Fallen (46 page)

“And get this…” Bridgette went on, her voice low but excited. “He insists on being called
Elam
. Not by his last name but by his first. Isn’t that so…normal? He doesn’t have this stuffy, I’m-so-important demeanor
that
all the other teachers
have.”

“Wow…”
Liz
replied
, shaking her head
as
her eyes
glazed
over
.
“How old is he?”

“You know that’s the only odd thing about him
.
”
Bridgette shook
her head in astonishment. “He looks like he’s thirty-something but with those credentials he’s got to be older than that. And there’s also…”

“What?”
Liz
pressed.

“Well…I just get the impression that he’s a lot older than he looks. He has a young face, no wrinkles, but he comes across as old, like centuries old.”

Liz
leaned back, perplexed, as if Bridgette had just spoken in gibberish.
“How can that be?”

Bridgette
appeared to think better about explai
ning furthe
r and retracted what she’d said.
“You know
,
I’m sure I’ve just had too much sugar today.”

“Yeah,”
Liz
emphasized. “You’ve probably had fifteen licorice sticks by now.”

“Twenty,” clarified Bridgette
,
and they both laughed.

I wasn’t laughing
, however
.

I knew
without a doubt, without anyone needing to tell me, that
another one of the
Fallen One
s had arrived.

The thought crossed my mind that Eran would appear if anything should happen
,
and
considering
my eagerness to see him
,
I almost wished something would. As ridiculous as I knew that to be, I
couldn’t help missing him terribly.

As
I waited for
Elam
to walk through the door
, I was balancing several emotions at once. A small part of me – very small – tried to convince
myself
to leave the class.
That was unacceptable
. I had a strong aversion to running away, even if staying meant the threat of bodily harm.
A larger part of me
was curious about this newest
Fallen One
and how he would behave.
Gershom had been a good friend during the time he’d been here so maybe I shouldn’t judge this one so harshly.

Just as the bell rang,
my built-in radar went off, signaling
the
substitute teacher
had arrived.

He was
just
as Bridgette had described
,
but I would add a few more descriptions
,
including dark and ominous.
As he made his way to Mr. Sparks’ desk, h
is eyes scanned the classroom, finally landing on me.

I didn’t
do it intentionally
–
and I
was even surprised by it – but I ended up
smil
ing at him
.

He hid it well
,
but I still saw his reaction
. J
ust as he dropped his gaze
to Mr. Sparks’
chair
his
recoil of surprise turned
immediately to a deep, furious frown.

No, this one was not like Gershom.

“Good morning
,
students…
” he said in a
gruff
,
yet
youthful
,
voice. “
It must still be morning since I see some of you with eye crust.”

Giggles
flittered
throughout
the classroom and it was easy to see the students instantly warm
ing
up to
him.

“As you may know, Mr. Sparks has taken to an unfortunate illness. I am your substitute. You may call me
Elam
. Not Mister or Sir, I’m far too young for that
.”

Another eruption of
giggles broke out
.

“
Elam
will be just fine. Now, I understand you are currently in the middle of a lesson,
and this is
lab day. So please take out your supplies and get to work. I am here to supervise and answer any questions you may have.”

I rose with most of the other students and headed for the ca
binets
that contained
our lab sets, feeling
Elam
’s focus on me.
Once
I’d collected
my equipment and turned around
,
sure enough, I found
Elam
still
watching me
. He was no longer frowning but staring intently at me,
analyzing,
like a mountain lion watches its prey. I ignored him
, returning
to my desk to
prepare for the lab.

As I got to work,
I
heard
students chatting and
laughing
as they
progressed
with their
experiments.
I pulled out my textbook and turn
ed to the lab instructions, re
ad
ing them through once. I could
still feel
Elam
watching but
look
ed
up
only once
to confirm it.

I
was happy with
myself
,
able
to
focus my attention away from the hairs
parading
on my neck
and
away from
the
unrelenting,
intense stare of an attacker. It felt like I had done this for centuries.
I maintained my
comfort level
,
and I was able to
remain calm and unruffled until close to the end of class when I heard
Liz
whispering to me from across the aisle.

“
Maggie…
”

I glanced up noticing quickly that while I was nearly finished with my lab work
,
her lab partner was gone today and she was only midway through her procedure.

“Yes?” I asked, curiously. She never talked to me before and, although I was glad she acknowledged me, I couldn’t
immediately
see any reason for it.

She was looking at me expectantly
.

“
Can I borrow your
beaker?”

“Sure,
let me wash it,” I said
,
already moving
toward
the sink. “
I just used it.”

I
reached the basin and
turned on the cold tap water, avoiding the faucet’s spurt that sprayed back at me.
After it was cleaned and dried, I brought it back to
Liz
and handed it to her.

“Thanks,” she whispered, appreciatively.

A
movement
caught my attention
out of the corner of my eye and
I
glanced
toward
the sink to find
Elam
standing in front of it. He was there less than a few seconds and then
returned
back to the front of the room
. He took a seat
just as
my eyes darted back to Liz.

“Do you need help?” I asked her.

“No,” she shook her head, still concentrating on her experiment. “I need more time…”

I looked up at the clock and
saw the bell was going to ring soon.

All at once,
an
explosion rocked the room.

The floor shook beneath my feet and
Liz
’s sturdy, wood desk
,
where my hand had been resting
,
rattled violently.

I only felt a
sudden cloak of heat
engulf
me. It
was
so brief
, lasting only as long as the immediate danger was present, that
I almost
doubted that
I’d felt it at all.

The next second, I was surrounded by broken glass,
billowing
smoke, and screaming students.

I spun around realizing that everyone was bent over, choking on smo
ke, bleeding – everyone but me – and
I
knew undoubtedly then that
Eran had been here.

Several guys moved around the room, asking if
anyone
was
injured. Others were staring, vacantly, at the destruction around them.

Dazed, I watched Elam
walk through the class
ro
om door just as the students
began to stand up
and filter out
into
the hallway
. My peers were gravely pressing their hands against their cheeks as blood streamed down their foreheads and stained their clothing.