She looked like a lost child, out of place amongst the laughing, giggling girls gathered in a large group twenty feet away from her. His heart ached for her, his fingers itched to touch her, comfort her. Melissa said something, catching her attention for a brief moment. Cassie looked up, nodding once before ducking her head again. A shrill whistle pierced the air. Devon turned as the two PE teachers entered the gym carrying bags laden with softball bats and balls.
His eyebrows furrowed as frustration and anger spurted through him. He hated being stuck in this school, hated being around these people. He was almost eight hundred years old and he was standing in a gym with a bunch of hormonal teenagers. His gaze darted back to Cassie, some of the anger melting away. For her, he could do this. For her, he could do anything. Even play softball inside, which was apparently what they intended to do.
They were shuffled around, divided into teams. Somehow he ended up on the same side as Marcy and Chris, well Cassie was relegated to the other side with Melissa and Mark Young. Devon watched Mark, waiting for him to make any inappropriate move or comment to Cassie. Mark had stayed away from her since their last encounter in the cafeteria, but Devon didn’t trust him. And though Cassie didn’t want his help, Devon would take any excuse to beat Mark into a bloody pulp. He had been aching to do it ever since he had first met the bastard.
“Cassandra Fairmont!” everyone turned as the girl’s gym teacher barked Cassie’s name loudly. Cassie lifted her head; her eyebrows drew sharply together over top of her sunglasses. “You know the rules, no jewelry, no loose articles, take off those sunglasses.”
Cassie hesitated a moment; he could feel her gaze darting swiftly around the gym in a fleeting moment of panic. Then, her shoulders slumped with defeat; she reached slowly up and pulled the large glasses from her face. Cassie blinked rapidly before closing her eyes against the lights that blazed down on her. Devon took a step forward, wanting to go to her, wanting to shelter her. He knew how painful such exposure could be and he wished to protect her from it.
Chris grabbed hold of his arm, shaking his head as he held Devon back. “She’ll be fine,” he said softly. “She has to face the world eventually.”
Devon’s head snapped toward him, anger briefly surged forward. Devon tried to remind himself that Chris didn’t know, that he didn’t understand, that he couldn’t know the pain the lights could cause, but it did little to ease the anger wracking through Devon. He turned back to Cassie. Her head was bowed, her eyes barely open to the harsh glare that pounded off of the gym floor.
“Damn it!” he hissed, futility and frustration tearing through him. “Damn it!”
Chris stared questioningly at him as Devon turned away. He grabbed one of the gloves from the bench and stormed into the outfield, to take his position in left. Marcy moved into center, Chris beside her, and Kara on the other side of him. Folding his arms over his chest, Devon waited impatiently for the game to commence.
They moved swiftly through the first inning, and the second. Devon thought his team was winning, but he couldn’t be sure. The only sport he had ever been interested in was hunting, and he had excelled at it.
Switching again, Devon was in the outfield once more as Melissa came up to the plate. The ball cracked off the bat with a resounding thud that echoed throughout. Devon ran for it, pulling up short as Marcy collided with him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she laughed loudly as she clung to him. Chris retrieved the ball, throwing it in time to stop Melissa at second.
Devon tried to extricate himself from Marcy’s arms, but she was laughing happily, her leaf green eyes twinkling merrily as she grabbed his ass. “I’m sorry,” she said brightly, her arms tightening briefly.
Devon scowled at Marcy, grabbing hold of her petite shoulders he pulled her forcefully away from him. She continued to grin up at him for a moment before turning on her heel and sashaying away. Chris was staring at him with wide eyes. Then, Chris’s shoulders stiffened, his face turned ashen and he turned slowly toward Cassie. She stood at the plate, the bat resting loosely on her shoulders, her eyes narrowed against the light as she focused on Devon.
He could feel the anger radiating from her, the hate. The sense of betrayal. But there was something more. There was a shaking inside of her, a whirl of confusion that shivered through the bond that connected them, that would always connect them. A shattering of spirit radiated from her, leaving Devon motionless. Chris turned deathly white, his mouth parted slightly. A shiver of foreboding crept through Devon; judging by Chris’s reaction to her this was not going to be good. Devon wanted to go to Cassie, to hold her, to feel her. To get her the hell out of there before she exploded, which he was certain she was about to do.
She blinked, her attention once more returned to the game. Her eyes were narrowed, squinted against the glare. He could feel the hurt that the light caused her, but beneath it he could feel the hurt in her soul, the anguish, the rage. She connected with the ball, a solid crushing blow that sent it soaring over their heads, before it crashed against the back wall with a resounding thud that echoed throughout the gym. It was a blow that no normal human could have delivered to the ball, let alone a girl. No one moved to retrieve the ball as it bounced over the floor before rolling under the bleachers with a soft clinking sound that was exceptionally loud in the still room.
Cassie stood unmoving, the bat dangling loosely from her fingertips. The clatter of the bat hitting the ground snapped everyone’s attention back to her. She didn’t run the bases, she didn’t move. She simply stood there, looking lost and confused, and heartbroken. “Freak!” Mark’s hiss was soft, but it reached Devon’s ears.
Cassie turned slowly toward him; she stood stiffly, her shoulders back, her eyes narrowed. “Yes, yes I am,” she agreed softly.
Walking away from the plate, she grabbed her sunglasses before striding out of the gym. The teacher didn’t bother to stop her as she remained standing in shocked silence. Melissa turned toward them, her eyes wide with horror. Then, she turned swiftly and fled the gym after Cassie. Devon had had enough of pretending to be a high school student, of pretending to be human.
He’d had enough of being alienated from the only person he had ever truly cared about.
Marcy snorted loudly, rolling her eyes in disgust. “What a drama queen.”
“Shut the hell up Marcy!” Chris snarled. Devon lifted an eyebrow, surprised by the fury in his voice. Chris was always good natured and easy going. “Just shut the hell up.”