Fangs Or Tails?

3 | Chapter

A classroom? Well... if privacy was what he was looking for...

Tobias sighed, second guessing his instinctual act of following this random stranger. He didn't even know the guy's name, and yet there was something about him that... made the choice for him. It was harrowing that he lost the coin, the thought of making a decision panic inducing. The only reason Tobias followed the stranger blindly, was that he wasn't thinking at all. If he attempted to... he knew that it would only result in him having a meltdown.

A long overdue one... Tobias was barely holding it together at the seams.

"Is this okay?" the person asked, a nervous smile in place. He didn't answer, simply stared at the guy to get it over with already.

"Your name," Tobias said after a while. He could feel the slightest smidgen of panic beginning to creep in. Being in an enclosed space with a complete stranger was worsening his already fragile mental state. Slipping a hand into his pocket, Tobias gulped inaudibly. He took his fiercely trembling hand out once again, fingers habitually flicking in a false attempt to soothe himself.

I need... the coin...

"Oh, right... I didn't introduce myself yet." He blushed deeply, the color distinctively odd on a person of his stature. "I'm Felix, we're in the same year I believe."

I frankly don't care... "What did you have to say to me?"

Felix seemed to be having an internal battle with his thoughts, eyes half unfocused and expressions flickering. Tobias was starting to wonder whether him being called in here was just a practical joke at this point. Finally, Felix met his eyes again, giving him a sheepish grin.

"I... uh... have something that I thought you might m-miss."

Tobias raised an eyebrow, all his fidgeting and thoughts suddenly screeching to a halt. He eyed the guy's hand as it too slipped into a pocket... and drew out the very object that he'd been flipping out about. His eyes widened a fraction at the sight, unable to believe that someone else has had the coin all along. Then they narrowed, shifting from Felix's eyes to his coin laying on his palm and back again.

He outstretched his own hand, and said, "I'd like it back now." Even if all Tobias wanted to do was to snatch what was rightly his, out of this peculiar stranger's grasp and end this little charade.

Instead of listening to what he'd said, Felix closed his hand over his coin, and then promptly flipped it into the air. Tobias' right eye twitched at the bold move, teeth gritting fiercely behind pursed lips. His extended hand flexing unconsciously.

This guy...

He seemed to have banished his former nervousness as he kept on flipping the coin, a look of innocent curiosity in his face. "I always wondered... why is this coin so important to you? Is it some kind of family heirloom? Does it have any sentimental value? Because most people would usually just have a simple locket or something," Felix blabbered naively, completely unaware of the ticking time bomb he had just unleashed.

"Give. It. Back." Tobias was seconds away from tackling the big guy to retrieve it. He paused in his flipping suddenly, looking extremely startled. Naturally, Tobias assumed that he stopped his shenanigans because of his outburst, and was about to demand it back again. Only to realise something too late. Felix was staring at the coin in bewilderment, keeping his palm flat once more.

Shit... did the coin answer one of his questions? There must have been at least one question in there that required a simple yes or no... and who knows about his thoughts...

This is bad. Very bad.

A few tense seconds later, Felix slowly slid his gaze to meet his, confusion and questions stirring within its depths. Tobias had no plans of hanging back to see where this would go. He finally did what he'd been itching to do since Felix revealed to him that he was in possession of the coin.

He swiped it from the other's hand and was about to make a run for it. Tobias even had the door wide open in a split second, but was stopped by Felix snagging a hold of his left wrist.

"Wait a minute!" Felix called out to the boy struggling to free himself from his unrelenting grip. "What was that about? That coin... how did it get inside my head? Where on earth did you get such a thing from? Ho-"

"Let go of me!" Tobias demanded, trying to twist his wrist away from the unnaturally strong grip. It became impossibly tighter the more he moved. The relief he felt from being reunited with his lifeline was short-lived as frustration took over at his apparent inability to escape. Clutching the coin with his right hand to his chest, Tobias spoke, "let me go! You already accomplished what you brought me here to do!"

"Calm down," he replied instead, trying in vain to soothe the flailing captive.

The spoken words sounded so hypocritical that something in Tobias snapped. Combined with the pain radiating from his bruising wrist, it was no wonder that he did what he did next. Tobias flat-out glared at the thief, discomfort spreading through him in waves at the unfamiliar facial expression, and emotion. "Damn it! Are you fucking inhumane, man? Let me go, you dipshit! It freaking hurts!"

At his words, Felix instantly released his hand, holding his own up in a gesture of surrender. And somewhere during the middle of his miniature angry spiel, Tobias heard something.

Yes.

He immediately backtracked, habitually replaying the words in his mind to figure out what exactly the coin was answering. Tobias hadn't asked anything specific, but it tended to speak up whenever it felt like it. Usually, it was easy to find out the exact question that had prompted an answer. This time it was no different, as he'd only asked a single question after retrieving the coin.

But for the first time ever... Tobias was doubting the credibility of it.

He's... not... human?

What?

Tobias clenched the coin in his hand, the metal leaving its imprint on his skin. He silently stared at Felix, unable to believe that it was the truth.

Is Felix... human? he thought tentatively. The response was immediate.

No.

There was only one other way to confirm that once and for all. "You're... not human?" Tobias finally let the strange array of words pass his lips, fully expecting an instant denial. Yet, all he received was a ghostly pale face. Felix's eyes darted down frightfully to the coin hidden in his hand, rightly guessing the reason behind the question. He was so purely horrified that his mouth was opening and closing like a fish.

"I-I can explain," Felix rushed to say, eyes wide with fear. The guy made to grasp his hand, but he shuffled backwards reflexively. Halfway out the door.

His reaction served to clear up all the doubts Tobias had regarding the coin. Except... it wasn't exactly a welcome affirmation. He took another step back when Felix tried to come closer.

"Tobias please," he pleaded, reaching out in a way that screamed his desperation at the situation. "Just hear me out!"

"Get the fuck away from me!" Tobias hissed, holding the coin in a death grip. Fueled by panic and fear, he went on to say, "and don't ever come near me again!"

And then he bolted.

A/N

Hey everyone! Long time no update! I apologize for that. I was working on a little extra thing for this book but don't plan on publishing it right now. Definitely after the ONC though.

This chapter is rather short, but I'm really not sure that I'm satisfied with it. What do you think?

Please don't forget to vote, share and comment!

-RL-

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