The Invasion

18 | A Familiar Face

Staring right back at me is my schoolmate.

Jace. He belongs to a part of the gang that Spencer and Leo were in, so there were times I would bump into him. They used to rule the hallway with their athletic builds and girls chasing after them.

But now, not anymore.

He's standing in his bedroom on the second floor, still staring at me in disbelief. How is he unaffected by the siren's song?

"The hell, dude?" I mouth my words at him and do big gestures, hoping he can lip-read since we can't scream at each other and alert the creatures. "The singing... Can't you hear them?"

He taps his finger against his ear and shakes his head. "Ear plugs."

Genius. And how lucky is he that he could find ear plugs in his place? He must have seen something, figured out about the sirens and saved himself somehow before he would succumb to their invitation.

I watch as Jace disappears from his window and returns with a pen and paper. He scrawls big, clumsy words on it and shows them to me.

"Are you alone?"

I nod my head and gesture at him. Words form on my lips. "Yes. What about you?"

"Same," he writes. "I left school yesterday to come to this house. Can't find my GF. You?"

My shoulders droop as my expression crumbles. "I'm finding my mom."

We exchange a quick look of sympathy and understanding, realizing how lost we both are, until something clicks in my head.

Did Jace just mention he came from school?

"Jace!" I exclaim so loud that even my voice startles me. But it's not like he can hear me. "Have you seen Miss Campbell?"

His brows furrow in confusion. "What?" he mouths back. "I can't understand you."

"Maddison Campbell! Our Geography teacher! My cousin! Did you see her?"

Jace continues to shake his head and I blow out hot air in frustration. I scramble around the room for writing materials, but can't seem to find any. When I run out of options and return to the window to let Jace know I will head over to his place, he is nowhere to be seen.

The door to my room burst open, scaring the living hell out of me, but the sight of a familiar face calms me down in a split second. He wields an ax in his hand, whereas I'm still holding onto the dagger that Zarius has given me.

"Jace?" I squeak before it turns into a low hiss. "What on earth...? You're insane! What if one of the sirens sees you?!"

I don't think he catches my words with those earplugs in his ears, but judging from my annoyed hand gestures, he immediately gets what I'm trying to convey. "Doesn't matter." He shrugs lightly. "My life's already at risk."

"Ours," I correct him. Waving him over, I grab his arm and pull him towards the bathroom. Locking ourselves in, I check if the walls are thick enough to muffle the sirens' song.

I tap on his shoulder twice and nod once. "Okay, Jace. You're good. We can't hear the sirens here."

He removes his ear plugs immediately and runs a hand through his wet, messy hair dramatically. Flinging water droplets in my direction. "Jeez, Walters. You're bold. Are we really having our first date in the bathroom?"

"You're an idiot."

I punch his shoulder, lightly at that, and he holds up his hands in mock defeat, laughing shakily. "Ow! Okay, okay! But man, I'm really glad to see you out here, Walters. I've not seen anybody alive on the streets so far." He let out a sigh of relief. "You're the first."