Invasion

Chapter 14: Spider's Web

Monday

    The next morning I arrived at school in NamJoon's limo wearing a brand new school uniform. At some point the small collection of clothes that I had in NamJoon's closet had been replaced with new, expensive clothes. Cheap gray sweats and black t-shirts switched out for an identical number of similar items with what I assumed were designer labels in soft, luxurious fabrics.
    I didn't know how to feel about it. Disgruntled because it had been done without bothering to ask for my opinion or permission. Angry because those were my things, however cheap and worn out, I'd worked for them and bought them with my own money. The Han Bibimbap Restaurant t-shirt could have had some special meaning to me. Whoever had taken it away didn't know that it had been a free gift on opening day.
    Mostly, I felt bereft because it was one more thing that was slipping from my grasp. My room at the dorm, my personal belongings, my ability to make my own decisions, my whole fucking future. But there hadn't been time to brood, question or throw a tantrum. There'd been a big breakfast to eat and a chauffeur waiting to take me to GMA. NamJoon hadn't joined me, he'd said that he'd make his own way to school later in the morning.
    I stepped out of the huge car at the front entrance of the school. A line of cars had pulled aside in the circular driveway to make room when the other drivers had recognized NamJoon's limo. It surprised me that I'd never realized just how much he was treated like royalty. Of course everyone talked about him in class, but that was usually gossip about fucking him. He made comments as if he had the power to order the school staff around and acted as if he took it for granted that he'd get whatever he wanted, but I'd always assumed that was based on delusions of grandeur rather than what now appeared to be reality.
    The students in the vicinity turned to look at me as I exited the vehicle, their eyes curious and assessing. I'd chosen to wear the formal school suit rather than the cardigan and plaid pants that I normally wore. Mostly because wearing the tuxedo the night of the party had felt a bit like donning armor and because I hoped that the uniform would be a constant reminder to take my schoolwork more seriously. With the uniform and my newly dyed red hair, it took a few moments for the other students to recognize me.
    A murmur went through the clumps of teenagers when they realized who I was, flashing down the sidewalk in a stream of discontent. Words like disgusting and trash and bloodwhore were flung into the morning air and the eyes were furious, the mouths angry slashes or open to spew venom.
    I set my jaw and started up the walk, reminding myself that these rich snobs and their opinions were meaningless to me. I had bigger concerns than juvenile gossip and petty jealousy. But cruel comments and vicious laughter followed me into the school and through my morning classes. Ignoring them was just one more thing to waste my effort on.

    There was a gang of idiots with sneers on their faces and brutality in their eyes waiting for me in the hallway that led to the music storage room. I was on my way to take a nap during lunch, knowing that NamJoon wouldn't bother seeking me out at school when we'd fucked all night and he'd already promised more of the same for the coming evening.
    "Told you he'd be coming this way," a tall vampire said with a dark laugh.
    I remembered what had happened last Friday and knew that this situation was far too dangerous. There were too many of them for me to handle. I turned to go back the other way, only to find that another group of guys was standing behind me. I didn't hesitate to run the few steps down to a classroom door. I had no intention of waiting to see what the punks had in store for me.
    The door was locked, even though I knew that class was in session. I pounded on it, looking through the window at the teacher who stood behind the podium. He gave me a long, cold stare and then turned back towards the class, ignoring me.
    My stomach sank, fear running through me so cold that I nearly pissed myself. The other guys were closing in on me, triumph and excitement mixed with a feral hunger in their expressions.
    "Why don't you come with us, nice and easy?" A senior said. "It would be a shame to fuck up your pretty face before we have a chance to play with you."
    "Fuck you," I spat. There was no way I was going to follow these bastards anywhere. There was little chance that I'd be able to inflict any real damage on them since the majority looked to be High Vampires, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try.
    "We just want to get a taste and see what it is that Kim NamJoon is so obsessed with," one of them said. "Is it your blood? Your ass? Just give us a few crumbs. It's no big deal."
    "Fuck that. I'm gonna leave this little motherfucker bleeding out," another guy declared. "Where does a piece of trash like this get off thinking he has the right to even speak to a Pure Blood?"
    I crushed myself against the door behind me as the guy stepped forward. "You hear that, whore? You're gonna be begging me for your miserable life."
    He was reaching for me and I was frozen in place by the psychotic gleam in his eyes when a voice growled through the air, the sound so low and full of danger that I nearly pissed myself again.
    "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
    It was NamJoon. A wave of relief crashed down onto the fear that had already weakened me and I started going down, my legs giving out, leaving me slowly sliding down the door towards the floor.
    Footsteps snapped across the tile and NamJoon's hand caught my arm, pulling me gently to my feet even as a savage snarl left his mouth. I looked up to see fear flashing through the group of students that surrounded us. Now they were the ones who looked like they were going to piss their pants.
    "Anyone who touches this guy is dead. Do you hear me? Dead," NamJoon said in a voice that echoed the ancient power of his father. I watched his eyes scanning the faces in front of us, identifying my attackers one by one before he looked down at me. "YoonGi, did anyone touch you?"
    I couldn't even move my mouth to speak. I shook my head up at him like a scared little kid.
    "You were going to," NamJoon said, staring daggers at the guy who'd been reaching for me when NamJoon arrived.
    NamJoon's hand shot out, grabbed a handful of the guy's uniform and jerked him forward as he kicked upwards, his foot smashing into the guy's balls. The guy immediately started howling, the sickening sounds of pain bouncing off the hallway walls. NamJoon flung him to the ground so hard that his head bounced off the tile. Then he kicked him again, sending him sliding a few feet away across the floor, clearing a path for him to lead me away from the students who now stood like statues, their eyes full of terror.