"Shut up, Norm. You don't tell us what to do," the first girl who approached me snaps. She's much shorter than me. She also seems young, almost too young to be in high school.
"Fine. Stay here. I don't care either way." I walk around the trio and head for my locker. Halfway there, I not only smell the smoke, but I see it as well. It's drifting out from the ventilation shafts.
The other girls in the room have noticed it too, and they head for the exit door at the same time. Shit. Don't they have fire drills here?
The girl who got to the door first tries to open it, but it won't budge.
"What the hell! This thing is locked."
A tall and athletic brunette pushes the first girl out of the way. "Move aside, Whitney. I got this."
She grabs the knob and pulls it hard. I can see she's using all her strength by the way her arm muscles are straining.
"Damn it. Something’s wrong," she says.
Still wrapped in my towel, I ask, "Does anyone here have telekinesis, or hell, superstrength as a gift?"
The girls clustered near the exit door all turn to me as if my question was insane.
Finally one replies, "We aren't Idols."
"Wait. None of you?"
"Why are you so shocked?" the athletic girl asks, narrowing her gaze. "Idols and Fringes are usually kept separate during physical activities."
"Oh, I didn't know that."
"Whatever. We need to get this door open."
The fire alarm keeps blaring in the background, and the smoke continues to fill the locker room. My eyes sting from it. I cover my nose with the back of my forearm, attempting to protect my lungs from inhaling too much of the toxic fumes. Coughing ensues throughout the room. I can tell the Fringe girls are on the verge of panicking big-time. Well, me too.
"Is there anything here we can use to try to jam the door open?" I ask to no one in particular.
I get no answer besides traded anxious glances.
"Does anyone have a cell phone, then?"
Some of the girls nod and disperse. Not the athletic chick. She keeps trying to force the door open.
"For fuck's sake. This isn't right. I should be able to open this motherfucker."
"If it's locked, that'd be pretty hard," I say.
She levels me with a glare. "You don't understand. I'm not an Idol, but I'm a level-six Fringe, and my gift is enhanced strength."
Okay, that's definitely not a good sign. Even if she’s not that powerful, she should be able to open a locked door. I glance at the exit once more and then move closer to the knob. A sliver of dread runs down my spine. I can't see the lock bolt between the door and its frame.
"The door isn't locked," I say.
"What?" The Fringe girl pushes me out of the way and takes my place. "Son of a bitch. I knew something was off."
"Someone is keeping us trapped here on purpose."
In a fit of rage, my companion lets out a yell and starts to punch and kick the door. She puts a few dents in it, but unfortunately she can't punch through.
A circle of worried girls forms around us. They all share the same fearful expression.
"Anyone able to call for help?"
I see a lot of head shakes. That's definitely not good.
"We can't get a signal in here," one of them replies.
I take a deep breath and start to think out loud. "All right. We can't get through the door, and help isn’t coming, which means we have to find another way out."
"There are windows in the back, but I don't know if they’re big enough for us to squeeze through," one of the girls replies.
"If those windows aren’t blocked by Idol trickery, then I can work with that," the level-six Fringe says.
We all head for the back of the locker room. The smoke isn’t as thick here yet.
The windows are close to the ceiling and narrow. Only a toddler would be able to crawl through those openings. Super Fringe pulls a bench closer to the wall and steps on it.
"Someone hand me a towel." She reaches back with her hand without looking.
The towel wrapped around my body gets yanked from grasp, and I'm too slow to keep from losing my cover-up.
"Hey!" I protest, covering my naked chest.
"Sorry. We don't have time to look for another one," the girl who took my towel replies apologetically.
"What am I supposed to do now? Parade naked?"
A damp T-shirt materializes in front of me. "Here, you can wear this."
The petite girl is the one offering the piece of garment. She took off the one she was wearing. I don't even know if it’ll fit, but I accept the garment nonetheless. It fits as snuggly as I predicted and doesn’t cover my nether region. Frigging fantastic.
Distracted by my lack of apparel, I miss the part where Super Fringe punches the window glass. I hear the glass shatter, though, which is a most welcome sound.
"All right. No funky Idol crap going on here. Stay back. I'm going to make the opening larger."
And she does exactly that, pounding against the wall until the hole is large enough for us to slip through. Surprisingly, she doesn't go out first, helping the other girls out instead. I stay back and wait until I'm the last one standing. These girls are young, around Rosie's age, and Fringes or not, they were scared out of their minds.
Super Fringe looks over my shoulder and asks, "What are you waiting for? Come on." She offers me her hand, but a second before I reach over, the entire ceiling above her collapses, burying her under a pile of rubble.
I yell and inhale a bunch of smoke in the process. The opening she created is gone, but I'm not even worried about that now. I start digging, moving the pieces of plaster and concrete out of the way. Only her outstretched arm is sticking out from under the mountain of debris.
The room has turned unbearably warmer, and the smoke is smothering. I can barely see anything, but I don't stop digging.
"Hang in there, Super Fringe. I'll get you out."
There's a loud blast behind me, but I don't look back, nor do I stop what I'm doing. A moment later, a pair of strong arms pulls me away from my task.
"No. Let me go. I need to get her out."
"Stop struggling, stupid Norm. I'm trying to help." I recognize Phoenix's voice despite the difference in his tone. It's missing its usual seductive flair.
"Then help her already." I point at the rubble.
"Stand back." He steps in front of me, and a second later, all the rubble lifts into the air, revealing the unmoving form of Super Fringe.
Phoenix sends the debris flying to a corner while I run around him and drop to my knees. I turn the girl over, shaking her.
"Wake up. Wake up."
"Daisy. What are you doing?" Phoenix drops into a crouch next to me.
"She needs to wake up."
Phoenix grabs both my wrists and halts my movements. "Open your eyes, Daisy. This girl is dead."
I see it then, the big red mess that used to be the side of her head.
"No," I whimper, and then I do something I haven't done in a long time: I cry over the loss of someone.
Phoenix lets go of my arms and just watches me bawl my eyes out.
At least he didn't try to console me. I would’ve totally accepted it in that moment, and that would’ve been much, much worse.
25
Morpheus
I said I'd meet Daisy in the library at seven, but I'm not sure if she’ll show up. Someone set fire to the gym and locked her inside with a bunch of Fringes. I'd be surprised if she wasn't affected. Phoenix said she cried when she saw the body of the Fringe killed in the act of vandalism—that's what the school administration is calling it. I don't know who’s buying that bullshit. It was obviously a murder attempt. The intended target is hard to tell. I'm sure the Norm thinks someone was trying to kill her, but I don't believe so. I also don't believe those two Fringe girls OD’ing on Silver-voltage is unrelated to yesterday's fire.
For now, I'm keeping my suspicions to myself. I don't w
ant the guys to think my theory is linked to the fact that my parents are Fringes. I never gave a damn about the Fringes in this school before, and I'm not going to start now.
I head out before my roommates are even up, but I stop in front of Daisy's door. Fuck. I want her to be my tutor as much as I want my wisdom teeth pulled out. But I can’t flunk math, and Principal Fallon won’t allow me to pick another nerd.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I knock. Three times. Hard.
"Who is it?" Daisy asks. Her voice doesn't sound sleepy. She's been up a while.
I clear my throat, finding it suddenly dry. "Morpheus."
Daisy opens the door a sliver, peering at me through the small space with an air of alarm. "It's not seven yet."
"So, you were going to meet me at the library?" I ask like an idiot.
"You didn’t give me much choice." She opens the door a little more, allowing me to see that she's indeed ready to go.
Any decent person would ask her how she is. But I'm not decent, and I don't give a rat's ass about her well-being.
"Well, let's go, then."
"What? You want to go together?" She raised both eyebrows, her eyes big and round. They’re pretty, almond shaped and such a unique color.
Okay. What the hell? I did not just appreciate something about the Norm's appearance.
"Obviously. We're going in the same direction. If we don't walk together, one of us will be late."
"Right. Let me get my bag." She turns on her heels, and my traitorous eyes drop to her ass.
For fuck's sake. I must be losing my mind. It's one thing for Phoenix to take note of the girl's looks or for Rufio to lust after the Norm he claims to hate, but it’s quite another for me to do so. I know better than that. I sense every time I'm near Daisy that she's going to be our destruction. I'm not clear on how she's going to trigger it, but there's no doubt that she’ll be the catalyst of a big change in our world.
Maybe I should just kill her now and deal with Principal Fallon's wrath later. The shadows within me agree. They lick at my skin, leaving me cold where they touch. A shiver runs down my spine, and I pull the lapels of my jacket closer together.
"Are you cold?" she asks before she closes the door.
"No. I'm fine." I begin to walk, and Daisy follows right behind me. She doesn't walk faster to keep up.
I halt abruptly and she hits my back.
"Ouch. I'm sorry. Why did you stop?"
I spin around, fighting the urge to grab her by the neck again. "Who cares why I stopped? Are you blind or something?"
"I was texting my si—I was texting."
She was going to say “sister” but changed her mind. I get that she doesn't want me to know she has a sibling somewhere. I wouldn't want that information to be common knowledge either if I were her.
"Pay attention." I turn around and resume walking. "And don't trudge behind me."
"I don’t trudge. I’m not a troll. Besides, I was giving you space. What will people think if they see us together?" she asks mockingly.
"Fuck what people think. Walking side by side with you doesn't compare to the humiliation of having you tutor me."
"I don't get why Principal Fallon is forcing us together. It's almost like she has an ulterior motive," Daisy says.
It sounds like an offhanded comment, as if she doesn't know her role in the story. It's possible that she doesn't. But that doesn't make her any less dangerous.
DAISY
It’s hard to believe someone so powerful can be so clueless when it comes to simple equations. Math is the easiest science there is. It’s common sense.
“All right. Let’s try this one more time,” I say, unable to hide my frustration. I’ve been trying to explain the same problem to Morpheus for over fifteen minutes.
He grips my wrist tightly, stopping me from writing on his notebook. “You’d better drop that condescending tone, Norm.”
“Or what? Are you going to choke me like you did your last tutor?” I stare straight into his eyes, letting my anger cover up the fear.
It’s hard to keep my body still, though, to not let the tremors take control.
His jaw is clenched tight, and his brown eyes are filled with so much hatred, it feels like poison.
With a quick narrowing of his gaze, he releases my wrist and looks away. "I'm done with tutoring for today."
I look at the clock mounted on the library’s wall. "We still have twenty minutes left to go."
He whips around fast, and my knee-jerk reaction is to pull away.
"I said I'm done," he grits out.
Overcome by boldness—and foolishness—I grab his wrist. My fingers curl around some type of bracelet underneath his uniform jacket, and my hand instantly becomes freezing cold.
With a gasp, I watch dark shadows slip from underneath his jacket and cover my hand, wrist, and forearm. My throat closes up, and I can't get air into my lungs.
"Oh my God," I croak.
A second later, I yank my arm back and clutch my numb hand against my chest. Mercifully, I can breathe again.
To my surprise, Morpheus isn’t staring at me like he wants to kill me. Instead, he's watching me with wide eyes. His breathing is also out of whack, shallow.
With a jump, he pushes his chair back and stands up. He doesn't even collect his things before he storms out of the library.
My heart is still beating at staccato rhythm as my brain attempts to grasp what the hell just happened. I don't move from my spot for I don’t know how long, until the first school bell finally jars me from my inertia. With a jolt, I collect my stuff, and then I shove Morpheus’s books and notes into his bag. In my hurry, I drop his notebook on the floor. A folded piece of paper falls from inside.
Curious, I unfold the sheet. A very detailed drawing of a tall man standing in the middle of a jungle almost leaps out from the paper. It's done in gray color, a mix of pencils and markers. It's breathtaking and also terrifying. The character in the drawing doesn't seem human. His eyes are glowing, and strange, swirling tattoos cover his chest and outstretched arms. Lightning bolts are coming out of his hands.
He looks like someone powerful—a demigod.
Quickly, I refold the drawing and stick it inside Morpheus’s notebook. I should’ve left his belongings with the librarian, but in my rush to get to class on time, I end up taking his bag with me.
I have to run to make it to my math class before the final bell rings, and thus I'm out of breath when I enter. Phoenix and Rufio are already in their seats, but Morpheus isn't.
Both Idols stare at me with interest, but neither of them seems inclined to put on the charm today. The last time I saw Phoenix, he simply eyeballed me as I cried over the Fringe who lost her life during the fire yesterday. He left before I had a chance to thank him for saving my life, even if it hadn’t been intentional.
I could do it now, but I’m still shaken by my interaction with Morpheus. I sit down without giving Phoenix or Rufio another thought, dropping my load next to my chair.
Until one of them opens his big mouth. "What are you doing with Morpheus’s bag?" Rufio asks.
I take a big breath, ready to tell him the truth, when Morpheus comes in. He's more closed off than before, but he's also visibly rattled. He doesn't make eye contact with me as he walks by. I turn and stare, but he still refuses to look at me.
Phoenix and Rufio don't miss a second of the interaction—or lack thereof—between Morpheus and me.
"Why does Daisy have your stuff?" Phoenix asks him.
Morpheus turns to me before dropping his gaze to the floor, where his bag is sitting next to mine.
"He forgot it at the library,” I say.” The librarian asked if I could bring it over to him."
Why am I covering for the stupid Idol? He's mean, violent, and totally undeserving of my niceness.
But one thing my act does is catch him by surprise. His eyebrows are less furrowed as he stares at me with a slack jaw. I move to grab the bag’s strap to han
d it over to him, but the bag slides across the aisle on its own, stopping next to Morpheus’s desk.
"I got it, Daisy,” Phoenix says.
When I look over my shoulder, I find him with a sly smile plastered to his lips, reminding me that I didn't look at the special book the librarian gave me. I'm still totally vulnerable to his erotic daydreams.
Damn it.
26
Daisy
It’s finally Saturday, and I’m still alive. The ruthless Magnificent Four left me alone for the rest of the week. I’m not sure why they decided to give me a break. Was it because of the fire in the gym or some other reason completely unrelated to me?
I'm definitely not going to ask. But I'm also not going to assume the bullying is over. I have the feeling that this is just the calm before the shitstorm, which means I have to figure out what to do to block Phoenix from messing with my mind.
The book the librarian gave me is a thick tome with over a thousand pages. The table of contents didn't show anything that jumped to my attention. Skimming through the book didn't help me either. I don't think I have any other choice but to read the bible from beginning to end. I'll just add that to the pile of homework and assignments due next week. But today, I'm determined to have fun with my family and friends.
I purge all thoughts of Idols, mysterious weapons, and deaths to the side. Many would consider me a cold bitch for not caring more about the fates of those Fringes who died under suspicious circumstances. Me crying over the Super Fringe was an anomaly. Living life in survival mode taught me to compartmentalize things.
I wait outside the dorm building for Toby. I invited him to come with me, not only because I need a mode of transportation, but also because I want to get to know him better. So far, he’s proven all right for a Fringe. Do I trust him implicitly now? Not a chance. In an Idol-eat-Norm world, blind faith can get you killed or at least seriously hurt.
An old purple Cadillac rounds the corner, its motor roaring like a lion with a sore throat. Toby stops in front of me and then reaches over to roll down the window manually.
Wicked Gods: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Gifted Academy Book 1) Page 14