Chapter 5- Night Vision

Regina had made up her mind. She had tried to be subtle but that had gotten her nowhere. Maybe Darren needed more than eye contact, suggestive glances and coy smiles, so she was going to give the direct approach a try. She hated looking desperate but she had run out of ideas and with the new siren in town, it was only a matter of time before her spot by Darren's side was threatened. She could just feel it.

Now, if only she could find the man of her dreams. With the way he'd packed up his things and rushed out of the class immediately the bell for lunch break went off, she hoped he was alright.

"Umm...Regina, would you like to have lunch with me today?" A voice asked.

Regina didn't even bother to look up at the owner of the voice and continued packing and arranging the contents of her bag. "No."

"Oh...okay...how about I give you a ride home after school?" The voice asked again sounding hopeful.

Regina looked up after she had zipped her bag and found Zayne, her latest ex, looking at her like a lost puppy. How did people find him cute? She'd only dated him in a last attempt to make Darren notice her and it had failed. Truth be told, Zayne disgusted her. How could a guy stoop so low to the extent of literally groveling for attention?

Good riddance, she thought.

Regina simply stood up from her seat and waved her car keys in Zayne's face before walking out of the class. She didn't miss the way his face fell and mentally sighed. She remembered when he'd told her he loved her and how she had laughed in his face before telling him not to get ahead of himself. It was his own fault he'd ended up heartbroken. After all, she'd been kind enough to warn him and he'd been foolish enough to ignore her.

As she walked towards the cafeteria looking for Darren along the way, she noticed two girls bullying a smaller girl and Regina glanced at the girl being bullied in disgust. How could someone be so weak?

Regina continued searching the hallways and almost missed Darren standing by the door to the admin office and looking down at his phone with his headphones on. She was sure that the old hag in there was looking for his attention and had called him to see her. In as much as she couldn't blame the woman, Darren was already spoken for so she could take her withering self and be a pedophile to someone else's son. Regina started walking towards Darren with the smile she'd practiced just for him just when the witch appeared.

Right before her eyes, Regina saw Darren look up at the ugly redhead as if he had sensed her coming and smile. He smiled?! Why the hell was he smiling at that thing? Before they could say anything to each other, Regina walked up to them.

"Darren. There you are. I've been looking all over the school for you." Regina said with her perfect smile in place. She didn't even acknowledge Athena's presence and focused her attention on Darren.

"Oh, hey Reggie. What's up?" Darren asked as he made himself look away from Athena.

"Nothing really...I just needed your help with today's calculus lesson. There are a few things I'm not quite clear on." Regina said and moved closer to Darren. "Are you busy right now?" She asked and bumped up the wattage of her smile.

"Yes actually, I'm showing Athena around school...but I could get Zayne to help you out. He's literally a wiz with numbers." Darren responded as he settled his headphones on his neck.

He was showing the witch around?! She hadn't spent a full day and she was already throwing herself around? How thirsty could she be? Regina wondered as she finally turned to see Athena smiling at her.

"I see..." Regina said and walked away. The whore deserved whatever was coming to her.

***

Athena was definitely going to give herself a medal if she kept up with her level of self-control. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to hold in her laughter the way she'd been doing today. Greeny (as Athena called Regina in her head) was definitely getting her panties in a twist and nothing cracked Athena up like a jealous and overly possessive female. The girl obviously liked Darren and like every clueless male, he was oblivious to the fact.

"So...what's your impression of the school so far?" Darren asked as they started walking.

"It's not bad. I mean once you get over the constant stares, it's okay." Athena answered with a shrug.

"You can't blame them for staring." Darren muttered under his breath but Athena still heard him and smiled lightly.

"So music. How does that mix with calculus?" Darren asked trying to keep the conversation going. He didn't even notice that the voices were gone.

"Well, I've got a head for numbers and a heart for art." Athena said and smiled at him.

Darren could hear his heart in his head.

"That's really cool. So you've met Rainbow then?" Darren finally asked after he'd been able to steady himself.

"You know her?" Athena asked. If they were related did that mean the supernatural vibes she'd gotten from him were related to Rainbow's?

"Yeah. Our parents are business partners so we kinda grew up together." Darren said.

"And how have you not gone deaf by now?" Athena asked genuinely curious.

Darren laughed. "I guess my eardrums adjusted over time."

"Lucky you. I had music and arts classes with her and I'm happy I made it out alive." Athena said with a sigh.

Darren laughed again and Athena couldn't ignore it this time. His eyes seemed to sparkle when he laughed and his deep voice almost made her toes curl. Almost.

Darren continued showing her around and making jokes about some of the teachers that taught the classes he pointed out.

On their way they bumped into Professor Stein and Athena knew that he wasn't ordinary. His supernaturality felt...diluted. As though one of his ancestors had married a human or something. It wasn't uncommon among the supernaturals but she hadn't expected to find a descendant here. It seemed The Guardians knew what they were doing after all.

Darren and Athena greeted the professor and continued on but Athena threw a glance over her shoulder and noticed him staring at them. She was going to have a talk with him later on.

***

He couldn't believe it. In all his years of research and field work he'd never come across a supernatural being that knew what they were and Professor Stein could bet his favorite pair of glasses that the new girl knew exactly what she was. Maybe she'd been the reason behind his earlier uneasiness. He made up his mind to find out just what she was doing at Ives High.

***

As the day went on at Ives High, Damon Jage was wondering if he couldn't have been created with a more pathetic life. His destiny was to slay demons. That was why the gods had forged him without a heart but with every other ability necessary for the fulfillment of his purpose. He'd been trained by the warrior goddess Morrigan herself.

So why the hell was he being sent to the human realm?

The realm was filled with ignorant fools and even demons had gotten tired of them so it's not like he was going on a hunt. But he could not question the gods. After all, they had given him life.

And so with a surly expression, the dark warrior whose skin was like night as his eyes were like the sun, packed his weapons and passed through the portal to hell. The human realm was as good as that.

When he got to where the gods had prepared for him, he dropped his bag on the ground and looked around. The place was peaceful. At least the gods had pitied him enough to grant him quiet. The houses that lined the street on both sides were almost identical to one another with a few personal touches to distinguish them. He sincerely hoped the people that lived here were as quiet as the current state of the neighborhood.

He picked up his bag and walked into his own house. He needed his rest. Night time was when demons roamed.

***

Athena still didn't understand how Rainbow had ended up in her car. The girl was absolutely unbelievable. It was like she purposely ignored the signs and hints Athena had been dropping all day.

"So! Darren said I shouldn't destroy your ears." Rainbow said and laughed heartily. "I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about." She said and laughed again.

Athena just sighed and turned on the radio. A decision she would regret for the rest of her life because as soon as the thing came on, Rainbow squealed and started singing along with 5 Seconds of Summer as they belted out Teeth.

Athena was going to make sure Bruce listened to this particular song a million times.

"FIGHT SO DIRTY BUT YOU LOVE SO SWEET!!! TALK SO PRETTY BUT YOUR HEART'S GOT TEETH!!! LATE NIGHT DEVIL PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME!!! NEVER NEVER EVER EVER LET ME GO!!!"

Athena was going to soak her head in ice once she got home.

They finally reached their neighborhood and Athena was counting the seconds. If she didn't drop Rainbow off soon, she was going to explode.

When Athena got to a house two houses away from hers, Rainbow told her to stop there. The house was definitely the most colourful house on the street. The roof was painted in different shades of green, blue and pink while the walls of the house were painted purple and the windows were painted red. Athena wondered if her eyes were bleeding already.

"Bye Theenie! You're picking me up for school tomorrow right? Thank you!" Rainbow said as she got out of the car. Before she closed the door, she stuck her head back into the car and pecked Athena on the cheek. "Moira said bye." And then she closed the door and skipped to her door already calling out for Serena.

Athena wasn't sure why she wanted to throw up. She was stuck between the nickname and the peck. She just shuddered and drove to her house. Athena was already thinking about how soft and cool her bed would be.

***

That night, with all the pieces of fate's puzzle present and asleep, the vision came.