FIVE | UNSEEN

I felt permanently on edge for the rest of the day. The feeling of being watched only intensified, and I began to jump at the slightest thing. In the canteen, Kathrena touched my shoulder from behind, and I swung around, eyes wide and fearful. She dropped her hand quickly, and held it up along with her other.

“It’s only me,” she hissed.

“Sorry,” I said. “I – don’t worry,” I cut myself off with a sigh.

“Are you alright?” She frowned, as she guided me by the elbow to a free table.

“Fine,” I said, dragging a smile onto my face. “Just – all of the scents, you know?”

I thought that a half-truth would be easier to pull off than a complete fabrication, in the heightened emotional state that I, unfortunately, found myself in.

“Yeah. I know,” she sighed.

“Are you okay?” I asked. She seemed as sad as I was jumpy.

“Fine,” she repeated, her thin lips pulling into a smirk. I let out a snort, and we spent the rest of our lunch break chatting about simpler topics. As we discussed our teachers and our classmates, I felt almost human, if only for a little while.

I was sure that she was hiding something; almost as sure as I was that she knew that I was hiding something, too.

I didn’t catch the scent of wolf for the rest of the day, but the sense that I was being followed pervaded. I kept catching glimpses of a figure from the corner of my eye, but whenever I turned it had disappeared, whisked away into thin air like mist.

As I sat in my final period, I flipped the pages of my notebook back to the moon I’d drawn the day before. I sketched in a wolf in front of it, its mouth open as it howled up at the moon.

I didn’t know much about werewolves; I’d never encountered one in my short time as a vampire. But I did know one thing. Werewolves were the natural enemies of vampires.

I’d have to tell the Clan about this. Perhaps Kathrena and I would have to change schools, only two days into the year. Or, I thought, perhaps I could do some investigating first. After all, some people would assume that all vampires were a threat, though to make such a generalisation would omit the Daywind Vampyres.

Perhaps a similar dichotomy existed in werewolf lore. I hoped so; if not, the Sunstone Clan, and all of the humans at Aspen High, were under threat.

After the final bell of the day had rung, I sidestepped into the slipstream of students and let myself be pushed along the corridors. They were too white, too bright, and too full; and as I pulled out of the hallway and into one of the bathrooms, I felt that the modern buildings were more of the same, room after room.

I had no need for a bathroom, but I smiled at the few girls in there, pouting into the dirty mirrors, checking their teeth against the stark lighting, and washing their hands. I slipped past them into a cubicle. I knew Kathrena would be upset at my lateness – yet again – but I also knew that this was a worthwhile cause.

I waited until the last of the girls had trickled out, tapping my feet on the tiled floor, and then I tiptoed out of the cubicle. The corridor was clear as I made my way to the courtyard, and then I saw him again.

He was sat on a bench, this time, his dark hair pulled back into a French braid that flowed down the front of his shoulder. His dark skin glowed, even in the dim grey light cast through the clouds. But brightest of all were his eyes, those strange, golden eyes that drew me in.

But he was not who I was looking for, not today. I was looking for the werewolf.

I slunk back into the corridor, peering through one of the few windows into the courtyard. The golden-eyed boy sat for some time, looking around hopefully every now and then, only for his face to drop back into disappointment when nobody came. I wondered who he was waiting for, and felt a surge of excitement when I considered that it might be me.

I wandered the hallways for as long as I could, but with each passing second I could picture Kathrena’s wrath growing stronger, her arms folded and her thin lips pulled down at the corners. The scent of wolf had dissipated, and I had no leads.

I traipsed out to the car park, my head hung low. Not only had I achieved nothing, but now Kathrena was more likely to ask questions, or worse – she might tell the Clan that I’d been skulking around the school campus long after the day had ended.

I lifted my eyes, my mouth open in preparation to apologise. But when I looked, I saw nobody stood beside my truck, annoyed or otherwise.

Kathrena was not there.

I frowned. It was unheard of for Kathrena to be late, and as glad as I was that I was not going to be questioned, or subjected to her angry rants the whole drive home, I was concerned. With a werewolf in the school, anything could have happened to her.

I was torn between wanting to go and look for her, and knowing that, should she need me, her first port of call would be here. My qualms were soothed moments later when, flustered, her normally neat bob flying about her face, she scurried from the front building and raced towards the truck.

“Are you alright?” I gasped. “Where have you been?”

“I’m fine,” she said, smoothing down her floral blouse. “I – my class overran. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I said, frowning. Her cheeks were flushed, and her dark eyes sparkled in a way I’d never seen before. Her lips looked plump and rosy, too, and her hair and clothes were rumpled. “As long as you’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m honestly fine. I just got stuck chatting to someone.”

“In your class?”

“No, in the hall.”

“You – you said your class had overrun.”

“Did I?” She frowned. “Oh. No. Anyway, let’s go home.”

“Sure,” I said, unlocking the truck and jumping in. I gave her one last, sideways glance before I backed the truck out of the car park, and we headed back to the Clan house.

As I drove, I let my eyes flicker to Kathrena. She was grinning, smiling dopily to herself as she watched the forest flash by. A smile from Kathrena was rare at the best of times, let alone when not in direct response to a joke.

I shook my head to myself. As long as she was happy, I saw no need to pry. For now, at least.