Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (40 page)
“Psst…Kirsten,” Jessica whispered.
“Jessica, do you have something you want to say to the whole class?” Mr. Thompson asked.
“Uhh, no. I just wanted to talk to Kirsten,” Jessica replied blankly. Mr. Thompson stared at her with one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. “Oh right, class,” she said, slouching back into her desk.
“So glad you remembered, Jessica. Now, where was I? Water, right,” Mr. Thompson stated. Kirsten rolled her eyes again shaking her head.
The class seemed to be lasting forever, and Kirsten was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Resting her head on the cool desktop, she slowly drifted off to sleep. Opening her eyes, Kirsten looked around and saw nothing but rows of lockers. “Why am I in the locker room? I’m supposed to be in chemistry,” she asked out loud. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a basketball bouncing toward her from the equipment cage. After grabbing the ball on its last bounce, Kirsten headed over to the cage, and placed it back on the shelf. As she turned around, she was stopped cold by Cat, who was frantic.
“Kirsten, you have to hide! They’re coming!” Cat spat out.
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s no time to explain! Hurry, hide in there!” Cat ordered, putting her hand on Kirsten’s shoulder and shoving her slightly toward the equipment cage. Kirsten pushed Cat’s hand off of her.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on!”
Cat looked away, “Shhh…they’re here.”
“Who’s here?” Kirsten asked anxiously.
Cat slowly turned her head back to face Kirsten, her fangs bared. “Vampires,” she said and lunged for Kirsten’s neck.
“No Cat!” Kirsten screamed, waking up in class. Everyone was staring at her. Scanning the room, Kirsten became more and more embarrassed as she noticed all the looks she was receiving.
What the hell was that?
She thought.
“Looks like someone has a lesbian crush,” a girl called out from the back of the class.
“Who said that?” Kirsten asked angrily, eying the two back rows. No one answered.
“Kirsten, I’m going to need you to stay after to discuss this little episode of yours,” Mr. Thompson ordered as the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Kirsten moaned and slumped in her desk.
Walking into her biology class, Cat expected to see Mr. Pierson sitting behind his desk with his usual glasses nestled just off the bridge of his nose, his prized pocket protector proudly displayed, and his light brown hair disheveled from running his fingers through it all day. Instead she was met with a somber and tired looking Miss Amaya.
“So I’m guessing he called in then?” Cat asked. Miss Amaya shook her head and proceeded to cross names off the roll call sheet.
“So class, today we shall pick up where you left off on your frog dissections. Everyone please proceed to your lab tables and begin prepping your areas,” Miss Amaya said, forcing a smile. She walked over to the cabinet where the frogs were being kept. Opening it she was hit by the stench of formaldehyde.
Ugh, this is such a foul smell!
She thought. As she distributed a frog to every lab table, Miss Amaya cringed at the sound of each one plopping onto their trays.
“Miss Amaya?” Cat called out, holding the scalpel to the frog’s chest.
“Yes, dear, you have a question?” Miss Amaya asked, covering her mouth with her lavender scarf to protect herself from the smell.
“Well, Mr. Pierson was in the middle of showing us how to make the first incision yesterday, and then the bell rang. Could you show us?”
“I guess, I could,” Miss Amaya replied, hesitantly taking the scalpel that Cat handed to her. With one hand firmly holding the scarf over her mouth and nose, Miss Amaya placed the scalpel to the frog’s chest. Pressing the scalpel down, using only two fingers as to not accidentally touch the frog’s slimy skin, she began to make the incision. The sound of the frog being cut open caused her to squint and turn her head away. Suddenly a liquid shot out from the opening causing Cat, Miss Amaya, and Hannah to scream. Miss Amaya’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she collapsed, fainting to the floor. Her scarf slowly floated down to the ground after.
“Miss Amaya?!” Cat yelled.
Waking up in the nurse’s office, Miss Amaya blinked open her eyes and felt her head. A groan of pain followed. “You took a nasty little fall there, Amaya,” the school nurse said, patting Miss Amaya’s arm.
“How long have I been out?”
“Not long. The school day is almost over though,” she replied with a smile.
A few moments later the school bell rang. The door to the nurse’s office flew open and Cat ran into the room. “Miss Amaya! They found Melvin’s car in a ditch by the Covington River! There’s no trace of him anywhere!” Cat’s voice wobbled.
“What?!” Miss Amaya sprang up, forgetting her headache. “Do they know what happened?” she asked with worried eyes.
“No, they have no idea! Principal Landers just made the announcement like fifteen minutes ago. She wanted to let us know personally, and not have to find it out on the news.”
“I was shocked when I heard. Such a nice man, I hope they find him soon,” the nurse commented. Miss Amaya stared at Cat in disbelief, Cat stared back. A tear rolled down her cheek as Cat embraced her in a hug. No more words were spoken.
The school’s winter open house was a packed affair. As Cat and her mom entered her biology classroom she was overcome with sadness. She missed Mr. Pierson’s smile. Miss Amaya stood by his desk greeting the parents and students, not looking any happier than Cat.
“Mrs. Colvin, Cat, welcome. And thank you for braving this dreadful weather to be with us. I’m still getting used to this room.” Her eyes began tearing up as she turned to point to a sheet of paper lying on the desk. “Please sign in, and as soon as the bell rings we’ll begin.”
Cat reached over and squeezed Miss Amaya’s hand, relieved at the little smile she received back.
“Welcome, parents and students. I’m Miss Amaya and this is Biology 101. If some of you haven’t heard, I’m Mr. Pierson’s temporary replacement. On the board you’ll see what we have in store for the remainder of the school year. We recently dissected frogs, not one of my favorite things, I can assure you,” she smiled as several people laughed at the disgusted look on her face. “Now, feel free to look around the room at some of the projects your children have been working on. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”
After walking around the classroom, Rachel sat down in one of the many student desks, trying to keep her attention on one of Cat’s project folders. Instead, she was distracted by her daughter’s focus on Miss Amaya. Cat had informed them of the affect Mr. Pierson’s disappearance had on her usually happy teacher. Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel watched as Ulla Bancroft’s ugly glare focused on Cat who was talking with Hannah.
“Miss Amaya looks really upset,” Hannah said gloomily.
“I know. I wish we could help her. She really liked Mr. Pierson, and he liked her,” Cat whispered, glancing over at Miss Amaya.
“I can’t believe they found his car in that ditch. It’s strange that they didn’t find him too, don’t you think?”
