Circumstellar Read Online Free PDF Page B

evening. Well, about the first part. I had long since locked the second part away and I wasn’t about to bring it out anytime soon. I was still very confused about everything. One minute I was walking home like usual, and the next my life was on the line, threatened by guys that had glowing eyes like me no less. I let out a sigh and stepped into the hot stream of water. My knees and hands burned in the water, and I set about cleaning the scrapes. I really should have done this last night. Finished with my wounds, I went about cleaning the gray sand out of my hair and off my pale skin. After about thirty minutes of washing and relaxing in the shower, I stepped out and grabbed a towel. It felt good to enjoy a long shower.
    I toweled off before picking up my uniform off the ground. It was even worse than yesterday and that’s saying something. The gray stuff covered every inch. On the bright side, Ursa wouldn’t be able to single out my lack of ironing skills. I shook the clothes trying to free some of the dirt, only to end up creating a mini cloud in the bathroom. Coughing and wheezing, I rushed into my bedroom and opened the window. With my uniform gripped in my hand, I thrust the clothes out the window and began to beat them against the side of the house. Satisfied with the small pile of gray on the grass below, I pulled my clothes back in put them on. They weren’t spotless, but hey, it was better than looking like I’d rolled in from a dingy desert.
    I glanced at my watch and saw I still had some time to kill before making my way to school. I grabbed my bag and took out the small amount of homework I didn’t get to do last night and set to work. I made a promise, and evil attack or not, I was going to keep it. Going over the work, I realized it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I’d always believed. I could do this. After about twenty minutes of writing, I smiled and put the finished product into my bag. Easy-peasy.
    I stood up, picked up my materials, and began to make my way out the door. It was still a little early, but I decided I would rather wait for my friends at the intersectio n than stay here. Walking past the living room, I felt a rush of relief when Aunt Kaline was nowhere to be seen. It was too early for her to be up if she made it back to her room – if not too early for her to be back at all. Either way, I was glad to not see her. It was still too soon. They looked so much alike.
    I made my way out the door and set off down the street. I cast a nervous glance down the street, taking in my surroundings. Unlike last night, there were people out leaving for work. This combined with the presence of the morning sun began to put a gradual ease in my mind. By the way they rushed off last night, I got the feeling those guys weren’t likely to make an attack with a lot of witnesses. And if they were anything like me, the light would put them at a disadvantage should my heroes appear again.
    I came to the intersection where my friends had been waiting for me the day before, and I stood against the wall. My mind spun again with unanswered questions. While knowing who those guys were would be nice, I soon discovered that knowing what they were appealed to me more. I wasn’t one for supernatural nonsense, but just this once, I figured I’d humor myself. Let’s see, what goes around preying on teenage girls and likes the dark? I felt my mouth twist in revulsion as the most obvious answer popped into my head. Oh, hell no. I didn’t drink blood, I didn’t fear garlic, and I sure as hell didn’t sparkle in the sun. Next , I thought as I rolled my eyes. Maybe I was going about this all wrong. Although those guys wore cloaks, they still had humanoid shapes, and as far as I could tell so did I. Maybe humans, only with some kind of weird alteration. Mutants? I nodded my head. That had some potential. Remembering the way they spoke about humans, it did seem there was some hatred floating around. Or maybe I was all