Sirens (Theo Raeken) [1]

Dread

Lydia smacks a sizeable amount of paper on my desk. "What's this?" I ask her.

The cover page seems to be photocopied from the front of a book. The faces of the masked creatures on the ledge of the club last night seem to stare at me through the page.

"Some light reading," Lydia says. "I need you to try and read it as fast as possible and see if there's anything that can help us."

I flick through the stack. I look up at her. "All of it?"

"It's not that much," she says.

"Okay, then," I say, raising my eyebrows. "I'll try my best."

I put down the notes I'm writing and pick up the book. The Dread Doctors. Interesting. I open up to the front page.

I get to the fifth chapter until I realise that I'm not getting anywhere. It doesn't seem to have anything that changes the knowledge that we already have. I continue reading until the bell for class goes, disappointed that there's nothing in there that helps us.

I groan internally as I realise I have Biology. I've avoided Theo successfully so far, but I have a feeling that it won't last much longer.

As soon as I sit down, I busy myself with Lydia's book, trying not to acknowledge his presence next to me.

"What's that?" He peers over my shoulder and I instinctively hold my hand over what I'm reading. "Arden?" He asks again. I don't reply. "You're ignoring me," he realises.

I look over at him with an expression that hints at his incompetence to read people. He should've realised sooner.

He sighs. "I'm sorry for kicking you out of my car," he says.

"No, it's not even that, you know," I whisper. "It's you. You're always hiding everything. I can't tell when you're the real, well, you."

He opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "You know you've got that side of you where you just seem like the greatest person in the world. You know what to say, you know how to help. And then there's this other side that blows up at me over everything and you seem to not care about anyone except you and your purpose."

He looks at me like he doesn't know what I'm talking about. "My purpose? What are you talking about?"

"I know you're hiding something, Theo," I say quietly.

His eyes flash with anger. "Are you going to believe what they tell you about me?" He's fuming. A muscle feathers in his jaw. "You know me, Arden. I'm your friend."

He's not getting it. I can feel myself losing grips. I dig my nails into my palms and my talons break through the skin. "A friend?" I snap. I'm not only losing control of my talons, but I can't seem to keep my mouth shut either. "God, you are so stupid."

"What?" he asks. His eyes are widened and his mouth is slightly open.

I stand up and move furiously fast to the door. "Can I please go to the toilet?" I ask the teacher, my hands curled up into fists. I don't wait for her answer as I push open the door. As soon as I'm out of there, I'm running down the hall. I push open the door of the girls' bathroom. I sit down on a closed seat and lock the door up.

I hate myself for it, but I cry. I'm not as strong as the rest of the group. I can't even figure out Theo without storming out over it.

There's a knock on the door. "Are you okay in there?" It doesn't sound like a student, so I guess it must be a teacher. I don't recognise the voice.

"I'm fine," I say.

There's a pause. "Open the door so we can talk," she says.

Fuck. "I don't feel like talking right now," I say gently but sternly.