5 Chapter Five: The Alley

Jade looked at her schedule, trying to commit it to memory before the first bell rang. Impossible, of course, but she didn't want to be 'that' girl. The one staring at a piece of paper, looking lost. Giving up, for the time being, she looked at her locker number, and followed the numbers down, until she found hers. With a start, she recognized the area. It was really close to where that damned Demon and his lackeys had stopped her.

'Just my luck. Damn it.'

With a sigh, she opened the locker, grateful the door was well oiled and tossed her bag in, not really caring about the organization at this point. She took a notebook and pencil out of the bag and took another glance at the bell schedule paper. With a final nod, she headed to her first class.

Walking into room 15, she was surprised to see it already full. The teacher glanced up at her as the bell rang.

"You must be Jaderyn, correct?" The female teacher asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Jade replied.

"Take a seat, first one on the fifth row." The teacher instructed.

Jade was about to head to the desk and get away from the eyes of the class when the teacher stopped her.

"Would you wait for a moment?" The teacher asked.

Jade didn't say a thing, holding her breath as she hoped she wasn't about to be introduced.

"Class,"

Of course, Jade had awful luck.

"Please welcome our new student, Jaderyn Parke."

Some murmurs rose up in the class, the students giving her sideways glances.

"The Jaderyn Parke. As in, daughter of the famous Demon Hunter Parke?" A girl said.

Jade tried to identify her but failed. Sighing internally, she pasted a smile to her face.

"Ex-Demon Hunter, but yes, that's me." She gritted her teeth as she went to her desk, determined to ignore everyone around her.

Someone by the door cleared their throat, obviously calling attention to themselves. Jade's determination broke. She looked over to see none other than the painfully handsome Derik. She cast him a glare and looked away, angry at herself, that just looking at him caused her heart to speed up.

"If I had known you were that Parke, I would've punished that idiot immediately," Derik said, walking over and taking the seat next to her.

Jade could hear the girls swooning, and the shuffling of the uncomfortable boys. It seemed Derik was a big thing. She looked over to him, studying his face for any sign of anger or teasing. Finding none, she felt her face heating up again, his features drawing her thoughts to places far away from anyone but the two of them, and much fewer clothes.

Jade didn't want to call bad attention to herself, but he was beginning to annoy her. No one should have such an effect on her.

"My apologies for wanting to be more than rumors and envy." She said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

Audible gasps filled the room, but Derik just smiled. Like he was enjoying this.

'The bastard's toying with me.'

Before anything more could be said, the teacher hit a wooden ruler against her desk.

"Settle down. The class has begun."

The room went silent again, except a few murmurs here and there. Jade and Derik maintained eye contact. The more she looked into his eyes, the more her mind slipped away. Those black eyes could cause terror, but they held so much. Anger, Amusement, a hint of flirting.

'Love, Lust, Passion.'

Ashamed by her thoughts, Jade was the first to look away. She continued to feel his stare, but she did her best to ignore it, the only sign she acknowledged him was her increased heartbeat and lightly blushing cheeks.

'Damn it all.'

She thought as she struggled to focus. She wasn't able to help glancing over at him every once in a while, but as he wasn't paying attention to the class, he wasn't paying attention to her either.

Lunch came faster than she expected, and unfortunately, so far, it seemed she shared every class with the damned Derik.

As she discovered, they had forty minutes for lunch, and it was open campus. Figuring time, her house was only fifteen minutes away, if she hurried, she could get there in ten. That would leave her about twenty minutes at most to eat. Deciding it was a plan, Jade headed out of the school. Turning her music on, she was about to put her earbuds in when she heard an ear-piercing scream.

Those around her looked startled, some taking out their phone, to call the police, Jade assumed.

Instead of waiting around, Jade did what she had always done, run towards the screaming. She took off at a sprint, looking down the alleys until she found an occupied one. She was heading into it, planning on sneaking up and tackling the attacker, when a hand went across her mouth, and an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her into a dark corner behind a dumpster.

Relying on instinct, Jade struggled, trying to bring her arm back to get her capturer in the gut. Her arms were effectively pinned to her sides, and the person, a male, she guessed by their strength and size, lowered their mouth to her ear.

"Stop struggling, would you? We need to be silent, that person is dangerous."

Jade stilled, shocked into silence.

'Derik?'

"Are you done?" Derik asked her, still whispering, still close to her ear.

His breath tickled her, making her shiver in delight, but she nodded. Slowly, as if he didn't trust Jade, he took his hand off of her mouth. He didn't move the arm around her waist though. That arm stayed in place, firmly pressing Jade's small frame into him.

'We fit together perfectly.'

Jade brushed the thought away. There was no time for that, this situation was dangerous.

Noise from the alley snapped Jade back into reality. Something fell, like a dead weight.

'Or a dead body.'

Again, Jade pushed her thoughts away, this time out of fear. Her attention was brought back by the sound of wings flapping, then silence.

Derik's body relaxed, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"What.." Jade began.

"No time. The cops will be here soon." Derik said, taking her hand and pulling her away.

"Hold up." Jade dug her heels in, not letting herself be dragged away. "We have to make sure that person is okay."

"She's fine," Derik replied, eyes darting to the entrance of the alley, police sirens coming closer.

"How do you know they're a she? And how do you know they're fine?" Jade asked, her stubborn personality not giving way.

"Because..." Derik seemed to be deciding what to tell her, his eyes constantly shifting to the alley mouth.

"Because.." Jade prompted.

"Because that was an Incubus attack. She'll live. Now let's go!" Derik emphasized "go" by pulling on her hand.

Jade gave this time and followed him out of the alley. The sound of footsteps echoed as the police entered the alley Jade and Derik had just left.