Dark Horses of the Apocalypse*

"I suddenly lost my appetite," I said as I shove the food away.

Lysander gleefully picked up the remainder of mom's homemade sandwich and started eating it.

"It tastes good," Lysander mumbled around a full mouth. "Nothing's wrong with it."

"I should leave."

"Wait." Lysander grabbed my elbow and a thunderbolt of energy zapped my skin. The pressure of being toasted internally made me see black and green spots.

I swallowed the rising bile of my throat, pulled my arm away from his, and leaned my weight carefully on the table, not letting him know how much that simple contact hurts me.

I shouldn't have been surprised that Gabriel and his friends would join our table considering that Lysander was one of their friends. Unfortunately, their presence usually attracted an entourage of girls.

It was bad enough that Lauren has spotted me and Lysander didn't want me to leave.

"Cassandra? Can you make a little room for us please?" Lauren asked as she gestured at Gabriel, the two boys and four of her pretty girlfriends.

"Don't worry about it." Bitch. "You can have my seat," I said in a caustically cheerful voice, vacating the place next to Lysander.

"You stay, Cassandra," Lysander said. "We are friends, right?"

Lauren brushed close to me as she passed, whispering something about me not being cool enough to sit at the same lunch table with the popular ones.

Before I could get into a well-deserved fight with Lauren, Lysander inconspicuously pulled me down by the back of my shirt next to him to stop one of the girls from getting too close.

The bastard just used me as a shield. Great. Now, I have to keep an eye out for more haters.

I have my elbows on the table and my head cradled in one hand as I rubbed my temples.

"Hey, are you okay? Does your head hurt?" A guy said, sitting down next to me.

"I'm Raven." He held out his hand in a friendly gesture but I didn't accept the offer to shake hands with him. He had a tattoo of a wand on his right hand. I'll probably faint from mere skin contact (literally) in this cafeteria and front of the whole student body if I'm not careful. Just like what happened with Gabriel before and Lysander a while ago.

Raven Ardere was a freckled redhead boy with light blue eyes. He's less bulky in comparison to Lysander, Gabriel, and Leif but he is a beauty that is so dreamlike, I am very sure that he isn't normal. He could be a painting come to life or a faerie prince from a long-forgotten world.

"Leave her be, Raven. She's a total snob." As soon as Gabriel's blue eyes met mine, he gave a pointed look at Lysander's arm on the back of my chair before sitting down next to Lauren.

Leif Blackwood scowled at me with those large hazel eyes and as he sat down in front of me. He was tall, six feet at least, and powerfully built.

He had short black hair and a dark end of summer tan on his bronze skin that brought out his white teeth. He looks dangerous and ready to kill at any moment's notice.

Who are these people? It's a crime to exist in a world where nobody is that perfect.

'The word 'handsome' is an understatement.' I realized as I stared at them, awestruck. They are not normal humans. They must be living Greek gods.

Honestly, I could snap some pictures of these guys and post them online and earn a lot of money. They could be scouted as models or actors. They could join the Male's Most Beautiful Faces of 2019.

"By the way, these are my friends." Lauren interrupted my train of thoughts and introduced her companions as she flashed Lysander a dazzling smile. "Danielle, Eunice, Katrina, and Monique."

"Hi." They greeted in unison at Lysander as they let out some practiced flirty giggles.

"This is Cassandra," Lysander said as he introduced me to his friends with a huge grin. "She's my seatmate."

'Seatmate, huh?' I thought. 'When you claimed my seat like it's yours in the first place this morning?'

"Cassandra is a bit too long to pronounce, don't you think?" Raven smiled lazily as he looked me over. "Can I call you Cass?"

"Don't act too familiar with a drooling female, Raven, or you'll regret it." Gabriel's voice was deep and low as he warned Raven.

Awkward silence.

I glare at him for insulting me but I kept my mouth shut. Gabriel looked back at me before frowning deeply and staring down at his food.

As the minutes ticked by silently, I could feel his mood getting worse and worse.

"Do what you want, Raven. Call me whatever you like." I replied through clenched teeth as a hot blush burned my cheeks.

I need to divert this attention away from me.

Good thing, Lauren picked that exact moment to clear her throat elegantly (if there was such a thing) as she attempted to change the topic.

"So what happened? Tell me why you moved to this town?" Lauren asked too brightly and the strange atmosphere dissipated.

I never really had a situation before where I'm thankful that Lauren is within my vicinity, but, yeah.

Danielle clapped her hands excitedly. "Yes! I've been dying to ask that question."

"Come on, tell us!"

"Honestly, I was bored," Gabriel replied coolly.

"I'd like a change of environment." Raven shrugged as he munched on popcorn and chips.

"This school is chill as fuck." Lysander answered, "I like it."

"Chill as fuck?" Katrina's nose crinkled in confusion. "This is a prestigious school. Exams are hard."

"Yep. " Monique agreed as she picked on her salad. " --and teachers are top-notch."

"So the four of you just came from different places and planned to come to this school together in the middle of the second semester for whatever reason?" I pressed, deciding to join the conversation.

'Isn't that a bit suspicious?' But I didn't tell them that. They are not here to kill me, are they?

Gabriel is not telling me anything useful.

Maybe, I could fish for more clues if one of them is willing to give information away.

"Truth is... we were looking for someone." Lysander trailed off.

"Who? A girlfriend? You must be looking for me!" Eunice said jokingly.

Raven let out a sexy chuckle, held Eunice's hand, and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds before pulling away.

"Nope. Not you. I thought she's in this part of the country but recently I felt that she's not here anymore." He said cryptically. "It's as if she just ceased to exist."

Is Raven implying that they could detect me before if I'm near them or something? Like some sort of spirit? Before this whole thing with my discovery of Gabriel's deception blew up?

Lysander shook his head in regret. "I think we came to this school a little too late."

"So, she's dead?"

Maybe, we're not sure." Lysander responded quietly.

Monique exclaimed, "All of you came from Europe all the way here just to search for a dead person?"

"Is there a dead female student recently in this school?" Raven asked.

"What's the name?" Lauren asked, her curiosity piqued. "Maybe we could help you."

"You told us she was here, Gabriel." Leif has finally spoken up from his silence. "You called us here and admitted you have seen her first in this area."

I'm doomed.

I did." Gabriel said seriously, his blue eyes focused on mine. "She's right here in front of you."

Please.

Not me, Gabriel.

Don't let them know.

"The girl we are looking for is Lauren," Gabriel told his friends. "She's not dead, okay?" He played with the food on his plate and continued nonchalantly,"-- and she's my girlfriend now."

Lauren?

Girlfriend?

In the same sentence?

Lauren looked down and nodded, blushing. I watched as she smiled slowly, her pretty cheeks stained red and her bright blue eyes lit up like fireworks.

I hazard a glance on Gabriel. He was staring at me with an unreadable look on his face.

That was my cue. I stood up abruptly, muttering an excuse, and hurried away. Not even Lysander could stop me from escaping that scene.

By the time I got to the girl's room, I felt a little better. I splashed cold water on my face for good measure.

The weather was bad.

People were not cooperating.

Life is a huge mess.

God, this was the best day ever.