A Night of Flame and Blood Read online

  We never talk our staring is the only form of contact we share, which would be nothing if he did it to other girls, but he did not, he did not talk to anyone, boy or girl. All the girls who tried to approach him would get the cold shoulder. Even my sister was shut down by Daston. But for all his efforts, it seemed to have backfired. The girls seemed to be drawn to his aloofness. The mystery surrounding him made him sexy.

  My sister—never one to back down—had already gone through four boyfriends to show Daston how much she was wanted. His answer was, well nothing. It was like he did not even notice her. No one had heard Daston talk, he would just sit quietly next to Derik, his desk partner, and stare into space or at me, not that anyone noticed the latter.

  Daston’s handsome face was all business. His strong jaw was always set, he never smiled or looked pleased or showed any emotion. He was like stone.

  If I were a normal girl, I would be ecstatic that Daston was staring at me, but this is where my weird paranoia set in. I did not trust Daston. There was something about him that struck a chord in me.

  Daston arrived at this school right after Michelle disappeared. It could be merely a coincidence and I would have written it off if the dreams had not started on Dastons first day of school.

  Chapter 2

  “Brianna. Brianna.”

  “What?”

  “What do you think? Should we do it now or hold on till later?”

  “Hold on. What are you talking about?” I was way too lost in this conversation.

  Robert had cornered me outside of my fourth period class to talk gibberish.

  “Did you hear anything I just said?” Robert asked exasperated. I could tell it was something important; he had those wild eyes he gets when he makes a breakthrough.

  There is a reason why Robert and I do not have friends. Well at least there is a reason why Robert does not have friends. Robert has a past time that is more of an obsession than anything else. He was obsessed with the underworld—hell—and was convinced that there were portals here on Earth that led to it.

  He tries to contact the dead on normal days and tries to impress girls on weird days. Even to me he was freaky, but we freaks stick together. We had seen each other through some tough times, plus I had no one else to sit with during lunch, and even an outcast does not want to be alone.

  “Yes, I heard you call my name.”

  “That’s not funny I’m serious.” He gave me his best serious face, which looked more like he was constipated, but I got the point.

  “Ok sorry. What did you say?”

  “I found a book—“

  I put my hands up. “Stop right there. I am not getting sucked into this again, last time you had me pull on all nighter to read a book that turned out to be crap.” I argued. He winced remembering that night far too well. We came to school the next day half dead. Besides his dad was a librarian, when does he not find a book.

  “But this time is different. I think this one’s the one.”

  “Really? What did it do? Put out on the first date.” I joked.

  Robert gave me an exaggerated grin. “Even better. This baby found me, someone had returned the book to the library, but it was not one of the library books, so my dad let me keep it. I guess you could call it fate.”

  “Or creepy. Did you see who returned it?”

  “No, they dumped in the bin when no one was at the desk.”

  “And you do not think its weird that someone happened to return a book that is exactly your interest even though it did not belong to the library. It’s like they were gifting you this book.” I grabbed his shoulders and looked him square in the eyes. “I think someone has a little crush on you.”

  He shook my arms off, scoffing at my ridiculous statement. “No one is interested in me.”

  “Not true.” I told him.

  “Are you trying to tell me that you have a little crush on me. I mean I already had my suspicions Briana, but hearing them so blatantly, please calm yourself down.” He said with the straightest face possible. I gave him a look of sheer horror and his mask cracked, a loud boisterous laugh slipped out of him. “You should see your face.” He pointed as he clutched his stomach with his hands.

  His laugh was contagious, and I found myself laughing loudly along with him. I loved Robert for moments like these. I could not stop laughing, my stomach felt like I had done crunches.

  I heard a loud clanking sound that was fast approaching.

  The clanking sound stopped a few feet away from us, but I managed to see what it was. Thigh high boots with a thick heel stood next to the water fountain about ten feet away. Two pair of legs were behind the boot wearer. I looked up in time to see their owners glare at me, their faces mingled with disgust and disbelieve.

  “Uhh. Look at those losers.” The main girl, Jackie, said. She was with two other girls, but she was the leader in their little click. The statement alone would have pissed me off, but what really threw the match in my internal fire was the look that they gave us. It was one that said we were scum on their shoe.

  They effectively stopped our laughing. I wanted to punch them in those glossed up lips for ruining the moment of happiness Robert and I were sharing.

  I did not know much about the other two, but I knew Jackie. She had gotten meaner throughout the years. I never really talked to her, but when we were little, she seemed friendly. Her mother died when she was eleven. Most people do not give her any grief because they feel sorry that she’s motherless, but I feel that she’s playing up that fact. She uses it to her advantage, which is a shame because her mother, Josephine, was a wonderful woman. I do not think she would appreciate what a bitch her daughter had become.

  All three of the girls were dressed in flashy clothes, but Jackie looked more extravagant. She wore a beautiful golden dress that her blond hair seemed to mix in with. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief. They all looked like they had just walked off the runway. Their hair was styled perfectly, and their makeup was done to perfection.

  You could almost taste the plastic when you looked at them.

  Instead of beating the life-sized Barbie’s half to death, like I so badly wanted to do, I walked away with Robert. I knew I was being the bigger man for walking away, but right now I wanted to be the little man because at least he got to bash their faces.

  “Don’t worry about them Bri. They’re assholes anyways.” Robert waved them off as we walked away. He smiled down at me and put his hand on my shoulder to calm me down.

  Sometimes I did not get why Robert was alienated—other than the obvious—he was so nice and caring. And he never let anything get to him; he was content with being a freak.

  I looked at him through my periphery and saw what everyone else might see. Black messy hair and dark eyes that contrasted to the extreme with his pale skin. He wore all black from head to toe and had this weird trench coat that made him look like a bootleg vampire.

  Honestly, he looked like evil incarnate, like he could kill you at any moment. And that was exactly what everyone in school thought. Robert being the weirdo he was loved it. But only I knew what a real marshmallow he was.

  Robert had the tendency of being squeamish at the sight of blood. And in more than one occasion had fainted at the sight of it. I unfortunately found that out the hard way when I scraped up my arm and instead of Robert helping me, I had to carry him to his bedroom when he fainted.

  “So, are you going to help me out with my book?” He asked, I had almost forgotten that conversation.

  “Sure, let’s do it at your house.” I smiled. Robert’s face immediately brightened up at my words.

  “Alright Bri we got ourselves another lead.” He rubbed his hands together in anticipation and gave me his famous devilish smile. “Maybe this time we’ll find something.”

  I did not want to tell him that we probably would not. The underworld did not exist. I humor Robert because he is my best friend, but I knew it wasn’t real.

  Robert and I had f
ound out a lot of information about hell and demons throughout our years of research. And even though it was all bogus, Robert tended to think that all the information we gathered was bringing us a step closer to finding hell. I did not say much on the matter, I was merely the helpful friend, content with spending time with him.

  Robert and I sat in our usual lunch table. The cafeteria was jam packed full of tables, there was hardly any room to walk around them. Students filled every space the tables could possibly offer. But there was one table that was shoved in a corner, it was farthest away from all the other tables. It was also the smallest, and it looked as if any extra weight would make it collapse. The table would move—it was unsteady on its legs—and would squeak loudly when you got up. Still, we preferred this table because it was our way of being secluded in the back. We found it easier to be ourselves when we were out of everyone’s sight.

  But you couldn’t block everyone’s annoying voice and we could still see them, so it wasn’t too great.

  I nearly stuffed napkins in my ears to block off what some of the girls were saying. It always had to do with make-up or a cute boy, but a shrill voice made my ears perk up. More by what she was saying than by her voice because her voice was enough to make anyone want to claw their eyes out.

  “I wonder what he’s doing here; he never comes to the cafeteria.” A girl with mousy brown hair told her friend in a loud whisper. She was close enough to us that I caught her words. Her friend next to her nodded in agreement, equally curious.

  It was impossible to not know who she was talking about. Who else never came to the cafeteria, or interacted with humans for that matter? It was just like him to cause a stir without intending to.

  “You think if I ask him out, he’ll say yes?” Another light whisper said. I wanted to bang my head on the table. You would think he was the only boy in the school. Daston. I could not even concentrate on what Robert was talking about which had something to do with sandwiches. Or maybe I was just really hungry.

  “Is he staring at her?” The same annoying pitchy voice said.

  I almost looked up, but that would be too vain of me. I mean, I only have him for one class, maybe I was wrong, and he stares at a lot of girls. Maybe I did have something in my hair these past two weeks.

  “Hey, Bri. Brianna. Brianna.” Robert called. I ignored him, too lost in my thoughts to pay attention to what Robert was talking about, but he wasn’t having that.

  “Ouch.” I cried out when Robert elbowed me, hard, on the ribs.

  “What was that for?” I sneered.

  “Sorry, but that was the only way to get your attention.” He chuckled. I signaled for him to continue. “The new guy is staring at you.” He smirked. “He looks like he’s checking you out.” He grinned suggestively and wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Be quiet.” I whispered in a panic. Hopefully nobody noticed that. What would they say? Worse yet what would Daston say. Not that I cared more about what he has to say.

  I choked back my internal tirade and looked up to see several curious faces looking at me, but of more importance I saw Daston staring straight at me. He was leaning against the cafeteria door. His torso and head were inclined in my direction.

  This was the first time he had ever looked at me outside of the classroom. I could not help the butterflies that seemed to erupt in my stomach. His strong jawline quivered and for a second everything seemed to stand still. The only thing that seemed important in that moment were his eyes, those emerald green eyes that have haunted me these past two weeks, those eyes that were looking at me so intensely I felt as if I would burst into flames.

  He turned away abruptly, and the spell ended, everything went back to normal. The gush of sound came back. It was no longer me and him, we were back in the cafeteria. It only lasted a second, but it seemed so much more than that.

  Daston fled the cafeteria in a frenzy. So much for spending time with humans.

  “That was weird.” A voice close to our table said. I did not bother to see who.

  “He practically ran out crying when she looked up at him.”

  My head snapped up. It was the two girls again, whispering to themselves, they glanced back at me and bulked when they saw me staring. I was starting to hate those girls, they looked vaguely familiar. Their hushed tones were not hushed enough. I could still hear them talking about me.

  I tugged on my eyebrow hard enough to rip hairs—a nervous tendency I never quite got rid of—I liked it better when everyone ignored me.

  “Don’t listen to them Bri, they’re idiots.” Robert grabbed my shoulder as if to shake some sense into me. “I saw the way that kid looked at you and it didn’t have anything to do with your freakiness.”

  My head drooped down, and I was staring hard enough at the table to puncture holes in it. “Gee thanks, you kind of ruined it in the end though.”

  “No, I didn’t. I think your freakiness is your best asset, everyone else just doesn’t know how to appreciate it.” He placed his pointer finger on my chin and lifted my head up. “And always keep this up, never down.” He advised

  “Wow, to what do I owe all these complements,” Because the last time I got these many complements from Robert, we were thirteen and he was trying to convince me to give a letter to my sister on his behalf.

  “Dude, you’re my friend. We might tease each other all the time, but at the end of the day you got my back and I got yours.” His dark eyes were dead serious; there was no joke in them.

  I swallowed back the strong emotions his words caused me and gave him my most sincere smile.

  “Come on we’ve got to get to class.” He jumped up and grabbed my arm. I was surprised when I saw that nearly everyone was out of the cafeteria. I was so caught up in my emotional rollercoaster I failed to register the bell.

  Robert led me out of the cafeteria by the arm like a five year old, but I managed to take one last glance back. There was no one left in the room, but slight movement made me aware of a shadowy figure slumped against the wall. I blinked in shock and it was gone. The cafeteria was empty again; I felt chills run all over my body.

  What the hell was a matter with me?

  I did not look back again least I see something else that apparently was not there.

  Chapter 3

  The car door slammed shut. Rebecca slid into her seat and turned on the car, she looked at herself quickly in the mirror, and was satisfied with the beautiful face looking back at her. A slight pucker appeared between her eyes. I felt her eyes frequently glance in my direction as she drove.

  “Why was Daston staring at you?” She asked. Her voice uninterested, but I knew my sister, and she was very interested.

  “I don’t know Rebecca maybe he wanted to see how much of a freak I am.”

  Her eyes snapped to me and there was no more pretense that she was not interested.

  “He’s in our class and sits right behind you. He’s already gotten an eyeful of you. If he wanted to know how big of a freak you are, he would do it there.”

  I flinched. That hurt, more because it was my sister instead of the ass hats in school.

  I turned my head toward the window so my sister would not see the angry tears brimming in my eye. She still managed.

  “Brianna, I didn’t mean that.” Her voice was ringing with sincerity. She always does this, lets slip what she really thinks of me and then thinks because she takes it back everything is ok. I always forgave her in the end because no matter how much her words hurt, I knew they were true. I could not punish her for her honesty.

  I turned to look at her and saw the concern in her eyes. Damn her and her twinkling blue eyes that gets her everything she wants. I could feel the anger slowly evaporate. I could never stay mad at her, because for some unknown reason I loved her to death.

  She seemed to realize our fight was over. Her face immediately brightened up.

  “Do you think he was curious about you because he heard we were sisters?” She pondered curiously.


  I snorted. Rebecca shot me an annoyed glare. “What? I can be intimidating. It is much harder to approach me.” She sniffed self-importantly.

  I choked down a laugh that was bubbling. “Are you sure you even want Daston. Maybe you just want him because he ignored you.”

  She scowled at me. “Ignoring is not the same as rejecting. He never said no.’

  “He also did not say yes.” I mumbled.

  “What?’ She snapped.

  “Nothing.” I said sweetly. “What do you like about Daston?” I said suddenly. “I mean aside from his good looks.”

  She bit her lower lip. “What do you mean besides his good looks? What better thing is there?” She smiled, her eyes got that glazed over look she gets when she’s lost in a day dream. It used to freak the hell out of me when she did it while driving.

  “Fair enough, I guess. I definitely would not mind riding that man.”

  Rebecca coughed loudly, choking on some spit. “Damn sister. I did not know you had it in you.” Her voice took on a dreamy quality. “What do you think his lips feel like; you think it’s smooth and delicious or hard and rough.”

  I really did not want to think about that, but as much as I did not trust him, I was still a girl who was very much attracted to a hot guy. I did not want to get hot and bothered. Try as I may, it was too late.

  “Both, it is definitely both.” I grinned. Rebecca and I shared a quick glance, both our minds were deep in the gutter.

  Rebecca turned into the driveway and turned off the car. Rebecca winked at me as she opened the car door, a wicked grin on her face, I could see the dirty thoughts lurking in her mind. They were the same thoughts that were running through mine. I shook my head at her and opened my car door. I followed her inside are yellow house and plopped down on one of my mother’s lime green cushion. The cushion alone would have been a monstrosity but my mother—a miracle worker—made it go well with the yellow patterned wall and dark green couches.