Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (18 page)

“It is my distinct pleasure to introduce Alex Chase, my boyfriend and your future class president!” I couldn’t help but flinch, the “my boyfriend” comment sounded desperate even to me
.
She then
stepped aside and allowed Alex to take the podium
.
I
caught myself holding my breath
and
sucked air into my lungs, making a noise
that border
ed
on
a
gasp
,
as my classmates applauded reverently
.
So this is
how
the Antichrist
gains
power, not through force but with boisterous applause
.

Alex
took the podium and his speech was everything a senior class president’s speech should be
.
He left out all the clichés, movie lines, and song lyrics and talked solely about his platform
.
I would have been impressed if I wasn’t focusing on seeing little red horns poke out of his perfectly combed blond
e
hair any minute
.
He wanted to create a council that would unite the student body, the school administration, and community officials
.
The leaders on the council would be nominated, two nominated officials from each of the three areas
.
He explained that the community and school district needed to be more united, and through unification greater cooperation and advancement could be achieved
.
At the end of the speech the auditorium erupted into deafening applause, and Alex smiled proudly as Cami gazed on in total infatuation
.
Even I had to admit, the plan didn’t sound like the inner workings of the Antichrist
.

As my classmates began to file out of the auditorium, I bent down to gather my
books
from the floor
.
When I looked back up I caught a glimpse of a girl strutting across the room
.
She wore a pair of black
,
skintight pants, a gray t
ank top, and had a head of wild
fire red hair
.
She was absentmindedly sucking on a lollipop as she walked across the auditorium with purpose to
her stride and somehow ignored
the fact that every male in the room snapped
their heads
around to watch her walk away
.
I swear I was impressed that their
necks didn’t make audible noises with the speed they w
h
i
p
ped them around, even the male teachers
.
E
www
…
gross! I was glad that Gabriel wasn’t in sight because I don’t think I could have handled
watching his reaction
.

Realization dawned that this must be the new girl, Scarlett
.
Bas
ed off of my newfound knowledge aft
er a weekend chock
full of research I knew she was the second seal
.
Sure she looked just like a teenage girl,
al
thou
gh
a teenage girl that dripped sexuality and danger, she was actually the second
horseman of the apocalypse
.
She was the fiery red horse, and she was bringing War
.
Alex may not have appeared evil with his award-winning sm
ile, but this girl looked evil.

While I was lost in though
t the majority of my classmates had shuffled out of the
auditorium
and were making their way to a late starting second period
.
I quickly grabbed m
y books and started to head to C
alculus
.
As I rus
hed from the room the bell rang
and I cursed silently under my breath
.
A
s if I didn’t have enough to deal with, I would soon have detention to deal with
,
too
.
I slowed my walk, figuring
if I was late already
the
re was no
rush
.
I quickly fell into deep thought
.
How was I
supposed
to stop all this
?
What could I possibly do
?

That’s when I heard a scuffling sound from the stairwell, and then I swore I heard what sounded like a low-female moan
.
I stopped dead in my tracks
.
That sound had been very distinct, and it wasn’t the ty
pe of sound you hear at school
…
ever! 

I was both curious and embarrassed, like I had been caught spying
.
As I stood outside the stairwell I debat
ed on ignoring the noise, or pee
king around the wall to see who was back there
.
I had all
but decided that it was none of my business, keep moving, when the shuffling got a little more intense and the trashcan got knocked over, spilling discarded homework and empty coffee cups in front of my feet
.
Without thinking twice, I pee
ked around the wall to make sure
that what I was hearing
was what I thought it was
.

What I saw shocked and mortified me all at the same time
.
I wanted to scream, I wanted to run, and I wanted to punch him
.
Gabriel had his back pressed against the wall, his face hidden behind all that wild, fiery red hair as Scarlett pressed herself firmly to the front of him
.

Chapter
9

Proverbs 7:26 “Don’t lust for their beauty
.
Don’t let their coyness seduce you…”

I must have made an audible gasp because he moved his head to the side, looking past Scarlett’s hair and his colorless, ice eyes landed squarely on my shocked face
.
I began shaking my head back and forth, and stumbled backwards out of the stairwell into the hallway
.
I dropped my books and started to run
.
I have no idea where I was headed, but
I
just needed to be away from
t
he
r
e
.
I heard Gabriel call my name and then I heard his footsteps as he followed me
.
I picked up my pace and slammed through the only door I saw that I thought would offer me solitude
.

I stumbled into the ladies’ room and head
ed
straight to the sink
.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to be sick
,
faint
,
or cry
.
I splashed cold water onto my face, and took a deep breath attempting to calm my racing heart
.
As I was drying my face with a paper towel, the bathroom door open
ed
a
n
d close
d
behind me
.
I spun around to see Gabriel standing just inside the shut bathroom door
.

My eyes narrowed and my chee
ks burned hot
.
“This is the women’s room, in case you didn’t notice!” I snapped
.
“That means you shouldn’t be in here.”

Gabriel let out an abrupt bark of laughter, and then seemed to control himself
.
“Really? Everything that’s going on and that’s what you
’
r
e
mad about, that I’m in the women’s bathroom
?
Somehow that seems the least of our problems.
”

“Our problems
…
” I mocked
.
“We don’t have problems
.
We don’t have anything
.
I want to be left alone, get out!
”

“Michelle, i
t wasn’t what you think,” he began and I quickly interrupted
.

“
Ohh
please!
That tired old line of bull
.
Really
?
You may not know this
,
since you’re newly human, but that is what every man says when their caught red-
handed.” A
nd then I laughed
.
Red-handed, red-horse, Scarlett, it was all too much
.
I couldn’t stop laughing; somewhere in the back of my mind I realized this is what people mean when they say she was hysterical
.
I was having hysterics
.

Gabriel
moved
towards me and I automatically stepped
back
,
slamming into the sink behind me
.
He stopped in his tracks
,
clearly seeing that I didn’t want him to touch me
.
“Michelle, I know how it looked, but it really wasn’t what you thought you saw.
She was forcing herself on me
.
She lured me back there by mimicking your voice; she called out to me and said she wanted to talk
.
I thought it was you.
”

“Did you still think it was me when she was pressed up against you?” I sp
a
t the words at him
.

“No, I was trying to get away, but she’s a lot stronger than she looks,” he finished with an exasperated sigh.

I just shook my head
.
Did he really expect me to
believe this nonsense
?
I star
ed into his clear, colorless eyes searching for a reason
,
an answer
.
Just then I heard the bathroom door shut again and a voice that sounded identical to my own
say
, “And you loved every minute of it.”

My head
shot up and there was Scarlett
.
Standing inside the bathroom, sucking on a lollipop, one hand on her hip
.
She pulled the
lollipop out of her mouth and laughed a deep
,
throaty laugh
.
“Not bad, huh?
”
s
he finished in
a voice deeper and throatier tha
n mine
.
“I think
I nailed it, if I say so myself.” H
er voice felt like it dripped off the air, like something thick and sticky
.

Gabriel turned to face her and immediately placed himself between the two of us
.
I couldn’t decide if he was protecting me from her or stopping me from lunging acro
ss the room and ripping her eyes
out
.
“Get out of here! Leave us alone!
”
h
e shouted at her
.
I was shocked; I had never heard Gabriel raise his voice
.

She laughed aga
in.
“Feisty, I like that Angel B
oy.”

I found my voice and chimed in, “You heard him, get out!
”

“Now, now
…
Chell
.
This is the ladies’ room and he isn’t a lady, so shouldn’t he be the one to get out?
” s
he
mused in mock surprise
.
He
r
voice made me want to wipe my hands on my jeans
.

Gabriel stumble
d
slightly backwards, as if he had been pushed
.
He quickly recovered, standing up straight and focusing on Scarlett
.
“Enough of this
.
This is neither the time nor place for this fight
.
Whatever you want
, you
’
r
e
not going to get it.
”

She pushed out her lower lip in a mock po
ut and batted her eyes.
“Angel B
oy, you know what I want.
”
As she spoke she slinked forward in a way that appeared both seductive and predatory
.
Gabriel stumbled again, this time he was less quick to recover
.
I stood there unable to process what was happening
.
She actually did seem to over
power him, which left me to do something, but what
?
She was a demon, a horseman, what could I do to stop her
?
She took another step forward, and Gabriel fell to his knees
.
He attempted to get up, but seemed unable to stand
.
I was out of options
.
My hand shot out and I
grabbed a fistful of her wild, red hair, and yanked
.
I felt a clump rip out of
t
he scalp
.