Hunted

Chapter 38

At some point the arms let go of me and I swear I fall asleep. An awkward cough jars me from my sleep and I open my eyes to find only darkness. I lift my head off my knees and I stare face to face with Mr. Brown. Blaise's warm thoughts alert me that he's next to me.

I look around and I realize I'm in the Alley between the boy's dorm and the girl's dorm. What on earth am I doing here?

"What happened? Where am I?" My voice hiccups.

"Ms. Keefe found you after you ran out and she brought you here to get you out of the sun. She had to go deal with an important matter, so she made me stay with you until you woke up."

"Oh."

"She said as soon as you woke up that you need to get to her office. She'll be there with a bottle of blood and hopefully, a wet rag."

"Why a wet rag?"

"It looks like your nose exploded." He laughs as I scowl. "Now let's go." I stand up and almost fall, but Mr. Brown catches me.

"I think I lost too much blood." I mutter as he helps me hobble down the alley.

I don't entirely trust you to be alone right now. Blaise runs up and jumps on Mr. Brown's shoulder, who doesn't even seem to notice. We walk into Ms. Keefe's empty office and I quickly slump down in one of her chairs. Blaise jumps on my lap and I absentmindedly pet him.

Mr. Brown leaves to go find Ms. Keefe, leaving me alone with my cat. Hmm, I thought she wanted to see me.

She had an emergency. Be patient. Blaise sighs.

Where did you learn all this good stuff? Obviously not from me. I snort.

I watched people and how they reacted to certain situations. Some became angry, and others arrogant, but I realized they all have good traits. I try to mimic those good traits and pass them onto you. He purrs.

So you're saying I don't have good traits? I raise an eyebrow and smile. It's so fun to mess with people... and cats.

No, you do. They just don't surface as often as your bad ones. Most of the time you look like you'd rather punch in someone's face, than hug them. He laughs as I scowl.

That's because I have no reason to hug people. Most of the time, they want to kill me, so why should I hug them? It's common sense. I retort.

Right before Blaise responds, three emotions pop onto my radar. Ms. Keefe, a student, and Mr. Brown. The doors burst open, but I don't turn around in my chair.

"Sit right there." Ms. Keefe growls and a boy walks into view, sitting in the chair next to me, looking very grumpy. "I'll be right back." Ms. Keefe and Mr. Brown walk out her office and the door quickly shuts behind them.

"Umm, you have a little something right there." The boy points to his face and I deepen my scowl.

"Does it look like I care?" I roll my eyes.

"No, obviously not. So what happened?"

"That's none of your business." I snap and go quiet. "What'd you do?"

"Beat up a kid." He smiles.

Pride will be your downfall. Blaise opens one eye and looks at the kid, who only shrugs as if talking cats happen every day.

"Eh, we're all going to die someday."

Exactly what I mean. He snorts.

"Anyway, I thought cats weren't allowed on campus?" The boy looks up at me, his eyes so brown, they're almost black.