Chapter five

Kai's POV

“You sure kicked his ass,” A voice said from behind me as soon as I stepped out of the gym. I turned around to see who it was.

He pushed off the wall, handing me a bottle of water. “I'm Elias,”

“I'm Kai,” I took the water from him, muttering a thank you before taking a sip. I'd not seen him around. He was just as tall as Jax but he looked…..nicer or maybe not as dangerous as Jax.

“Not everyone is lucky enough to put Jax down,” he smiled. “I must say, you're one heck of a strong guy.”

I shrugged. “He has a smart mouth and shit talking doesn't really sit well with me.” He noticed that I kept looking down the hall so he asked if I was returning to my dorm and when I said yes, he said he was going the same way so we walked together.

“So…..how has Silvercrest been treating you?”

“It's kinda weird,” I looked at the students that just walked past us. One of the girls had one of those hats witches I'd always seen in movies wore and the girl next to her glistened as the sun touched her. That was certainly not normal.

"My roommate was hanging off the ceiling and a girl picked up a book without touching it."

Elias laughed, clearly not surprised by what I'd just said. "Okay the ceiling thing is definitely Riven. He's a vampire, don't be too shocked when you see him sleepwalking vertically."

"Vertically?” I blinked. “Is that possible?”

"Vertically," he confirmed, completely serious. “If he can hang down from the ceiling, what makes you think he can't sleep vertically?”

He was right.

“This school is insane.” I took another sip of the water and kept walking. A girl floated past us — not flew, floated, like gravity had personally offended her and she'd decided to opt out — and I watched her go because what else was I supposed to do.

"You'll stop staring eventually," Elias said, noticing.

"Doubt it."

We kept walking and I found myself thinking that he talked like someone who had nowhere to be and wasn't bothered about it. Most people I'd met since getting here had this thing about them.

"So what's your deal?" I asked. "What are you?"

He glanced at me sideways. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone here is something." I gestured vaguely at a guy who had just walked through a wall without breaking his stride. "Ceiling walkers, book movers, whatever that was." I pointed at a girl whose hair was literally moving on its own like it hadn't gotten the memo that there was no wind. "What are you?"

Elias smiled like he'd been waiting for the question. "That," he said, "is a secret I very much enjoy keeping."

I looked at him. "Seriously?"

"Very seriously." He didn't even look apologetic about it. If anything he looked entertained. "It's more fun this way for me at least."

“Great, mysterious guy number three.” I rolled my eyes. “First we had Dante, the power hungry fool, oh Jax the wannabe buff man and Elias, the fun yet secretive one.”

"Fine," I thrashed the empty bottle of water as we turned down the hall leading to my room.

"Fine," he agreed, still smiling.

I spotted a guy sitting on a bench with storm clouds hovering directly above his head and nowhere else. He was eating an apple and reading like nothing was happening.

I looked away.

We walked in silence for a bit and then Elias said, "So what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why are you here?" He asked it casually, like it was small talk, but there was something underneath it. "Silvercrest doesn't exactly send out general admission letters."

I shrugged. "Genetics." He waited for me to say more.

"I'm into genetics," I said. "I've been for a while but my old school wasn't too keen about it. Always got told that my brains were of no use in a place riddled with poverty.”

“So you applied for a scholarship here?”

I shook my head. “I didn't apply. A strange man gave it to me, saying my school had recommended me for the scholarship which I found strange but I took it anyway.”

"Genetics," Elias said, like he was turning the word over. “That's a very complex topic if you ask me.”

"Genetics," I confirmed. "DNA, hereditary traits, why things are the way they are." I glanced at him. "Figured a school full of ... .whatever everyone here is, would be an interesting place to study it."

He nodded slowly. Something moved behind his eyes but his face stayed easy and relaxed and I couldn't tell what he was actually thinking.

He knows something, some part of my brain said quietly. He knew before he even pushed off that wall.

I told that part of my brain to mind its business. Overthinking the slightest thing wasn't going to take me far.

"What?" I said, because he still had that look.

"Nothing." He smiled again. "Just interesting."

"You're going to be annoying aren't you?"

"Probably," he said, completely unbothered. "You'll get used to it."

We slowed when we reached the entrance to the east wing and he stopped, turning toward me. He held out his hand and it was such a formal thing to do at the end of a hallway conversation that I almost said something about it. But I took it anyway.

His grip was firm and I would've thought nothing of it except — I'd shaken hands with people here before. Not many but enough to notice that they all did the same thing.

Jax had touched me and he flinched like I'd stung him, the same thing happened with Dante who shoved me back like I reeked of shit.

But Elias didn't do that. He just looked at me like my hand was just a hand and nothing about it surprised him even a little. And then he smiled, slow and easy, and said,

"Welcome to Silvercrest, Kai." He dropped my hand and headed back down the hall and I stood there for a second just watching him go.

What was that about?