i dont any rights to the alex rider bookds, or this story, it belongs to TheUlmuri
Part VII: Return
Alex returned to school at the beginning of March, two weeks after the operation was completed, cold, stoic, and injured. His left shoulder was wrapped up tightly underneath his black long sleeved shirt and his arm was in a sling. The hasty field stitches had been removed from his face and replaced with surgical glue, making the knife wound that stretched from his temple to his chin look slightly less gruesome. As usual, he carried a Sig-229 tucked into the waistband of his kaki cargo pants and a Steel Eagle strapped to his calf, his shoulder injuries preventing him from carrying its twin. His movements were slightly stiff from his broken ribs, but otherwise, his fluid gait screamed lethality more than ever before.
Students stopped and stared as Alex's Aston Martin entered the school grounds, pausing their conversations midsentence to follow its progress across the lot. Alex could almost feel the collectively held breath of his classmates as he cut the ignition and stepped out of the vehicle. Every single one of them was aware of the tense political situation that had built up and collapsed over the past months. They all knew how close the world had come to the brink of WWIII and how the crisis had come to a sudden and fiery end. They had, as expected, figured out that he was directly responsible for the turn of events.
Alex ignored the other students as he walked into the building, not even bothering to spare his attention for the gazes that followed him. Students and adults alike stepped back as he threaded his way though the crowd. His cold aura was almost palpable, setting off alarm bells in the subconsci of his peers, warning them to stay away and out of danger. Each and every one of them had watched his slow transformation into a hardened operative over the past four years, but they had never seen Alex quite like this. His eyes were dead and he was entirely unapproachable, danger rolled off of him more strongly than ever before and the level of control he now exuded made him all the more deadly. All traces of the young and carefree schoolboy he had once been were entirely gone.
Alex paused briefly as he reached the top step of the main entrance to the school, where Mr. Bray was standing awkwardly, drawn out of his office by the silent but present commotion that Alex's arrival had created. The principal was no different than the rest of the students and teachers when a soft shiver of fear traveled down his spine as he gazed at Alex. The coldness that radiated off the teenager prompted him to take an involuntary step back and his words faltered.
"A-Alex," he stuttered in greeting, carefully studying the blank features of his student's face and shifting his weight minutely from foot to foot in his discomfort. Alex's gaze flickered briefly to the Mr. Bray's before the spy redirected his attention to the school and stalked silently into the building, leaving the headmaster stunned into immobility by fear and surprise behind him.
The crowds of students continued to part for Alex as he walked stalked into his homeroom and sat down at the back of the classroom next to Tom without a word. He nodded to the other boy in greeting and Tom stuttered out a response, thrown off by his best friend's A-typical behavior. Tho other students turned in their seats, craning their necks so that they could continue to stare at Alex until their teacher cleared her throat nervously and called the class to attention.
Tom sat quietly next to Alex, his usual exuberance extinguished by Alex's cold demeanor. The smaller boy studied him intently, not paying attention to what the teacher was saying as Alex put undue focus into listening to the lecture, though he took no notes. Of course Tom knew that Alex didn't need them. The hour seemed to pass by at an excruciatingly slow rate as the teacher droned on about the latest book that they were reading in class. When the bell finally rang, Alex stood quickly and was at the door before the other students had begun to move.
