Oh, goddess.
That was the
thought that ran through her head as she stood there, her mouth hanging open in
shock.
The second was
that she finally knew what it was like to be on the opposite side, the one who
could stare in horror at what stood before her instead of being stared at.
Today, no one laughed and pointed. The snide whispers and cacophony of laughter
had been replaced by longing stares and jealous frowns. Dare, it seemed, was getting the opposite
reaction.
It didn’t help
that he was scowling. The emotion stretched across his face like a Third Reich
banner during World War II, dark and ominous.
She could see the glower rippling into an increasingly deepening
confusion. His uncertainty crinkled the corners of his eyes and pursed the
uneven curve of his mouth. And under all of that -- even more prominent than
his emotions -- lay the horror of his face.
He wasn’t ugly
like Tierney had been ugly. His features weren’t disproportionate; they were
misshapen. As Tierney examined his face in growing shock, she absently noted
that human cheekbones *should* *not* *make* the grotesque swelling shape his
formed. His nose -- and --
She couldn’t even
find words to describe what she saw, especially since the more his scowl
deepened, the worse his appearance got. It was like a bad rendition of a Van
Gogh painting; it got worse with every stroke of the imitator’s brush. Or, in
this case, every tightening of Dare’s face muscles. But the worse part was,
underneath that specter of ugliness, his beauty shone brightly. She knew she
was the only one who could see it. Would he still be able to see beneath her
outer façade?
Oh, goddess, she
thought again, eyes wide and stunned, and spun away from him. She let her eyes
drift to the ground and hoped her hair hid her features. If she were lucky, he wouldn’t spot her. Oh,
goddess, this couldn’t be her fault, could it?
Yanking open her
locker and hiding her head inside, hoping he wouldn’t recognize the now silky
fall of her hair, she took two deep, calming breaths. Of course, it’s your
fault, you idiot, she chided silently. Why else would Dare look like the newest
circus attraction? A freak chance of nature?
Things like this
didn’t happen on their own.
Breathe, Tierney.
She straightened, peeking out from the edge of her locker to cast her gaze on
his face one more time. Oh, dear goddess, she thought for the fourth time, and
let her head fall against the cool metal. It pressed against her rapidly
heating skin, the chill anchoring her to reality. What have I done?
Her mind
surprised her by throwing an answer at her. Not particularly the one she would
have wanted, but a response nonetheless. And it was so bitter and so vindictive
that it shocked her.
She’d taught him
a lesson.
Was in the
process of teaching him a lesson. Somewhere deep down inside, no matter how
much she tried to tell herself it wasn’t right, she was *glad* he was ugly and
would finally know what it felt like. And as appalled as she was at the
thoughts running through her head, she couldn’t stop them. Maybe he was having
more of an effect on her than she thought. This reaction was more suited to her
soulmate than it was to her.
She took another
deep breath to soothe her screaming nerves, and then concentrated on what she
needed to take to class, any other thoughts wiped from her mind. Still too
stunned to focus on anything other than the neutrality of schoolwork and what
to do about last period calculus. Her class with Dare. She’d find some way to
avoid it if it killed her.
“Tierney?”
She jumped, a
startled yelp escaping her. Dammit, she’d completely forgotten Raquel was
there. She waited for her heartbeat to slow to its normal pace before she
answered. “Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
Raquel’s head popped around the edge of her locker, concern darkening her
violet eyes to a shadowed purple. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine.”
Raquel seemed to
accept that, despite the tremor running through Tierney’s voice and despite the
harsh sound of her breathing. “Are you sure?” She waited for Tierney to nod
before she continued. “Anyway, about that frat thing, I don’t think you need to
worry.”
“What?” Tierney
turned blank hazel eyes in her direction, completely lost on Raquel’s chosen
topic. “What are you talking about?”
“You said--“
Raquel’s mouth opened, then closed, and then opened again. “Hello? Earth to
Tierney? Are you even in the same universe today?”
What a good
question. Tierney wasn’t entirely sure.
Where was her
mind today? Probably off in Neverland with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, and
just as reluctant to return. Too bad Tinkerbell wasn’t here to sprinkle her
with fairy dust so she could fly after it. But she’d never come back if that
happened anyway, and running away was hardly the way to solve problems. After
all, you could only run so long before you had nowhere else to go.
Tierney had
stopped running from things years ago. She had no intention of falling back
into old habits for any reason, even Dare. Now, *avoiding* him was an entirely different
story, something she would happily try to accomplish for as long as possible.
Oh, she knew he’d eventually catch up with her, but later was always better
than sooner.
Like in a few
millennia, maybe.
Smiling weakly at
Raquel, who was still staring, she shrugged apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t
get much sleep last night.”
Raquel was
immediately contrite. “Oh, Tier, are you still having those nightmares?”
“No,” Tierney
answered, shaking her head to highlight her answer. It had been a long time since
she’d had any nightmares or any dreams at all. Months, at least, if not years.
Though she wouldn’t be surprised if they cropped up again in the near future,
featuring Dare as the star monster. “I just couldn’t fall asleep.”
“Too much --
well, you know -- with Julien?” Raquel eyed her slyly.
Tierney paused in
the middle of removing a book, her lips parted slightly in shock. After a
moment of stillness, she turned to look at her friend, her face reflected
suspicion. “Raquel, are you asking me if I got play last night?”
“No,” Raquel
answered quickly, trying her best to look sweet and innocent, yet failing
miserably. After a few seconds, she gave up. “Yes. Did you? I mean, I’m not
asking for details--“
Cutting her off
with a quick flick of her wrist, Tierney smiled and finished extracting her
books. “No, I was sick when I got home
and I passed out in my room, so I didn’t hear the doorbell. I woke up around
midnight and then couldn’t get back to sleep.”
Hopefully, that
explanation would satisfy Raquel, and adhere to the version she’d given Julien
so neither would figure out she was lying to them. She really needed to work on
her honesty skills. On the other hand... Given the choice between breaking the
law and lying, she’d definitely pick the latter. It was better for her health.
Besides, the old
adage “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” seemed to apply here. Really, the
only person who was being hurt was Dare, something that made a small knot of
satisfaction rise in-- No, don’t think about that, Tierney. You don’t want to
sink any closer to his level, or worse, below it. Though those depths might be
so low it would be impossible to even reach them. And then she’d just fall.
Another thing she didn’t want.
“So you didn’t
even see Julien last night?” Raquel sounded disappointed. “I wanted--“
“I know what you
wanted,” Tierney interrupted. She rolled her eyes, debating whether or not to
shut her locker. Better use it as a shield until the bell rang and she could
safely escape. It seemed to be working well as an anti-Dare mechanism. “I’m
telling you, he doesn’t like me!”
“Uh-huh. Did you
bring those papers you said you had?”
Hazel eyes
darkened to a deep, warm brown and narrowed dangerously, Tierney scowled at her
friend, partially for changing the subject and partially for her disbelief. Her
interested in what Tierney was supposed to show her, however, (almost) made up
for her other reaction.
“I brought them,”
she confirmed. “I can show you after school.”
“Great. I’ll see you
after class then.” With that said, Raquel slammed her locker shut and whirled
away, her straight blond hair whipping behind her.
“Hey--“
But Raquel was
already gone. A disbelieving half-laugh escaped Tierney before she could stop
it. Well, that was lovely. Now Tierney was left to fend for herself in the
middle of this crowded hallway, praying that Dare didn’t notice her. Beautiful.
She quickly lost sight of Raquel’s corn silk-colored hair and instead
transferred her gaze to her watch.
Two minutes before
classes started. She could survive that, couldn’t she? Maybe she’d start
walking now, just to be safe. As long as she kept her back to Dare and Byron,
she shouldn’t have any difficulty.
Normally, that
thought incited all kinds of problems, but today... Fate must be pitying her,
because she made it down the hallway without anyone calling her name or
threatening bodily harm, which was what she expected from Dare in the near
future. Or as soon as he figured out what was going on.
As she caught one
last glimpse of his face, for the first time she seriously started to wonder
what the hell had happened. She’d done
the spell right, gotten the blood... Everything had gone smoothly. So why --
what possible explanation could there be -- had Dare even been affected by the
spell? Had she screwed the spell up or had she simply gotten the wrong one?
Definitely an
issue she wanted to investigate when she got home tonight, because she didn’t
understand. Unless there was some direction she’d missed somewhere -- which was
impossible since the spell really hadn’t had that many steps or been that
complicated for all its forbiddances --
she and Dare should be a happy couple right about now. Instead, she raced down
the hall in the opposite direction, doing her best to avoid him.
Maybe, she
thought, inspiration striking as she caught a glimpse of a golden head bobbing
down the hall, she should ask the person who had gotten it for her. Suddenly
feeling slightly better and less guilty about the spell, she quickened her steps.
Jihn might know something she didn’t.
***
“What’s wrong
with everyone today?” Dare growled, glaring viciously at a human girl -- a
*human* -- who sneered at him as she walked by. He was tempted to-- Someone jostled him into the locker before he
could complete that thought.
Byron glanced at
him, surprised, and shrugged affably. He adjusted his grip on his textbooks,
leaning back against his locker door. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.
Seem pretty normal to me.”
Incredulous, Dare
shoved his elbow into the ribs of someone else who decided they had every right
to violate his personal space. The human male went flying across the hall and
slammed into a locker, but Dare was too irritated to care, if he would have
anyway.
For the last two days,
humans had been showing him almost as much deference as they would show to
royalty. Now they were treating him like the scum of the earth. Scornful glares
sent his way, snickering whispers of which he could only catch snippets, and
the physical disrespect he was receiving from all sides were all examples of
how their behavior had changed. If it
got any worse...
No one touched
Byron. In fact, they went out of their way to avoid him, just as they’d done
for the last two days and just as they’d done for Dare in the two days he’d
been at the school. What he couldn’t figure out was why things were suddenly
different. Had he forgotten to wear pants or something equally embarrassing?
Glancing down at
himself, he saw that was clearly not the issue. All clothes present and
accounted for. No horrible stains, nothing taped to his back -- luckily,
because that would have really pissed him off -- and no other possible
explanations for why he’d suddenly lost status.
Byron, not being
treated that way himself and being utterly oblivious to things most normal
people would immediately pick up on, *wouldn’t* notice anything different. That
would be like asking for a tropical heat wave in the middle of January or some
other miracle. Either way, it wasn’t going to happen.
“I’m not in the
mood to deal with them today,” Dare answered coolly, frowning fiercely at the
nearest human, his piercing golden stare pinning the girl to her place. She
stood there, trapped like a butterfly in a spider’s web, but without the physical
constraints. Sneering, he looked away.
Frowning, Byron
said, “Well, don’t see what there is to deal with. You can ignore ‘em, can’t
you? They’re just vermin anyway.”
Dare raised an
eyebrow, then mirrored his position, leaning casually against his locker door,
a ferocious scowl still painted across his face. “Kind of hard to do when
they’re attacking you from all sides.” He made a point of stretching his legs
to block a section of the hallway. The vermin had to either step over them,
step around them, or trip. Personally, he hoped the next vermin fell flat on
his face and took several others with him when he went. Dare always had been a
fan of the domino effect.
Unfortunately,
none of them were stupid enough to get close enough to him to get close to Byron,
which Dare found to be slightly odd. After all, Byron catered to his meals and
seemed to be pretty well integrated into the human society, so why were they
wary of him? He didn’t even look particularly dangerous, just... vague. As if he’d left the second half of his brain
at home or as if he’d forgotten to turn it on.
“Bell’s about to
ring.” Byron interjected, straightening from his slumped position and breaking
into Dare’s thoughts. He glared at the offending history textbook in his hand.
“Managed to get your schedule rearranged yesterday.”
Blinking at this
unprecedented bit of information, Dare asked, “Why?”
Byron shrugged.
“D’you have a reason why I shouldn’t have?”
“No.”
“Thought it’d
make things more interesting,” Byron admitted. He fingered the spine of his
history book thoughtfully. “Don’t have any other Nightworlders in my classes. I
get sick of being around vermin all the time.”
What the hell?
Dare stood from his slumped position at his locker. “Aren’t you the one who’s
always telling me to be nice to them?”
“Doesn’t pay to
anger your food,” Byron acknowledged as the bell rang. “Get your history book.
That’s our first class.”
Instead of
pursuing the subject, Dare turned to his locker and found his history book in silence.
The kind of silence that hung heavy in the air and spoke louder than words. If
it had been anyone but Byron, he or she would have been demanding to know what
the look on Dare’s face meant. They would have noticed the unspoken remarks --
which Dare would readily admit were scathing -- and wondered what was left
unsaid.
But apparently,
Byron was deaf.
No surprise
there. With a sigh, he shut his locker. “What room is that in again?”
Byron seemed to
be at a loss. “Don’t know. It’s down the hall.”
Another human
slammed into him from behind. He could tell she was human because she *smelled*
wrong. Not like someone from the Nightworld at all, but that sweet, musky smell
-- the smell of prey. Any other time he might have turned to her and smiled, a
predatory smile with the sharp edges of his razor teeth showing beneath his
smug smile. Today he was more likely to
rip off her head.
Disrespect from
humans did not bring out his softer side. His jaw clenched. Whirling until he
faced the offender, he met her eyes coldly. She wore an icy glare, her nose
wrinkling in distaste as she saw his face, and tapped her foot impatiently. His
expression had no evident effect other than deepening her disgust.
“You’re in my
way,” she snapped. Her head titled arrogantly to the side in a gesture Dare
knew all too well, having used it himself more often than not, usually to
express his superiority. “Move.”
Byron looked
momentarily shocked. “Now, wait a minute--“
The revulsion
melted from her face, turning instead into a simpering smile. She even
fluttered her eyelashes. “Byron, I
didn’t see you!”
“Why don’t you
pretend like you still don’t and run along?” Dare suggested nastily, before
Byron could start flirting with another potential food source. “It would be our
pleasure.”
Her eyes, when
they swept over him, were positively scathing. She turned her attention back to
Byron, who, in typical inattentive fashion, was already focused on something
else. The hopeful expression faded from her face, but she reached out to lay
her hand on his arm. Surprised, his eyes snapped to her face. “I’ll see you in
English?”
He nodded vaguely
at her. “Right. English.”
She smiled
sweetly at him, glared at Dare, and then continued down the hall. As she left,
Dare heard her mutter something that any human would have missed. But he wasn’t
human and he heard her clearly. For a moment, he thought his hearing was off,
but he also knew better.
Frowning, he
stared after her, wondering what that comment could possibly have meant. Maybe
he should find out. Glancing around, he noticed that the hall was mostly
cleared now, only one or two stragglers still lurking at their lockers or
shuffling past classrooms. The bell was going to ring any minute.
“Do you have a copy
of my schedule?” he demanded suddenly, turning his attention to Byron.
Byron blinked.
“D’you need one?”
“It would be
helpful.”
Briefly
disconcerted, Byron turned back to his locker and tugged open the door, which
seemed to be wedged in place by the fall of papers spilling from the bottom
shelf. Dare eyed the mess with concern. As he wondered how long this was going
to take, the late bell rang.
The vampire
didn’t show concern about potential tardiness, or even glance up. He idly
shifted through a pile of papers on top of a book Dare would bet had never been
opened. “Know it’s here. I just had it this morning.”
“Right there,”
Dare said dryly, pointing at the paper that had just fallen to the floor. He
bent down to pick it up and traced a finger down the list of classes.
History... Room 113. He started to hand it to Byron, then thought better of it
and tucked it into the front of his history book. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Where are you
going?”
“Locker room,”
Dare answered, turning away. He left Byron standing in the hallway. Quickly
striding down the hall, his steps predatory and dangerous, he found the gym --
and thus the locker rooms -- based solely on instinct instead of memory.
He shoved his way
through the door. Hopefully none of those nasty vermin boys would be in here to
bother him, because he really didn’t think he would respond well to their
friendly overtures at this point. The smell of humans was so strong here. That
smell appealed to Dare’s anger, urging him to give into his instincts and treat
them like the buffet they were. If only it weren’t for those damned laws.
Mirrors ran all
along the upper part of the back wall, something Dare couldn’t quite fathom.
Why so many mirrors in a guys’ locker room? Girls, he could understand. After all,
each one of them had to find a space so they could apply their makeup and fix
their hair and -- well, he didn’t really know what else girls did, though the
answer was probably interesting.
What was it that
girl had said? Oh, yes. It had been a suggestion, and not a nice one at that.
The thought of vermin insulting him made blood rush to his head. /Why don’t you
run along so we don’t have to look at you/.
That had been the
gist of it, which a few choice insults and a few other suggestions as well. None
of them pleasant. Grimacing, he stalked closer to the mirror, the reflection
staring back at him both alien and unpleasant. This had to be wrong. But...
Mirrors couldn’t
lie, could they?
This one *had* to
be lying. The face staring back at him wasn’t his, wasn’t the one he’d known
for eighteen years of his life. Hell, he’d never seen an image this grotesque
in a horror film. So why was it staring back at him?
Appalled, he
glared at the offending visage, but, out of morbid curiosity, perhaps, he still
moved closer. It -- no, he -- was *deformed*. Rather like the hunchback of
Notre Dame, minus the hunchback. Okay, maybe that wasn’t a good analogy. He
looked like--
Words suddenly
defied him. Every word but one.
Hideous.
The exact word he
had used to describe Tierney yesterday... Wait a minute. His mouth pursed into
a thin, narrow line as realization washed over him. Tierney. She had to be
behind this. No one else had a reason to do anything like this to him. That
aside, no one else he knew -- except on the enclave -- was powerful enough.
It had to be her.
Oh, wait until he
got his hands on her. That nasty little half-breed was in for the shock of her
life if she thought she was going to get away with this. What was it supposed
to accomplish? Earn his undying love for teaching him humility? Hardly. She’d
have been better off making herself beautiful instead. Then he might have given
her a shot.
But this... This
was something else entirely. Blinding rage rushed through him, even as he tried
to shove it back under control. She’d change this back if it killed both of
them. That thought calmed him and the anger clouding his vision faded to a dull
haze. If she could cast the spell, she could uncast it, or find one that would
fix it.
Satisfied with
his solution, he turned away from the mirror. Now that he was excessively late,
perhaps it was time to go to class. But as he turned away, he couldn’t help
remembering a silly superstition that had persisted both on the enclave and in
human history.
According to the
soulmate principle, Tierney was his mirror. She was his perfect match, or some
other random bullshit like that. A reflection of what he was. Of what they
could be together. And still that superstition floated through his mind,
hammering at his consciousness like a resonating gong. He couldn’t help
remembering...
Mirrors steal
your soul.
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