Song for the start of the chapter!

Gray's POV 

"Grayson, I closed the gate today so you can have the day off," the letter of Else said as it paced around on the small beat-up table. She continued to relay details about her next assignment, but my mind drifted to the idea that Stella was coming over today. I remembered talking to her after class and giving her my address. I wouldn't admit it to her, but I was probably more excited about this study group than she was.

Breaking me from my thoughts was when the letter caught on fire before my eyes, falling as ashes on the table. With a smile on my face, I stood up from my seat as I glanced around the nearly empty house. It was small and simple, and it worried me for a second that Stella wouldn't be impressed with it.

Almost instantly, the thought caused me to frown. It was such a stupid thought. I never cared about any of this stuff in the past, so why was Stella making me think like a typical high schooler?

Before long, there was a knock on the door which I opened almost instantly to see Stella with a container of cookies in her hands. "My stepmom made these. She asked me to bring them. I hope this isn't weird."

I shook my head as I let her in. "Not weird at all."

Stella placed the container of cookies on the lamp table by the door, then took off her black leather boots that looked like she had for years. She looked around the room, then sat down on the couch with a smile on her face. "So, should we get started?" Stella asked, paying little attention to the small and sparsely furnished family room.

I wasn't sure if she was unfazed by the small house or if she hid it, but something told me that fancy things didn't interest her as much as the people she surrounded herself with. "Yes, let's get this started."

She flipped through the pages and pulled out her notebook that had notes in all colors as she talked about the class of today and why it was important.

I paid little attention to her words as I watched her speak. I couldn't understand why she wanted to talk to me, let alone be friends with me. Why was it so important that she talk to me when all the school warned her to stay away? She gave me her reasons before, but I don't think I would ever wrap my head around it.

"So what did you find interesting in this class?" her voice was soft and light, causing me to be pulled out of my thoughts.

I shrugged as I tried to remember what the lesson was about. Details of the hour class period escaped me as I remembered writing battle plans that the Churchwell royal family could use in case a war was called against the Darklings. But I didn't understand why I tried so hard to help because it's not like they would use my plans since my father was a traitor.

Else told me all the information about the meetings, and she said she would bring me to one meeting, so I was aware of what was going on, but so far that moment had not come. I was still on the sidelines, half in the dark, and that was where I would stay. I knew the leaders of Churchwell were careful to bring me in, I understood my father was not the best role model towards the end of his life, but it still hurt that they didn't judge me for my own works.

"Gray, I'm waiting here," Stella's voice rang out.

I met eyes with her hazel-colored ones and I realized I hadn't answered her question. "Wasn't there something to do with a fire experiment in the Antelope reserve?"

Stella laughed so easily, but it wasn't demeaning. It caused my heart to soar just for a moment. "No, that was yesterday."

I frowned, feeling stupid, then looked at my notebook that had brief notes about the class. I should had written more, I should have at least tried, but there were so many things going on in my mind, school was at the bottom of the list.

"What do you write about in class?"

I looked up at her again and shrugged. The notes I wrote were not for her eyes or for any human for that matter, they were for Churchwell and for them only.

"I mean, I see this notebook is almost empty, but when I saw you in class, you always take so many notes."

For a second, I was excited that she watched me and admitted it. But then I was reminded that she couldn't know what I wrote about. I needed to toss her thoughts away, so she didn't get too suspicious. "You watch me in class?"

"It's not like that," she retorted with a frown.

"Then what is it?" I asked with a smirk.

She shrugged as she looked at her notes again, unable to form her thoughts into words. For a moment, there was silence until she broke it again. "Homecoming's this weekend." She stated as if this was a well-known fact, however, it wasn't or maybe it was the fact that everyone tried their hardest to keep every single fact about school away from me. "And I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?"

My mouth felt open for a quick second before I regained myself. If this was a way to change topics, she had a hell of a way to do it. For someone that said she liked predictability, she was anything but. She fell into nothing predicable and almost anything she did and said caught me off guard. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"And why not?" she demanded as if she thought my statement was stupid.

I could think of a million reasons it was a terrible idea, but she wouldn't understand all of them. "Jeez, Stella, maybe because the entire school hates me."

"I don't hate you."

Her honest statement caused a smile to come to my face for a second. I knew she didn't hate me; she was the only one that didn't. But she responded with such confidence, such poise, it was as if she knew without a doubt that she would never hate me. But that thought fizzled out as I knew that if she knew the truth, she would hate me. I was the monster. I was a killer.

"If you just told them you didn't kill the kid, then maybe they would understand."

I gave her a pointed look because we both knew that was wishful thinking. My grave was already dug long before she arrived and there was no redeeming me in the eyes of the students. Besides, I was reminded that it was safer this way. Darklings were coming and the farther these town people were from us, the safer it was.

"If you didn't kill him, why are you so interested in keeping up this act?"

"Who said I didn't kill him?"

She recoiled as a frown appeared on her face. She was afraid of me for a second, and that was a good thing. She should be afraid. "You're really a dick. Are you just into self-torment? Or is this some kind of sick joke to you?"

She wasn't afraid, she actually was mad at me. That frown was for me and my attitude, not my past actions. I opened my mouth, then closed it, unsure what to say to her. "You just don't understand," I muttered.

"Then help me," she said as her tone softened as she placed her hands on mine.

For a second, I let her hold my hands, warming them. I tried to memorize her soft touch and her warm skin on my own, but everything was brought to a stop when the front door opened. Right away, I pulled my hands from hers as I turned to face Else. 

She wasn't supposed to be back yet. I had no intentions for her to run into Stella, let alone realize that Stella was here. 

"Gray, who is this?" Else asked as she walked into the house with a frown, clearly upset that I invited a human into our house. This place was not meant for humans, she made that clear long ago, but yet I broke one of her very few rules.

"I'm Stella," Stella said brightly, not sensing Else's tension or maybe she didn't care. I couldn't understand if she ignored the tones or if she really just missed all of them. Maybe that was why she was so kind because things just flew over her head. "Gray and I have a class together."

"Gray, you should have told me guests were coming," she said, not addressing Stella at all.

"She's the only one." And she always would be. I couldn't trust anyone else, but Stella gave me no reason not to trust her. She was kind and wanted to be around me which was probably not a good thing.

"Well, finish this up, we have things we have to do."

I frowned at her unwelcoming tone and wondered if she could make any worse of a first impression. Else told me to fit in, blend in, but yet she didn't want me to make any friends or have any contact, so how could I blend in?

Knowing she wasn't wanted, Stella stood up from the couch. "I should get back anyhow," Stella said as she started gathering her things.

I nodded, although I wanted to say more to her, but wouldn't while Else was near. "I'll walk you out."

She nodded silently, then left out the front door. She pulled her coat closer to her as she walked off the front porch, then looked at the closed door and frowned as she thought about something. Finally, she spoke up as she got on her bike. "Your mother is...."

"She's not my mother," I replied a little too quickly, even before I knew what I said myself.

She looked at me with shock, then with confusion, unsure what I meant. "Then who is she?"

I frowned as I realized I said too much and there was no way to take it back. Already she would think of what this woman was to me and why I was living with her. She would never know that my father was a dead traitor and my mother unknown. Else, or what I called her, mom, was tasked with the terrible job to watch over me until I graduated high school. "She's just my foster mother. It's nothing. You can forget it."

She looked so concerned for a moment as she placed her hand on my shoulder. "Are you ok? Is she ok with you?"

I looked back at the house, then towards her. The woman in that house wasn't perfect, but she tried her best to raise me and help me fit into my role. It wasn't like this was her dream job, but she had watched over me for years now without complaining. She was used to the job now, just like I was used to her. "I'm fine and she's fine."

She nodded as she stared at me, reading me for a second before jumping onto her bike. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Will I see you at school?"

She smirked at my comment. "I'll talk to you later Gray."

"Talk to you later," I confirmed as she biked off, leaving me standing on the driveway in the cold. I stood there until I couldn't see her any longer, then with a heavy sigh, I turned on my heels then walked back into the house.

"You are getting too close to that human," was the first thing Else said as I closed the door behind me.

I expected her to say something like this as soon as she walked in through the door. She didn't like me inviting her here and she didn't like me befriending her. I already broke her rules once with Easton and it killed him, she didn't want that to happen again. But in the back of my mind I couldn't help but think that maybe I could be more careful this time. "I'm fitting in. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Not like this. Not with her."

I didn't understand why she didn't like her. She was kind, considerate, and the only genuine person at school. I would think mom would be happy that someone didn't see me as a killer. "Then tell me what you want Else," I snapped at her, using her name for the first time in months.

Her frown spoke more than any words could. She hated this whole moment, us fighting, Stella, coming home early. Carefully, she looked around our small kitchen as if someone might hear her. "Why are you using that name."

"It is yours, isn't it?"

She sighed knowing I had a point. It was hers and she wasn't my mother so why keep this up when no one was watching. "Grayson, you can't be with her. You can't date her, and you can't fall in love with her."

I knew that. Like flashes of lighting, I was reminded what it meant when our kind fell in love with humans. It often led to death. Not dating them was the easiest protection for everyone involved. "I know."

"Good. Now sit down, we have to talk about the meeting I just had. I want to keep you up to date."

"When can I actually go to a meeting with you in Chruchwell? I am tired of you just giving me replays."

She frowned as she looked at her hands covered in jewelry hinting of her high social standing. "I know it's nothing to do with you. But the leadership is scared..."

Deep down I knew it would come to this but her words still caused a fire to burn within me. I wasn't anything like him, I was better, didn't they see that?  "That I will turn into my father," I snapped. "And that is why I haven't trained yet. They are just making things up, making it impossible for me do actually do what I was born to do."

"About that... well, they actually agreed to weekend training at Churchwell Academy."

Her statement defused any tension building within me. "What?"

She nodded with a small smile. "It starts in two weeks."

And suddenly my sour attitude lightened, and a smile appeared on my face. I had been waiting for this for far too long. This was what I was made to do, I was going to be better than my father, I would be more than he ever was.