He lay in an apathetic state and, sitting up to move his pillow, stared without recognition at the white wash wall of the dorm room. Then he fell back, to sleep his troubles away. On waking up again he sat up too quickly sending his cut sides into screaming agony. Kye cursed loudly and like an injured dog, shakily lowered himself back down.
The room was unnaturally hot as usual. While lying in bed unable to will his sides to endure the pain again - Kye stared at the brilliant rays of sunlight fanning across the ceiling. The open window allowed morning sounds to filter through: birds chirping, people passing along the campus, and the shore could be faintly heard off in the near distant. Panting and sweating from the heat as though he just ran three miles, Kye propped himself up on one elbow - wincing severely.
At that moment James came in, his toothbrush stowed in the corner of his mouth, his school uniform nice and creased in all the right places. He leaned against the door frame, arms folded, toothbrush still in mouth. "I thought I heard you," he said, seeing Kye with the pale, sweaty face as he sat injured in his bed. "Takes awhile to get used to the carvings in your side."
Kye grunted. His eyes flickered away from James for a moment. "Where'd Lucas go?" he asked grimly, nodding towards the empty bed adjacent to his own.
James shrugged. "Lucas does his own thing. You didn't tell him about last night did you?"
"No."
"That's good - Lucas is never understanding about these things." James took the toothbrush out of his mouth and shut the dorm door with his foot. "How are your sides doing, anyway?"
"How do you think they're doing!" Kye snapped. "I can barely sit up!"
"Let's see the cut, then." James advance - and Kye pulled back. The annoyance in James face so old; the appetite in it quite new, he spoke, "Kye you have some trust issues, don't you?"
"If that's not the understatement of the year - I'm the son of a man half the free world has trouble trusting."
"It's how you interpret the situation," he told Kye.
Kye never did a get chance to ask James what the hell that was suppose to me, anyway, for at that precise moment the door to the room opened and Lucas entered. He had clearly been in the shower, his brown hair was darker by the water that dripped from his bangs, a towel was tossed around his shoulders, and he stood framed in the doorway in his boxer shorts. He looked from James, to Lucas, to James's toothbrush - as if trying to piece together a puzzle. Over James's should Lucas shot Kye a look of snow. "How's it going, James?"
Peculiarly enough James changed back to his quiet, yet deadly persona. "I'm cool, Lucas. Yourself?"
"About as good as ever."
"Peachy." Without bidding a goodbye - James backed out of the room - meeting Kye's eyes sternly before closing the door.
Kye made to scrambled off of the bed, but with only one foot on the ground, Lucas said, "You and James getting close?"
The question startled Kye. "S-sorry?" he stammered, even though he heard Lucas loud and clear.
"I'd watch out who you choose to hang out with, Kye. James isn't the most stable person walking this good earth."
"What do you mean by that?"
Lucas gave a half-ass shrug. "That's just the thing," he turned to look at Kye. "No one really knows what James did to end up here. No one has even seen his parents - on move in day all of our parents were milling around, except for James. He was alone. James is a different type of person."
Hurriedly gathering together his shower material, Kye said, "Thanks, Lucas, I'll take that into consideration." He reached for the doorknob.
"He'll stab you in the side if he picks up on your gullibility," Lucas called out coolly, stopping Kye in his tracks. "But you're not gullible, are you Kye?"
July, August, and summer skies lay over the city, above rows of houses in the suburbs, backyards burned by the sun with running tar-sores whose antiseptic smell blended with that of dustbins overdue for emptying, drying paint even drier on the front doors, rusting knockers and letter boxes, and withering flowers on windowsills, a summer blue sky to which the glistening sea below shimmered in the sun and rumbled across the pebbles.
Kye sweated and his sides still burnt fiercely so that any sudden movement caused him to wince severely. Presently, he was sitting on a miniscule balcony that he had a feeling was prohibited to students, but nonetheless he sat on the edge, his feet dangling between the wrought iron bars.
After a moment of silence of reflecting over nothing in particular, a voice spoke up from behind him, "You know - students aren't supposed to be out here."
Kye twisted on the spot, involuntarily clutching to his cut side that was sent into a random spasm. Adrianna was standing a foot or two behind him, her brown hair streaked with blonde pulled tightly back into a bun. She blew a pink bubble and let it pop.
He squinted up at her. "Then what are you doing out here?" She responded without words - rather she just pointed down to her feet, which were not over the threshold. "I see..." his voice drifted away in an unconcern manner and he looked back out across the yard.
"Anyway," Adrianna continued, "I think you ought to know that the paparazzi have been watching you for the past hour or so."
This Kye did not know. He looked down several stories below him and to the street that wrapped around the perimeter of St. Francis. Sure enough - people were taking his picture. Groaning in annoyance - Kye pulled away and headed back in doors with Adrianna.
"What were you doing out there anyway?" she questioned.
"Calculus," he responded sarcastically, latching the balcony doors shut and pulling the curtains to their proper location.
"Come on now, be serious. James was looking for you all afternoon."
Kye used her comment as an opening to a new discussion. "Adrianna - who is James, anyway?" he asked, as they descended one of the grand staircases, a few girl students running past them, giggling at the sight of Kye.
"James - our James?"
"No, James Bond - I was wondering what actor they were going to use for the next movie. Of course our James!"
"All right - okay - no need to get testy. To answer your question, his full name is James Andrew Total and his life hasn't been all roses."
She fell silent causing Kye to stop mid-staircase. "That's all?"
Adrianna had not noticed that Kye had stopped and was a few feet ahead of him. She looked back up. "Do you expect I spit out a whole biography?"
Kye caught up with her. "Well - haven't you ever been curious?'
"About his past? No - of course not. You're the only student around here where everyone knows the background. Or at least those who read the tabloids know." They stopped in a hallway. "Listen - I have to get going," Adrianna explained. "If you want to know more - why not just ask him? He wants to see you tonight anyway."
She smiled at him and hurried off in the opposite direction, waving over her shoulder.
Kye walked very slowly in the other way, lost in wonder at James, and his world, and his neglect of appearances around the school, and his odd, utterly inexplicable, but apparently satisfactory alteration of personas while he's around Lucas, when his eye was caught by a tiny gold object placed mid-wall.
He stopped and looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the same thing, but all up and down the hallway where Kye presently stood no one was around. Floor to ceiling windows cast chunks of setting sunlight across the hallway, like thick stripes. One beam of light in particular shone on the golden object.
Cautiously, Kye approached. Before taking the last step he looked around, startled, for he could have sworn someone was in the same area. But glancing around him found that he was still the only one around.
Kye squinted at the object - it looked like a miniscule doorknob in the shape of a half moon. There were still a few hours to dinner, and with curiosity flowing through him, Kye placed his hand around the half moon and without much effort part of the wall swung up. Wind escaped from the passage that now stood before, carrying with it a slight roar from a distance - or at least what sounded like a roar. Even more cautiously, Kye stepped forward out of the hallway and down the little path of beaten mud between a stone wall and a cliff edge that seemed to drop far below him.
He ran his hand along the coarse wall as he descended further and further beneath the school - the mud path thinning to where one foot would have to be in front of the other and then widening back out again. The further he went - the darker it got - to the point where he had to take out his cell phone and use the black light to look around, but by then even Kye - the all American trouble maker as tabloids called him before - was quite hesitant to move forward. Wherever he was - he probably was not supposed to be there.
Then came the roar he thought he heard at the beginning. This time it was quite distinguishable and alarmingly nearby that it shook through his veins. He was not alone. Unwilling to find what else was with him - Kye took a step backward, misplacing his foot on the thin path. His stomach gave a lurch, his arms flew in the air, and his cell phone flew out of his sweaty palms and was flung into the abyss.
Kye cursed loudly, grasping out for the flying backlight which was undoubtedly his cell phone, and in doing so completely lost his balance. Time seemed to slow significantly as he fell from the path en route for the same fate of his cell phone. He desperately grasped at the rocks trying to prevent his impending fate.
This was it...his death...already...he was sure of it...
Before his shock and surprised gave way to a bellow, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed one of Kye's flailing arms. Like a ball caught on a string, Kye suddenly stopped before hitting the ground. He was being suspended in the darkness, heart beating twice as fast as it should be. He looked down at his feet which were dangling freely below him, half eaten by the darkness.
With a powerful hoist Kye was on his way upward - slowly but surely. The fingers around his forearm were powerfully strong, yet slipped slightly underneath the pressure. Kye's foot searched for a lever in the wall to help ease the process.
Finally, Kye was reeled back in and released on the path. His next words came out in a torrent. "Oh, fuck, thank you so freaking much. I thought I was gone. I thought there was no absolute hope and..." he stopped abruptly at the sight of the familiar blue eyes behind sleek glasses, and the paper thin scar through the one eyebrow. "For fuck sakes - James!" Kye blurted out. A pang of guilt hit Kye - the one kid he had just finished ranting about to Adrianna had just saved his life.
"Yeah, surprise, surprise," James said in his naturally smooth, pessimistic tone. "But we're not out of the woods, yet."
As if reminding Kye why he had started back in the first place - the infamous eerie roar erupted in the darkness, followed by the sound of a - creature - scrambling on all fours - up the path...hungry... They were catching up to him.
But what was catching up to him?
"Run!" James shouted.
Frozen in fear - it took James strength to literally yank Kye forward. Together they dashed back up the path - minding the parts where it thinned - and all around them there was more scuttling made and for the first time Kye felt as if they were surrounded.
The sounds of baring teeth grinding together - flesh ripping - roars fresh in the darkness.
James had an overly firm grip on Kye's wrist, but the creatures (whatever the hell they were) were hungry. One would scramble over another, attempting to advance closer to James and Kye. They were fast and moved nimbly - making James and Kye appear to be incompetent competitors.
With a surge of energy at the very last second - James tossed his body wait against the wall and the door Kye had entered through burst open and the two of them tumbled out into the hallway.
Without having to be told - Kye dashed forward and slammed the door shut. The hallway was one again.
"What the hell was..." Kye began - but before he knew it - a second surprise came to him. He was slammed up against the wall with force, taking the wind out of him, cutting off his sentence.
James had him by the neck. He quickly lifted Kye's shirt and began searching around his chest. "Getoffme! Getoffme!" Kye said, trying to push James away. His finger landed on the half moon carving on Kye's side, causing Kye to curse loudly.
James allowed his shirt to drop back down, but did not allow Kye off of the wall. "Never - never" he pushed Kye more against the wall "go in a door that is marked with a half-moon!"
"Will-you-get-off-me!" Kye wheezed.
"Do you swear to me you won't!"
"My phone is back there!"
"SWEAR to me!" James was in Kye's face.
"Fine - yeah - just let go of me!" Once James did - Kye attempted to massage his own neck - getting rid of the red finger marks around them. "Now tell me this," he started, following James down the hall. "What the hell was that all about back there? How did you know I was in there? Does St. Francis want their students to be eaten alive? Whatever happened to suspending people and detention?"
James reply was curt. "Shut up."
Infuriated by his words, Kye caught up to stride with him. "Don't tell me to shut up! I almost just died back there!"
"And I saved your life!"
"Then almost killed me again! You know something - it will take one phone call and I could have the F.B.I over here faster than you can change personalities."
James whirled on him. "Oh - yeah - wiseass?" he asked in a low, menacing tone. "What phone are you going to use?" When Kye did not respond, James said simply, "That's what I thought."
"Incase you haven't noticed," Kye called out to James retreating back, "they are around this hell hole 24 fucking 7!"
James glare was unwavering and came quickly back to where Kye stood in the middle of a small hallway. "Fine - run off and tell daddy. Do you think he'll believe you anyway? You're a waste - ask anybody here. You think that no matter where you go you'll be the popular, lovable one. Well welcome to the real world, kiddo."
"Then why did you invite me into your phony society? Or was that just a way to see me naked?"
Without warning, Kye felt a crack explode across his face that seemed to break his jaw, pain bursting across his eyes and throwing showers of orange sparks over him. His head snapped backward and even after it was over - he could still feel James's knuckles against his jaw.
"What the hell!" Kye said, grabbing his jaw in a therapeutic manner.
James was walking away. "That society just saved your ass, Kye."
"Tell me what I just saw tonight!" Kye called out - still feeling the searing pain in his jaw, but James had turned the bend and was out of sight.