. “Biochemistry is the study of chemical processes in living organisms. Understanding what makes them tick, what makes them strong, what makes them weak. How they reproduce. How they die…I’ve dedicated my life to understanding how certain creatures do these very things. That is the knowledge that I will pass on to you.” She then launched in to a review of the syllabus.

I’d never had passion for this area of the natural sciences but Ms. Beedinwigg seemed to have enough for all of us. She moved around the room, never bothering to sit, with her arms flapping wildly to illustrate her descriptions. She caused several eruptions of laughter over the course of the hour and at the end I believe the only two people who didn’t enjoy Ms. Beedinwigg were Bridgette and Ashley. Their disgusted scowls left no delusion.

For the most part, I was kept enthralled but every once in a while my attention would drift to Eran’s hair curled around the base of his neck and I would need to fight the urge to run my fingers through it. I also didn’t miss how his shoulders shook when he laughed or how his ears rose slightly when he smiled. It was the first class he’d taken in over a hundred years and he seemed to enjoy it.

When the bell rang and we stood to head to the next class, Eran turned to me. “You know, I’ve missed this,” he said simply. He then picked up my book bag for me and we headed for the door. I felt Ms. Beedingwigg’s eyes on us and a quick look back confirmed it. She tilted her chin up as a quick nod to me and then returned to her syllabus.

Eran escorted me to my next class, as I knew he would. He was going to keep me in his sights as long as he could. But along the way, his mood changed to serious.

“Was anyone in the last class a-” he paused and realized he couldn’t be as open as he’d like while in the middle of a busy hallway. “Did anyone draw your attention?”

I knew what he was asking, “No, no one to be concerned about.”

“Good…” he said thoughtfully. He relaxed for a moment and I thought he may be suspecting Marco lied after all. Then his defenses rose again. “If you do suspect or encounter trouble, I’ll know it and I’ll be right at your side.”