Chapter 11 Nora Blackwell The Rise of the Dead Walker

In the morning, my eyes were crusted from the tears I wiped away last night when I went outside to get some coffee. Bethany and her group were gathered around a table in the far corner, and I could feel their eyes on me. I couldn't care less. I headed straight to the coffee bar and made myself one with little sugar, wanting to wake myself up a bit. I need to think.

“Are you ok?” Matthew asked to stay a few feet away from me, like I might attack him. To be honest, I might do it this early.

“Why do you care? Elain said you’re mad at us.” I replied, deciding not to add any milk, just sugar, and chug. I heard Matthew make a disgusted sound.

“I was upset, but Bethany told me you did that so the murderer wouldn't focus on me. She thinks that if you didn't do that, they would have gotten obsessed with me until they killed me.” Matthew explained in a sad voice. Bethany is acting like she has all the answers.

“I see.” I gave a small smile, trying not to snap at Matthew. It bothered me that Bethany was acting like she knew everything and inserting herself in everyone’s business. I was trying to be careful with my words so I wouldn't anger Matthew. I did truly want him as a friend.

“Now they seem obsessed with you, though,” he stated sadly, still staying a few feet away from me.

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks to this power, I have, they won’t hurt me.”

“Your power might not always protect you, though,” Matthew stated, taking a step forward.

“Oh no, you misunderstand, they want to use me,” I said bitterly, taking a bit of a swig of my bitter coffee.

“Oh,” Matthew replied, unsure of what to say.

“Yeah,” I replied, unsure of what else to say.

“We’re here for you. I know you and Bethany didn't get off on the right foot, but she cares for you.” Matthew stated, putting his hand on my shoulder like a robot, still keeping his space. He didn’t seem to be good at confronting people, but in all honesty, who is?

‘‘I’ll remember that,” I replied, giving the best smile. He nodded, started talking about classes and how excited he was to finally have something to focus on, and I agreed wholeheartedly. I asked him what he wanted to study, but he was unsure, and so was I. A week ago, I would have told you, nurse, along with my plan, but now I don’t know.

We chatted for a little bit before he left, headed back to Bethany’s little group, where I could see everyone turn to him the moment he got over that. I wanted to go over there and say something, but Ava appeared next to me.

“My lady, they really do care about you. In my day, dead walkers were avoided and treated as if they had the plague.” Ava stated, appearing beside me.

“Maybe it's because no one here really understands how terrifying my power is,” I replied, drinking my coffee.

“Maybe.” Ava agreed

 The gate started to go up with squeaks and loud metal clashing. The maids walked in, announced that class would start in 30 minutes, made a single pass around the room, then stood near the front, waiting.

I took my time drinking my coffee, then quickly grabbed my laptop, where Elain was dragging herself out of her room. She looked like she hadn't slept well.

“Are you ok?” I asked, to which she grunted, heading over toward the drink bar while the maids were calling everyone over to them. I walked over to the maids while Elain walked up with two cups of what looked like pure black coffee.

“Did you get your laptop?” I asked, to which she took a sip and stared at me, to which I nodded, unsure of what else to say.

The maid raised her hand, announced she was leaving, and began walking away. I saw some people rush over from the tables, leaving their plates, cups, and other trash behind.

I did my best to remember the twists and turns we took, but I couldn't. Thankful I could use my ghost to get where I needed to.

We got to a crowded hallway, but the people there felt off. They looked like humans, but at the same time, it felt like they were putting on an act. I didn't realize, but I stopped moving, and so did the rest of the class.

“These are the supernaturals you will be attending school with. During the day, if they so much as lay a hand on you that you do not want, there will be hell to pay for them, so do not worry.” The maid explained as if that was supposed to help, like oh ok sounds good they will kill or hurt us, but don't worry, they will get in trouble for it.

None of us moved. Ava floated up next to me, saying that the supernaturals love it when we do this, it was like fish in a barrel.

I took a deep breath and stepped forward, breaking the trance while my instincts were screaming at me to run to get away. My first few steps were small, but I still moved.

That movement caused the others to move, and like me, they took small steps. The maids didn't complain, but slowly followed us until we reached the door to our class.

“When your class is over, I will be here to take you to your next class. Don't be late or you will be left.” The maid stated and then walked off without another word. Which made the others nervously look around at the supernaturals as if they were gonna hurt them. Which, to be fair, they probably would.

I took baby steps into the room the maid left us at and up to the teacher with golden eyes like Greg’s. He seemed a little off that I walked right up to him, but he smiled weakly, smelling my fear.

“Where's my seat?” I asked, glancing at the rows of desks while also doing my best to hide the shakeness in my voice.

“You can sit wherever you like,” he replied loud enough for the others to hear. I nodded, then walked over to the desk closest to the door and sat down, opening my laptop.

“That's all you got?” A voice stated, which made me look up to see a girl about my age. She had beautiful, long, black hair and black eyes to match. I won't lie, her presence sent my heart into overdrive, but I took a deep breath and smiled.

“I didn’t know everything I was going to need, so I started with this, since it’s my first day. I hope they would cut me some slack.” I replied.

“Make sense. Do you have ghost?” She asked, moving closer, looking at my screen, which made me freeze.

“What's ghost?” I asked, looking at the icons on my screen.

“I’s a messaging app that all in the supernatural world use. Regular humans can't find it, and if they do, they can't use it,” she giggled.

“Im not sure if i have it set up, give me a minute,” I replied. She nodded, then sat down at her desk next to me with a sigh. I clicked it and followed the steps to set it up, which prompted me to create a new email.

“I have my messenger set up now,” I said to her, which made her look at me weirdly, but she quickly changed to a smile. She leaned over, looking at my user name, then went back to her desk, pulled out and opened her laptop, and sent me a quick message: “Hiya.”

“Im Nora,” I stated, holding out my hand, which she took.

“Im Fiona.” She smiled, showing all her sharp teeth, and my stomach dropped. I couldnt help but flinch away.