Silver Eyes - 2

 

            The alarm buzzed angrily on her bedside table, dragging Keri out of her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and groaned in protest, just before she tossed the small alarm clock across the room. It thudded heavily against the wall and fell on a pile of laundry she had yet to put away, muffling the buzzing enough to make it almost tolerable at the ungodly hour of the morning that it was.

            She pushed herself out of bed, shaking her head a few times to clear the previous night’s dreams from her mind. It was getting kind of ridiculous; the same dream was coming to her twice, maybe three times a night, and she still didn’t know what it meant. She shook her head again.

            The dreams were so real, like it was her that was sprinting through the woods, but there was no way it could be. The woman’s hair was a perfect yellow-gold, while hers was a dirty blonde. Her eyes, a clear, crystal blue, was nowhere near the startling mercury color her eyes were, nor was her body the sleek, perfect, predatory form that she’d seen.

But no time to think about that now, the bus would be here any minute. Like a whirlwind around her room, she gathered up enough clothes to put together an acceptable outfit and pulled them on, rushing out the door while still yanking a brush through her hair. The bus was just pulling up as she yanked her backpack off the couch and bolted outside. First day of the semester, and she was already late for the bus.

            She smiled wryly to herself as she swung into the seat. If it weren’t for the tantalizing thought of seeing her friends again, she’d have never gotten out of bed. It was her senior year, the final year of hell for her in this small town school. Keri was very much looking forward to the day that she’d be able to leave, whether it be to college or just somewhere very far away.

            “Hey!” A loud voice snapped Keri from her thoughts. She glared at the source of the voice, and noticed another young woman glaring back at her. The other girl smoothed a wrinkle in her designer jeans and repeated what she must have said before. “Can I sit here?”

            The girl’s voice had a distinctive whine to it that grated on Keri’s nerves, but she clenched her teeth and forced a smile. “Fine. Sit,” she replied, moving her bag over to make room. She turned to stare out the window again. One more stop before they made it to school, filled with preppy, designer-brand kids born to well-to-do families that cared for nothing but themselves. Why her parents had decided to move to this place was beyond her. She didn’t fit in, she never had. In this cookie cutter town, she always felt like the dark blot right in the middle of it.

As the bus pulled into the parking lot, she breathed a sigh of relief. The perfume wafting off the girl next to her was making her gag. She pulled out her cell phone and glanced at the time. Barely enough time to make it across the school to her first class if she swung by her locker first, and the girl next to her was still sitting there, fixing her overdone make up.

She nudged the girls shoulder. “Hey, ‘scuse me, but can you please move? I need to get out.” She attempted to sound pleasant. Maybe it would make her move faster.

“Hold your horses,” the girl snapped, giving her an apathetic look. She took another moment to finish touching up her make up before meticulously putting it back in her handbag.

Keri bit back a growl. Luck obviously just wasn’t going to be on her side this year. She waited for the girl to finally get a move on and exited the bus, plunging into the crowd of kids headed into the school. She looked up at the two-story, red bricked building and sucked in a breath through gritted teeth.

Welcome back to Hell, it taunted her. Please enjoy your stay.