Blood Angel

Life Doesn't Go On

Chapter Two

Life Doesn't Go On

Everyone was looking at him as he got out of the car.

"Have a great day, honey. This is the year you're going to come into your own." His mom checked her rearview mirror as she spoke. She hated to be late and they'd run slow this morning as they readjusted to the school year schedule.

Jamie knew he looked good. He'd been working hard all summer to save money for college. He'd been eating less junk. And he'd grown six inches, so he was no longer in danger of being called fat. Geek. Loser. Nerd. Those all still fit, though.

The fluorescent lights flickered, sickening the daylight that came from the open doors of the classrooms. First day of school was always worst, but Jamie was surprised to see water streaming through the hall. It reached over his shoes, to his laces, before he abruptly found himself in a canoe with a paddle painted in maroon and gold, the school colors, paddling his way down the hall. The water flowing through the hallway wasn't deep, only up to the knees of the freshmen, who didn't seem to notice as they slogged to the banks of lockers looking awed and confused.

"Jamie! Take my picture!" Amy waved to him with her canoe paddle, which had a gold star painted on it. Had she painted it herself? She was a talented artist and stars were easy. He'd have expected her to paint a Sphinx, or a tiara.

"Talking to me again?" He should be mad at her, but like a puppy, he was just glad that she'd shaken off whatever had made her ignore him last year. He lifted his video camera to his shoulder. "I thought you forgot my name."

Her smile widened. "Don't be silly." She pushed her hair back behind her ears, which made her canoe rock. Alarmed, she quickly shook it free again. "How else could I get you over here for the traditional sacrifice?"

She stood up in her canoe and raised her paddle. He saw the edge was razor sharp as she swung for his head.

"Hey! What are you doing?" He lurched and righted himself. Was that a shark fin flashing in the water? "I thought we were friends."

"Were. Now I have to prove I'm not a loser, like you. Why can't you ever just be normal, Jamie?"

He tried to paddle away, but the water in the hall was rushing up against the prow of his canoe. He began to sweat and his sweat ran into the canoe, filling it impossibly quickly. To the hoots and hollers of the other kids in the hall, Amy swung her paddle again as he struggled against the tipsy canoe and lost. The sharp paddle swooshed by his head, missing by millimeters, lifting his hair. He fell into the water, surprised by the salt tang, and the depth. An endless undertow sucked at him.

"Amy," he pleaded, raising one hand. He'd grab the paddle, no matter how sharp, rather than give in to the undertow and disappear underwater forever.

But she just smiled and shook her finger at him. "You should have worn a life vest. Don't you know drowning is the number one killer of unpopular juniors?

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Jamie clawed his head, so tightly that his fingertips and his temples were bleached white. The dark circles under his eyes stood out in contrast. Over the narrow shoulders of a man in a wrinkled black suit, I watched him. He didn't look at me.

He didn't look at Black Suit Guy, either, who said, over the rustle of the stack of papers he clutched, "Jamie, I don't think you understand what's at stake here."

"My life." Jamie took his fingers from his head, and the white spots rapidly flushed with returning blood. He slapped his chest, just over his heart. "Mine."