CHAPTER 1 | WITH MY LAST BREATH
part 2
Cyrus
Oakwood High School was one of the few modern buildings around. It's two stories spread out across acres of land, bricks painted in a mix of light browns, oranges and creams, ensuring that it blended in with everything else. Yet even with its fresh leaf-covered grass, it stood out like a sore thumb. Just before the parking lot, at the east wing of the school, were tire tracks tearing through the grass. They ran from Maple street and made their way to the newly painted biology lab.
Cyrus' hands tightened around the steering wheel, parking as far away from the wall as possible.
"Nothing to worry about," Christian reassured, patting him on the shoulder.
Before he could respond, someone banging on the side of the vehicle startled him. The first thing Cyrus noticed was the jacket, one he would sadly never wear in his life. It was your classic sports jacket with white sleeves and a black midsection. What stood out was the iconic cat stitched into the fabric of the right peck in gold.
"Dude, your car needs some serious TLC!" Rowan laughed, bag strap in hand. "Look at this hunk of junk."
"That's the least of my problems," Cyrus replied, climbing out of his seat.
"Are you still upset about Mr Hope and your aunt?" Christian tried prying himself out of his seat, tripping on the floor of the car and nearly banging his head against the pavement. He corrected himself quickly, playing it off as if nothing had happened.
"That geezer is still in your house, man? Just tell him to get lost." Rowan suggested.
"Can't, technically it is my aunt's house, and he doesn't sleep there. He's just there when I come downstairs some days," Cyrus explained.
"Speaking of which." Rowan rummaged through his jacket pocket, pulling out a wrinkled piece of paper. "Check this out."
Looking closer, Cyrus couldn't make out much, just a random street circled with caution tape and the wheel of a car.
"What are we looking at exactly?" Cyrus asked.
"A crime scene from yesterday that Rowan STOLE from dad's office." Hazel snaked her way between them, snatching the picture away.
"Oh come on, they said the driver thought they almost hit something on the road," Rowan said.
"Like a deer or dog?" Christian questioned.
"They said they don't know what it was. Just that it was huge and disappeared when she went back to check. That's why..." He drummed his hands on the hood of the car. "We are going there to check it out after school."
"No," Cyrus said.
"Nope," Christian stated.
"Are you crazy?" Hazel rolled her eyes.
"You want us to sneak into a police investigation site in search of some mystery creature?" Christian raised an eyebrow, folding his arms in disbelief.
"Come on Chrissy, i thought you would be interested in this. Don't you love researching all this town's crazy ghost stories? And Cyrus doesn't tell me all those days at home made you go soft on me. Hazel, you, I understand."
Hazel rolled her eyes.
She and Rowan were almost exact clones of one another. They were the same height, with the same silky hair, cloudy eyes, and tanned skin. On most occasions, they even dressed alike as if to say 'that's my family' in secret.
Somehow Hazel could stand there in the open morning air in full cheerleader get up. Her blowing skirt completely played off like nothing.
How was she not cold? Cyrus asked himself.
Even though Hazel was a few months younger, everyone, Cyrus included, thought of her as the older sibling. She was more responsible, after all. Yet, compared to Rowan, there was not much competition.
"Tonight is dad's night off and he wants both of us to be there for dinner," she waved her finger in his face stern.
"Either way, I have no free time tonight. The library needs help with sorting the new truckload of books that arrived yesterday." Cyrus chuckled at how Christian's face lit up when he said that.
"And I can't be getting myself into any more trouble. I'm keeping a low profile." Cyrus groaned at the thought.
"Guys, please don't leave me alone with her! At least come to dinner, so I have someone to talk to," Rowan complained.
"Sorry, man."
Just then Cyrus noticed how Hazel's eyes never left his general direction since she joined them. He almost checked to see if there was something on his shirt, but her gaze darted away, cheeks flush and rosy. Just beyond her, he noticed Christian's sister making her way into the school in a rush.
"Why don't you ask Veronica?" Cyrus' teasing caused Rowan's face to turn redder than the leaves beneath their feet.
"Please do not bring my poor sister into Rowan and Hazel's weird dinner fantasies." Christian pinched his face in fake disgust.
"I do not know what either of you are talking about." Rowan shuffled off abruptly, trying to act cool, but Cyrus could tell he was just trying to catch up to Veronica and get a few words in before class. From the looks of it, Christian knew Rowan's plans as well and was right on his tail.
"Shall we?" Cyrus grinned at Hazel, bowing like an escort.
"We shall."
She returned the gesture, bowing with her skirt before joining him to walk after their two friends.
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When he told his dad Mr Finch had it out for him, he was not lying. Except for today, his biology teacher and his best friend seemed to have their own class. For every question Mr Finch asked, Christian made it his duty to answer it in the shortest time possible, causing him to get frustrated and ask harder questions. That only made Christian want to answer them more.
"Mitochondria."
"Plasmoid."
"Spongey Mesophyll Layer." Christian shot out.
Cyrus stopped paying attention after something about fetuses.
From the looks of it, so did Rowan and Hazel. The first of which passed out on his desk and the second sat right next to Cyrus, busy at work on scrap pieces of paper. Her hand choked the pen, moving with such ferocity, jumping from one part of the paper to the next in an instant. It was the same circular motion each time, forming spirals all over the page at varying sizes.
"What does it mean?" He whispered over to her.
"I'm not sure." Hazel's voice was softer than before, oozing with an emotion he was unsure of. Her eyes stayed glued to the page, neck tilting ever so slightly, as if changing the angle she looked at it would help.
"I think I saw it somewhere but can't remember." She shrugged it off "It's just fun to draw."
"Mr Laveau!" Cyrus panicked at the booming sound of his voice, sitting up straight in an instant.
"Did you hear the question?" Mr Finch glared, annoyance ringing in his voice.
"No sir."
"Would you like me to repeat it when you're done with your little chat?"
"I'm done now, sir. Can you please repeat the question?"
"What is the white substance in fibre cells?"
A lump formed in his throat. Mr Finch was just waiting for him to slip up and guess the wrong answer. It meant one more phone call to Cyrus' aunt or dad. One step closer to getting his revenge, like one of those villains on tv.
"Um... uh," he struggled, hoping the correct answer would somehow wake its way out.
"Cellulose," a voice to the back of his head said. Wait - no, not the back of his head. From the corner of his eye, he could see Hazel holding her papers in front of her in a clever attempt at secrecy.
"Cellulose, Mr Finch." He repeated, finally able to breathe again.
His teacher wasn't done, circling back to Cyrus' table. He walked with pure certainty, shoulders back and hands behind his back, clutching a long ruler. Mr Finch was a carbon copy of Peter McAllister from Home Alone. Big, broad shoulders, a receding hairline and neck too thick for his head.
"I hope you all completed last night's assignment. I will collect it now. Starting with you, Laveau."
Mr Finch stretched out his hand, awaiting the homework. Cyrus grinned at the thought, having prepared for this. He reached into the mouth of his bag, feeling for the folder of papers he had shoved in there last night. His hands wrapped around something different, something small and unusual, but familiar. Cyrus pressed the homework in his teacher's hands, missing his chance to rub it in his face as all his attention was on the empty ointment bottle he was sure he threw away this morning. Maybe he was mistaken. Still, how did it get in his bag?
The rest of the day was a blur, except for lunch when Rowan tried to sell him drugs.
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Read chapter 1 in its entirety for free on wattpad here! Stay tuned for chapter 2!