by Sky Winters
Savannah raised her eyebrows in shock. She was used to understanding things about other people. What she wasn't used to was other people understanding things about her. “That was…”
"Accurate?” Xander asked.
“I suppose it was…somewhat accurate,” Savannah conceded, and Xander smiled.
Whenever he smiled, Savannah noticed that his aura burned a little more brightly, and the colours surrounding him grew wilder. There was something about this boy, a secret he was hiding, and it was either special or dangerous-‒perhaps it was both.
“How long have you lived in this town?” Savannah asked, not wanting the conversation to end.
“My whole life,” Xander replied.
“Wow,” Savannah said. “Graduation's not that far away…you must be making plans to leave soon.”
Xander’s expression was unreadable. He looked at Savannah with those cool, grey eyes, and shook his head. “I don’t have any plans to leave Grey Mountain,” Xander replied. “This is my home.”
“You must really love it here,” Savannah said.
Xander smiled gently. “This town…it grows on you.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Savannah replied.
“Don’t take my word for it,” Xander said. “I’d much rather you take it on proof.”
“Proof?” Savannah repeated in confusion.
“Let me show you around after school,” Xander said.
Savannah was taken aback and thrilled by the offer, but she couldn’t help thinking about Marissa’s threat that morning. She was obviously Xander’s girlfriend, in which case the last thing Savannah should be doing was going off alone with him to explore the town.
She contemplated turning him down for a moment, but her resolve melted the moment she was faced with the intensity of those hypnotic, grey eyes.
“Okay,” Savannah nodded. “Show me.”
Chapter Four
Once the last bell had rung to dismiss everyone for the day, Savannah skulked around her locker, marking time. She had no desire to go off with Xander while the entire population of Grey Mountain High watched.
Her thoughts fluttered back to Marissa, and she wondered if she was making a mistake. Her doubt disappeared the moment she set eyes on Xander, walking down the corridor toward her. He was tall and well built, with a lean, athletic frame that hinted at a muted power, lying just beneath the surface. Savannah was able to sense it every time he got close to her.
“Hi,” he said as he approached her. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” Savannah nodded as she followed him outside.
Almost all the other students had dispersed by then, and the school looked practically abandoned. Xander walked her down the stairs and toward a large, intimidating, black motorcycle.
“You ride a motorbike?” Savannah said, staring at it with wide eyes.
“Yes.” Xander nodded as he put on his helmet. “Is that a problem?”
“I…well, I’ve never actually been on one,” Savannah replied. “I’m probably not even allowed on one.”
“According to your parents?” Xander asked with interest.
“Well…yes.”
“Well, lucky for you they’re not around at the moment,” he pointed out.
Savannah looked from him to his mammoth motorcycle, and felt her excitement rise with her nerves. She had never done anything remotely rebellious in her life. She had always followed the rules, and sometimes even enjoyed it. She had lived in villages, towns, and big cities, and in every single one of them she had stayed away from boys like Xander.
Which was why she couldn't understand the strange pull she felt toward him. It was almost as though she had no choice in the matter. She had this unexplainable, intrinsic need to be with him, and she could find no reason for it.
“Savannah?”
Savannah felt a thrill of electricity speed down her back at the sound of her name on his lips. She had never experienced such a strong connection before, and she had sensed enough to know. She stared into his grey eyes and felt something pass between them, but she had no name for it, and no understanding of what it was. It was the only time Savannah had ever questioned whether another person had felt the same thing she was feeling, but she didn’t have the courage to ask.
“I’m coming,” she said.
He smiled and handed her the spare helmet. “You’ll need to wear this.”
Savannah took the helmet and slipped it on. It was a little big, but she could see through the visor clearly enough.
“You’ll have to fasten it,” Xander directed her.
“How?”
“There’s a clasp under your chin.”
Savannah found the clasp easily, but she couldn’t seem to fasten it together. She had never really experienced this kind of fumbling uncertainty before, but her nerves were dulling her other senses, it seemed.
“Let me help you,” Xander said.
He leaned forward and Savannah was forced to move her hands out of the way. Their fingers brushed against each other, and she felt that strange sensation of heat flood through her body again. She noticed his eyes flitted to hers at the exact same moment, and she thought she saw a flash of confusion in his eyes, but it was gone in a flash, and Savannah wasn’t sure if she had imagined it.
“There,” Xander said as he took a step back. “You’re all set.”
“Thank you,” Savannah replied softly.
He nodded and helped her onto the bike. “You’ll have to hold on to me tight,” he instructed her. Savannah placed her arms around him gingerly, feeling a sense of wholeness she had never experienced before.
Xander revved the engine and within seconds they were whizzing down the streets of Grey Mountain. Savannah didn’t know where he was taking her and she really didn’t care. She felt a sense of freedom she had never experienced before, a freedom that came with making her own choices. She had chosen to be here, she had chosen to shirk the rules and listen to her instincts instead.
They kept riding until they had left any sign of human activity behind. When Xander finally came to a stop, it was in front of a massive, emerald forest that stretched off into eternity.
“Is it safe here?” Savannah asked, looking around at the wild trees. She could sense that the forest was crawling with wildlife, and any number of dangerous creatures.
“You’ll be safe with me,” Xander replied.
Savannah glanced at him. His reply hadn’t really answered her question, but it suggested something Savannah couldn’t quite wrap her head around. She pushed away her frantic thoughts and moved toward the trees behind Xander.
He led her into a thicket of firs. Savannah had to reach out for one of them to support her climb. The moment she touched the tree, a flash of light shot across her eyes and she saw something. It was a passing vision, a bolt of lightning shaped in the image of a large, feral animal.
“Savannah?” Xander called. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Savannah replied. “I just…got a little light headed.”
She had experienced visions like that before, glimpses that weren’t really visions at all, more like flashes of images that she could barely hold on to. Sometimes she didn’t even understand them herself, they were so fast and so bright and so filled with hidden meaning.
“Do you need help?” Xander asked.
“No,” Savannah answered quickly. “I’m all right.”
They walked through a forest that seemed to grow successively higher as they went. Savannah could feel the air thinning as they moved. It was not something anyone else might sense, but she’d had a lifetime of distinguishing even the smallest shifts in atmospheres.
As they climbed higher, Savannah began to detect new scents. There was oak, cinnamon, and the perfumes that came from the wild flowers growing on the hilltops. There were also the many-toned layers coming from a variety of animal scents. Savannah wrinkled her nose as she came across a smell completely foreign to her.
It was the scent she had noticed from her room on her first day in town.
“Something the matter?” Xander asked.
“No,” Savannah said quickly. “Are there a lot of animals in these woods?”
“Yes,” Xander said shortly.
“Do you have deer?”
Xander nodded. “Deer and elk, both.”
“What about wolves?” Savannah asked.
She noticed he glanced at her before he spoke, but she didn’t know why. “There are rumors of a small wolf population.” Xander nodded. “But no one has spotted a wolf in years.”
“You think they’re just rumors?” Savannah asked.
“People like a good story.” Xander smiled. “And they feed into the old legends, so it’s convenient.”
“Old legends?” Savannah asked with interest.
“This town is rife with them,” Xander said with a wave of his hand. “Apparently the founder of this town was a witch who sold spells and curses for money. There are legends of vampires hiding in these very forests, and young girls who mated with wolves in order to breed a stronger, more powerful generation.”
Savannah raised her eyebrows. “That sounds…”
“Insane?” Xander offered.
“I was going to say fascinating.”
“That’s one word for it,” Xander said with a shrug. “If you ask me, we should forget the legends and focus on the present.”
As he said the words he walked through a massive clearing, surrounded by trees. In its center was a clear blue lake that reflected the silver clouds hanging over them. Savannah could only stare, amazed at how perfect everything looked.
“This is…amazing,” she said. “Do people know about this place?”
“If they did it would be crawling with them,” Xander said.
Savannah moved closer toward the water, and this time it was Xander who had to keep up with her. She felt as though her senses had come alive, surrounded by all the raw, wild nature. So many of her senses were hit with information that she could barely separate them. Beside her, Xander’s aura grew brighter as though the environment was feeding into him, giving him more energy and more strength.
“How long have you known about this place?” Savannah asked.
“As long as I could remember,” Xander replied. “My mother used to bring me here when I was a boy.”
Savannah sensed sadness waft from him at the mention of his mother, and she instinctively knew she'd died some time ago. She glanced from Xander to the immense pool of silver-blue water, so clear she could see little fish swimming in it, just beneath the surface. When she bent over, she saw her reflection, as though she were staring into a mirror.
Her hair had been tossed about by the unruly wind, but she thought her eyes looked brighter, more alive than they ever had before. They were certainly bluer than she had ever seen them. A moment later, Xander’s reflection appeared next to hers, and it was impossible to take her eyes from it. Savannah felt like a pale shadow next to his unadulterated beauty.
“Are you ready?” Xander asked as he came to stand beside her.
Savannah looked up at him in surprise. “Ready for what?”
“A swim?” he asked as though it was obvious. “It would be a shame not to make use of this big, lonely lake.”
Savannah turned to Xander in disbelief. “Are you serious?”
Xander nodded. “Of course.”
“I can’t,” Savannah said, and she backed away from the water.
“Why?” Xander demanded.
“Because…well, because I don’t have a swimsuit with me,” Savannah said, feeling as if she’d won the upper hand.
Xander raised his eyebrows. “You’re wearing underwear, aren’t you?” he said simply. “That’ll work just as well.”
Savannah stared at him for a moment. “You are serious.”
Xander nodded as he stared her down, challengingly. “I am. If you really don’t want to get in I won’t force you,” he continued calmly. “But if you do, then don’t let the little things stop you. Stop worrying about the cold, your doubt, or your parents. Just do what you want.”
It sounded so simple when he said it like that, Savannah was forced to sit back and consider what it was she really wanted.
“Savannah,” Xander’s voice was gentle. “What do you want?”
Savannah took a deep breath. She was tumbleweed, that’s what she had always been. She went wherever her parents decided they would go. Decisions were so often left up to other people that Savannah rarely got a word in edgewise. Faced with Xander’s searching grey eyes and the picturesque little haven she found herself in, Savannah was forced to come to terms with the fact that she no longer wanted to be tumbleweed.
She wanted to be in charge of her own life. She wanted to make her own decisions. If they ended up being mistakes, then that was her right.
Savannah looked up at Xander with conviction. “I want to swim.”
Chapter Five
Xander smiled. “Go on then,” he said, and Savannah sensed the dare in his tone.
She took a deep, steadying breath and then she pulled her shirt off, unzipped her jeans, and pulled those off, too. She didn’t turn back or glance at Xander because she didn’t want her courage to give way when she was almost there. She faced the clear, blue water in front of her, and without allowing herself to hesitate for even a moment, jumped into the lake.
Instantly, the icy water hit her from all sides, and cold seeped into her body. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned to face Xander. “It’s cold,” she said, her teeth chattering as she spoke.
“Give it a minute.” Xander smiled.
“Are you coming in?” Savannah asked. “Or are you scared?”
He laughed--the sound was like a peal of brass bells. For the first time in years, Savannah was actually grateful for her hearing aid, as she wouldn't have wanted to miss out on that sound. She watched as Xander peeled off his shirt. Her breath caught as she stared at him.
A number of thin scars that stretched across his torso stood in marked contrast to the pale smoothness of his skin. When he turned, Savannah saw a large tattoo on his back, just under his neck. It was the image of a wolf howling at the moon, framed by several larger and more violent-looking scars, most of which looked very new. When Xander turned, he noticed her preoccupation.
Without a word, he pushed off his pants until he was standing in nothing but dark boxers. He came to the edge of the lake and stared down at Savannah, his grey eyes burning. “Do you like my tattoo?” he asked casually, as though it was completely inconsequential.
“It’s beautiful,” Savannah admitted honestly. “But I was focused more on the scars.”
Xander smiled. “I fall down a lot.”
Savannah glared at him. “That’s not funny.”
Xander shrugged. “I thought so.”
Without another word, he jumped into the lake beside her until he was completely submerged except for his head and shoulders. Droplets of water hung off his dark hair, making it look like he was wearing a crown of diamonds on his head. His eyes looked like silver amethysts dancing under the combined light of the sun reflecting against the water.
Savannah felt her pulse quicken, but she kept the distance that lay between them. “I came up here with you,” she reminded him. “I jumped into a freezing cold lake with you. The least you can do is tell me where you got those scars.”
Xander’s eyes grew serious, and he looked carefully at Savannah. “Haven’t you ever had a secret?” he asked.
“Not really,” Savannah said. “And even if I did, I’ve never had friends to share it with.”
Xander eyes warmed as she spoke, as though he appreciated her honesty. Savannah was too cold and too curious to be shy about the fact that she had little experience with friends, and even less experience with boys like Xander.
“I have a secret,” Xander said.
Savannah nodded. “I know.” She had sensed
it from the moment she had seen him. The secret was in his strange and bright aura, and in those haunting grey eyes that said so little and so much all at the same time.
“Can you guess?” Xander asked.
“I don’t want to.”
“The reason I have these scars…is because of my father,” Xander said.
Savannah looked at him with wide eyes. “What?”
“He had a fiery temper,” Xander continued, “and I was usually the thing he took it out on.”
“You’re not a thing,” Savannah said in disbelief.
“He didn’t see it the same way,” Xander replied.
He swam closer toward her. Savannah knew that if she reached out a fraction she'd be able to touch him. She kept her hands wrapped around her body for warmth as the cold didn’t seem like it was going to lessen any time soon.
“You’re still cold,” Xander said. He reached out, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her to him, engulfing her with his entire body. Savannah felt an instantaneous heat hit her.
“How are you not cold?” Savannah asked.
“I’m used to it,” Xander replied.
“And the tattoo?” Savannah asked, trying to distract herself from how close his lips were to hers. “What does it symbolize?”
“My freedom,” Xander replied, “and my independence.”
“From what?”
“Everything that would threaten to keep me down or hold me back,” he answered.
“Does it have something to do with your father?” Savannah asked cautiously.
Xander nodded. “It does, but it’s so much more than that.”
It was so easy to be with him. Savannah realized this was the first time since her days in Africa she'd felt anything close too normal. There was a moment there when she had actually forgotten about her disability, and she was no longer the new, deaf girl who had just moved into town, she was just a girl spending time with a boy.
“Do you have any tattoos?” Xander asked.
Savannah laughed. “Me?”
“There’s no one else here.”
“I’m not the type of girl who gets tattoos,” Savannah replied, coloring slightly.
