TWO | AUTUMNAL

I turned in my seat, squinting around the room. I was at the back, and logically I knew that there was no one there. Yet the feeling that I was being watched only intensified throughout the final period of the day, and as I walked through the school and back to my truck, I was certain of it: somebody was watching me.

In the centre of the school was a large courtyard, around which the main buildings were situated. A few others, like the gym, were set farther back, and bordered on the school playing field. Like the rest of the school grounds, clusters of orange and burgundy trees lined the stone pathways.

The sun had been bright, sat high in the sky for most of the day. As I wound through the courtyard, however, dark clouds began to draw in. I noted a fresh chill in the air, and spotted some of the other students pausing to pull on their jumpers. I hurried over to a bench, wanting to fit in, and lay my backpack down on it so that I could yank my jumper out. It had been shoved right to the bottom throughout the day, as I’d taken books out and forced new ones in.

As I dug around for it, my fingers brushed over a much-folded piece of paper. Kathrena and I had both been given maps upon our arrival, but I’d left mine shoved in my backpack during the day.

One girl, Rowan, who seemed to be in most of my classes, had offered to show me around. She had flaming red hair, and skittish eyes that darted around constantly. She had a bright smile, though, and slick red lips, which suited her ginger hair and green eyes. She was likeable, in a jittery sort of way.

As we chatted between classes, though, I felt a pit settle in my stomach. It felt as though I was swallowing lead every time she opened up to me, and I was unable to do the same. I wanted a friend, I realised. But I dared not tell her anything more than my name; even my age was a lie.

Finally, I got a firm grip on my sweater, and heaved it out from beneath my books. I was yanking it over my head when a fresh wave of fear rippled down my spine.

I forced my head out of my collar and span around as I pushed my arms into my sleeves. I squinted past the groves of trees, certain that whomever had been spying on me all day was doing so at that moment.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a dark haired, dark skinned boy leap behind the trunk of a tree. I zipped up my bag and slung it over one shoulder, and began to walk back down the path I’d only just made my way along.

He darted away from me as I neared him, and I caught a flash of golden eyes set into a handsome face. I knew I had to meet Kathrena by the truck, but something about him intrigued me. I found that I wanted to know more about him, and not only why he was following me.

I sighed, and turned back on myself yet again. I knew that Kathreen would snap at me if I was late twice in one day, and, whoever the boy was, he couldn’t be worth that. Very few things were worth facing Kathrena's wrath over, and a stranger certainly wasn't one of them.

As I slunk through the school I felt his presence near me still, but I forced it to the back of my mind. I’d pushed my luck speaking with Rowan between classes – I doubted that the Clan would be impressed if I risked sharing their secrets by befriending multiple humans.

Aradia, Head of the Sunstone Clan, had rescued me after my parents had passed. My memory of the night was shaky at best, but I remembered the feeling of relief as she’d called over her nightmate, Ezrand, and he’d lifted my limp body from the blood-soaked gravel.

I’d passed out from the pain, and as my eyes had fluttered shut, I knew that that would be the last time I ever saw Hawthorn - in this lifetime, at least. The world had spun with stars, and, just for a moment, death had been beautiful.

Kathrena was leaning against the hood of my truck as I made my way through the car park. She raised her eyebrows at me, and held up an invisible watch, looking from her naked wrist to me, and then back again.

I rolled my eyes. “Sorry, sorry!” I muttered, hurrying over.

“I understand being late in the morning, but after the school day has finished?” She laughed. Her spirits, too, seemed to have lifted throughout the day.

“You seem chipper,” I commented as I chucked my backpack into the cargo bed of my truck. Kathrena kept hold of hers, and settled it on her lap once she’d climbed in.

I felt sorry for Kathrena. She’d stopped aging at fifteen, and until she had her identity papers changed, she’d be unable to drive. That meant that, for this year at least, she’d be reliant on receiving lifts from me. While I was unconcerned by tardiness, Kathrena hated anything being disorganised, untidy, or late.

She shrugged. “Today wasn’t so bad,” she smiled. “I’ve had worse first days.”

“How many schools have you been to, now?” I asked, as we backed out of the car park.

“I’m starting to lose count,” she laughed, though I knew for a fact that it wasn’t true. Kathrena could be counted on to keep spread sheets and neatly labelled notes of everything, and I would guarantee that she had a list of her schools, complete with graduation dates, tucked away somewhere in her bedroom.

The yellowed trees flashed past as we drove back to the house. I found that, try as I might, I could not shake the thought of the golden-eyed boy. He was sort of beautiful, I thought, the flash of dark skin and sharp jawline stuck in my memory. His hair had been long, and I imagined myself running my hands through it.

I shook myself as we pulled into the driveway of the Clan territory. Most of the Clan members lived there, though some preferred to live separately once they’d found their nightmates. For the most part, though, it was easier for us to live together.

As well as the main building itself, there were a few other log cabins backed into the woodland surrounding the house. Each member of the Clan could choose where they wanted to stay, and I felt safest surrounded by other people. Only a few of us lived in the house itself, with most of the Clan members preferring to live in their own cabins out in the woods.

Without my nightmate, if I left the house I’d most likely live alone. Though I was reluctant to trust anyone, even the other members of the Sunstone Clan, I felt safer being surrounded by those I’d come to be familiar with over the past four years. It was strange – I was reluctant to trust them, yet something buried deep inside of me, a relic of my old life, told me that community was safety, and that I should stay beside them.

After all, without Aradia or Ezrand, I would have been left on the asphalt, wounded, suffering, and lost. But my parents had not been able to save me, so perhaps the strength in numbers I imagined was nothing more than a fallacy.

I hated knowing that, if they were still alive, I’d be a threat, a predator, to my parents now.