Prophecy of the Most Beautiful (2 page)

She glared at Smurfey. She hated being reminded of the most shameful period of her life. The coach had cited her as a danger to the other athletes, but she knew he just thought she was a whacko.

"
Whatever
. Tell me you don't see that guy. The one in all black holding the motorcycle helmet."

Smurfey hopped up and down on her good foot. "I don't see anybody that looks like that. Like I've said a million times before, I think those crazy blue eyes of yours can see things that no one else––Hey! Wait, where are you going? Come back!" But Chloe had already let herself be taken by the steady stream of students rushing to make locker stops and finish up last minute gossip sessions before the morning bell rang. She knew with her aching foot, Smurfey would hesitate to follow.

She had no idea what force was behind her sudden desire to approach the strange boy. Chloe usually went out of her way to avoid confrontations. The other times hadn't been her fault.

She had never seen him at school before, and she knew most of the students at Cook High since she had been going to school with the majority of them since kindergarten. He must have been one of the few she had failed to notice, though she wasn't sure how that could have even been possible. He might have been the only other person in the entire town that was more freaky than her. And maybe that was why she was so drawn to him.

No one else at Cook High had that many piercings in their face (nose, lip,
and
both eyebrows) or were bold enough to tattoo teardrops under their eyes, though Derrick Fisherman did have a nose ring and a tattoo of a topless woman on his arm. But that was amateur compared to this guy, who also had a bunch of skull tattoos encircling his neck. No guy would dare wear black eye make-up and god forbid they ever think it's cool to wear a single feather earring. She had never seen hair so black. It hung like a greasy blanket down to his shoulders. His dark, tattered clothing and dismissive posture gave her the disturbing impression that he caused trouble wherever he went; His eerie smirk told her she was right. He didn't have that laid back southern quality that most boys in Adel had and Chloe came to the conclusion that it was because he wasn't from Adel, or even Georgia. Not even the south. He reeked of being from someplace else, someplace dark, someplace…
creepy
.

His dark eyes were watching her as she approached him. It was funny––no one else seemed to be paying him any attention. She almost appreciated it. The new freak was more of a pariah than she was.

"I knew you would come to me," He said in a grim tone that gave her a serious case of goosebumps. "All of you come to me…eventually." He glanced around at several of the students.

She had no idea what he meant and didn't try to figure it out. He continued to smirk and perched himself up against the lockers, propping one leg up behind him. He wasn't ugly but was far from cute. He was much too pale and creepy to be that.

She shivered and looked up towards the vent above her. Was the air conditioning on? Not in the middle of January. She rubbed her arms through her sweater. Why did she feel so cold then?

"Chilly?" He asked, his lips turned up in a steely smile.

She eyed him with a suspicious curiosity. "A little…do you ride a motorcycle?" She nodded towards the helmet propped underneath his arm.

He drummed his fingers against it. "Would that impress you if I did?"

It was a weird question. "Not really. I mean, motorcycles are fab and all, but I asked because that would make you the only student here whose parents are cool enough to let you ride one."

"The only one? That would not surprise me. It seems everything I do only makes me more of an outcast." His expression darkened making Chloe shudder. “And my parents are far from being ‘cool’. I’d say they’re pretty hot at the moment.”

Uh...okay. "Are you new here at school? I've never seen you before."

His laugh was like nails to a chalkboard. "I cannot remember a time when anything was new to me. I only ever see the tattered remains of what once was."

Chloe frowned. "So you're not new then?"

He gave her a look that said he had done enough explaining. He was finished with that subject.

"I've come here to invite you to join my side, Chloe Clever. Before it's too late."

She froze. "How do you know my name?" It's not like he couldn't have found out from one of the other students. Everyone knew "Whack Job Chloe". But still...

"What is a name really? Once you're dead, who will remember it? Do not be a fool and think your family will. They will be the first to forget you." Once again, a shade of bitter darkness swept over his face.

Chloe took a step backwards. "Um, okay. On that note, I think I'm going to go ahead and get to class early…Nice meeting you..."

"Do you decline me, Chloe?" His dark gaze was holding her there even though she knew she wanted to leave. It was like she was being hypnotized. She couldn't seem to make her feet move any further.

"Look, dude. I don't know what you're talking about––"

"I'm talking about freedom, Chloe. Freedom from the life you are about to become entrapped in. I can save you from the clutches of your great destiny." His grin was wicked. "They will all fear you and I can make sure that never changes."

All right. It was official. The guy was a psycho.

"Okay, crazy dude. I'm leaving now." She felt the hold on her release and she was able to turn away from him.

"How about your little brother, Benjamin? Or your pretty mother, Beth, maybe? Could they persuade you?" Chloe twirled back around to face the young man. He smiled. "I thought that might get your attention."

"How do you know my family? What do they have to do with whatever you're talking about?" He noticed her clenched fists and laughed.

"Oh, they have everything to do with it. But they don't have to be…not if you cooperate."

"I don't know who you are guy, but you had better leave my mom and brother out of this!" She snapped, wishing she knew what
this
was.

"That is up to you, sweetheart." He pushed away from the lockers with his booted foot, and a bone––one that looked very much like a
human
bone––fell out of his leather jacket. He picked it up and tucked it back inside. "Wouldn't want to leave that behind. Russy loves his bones." He patted his pocket. "Now, if you wish to keep your family alive, then I will expect your full cooperation, and soon. You'll know where to find me when the time is right." His expression darkened like the nighttime. "I will not wait forever. Your cooperation is required or else I take things into my own hands and your family's blood ends up on yours."

His last words made something snap inside of Chloe. She hated that snap. That snap meant trouble.
Blood. Her family's blood. Benjy hurt. Her mother dead.
She couldn't comprehend these things. Who
was
this weirdo? Who was this lunatic to threaten her and her family? He was standing there smirking at her like he thought it was all a big joke. Was that what this was––a cruel joke perpetrated by her classmates just to see if they could drive her into having another fit? If so, it was working. She could feel it rising inside of her. That feeling of losing control. Someone always got hurt when this happened and maybe that's what they wanted. They didn't call her "Whack Job Chloe" for nothing…

She couldn't keep the feeling buried. And she tried, she tried so hard. Why had she approached him at all? She had been so stupid. She had thought that if she could just hang on until May when she graduated without having anymore fits……well, that was over now.

She wondered how long she would be suspended for this time. Her lips frowned, but her eyes smiled. It would be worth it. Joke or no joke, no one threatened to hurt her family.
No one.

She didn't think anymore about it.

She lunged for his throat.

*****

II.Chloe

He was laughing. Why was he laughing? How was he even
able
to laugh with her hands wound so tight around his throat? He should have been struggling to breathe, fighting to get her off of him , but instead he had managed to find some amusement in his unfortunate predicament.

The world was silent around her, except for his laughter. She couldn't hear the chatter or the surprised outbursts of the students nearby. Maybe a few of them had screamed even. She couldn't hear them. But that was how it always was when this happened to her. She blocked out everything else, except for the intended victim that had provoked the anger…the fear…the humiliation…whatever. They alone suffered for their actions.

The boy's incessant laughter made her tighten her grip. She just wanted him to be quiet. Maybe if she squeezed hard enough she could break his windpipe. That would silence the punk…with a good amount of pressure, forever. It would be just what he deserved for threatening her family.

But her efforts had no effect on him, and he seemed to find that even more amusing and laughed louder.

"Shut up!" She screamed, "Shut up! Stop laughing!" She punched him in the jaw as hard as she could.

His head was thrown sideways, but still he continued to laugh. The strike hadn't even seemed to phase him, and she could not understand it. Her attack had done nothing to achieve her goal of punishing him for his threats against her family and it pissed her off even more to realize it. She unwrapped her fingers from around his neck on her own accord, stunned that she had had no effect on him whatsoever. Nothing. Nothing at all.

She cradled her arms and screeched in his face with absolute frustration and anger. She wasn't surprised when hands grabbed her shoulders and yanked backwards, dragging her off of him. He laughed harder, crying with amusement, and she fought against the hands holding her, wanting just one last chance to shut him up.

When the boy was free of her, his laughter stopped instantly. His expression grew dark again. "Your life or theirs," He said.

The school bell rang.

Her head snapped upwards towards the shrilling bell, but a moment later her attentions were diverted towards the loud chattering of the crowd of students gathering around her.

She could see them all again, every one of them, pushing against each other, fighting to get a closer look at her. Some looked amused, some looked scared, most just couldn't believe she had done it yet again. The words "lunatic" and "psycho" floated into her ears, but she had grown used to hearing those words. It was the staring she was having a problem with. She couldn't stand their eyes all being concentrated on her at the same time.

Strong hands held onto both of her arms. She eyed their owners. Old Sergeant Mackey and Mr. Don. Retired cops turned security guards turned oversized hall monitors.

"Another one already, Miss Clever?!" Crap. Principal Camden was there, too. Why couldn't she be like most other principals and hide out in her office all day? Why did she insist on joining the hall monitoring activities every morning and afternoon?

All right. Excuse time. She needed a good one. One that explained why she had attacked the new kid. Chloe pointed downward. "He threatened to hurt my––-" but the rest of her words became mangled in her throat as she stared down at the floor in horror.

Because at her feet now lay an unconscious boy with messed blonde hair and long, lanky limbs. He was crumpled up against the wall of lockers, his clothes ripped, his lip bleeding, his jaw swollen. She noticed it was sitting at a funny angle. Then she saw the red marks in the shape of hands around his neck.

Not again
, She thought.
It couldn't have happened again.
She couldn't breathe. It felt like she had just been punched in the stomach herself. It wasn't him––it wasn't that strange boy––and it had been. It
had
been. Just a few moments before.

Students and teachers had quickly gathered around the boy she’d just beaten unconscious, blocking her view of him. She frantically searched the crowds looking for the other face, a face that now seemed to her way too hard to belong to someone so young. A face that was way too evil to mean anything good. A face that would hunt her nightmares until she had proved to herself he hadn't been real.

"Escort Miss Clever to my office," Camden told Mackey and Don, "I'll finish up here and make sure Steven is taken care of and his mother is contacted." She managed to catch Chloe's wild gaze. "First day off of suspension, Miss Clever, I don't even know what to say to you. And you've really gone and done it this time. As you already know, Steven is the vice principal's son. Luckily for you, she's away at an educational conference for the week." Camden shook her head and turned away.

Chloe gulped. Vice Principal Newark hated her, and if it had been up to the co-head of the school, Chloe would have been expelled long before this moment. But now, it was inevitable. Newark wouldn't stop until she was banned from every school (and college) in America.

The mob of students were reluctant to let Chloe and her "escorts" through. And as she kept searching for the creepy boy, she saw Smurfey break through the crowd. They didn't fight her on it. Plenty of them were as weary of Smurfey as they were of Chloe, despite her short stature. Smurfey eyed the unconscious boy, looked at Chloe, then shrugged and nodded as if this scene was exactly what she had been expecting to find. Chloe couldn't bring herself to match her friend's gaze. It was a good thing that Mr. Don and Sgt. Mackey were so big. They bulldozed the rest of the way through the throng of students and straight to Camden's office.

They plopped her down in the dreaded chair across from the principal's desk. Mr. Don just grunted and turned to leave, but Sgt. Mackey bent down until he and Chloe's faces were only centimeters apart. He'd struggled since his large potbelly hindered his bending.

"I'm going to be glad to see you go," He snarled and Chloe leaned away from his foul breath. "Now if we could just get rid of that munchkin friend of yours, we would finally have a little peace around here."