The announcement came before the second period. Lucas listened as classes were listed in the order they would be going in for their blood tests.

“Class 3H,” the principle’s voice blared over the speakers, “you have the lunch period.”

There were groans all around the classroom. No doubt, most of the boys had been hoping to be able to slip out during one of their classes.

Lucas didn’t heed the complaints around him as the gears in his mind began to turn. That gives me a time frame of three hours…two if I want to play it safe and get something done… The teacher for the second period hadn’t yet come and so the boys began to get noisy.

“Anyone else pumped for the game tomorrow?” someone asked.

“Nope,” came an instant reply. “But I am for the girls!”

There were shouts of agreement all around.

Lucas leaned back in his chair as a plan began to form in his mind. There’s only one problem…I need another person…M18, code name Zack. I’ll call him. He shot a glance at the clock. There’s no chance to go to my room without a valid excu… the thought trailed off and he stood abruptly.

All around him his classmates were still discussing the girls of Bel High.

Four minutes till the next period, Lucas noted as he slipped out the door. He grabbed a football from another guy’s desk along the way without being noticed.

He headed for another classroom, the one belonging to Nathan. He found it in a similar condition as his own, with the teacher not there yet and the boys in high spirits of the upcoming game…or more precisely the girl’s presence.

Lucas popped his head in.

“You lost?” someone yelled jokingly as he noticed him.

Nathan looked over from where he was sitting on his desk and having a conversation. Seeing Lucas, he jumped off hurried over.

“What’s up?” he asked, looking both hopeful and excited.

Lucas was well aware of the ears all around.

“I had a question about the game tomorrow,” he said.

Almost at once, most of those listening tuned out.

“Oh…” Nathan looked disappointed.

Lucas nodded to the hallway. Nathan followed him. Once they were in the clear, Lucas turned and tossed him the football.

“How good is your aim?” he asked.

“Huh?”

Lucas’ eyes darted to the fire alarm down the hallway, a button behind a glass box.

“And how hard is your shot?” he added.

Nathan furrowed his forehead. However, as Lucas continued to stare, his roommate turned to try see what he was looking at. Seeing the alarm, he seemed to catch on.

“Dude, seriously?” He turned around. “What’s up you ne…” he trailed off as Lucas shook his head and held up a finger to remind him of rule number one. “Ah, got it.” Nathan nodded. “I guess I won’t ask. Later?”

Lucas didn’t respond.

“Alright then.” Nathan tossed the football into the air and caught it again. “Guess it’s time to prove I’m a pretty good shot.” His face split into a grin. He turned back to his classroom and stuck his head in. “Anyone want to play some till class starts?” he asked, raising the ball.

Lucas watched.

“No soccer in the hallways,” came a reply.

“Perfect, cause this is football,” Lucas responded.

There was the sound of chairs scraping back.

Satisfied that the bait had been taken, Lucas turned headed back to his classroom. Looks like Nathan is going to be useful after all. He shot another look back to see three guys join Nathan in the hallway. The boy promptly dropped the ball and passed it to someone. He’s not too bad at this either, getting others to play so that when he hits the alarm it looks like an honest mistake.

Lucas rounded the corner, leaving the sound of scuffling behind. Though he was headed to his classroom, he took his time. Any moment, he thought. Any moment and the perfect excuse to go back to the dorm would be created, then he could contact Zack.

He had taken a few more steps when it happened; the sound of breaking glass, swearing, and then the blaring of the fire alarm. Lucas waited one moment longer. When boys started streaming out of classrooms with yells, he leapt into action and ran for the emergency exit.

Papers were thrown through the air as guys shouted and laughed. Paper planes flew around, a basketball was tossed over heads, and even a jacket gracefully was thrown. No one was taking the alarm seriously but everyone was more than happy to get out of class. Teachers ran along, trying to restore some form of order while yelling for the boys of different classes to head to their meeting points.

Lucas ignored it all. He knew it would take a while for chaos to be restored and that more than one student would be late to the meeting point.

He was back in his dorm in minutes. Once in his room, he shut the door and headed straight for his phone. He pulled it from its hiding place, his eyes darting to the clock on the wall. Time was ticking, he needed to get to his class’ meeting point.

Hitting the code that would connect him to Zack, Lucas headed for the bathroom. He shut the door. Though he wasn’t expecting anyone to come to the room, one could never be careful enough.

There was a click at the other end of the phone.

“Hi, you’ve reached my voicemail,” a familiar voice began. “Leave me a message after the tone…” The tone never came, instead it was followed by, “You cannot lose it no matter how hard you try.”

“Your shadow,” Lucas replied.

“It always answers when you call.”

“Echo.”

“Hello there nephew.” Zack sounded way too cheerful, and very unprofessional.

“What’s with the lame questions?” Lucas wanted to ask. However, he kept the question to himself. “I need something,” he said instead.

“Isn’t that the only reason you call your uncle these days?” Zack sounded disappointed. “No, hi how are you uncle, I’m fine by the way, How about calling me just because you want to talk.”

Is he serious? Lucas couldn’t tell. He still felt somewhat surprised. He hadn’t ever worked with M18 before, but he had heard a lot about him. When Zack had dropped him off at school Lucas was already wondering…it almost felt like this man didn’t have the typical ECHO attitude, or he was very good at hiding it.

“I’m on a time crunch,” Lucas shot back.

“Extraction?” Zack turned serious at once.

“No.”

“Wow, you’re not done?” Zack asked. “What happened to Mr. I’ll finish this in a week?”

Lucas’ hand went to the bullet wound. “Some…unexpected things happened.”

“That’s high school,” Zack responded. “Tell me you at least made some friends?”

Lucas cleared his throat.

“So…if it’s no extraction I’m guessing you need something sent.”

“Soon. I have…” Lucas paused as he glanced at his watch. “Two hours, earlier if possible.”

“Rodger that. I’ll drop it by the drop off location. So what exactly am I getting you?”

“Blood,” Lucas replied.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Blood!” Lucas repeated, more firmly. “I need blood.”

There was the sound of something in his room falling.

Lucas whirled. He lowered the phone and held it behind his back before opening the bathroom door. He was just in time to witness none other than Jamie slowly backing out of the room, his face beyond pale.

“Oh great,” Lucas muttered. Why is he even here?

Jamie froze as their eyes met. “V-v-va…” he spluttered.

I need blood, Lucas’ own words echoed in his mind. You’re a vampire, Jamie’s accusation followed. Surprising even himself, Lucas did the first thing that came to his mind. He lifted his top lip and hissed.

Jamie sprang into the air, turned, and sprinted from the room, almost running into the door on the way.

Lucas couldn’t help but chuckle at the reaction. His eyes landed on the clock in the room. Turning, he quickly closed the bathroom door and lifted the phone to his ear.

“What happened?” Zack demanded.

“A rat.”

“How much did he hear?”

“I’ll find out and take care of it,” Lucas replied calmly. He could very well guess what Jamie would have concluded. I just need to make sure he doesn’t put anything together… “Can you get me what I asked for?”

“Just any blood, or a specific?”

“Human. O positive.”

“That’s your type.”

Lucas felt surprised that Zack would know. “Exactly.”

There was a pause at the other end. “How bad are you hurt?” Zack had put two and two together.

“A graze,” Lucas lied.

“Sure.”

“Nothing major was hit. Just get me the blood. I have to go.”

“It’ll be there.”

“Also,” Lucas added as he remembered the incident in the vent. “There’s someone else here, a third party I think. They could potentially have the same goal…”

“How sure are you?”

“Semi.”

“That’s enough for me. I’ll look into it…and Lucas…”

“What?”

“Never mind. You have fun, you hear?” There was a click and the line went dead.

Lucas stared at the phone. Have fun? With a snort he turned back to the door. Since when does anyone in ECHO tell you to have fun? He put the phone away and was on the move. The wound in his side had begun to throb, the painkillers wearing off, yet Lucas didn’t pause to get any more. He had lost enough time already.

“Carter!” The teacher was yelling out names as Lucas joined his classmates at their meeting point, the baseball field. “Carter.”

A boy lazily raised his arm in the air.

Someone playfully slapped Lucas’ shoulder. “You get lost?” Raymond, his classmate asked.

“Sure took you ages to get here,” Frank added.

“Johnson!” the teacher called.

“Here,” Lucas replied. He didn’t lift his arm, not wanting to deal with the pain he knew would shoot through his side as a result. “No one went through the fire drill with me,” he told the two boys next to him. “I went to the dorm first. Thought we had to go to our rooms.”

Frank chuckled at that and Lucas rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Well, just brace yourself. The football guys are in for a talk,” Raymond warned.

Lucas shot him a questioning look.

“The fire alarm was set off by some of your teammates who decided to play in the hallways,” he explained.

“Thank them for me, would you,” Frank told him. “I was dreading French.”

“Hendal?” the teacher yelled.

After all the names were called and everyone in the class was accounted for, it was time to head back to class. Lucas went along with the rest.

I’ll grab the blood on the way to the sickbay office, he noted.

Classes resumed, though it took a while to calm all the guys down. An announcement followed that the football team needed to meet for their afternoon practice ten minutes earlier. Lucas hoped Nathan would remember that they needed to fake Lucas getting an injury. He winced at the pain in his side. Being hurt wasn’t going to be hard to fake.

Classes flew by and lunch came.

“Let’s go get our blood drawn!” Frank yelled as he ran from the room, a pen held in the air as though it was a sword and he was leading a charge into battle. Guys poured after him.

“Idiots, if they all get there at once they’ll have to sit around and wait,” Raymond muttered as he slowly got up. “Hey, Lucas. You want to…” he turned.

“Sorry, mate. I’m with them,” Lucas told him with a pat on Raymond’s shoulder. He jogged for the door, making sure his movements didn’t give away the pain he was in.

I only have two more painkiller shots left, he noted. I need to ration them for when I need them…like practice. He was out the classes and fought his way through the mass heading to lunch.

“Hey!”

An arm snaked around Lucas’ shoulder.

“I feel like it’s been a while since we talked,” Auden said. “We should catch up. As dorm head I’m supposed to check in and make sure the transfers in dorm 3 are settling in and all that yada yada.” He pulled Lucas closer. Lucas gritted his teeth at the pain that shot through his side as a result.

“I say we get you on the ice sometime and play some real sports. My team still talks about recruiting you.” Auden laughed. “We have some bets ranging of if you can even skate or not.” He glanced around. “Personally, I said I doubt you’ve ever set foot on ice before. So if you made a fool out of yourself it would win a ton of money.” He winked. “I could even get you a cut.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lucas responded. He pushed Auden off him. “Sorry, got to go get blood taken.”

“Awe, and the guys were hoping you would be around for lunch.” Auden looked disappointed. “Oh, by the way.” He thumped Lucas on the back. “Good job in the paintball tournament. I heard you and your roommates kicked some butt! Now I can finally sit with Andrea at the game.”

“Dude, I thought you said you were hanging out with Jess.” Banster joined the two.

“Hey cap,” Auden greeted him.

“Dorm leader,” Banster responded. “So what’s this about Andrea? Or is it Jess?”

Auden grinned.

Lucas slipped away from the two before they could keep him there any longer. He made his way to the sickbay. However, on the way he took a detour. In a few minutes he was in the main office and heading over to the receptionist.

The same lady who had sat there the day he had first come was there again. Her face was still caked in makeup, and she now wore a perm that looked like it had gone out of control. He nails looked like they had just been done and were now super long.

There perfect weapon if she was attacked, Lucas couldn’t help but admire. Honestly, sometimes women have it easier being armed without raising suspicion. As he leaned on the counter, his eyes drifted to her three inch heels. She could kill someone with one stab, he noted as his mind already played the scenario for him. Head, chest, neck.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked as she noticed him.

“I came to see if my uncle had dropped off anything for me,” Lucas replied. “He said he would send some stuff I forgot.”

“Check your mail box, honey.”

“It hasn’t been set up yet.”

The receptionist let out a long sigh. “Name,” she asked, looking far from interested.

“Lucas, Johnson.”

“Johnson…” The receptionist rolled over to the other end of the room and began to go through a messy pile of boxes.

Lucas’ eyes drifted to the statues that decorated the hall behind him. They landed on the lion with its mouth open in a roar. Bingo, he thought.

“Here it is.” The receptionist tossed a package onto the counter. “It was left an hour ago. Said it was very important.”

“Thank you.” Lucas shot her a smile.

“What was so important?” The receptionist asked, suddenly looking interested.

“Ah…” Lucas opened the side of the box. “See, I forgot to pack any…” he glanced inside, “boxers.”

“Boxers?” The receptionist asked.

“Yes…” Lucas stared at the interior of the box. It was stuffed with boxers as well as a piece of paper. “Boxers,” he repeated.

“Boys.” The receptionist turned back to her computer, losing all interest. “Get your post box set up,” she added, without looking at Lucas.

Lucas tucked the box under on arm. Boxers, really? He couldn’t help but wonder. He shook his head as he headed outside, making sure his route took him past the statue he had looked at earlier. Upon passing it, his hand slipped into the lion’s mouth. His fingers closed around a small package and he slipped it into his pocket in a flash. In the next moment he was out the door.

While walking to the sickbay, he pulled the paper out of the box Zack had brought to school as a decoy. Ignoring his throbbing side, he opened the note, walking as he read.

“My dear nephew,” the note began, “I do hope you’re doing well at school and giving your all, especially at football. Remember to play in a way that’s safe. Try not to kill anyone while on the field.”

Lucas snorted at the double meaning in that. He continued to read.

“Remember, you’re not invincible either. The injury from the car accident may be healed, but I know that it still bothers you from time to time. Be a good boy and take your meds. Don’t get into too much trouble. Oh, and just so you know, I’m doing fine, as is your grandfather. He’s a bit impatient these days, but that comes with age I guess. See you at the end of the semester. You’re epic uncle. Zack”

Lucas stuffed the paper back into the box. He couldn’t help but scowl. He knew by ‘granfather’ Zack was referring to ECHO. Impatient… he considered it. Am I taking too long on this mission?

Pulling out the small package from his pocket he stole a glance inside. One small bottle with blood and… He was pleasantly surprised to see another bottle filled with strong pain killers. Those will certainly be a help. He stuffed the contents back in his pocket.

Looking up he realized he had reached the sickbay. The familiar white building loomed before him, palm trees swaying in the breeze. By one of the fountains, Lucas caught sight of some classmates who had somehow ended up breaking into a water fight. They scooped up handfuls of water and were bombarding each other.

As Lucas walked by, one of the boys fell into the small brook that flowed by. The others laughed at his fate until the boy got up and charged after them demanding a hug.

Lucas entered the sickbay. The smell of vanilla hit him at once. Combined with the pain in his side, he began to feel nauseous. The temptation to take a pain killer now was tugging at him, yet he couldn’t risk it. There’s bound to be cameras in the hallway. Swallowing, he walked to the receptionist’s desks. He signed in on the paper where he already saw his classmates names filled.

Turning, he went and sat on a chair in the corridor, joining the line that had formed. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on regulating his breathing. He was about to see a doctor who, if he didn’t act right, would see he wasn’t feeling well.

The door opened and Frank burst out.

“Next!” he announced before hurrying down the hall, most likely heading for lunch.

Lucas waited for a good fifteen minutes before his turn finally came. He locked the pain in his side away in the box in his head and went to the door.

Jim, the school doctor, was waiting inside. His back was turned to Lucas as he added a vial to the many he had collected. He turned to shoot Lucas a glance.

“Ah, the latecomer,” he commented. “Be with you in a sec.”

Lucas nodded. He glanced around the room, making himself familiar with its contents.

Large windows, easy exit in the case of an emergency. Lots of glass, needles, weapons in abundance. He turned his head to his right. A camera…just one by the looks of it. His eyes landed on Jim and he couldn’t help but wonder once again how someone so young was the head school doctor. Definitely one to be wary of, Lucas noted.

“So.” Jim turned around. “How’s school treating you?” He motioned to the bed.

Lucas shrugged as he sat down on it. “It’s been different.”

“Different?” Jim turned. He threw away the gloves he was wearing and donned a new pair before picking up a syringe.

“Paint-ball competitions, the stuff we can and can’t do on campus. It’s different,” Lucas explained as he watched Jim open a package with a new needle in it.