Born Dark

by H G Lynch

  “God! You two are going to end up in a coliseum with shields and swords, stuck in a fight to the death,” she joked. Ember couldn’t argue with that, because at this point she was ready to kill Reid.

  “Well, yeah. But I’d use matches, not a sword.” Ember smirked. Then she remembered something. “Oh, by the way, I overheard some girls chatting in the bathroom earlier, and one of them said that Ricky Sanders might like you.”

  Sherry’s face lit up with excitement. She’d been admiring Ricky from afar all week. "Ricky? The hot one with the dark hair? Ooh!" Sherz giggled. Ember rolled her eyes and relaxed back on her pillows. She wondered vaguely how Reid was enjoying his detention right now.

  The Game of Desire

  The next few days passed without incident. The girls spent the weekend exploring the town, even buying some new books and clothes. Monday was boring, Tuesday was dull, but Wednesday… well, that was the day that Reid reappeared.

  It was Wednesday evening, and the girls were out in the courtyard, sitting at one of the crumbling wooden picnic tables. The weather was nice, calm, warm and dry, so they’d decided to get away from their stuffy dorm room to do their homework. The trees muttered, shaking their leaves in the light breeze, and the air tasted of impending autumn. The girls chatted about the Maths homework a little, but mainly Ember listened to Sherry gushing over how hot Ricky was. Again. Ever since she’d told her that Ricky supposedly had a thing for her, Sherry had been keeping her eye on the brunette boy, listening out for any scraps of gossip that might give her some more information about him.

  “What did you get for question… seven? I couldn’t find the…” Ember said, looking up and abruptly ending her sentence with a growl. She glared over Sherry’s shoulder and Sherz turned to follow her gaze. Reid and Ricky were walking toward them across the grass, Reid with his usual smirk and Ricky with an endearingly nervous expression.

  “What the hell does he want I wonder?” Ember hissed, slamming her pen down on the picnic table.

  “Who cares? Ricky’s with him!” Sherry whispered, turning back to the table with a faint blush. Ember chuckled at her friend and hesitantly returned to her work, hoping that maybe the annoying guy walking in their direction would take a nice, long detour and end up in the sea.

  A shadow fell across the table and Reid’s voice interrupted her concentration. “Hello, little one,” he said casually.

  “What do you want Reid?” she spat back, not looking up from her calculations. Her fingers tightened on her pen, and she willed it not to snap. The last thing she needed was to ruin her Maths homework with spilled ink.

  “Actually, it’s not what I want, but what Ricky here wants.” She caught Reid waving his hand toward his friend. She looked up suspiciously and saw Ricky blushing a little. Sherry, with her back to the boys, had her hair over one side of her face but Ember could see her biting her lip on a smile.

  “And just what does Ricky want?” Ember asked kindly, directing the question at Ricky himself. The brunette boy shifted uncomfortably and smiled, bowing his head. For the first time, Ember noticed he was good-looking. His eyes were a very bright blue-green colour, surrounded by thick lashes. She supposed she hadn’t noticed that before because she was always busy looking at Reid. It was hard not to - Reid was quite an overwhelming person sometimes, with his arrogance and commanding beauty. Right now, he was watching the scene before him casually, as if it was all mildly amusing but had nothing to do with him. He had a graceful way of standing that made it seem like he was almost lounging against the air, his body language just screaming insolence to anyone who looked at him.

  Ricky, on the other hand, had his hands shoved into his jeans pockets and was fidgeting nervously. “Well… I just… wanted to ask Sherry if maybe… she might… want to go on a date with me tonight?” Ricky stuttered, his eyes sliding to rest on Sherry’s back. The green-eyed girl’s face lit up, a bright smile coming to her lips. She appeared to be speechless.

  Ember laughed under her breath and replied on Sherry’s behalf. “She’d love to.” Ricky smiled a surprisingly boyish smile that made his blue-green eyes shine. Reid just shrugged, nudged Ricky’s arm and turned to leave. He stalked off without waiting for his friend and Ember tried not to watch his retreating back.

  Ricky lingered for a moment. “Uh, I’ll see you at eight… Sherry.” It was a pity Sherry couldn’t see Ricky’s face. The boy was flushed like he’d just won a date with a supermodel. In Ember’s opinion, her best friend was a hundred times more beautiful than any model. Ricky was right to be happy.

  Once the boys were safely out of earshot, Sherry let out a few high-pitched, excited squeals, bouncing on the spot. Her cheeks were pink, and she paused in her squealing to put a hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened. “Oh my God! I’ve got a date with Ricky Sanders tonight!” she squeaked, clapping her hands together, her green eyes glittering.

  “Yes. I know. I was right here the whole time,” Ember chuckled, shutting her Maths textbook, knowing they weren’t going to get any more work done today. A brisk wind had picked up anyway, making it too cold to stay outside. She started to gather up her stuff and Sherry did the same.

  After a ten minute squealing session on the way back inside, Sherry finally calmed down enough to talk in full sentences again. She turned to Ember with a pleading smile. “Do you think you could help me get ready? Please? What should I do with my hair?”

  Ember grinned as Sherry clutched her hair in her hands with a worried expression. “Of course I’ll help you.” Ember patted her friend’s shoulder lightly. “Come on then, we’d better get started. You’re going to look so good tonight, Ricky will be stunned!”

  As excited as she was for Sherry, Ember wondered what she was going to do all evening, stuck in her room by herself. She could draw, or read a book, but she suddenly felt like doing something fun herself. Maybe she could take a trip to the library, and maybe she’d bump into Reid. She stopped the thought right there. No. Why would she want to bump into Reid? She wouldn’t. She would spend the evening in her room, with one of her books, she promised herself. No thinking about Reid.

  “OK, you can look now,” Ember instructed her friend, who was sitting in a chair in front of the desk. Ember had set up a couple of free-standing cosmetic mirrors so Sherry could see what she looked like once Ember was done with the primping and preening. It was quarter to eight, and Ember had just finished with Sherry’s hair. She had to admit, the girl looked amazing. Sherry opened her eyes and immediately beamed at her reflection in the mirrors.

  “Oh my God, thank you! I never would’ve been able to get it to sit like this on my own!” Sherry reached up to touch her loose curls, tucking one behind her ear to show the delicate silver earrings she was wearing tonight.

  Ember shrugged; all she’d done was brandish a pair of curling tongs, some hair mousse and a few Kirby grips. Now Sherry’s blonde hair sat in cute ringlets on her shoulders, a few tiny curls falling across her forehead, and a little apricot bow clipped onto one side. It matched the pearly apricot silk shirt she was wearing, making her look sexy yet sophisticated at once. She’d donned a stylish black skirt and black leggings, along with some creamy three-inch heels and a pale jacket. All in all, she looked like a model from an ad for the new autumn collection.

  “You look great. I’m sure Ricky will be drooling over you by the end of the night. And be sure to text me if anything important happens.” Ember gave her friend a quick hug and smoothed out a stray curl before they heard a knock on the door.

  Ember went to open it, and gave Ricky a smile. The boy was dressed in jeans and smart powder-blue shirt that looked really good with his faintly bronze skin and dark hair.

  “Hi Ricky,” Ember greeted him, before standing back to let Sherry past. Ricky’s eyes went wide as he took in his chic date. It was a moment before he found his voice.

  “Um, wow. You look… really great, Sherry,” he said softly, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt. Ember patted Sherry on the arm a
s she stepped into the hallway.

  “You two have fun. And Ricky, look after my friend,” Ember added in a quiet voice. It sounded good-humoured enough, but she put a real warning behind it. It was her standard for any guy that took Sherry out; she wanted to protect her best friend.

  Ricky just nodded solemnly, obviously catching the warning. “Of course. Goodnight Ember.”

  Ember watched as they walked, hand in hand, down the corridor. Sighing happily, she closed the door. It was going to be a dull evening all on her own, but she’d deal with it.

  Two hours later, Ember found herself stretched out on her bed, staring at the ceiling with nothing to do. The ceiling was painted a dull grey-white, with thin brown cracks running through it like veins of quartz through rock. She’d finished her newest book over half an hour ago, and she wasn’t in the mood for music. She wondered about how her best friend’s date was going, but decided it was probably going great and she shouldn’t worry. What is there to do at ten on a Wednesday night? She thought sullenly.

  She sighed, rolling off her bed and glaring at her stack of books on the bedside table. She’d read them all at least twice. So, there wasn’t much else for her to do. A shower. That’s something to do. She shook her head at herself, knowing how sad it was to have nothing better to do than brush up on personal hygiene when you’d already had a shower the same day. Despairingly, she grabbed some clean underwear and her favourite pyjamas from the dresser, and dumped them in the bathroom before scrambling around for a fresh towel.

  It was just as she was precariously tugging on a clean towel from the top shelf of the wardrobe with one hand, while holding back the surrounding pile of towels that wanted to fall on her, and balancing on her tiptoes, that there was a knock on the door. Without thinking, Ember immediately answered the knock. “Come in.” She gave the towel in her hand another careful tug. Almost got it, she thought, biting her tongue.

  “I think you need to grow,” a warm, arrogant voice taunted from behind her. She whipped her head round in surprise, losing her balance and squeaking as a pile of towels fell on her head. She tumbled onto the floor, landing in a mass of fluffy white fabric and glaring up at Reid. He was almost bent double in fits of laughter, clutching his sides like he couldn’t stop them splitting. Ember furiously swallowed a giggle, realising that if it had been anyone else in the room, she would’ve been laughing too. It was pretty funny, but she refused to let the offending blonde guy see that.

  Instead, with a grim expression, she got to her feet and began folding the towels to put them back in the cupboard. Reid was still laughing at her when she folded her third towel, and she got fed up. She lobbed the towel at him, hitting him square in the face. She would have laughed at that as well, if she hadn’t been so angry.

  “What the hell? Why’d you do that?” he asked, sounding honestly confused. Ember scoffed; almost let her jaw drop in disbelief. She was astounded that he seemed to have no idea why she’d hit him with the towel. Like he’d done nothing wrong at all. Idiot.

  “You were laughing at me! Why do you think I threw it at you, you moron?” She lifted her arms and her eyebrows to show her incredulity. He looked faintly surprised for a moment and then recovered his pig-headed arrogance.

  He leaned back against the doorway, putting one hand in his pocket. “Well, it was funny. You said ‘Come in’ so I came in and then you jumped like you’d just heard a monster behind you. And then you landed on your butt on the floor with towels on your head. What about that situation isn’t funny?” he said with a charming smile and a chuckle. If she hadn’t been so irritated with him, she might’ve taken the time to admire how sweet he looked when he smiled like that, but she glared at him instead.

  “The fact that I did hear a monster behind me,” she muttered sharply as he tossed the towel back at her, and she caught it. Reid rolled his eyes and simply watched her folding the mountain of towels. “Why the hell are you here anyway? I would’ve thought you’d be off chaperoning Ricky on his date, maybe giving him tips on how to be an arrogant, chauvinistic pig.” Ember folded the last towel and piled them all into the cupboard carefully, keeping one on her bed to use.

  “Ricky Boy knows how to get along on a date just fine,” he said, ignoring the insult, “And I thought you might be lonely all on your own with nothing to do. Decided to give you some company. You missed one,” he added, nodding toward the towel on her bed.

  “Actually I’m just fine on my own and I was about to go have a shower when you showed up. I thought Joseph made it clear you weren’t to come near me again?” Ember picked up her towel and tossed it into the bathroom before turning back to Reid. She vaguely noticed how the towel she’d hit him with had mussed his hair, making him look like a half-woken puppy. But the next words out of his mouth ruined the cute simile.

  He smirked slowly, sensually. “A shower, huh? Well, I did come here to give you company, didn’t I?”

  Ember made a sound of disgust at the tauntingly sleazy remark. “Not in this lifetime, moron.” She really hoped she wasn’t blushing as much as it felt like she was.

  She grabbed his arm, spun him round and tried to shove him out the door. But she could only budge him a few inches before he realised what she was doing and dug his heels in.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Chill. I was kidding!” He turned and held up his hands in mock surrender. Some unreadable expression crossed his face briefly, but Ember thought she must’ve imagined it.

  “I know you were. Now get out.” She resumed shoving him, pushing against his chest now.

  He barely moved, taking only one slight step back and saying, “Would you like me to be serious about it?” A smirk played across his mouth. That final comment gave Ember the strength to give one last good shove, sending the boy stumbling into the hallway. She slammed the door on his face and sighed.

  “Jesus. Someone lock that boy in a cellar,” she muttered to herself, stomping to the bathroom. She was beginning to wonder why he wouldn’t just leave her alone. But apparently, she’d gotten herself into some battle of wills and wits that she couldn’t escape.

  Stripping off and stepping into the shower, she blessed the warm water and hoped Sherry would be back soon. She needed a distraction before she started thinking about Reid in an admiring way, rather than a hateful way. Loneliness was messing with her head.

  Friday. Biology. Boredom. Three words to describe Ember’s afternoon so far. She was doodling aimlessly on her essay paper since she’d finished the essay nearly ten minutes ago and everyone else was still writing. She tried to think of things to do tomorrow night, seeing as Sherry was going out with Ricky again and she’d have nothing to do again. Not that she wasn’t happy for her friend, truly she was. Sherry had come home buzzing with excitement at half eleven on Wednesday night.

  She’d come in and reeled off her whole evening to Ember, who’d been half-asleep, and Ember had tried to seem interested. She was interested, really, just not fully awake to seem it. Sherry had described how Ricky had been polite and shy, but flattering and sweet, dancing with her a couple of times and even giving her a kiss on the cheek before he said goodnight at their dorm room door. Ember had congratulated the green-eyed girl and gossiped with her for all of fifteen minutes before falling asleep again.

  They’d picked up the gossip several times over the next couple of days, in between chatting about how they might have to kill Reid and how they couldn’t wait for the second season of their favourite TV show, out next month. It was a thrilling prospect to them. Sad? Maybe.

  “Ember? Are you finished with your essay?” Her Biology teacher’s voice interrupted her typically teenage thoughts.

  “Uh, yeah. I’m done.” Ember shook herself mentally and handed her paper over to the teacher. The teacher went back to her desk with the paper and began grading it, but thankfully the bell rang before she could finish. Save that horror for next time, Ember thought, grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

  Reid

  Reid was wal
king leisurely down the hallway, whistling to himself. Having just talked his way out of another detention for falling asleep in Modern Studies, he was feeling pretty chuffed with himself. It was all too easy to wind the newer teachers, mainly the females, around his little finger. All he had to do was pout and look repentant, and spout a couple of lies, and they let him go without so much as a warning. He didn't even have to compel them. Suckers, He thought gleefully.

  But, his afternoon was about to get even better. Who should appear in his line of sight but Ember, the very devil spawn he'd been hoping to run into. With a mischievous grin, he watched her slipping into the library down the hall. Even from here, he could smell the natural perfume of her skin and blood. For a human, she had a particularly delightful aroma. One usually encountered such sweet scents when dealing with various kinds of Fae, or occasionally the tasty witch. Drawn to her by both her scent and the urge to tease her some more, Reid followed her into the library.

  The school library was a fairly large place, with sections boxed in by the layout of the shelves. Each section had a set of low, leather-upholstered seats and a small coffee table for students to stack books on. Reid always liked the library, despite his lack of inclination to read any of the books. If he wanted to read, there were dozens of centuries-old books about mythology and history in the meeting den; which was where the vampires met up and had meetings to discuss important things like intrusions onto their territory by hostile brownies, or the odd visit from an unwelcome banshee. So, nope, it wasn't for the books that Reid enjoyed spending time in the library. It was the quiet that he liked, the solitude. The musty smell of dust and wood polish and paper. And, right now, the view.