“So the other guys?” Seth asked, his eyes cutting across the table to Tristan.
“They’re Tristan’s older brothers. But don’t they have big dates or something for tonight?” I looked at Tristan who was purposefully keeping his eyes locked on me.
“That’s why they’re coming home,” Tristan laughed. “They’re trying to avoid Valentine’s drama.”
“Me too….” I mumbled low enough that not even Seth heard me.
I had been watching the three scattered Shadows out of my peripheral. Bree butted in the conversation, gushing about how hot Tristan’s brothers were and I took the opportunity to take stock of the room. The number of Shadows had grown immensely; the high corners of every wall seemed covered in them as they whipped their slender bodies back and forth. I sucked in a gasp, and tried not to burst into a glow light right here. Students around the cafeteria started to notice them and a prickling, nervous sensation washed over my body. This was not going to end well.
“You’re just as close with Tristan’s brothers, I take it?” Seth asked dryly, his eyes flickering to the walls of Shadows, widening in surprise and then landing back on me. He acknowledged the evil presence, but was still waiting for an answer from me.
“Uh yes,” I couldn’t help but fidget nervously.
“She’s basically part of our family, my parents love her,” Tristan declared loudly. I shrunk down, hating that something that was true made me feel so uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just everybody’s eyes on me, like me being close with Tristan’s family was a betrayal to Seth, or that me being close with Seth was making me unfaithful to Tristan.
“So then if you guys ever dated it would be like incest, right?” Piper asked with feigned innocence. I wished I could laugh at her cleverness, even if it was the wrong thing to say, my friend Piper was funny.
“Cassidy, I don’t have the patience right now,” Tristan warned, using her last name like he was talking to one of his teammates when they were losing. “What do you say, Stel? Want to join me for dinner?” Tristan turned back to me, re-including me in the conversation. I swallowed around the nervous lump in my stomach and twirled the end of my hair just to give my hands something to do. Tristan’s eyes bore in to mine, their color sparking to life as he waited for my answer. There was something intimate in his gaze, something beyond this power play game he and Seth were playing. He was asking more of me than dinner, I just wasn’t sure what yet.
“Um, my grandpa had that thing tonight, though,” Seth reminded me softly of the training that was planned for after dinner, just like every other night. I turned to meet his eyes, realizing he wasn’t even being possessive, he was reminding me in the sweet Seth way that only he was capable of. He was still giving me a choice, but reminding me of my responsibilities.
“Uh….” I stammered, feeling like my heart was being pulled in two very different directions. The smell of sulfur drifted through the air, distracting me for a minute and grabbing the attention of our table. Finally. Everyone started looking around, finding the Shadows that clustered together like black beehives.
“I say you blow both these clowns off and come out with me, Stella. I won’t even pretend like my family wants to have dinner with you. You and I can actually celebrate Valentine’s Day,” Rigley declared, making the act of celebrating sound very, very dirty. I burst into laughter as he ran a hand through his mop of hair seductively and waggled his eyebrows at me.
For the first time in my life I was willing to take Rigley up on his not so serious offer. And then the spiritual world I had access to collided with the physical world I lived in as the Shadows erupted from the walls they congregated on, screeching and hollering violently. There was no more ignoring them, since they made their presence so clearly known. They swirled around the room like they were trying to start a tornado, dipping in between the students who covered their heads with their hands and then ran from the room. This wouldn’t make sense to anyone paying close attention, but knowing the human condition was prone to denial and the fact that Shadows could be logically, or at least reasonably explained away as a freak infestation of bats, I put my faith in that explanation and faced my nightmare come to life.
The acrid scent of rotting eggs and death wafted through the air and I felt the familiar rush of nausea from the unearthly scent that grated against my nostrils. Students throughout the cafeteria couldn’t ignore the awful aroma anymore and covered their faces as they fled from the cafeteria. I looked to Seth whose ferocious gaze confirmed my suspicions that this was unprecedented and dangerous. We joined the stampede of students and teachers fleeing the cafeteria and met back up with everyone outside the school. Someone had set off the fire alarms inside and the loud sirens rivaled the still shrieking shadows for which one would blow out my oversensitive ear drums.
Outside the dark grey sky was spitting sleet. Lightning flashed on the horizon and a chill washed over my body. In the long, desolate winters of Nebraska, it wasn’t completely uncommon for there to be lightning in the middle of a snowstorm, but this was the work of a supernatural presence and had nothing to do with the extreme weather of the Midwest. The clouds grew visibly darker overhead and I felt more than anything that whatever was still inside the school was waiting for me.
Sirens could be heard in the distance. I didn’t have much time to draw the Shadows out of the building before humans would have to face them.
I stood up abruptly and announced, “I think I’m going to be sick, I need to go,” I started to walk away and then realized my alibi sucked since I needed Seth. I reached down and grabbed a handful of his shirtsleeve before yanking him up with me. “And I’m going to need Seth.”