Damned

Chapter 4- $&!^ that Crow is Scary

This is an author's note. Feel free to skip ahead, it doesn't effect the plot.

Ha! Finally a chapter out on schedule. I'd been falling behind on my writing, but since I've gotten a new writing space where my cats can't sit on my keyboard, I've been able to write a lot more.

I'm looking for an editor for my books. The editor would get credit at the beginning of every chapter and I'd be happy to look over any of their writing in exchange, so contact me if you're interested. Even if you don't want to do that, I'd appreciate any criticism that you have to offer, so leave it in the comments down below.

-Sekai

Ean woke blearily to the sound of his alarm. He lay there for a few minutes, listening to the steady beeping and trying to muster up the energy to get out of bed. He had had trouble falling asleep last night, and when he finally did he was plagued by strange dreams of Aria throwing herself off a cliff, only to spread wings and fly away just before she hit the ground.

Making a grumbling sound, Ean rolled out of bed, slapping his alarm clock.

He trudged over to the bathroom and stared at his disheveled reflection in the mirror. With sandy blond hair awry and dark circles under his emerald eyes he looked like he'd been tossing and turning in bed until midnight, which was probably true.

Maybe he would stay home today. He could certainly use a break. He could even catch up on homework he'd procrastinated with... Sandy's words from the night before came back to him. "See you tomorrow?"

She would go ballistic if he didn't show up at school today. Ean didn't want to push it after she'd been so upset last night. He sighed, unable to suppress a small grin at the same time. Usually he was the one motivating her to go to school.

Thoughts of Aria chased each other through Ean's head as he stepped through the front doors of Nirvana High School.

Despite its name, NHS was a little slice of hell exactly like all the other public schools out there; with bad food, sketchy bathrooms, and jerks that shoot spitwads at anyone who shows signs of even basic intelligence, at least that's how it seemed to him. He still had a group of friends, but he couldn't help thinking it was a bad decision for him to turn down public school.

Just the place I want to be right now. Ean thought as he walked numbly through the hallways.

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Ean shook his head, trying to clear focus. Every time he tried to concentrate his thoughts drifted back to Aria.

He was sitting in class facing a complicated math equation written on the whiteboard, none of which he had taken in. He reached into his bag, hastily rummaging around for a pen to take notes.

A huge crow lunged at Ean, wickedly sharp talons poised to sink into his flesh. It's beak was open in a silent shriek, showing wolf-like teeth stained with blood.

Ean jerked back in his chair, shaking. He could still feel raw malevolence hanging in the air, the crow's talons centimeters from tearing into his face. And its eyes. He saw them as clearly in his mind as if he was still staring at it. They were the eyes of a human, midnight blue and glittering viciously.

What the hell?

This couldn't be happening. He must have drifted off from lack of sleep. There's no way he could start hallucinating, right?

The feeling was slowly fading, but he could still sense the hatred directed at him. It felt like someone was glaring at him as they planned a way to kill him and hide his body.

Ean put a hand to the back of his goosebump-covered neck, instinctively looking behind him. Smoldering dark blue eyes met his for a moment before looking away.

Ean whipped his head back towards the front, sitting stock still. His heart was pounding and he starting to hyperventilate. Two desks back in the corner of the classroom, someone had been looking at him with the exact same eyes as the crow.

He had been too scared to notice more than just their eyes. Who was it? Should he look back? His fear instinct was telling him to run out of the classroom screaming, but the part of his brain clinging desperately to rationality wanted to look back and find nothing wrong.

Ean noticed that a few students were looking at him strangely and tried to act normal. Even if he was having visions of demonic crows gouging out his eyes he had to uphold his social status.

Ean sat there for a minute, trying to breath normally as he figured out what to do. Should he look back and see who it was, or just pretend like nothing had happened?

Before he could come to a decision, the bell blared an annoying little jingle, signaling the end of the school day.

Ean sat there as students streamed past him out of the classroom. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked up to the teacher's desk.

"Um, excuse me." He started.

The teacher, Mr. Pony (Ean didn't know his real name. Everyone called him that because he belonged to a gay biker gang with the My Little Pony logo stamped on the back of their leather jackets) looked up from the papers he was grading, pushing up his wire-rimmed glasses. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, I was just wondering who sits there?" Ean pointed to the desk in the corner of the room.

"Kain Lyall." Mr. Pony gave him a look of concern. "I don't want this to fuel the stories flying around, but I would stay away from him if I were you."

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Ean walked home, his feet beating the familiar path on their own accord. He was too deep in thought to pay much attention to his surroundings,including the fact that he was ankle-deep in water.

What had happened to him in class? Was it a dream? If it was why did the crow have the same eyes of Kain Lyal?

Out of all the people in his class of course it would be Kain.

Kain had the kind of dark, brooding face girls went crazy over. He could have fit in with the popular crowd if it weren't for the chilling glares he gave to anyone who so much as glanced at him. That and the rumors.

Kain had transferred to Nirvana high half way through freshmen year. Rumors seemed to spring up around him overnight. The most well known being that he got expelled from his last school for beating a junior within an inch of his life. Supposedly you can still see a bloodstain in the hallway. That, and the rumor that he was an alien sent to earth to destroy mankind, because what's highschool without stoner conspiracy theorists

If Kain was really after him for some reason, things were not looking good for Ean.

Ean's thoughts were interrupted as someone grabbed him from behind. A strangled cry escaped his lips before he was pulled roughly into an alleyway.