Tainted (Pure Sequel)

Fresh Start

Simon

"Well Mr. Wexler because of the sheer amount of school you missed last year I'm afraid even with your grades and test scores you can't graduate unless you make up those days." Mr. Clay explained with a small smile before picking up his ringing desk phone.

The very last thing I wanted to do was go back to high school. It seemed so trivial given everything that happened recently.

It had been three months since the battle with Ferox left me the last man standing. After Marie abandoned me on the field next to a dead wolf I had no choice but to return home. My mother had me under lock and key ever since and my only visitors had been the police.

They interrogated me for days like I was some criminal. However, randomly showing up at home covered in blood and bruises without an explanation didn't earn me any favors.

But I couldn't tell them the truth so I went with amnesia. Pretending not to remember what happened to me and my friends came with the unforeseen consequence of therapy three times a week. That's still a better outcome than the straight jacket they'd put me in if I started sprouting off about vampires. If only the counseling would stop the night terrors that plague me every night it'd be even better. Too bad it's not.

What's even worse was I haven't seen any of my friends since the battle. I went to Ana's house only to find her mom a drunk mess talking incoherently but I was able to gather that she hadn't seen either of her daughters in months and her husband had left her. The situation was even stranger when I went to Jace's house because it was simply abandoned. The house was so empty it was like he never lived there at all. I even tried to find my way to Helia's but kept getting lost in the woods and ending up right where I started. I concluded it must be a spell and gave up. The search for Lily barely took off as I realized I didn't even know her last name or where she lived to even try. What bothered me the most about Lily was every time I thought about the last time I saw her on the field my mind goes blank but my heart starts racing. Nothing was making sense anymore.

The slamming of the phone snapped me from my thoughts. Mr. Clay was mumbling something to himself. The last time I'd seen the vice principal he was unconscious and covered in piss. I wonder how he rationalized what happened when he woke but I didn't dare ask.

"Now where were we?" Mr. Clay seemed to ask himself scratching his balding head.

I watched the man go through the mountains of papers on his desk. How anyone could find anything in that mess was a surprise. He continued to shuffle things around for several minutes until finally finding a manila envelope labeled with my name Simon Wexler.

"Ah ha! Got it! Okay let's see..." He drawled as his eyes rolled over the papers he pulled from inside the envelope. "We've reenrolled you in your senior classes and you can start today." Mr. Clay ended extending the schedule out to me.

"Thanks." I smiled politely taking the white sheet from his hands. I stood and hurriedly left the stale smelling office. The longer I was around him the guiltier I felt about knowing what Kim had done to him a few months ago. And for leaving him like that.

The hallway outside the office was flowing with students walking in every direction. It's the second week of September so most of the student body seemed comfortable in their routine. I immersed into the crowd and slowly headed for my locker. The usual high school cliques formed around me but instead of feeling left out like I did every other year, now I didn't care. I didn't feel anything just numb. My mind drifted to the battle. Several hundred times a day random images from that fateful night repeat in my head over and over. Always in random broken order. As if it's so much to process that I can't think about it all at once.