A Rule That Never Breaks

Chapter 3

I was halfway down the block before I heard him behind me. Well I assumed it was him. I didn't stop to look. My apartment was only a few blocks away and I was honed in on a warm shower and my bed. And some privacy. I really hoped my roommates weren't home.

I took a shortcut down the alley. It was quiet here. My sneakers padding on the cement reverberated off the buildings on either side. The yellowish glow from a street light on the main road illuminated a dumpster up ahead. A couple was arguing in the apartment above me. I couldn't hear Ari's footsteps anymore.

I turned around.

The alley was empty other than a few parked cars and an old mattress resting against the side of a building. A breeze picked up, tossing my hair over my shoulder. I pulled up my hood and kept walking. Maybe he'd given up following me.

Just another couple of blocks and I'd be home. The wind was cold, biting through the opening to my jacket. That was odd, it had changed direction. I shoved my hands deeper into my pockets and picked up the pace.

I hung a right at the end of the alley and was nearly bowled over by a second gust of wind. The path narrowed to a small strip of pavement between buildings here, and the wind was howling down it like a wind tunnel. I staggered back a step. What was going on? It had been a calm, clear night only a few minutes ago. Now there was a raging wind with no sense of direction. I bent over and kept moving, leaning forward to keep my balance against the gusts. My hood fell off my head and my hair whipped about my face wildly. I squinted into the cold air to see where I was going.

As soon as I made it through the narrow path and back onto the main street, the wind fell away to nothing. I looked around in confusion, trying to find its source. A car whizzed past me. A couple walked arm in arm through the pooling light of a streetlamp. The girl felt angry. A group of teenagers behind them laughed loudly. I didn't feel anything from them. No wind.

It was weird, but everything about this day had been terrifying, or strange, or upsetting. My brain simply refused to register another thing that made no sense. Nothing that happened today fit into any of the categories I had made for myself to understand the world and the things that happened to me in it. I was either a normal foster kid with trust issues and an uncanny knack for knowing what people were feeling; or I was a distant descendent of a Greek god. A murderous, angry Greek god. I could almost laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it. I would definitely take the former. I continued up the street to my old, three-story apartment building. I was fumbling for the keys in my pocket when I saw him.

Ari was leaning against the front door of my building. His arms were crossed over his chest, and one of his long legs rested atop the other. His leather jacket was open despite the cold. The yellow light coming through the glass door colored his skin bronze. For a fleeting, infuriating moment, all I could think of was how handsome he looked. My second thought was that he was a creepy, self-absorbed stalker. I went with that one.

I stopped in front of him and crossed my arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

I shook my head with annoyance. "I told you I'd call you if I wanted to talk. Not, 'wait for me in front of my building like some stalker'. And how did you even find out where I lived?"

Ari straightened so he was no longer leaning against the door, but he didn't step aside. 

"I had a few more things to say."

A flush of anger made me ball my fists. "Well I was finished talking."

Ari's brow furrowed. He leaned in towards me and spoke in a low voice. "I know you don't believe me Paige. But it doesn't matter what you believe, it's true either way. Things are dangerous right now. You need to stick with others to be safe."