CHAPTER EIGHT
"So, you're sure you don't mind?" Dee said tinkering with her wild flame like hair.
Her and Lyla had been sitting on her bed talking for the past few hours.
"Why would I care?"
"Because you'll have to cover for me if Regina decides to stop by." Dee rolled her eyes.
Though Dee hasn't confirmed it, she didn't seem to like Regina much. Then again, there wasn't many people that she claimed to like in the first place.
"It's fine. It'll be nice to sleep without your horrible snoring." Lyla toyed.
Dee looked appalled, her mouth gaping open.
"I do not snore!" .
"Actually you do. You sound like a malfunctioning chainsaw." Lyla smirked.
Dee's cheeks were flushing, red splotches covering her delicate cheekbones.
"Why do I tolerate you again?" She scowled.
Lyla shrugged.
Dee muttered a few unintelligible words as she stuffed a pair of clothes in her bag. Before she left she tousled Lyla's hair and winked.
Lyla fell back onto her bed and sighed.
She was actually pleased to be alone for the weekend. Dee was going to be spending the next two day's with Jay and she would have peace and quiet.
After lyla had dedicated a few hours to her homework, she was surprisingly bored for the first time since she had arrived at Wickerland.
She decided she would spend a few hours outside since there was still a couple of hours left before sundown.
She grabbed a thin sheet out of her drawers and raced out of the door.
Even though the atmosphere was damp and filled with patches of fog, the setting sun shot rays of gold and pink and crimson against the sky like a brilliant explosion.
It was the perfect time to sit outside and watch her fellow students linger on the campus grounds.
She laid on the sheet and closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of wet grass. It reminded her of the smell of the early morning.
She felt someone approach behind her, but she didn't move. She assumed it was Miles.
"How are you feeling?" Said Jesse, standing behind her.
Lyla felt her pulse begin to thrum like the wings of a humming bird.
She leaped up with widened eyes. Why would he ask her how she was feeling?
Then a flash of the horrible creatures that nearly made her into a dinner for two appeared in her mind. Their haunting faces were stamped in the crevices of her mind.
Before she realized what she was doing the words left her mouth.
"Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real? Like you could feel things from it.. like there were pieces of it that still stuck with you when you woke?" Her brows furrowed. She didn't understand why she was asking him.
Maybe she was hoping for a reaction that would tell her that it isn't just a film her mind had brilliantly conjured up. That she wasn't crazy.
Jesse narrowed his eyes and set his jaw in an ghost of a smile.
"Dreaming about me?"
He said in a low purr that sent sparks through her anatomy. She felt her stomach do a nervous tap dance.
"What? I thought.." she began but then decided she didn't have the energy for another episode of his hot and cold nature.
She sucked on her lower lip to prevent the words from tumbling out of her mouth.
She felt like snapping at him, or shaking him until he told her something. Anything that would make her feel like she hadn't finally went off the deep end.
As Lyla's eyes flickered over him she noticed that there's something different about him. He wore the same black fingerless gloves that he wore that day at the mall. There was a small smudge of dried blood against his cheek, and on the left side of his neck was decorated with a deep scratch.
As much as she wanted to it would be unwise to e en think about going there. She knew he wouldn't give her answers, what was the point of being curious?
Her eyes fluttered back to his. The strength of his gaze made chills roll up and down her body.
But she pushed the delectable sensations aside.
She didn't know when she had decided that her mind had been made up. That it was too painful to be around him. That his spurts of mixed signals were scraping her insides raw.
"Look Jesse. As much as I appreciate your help, I think you should stay away from me."
Her voice nearly choked by the pain that wedged into her throat like a splinter. It wasn't what she wanted, it was completely against what she wanted. But there was no way she could take the words back now.
Jesse's body went stiff like it had been filled with cement, carving him into an attractive statue. His face glistened with a sheen of anxious sweat. Lyla could barely see the slight rise and fall of his chest.
He seemed genuinely taken a back, like he had been slapped by a ton of bricks.
His brows furrowed, he looked like he was fighting a tiresome war within himself. A war that raged against his heart and mind.
Lyla turned on her heels to retreat she didn't want to see the hurt that surfaced in his eyes, but a feverish hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her back.
She turned around and her heart nearly flat-lined. A thin margin of air that could barely pass for a centimeter was the only thing between them.
She wanted more than anything to close the distance between them, to press herself against the space until in no longer separated them, but she held herself back.
She could smell his breath as it slowly trickled over her face, an intoxicating mixture of mint and something sweet like honey made her mouth water.
"What.. are you doing? Her voice was low and raspy. There was no way she could disguise the desire that lingered in the pit of her stomach.
She looked up at him, she hadn't realized how tall he was before now.
She suddenly felt tiny. Like one touch from him could break her, shatter her in to a million pieces that couldn't be restored.
"I know you don't understand.." he said, he brought his hand up and paused, deciding if he should touch her.
He swallowed, then slid his palm against her cheek.
A look of pain and relief shadowed His features but he didn't move. His flesh was hot like the coals of a fire, it was still a little uncomfortable but no where near as disabling as the first time they touched.
His eyes bore into hers. The glowing silver against the black outline of his irises made the strands of titanium inside of them look alive.
"There's a reason why I am the way I am. Some things are hard to explain... But the one thing I know, is that I can't stay away from you. I've tried." He dropped his hand and lowered his head like his confession had rendered him powerless.
Like the weight of his words were crushing him.
Lyla scowled in disbelief.
"You've tried to stay away from me?"
"More like you can't tell if you hate me or just dislike me." She hissed, curling her hands into fists at her side. She didn't know his rejection made her feel so angry, she could chew nails, feel them stab into her gums and still find no relief.
Jesse jerked his head up with an incredulous look. He looked genuinely shocked.
"Hate you?"
He sounded completely caught of guard by her accusation.
"Oh princess.." he pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered unintelligible words under his breath.
He raised his eyes to hers and tapped a finger to his chin. It seemed like decades before he finally spoke again.
"Meet me outside of your building at midnight."
Lyla paced back and forth in her bedroom. Her nerves were eating away at her insides like termites making a feast of rotten wood.
When it was five minutes till midnight, her stomach twisted with nervous nausea. Her palms damped with sweat, and she felt like she had been put under a heating lamp.
She sucked in a deep searing breath, hoping it would fill her with confidence and the ability to function properly when she would be around him.
Her mind was as fierce as a tornado, different feelings mangled together like the debris circling inside the winds of a fearsome storm.
She grabbed a small rag and dampened it with some of her bottled water and wiped her face.
It didn't relieve her from her near heat stroke, but it did help.
She raked her hands through her hair and pulled it into a ponytail and headed out of her room.
"You came." Jesse said as she approached him.
His expression was one of complete relief, anxiousness, and dread.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I haven't exactly been kind to you. You could have decided you wanted nothing to do with me." He smirked.
Jesse held out his right hand with his palm facing up. She noticed he was trembling and felt her heart ache for him.
Just as she was about to take it, her eyes latched on to a spot on his wrist, it was just below his palm on the opposite hand of hers.
The air hissed between her mouth like the steam off of a pressure cooker.
There was a strange oval blemish that was identical to the one that was etched on to her own skin.
Her eyes flashed up to Jesse who wore a solemn expression.
"I'll explain.. but I have to show you something first."
His words rattled out of his mouth in a shaky breath.
Lyla felt her heart pinch. Was he truly scared that she would reject him? As if there was anything that could change the way she felt about him?
They walked down a narrow trail that was behind Regina's office.
It was filled with various types of vines and shrubs that nearly concealed it.
It would have been impossible to find if Jesse hadn't known where he was taking her.
They found their selves in front of a rugged shed that looked hundreds of years old. Different shades of rust marked the top and the bottom of its exterior walls. It looked frail, like it would collapse with a soft touch of the wind.
It was camouflaged well with green ivy and other various over grown weeds clinging to it's frame.
Jesse retrieved a large silver key out of his pocket. it was decorated with enchanting curls that held different gem stones in the corner of their tail's.
Once inside he steered Lyla toward a black frayed rug on the floor.
He knelt down to grab the corner of the fabric and threw it off.
Underneath the material was a beautifully carved board that covered the majority of the floor.
"Just hold on to me...and don't freak out." He said with uncertainty. He furrowed his brows, creating a small indent between them.
He blew out his cheeks and squeezed his eyes shut.
Lyla clung on to his arm diffident of what to expect. Out of nowhere a fearsome heat glazed over his body.
She eyed his arms as the brilliant blue ran down his arms as if it were mapping out his veins, then the color puddled into his palms.
She could feel the undeniable power with in him, and it made her even more so engrossed by him.
Instead of fireflies a blue glittering dust rushed out of his hands on to the floor filling the intricate designs.
This was the answer to her question. She wasn't crazy. The dream was somehow prophetic, or perhaps not a dream at all.
She confined the oxygen in her lungs.
There was no way to describe the prodigious creature that was beside her.
The floor jolted and groaned as the board withdrew beneath the shed.
The enchantment recalled into his body when a narrow set of stairs led to a dimmed pathway that led under the campus.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Concern filled his irises like tiny threats of mercury.
"What... Just happened?"
She had meant for the question to come out sturdy and bold, but her voice was no louder than the squeal of a mouse.
He clutched on to her hand that was still clasped around his arm and pried it off. He tugged her hand to his mouth and laid a kiss so gentle it was almost a phantom, but the power of it reverberated through her like an earth quake.
"I'll explain when we get there." The dark shadows of the hallway carved out his impeccable features, the angular curve of his jaw and the hollowed out bones of his cheeks.
In no time they were in front of a colossal wooden door with a huge peculiar lock in the center of it. If fanned out like golden vines and leaves flowering out of it's center.
He tugged another attractive key out of his pocket, this one was gold and mimicked the striking patterns of the one that unlocked the shed.
He stopped and looked at her with a heart throbbing uneven smile, it carved out the heart stopping dimple in his cheek that made lyla feel weak in the knee's.
"Close your eyes." He commanded.
She obeyed his command then heard the large door creak open.
He slowly slid his hands over her eyes and guided her through the threshold.
"Hold on a second before you open them." He said releasing her.
Her eyelids lightened with red, telling her that lights had been switched on. then she could feel him behind her, the heat of his body sending sprays of warmth through her.
Unlike any other time she had been touched since she arrived to the boarding school, this time she didn't flinch when his arms swathed around her waist.
She teetered with chills feeling his body against her back. She tried not to get distracted by the burning in her belly.
"You can open them." His voice was low and gravely, her lower abdomen fluttered at the sound.
She moved the thoughts away and opened her eyes.
Lyla's mouth fell open at the marvelous scenery.
They were standing inside of an engaging underground grotto.
The dark dirt walls shimmered with minerals and the floor was rich with an earthy smell that she wanted to dig her feet into.
Surrounding them were twelve ravishing ornate arches set in the walls of the cave.
Each arch was made of a precious stone glimmering and glistening in the florescent lighting.
They twisted and twirled in exquisite patterns, magnificently crafted by hand.
"What is this place?" Lyla murmured with incredulity.
"This is the Room of Realms. Each stone arch represents a different realm/dimension." He said smugly.
On the far left side was a huge display of numerous weapons crafted out of stones. They were equally as beautiful as the arches.
She stepped forward then turned her head back to look at him.
"Am I allowed to touch them?" She gestured to the curvature made of Amethyst.
"Yes." He said leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His silver orbs watching her intently.
"What's this one?" She said sliding her fingers against the smooth stones of Quartz. Her eyes trailed over the striking patterns of the stone.
"That's the light realm. The purest realm to exist. To humans I suppose it would be considered heaven."
His eyes didn't move off of her. A look of fascination lighting his features.
Lyla thought for a moment at the gravity of his words. Heaven was literally right under her fingertips. There were no words to adequately illustrate the feeling she had at this very moment.
She moved on to the hematite arch that spiked out in dangerous needles, it was the only arch that was frightening. She was almost certain that if she had touched it, it would have sliced her fingers open.
"That's the dark realm. Also known as the lower dimensions." He explained.
A flash of the awful creature's that nearly attacked her in her dream spun inside of her mind, followed by the gruesome demon that consistently taunted her in both her unconscious mind and awakened state.
The uneasiness crawled like maggots up her skin.
"This?" Lyla said touching the Amethyst. This arch was her favorite, it was mysterious and thrilling. Swirls of wonder trapped in stone form.
"That's the realm of creativity." He divulged as he considered her from a far. There was an indecipherable look in his eyes, one that made her wheeze and feel like she was drowning.
"Hmmm..." She murmured.
"Is there a dream realm?" She turned her head back toward him.
His uneven smile lugged one side of his lips up.
Strands of black fell in to his eyes.
With that reaction, she had her answer.
She gaited leisurely toward him.
"I don't think it was a dream. I think you made me believe it was." she accused.
He nodded stiffly as he devoured her with his eyes.
She had this sudden urge to to bury her face into the hollow of his neck and feel his warmth, but her need for answers was more important. Her hormones would have to learn to wait.
"Your very perceptive." He admitted sheepishly.
He rubbed the back of his neck and his mouth twisted into a quirky smirk. His sterling eyes peeled through the black strands of his hair.
She felt her mouth dry. God she wanted to kiss him, more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.
"What were those things? And what happened to your neck?" She cleared her throat. she pressed her fingers lightly to his wound.
He didn't wince, he just kept his gaze focused on her. Like she was the only thing he saw.
"My kind were warriors. We were made to fight, we were made to keep a balance between the dark and the light."
"You were fighting?" Lyla furrowed her brow, creating a crease in the center of her forehead.
"Just lower dimensional creatures. We call them lowers, but they are different shapes and different breeds of demons. Some are hyrbids. And this is just a scratch." He chuckled, nervously he slid his hand over hers.
"Jesse.. why are you showing me these things?"
He stepped closer toward her, lowering his lashes. She wanted to kiss the muscle of his jaw that contracted.
The way he was looking at her was swallowing her thoughts like a black hole. The notion was bewitching, she could already feel herself being submerged in him.
All she wanted in this moment was to taste his lips. To feel the slight pressure of lips against lips. Even if it were only with the touch of a butterfly.
And judging by the way he was looking at her, she knew he wanted the same thing.
He placed his hand on the indent of her curve and slid it to her lower back.
He amorously grazed her cheek with the back of his hand then soothed her lips with his thumb.
"I told you.. I can't fight it anymore."
The suspense was searing. It was enough for her to consider to beg. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would hammer out of her chest.
Conclusively he gave into his temptation.
He benevolently kissed her, like she was a flower that could easily be destroyed.
Without an advance notice, the kiss became more fierce, it was bone melting, like they were trying to devour each other. Melt into one another until only one whole of them existed.
It was like they had been released. Like the shackles that withheld them fell off, making them free.
Lyla knew He was as essential to her as the air that lingered in her lungs with every breath. She was galvanized and alive for the first time in her life.
She realized she had been dead all this time, this one destructive kiss brought her to life.
He pressed her against the wall, pinning her between his marbled abdomen and the damp cool wall of the cave.
His heart thrashed against her chest and she reveled in the knowledge that she was able to affect him like that. She kneaded her hands into his hair, twirling the black silk between her fingers.
When he pulled away, both of them were panting in sync. Lyla felt her cheeks burn with blood, her hair was tangled and she was most definitely wide eyed but Jesse licked his lower lip with desire, he looked at her as if she was the most extravagant creature that had ever existed.
"There's something you should know..it's no coincidence trouble keeps finding you. It's because of what we are to each other." He grimaced. Turning his head away from her like the thought repulsed him. Like he was physically ill at the knowledge.
When he faced her again, His eyes were burning like freshly lit sparks off a firework and she could see by the twitch of his lip that he was un-eased.
"What do you mean?" Her throat dried. It felt like sand paper rubbing against her vocal chords.
He grabbed her wrist with the oval shaped blemish and smoothed his thumb over it, rubbing it in slow soothing motions.
"I never thought this would happened to me. It shouldn't be possible. I didn't know..." He sighed, closing his eyes.
Lyla wanted to thread her hands in his hair, she wanted to curve her body around his and mold into him.
But she didn't. She needed to focus.
"I'm not human. My kind existed a long time ago.. We are only suppose to be bound to our own species."
His eyes flickered to hers. Fear, hope and frustration swirled around his sterling eyes like a crystal whirlpool.
Lyla felt like she couldn't breath, she couldn't comprehend what he was saying. The words bound, species, my kind looped in her mind like a mental prison she couldn't break free from.
"This mark on your wrist puts a bounty on your head. It's almost like a blinding signal to other races that I'm still alive."
He curled his fists in, the veins in his forearm protruding like thick blue webs beneath his skin.
She wanted to trace his lines with her fingers, follow the trail to his heart.
But the gravity of his words were slowing sinking in, latching it's talons into her mind like the thorns of a rose.
"What do you mean a bounty?"
Her words trembled, before now she may have tried to hide it, but there wasn't a reason to. She didn't want to hide herself from him anymore.
She wanted to jump into the oblivion that awaited with her hand in Jesse's and a smile on her face.
"To get to me... They'll come for you. That's why those creature's were here."
Lyla felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Her intestines twisting in knots of acid.
"They want.. to kill me?" She stuttered.
Jesse's lips flattened into a line. He slid his hand around her waist and pulled her into him, crushing her petite frame against his. He kissed the edge of her jaw and she felt her anxiety slowly fade away.
"I'd never let anything happen to you." He kissed the tender skin just below her ear.
"I can't let anything happen to you."
He tugged her into his chest. His his hands pressed her lower back into him.
She nuzzled her face in to his chest and breathed in his scent, letting it paralyze her with the rich spicy smell of his skin.