Storm

Now, I'm normally not one to complain. All it does is start conflict and that's annoying, very hard to deal with. Drama just isn't my style. However, I was getting really annoyed with the fact that he was hovering.

Who's he? You wonder.

He is a really annoying guy, maybe about twenty or twenty-one. Without a doubt, he was extremely handsome with eyes the color of a midnight blue sky and hair like fine strands of gold, cut short, but not too short. Maybe comparable to that Aaron Carter kid who was so popular once upon a time.

His name is Voltaire Gallagher and he was my substitute Anatomy teacher.

I knew for a fact that he was hovering because he was everywhere I went, even dinner. He ate alone across the cafeteria, eyes on me the entire time. It was starting to aggravate me and Dominic was the first one to notice.

"Storm, if he pisses you off so much, maybe you should tell Headmaster Carols." He pointed out quietly, glancing at me as we sat down in Anatomy class. It was hard hearing Mr. Carols as 'headmaster' now, but it was definitely better than 'Walker'. Whenever you said Headmaster Carols, it sounded so right and no one cringed or squirmed.

"He'll stop eventually. He probably wants to get at Hannibal again, without a doubt, to tick him off and steal you." I answered dully as I leaned back in my seat. Dominic averted his eyes for a moment, like he was hiding something, but I wasn't going to pressure him. He had his right to his secrets, just like everyone else.

"Uh, Storm… I've been meaning to ask you-"

"If it bothers me that my friend is dating my crush? Nope."

"Erm, well… You consider me a friend?" Dominic asked, looking at me curiously now and I sat up in my seat, leaning on the desk as I fished around for a packet of cigarettes in my dress pants pocket.

"Well, yea. You're my roommate and my friend. Or did you want me to hate you?"

"No! No way…"

"Good. Because you're pretty cool. And cute. Want one?" I held the package out to him, but he scrunched up his nose and shook his head. I shrugged and stuck one in my mouth, reaching for my lighter when the cancer stick was plucked from my lips. I frowned and glanced up to see Voltaire standing in front of my desk with a laptop case and a textbook on Anatomy, my cigarette in his hand.

"Afternoon, class. I'm sure you're all ready to get back to work a week before summer break. Don't worry, I don't give out homework, but I do require that you do not smoke in my classroom, particularly if you have weak lungs, such as the mermaid and or merman." Voltaire smiled at me. I just cocked a brow and leaned back. I didn't want to start anything.

Even though inside, I felt like I was going to explode.

He always was such a prick.

He started on with a lesson, but I couldn't focus. I was curious. Why would Voltaire ever take a job at the school he went to? I knew as well as he did that he hated this school with a burning passion. I remember him complaining about it a lot, saying he wish he could burn it to the ground and kill the headmaster.

Hannibal. It had to be because Hannibal found something he adores. Now Voltaire's going to hunt Dominic down just to hurt Hannibal and of course, Hannibal is going to want my help to protect Dominic. I won't complain, though.

Because I did love Hannibal. Every time I saw him smile or laugh, I felt my chest grow tight and my heart would pound. Of course, whenever he was cuddling on Dominic so openly, it hurt. I felt like my heart was ripping in half, little by little and only the sight of Hannibal being happy kept it from falling apart completely.

I rested my head on my arms, watching Dominic scribble down notes that Voltaire was writing on the board. I felt sorry for Dominic. He had fallen behind in studies because of his parents locking him up, so he was slow and had trouble getting things, but he was still young and had plenty of time. Especially if he was going to be with Hannibal.

I sighed and turned my head to look at the desk.

Time. I had way too much of it. That was one of the few disadvantages of not being human. You got to live on for eternity! Just kidding. Not eternity, but a pretty damn long time.

For example, Hannibal's old man. Stefan Gallagher was so old, he'd seen the fall of the Roman Empire. And I'm not kidding about that either. It meant Hannibal was probably going to live just as long, to see the fall of our precious world. Amazing. I wonder if Dominic will live that long… Hannibal will probably find a way to make it possible, consult ol' Mrs. Belle for a spell.

Ugh, terrible rhyme…

Why do my thoughts keep flying back to Hannibal?

I had to seriously give up. All I had left to do was help Hannibal protect Dominic from Voltaire. That lucky human. He had two of the world's most gorgeous creatures after him. I'd be basking in that glory.

I felt like I was drifting off to sleep when I felt a ruler smacking on top of my head. A small flame of annoyance ignited in me so that I shot upright, glaring at whoever had done it, then let my expression return to its normal lazy self at the sight of Voltaire, cocking a brow at me.

"I also do not appreciate sleeping in my classroom." He stated. I just raised an eyebrow back at him and he smirked before turning around, tapping a ruler in his palm.

"Well, seeing as we're dangerously close… Let's talk about mer-people. What can you tell me about these creatures?"

Oh, he was testing me. That's obnoxious.

Someone raised their hand and Voltaire pointed the ruler at some stumpy kid in the corner of the classroom, who pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Both mermaids and mermen need to be regularly hydrated, even when they're not in their true form?" He offered. Voltaire shrugged and gave a nod, sticking out his lower lip before glancing toward me, smirking.

"Yes, that's true. Mer-people are complicated in nature. They're prone to fall in love quite easily, but never truly fall out of it. They can maintain a mask of deception to keep those around them occupied, while on the inside, most of them tend to be churning in turmoil." He mused, turning to walk across the classroom. He innocently leaned a hand on my desk, waving the ruler around with his other hand.

"Can anyone tell me anything else?" He asked. Another hand went up and I was tempted to put my hand up, just so I could have an excuse as to why I accidentally hit him upside the head, but I controlled myself.

That was were Voltaire was right.

I had perfect control and no one else would notice that I was about ready to slam his face into the wall.

"Yes?" Voltaire pointed to a blondie across the room, who beamed.

"They have tails!" He exclaimed. Everyone burst into laughter. I rolled my eyes and rested my chin on my knuckles, thoughtlessly rubbing one of my feet along my leg. I hadn't seen my tail in so long, I almost forgot about it. I was so used to using two legs, it'd be a miracle if I could even swim again.

"Correct," Voltaire stated, pushing off my desk and walking to his laptop, where he hit a projection button of a merman, "As you can see, their tail is shaped like the stereotypical fish tail seen on those weird human shows, what were they? Like, the Little Mermaid or something?" The class laughed and I was getting annoyed, but still kept a flat expression.

"However, most mermaids and mermen have three toned tails. Usually a dark color making up their main scales before the fins here at the bottom are toned with a lighter color and a pale color. The most common colors are blue, green, purple, orange, or brown. Rare colors, such as gold, black, and red are highly valued by most people nowadays as they seem to glitter. Other than tails, what else can you tell me about mer-people? Come now, don't be shy." Voltaire didn't look at me this time.

He was looking at Dominic, who shifted a bit uncomfortably under his gaze before he averted his eyes, catching the fact that I was watching this. Dominic seemed to blush a little and looked at me with an expression that said 'help me'?

I put my hand up, like the instinct to help him was already bashed into my brain.

"Ahh, excellent. Someone who would really know." Voltaire stated, his voice a bit sharp as if he was directing an insult at the others, who shrank in their seats. I lowered my hand, resting my cheek against my palm, keeping my face calm.

"Mermaids and mermen have to trade their voices for their tails whenever they come in contact with bodies of water, even if it's in a bathtub or going into the pool. They can't speak and so that's why when they live out in the wild, they use Sign Language or Latin. And, about the tail bit, you forgot to mention that the older mer-people grow barbs on the side of their tails in defense against predators." I explained dully. Voltaire's eyes sparkled.

Could eyes that dark even sparkle so brightly…?

"Yes, that is correct, Mr. Blythe… Legend has it that mermaids and mermen were created thousands of years before, around the time of the earliest fish-types. A man and a woman approached the sea god and asked to join him and he granted them tails and the ability to breath under water, so long as they gave him something in return and they gave him their voices. Of course, this doesn't mean they can't make sounds, like screams. Does anyone know the legend of a merman's scream?"

He didn't say mermaid, so he was basically nudging me in the ribs with his comment. I said nothing this time, trying not to frown. A big smile spread across Voltaire's face and his eyes seemed to narrow in amusement.

"They say that a mer-person's scream is so heartbreaking that it could make a statue cry, the sound of pure misery and woe. Quite the power if you ask me. It's strong enough to stop vampyres and shadow demons alike. This and the barbs that older mer-people gain as they grow are two of their most powerful abilities." He turned to glance at the clock, then looked back at the class with a smile.

"All right, seeing as class will end in five minutes, I will allow you to chitchat, but beware that I may hand out a quiz on our discussion today. Have a nice day." Voltaire swept over to his desk, but didn't sit. He just leaned on his desk, over to his laptop where he hit a few buttons and the projection vanished.

"Is all that stuff true?" Dominic asked me, amazed. He was like a little kid sometimes, but it was cute, so I just smiled faintly.

"Yup."

"Have you ever screamed before?"

"Mmm, nope."

"When do you get barbs? Do you really have a tail? What color is it?"

"Wow, you're full of questions, aren't you?"

"Sorry." Dominic blushed. I shrugged and sat up, bringing my messenger bag over my shoulder as I swiveled to face him.

"It's all right. I'm definitely not old enough for barbs. In marina years, I'm only eight-years-old. In human years, I'm eighteen. And yes, I do have a tail, but I haven't had swimming classes at all my entire stay here at Hellsium's, so I don't quite remember what it looks like." I explained. Dominic stared at me in wonder.

"That's amazing! Hey, do you think we could sneak down to the pool sometime and you can go swimming there? After all, I'm sure it'll be easier now that the guardians patrol the outside of the school instead of the inside. It'd be a nice relief from normal everyday life too, right? You'd be in a natural habitat." He looked really eager and I couldn't say no.

"Sure, sometime this week sounds good. Good luck convincing Hannibal, though." I added. Dominic huffed a little and he stuck his lower lip out in a sort of pout that made me smirk.

"Oh, I will convince him. This is too cool to miss!"

The bell toned and everyone got up, filing for the door.

"Mr. Blythe, may I see you please?" Voltaire asked. I frowned, standing up and Dominic looked at Voltaire, then at me quickly as if to ask if he can help.

"Tell Hannibal I got held up. He should be waiting outside for you." I replied. Dominic nodded and slowly left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Voltaire and I alone in a silent, empty classroom.

"Thank you for participating in class today, Mr. Blythe. It's a pleasure to see a student get interested in a lesson." Voltaire said, pushing off the side of the desk. He still had the ruler in his hand and he was tapping it on all the desks he passed by. I folded my arms over my chest, raising an eyebrow.

"Your welcome. Is that all?"

"Not so fast… I still can't forgive your disobedience at the beginning of class, so I'm going to have to ask that you step forward in front of my desk."

"Excuse me?" I responded. Voltaire smiled, stopped in front of his desk and tapped it with his ruler.

"Not lean on it or anything… I used to be a drill sergeant, Mr. Blythe, and I have my own style of punishment. Just step up here and hold your fists out, the tops facing up." He commanded, his tone taking on a bit of an icy chill. I could just feel it racing up my spine.

I waited for a second, then moved forward in front of the desk. I brought my arms up and held my fists out. Voltaire paused, taking one of my fists in his hand. His hand was so warm and soft. There was no way he could be a drill sergeant. His nails were manicured.

"Such lovely hands… I'm curious as to how your nails look when you're in your true form, Storm."

"I thought you were playing teacher, Mr. Gallagher." I drawled. Voltaire smirked, his eyes looking half lidded in amusement before he brought my knuckles to his lips, brushing them against my knuckles. I felt my body get tense.

What the hell is he doing?

His tongue slid out of his mouth and licked over the top of my fist before he let go, licking his lips and turning his back to me. I started to say something, but he moved way too fast for me to even see him. He spun around and smacked the ruler down.

I jammed my teeth into my tongue as the ruler slapped the tops of my fists. I glared at my fists, then at Voltaire, who cocked a brow.

"Hm, you've gotten better… Let's see how long you can go before screaming."

"Why would you want me to scream? Wouldn't that make you look like a fool?" I muttered. Voltaire slammed the ruler down, this time hitting my knuckles in the process and I hissed past my teeth. The shadow demon smirked.

"Who cares what I look like? Oh, don't tell me you don't know, Storm? A merman's scream is so powerful, it can even make the merman himself cry. And I just wanna see that pitifully painful look on your face, your pretty gold eyes fill with crystal tears. I want to break that flat look on your face." He responded and slapped the ruler down. I stifled a gasp, watching as my fists burned a bright red already.

I glared at Voltaire past my hair and clenched my fists tighter.

"Keep going, Mr. Gallagher. I'm been bad, haven't I? Keep going." I dared. Voltaire's eyes seemed to flicker and his eyes narrowed.

SLAP

SLAP

SLAP

SLAP

It was getting harder and harder every time, so I could tell that I was pissing him off big time. I had to admit, though, watching him lose his cool was entertaining me. He had such a nice look in his eyes every time he swiped at my fists.

I was so lost in watching him get pissed that I didn't realize my knuckles were gushing blood, the red droplets rolling down between my fingers and hitting the ground. Not until my nose picked it up. I frowned a little and Voltaire stopped smacking my knuckles.

CRACK

The ruler slapped me hard in the cheek, my head snapping to the side for a second before I looked back at Voltaire dully. His eyes were practically glowing before he turned around in silence. He wasn't breathing hard or cursing or anything. He was absolutely silent, which kept me on my toes as I stood there, lowering my fists to my sides, unclenching them.

I allowed a grimace to pass over my face as Voltaire turned away to look into one of his drawers. The blood was making my hands numb and wet. Just when I thought he was going to come back and hit me again, Voltaire caught me off guard.

He jerked one of my hands up and started wrapping gauze around them firmly, patting it before moving onto the next hand. I frowned, watching him work. His expression was still angry, but he was moving calmly and carefully. He then picked up both my hands in his, studying them before he looked me right in the eyes.

"If I can't make you scream, if I can't make you cry, just know that there are plenty of students I could force…" His eyes drifted to the spot where Dominic had been sitting. I jerked my hands away from him, taking a couple steps back toward the door.

"You're an idiot. If you attack Dominic, Hannibal will kill you." I retorted. Voltaire laughed, throwing the ruler down on the floor where it clattered.

"Oh, please! My baby brother kill me? What a joke! Hannibal couldn't even kill Walker himself, so he sent his little boy toy to do it instead. He's a coward." He sneered. I felt like I was having a hard time trying to grip my control. I glared at him.

"Says the one who runs away with his tail between his legs."

"You're the one with the tail." Voltaire snorted.

"Ugh." I whipped around and headed for the door, reaching out to open it, but a hand shot out and slammed it shut in my face. I froze, feeling Voltaire's body pressing against mine, his other arm around my waist as he brought his lips to my ear.

"I love you, Storm." He whispered softly, his lips brushing my ear every time he said a word. I stared at the door, trying to ponder this.

He loves me?

Oh, oh. That's a load of bullshit, and that is so low. I smirked and whipped around to face Voltaire, who leaned against the door, looking down at me with a faint smile.

"That's pretty fucking low of you, Voltaire. Using me to get to Hannibal and Dominic? If you even get near them, I'll gladly attack you and leave you for Hannibal to finish off. Or even better, maybe I'll rip you to shreds and throw you out for the guardians?" I offered. Voltaire's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and his whole body tensed over me.

"What the fuck makes you think I want Hannibal and Dominic?" He demanded. I cocked a brow, folding my arms over my chest.

"Yes, because you so came back here to become a teacher at the school that you so obviously despised." I drawled.

"You ever think that maybe I really did love you?" Voltaire challenged. I stared at him and before I could stop myself, my hand swung up and slapped him, hard across the face.

"Don't fuck around with me. Not this time." I spat at him and I didn't mind baring rows of jaggedly sharp teeth at him either for emphasis before I swung around and threw the door open, almost hitting Voltaire in the face, where he was standing with a look of stunned rage.

I bolted out and down the hallway, heading straight for my dorm. Hannibal was going to be pissed that I didn't show up for lunch today, but I didn't care. I didn't want to be around people now. I needed to be somewhere else. Anywhere, but around people.

My shoes smacked the marble floors as I rounded a corner and started to head for the dorms when I came to a slow walk, then a stop in front of a large room; the sign above the double doors reading: POOL. I stared at it a while longer, thinking.

The pool closes after the last class, which is during fourth period. That already passed, so it was closed. Mr. Kazawa was probably already outside doing his guardian duty too. The pool opens up at five in the morning… That gave me plenty of time, more than enough.

I ran around toward the swimming locker rooms. I dropped one of my arms, letting the nail extend and rip through a layer of the gauze. I picked the lock open and crept inside to a pitch black room. I found my way around to the other side, searching for the door that led out to the pool. I could smell the water from in here, easily finding the door and slipping out into the pool area.

The Olympic sized pool was huge and welcoming. The waves created by the cleaners built into the walls seemed to wave at me, urging me to come forward.

I dropped my messenger bag on the bench nearest the pool before I started to strip off my clothes. The purple and black tiles felt cold on my feet and I shifted a bit uncomfortably on them before I pulled my shirt off, dropping it on top of my blazer. I slid my pants and boxers off, standing nude.

I approached the water slowly at first. I could vaguely remember the process of what was going to happen as soon as I jumped into that water. I needed more space. I walked around to the deep end, which was a total of twelve feet or so.

I stepped back, took a deep breath. This was a lot harder than I thought it was. I hadn't been in water so long and showers didn't count, and Hannibal never let me take bathes, just in case my tail was longer than expected and knocked everything off the edges of the tub.

A tail. That was going to worry me.

I looked down at my legs, bending down a bit, running my hands along them and over my thighs. Goodbye, legs.

I bolted for the pool and pushed off the edge before jumping in, without much of a style, kind of like a cannonball, but not quite. I slammed into the water and it engulfed me, closing over my head. I closed my eyes at first and I was about to hold my breath, but I sucked in and-

I really could breath under water. I opened my eyes and blinked for a quick second before everything under the water came into focus. The water was clean and blue. It wasn't blurry or anything. It was like I wasn't even under water.

Until I felt the lower half of my body ache. I gasped a little, feeling my legs close together tightly. I felt like someone was pulling on my skin and digging their nails into it, trying to rip it off. It hurt, but not enough so that I could yell or anything. I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes, looking away from my lower half and facing up as I seemed to hover in place for a bit.

And then I let my hands brush my thighs. It was like touching a snake's skin. It felt weird and I opened my eyes, looking down. I had to admit, I was kind of awed. Gone were my legs, gone were my toes. It was like my entire bottom half was made up of a snakeskin tail with silky fins that flared out wards like some kind of golden Japanese fan, but the ends curled up with a string of skin. Another, smaller and thinner fan-like fin went from about where my knees used to be to connect with the bottom fin. Both fins were gold, a bright and glittery gold while the rest of a deep, dark blue almost black. It was freaking amazing.

I noticed that my nails seemed to grow out now, straight and dark. I felt my teeth had grown sharper too. I stayed there for a second before I flung my arms up and swam to the surface, my head popping up. I sucked in air, then looked at the water, then at my tail for a while. I felt terrible about forgetting how to use it, but it seemed like everything came flooding back after a while. I dove into the water and my tail splashed up a good amount of water into the air.

This was going to be fun.

I shot through the water all the way down to the bottom of the pool, my ears never popping on the way. I spread my hands out in front of me and touched the bottom, smirking a bit before I did a spin and shot back up, taking a sharp turn and racing into the shallow end of the pool before doing a U-turn and coming back around.

It was like the instinct to swim was already built into me. And I loved it. I shot through the water and did a flip before shooting up out of the water, going so high into the air that I could grab onto the highest diving board. I pushed off it and did a flip again before splashing down into the water.

I don't think I've ever felt this good before.

I probably swam around for hours, even floating and staring up at the ceiling of the pool area, watching a light flicker for a moment, before staying on. I felt relaxed, calm, cool. It was so much better, I realized, then sitting around in class all day.

I got me thinking. If I could just get out of this hell hole, I could leave to somewhere where I could be in the water all the time. I'll get a job that requires I be in water. I want to be around the water all the time… I did a little spin and disappeared into the water, swimming around and around for a while until I heard a loud kuh-chak of a door. I twitched and shot down further into the water, burying myself into a corner.

I could hear the footfalls on the tiles from inside the pool and it alarmed for a bit. I stayed down and sat on the bottom of the deep end of the pool in a corner, listening. I heard shuffling, some muttering, then more shuffling and a door close.

I waited a bit longer, then shot up to the surface, coming up to the edge and peering over. I winced, seeing that whoever had come in had taken my bag, clothes, and textbook. Shit, and I didn't have this class so I couldn't get into a locker for clothes.

I did a turn in the water and swam around for a little bit to think about this. I couldn't stay in here all night, as unfortunate as that was. They'd end up calling the headmaster and I'd probably get in trouble for breaking in as well as cutting classes and being out past curfew.

I wouldn't have to worry about people seeing me naked.

A) It's an all boys school.

B) No one would dare touch me.

C) It was after school hours and everyone would be in their dorms.

Now it was just getting back to the dorm without waking up the others. I'd probably wake up Hannibal if I wasn't careful since he's a light sleeper. It'd take him a second to realize I was sneaking in and if that happened, I could hurry and close the door so it's dark and climb into bed without him actually knowing… I have no idea. It'd work out that way, I hoped.

I swam over to the ledge of the pool and heaved myself up so I was sitting on the edge, my fins splashing up water and causing waves to crash over the ledges. I pulled myself back some when my tail didn't turn into legs. Slowly, but surely, the stretching and pulling started and I grimaced, lying back on the tiles, digging my nails against them as I arched my back, gasping before I looked down to see that I had legs again.

I stared at myself for a while, then sighed and started to stand up.

I hit the floor.

I blinked and pushed myself up on my hands. My legs felt weird, tingly and kind of numb. I was kind of freaking out now. What the heck was going on? Was this supposed to happen? I couldn't remember…

I tried to get up again, using a nearby bench for support, but my legs wobbled and I fell on my knees. I took a deep breath to calm myself, pressing my hands to the floor in front of me.

Okay, panicking won't help the situation at all. I needed to get out of here first. Now, I couldn't care less who saw me naked. I just wanted to get help. I looked around, in hopes of finding something to help me, but the pool room was quiet now, except for the gentle hum of the pool cleaner.

My eyes locked on one of the doors that led straight out to the hallway. That'd have to do. I put my hands out in front of me and started dragging myself across the floor, grimacing every so often when the tiles scraped my knees and elbows. I couldn't come here alone anymore, I figured. It was annoying. I'd have to take someone with me, which would make hanging out alone with my thoughts a lot harder.

Then I remembered what Dominic said about visiting the pool sometime.

I could probably take him and knowing him, he'd probably just silently watch in awe the entire time. So it was like being alone. I sighed with relief and glanced up to see that I was about halfway to the doors. I groaned and stopped, leaning back on my hands and throwing my head back to glare at the ceiling. This was probably one of the worst situations I've been in in a while.

With a heavy sigh, I continued to drag myself the rest of the way across the tiled floor toward the double doors. I was getting really tired now and I could only guess that it was nearing midnight. It didn't help that I was still soaking wet and I started to notice that the water was clinging to my legs most of the time, instead of leaving a wet trail. That wasn't helping.

I finally reached the door and got on my knees, picking the lock and opening the door a little bit. I tried to use the door to help me stand, but my legs were trembling and my feet didn't want to stay correct, so I fell on my knees again. I grunted and finally got out, closing the door behind me.

I was so tired.

Jesus… Maybe I should find somewhere to just sleep…

No! God no. I wasn't about to wake up in the morning to half the school watching me sleep naked in some closet!

Ugh, god. But my legs ached now and my hips hurt. My arms started to feel a bit numb and tingly too. I had to keep going, though, if I wanted to save myself the embarrassment.

God, this day was just getting worse and worse.

And it go a whole lot worse when I backed up and my back hit something. Not a wall, not a door, but a pair of legs. I froze, then tipped my head back to stare up at Voltaire, who was smirking down at me, his arms folded over his chest.

"Well, well, my little merman. What're you doing out past curfew?"