The Dark Ones

DEDICATION

To my children,

for never giving up

on trying

to tame

the monster

inside me

Georgia was soaking wet. The rain glided off her head and down her face, making her eyes burn slightly on the way down. Her shoes splashed loudly as she ran to the pavement and onto Morris Street, dipping in and out of large puddles along the way. By the time she reached the other side, even her knees were drenched. Her feet felt damp and wrinkled, her trainers doing a poor job of keeping water out. Her socks were soggy and disgusting as they splotched with every step now. She pulled her hoodie tighter over her head, lamenting the thought of how her hair was going to frizz up. Her backpack bounced behind her, weighed down more by the rain.

She hoped the waterproof material would hold up and dreaded the thought of what her books might look like if it didn't. The wind was beginning to howl and it sent the rain swishing in different directions. The chill was bad today. This time of year in Milwaukee usually spelled the end of the cold season, but despite it being the last week of March, winter still stubbornly clung on. It was the third time in the last two weeks she'd missed the bus. Being one of the only seniors at Beldon High without a car was at the forefront of her mind.

Beldon was a public school, so it wasn't like the other kids were all wealthy or something, but still, she felt the mediocrity of being an electrician and a caterer's daughter all the same. How could she not? Especially when popular students like Susan Green had parents with cool jobs. Her dad was an architect. Emily Bale's mom was a food blogger. The wind began whipping at Georgia's face now as she pushed against the rain, trudging her way towards Warbler Road.

Oh, for goodness sake!

Georgia's mind lashed out as she was pushed left and right by the wind. Her parents said she was "petite. It was just a kind of way of saying "tiny". Barely scraping five-foot two, all one hundred and thirty-eight pounds of her was miniscule in comparison to most of her classmates. Right now, that meant even the wind got to bully her. She kept her head down as she tried to walk a straight line. She could only imagine how silly she looked trying to fight her way down the street with the wind routinely tossing her off course.

This must be what it feels like to take a sobriety test when you're tanked.

She smiled to herself at the thought. Somehow, it made her feel better. She could always laugh at herself. She needed that thick skin now to avoid feeling like the eyes of the world were on her as she wobbled her way down the street like a baby antelope learning to walk for the first time. The stores at this end of town were all closed and starting to mist up. The sky overhead was a dreary gray and looked even darker on the horizon. Thankfully, the weather meant the sidewalk wasn't its bustling self today. There were still plenty of cars passing, but even at a glance, Georgia noticed the familiar sight of people lost in their own little morning routines.

Some spoke on Bluetooth as they rushed to meetings; others kept one hand on the steering as the other caressed the warmth of a Starbucks cup. Even the few people on foot were under umbrellas, too busy with their own fight against the torrid weather to notice the mousy little girl they passed. Gaining some comfort from these facts, Georgia quickened her pace. She could still make it to school on time. The walk wasn't that far. Her mom had left early again, dashing off to a catering job at some swanky business conference. It was amazing how much time and effort she could put into meticulously prepping the meals she provided her clients but still forget to pack a lunch for her husband.

Of course, touching fifty-five meant dad didn't quite understand that in today's world, a woman's place was no longer at a man's beck and call. The irony was not lost on Georgia when she had to step in and quickly throw together some ham sandwiches for herself and him. The circumstances were familiar; the end result always the same-missing the school bus again. Georgia's teenage angst annoyed her, or at least it did when she was aware of it. She was now. She reminded herself that she was midway through and in a year's time she would be in college, chasing her dream of being a writer, and all these crappy days would be a distant memory. The timing of her reverie was unfortunate. The moment she heard the grunt of a familiar engine behind her, she sensed something awful was coming next.

Splotch.

The plastic cup made a sound as off putting as the mulch that splashed all over Georgia as it struck her right shoulder. Her cotton hoodie had seemed a good choice when she checked the weather report that morning. As pink bubble tea stained the white fabric and dripped all the way down her shoulders and arms, she regretted wearing white now. Some of the black tapioca pearls stuck to her as she hastily brushed them off her; the little balls bouncing along the pavement and running away with the current as they left dark streaks behind.

"Oh my God!" Georgia shrieked. For good measure, Tyler Norton's Mazda 3 swerved into a large puddle as it passed and splashed her with more icy water. Her legs and thighs winced as the water got through her double-layered tights and found bare skin. A hand stuck out the window of the car and flipped her the bird .

"We thought you could use some breakfast, Dot face," Joey Swinton's obnoxious voice trailed off as the car sped away.

Georgia was livid. Inside, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. On the outside, she fought back tears, willing herself not to cry. She hated the nickname "Dot face". As she passed a store with tinted windows, she caught a brief sight of her reflection. Her eyes had their usual dark circles. Her small cheeks and pouty lips did nothing to brighten up an otherwise ordinary face today. The black beauty spot that sat dead in the center of her nose glared at her. It was the reason why so many of her tormentors only ever referred to as "Dot face" instead of her name.

Just eight more months. Just eight more months. Just eight more months.

The words repeated in her head like a mantra. She couldn't wait to leave her nightmare of a school behind; her teachers, idiots like Tyler and Joey, this town, everything!

Just eight more months. Just eight more months. Just eight more months.

It took fourteen more repetitions of those words before her mind finally began to calm itself. Most of the pink goop was being washed away with it. Georgia knew she probably still looked like a train wreck. It didn't matter. They didn't matter. This place didn't matter. She kept walking.

Just eight more months.

The words were barely a whisper in her head now. She reached Warbler and turned left. Three more blocks, then down South Road and she would be there. The wind was a little less intense in this direction, the tenement buildings on Warbler were higher than the little shops on Morris Street and kept her insulated from the worst of it. She walked faster, still a little charged from the adrenaline of being hit by the cup. Her breath was frosting in front of her, even though her neck was starting to feel a little warm. Up ahead, she heard an angry voice.

Oh God, what now?

Georgia lifted her head up tentatively to see what the commotion was. Ahead, she saw a smartly dressed man on the floor and a younger kid, around her age, who appeared to have knocked him over.

"What the hell man?" the older guy yelled as he got to his feet and brushed off his expensive black overcoat. The kid looked dazed.

"Watch where you're going idiot," the man spat out.

The kid looked frazzled, like his mind was caught between wanting to stop and needing to keep going. In an instant, he seemed to decide that leaving the scene was the better option. As he turned to walk away, Georgia was almost alongside the pair now. The older guy grabbed his shoulder and spun him around angrily. Georgia tried to see the kid's face but he kept looking down and to the side, making twitchy movements with his head and neck. His hair was long, soaked with rain, and hanging over the sides of his face in wet clumps.

Georgia almost gasped with shock when she saw what his clothes looked like. Though he wore a nice, white button-down shirt, black formal pants, and black formal shoes, his appearance was the opposite of someone that usually dressed that way. The shirt was out of the pants, top buttons missing, and it had tears all over the chest and arms. The pants were dirty and looked like he'd been running through a bush; clumps of dirt and remnants of wet foliage still clinging to the bottoms. The shoes were scuffed and muddy, stubborn bits of damp earth still stuck to the sides. His face was streaked with a brownish grime that was washing out but still visible at it streaked down his chin. The shirt was stained with mud and the same brownish substance.

As the rain stuck his shirt to his chest, Georgia couldn't help but notice that he was toned, his muscular frame visible beneath it. His eyes were dark and darted around like he wasn't completely lucid. His breathing was heavy and held a feral quality-sounding like deep, hulking grunts instead. As he spun around to face the man, they both finally got a better look at his face. Georgia was right next to them now, panic rising within her. The man who had seemed so assured and full of anger a moment ago suddenly seemed to back down. There was something about the kid's eyes that was scary. Georgia felt its ferocity, even though its gaze wasn't directed at her.

The man stumbled back, his confidence suddenly abandoning him as he was stared down by a kid half his age. The kid was tall and lean but it was his scruffy, torn clothes, wild hair, blazing stare, and huffing breaths that shut the man up. Seemingly losing his voice with fear, he involuntarily took two steps back. The wind and rain howled around them, the kid's hair blowing about wildly with it as he snarled at the man. Seeming to come to his senses, the man suddenly put both his hands up in a white flag pose, wrapped his overcoat tighter around himself, and walked away as fast as he could. Georgia had stopped now, transfixed by the scene.

That's not true.

The thought hit her like a steam train. She was transfixed by the kid. She knew it now that she could see him straight on. He shook his head like a dog, some normalcy returning to his eyes as he seemed to notice Georgia for the first time. The intensity of his gaze held her in place. He looked her up and down for an instant and then spoke for the first time.

His words were cold, his voice deep and throaty as he said, "What are you looking at?"

Georgia's lips parted to speak but no words came out. She fumbled in her mind and tried to speak, but before anything could come out, the boy turned and walked away in the opposite direction. She watched him for a while. His movements seemed almost pained as he lumbered away in the rain. Georgia was entranced for a moment. Where did he come from? What happened to him? Where was he going? The questions peppered her mind. At first she thought he must clearly be on something; no one could be that trashed and still be sober. She turned and carried on her way to school, trying to get him out of her head. Somehow she sensed there was something else to his story. Whatever it was, Georgia was both afraid of him, but on some level, inexplicably drawn to him. Beyond these emotions, another scandalous feeling caused something else to stir within her. As much as she hated to admit it, she was intensely attracted to him too.

By the time Georgia finally reached the parking lot of Beldon High, she was drenched and shivering. The familiar gray and red entrance came into view as it arched over double-length sliding doors. The clouds ahead cast a morose tone over the day that reflected her mood. The parking lot was full but seemed to lack color today. Even the trees around the lot were dull and lifeless, the sky painting everything below with a pallid tinge. As she neared the entrance, the usual throng of students was down to a small trickle as most kids were already inside.

Joining the line, the chattering group in front of Georgia did nothing to ease her mixed emotions. Their inane conversations were so typical, a bunch of tripe with no substance beyond obsessing over how many likes their latest social media post received, or whatever bandwagon cause they were championing today. They were the reason older people thought of their generation as nothing but a bunch of whiny weaklings. Georgia sighed inwardly as she kept her head down and tried to drown out the chatter around her.

There were times she felt like she truly had nothing in common with people her own age. As she reached the doors, they parted open with a soft whooshing sound. Most of the bubble tea goop had washed off but her hoodie still had patches of pink stains all over it. Georgia could see some kids pointing and sniggering at her. On another day, it might have made her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Today, she had other things on her mind. It had been quite a morning. Between the rain, the howling wind, Tyler and Joey's idiocy, and the mysterious boy she encountered that morning, Georgia's nerves were already rattled and she hadn't even attended a single class yet.

The small line finally made it through the doors and Georgia welcomed the rush of warmth that hit her once she stepped inside. Her ears began to tingle as blood rushed back to them. After the last two kids in front of her entered, she swung her backpack over her shoulder, placing it with a light thud inside the plastic container that Mr. Weaver held out. The portly security guard looked as sullen as ever, his dark blue uniform failing to hide the paunch that hung out over his waist. His bushy mustache had droplets of rain in it and his shirt clung to him from being wet. Georgia wondered how his balding head never froze in weather like this.

Red faced and leering at her as usual, he said, "Part of the stragglers again, huh Pearce?"

"I missed the bus," Georgia mumbled, barely glancing at him.

"What happened, did you ride a stick of bubblegum all the way over here?" he asked, motioning to the pink stains.

"Tyler and Joey," Georgia replied curtly.

Weaver's face scrunched up and looked even angrier than he always did. He pretty much loathed all students but Tyler Norton, Joey Swinton, and their crew were by far the ones he hated most.

"If you'd got here earlier, I could have straightened those idiots out."

Georgia rolled her eyes. Weaver's tough guy act was so sad sometimes. It couldn't have been easy being a security guard at forty-five years old. Less so when you had to spend your days surrounded by a bunch of entitled teenagers that all looked down on you. On another day Georgia might have felt pity for him like she sometimes did. Today her mind was far too agitated to care about him. As he passed her bag through the scanner she saw the green light turn on as she passed the gauntlet and grabbed her bag, entering the school without another glance in Weaver's direction.

The ritual always irked her. She hated living in a world where you had to pass a metal detector just to enter a school. Once she passed the section she referred to as 'the gauntlet', she went straight and turned right down the first hallway. The relative silence at the entrance was instantly broken. The lights were on, which made it brighter than outside. A slew of colors and noise greeted her as she rounded the corner. The school was like a cliché. Georgia made her way through the usual melee. As she walked, she spotted familiar scenes out of the corner of her eye.

Taylor James was kissing Eddie Watts near his locker, the jocks were standing in a corner with their infernal football jackets on, other people were chatting, some gossiping. All in all, it was a scene that had long since grown into one big familiar blur to her. As she reached her own locker, she had to nudge people out of the way to get to it. Just as she opened it, she heard a cackling laugh from across the hall.

The annoying voice carried over all the heads when Tyler Norton yelled out, "Hey dot face, you made it."

Georgia saw some heads turn in her direction as they followed Tyler's voice and then the direction he looked in.

"I love that color on you. Pink actually makes you look like a girl now," Joey Swinton chimed in.

The buzz of voices grew into an infuriating din. Georgia refused to look up again and kept her head focused on the inside of her locker, feeling her cheeks burn with shame now. Her tiny hands balled into fists at her side as she shoved her backpack in.

Just eight more months. Just eight more months. Just eight more months.

Georgia's mood was at an all-time low. The combined pressure of that morning's events and being soaked and miserable pushed down on her. The noise around her wasn't helping. Just when it seemed like it might all be too much, Georgia heard a thump next to her. Moving her locker door, she saw Benny Nunez leaning on the locker next to hers. His mouth was curled into a broad smile, perfect white teeth gleaming at her. Benny had skin the color of copper and hair as dark as night. He had a pleasant enough face but looked a little goofy when he smiled from behind his oversized teeth. Being short and skinny, he was one of the only guys at the school that didn't dwarf Georgia all that much; one of the chief reasons she liked hanging out with him.

"So dot face, what happened?"

"Don't call me that!" snapped Georgia.

"Relax, I'm your friend, remember? No need to be all angry with me. I'm not the one that gave you a pink tattoo. Oh, look, this patch looks like a polar bear. That's awesome. Maybe you can turn it into a brand, you know, like the one with the crocodile. I heard-"

Georgia slammed her locker door with a thud. Benny stopped talking with a small jolt.

"I'm sorry Ben, I'm just not in the mood right now."

When Benny got going, Georgia knew all too well that he was like an endless train that changed tracks every two seconds. Usually she enjoyed the way he was one of the only people that could divert her attention from the pangs of student life at Beldon High. Today, however, she just needed some quiet, a moment to herself, to just breathe and process her thoughts.

"Geez, okay. I'm sorry. I was just trying to cheer you up. I can see you didn't have the greatest morning,"

Benny said, his tone striking a serious note now.

Georgia sighed. "It's okay Ben. I'm sorry too. Yeah, you're right. I had an awful morning and no, I do not wanna talk about it," she added rapidly as she saw Benny's mouth open again.

He closed it. Georgia gave him her books to hold for a moment.

"Where's Lisa?" she asked as she removed her hoodie, and stuffed it into her locker, before scrunching up her hair and pinning it at the back of her head.

"She texted me. She's got a stomach bug or something, not coming in today."

Georgia nodded at this piece of information, hoping that her other best friend would be okay. As she adjusted the strappy black top she had on under the hoodie, Georgia noticed Benny steal a glance at her chest. Not there was anything to see. Georgia was as flat chested as the rest of her was skinny, but the bare skin between her neck and breasts still seemed to catch Benny's attention the moment the hoodie came off.

Is there anything else teenage boys think of?

There was no time to care about how she looked. Thankfully Tyler and his minions had moved on to harassing someone else. Most of the students were preparing for first period and this gave Georgia and Benny a chance to slink off toward home room together. Georgia cradled her books while Benny's bag hung off his right shoulder. For a while they chatted about a test from the day before. Finally, the day was beginning to feel normal again. Reaching the classroom, the pair took their usual seats next to each other at the back of the class, two rows from the last one. The classroom was as bland as any other in a public school, the walls holding posters of biology charts, famous sayings, historical figures, with a white board, and teachers' table up front. There were oak colored desks and chairs for around thirty students. A few of them were empty today. This seemed to be the norm on rainy days. Georgia looked at the empty seats and shook her head.

Apparently, rain makes people melt.

As the pair took their seats, the class was still buzzing with chatter. Most students still had on their jackets and parkas even though the heat was turned on. The din suddenly came to a grinding halt as the door opened again and Mrs. Jordan entered. The wiry woman seemed flushed today. Her hawkish eyes darted around the class as she placed her bag on the table and motioned for everyone to settle down. Her auburn hair hung down the sides of her face in shiny clumps today. The rain had clearly gotten it poufy in comparison to the neat, pin-straight rows that usually cascaded down her neck. Georgia was still rummaging around in her bag for a pencil when Mrs. Jordan started speaking.

"Settle down. Class, we have a new student joining us from the New Port area today" she was saying.

Georgia was barely listening.

Where the hell is my pencil?

In the background, Georgia heard the door open again and a few of the girls began shuffling excitedly around her. Georgia remained oblivious. The immature chattering of her classmates wasn't something she ever paid attention to, even at the best of times. Mrs. Jordan's voice droned on at the front of the class. The register of her voice may as well have been an inaudible sound for all Georgia noticed or cared right then.

"Aah there you are. It's nice of you to join us. Let me be the first to welcome you, but also to remind you that in this class, we start promptly at seven thirty, so please try to be on time from tomorrow."

Georgia still had her head down and was barely listening, the voices fading into the background as she finally found her pencil wedged among some pages that had gotten stuck together.

"So what do we call you?" Mrs. Jordan was asking.

The voice that answered snapped her out of her inattentiveness like an ice cube being run down her back.

It was throaty and almost had a guttural note to it as he grunted out, "Hayden...Hayden Ryder".

It was unmistakable. Georgia's first instinct was incredulity. The voice might have been unfamiliar on any other day. Today, it was instantly recognizable, yet that made the sound of it more unbelievable somehow.

It can't be!

She looked up and almost let out an audible gasp when she saw the new student for the first time. It was the boy from the street.

Georgia couldn't have told a soul what went on around her that day. For the first time in her life she played truant at school. She was physically present throughout every class but her mind couldn't have been further away. From class to class, wherever Georgia went, she felt the back of her neck burn. Hayden Ryder always managed to get in before her and sit at the back. Every class she entered, she tried to make eye contact with him as she walked to her seat. Each time she wanted to speak or say something to him, she lost the nerve once it came time to actually let out the words.

Frustratingly, he always kept his head down and never once looked up to see her. It might have been easier if he did. He could have spoken first and broken the tension Georgia felt. Homeroom was the worst. Hayden had taken the seat directly behind Georgia. Her eyes were fixed on his face as he passed, as were every girls' in the class. Some of them even giggled unashamedly and openly catcalled him, which Mrs. Jordan was not pleased about. The boys also seemed entranced by him. Hayden appeared immune to everything around him. He kept his head fixed ahead and never blinked as he walked to his seat without acknowledging a single person.

Knowing that he was behind her made her hyper aware of every inch of herself. The back of her neck felt so exposed. She had never hated the back of her neck more. It was so small. Maybe the skin looked bad? Was she hairy there? These questions plagued her mind as she felt like Hayden's eyes were on the back of her head throughout the class. Benny picked up on her daze. He became sulky soon after and the two never spoke much. Georgia didn't notice or care. Benny suddenly didn't exist. No one else did. There was just one person on her mind and everything else melted away.

With each bell, Hayden woke up robotically and was out of the classroom in a flash. In the next class, he was already there each time; sitting in the last row, head down, and refusing to look up or talk to anyone else. Georgia had so many infuriating questions on her mind and not a single answer.

What the hell is he doing here? Where'd he go after leaving the street that morning? What happened to him? Why did he look so dirty and banged up on the street?

He had obviously cleaned himself up. He had on a plain black t-shirt and indigo denims now. His hair was still long but it was tamer, falling over his forehead in neat, silky rows. It wasn't just that he was cleaner and not dressed in clothes anymore. Somehow, he looked tamer too. Still a beautiful specimen of a boy, but not as edgy and wild looking. He didn't seem remotely as frightening now. Still, there was something deeply intense about his eyes. He seemed to only ever wear one expression- smoldering.

"Earth to Georgia?" Benny's voice broke through her muddled thoughts.

"What?" she asked more bluntly than intended.

"I get it. He's good looking."

Benny's tone was casual, but Georgia could sense a slight edge of bitterness.

"Who, the new guy? He's not my type."

Liar. He's everyone's type!

Benny snorted dismissively, like he could read her thoughts.

"Please. No need to be coy. You're not the only one that's noticed him."

Benny motioned around the cafeteria with his head. As he did so, it felt like the sounds and colors of the place had been on pause and suddenly switched on again. Now that she was paying attention again, she realized what Benny meant. The cafeteria at Beldon High was the one saving grace that kept the school from being engulfed by mediocrity. It was an expansive room, brightly lit, with brand new aluminum tables and multi-colored soft-touch seats. The buffet-style menu offered well-cooked meat, fish, vegetarian, and vegan dishes, and a halal menu.

Even the buzz of the students that filled it out each day wasn't enough to make Georgia dislike this one feature of her school. Looking around it now, she found herself hating it for the first time. Why'd so many other students have to like it too? If they didn't, there would be fewer wandering female eyes around the place all staring surreptitiously at Hayden. Georgia had never been this way before.

Get it together, Pearce. What the hell?

Some of the other girls weren't even trying to hide it and checked him out openly. It wasn't just his looks that got to her. Everyone there with eyes could lay claim to them. Yet, she felt connected to him in some weird way. Plus, she'd seen him first. She'd known of his existence before any of them. He sat on a single seater table, eating a sandwich with a look of pure disgust for every bite. His eyes were downcast, refusing to acknowledge anyone around him. Georgia was awed by his ability to simultaneously magnetize everyone's attention while ignoring them all at the same time.

Finally, a group of girls summoned the courage to go up to him. Of course it was Penelope Jenkins and her posse. They always had to be the object of every boy's lust at school. They were too far away for Georgia to hear but she could see that Hayden had shut them down. The way they slinked away from his table wearing expressions of shock and outrage was priceless.

That will teach you. Skanks!

Georgia realized she couldn't keep it in anymore. She had to tell someone about the morning. Benny was droning about something again.

"Benny, shut up for a moment."

He stopped mid-sentence, looking affronted but paying attention anyway.

"I gotta tell you something."

As Georgia launched into the tale of how she had first seen Hayden that morning, Benny's face wore all the expressions of shock and confusion she'd felt herself. When she was done, Benny openly stared at Hayden with his lip curled into a smirk. Georgia could almost see the wheels turning and the satisfaction he gleaned from knowing there were chinks in Hayden's seemingly perfect armor. He turned back to Georgia and when he spoke, his tone was more serious.

"That's crazy. Where the hell could he have been coming from looking like that?" Georgia shrugged.

"That brown stuff you said was all over his shirt. Do you think it could have been blood?"

"Most of it looked like dirt...or mud. Some of it did kinda look like blood when it starts to turn brown...I guess." Benny's face turned grave.

"Do you think he's a serial killer?"

"Benny!"

"What?"

"I'm being serious here. A serial killer? Really?"

Benny wasn't laughing or exhibiting any of his usual silly antics.

"I am being serious. Dude shows up out of the blue looking like a freakshow and covered in what might be blood and you're not concerned? I mean, he's sitting right there. We have a right to know if he's dangerous."

"Geez...okay. I don't know. It's just, we don't really know anything about him right now, so maybe there's a valid explanation for everything. Maybe he was....just....mugged or something."

Benny's eyes lost their fire for a moment.

"Look, until we know what we're dealing with, I just think we should keep our distance from him".

He threw in the last part nonchalantly, but it still irritated Georgia. She'd known for a long time that he nursed a secret crush on her. She didn't want to think about the implications if he ever actually tried to act on it but moments like this made it harder to ignore the truth.

"I'm not afraid of him," Georgia said.

And it's not your place to tell me who I should stay away from.

"That's because you think he's hot," Benny shot back.

Georgia rolled her eyes dismissively.

He's beyond hot actually!

Happy that Benny couldn't read her mind, she quietly watched Hayden for the umpteenth time that day. His head was down as usual but his nose twitched, almost like he had smelled something in the air. Before Georgia could react, he lifted his head and looked straight at her. His dark pupils were piercing and they locked eyes for a moment. Georgia was frozen, while his expression was unreadable. She felt herself start to perspire from the anxiety the moment was causing her. Hayden's nose twitched again. It was weird and made her feel more uncomfortable.

He can't possibly smell me from all the way over there, can he?

The thought alone caused her forehead to sweat a little more.

Perfect. Just perfect! Sweat away, Pearce.

If Hayden's glare went on much longer, its intensity might have caused her to look away, or scream, or jump up, anything to dull the hypnotic effect it had. He looked down again and Georgia was grateful to be released from his rapture. Benny fell silent. Georgia remembered he was there and looked back his way tentatively after realizing she was still frozen.

Benny shook his head softly like a disappointed father. "If he ever comes to school in a black trench coat, I'm calling the cops," he said.

Georgia was emotionally spent by the end of the day. The feeling of Hayden staring at the back of her neck was worse after they'd locked eyes in the cafeteria. She willed herself not to sweat from the anxiety of knowing he was behind her. Each time she thought this, it was like her body deliberately betrayed her. She felt like she heard Hayden's nose gently sniff the air at these inopportune moments.

A more disconcerting thought was that she usually never perspired or smelled bad. When the last bell sounded, Georgia grabbed her bag and scooted out of the class. The usual rush of scraping chairs and chattering students followed her out into the hallway. Outside the windows that lined the walls to the left, she noticed the weather hadn't improved.

Great!

Reaching her locker, she was busy repacking her bag when she heard a commotion from the other end.

"Tyler, just let it go. Stop being such an idiot!"

Georgia turned and fear began welling inside her. Tyler Norton's girlfriend, Lucy Vale, looked livid as she was pushing him back. Hayden stood in front, pressed up against the wall. All the other students stopped what they were doing and watched the scene unfold. Joey Swinton and a few other cronies stood in front, blocking any chance of escaping.

"I just asked him a simple question," Tyler was saying.

Only Hayden wasn't like their usual prey. If he felt any fear of them at all, he gave no indication of it. In fact, the look on Hayden's face was frightening. Most guys that got picked on by Tyler and his crew were usually trembling by now. Georgia recognized the same wild-eyed expression from that morning flashing over Hayden's face and something inside her felt compelled to act. She pushed her way through the crowd.

"I think this dickhead needs to be taught a lesson" Joey was saying as she reached them.

Georgia could sense that something wasn't right. Hayden was shaking a little, only it wasn't with fear. It felt menacing somehow, more like he was bristling with rage the way a vicious dog did before it attacked something.

"STOP!" Georgia yelled as she saw Joey advancing on him.

Just as Joey reached Hayden, his eyes darkened further and his expression squashed up into a look of pure aggression. His chest began heaving with loud breaths and a deep, guttural sound emanated from his mouth. It was the weirdest sound Georgia had ever heard, except she had heard it before. It was the same sound he'd made that morning when the man he knocked down tried to grab his shoulder. It wasn't loud but the density of it was a sound no human should have been capable of registering. Georgia almost felt the sound vibrate in her chest.

There was no other way to describe it. It was like the warning snarl of an animal. The sound, combined with the feral look in Hayden's eyes, caused a few people to look nervous and actually stopped Joey in his tracks. For a moment, Georgia clearly saw in his eyes what she and everyone else there were feeling-fear. It crossed Joey's eyes and was enough for him to reconsider trying to fight Hayden. The momentary pause was long enough for Mr. Pickford, the biology teacher, to show up.

"What's going on here? Tyler, Joey, get away from him!" he barked.

Joey seemed to recover from his momentary lapse in bravado. The two trouble makers glared at Hayden like he was lucky he intervened. Georgia couldn't help but feel like they were lucky Mr. Pickford showed up when he had.

"We were just messing around." Tyler said as he wrapped his arm around Lucy's shoulder and walked away with her.

The rest of the crew followed and Hayden finally seemed to start relaxing again. His face softened back into his default scowl but the rage was gone. Mr. Pickford dispersed everyone. He asked Hayden if he was okay.

Hayden just grunted back, "I'm fine".

Taking two deep breaths, he grabbed his bag off the floor and walked towards the exit. Every eye was on him but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, he stared directly at Georgia.

"I can take care of myself. Stay out of it next time!" he said as he pushed his way past her and left