The Fate Of The Marked

Chapter Nineteen

The rest of the day passed quickly. Derek got home first, Jane not far behind. Not long later, a police officer came and asked us some questions. I told him everything except my suspicions. He recommended that we lock our everything up for the night and have someone install a better alarm system tomorrow. Once he found out nothing had been stolen, he took some pictures, promised someone would be in touch, and left. We stood in the kitchen.

Jane looked scared. Even Derek was pale and quiet. He checked all the rooms himself before coming back and snatching the knife off the table and throwing it in the trash. He did the same with the vase. I heard him go to the living room and flip the chair back to the way it normally was. I left Jane in the kitchen, on the phone with a security company, and followed him to the library. We put the books back on their shelves, working in silence.

We were both hungry and tired by the time we finished. Lugging massive books up a ladder wasn't the easiest of work. We sat for a second at a desk. He stared at me for a long time before he finally spoke.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Are you?" I asked after a long pause.

Derek didn't answer. Instead, he stood and offered me a hand up. I took it and he put an arm around my shoulders. I let him lead me back to the kitchen. Jane was sitting on a stool, typing on her laptop. She looked up and I saw the worry in her face.

"Twenty minutes." She said. "Erics' sending someone over to change the locks on the doors and the balconies."

Derek nodded and we both took a seat. None of us talked for a while. Then, Jane smiled.

"How was your first day?" She asked.

"Good." I said, messing with a placeholder. "For a first day. I only have four classes. And a lot of homework."

"Already?" Derek asked in a joking tone. "You know, in high school, you have homework on the first day of school anyway? It'll be good practice for later on."

"Four chapters worth, and twelve sections of questions?" I asked, pulling out the crumpled up sheet out of my pocket.

I handed it to him and saw his face go from teasing to serious. Jane leaned over his shoulder to read it.

"This is for one class?" He asked.

I noded.

"World History." I said. "I don't have anything else for my other classes. Im already ahead in English."

"Whose the teacher?" Derek asked, handing me back the paper. "Old Perkins?"

"No, he's my math teacher." I said. "I have Mr. Hawkins for History."

Derek snorted.

"Is he still teaching? I thought he gave up after the University fired him. Sorry you got landed with him." Derek said, laughing a little. "They don't call him the biggest a-"

"Derek!" Jane warned.

"All right, all right." He said, winking at me. "You get what I'm trying to say. Anyway, don't take him too seriously. He hates everybody, especially Jesse and I. He was a few grades above me in school. Never had much of a sense of humor."

"What did Jesse do?" I asked.

Derek looked at Jane, who was glaring at him. He looked at me and smiled again.

"That's a story for another time." He said.

"When Jane isn't here." He mouthed when she wasn't looking.