SEEKERS

7 | Dead or Alive

         In the school's dinning hall which wasn't as rowdy as it usually was every morning, Phoebe selects her food unto her plate at the main counter before shuffling her way to her two sitter table at the end of the large room only to find a person in her seat. No one sat in her seat, unless they wanted a death wish. She marches up to the person their back facing her. It was a boy.

"Hey! Get out of my seat." She ordered loudly.

"Do you mind not shouting." Said the boy turning to face her. It was Hayden. "I'm not really in the mood this morning."

  Without a word she sits down opposite him placing her tray on the table in front of her.

  "What are you doing here?" She asked in a low tone, watching him carefully, he looked beat, eyes red and puffed up.

  "I came to talk to you about that thing you wanted to show me." He replied, his voice sounded almost lifeless. The usual lively tone gone from it.

   "I can't show you here dude."

  "I can't wait anymore, yesterday dinner at my house was off and quiet." He says picking at his food.

  "So that's why you're here." Phoebe says in realization. She mentally face palms herself for not realizing earlier. "You don't normally eat here."

  "Well I do now, anything to avoid me sitting in that house."

  "Just because he was arrested doesn't mean he's gone forever."

"Easy for you to say, I need to know that proof."

  "You have to be patient, I know how much you want to help your brother but you have to wait a bit."

  "Fine." He sighs.

  "Still. Are you sure you want to have breakfasts here with all those glaring eyes looking at you?"

"All they see is the brother of a murderer and they're obviously wandering if I'm one too."

"That can't be denied." Phoebe says looking around them at the students they were staring straight at them, no focus on their food.

"When will you show me?"

  "During recess."

  "Alright."

• • •

  The bars looked more or less inescapable, he'd accepted that fact a long time ago, the bars were never escapable. Once again he was held somewhere against his will only difference was as scary as the previous place had been, this was much worse. He'd cried himself to sleep the night before, they hadn't even let him clean the blood off his body, he sat on the cold cemented floor clutching his knees as he watched the officers move in odd fashion, it was nothing like you'd see on CSI.

    They moved grimly like they didn't have souls, as if hypnotized. Getting his name cleared was the main priority, he didn't do anything to Nigel. Well not that he could remember, that's what bothered him the most. He couldn't remember a thing, he'd tried recalling the occurrences of the previous day, it only brought back the pain and jolts of fear.

     After his freak problem he'd passed out, after that he found Nigel and then the police showed up, he could still make out the eyes of those he saw. Nigel's, Hayden's, his Mother's. Or at least she was his mother. He had no idea who that was last night, and it made the deepest parts of him ache from the hurt.

      He tries to focus on the main goal at hand, clearing his name, even if it meant him getting much more days in this cell for disturbing police officers.