The Claws Within

Chapter Two

            Maggie knew that someone was watching her but no matter where she looked or who she looked at, she could not find the culprit. She could feel their heated gaze on her back, unwavering from her very sight, but yet she could not find the culprit. Finally, after walking every corridor of her school from the cafeteria to every narrow hallway that was stacked with lockers on each wall, she finally took a deep breath and brushed off the feeling of paranoia. But the feeling of an unwavering gaze on her did not subside.

She went to homeroom and greeted her friend, Sara, who seemed to be in her own world while on her phone. Finally, when Sara looked up she looked to be fuming at Maggie who easily replied, "What is wrong?"

"Rumor has it that Ms. Martin is going to be fired."

"Ms. Martin?" Maggie asked, fainting shock with her tone laced in sarcasm, "But she is so sweet! Who would want to fire her?"

"Apparently, and this is something I just heard from Toby, there is a young man with money who is paying for an investigation to get her fired."

"Investigation of what?" Maggie sneered easily.

"Oh you know, Ms. Martin. She gives everyone A's and even lets us do whatever we want. It is sad that her sweet but naïve personality is finally catching up to our corrupt school system."

"Do you know the name of the man who is filing for the investigation? Does he work for the school system?"

"Not yet," Sara chuckled lowly, "but he is trying to take Ms. Martin's position."

"Well, if he is so rich then why would he want to become a teacher?"

"That is what everyone is asking. Nobody knows."

Maggie brushed a piece of her dark hair away from her eyes, only to look up at her friend with a smile, but her smile quickly faded as she looked past her friend and out of the window, to where a dark figure lurched beyond the woods watching what seemed to be her.

#

Days passed and sure enough, the sweet old teacher known as Ms. Martin got fired from her position. She had left the school trembling and weeping as the secretary tried to reassure her that maybe it was time for her to retire. Though, it did little to reassure Ms. Martin as she wept the whole way to her car before slowly driving away.

And that was when the rumors started.

"He is so hot!"

"I have never seen such a good looking man in my life!"

"Look at his biceps!"

Maggie ignore the cat calls and rumors that swept across the hallways like a flood of water, drowning out all conversations except for the ones about him. The man who got Ms. Martin fired. Maggie did not care how attractive he was, or how rich he was, not even how strong and muscular he was, because whoever could fire such a sweet woman must have been a monster.

Ms. Martin was her language arts teacher; she knew her since she first started Mountain Valley High School because it was Ms. Martin that had eased their minds about being freshmen on the campus. She assured everyone that they would fit in in no time and that the older students who called them fresh meat would eventually stop. And the best part about Ms. Martin was that she was right. She meant those words out of kindness but also honesty. She had worked for the school all her life and this man, this teacher, this monster who got her fired was nothing more than her.

Maggie rolled her eyes at the rumors and the gossip. She grabbed her books out of her locker, making sure to slam it out of frustration. Everyone seemed to stop as soon as she had slammed it, the sound echoing across the hallway with reverberating noise. Did she really slam it that hard?

Turning around slowly she could feel a heated gaze on her back and as soon as she saw what was behind her, she quickly realized that everyone did not stop because of her slamming the locker door and instead because of the dangerous but yet alluring man that stood so closely to her small body. They were face to face for an instant, everyone in the school watching curiously to see his expression.

"You dropped this." He said, handing something to her.

She looked down to see the locket that she did not remember putting on that morning. She could have sworn she left it in her bedroom. It held pictures of her best childhood friend who had died from an attack in the woods. A wild animal had gotten to him. She remembered how devastated the town had become, how sad his parents were, and how much she had cried.

Her mouth was drawn open slightly as she reached out for the cool metal. The man's hand grazed her own, the callousness making him all the more masculine and exotic. She had never seen such roughness on such gentle features like his own tender green eyes.

The man's head bent down, his lips barely grazing her ear, and he whispered to her, "I will be watching you, Maggie."

However, Maggie did not move as he walked away. She did not ask how he knew her name or how he had gotten her locket. All she knew was that this man was not one to play with, not one to mess with, and most certainly not one to get involved with in any way. This man was dangerous. He had fired Ms. Martin and now he was making a burning fire race through Maggie's veins.

But it was not so much one of attraction as much as fury and rage.