McKayla Disaster

The next few weeks didn't have much happening. Ember wasn't bothered in such a way as the pool incident, thankfully. She was, however, still ignored, insulted, and talked about behind her back. Blade helped her know what was going on. They became best friends. Her only friend.

The sassy girl, her name was McKayla, was the worst. She enjoyed pushing Ember around, but stopped and acted as if nothing was wrong once Blade approached. The girl obviously liked Blade, but he never encouraged her. He didn't seem to like her very much.

One day, however, was worse than the rest. Ember was walking to the library after school to finish homework when she heard a crash in one of the unused classrooms, it was too small for 300 students, so she went to investigate.

She peeked through the door, and seeing nothing, entered the room. She realized her mistake when the door shut behind her, lock clicking. Ember spun about, nervous. McKayla and her two friends stood there, grinning evilly. "Well well well, if it isn't the filthy human." Her friends chuckled.

"Leave me alone, McKayla," Ember said, backing up slowly. McKayla advanced.

"Blade isn't here to rescue you, this time. You're all alone." Ember quietly pulled her phone out behind her back, opening the texting app.

"McKayla…" Ember said, backing up further. She typed a quick message, she wasn't sure if she wrote anything correctly, but it was her only chance. She hit send, or where she assumed the send button was. She turned her phone off just in time; McKayla grabbed her phone and dropped it on the ground, smashing it with her foot.

Ember hit a wall. She was cornered. McKayla and her friends advanced. "You don't belong here," McKayla murmured in Ember's ear. "Nobody likes you, not even Blade. He's mine." She punched her in the stomach, and she collapsed, groaning. "You are nothing." McKayla stomped down into Ember's leg, and she heard a crunch. Ember cried out, holding her leg.

She barely heard the door slam open, and the shouting. McKayla whirled around. "B- Blade!" She sputtered. "Wh- what are you doing?

"Leave," he snarled. The three girls ran off. "Ember?" He asked, kneeling beside her. "Can you hear me?" Ember groaned in response. "Come on," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. "We need to get you to the infirmary." Ember cried out as her injured leg took weight.

"My leg," she groaned. Blade pulled her arm over his shoulders, supporting most of her weight so she could limp, with his help. They left the room, Ember hanging her head. She walked in a daze, barely seeing through the pain of her leg. Her stomach hurt too, but not nearly as much.

................

It was slow going. Students moved aside, whispering to each other. "Isn't that the human?" one asked.

"Yeah," said another. "Emma, or something?"

"Why is the demon boy helping her?" Another asked. Blade ignored them, supporting most of Ember's weight. The infirmary was straight ahead. A girl moved, blocking the doorway in.

"McKayla," Blade sighed. "Let us past."

"No!" She said, stubborn. "Why are you with her? She's human! You should be with me!"

"We're not a thing," Blade said tiredly. "We're just friends."

"Oh sure! I've seen the way you look at her! The way you protect her!" Blade didn't say anything. She was right, in a way. He continued onward, passing by McKayla, ignoring her.

"Oh my!" A nurse ran up to them. "Oh dear, what happened?" The nurse was a dwarf, stout but pretty.

"An accident," Blade lied. "She's fading in and out of consciousness. She must have been hurt bad." He hid his emotions well; on the inside he was a panicked, worried mess. But on the outside, he was calm.

"Get her on one of the beds," the nurse said, then rushed over to a computer, where she began typing furiously. Blade picked Ember up and carefully deposited her on one of the beds, and she moaned softly, turning her head as he settled her into the bed. "Now please leave," the nurse said, still typing on her computer. "I'll post visitor hours later."

"Take good care of her," Blade said, then leaned in close to the nurse. "If you do anything less because she is human, you will regret it for the rest of your life."

"She's human?!" The nurse said, then gulped. "I'll take care of her, don't you worry."

"Thank you." With that, Blade left the infirmary.