The Mark of Cain by A D Seeley

set?” he asked, looking her
directly in the eye as though this was a matter of grave importance.
    She nodded.
    “Okay. Perhaps this book will help you some,” he
said, pulling out and handing her a thick brown leather-bound book that looked
and smelled positively ancient.
    “Oh, I couldn’t,” she said as she delicately ran a
finger along its cover, which had the Mokolios’ insignia branded into it.
Suddenly, the gore had her praying that the book wasn’t made of human skin.
The thought had her quickly pulling her finger away. To cover her unease before
Professor Sampson noticed it, she said, “I’d probably ruin it.”
    “Are you sure? It has the most information regarding
that sect that I’ve ever found. Besides, it’s survived a few hundred years. I’m
sure it will survive a few more,” he said, throwing her a boyish grin that she
couldn’t help but return.
    “I’m sure,” she told him, no longer creeping herself
out. “Thank you, though. It’s really very kind of you.”
    He nodded and set the book back down on his desk.
Again, she was surprised at how young he was. Not even the nice shirt and tie
he wore could make him look older.
    “Well, if you change your mind…” he said, his tone
kind.
    “Thanks, Professor. I appreciate it.”
    He just continued smiling as he nodded. She could
tell that he was disappointed. He’d obviously really wanted her to take him up
on his offer. Come to think of it, he acted very fatherly toward her compared
to his other students. Crystal would probably say that he had a crush on her,
but Hara knew differently. Professor Sampson treated her the same way Father
Carroll did.
    She walked down the hall and outside, still thinking
about Professor Sampson’s kind offer.
    “Hey,” a voice said from behind her, scaring her out
of her thoughts.
    She looked behind her to find Tracker walking up to
her, pulling his pants up because they were too baggy around his waist. She
would never understand boys who wore pants too large for them. Tracker said he
just wore what “all skaters wore,” but, as far as she knew, he hadn’t
skateboarded in years.
    “Sorry I’m late,” she told him. “Professor Sampson
stopped me to talk about my paper.”
    “I like him,” he said. “He’s a good professor.”
    “Yeah, he is,” she said, looking sideways at him.
Tracker hadn’t ever taken a class from Professor Sampson, so how would he know
that he was a good professor?
    She didn’t get to ask him before he said, “You
should listen to him. He knows what he’s talking about.”
    It was such an odd thing to say that she stopped
dead in her tracks.
    “What’s wrong?” Tracker asked, stopping a few steps
in front of her when he finally seemed to realize that she was no longer beside
him.
    “I just….” For some reason, she couldn’t help but
think about Saturday morning when Inac had come to the club. Track had been
acting weird then too. “Track? Do you remember when Inac came by the club?”
    Just as she’d thought, open hostility took over
Tracker’s features.
    “Yeah. What about it?” he asked, his blue eyes
sharpening into silver razorblades.
    “You looked scared of something.”
    “So?”
    “Why don’t you like Inac?” she asked as delicately
as possible.
    “Because he’s not a good person, Hara. You shouldn’t
get involved with him.”
    She couldn’t help but feel her own rising anger, her
face becoming hot as its pressure climbed.
    “You don’t even know him. How can you say that he’s
not a good person?”
    “Because he isn’t.”
    Before her anger could reach the peak it had with
Inac, she said, “Whatever. I have to go home. I’ll talk to you later.”
    Tracker didn’t say a word as he watched her get into
her car. After she closed the door and rolled down the window because it was
blazing and the air conditioning didn’t work, he leaned in.
    “I mean it, Hara,” he said, one hand on the window
frame. “Mr. Adamson’s bad news. I’ll