Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

LOMD Chapter 9 - Demon Attack!

Chapter 9

VIVIENNE WASN'T sure if she was dreaming again. There he was, sitting next to her, lazily resting his chin in one open hand, he looked like any bored teenager. It took Vivienne a while to notice the girls were giggling at her for staring at the new boy. Vivienne quickly focused her eyes on the blackboard where Mr. Macker was scraping away with his chalk. Vivienne started jotting down notes about Mozart and Bach, but her attention simply wasn't there.

Her eyes drifted back to Blake. He was still there — sitting beside her. It wasn't a dream. He sighed and crossed his legs. He still wasn't the studious type. Some things never change. He was jotting something down in his notebook. At least his notes should make more sense than hers at the moment.

Then, as Mr. Macker left the room to find a recording of The Magic Flute, Blake turned his notebook to her. He had only written down a single sentence.

Settling in?

Vivienne nodded and scribbled a note of her own.

Did you steal those clothes from a bum?

"Steal? I paid the panhandler outside for them," Blake whispered back in a joking tone. "I gave the gentleman a handful of nickels and a ham sandwich."

As Vivienne opened her mouth to speak, she was reminded that they weren't alone. She didn't want the girls to think she was even crazier than they already thought she was. Vivienne turned her pen to her notebook and scribbled down a note.

What do you know about Satan's Hollow?

Blake's eyebrows furrowed. He began scribbling something into his notebook, but before she could see what he had written, an alarm began to blare overhead. The principal's voice came over the loudspeaker. The woman sounded breathless and panicked.

"All students are to evacuate to the school immediately. They are to use all exits except those leading to the football field. All classes are dismissed for the rest of the day."

Mr. Macker returned to the room in a hurried gait. He slammed his book of lesson notes and lifted his hands for everyone to remain calm. That gesture immediately triggered all the students to begin chaotically yelling questions as to what was going on. Zissa and Sam were already out of their chairs, cheerfully gathering their notebooks and make-up products into their designer backpacks. They seemed too lost in their own perfume and powdered worlds to care what had triggered their sudden dismissal.

"Please, exit the school in an or-orderly manner, k-kids." Mr. Macker said, his face as white as a ghost. "Don't panic!"

Vivienne stood up from her chair. She noticed that Blake had not moved from where he was sitting. He curiously glanced at her as though he was waiting to see what would happen next. She gestured to the door and motioned that she wanted to meet him outside.

As Vivienne reached to gather her books, she heard it. There was a scream in the distance; it was a boy. It was a scream that no one else heard. Then she felt it, a heavy vice-like feeling in her chest as though someone was squeezing all the life out of her heart.

Vivienne suddenly felt like the room was spinning. Her knees felt weak, but at the same time, she felt drawn to the direction of the ghostly scream. It came from the direction of the football field. As she took a step in that direction, she felt a pair of arms grab her from behind. She was enveloped into a firm embrace. Her cheek was pressed up against that gray t-shirt she had been teasing him over moments before. He still smelled of the forest and of the night meadow. Blake's arms held her in a cage-like embrace. His voice, deep and melodious, came soothingly into her ear.