The Missing Link (Book 1: Outcast) [CURRENTLY EDITING]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: TWO DAYS OF GRIEF BEFORE THE STORM

There was an unspoken tension going through the hallways the next day. Sally's incident had already set everyone on a weird mood, and despite the cruel jokes that would pop up here and there about how not even a shrink would be enough to fix her head, people seemed to be on the lookout. Like unconsciously they knew something was wrong. But when the rumors about the body of a kid being found went around in the halls, everyone lost it.

I was thankful Homer decided to keep it low at the house, insisting it was better if Mom didn't find out until they made it official. She would freak out, probably cancel her trip, and head straight to the Harris' house to see how her friend was doing. That's the last thing anyone wanted, though. Glenda was already upset enough to chug down half a bottle of sleeping pills—or at least that's what Jared told me had happened three days ago—so if Mom went in there and panicked, she would shatter into a thousand pieces.

Which is why Homer concluded that the wisest thing to do was stick to protocol. He said they would take the body into the morgue to run a handful of tests before they made any official statements. It might have been obvious, but even if we all knew what David Harris' face looked like, there were formalities that needed to be done. It would take about two days before it hit the local news. "Two days of grief before the storm," Homer had said.

The fact that his heart was missing kept me from falling asleep all night, and in turn, I ended up finding grey, swollen bags under my eyes when I woke up in the morning. Dad knocked on my door to let me know Mom had already left, but when he tried to approach last night's incident at the kitchen, I yanked Jared, who seemed to have slept like a baby, and took the stairs down two at a time.

Jared objected on the matter, but I had already slammed the door of the house behind us. He tried to cheer me up during first period, though none of his strategies were working anymore. I wanted to head to class and live life like I used to, without worrying about a psychopathic guy who wanted to kill me or a dead kid who possibly died due to things he didn't really understand. But now I was trapped in a never-ending nightmare that only got worse by the minute.

Not that I could do much with my unknown powers—if I even had any. Help me, Olivia. I sighed, throwing my chemistry book into the locker and slamming the door shut. I had to bite my tongue to hold the scream that surged through my throat when Hunter's face appeared behind it. "You're a hard one to find."

"I was thinking about crawling into the janitor's closet and staying there," I admitted, adjusting the strap of my backpack over my shoulder. "Thought it was a nice place to hide from Roy. There are rumors Mr. Springsteen keeps a nice stash of movies and a TV in there. It would explain why the cafeteria's floor is never clean."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but it faded as quickly as it came. He stole a look to either side of the hall, where people started to walk up to their lockers before they headed to the cafeteria or the courtyard for lunchtime. "Did you hear the rumors going around?"