Aiden had barely slept all night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw again the faceless creature bent over Victoria, that black mark pulsing on her nape, and especially the expression of pure terror he had read in her eyes when she woke up.
He arrived at school twenty minutes late, his hair disheveled and dark circles betraying his sleepless night. Ed was waiting for him near their lockers, already rummaging through his backpack.
- "Dude, you look like a zombie," was the first thing Ed said when he saw him approaching. "What's wrong with you?"
- "Nothing, just slept badly," Aiden mumbled while working his locker combination.
Ed observed him carefully. He knew Aiden well enough to know when something wasn't right.
- "Come on, spill it. Are you stressed about the history exam?"
- "No, that's not it."
- "Then what?"
Aiden shook his head and took out his textbooks without looking at Ed.
- "Nothing, I told you. I just didn't sleep well."
But Ed never gave up easily. Throughout the entire walk to their first classroom, he continued to pester Aiden with questions. And the more Aiden evaded, the more insistent Ed became.
- "Seriously, what's gotten into you? You've been weird since last night. Did something happen when you went back to school?"
Aiden stopped dead in the middle of the hallway.
- "How do you know that..."
- "That you went back to school? Because you told me you were going to try to get your book. So? Did you manage to get in?"
Ed was looking at him with eyes bright with curiosity, and Aiden realized he wouldn't be able to get rid of him without giving him at least a watered-down version of events.
- "OK, OK," he sighed. "Yes, I got in. I climbed through a first-floor window."
- "No way! You? You did climbing to break into school?"
The excitement in Ed's voice was palpable. For him who lived his adventures vicariously through movies and TV shows, the idea that Aiden had done something so... rebellious was obviously fascinating.
- "It's not as impressive as all that," Aiden said. "And then... something else happened."
He hesitated. How could he explain what followed without mentioning the Scourge? Ed would never believe him, and even if he did believe him, how could he explain that he had supernatural abilities?
- "I... I ran into Victoria Ashford there."
Ed stopped walking and turned toward him, eyes wide.
- "Victoria? Victoria Ashford? The Ice Queen?"
- "Yeah."
- "What was she doing there?"
- "She had forgotten a book, like me."
Ed stared at him for long seconds, then a mischievous smile bloomed on his face.
- "OH MY GOD! You kissed her! That's it, isn't it? You found yourselves alone in the deserted school, romantic atmosphere, shared transgression... Dude, you kissed Victoria Ashford!"
Aiden felt his cheeks burn.
- "What? No! Not at all!"
- "Then what? What happened? And don't tell me 'nothing' because you've had that look since this morning."
Aiden looked around to make sure no one could hear them, then leaned toward Ed.
- "She was attacked."
Ed's smile disappeared instantly.
- "Attacked? How do you mean?"
- "I heard her scream. When I got there, there was a guy... a weird guy. As soon as he saw me, he ran away. I found Victoria unconscious on the floor."
- "Shit... is she okay?"
- "I think so. I mean, physically. But Ed... look at her neck today. She has a weird mark."
Ed frowned.
- "A mark? What kind of mark?"
- "I don't know... like a symbol. Black. It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen."
Ed looked at him skeptically.
- "Are you sure you didn't dream it? I mean, a mysterious attacker who disappears running, a weird mark... it sounds like a bad horror movie."
- "I'm serious, Ed. Completely serious."
Ed's dubious expression began to transform into something more serious when he realized that Aiden wasn't joking at all. There was a tension in his voice, a real concern that couldn't be feigned.
- "Shit," Ed murmured. "Do you think we should tell someone? The police? The principal?"
- "Victoria made me promise not to say anything. And besides, what would we tell them? That we were in school after hours? We'd get expelled before we could explain anything."
Ed nodded slowly, then suddenly, his eyes lit up with a gleam of excitement that Aiden didn't like at all.
- "Wait... we could conduct our own investigation! Like in the movies! You and me, the amateur investigator duo that solves the mystery that adults are too blind to see!"
- "Ed, no. This isn't a game."
- "But it is! Well, not a game, but... an adventure! We're going to find out who that guy was, what he wanted with Victoria, why that mark... We're going to be like Sherlock Holmes and Watson!"
Aiden shook his head vehemently.
- "Ed, listen to me carefully. This is dangerous. That guy, he was... he wasn't normal."
- "Exactly! The more mysterious it is, the more interesting it is! Come on, Aiden, we never do anything exciting. This is the chance of a lifetime to live a real adventure!"
Whatever Aiden could say, Ed was completely carried away in his delirium. His eyes shone with an excitement that Aiden had never seen in him, and it was obvious he wouldn't let the matter drop.
- "Promise me you won't do anything stupid," Aiden finally said.
- "Promise! Well, no big stupid things. Just a little discreet investigation."
The bell rang, interrupting their conversation. They headed toward their classroom, but Aiden could see that Ed was already planning their "investigation" in his head.
History class went normally. Mrs. Henderson distributed the exam, and Aiden discovered with relief that he knew most of the answers, either thanks to young Aiden's memories or thanks to his general knowledge acquired in his previous life.
But he kept glancing toward Victoria. She was sitting in her usual seat, three rows in front of him, perfectly straight and focused on her paper. From where he was, he couldn't see her nape, but he noticed that she was wearing a turtleneck when the day before she had worn a V-neck sweater.
She's hiding the mark, he thought.
After class, he hung around near his locker waiting for Ed who had gone to the bathroom. He was rummaging through his things when a hand brutally slammed onto his head and crushed it against the metal lockers.
The shock was violent and unexpected. With his improved abilities, Aiden could have easily resisted or freed himself, but something in the way it happened—silently, almost desperately—made him hesitate.
- "Don't move," murmured a familiar voice in his ear. "Don't say anything."
Victoria. She was pressed against him, one hand keeping his head against the lockers, the other pressed against his back. Her voice was low, threatening, but Aiden could detect something else in it: fear. And desperation.
- "Listen to me carefully," she whispered, her mouth very close to his ear. "Since last night, I've had an atrocious burning in my neck. Like someone was sticking a red-hot iron into my skin. And I've had nightmares... horrible nightmares all night."
Her voice broke slightly on the last words.
- "Nightmares of... of rape. Of violence. Images I'd never seen before, things I can't... that I don't want to have in my head."
Aiden felt his heart tighten. He was beginning to understand what the Scourge's mark was making her endure.
- "Victoria..."
- "Shut up! You better do something to fix this, do you hear me? Because if this continues, if these... these images keep poisoning my life, I'll tell everyone that you took advantage of me last night. That you touched me inappropriately when I was unconscious."
Aiden stiffened, outraged.
- "You can't..."
- "Oh yes, I can. And everyone will believe me. Miss Perfect against the weird little orphan who hangs around school after hours. Who do you think will have credibility?"
- "That's nonsense! You know perfectly well I didn't do anything!"
Victoria tightened her grip, her nails digging slightly into his scalp.
- "I know it's your fault," she hissed. "I don't know how, I don't know why, but before last night, I was perfectly fine. And now... now I feel like I have a demon in my head."
Her voice broke completely on the last words, and Aiden realized she was on the verge of tears.
- "Fix this," she murmured. "I don't know how you're going to do it, but fix this. Otherwise, I swear I'll destroy you."
She released him abruptly and walked away quickly, leaving him leaning against the lockers, heart pounding and mind boiling.
He touched his head where Victoria had slammed it against the lockers. She hadn't gone easy on him, but he knew she could have done much worse. This attack was as much a cry for help as it was a threat.
And now, he had a much bigger problem on his hands.
How the hell was he going to explain to Victoria that she had been marked by an interdimensional Scourge, and especially, how was he going to go about saving her?