In the Classroom

Chapter Twenty Four: Mockingjay

Ring ring! Ring ring!

I groaned as I sat up in bed. I had just been haunted by a nightmare. It featured my brother holding a sickle as he chased me around crowds of mafia members. I kept seeing Fang's agonized face and the smug expressions of Keenan and Halie mixed in with the chaos. His blade was an inch from my throat when the the phone broke through the haziness of my dream. I knew that this would be the first of a long chain of nightmares, not the last. I heard my phone distantly and I slowly grabbed it off of my desk, flipping it open and putting it to my ear groggily.

"Whaat....?" I asked into the phone dumbly.

"We have a job for you, Pied Piper," came a voice through the phone. I felt my senses jolt away. The word 'job' always made me feel apprehensive. Adrenaline was already pounding through my bloodstream.

"What kind of job?" I asked softly. A snicker came on the other side.

"It's time to live up to your name, Piper," came a snide voice. I recognized it as one of the lesser grunts, nicknamed Howl. I know he got the name from his constant sniggering during...well—anything really. He only climbed through the ranks during battles because of his stupidity. That...and the fact he drove most of his opponents insane with his constant chortling.

"We have some people who need killing," said the first voice slowly. I stiffened, and then took a deep breath. What a load of crap to unload on a sleeping high school student, I thought to myself angrily. I looked out of my window, staring at the stars I so wished I could escape to. No worries, no cares, no sadness, just...nothing to hurt or help me. A nothingness was welcoming to me. I'd had enough liveliness for one lifetime. I released my breath, not having realized I was holding it.

"What's the job?" I asked them coldly, slipping back into the skin of a heartless killer.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Adam, leaning back in the arm chair. I regarded him coldly. Anna rushed out of her bedroom, bringing my summer jacket with her. She gently slipped it onto me, and I turned my back on Adam. She ran back into her room, closing the door with a gentle snap.

"None of your business. Go back to bed," I told him coolly. Adam stood up from his chair. "I know what you're doing. Get out of this before it's too late," he advised me. I gave him a cruel grin.

"Don't you think it's already too late to back out of this? I'm already at the top of the mafia ranks. The only rank I haven't covered is boss, and you know Halie would kill Keenan before she lets me succeed her. She hates me, but she wouldn't let me go with everything I know about them," I told him acidly. Adam looked at me softly.

"You know I would do anything to protect you, Josh," he told me. He stretched out his hand to take my coat. "Let me do the job instead. I promise I'll convince Keenan to let you go free," he begged me. I rolled my eyes at him. "Good luck at that kind of thing, Adam," I told him. "Keenan's just the softest thing ever. Of course he'll let me get off, all debts paid!" I said sarcastically.

Adam's gaze hardened. "Don't go where I've gone, Joshua. There's no return," he swore to me. I turned on him. "You think I don't know that?!"

I glared at him, and for once, Adam met my gaze as steadily and as ferociously as I met his. I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm not a child, Adam. I've stood on my own for eight years. You may have helped me start, but I got to the peak of my mountain alone. I can take care of myself. For once, let me be!" I yelled at him. I crossed my arms stubbornly at him. "If you try to baby this piper, then you'll only get bitten by the rats of society," I told him. Adam narrowed his eyes at me.

"You're trying to act big in an adult world, but in reality, you're still too young to step into this," he warned me. "Arrogance is the death of all man. For once, think of the consequences!! It's something I neglected to do in my own youth."