Born Dark

by H G Lynch

  Ember was jerked out of the spell, and scrambled in her pocket for her phone. She had a text from Sherry. She would have to thank her friend fervently for that.

  “I have to go.” Ember threw herself off the ramp, grabbing her board as she went, and tugged out her hair bobble. She flipped her hair over her face to hide the scarlet blush and the glazed look in her eyes as she bolted for the gate to the street.

  Ember got back to her room, panting and wheezing from running the whole way. Her ankle hurt from the hundred and one times she’d accidentally whacked herself with her skateboard as she ran. A few people gave her odd looks as she stumbled down the hallway to her door. Hastily, she fumbled with the handle, and toppled inside as the door swung open.

  She limped to her bed, collapsed onto it and tried to catch her breath. Dropping her skateboard on the floor with a clatter, she slung her hand over her face and felt her cheeks burning, whether from running or from embarrassment, she couldn’t be sure.

  “Hey, how’d it go?” Sherry asked, her voice even. She didn’t look at all surprised by Ember’s clumsy entrance, and there was an amused spark in her eyes that made it clear she already had an idea of just ‘how it went’. Great, Ember thought, still gasping, I am so screwed.

  “OK, until around the time you sent me a text. Thank you so much for that. Really. I don’t know what came over me. I was about to kiss him for God’s sake!” Ember gasped between wheezing breaths, shaking her head at her own idiocy. Why, why, why couldn’t she keep it together around him? Why did he always get to her like that? It was frustrating and annoying and it made her feel helpless. That’s how it makes you feel. Don’t think anything else. It just makes you feel helpless against his stupid charm, she told herself sternly before her mind conjured another word for the strange bubbly feeling she got around Reid.

  Sherry seemed amused, which Ember thought was a little cruel really. “Again? When will you admit you want the boy?” The green-eyed girl grinned. She slid her laptop off her lap and twisted the cuffs of her oversized grey jumper around her fingers, clearly enthusiastic.

  “I don’t want… OK, he’s hot. I’ll admit that much. But it was different this time! He didn’t just grab me or blackmail me. It was… different. It was like I was in some sort of trance and I came this close to kissing him. Until my phone buzzed. Again, thank you!” Ember sighed, feeling the beginnings of a headache. It really had been different, so slow and teasing; she’d been excitedly anticipating the touch of his mouth on hers.

  She smacked herself on the forehead, groaning. No, there was no way she was going down that road. She did not want him, she did not like him. She couldn’t. She refused to fall for the guy just because he was astoundingly pretty and funny and… Shut up!

  Sherry chuckled from across the room, as if she could read Ember’s mind. “Ember, you so want him! I’m not saying you don’t dislike him, or that he isn’t an asshole, but you’re only human and Reid is undeniably hot. Not as hot as Ricky, but you know what I mean.” Ember rolled her eyes, but she was happy that her friend had found a nice guy. She was just glad that Sherry’s new relationship was clearly a lot less complicated than whatever was going on between herself and Reid.

  “Yeah, yeah. Damn my teenage hormones!” Ember grinned and laughed, and Sherry joined in. OK, so what if she wanted to drag Reid into a closet and tear his clothes off? It didn’t mean she would actually do it, and it didn’t mean she liked him. She would deal with this issue by ignoring it. Whenever she had to be around Reid, she’d ignore her emotions and essentially all her senses. She would not fall under his spell again. She’d be a walking, talking robot from that standpoint. Surely it couldn’t be that hard?

  Three days later, Ember was bored to death. Sundays were usually peaceful; she’d sleep until noon and then read all day, maybe go for a walk if she felt like it. Possibly do some drawing.

  Not this week though. This week, she longed for something exciting and interesting. She wanted to go out and have some fun, do something impulsive and reckless. Hell, she wanted to do anything that might get her mind off Reid. But Sherry was out with Ricky today, picnicking. So, Ember was left alone with her thoughts - which, recently, had become a dangerous thing, being alone with her thoughts. It meant she thought about things she ought not to think about. Things she didn’t want to think about. Ever.

  Reid

  Three days later, Reid was sitting in his room, banging his head on his desk in frustration.

  He’d woken up this morning in some strange girl’s bed - that was normal. But he’d been having lurid dreams about Ember - that wasn’t so normal. Some of the dreams had been… pleasant, to say the least. Others had really been nightmares involving the blonde girl running from him in horror after seeing him drinking from the neck of some useless bimbo. One had even been about him waking to find Ember naked and lifeless next to him, pale and marred in blood with two sharp puncture marks on her neck. That was the most bizarre and horrifying nightmare of all. He’d never had a nightmare like that, never doubted his ability to control his own blood-lust, never worried about harming or killing someone… unintentionally.

  This was a bad sign, and he knew it. He didn’t want to hurt Ember; he didn’t want to see her pretty face twisted in horror of what he was.

  She thought she loved vampires, but would she be so adoring if she knew she’d been hanging around with a real, live, blood-sucking creature?

  Coming back to himself, Reid realised his head was starting to hurt from bashing it on the desk. He groaned and sat back, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his hand. Lucky for him vampires didn’t bruise. Of course, if he did bruise, he could pass it off as a battle wound from a fight with a disgruntled member of the football team. The footballers didn’t like him much. They said he was too pretty; really, they were just jealous because he got all the girls. Or maybe they wanted a piece of him themselves. Didn’t matter either way. He wasn’t scared of some brutish guys with a combined IQ of seventy-six.

  The thought of taking on the whole football team amused Reid, and he grinned to himself. It was a pity Ricky would sulk with him if he did though - Reid hated it when Ricky sulked with him. It was like having a puppy dog mad at you in some ways. Too bad Ricky was out with his new girlfriend, because he could use a distraction. A boys’ night out maybe: a trip to the local bar or a club. That wasn’t going to happen though, not tonight anyway. So, all Reid could do was wait and hope Kee could keep his mouth shut about his crush on Ember.

  Sherry

  “Stop it!” Sherry giggled as Ricky tickled her mercilessly. She fell backwards, sprawling on the soft wool blanket. The weather today was warm and sunny, and they were picnicking on some remote stretch of lush green grass in the middle of nowhere. Birds chirped as they flew overhead, and the white, fluffy clouds created misty patterns across the pale-blue sky.

  Ricky withdrew his hands, sitting back with a grin and tossing a grape at her. It hit her on the nose and Ricky laughed, his smile gleaming in the sunlight. Sherry picked up the grape and threw it back at him; he caught it in his mouth like the typically boyish guy he was. Cute, Sherry thought with a smile.

  Then her phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen. It was another text from Ember, the third one today. Sherry sighed and slid her phone away across the picnic blanket, feeling only a little guilty about ignoring her friend’s desperate attempts to relieve her own boredom.

  “Ember again?” Ricky guessed, running a hand through his already-scruffy dark hair. He tipped his head back, and the sunlight caught the profile of his face, dancing along his cheekbones.

  Sherry nodded. “She gets bored easily, sometimes gets lonely when she’s left on her own.” Sherry stifled a giggle, realising she sounded like she was speaking about a pet dog rather than her best friend.

  Ricky looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, “Can you keep a secret? Like, really not say a word about it? Even to Ember?” He asked quietly, as if someone would overhear them despite the
fact there wasn’t a single person to be seen all around them. Sherry doubted the sparrows would tell anyone anything.

  Sherry thought for a moment and then replied. “Yeah. I can. As long as it’s nothing that could hurt her,” she clarified. Ricky made a motion with his hand, telling her to come closer. Sherry obeyed eagerly, shifting right up to him, so close that she could smell his fresh, minty scent.

  “This is top secret information. Classified. I shouldn’t even be telling you this but…” Ricky shrugged, smiling faintly, sounding like an FBI agent or something, “But you have to swear to me you won’t breathe a word of this to anyone, especially Ember. It’s nothing that could hurt her, but it could hurt the other person involved.” Ricky gazed down at her with amused aqua eyes. Sherry felt a ripple in her ribs, staring into those endlessly deep eyes. She just nodded, smiling sweetly up at him while he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder, sighing and letting her eyes drift closed.

  “OK, well, here goes… Reid likes Ember. I mean, he really likes her. Reid has never actually liked a girl like this before, and it’s driving him nuts now. He wants Ember to like him, but at the same time he likes that she’s the only girl he’s ever met who’s able to resist him.” Ricky paused then added, “He’s conflicted in so many ways.” Ricky laughed, a heavenly sound to Sherry’s ears, especially with his breath shuddering across her forehead. This distracted her from his words for a moment and then they caught up to her, and she turned to give him a sceptical look.

  “Wait…what? Reid - like Reid Ashton? The man-whore, bad boy, pain in the butt Reid?” She felt her eyes widen, but she really wasn’t that surprised. She’d suspected it for days now, and she would’ve said something to Ember, but Ember seemed intent on ignoring what was right in front of her. Sherry let her stay ignorant, mostly because she knew how Ember hated to think of anyone as having romantic motives for things related to her.

  “Yup. He apparently can’t stop thinking about her and, as much as he wanted to…uh, ‘bed her’, he doesn’t want her to be just another one-night stand anymore. Which is… well, it’s a big deal for Reid. He doesn’t usually look past boosting his reputation when it comes to girls. I have to say, I thought I’d never see the day he would fall for a girl.” Ricky’s eyes were bright and his smile was genuinely brilliant. It was clear he was happy that his friend had found a girl he could stick with. The only problem was…

  “But Ember… doesn’t like him that way. She thinks he’s hot but she wouldn’t go on a date with him or anything. She still thinks he’s an asshole. If he wants to get her to like him, he’s going to need to work really hard at it. Otherwise Ember will just slap him every time he tries to kiss her.” Sherry grinned, remembering how Ember had come in surprised and irritated, every time Reid kissed her.

  “I told him to stop doing that.” Ricky shook his head with a sigh.

  “I think she likes it really, she just won’t admit it,” Sherry replied, smiling. Something changed in his eyes and Ricky dipped his head to kiss her softly. It started out slow and tender, but Sherry was soon breathless as he deepened the kiss, pushing her flat onto her back.

  “Is this OK with you?” Ricky pulled away and asked her, a little breathless himself. Sherry simply nodded, not sure she could speak. Ricky put his mouth back to hers, his hands wandering along her body, making her tingle hotly. She could feel his long fingers playing along the bottom edge of her light t-shirt, and his soft lips on hers were making her dizzy with pleasure. She gasped faintly against his mouth as his fingers slipped under her top, brushing her skin so her stomach muscles jumped. His lips curled into a smile on hers and he let his fingertips trail circles around her navel. He moved his mouth to her neck, leaving hot kisses there.

  And then, just as things were starting to get really interesting… it started raining. Out of nowhere, heavy clouds had magically appeared overhead and were dropping sheets of fresh, autumn rain on them. Sherry and Ricky both groaned and Ricky shifted off her, looking regretful and unhappy. Sherry herself was more than a little irritated by the fickle weather.

  “Come on, we’d better get back anyway. I’ve got piles of homework and I bet Ember will be glad to have some company again. Assuming Reid didn’t get too bored and go looking for her.” Kee chuckled, but there was an edge to his voice. Sherry ignored it; she wasn’t as paranoid as Ember was.

  She cursed the damned weather for ruining their picnic, and hopped in the car with Ricky, watching the patters of rain on the windshield as she fastened her seatbelt.

  Ricky

  As he drove, Ricky was silently growling, sending out telepathic death threats to Reid that he knew the blonde boy would be laughing at. Only Reid knew where he’d been planning on taking Sherry, and it was a typically Reid-like thing to do - make it start raining when he was just enjoying himself with Sherry. No wonder the boy couldn’t get Ember to like him, if he did things like that all the time. Ember was probably better off without him, and maybe the heartache would do Reid some good.

  Still, Ricky would give his tosser of a friend a good talking to when he got back and maybe let Brandon know about it, if he felt like being really cruel - which he now did.

  Ember

  Ember was so bored with Sherry being gone that she took an afternoon nap, curled up on her bed fully dressed. She quickly fell into a bizarre dream, one that gave her a vague sense of annoying déjà vu.

  ***

  She was in Reid’s room, and he was standing by his desk with a solemn expression. It looked odd on him, so different from his usual smugness. The room was dark again, like last time, with shadows huddling in the corners like frightened creatures. The glass bottles on the desk glinted dully as she took a step forward, glancing around uneasily.

  “Why am I here again?” Ember asked in that echoing, floating dream voice. Reid’s blue eyes fixed on hers coolly, as if he were just now spotting her in the middle of his room.

  “You shouldn’t be. I told you before, I could hurt you,” he warned quietly. Ember thoughtlessly stepped toward him, something inexplicable driving her closer to him. Curiosity, maybe.

  “But how? You keep saying that but I don’t know what you mean,” she said, confused but trying to remain calm. She was apprehensive, not knowing how to deal with this solemn dream-Reid, but she wouldn’t show it, refused to let him see he was freaking her out. Even in sleep, she was stubborn.

  “Think about it,” he replied in a distant voice, and suddenly she was shot into quick-changing memories. Just scraps of flickers of minor things. Like the night he’d saved her from Joseph; one minute Joseph had been growling at her, moonlight turning his eyes to mercury, and the next Reid was there, her personal saviour, cracking the drunk boy’s spine like it was nothing.

  The next flicker was of that sharp glint in his eyes when she’d accused him of being like Joseph, the glint she’d seen only twice before. His eyes turned cold and icy, shining almost metallically.

  Memory number three; the way he’d appeared out of thin air silently at the skate park, making her jump. She’d never known anyone to move so quietly; his movements were all so contained.

  Final memory; Flashes of the several times he’d pinned her or gripped her, seeming incredibly strong, stronger than he should be for someone with such delicate musculature. His fingers had felt like iron bands around her arms, immovable.

  And then she was facing him again in the dream room, his face bleak and her mind buzzing. Sure, the flashes of memory were each odd in their own ways and together they seemed to paint a very fuzzy picture, but she still didn’t understand.

  “Maybe it’s better you don’t. But you should still stay away from me,” Reid said suddenly, gazing at her evenly across the room. That was more bizarre than the flashes of memory; she’d never had someone read her mind like that, even in dreams. It was unsettling, especially after the odd flickers.

  “Wait, Reid, I still-” she started, reaching out t
o him. But his eyes flashed darkly, and she was thrown back into the waking world.

  ***

  “Ember? You OK?” Sherry asked worriedly as Ember sat up in her bed, her duvet tangled around her and her hair falling across her face in knots.

  “Yeah. Just had a nightmare,” Ember explained weakly, gazing in the general direction of Sherry’s bed, unable to see in the pitch blackness of the room. Her heart was beating a rapid pace against her ribs.

  “Nightmare? You were saying Reid’s name so I assumed…” Sherry sounded amused and suggestive. Ember shook her head, blushing, knowing Sherry couldn’t see it.

  “It was a nightmare. Forget it. I’m fine,” Ember muttered, lying back and tugging her covers up around her.

  “If you say so. Goodnight,” Sherry replied quietly.

  “’Night,” Ember sighed. She spent a long while after that staring at the ceiling, but eventually, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  By Monday, Ember had begun to think about how to tell Reid she was just plain fed up with him; all the games and emotional strains, and the bizarre dreams. They were taking their toll on her academic performance and giving her headaches, always with the headaches.

  For example, it wasn’t until she got to English that she realised she hadn’t done her homework. All weekend she’d been trying to figure out what her weird dreams meant, because dreams like that just had to mean something.