Born Dark

by H G Lynch

  “Well, you got that right at least,” he muttered as she hefted the saddle into her arms and headed for the tack room out front.

  They tidied away the tack and groomed the horses. Ember gave Sasha a good rub down with a rubber curry comb and fed her some mints she’d swiped from the tack room desk. The horses deserved the treats more than any person did in her opinion. Sasha’s stable was small and warm, the stone ground dusted with straw and a layer of sawdust. Sasha stood patiently, munching on hay in the hay-net strung by the door, while Ember groomed her. Ember felt herself drifting into that sense of peace she always felt around horses. She tried to linger in Sasha’s stable for as long as she reasonably could, but eventually she had to leave. She slipped a couple of mints to Harry when Reid wasn’t looking.

  “Well, I guess I ought to say thank you. That’s probably the most fun I’ve had since… well, in a long time,” Ember sighed, finding it difficult to meet Reid’s eyes as they lingered outside the tack room.

  “I’ve got an idea of how you could thank me,” Reid said suggestively and she whacked his arm.

  “I take it back. I was wrong when I said you’re not as much of an asshole as you pretend to be. There’s nothing pretend about it. You’re an asshole, end of story.” Ember shoved him unnecessarily. But he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, before smashing his mouth down on hers. He kissed her roughly for a short moment and then whirled her away, flashing a killer grin at her. Ember was unsteady and breathless as she stumbled back a few steps, wide-eyed and shocked.

  “What the heh-?” She gasped, her curse coming out marred due to her breathlessness. There were little sparks running all over her skin and her lips tingled, her head was spinning.

  Reid just chuckled. “Just proving your point.” He shrugged and started whistling casually as he sauntered back to the car. Ember was too shocked to move for a moment, and then wandered dizzily after him, mindlessly slipping into the passenger seat.

  Her thoughts moved sluggishly as Reid drove back to the dorms; her mind seemed to have stalled. It did that a lot around Reid. Something about him was just so… overwhelming. He seemed to exude a kind of power, something beyond just his confidence.

  It wasn’t until they were parked back at the academy that Ember finally got angry. He kissed me, She thought slowly, anger rising, I can’t believe he freaking kissed me! Reid turned to her, evidently to say something, but she slapped him across the face and hopped out of the car without waiting for his reaction. She didn’t have to, though. He got out of the car hastily, slamming the door.

  “Hey, what was that for?” he yelped, chasing after her as she made her way to the big wooden doors of the dorm building. A brisk wind had picked up and it bit at her cheeks.

  “For kissing me, you idiot!” she hissed back, slamming open the wooden doors and starting up the stairs.

  “Wow, slow reaction time. That was fifteen minutes ago at least! And you didn’t seem to mind when I did it, you didn’t exactly try to push me away,” he taunted, still following her but at a safe distance.

  “I was in shock. I didn’t have time to react when you did it! And if you ever try it again, I’ll do more than just slap you across the face!” she threatened viciously. It vaguely registered in her mind that they were back to square one, the friendly banter of the afternoon having been forgotten already. Well, almost. Rather than snapping out a harsh retort, Reid paused and tilted his head quizzically, viewing her with a look in his eyes that she couldn’t - or didn’t want to - identify.

  “Uh-huh. Or just maybe next time you’ll admit you like it,” Reid teased. At least, she hoped he was teasing. She whirled on him, her mouth open to yell but she was incredulous and speechless. The look on his face wasn’t one of someone who thought they were joking. “That’s what I thought,” Reid smirked half-heartedly, and ducked as she aimed another slap at his face. It was an action of frustration more than anger. She didn’t really want to hit him, but he was confusing her, messing with her head with the way he was being so… different than usual.

  “Yeah, ‘cause I just love it when a guy kisses me against my will. You’re no better than Joseph. In fact, you’re worse. At least Joseph was drunk when he attacked me.” She expected her words to bounce off him like water off a duck but she was wrong. His expression became dark, his blue eyes shadowed.

  “I’m a lot of things, Ember, but I am not a wannabe-rapist like Joseph,” Reid growled, getting up in her face dangerously. His mouth hardened into a sharp line, and she had the strange feeling of being in a dream again.

  “Well…you’re still a major asshole,” she muttered, backing off. She’d seen something glint in Reid’s blue eyes, something violent, sharp and scary. It was the same glint she’d caught when he’d pulled that almost inhuman face in English a week ago. He relaxed a little and turned away, sighing.

  Ember let out a breath she’d hadn’t realised she’d been holding. “Damn it. And here I was thinking it’d be easy to avoid you, avoid arguments and games and fights… I’m an idiot,” she muttered, mostly to herself, but Reid heard her clearly.

  “Yeah, well… that’s not going to happen, is it? It’s too much fun torturing you,” he mumbled, trying to sound smug, but there was vulnerability in his expression that surprised her.

  She groaned. “Why?” The word was almost a cry in her frustration and confusion. “I gave up! You won! Why don’t you find someone else to torture? I’m sure there are plenty of girls just dying for your attention.” Ember rolled her eyes, showing how unimpressed she was by that fact.

  “I don’t play games with those girls like I do with you. Like I said before, they’re only up for one activity. Plus, they’re all too dumb or weak to fight back.” Reid flashed a smirk, “It’s not a war if only one side fires shots,” he added, an oddly soft light in his eyes.

  “Well I’m not playing anymore. Banter is fun, war is tiring. If you want to play games with someone, go paint-balling.” She made it clear the discussion was over, and started down the hall toward her room again.

  Reid caught up to her just as she put her hand on the door handle. He wrapped his long, delicate fingers around her arm, making sure she didn’t go anywhere. “Hey, wait a sec. Look, what do you say… maybe we could…” He abruptly took his hand off her arm as she glared up at him sharply. “I know how this is going to sound and don’t take it the wrong way, but you’re the first girl I’ve ever kind of… you know, really talked to. I’ve never really hung out with a girl beyond…” He shrugged, but she knew what he meant. “I guess what I’m saying is… I kind of think of you like a friend, in a really dysfunctional way.” He smiled, a genuine, sweet smile. His blue eyes shone from under his blonde mop of hair.

  “So… you torture me because… you want an excuse to hang out with me?” Ember hadn’t missed the angle of this conversation, but Reid was obviously surprised she’d been able to read between the lines.

  “Well, yeah. I guess so,” he muttered, glancing away as if he was suddenly shy. Ember felt a pang of... affection? She pushed it away.

  She was mildly startled by his admission but not astonished, after the day they’d spent together. Though she knew that this meant he wouldn’t leave her alone: It wasn’t a war or game anymore, it was a type of secret friendship, in a very dysfunctional way, as he’d said. The only way she was going to escape the torture was to find another way to hang out with him in secret. She felt stupid and unhappy about it, but she wasn’t going to accept Reid’s pranks and games anymore. She didn’t want to hang out with him - there were hundreds of reasons against it. Or at least, that’s what she was telling herself - but it was better than finding her underwear plastered about the school, which is where this would end up otherwise.

  Ember bit her lip for a moment, looking around to avoid meeting his gaze. The hallway was empty; the ugly navy wallpaper that stretched down the corridor was the same colour as the mouldy carpeting. A wooden dido rail ran along the wall, and above it, spaced at odd i
ntervals, were tarnished metal candelabras hanging like eerie decorations from a previous century. Ember had to admire the fine crafting of the metal but wondered if the school ever used the candelabras anymore. She’d always liked that kind of thing, had wanted candelabras in her room at home but her parents had been terrified she’d burn the house down. Not an unwarranted worry to be honest.

  Slowly, Ember’s gaze trailed back to the boy in front of her, who was waiting patiently for her to say something. She frowned. “Skateboarding.” She said after some thought, and Reid looked at her, puzzled. “Instead of games and wars, we could go skateboarding. Nobody ever goes to the skate park down the road, so nobody would know and we’d be able to hang out without you giving up your bad boy reputation. I’m sure nobody would question where you were going if we did it late in the evening.” Ember shrugged, noticing she’d been keeping her voice low instinctively. Reid considered it for a moment.

  “What would you tell Sherry?” he asked.

  “I’d make something up,” Ember lied. She’d tell Sherry the truth and make her swear not to tell anyone.

  “OK, skateboarding. Wait, you can skateboard?” he added distractedly, looking surprised.

  “Yeah, a little. It’s been a while but I still have my board. I think I can still go a few ramps.” She smiled. She’d taken up skateboarding as hobby when she was younger, and since then it had been and off and on thing she’d done when she was really bored.

  “And I can teach you. You teach me to ride horses, I teach you to skateboard.” Reid grinned, looking proud of himself for coming up with the idea.

  “Whatever. Thursday at eight?” Ember rolled her eyes, eager to get into her room now. She was afraid that if she spent any more time with him tonight, she might not want to walk away from him. Already, she was wondering if he might kiss her goodnight, just because of the way he was looking at her. Shut up and stop being so stupid, she commanded herself, you don’t want him to kiss you, remember? Plus, he just said he thinks of you like a friend. He only kissed you before because he was being an ass. Somehow, that thought didn’t comfort her; it sort of upset her actually.

  “Sure. I’ll meet you at the skate park then. See you later, Demon Girl.” Reid smirked, waving as he sauntered back to his own room. She almost snapped at him, ready to ask what the hell he meant by ‘Demon Girl’, but she thought better of it and crept into her room.

  “Where have you been?” Sherry asked playfully, grinning. Clearly, she knew Ember had been with Reid. Ember wasn’t sure how Sherry knew, but didn’t care enough to ask.

  “Horse riding. With Reid,” Ember answered truthfully. She wouldn’t lie to her best friend. Tiredly, Ember pulled off her dusty boots, and shucked her hoodie, tossing them both in the wardrobe carelessly.

  “Wow. Reid rides horses? I bet you raced circles round him,” the green-eyed girl laughed.

  “It’s been a while since he’s ridden. I had to teach him how to tack up a horse.” Ember collapsed on her bed, feeling her thighs already beginning to ache from the horse riding.

  “And…?” Sherry asked expectantly, looking at her oddly, and it took Ember a moment to click.

  “You were listening at the door?” she accused, repressing a grin. Sherry just grinned back. “So we’re going skateboarding. It’s nothing. If you heard the whole conversation, you’d understand that I’m just doing it to avoid him stealing my underwear again.” Ember grimaced.

  “Unless you’re using ‘skateboarding’ as a code word…” Sherry arched a brow insinuatingly, and Ember threw her pillow at her. Her mind flashed back to that wild, impulsive kiss back at the stables, and she hoped Sherry didn’t notice her blushing.

  “No! Are you nuts? I-he’s-I wouldn’t…We’re going to the skate park. With skateboards. I’ll take pictures to prove it if you want!” Ember realised she’d gotten a little defensive, but after Sherry implied the idea, she’d begun to wonder.

  “OK, I believe you. But you can’t deny you want to?” Sherry teased, smirking at her.

  “I can actually because I don’t want to. Do I look like a stupid slut? No. I will not be one of his one-night stands, just because he’s…” Ember shut up, quickly catching on to Sherry’s plot. She was deliberately winding her up in the hopes she’d say something complimentary about Reid. Something along the lines of ‘I won’t screw him just because he’s the sexiest guy I’ve ever laid eyes on’. She so wasn’t going to admit that.

  “Uh-huh? Would you like to finish that sentence?” Sherry gave her an expectant look. Ember lifted her chin.

  “No. I wouldn’t. And now, I’m going for a shower ‘cause I smell like horse and dirt.” She collected clean clothes and a towel and stormed into the bathroom for a nice, long, relaxing shower.

  Reid

  OK, so his plan to avoid her hadn’t worked out. He’d let his walls crumble around him and somehow ended up with plans for Thursday evening.

  He hadn’t known what he was doing when he’d stormed out of History, hadn’t known what he was doing when he’d ended up standing at her door, had no idea what the hell he was saying when he suggested they go horse riding. He’d been unable to control the words pouring out of his mouth while they’d been out having fun. He’d been almost nice to her, honest for once. Worse, he hadn’t been able to help himself when he’d kissed her, some inexplicable impulse driving him to put his mouth to hers, like he needed to taste her lips in order to survive. Luckily he’d quickly recovered himself and shot her some witty one-liner.

  When she’d accused him of being like Joseph, he’d gotten so angry and… hurt, that he’d let his control slip. His fangs had just about slid out, and he knew his eyes had been glinting. He could only hope Ember hadn’t been paying that much attention. He’d bitten back his fangs and turned away. And when she’d walked away from him with that stubborn, dark expression on her pretty little face… well, he couldn’t help but feel the need to explain himself.

  Reid groaned and held a pillow over his face, feeling confused and stupid. Why had he done that? Why couldn’t he control himself around her? It was like something in her just drew out words and thoughts and actions from deep inside him, and he was helpless to stop it.

  “Crap!” he muttered harshly into his pillow, wishing he could smother himself. Of course, being the walking undead, he didn’t need to breathe anyway. Maybe he should get a wooden stake?

  “What? I take it you didn’t leave History to get screwed? Otherwise you’d be in a good mood.”

  Reid hadn’t realised Ricky had come in. He pulled the pillow off his face and, without thinking, said, “I took her horse riding.” After the words were out, Reid cursed himself. Obviously that part of the demon girl that dragged words out of him hadn’t worn off of him yet. Maybe if he could just stop thinking about her.

  Ricky did a double take and opened his mouth to speak. He closed it again without saying a word and sat down on his bed facing Reid. He made a motion with his hand indicating for Reid to expand on that.

  He was fed up of keeping it all in, all the confusion and longing and desire, so, with a sigh, Reid explained. “Ever since she surrendered, I’ve been bored and confused and distracted. I keep thinking about her, and I tried to see her a hundred times, discreetly walking past her just so I could look at her. On Friday… well, I’m guessing Perry told you what happened?” Ricky nodded mutely. “Yeah, well, after that, I couldn’t get her out of my head all weekend. And today… I don’t know, I just… it just kind of happened. I took her to the stables and we talked and I was…nice to her. Sort of. And I kissed her - I don’t why but it was like I couldn’t help it. Then, when we came back here… Long story short, we’re going skateboarding on Thursday evening.” He paused to take an unnecessary breath, then said quietly. “I told her I thought of her like a friend, but I think I was lying,” Reid concluded weakly, pulling the pillow over his face again.

  “Oh, yeah. You were lying,” Ricky chuckled, “Well, well. Reid Ashton likes a girl. For real
.” Ricky sounded happy about it, if only a little surprised.

  “Yeah, and I hate it. I don’t just want her to be another one-night stand, I want to actually hang out with her and talk to her. It’s not right. And anyway, she’s human. I can’t tell her what I am and I can’t even feed on her. I can’t do that to her,” Reid groaned.

  “Not to mention feeding on her would involve ‘one-night stand’-ing her and she wouldn’t even let you unzip her jumper without slapping you across the face,” Ricky chuckled again. But they both knew this was serious.

  Reid was changing, and he was getting close to a human. He didn’t know how to control his vampire nature, hence why he never got too close to humans - except when he fed - but whenever he fed, he’d always erase the girl’s memory and hide the bite marks with a hickey so nobody looked too close. He couldn’t hide the silver glint in his eyes when he got angry, the fangs that sprung out when he felt lusty, the superhuman speed and strength he struggled to contain at the best of times. Ricky, Brandon and Perry were good at containing it all, they were used to being close to humans. They could do that safely without exposing what they were or hurting the human. Reid had no practice at that. He’d never had reason to, because he’d never felt the need for prolonged social contact besides that of his friends.

  “OK, Reid. I think we need to talk to the guys. There’s a meeting later tonight because Brandon heard about a group of witches headed this way. Hopefully they’re just passing through but we need a plan anyway. We’ll bring it up then. Maybe Brandon will know how to deal with this.” Ricky was serious now, and Reid sighed. He wasn’t looking forward to telling Brandon and Perry that he’d discovered he had emotions after all.

  “Fine. Just don’t expect me to be-” Reid started sharply, but Ricky cut him off.