Chapter 9- Samuel Adams

  Neo

  When I get back to the room, Jax is already gone. It's only 4pm for Morrigan's sake! He never leaves school that early. I think about tracking him down, following him home...but Ari waves from a table in the middle of the room, sending me a smile and my heart melts.

  I forget about Jax.

  Jax

  It's 3:30pm when I decide to leave. Earlier than normal but I'm too anxious about tomorrow to stick around. And besides, I can't stand being around Neo and his girlfriend .

  Tomorrow is Thursday, the first one since finding Gedrick dead. The first one since finding the note from my father.

  I'd already decided that it was probably my father who had killed Gedrick in the first pce. And I decided that I wasn't going to mention it to whichever hunter is coming to repce him.

  I tie my hair up in a low bun like I usually do, taking one st gnce at Ari in the common room who's probably waiting for Neo to show up. I hate leaving him this early. He always gets into so much damn trouble. Half the time I expect him to be dead by the time I get back. But no. That's not how our story will end. No. We'll both die killing each other- the creaturist of all creatures against the hunter's spy.

  Not to mention, I'm so hooked into his thoughts and feelings when he's in danger that it's nearly impossible to not know ahead of time when something is wrong.

  Like the damn time he almost froze on his orphanage roof.

  I roll my eyes as I close the car door and start the ignition.

  Most students aren't allowed to drive to school. But not me. I live too far away from the school to walk but none of the transportation services wants to get near my human home. What creaturists. Those humans have been nothing but good, caring people. They're one of the only things I care about, that I'm happy and lucky to have.

  I could have just as easily ended up in the orphanage with Neo.

  Sharing a room with him.

  Now that would be torture.

  When I pull into the long driveway, I don't see the other two cars usually there. Amy and Ray, my foster parents, have unconventional jobs. They work mostly from home but there are many times where their job requires them to travel, sometimes for weeks. When I step inside the big farmhouse, I head to the kitchen where Amy usually is around this time, with snacks. Instead, ying on the marble countertop I see a note.

  Flying to London. Be gone for a couple weeks. Grocery money is in the drawer. Call if you need anything.

  - Amy and Ray

  I push the note back with a sigh. Alone. Well.

  I know Neo thinks I'm evil, but really I'm just as tame as he is. Probably more than he is. I don't throw ragers or get into fights. I'm one of the best students in school. Really, I'm like an angel compared to most teenagers.

  Angels do not exist, by the way. I'm fairly certain of that.

  I make myself food and then go upstairs to my room, a rge, circur space with high blue walls and rge curtained windows. I'm almost regretting having left school so early.

  Almost.

  ******

  I wake up at my usual time. 4am. It doesn't feel early, not to me. I do all the things I need to do, including adding an extra knife to my boot just in case before starting the long walk out.

  When I get to the Demilunes, I sense the hunter before I see him. I walk carefully down the hall in case it's a trap, but it's not.

  Gedrick's body is gone. And sitting at the table scraping his fingernails with the tip of a bde is none other than Samuel Adams himself.

  Samuel, descendant of the first Sam Adams, is the current leader for the Hunters, the group that fights and kills all of the creatures they come across in the world. He's a tall, broad shouldered man, with close cropped bck hair and a long pink scar underneath his left eye. Sam leads the American division and was the one to start my hunting/spy training. I feel my stomach drop. If he's here then something is definitely wrong.

  "Samuel," I say, taking a seat in the hard oak chair across from him. He doesn't look up. Doesn't even consider me. He's always been that way. Reserved with his words. We wait a whole 3 minutes in silence before he speaks.

  "Miles. What happened?"

  I swallow. This is what I was afraid of. Being questioned. Being accused. And all because I wasn't human like he was.

  "Last week, I arrived here at 5:17am. When I entered the tree that leads me to the cabin, I could sense something was wrong. I came down with my dagger out and found Gedrick with his throat slit, lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. I checked his pulse and then searched the immediate area for any signs of attackers."

  This all comes out of my mouth crisp and exact. Just like the soldier they trained me to be.

  "And did you find the monster?" Samuel asks coldly, finally putting his steel gray eyes on my face. I grind my teeth, fighting against the urge to flinch back, to look away, to show any signs of weakness.

  "No," I reply curtly. "I took paper and a pen from Gedrick's pocket and left a note saying what I thought I could. And then I returned back to Dempsey, to my duties."

  Samuel weighs my words and after a moment sighs and looks away. I feel my shoulders slowly release their tension.

  "I believe you, Miles. What do you have to report this week?"

  I straighten and recount every vital detail I can remember. The arrival of a new student, the comings and goings of the headmistress, any news about the school board.

  Samuel doesn't speak as I recite the events from the week. When I finish, he stands up and I follow.

  "Remember who's side you're on. Ours, the saviors, or theirs. The monsters."

  I nod once and with that, he dismisses me. I turn to leave when his words echo up the hall at me.

  "We'll be coming, Miles. Real soon. These monsters are going to finally get what they deserve."

  Neo

  The sun is shining in my eyes when I wake up. It's end of January sun so it's bright and sharp. I'm stretching my arms out when I remember that I need to talk to Jax. I quickly sit up and look at the clock. 6:30am, Thursday January 24th.

  It's Thursday. Damn fucking Thursday, I think. I can feel my heart picking up speed in my chest. Is he out there right now, looking for his dad? Did he figure something out? Is he going to come back?

  My stomach grumbles loudly and I decide it's no use worrying about what I can't change. Especially on an empty stomach.

  I quickly get dressed before nearly running to the bus stop. Rosa's not there and it takes me a second to remember that she had a preschool writers guild meeting this morning. I let out a sigh and change gears. Today seemed like a perfect day to walk.

  ******

  I get to Eventide Hall and Rosa and Ari already sitting at our usual table. I give Ari a kiss on the top of her head as I walk up to the food table. At Dempsey, there's a cooking staff on hands at all times of the school year. They're paid fairly well and create some of the most delicious food. Like their homemade cinnamon buns, which they only serve every other Thursday morning.

  After loading a pte up with food and pouring myself a gss of orange juice, I head back to our table. When I get there, Ari and Rosa are in deep conversation about the best way to cast the Geronimo spell, a fighting spell that sends its victim flying across the room.

  "You have to put the emphasis on the middle sylble," Rosa is arguing, waving her fork around like it's a weapon. "That way it sends the full punch."

  Ari is shaking her head, raven hair swaying around her. "Not at all. If you say it like you're jumping off something, or with the accent on the st sylble then you'll get a much more effective cast."

  Rosa's frowning as she stabs another piece of sausage. "Neo, what do you think?"

  Both the girls turn to me and I feel my face widen in horror. "Uhhh...well....I wouldn't....wouldn't you have to..." I'm stuttering like a bumbling idiot and they both just start ughing at me. I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn't quite sure who's side I was supposed to take on that one. My best friend since my existence here at Dempsey, or my very beautiful, very fearsome girlfriend.

  "It's okay, Neo. We know you have no clue what we're talking about," Rosa mumbles around a piece of sausage.

  Ari gives me a grin and nudges me with one shoulder. I smile back, feeling happier on a Thursday than I could ever remember.

  ******

  Jax is still on my mind as I go through the day. Just because I'm not paranoid about where he is doesn't mean I don't still worry that it's all actually a secret plot to take down the school.

  Well...I guess I am still paranoid.

  When csses finish, I spend as much time as I can with Ari and Rosa and her new boyfriend Leskar before I finally have to head back to Borgnines, to my human bullies, to thinking about where the hell Jax is.