Ignoring him, I return my gaze back down to my breakfast.
Feeling their gaze on me, I tune them out.
Knots twist in my stomach at the thought of being alone with him.
Truth is, deep down, very, very deep down, I feel something for him.
Whether that would be the bond that I unwillingly chained us to, or the friendship that I see brewing if I continue to let him into my heart.
He continues to surprise me, and the more I'm kept on my toes, the more my barriers continue to break. I wish I could truly get to know him like a normal human being, but the truth is I will never be normal.
I will never be the girl that has a fairy tale life and fairy tale ending.
My life will end in tragedy, and soon he will see that I am not his nor will I ever be. He will find someone else and be happy, while I will fall into the deep pits of despair.
"Oh, by the way, your aunt's funeral is set to take place this weekend."
Slumping my shoulders at the mention of my aunt she continues, "I know this is very hard for you, but we will be there for you every step of the way."
She places a hand on my shoulder in an effort to comfort me.
Suddenly losing my appetite I ask, "May I be excused?"
A look of concern passes through her eyes as she nods for me to go. I move my chair back and make my way to the front door.
Walking past their vehicles in frustration, I make my way towards the forest.
Once I get there, I fasten my pace to a run as I dodge tree limbs, and animals. Tears begin flowing down my face as I continue to drown myself in sorrow. With what feels like hours later, I slow my pace to a stop to catch my breath.
Trying to gauge my surroundings, I finally see the clearing for the small yellow two story house that I once called home.
With every step my heartbeat grows faster and faster. My adrenaline is pumping at full speed when I make it to the door.
Pulling my key from my pocket I slowly put it in the lock and open the door.
When I step inside the dark house, I go to reach for the light when I am suddenly taken from behind.
Chapter Twelve
I struggle against their hold, and I elbow them in the stomach trying to get away. I run for the stairs when I am dragged down and back into their arms.
"Dammit Hartley, stop!" My struggles instantly come to a halt at the sound of his voice.
"If I let you go, do you promise not to kick me in the balls?" Nodding my head, he releases me from his strong grasp.
Getting up, I turn around and glare at him, "What the hell are you doing here?" I stalked up to him and began pounding on his chest. "What the hell is wrong with you? You bastard! You scared the shit out of me!"
"Look just calm down..."
"Calm down? You want me to calm down!" My eyes harden at his attempt to calm me down.
"Hartley, relax. I'm sorry I scared you. I was just coming to see if you were okay." He puts his hands up defensively, as if he is afraid I will hit him again.
Rolling my eyes, I turn away from him taking a deep breath. "Whatever, let's just get this over with."
I started up the stairs with him trailing behind. When I make it to my room, I feel the intensity of his stare. I stop for a minute, and turn around only to notice him staring at my backside.
I raise an eyebrow at him. "See something you like?"
He raises his gaze to mine as he takes a step closer to me. My breathing becomes erratic with every step that he takes. Grabbing my wrist with his hand in a firm hold, he pulls me until I am flush against his chest.
Removing his hand from my wrist, he brings both of his arms around me until there is no space left between us. With my eyes locked on his icy blue ones, my arms unwillingly make it to the back of his neck as my fingers thread into his soft silky hair.
As his face descends towards mine, I close my eyes focusing on my breathing and not on how dangerously close our mouths are. I feel his soft supple lips graze my earlobe as he whispers in a very deep seductive voice, "yes".
Opening my eyes, I pull away from him as his heated gaze continues to look at me with a burning passion.
Before I could take another breath, his irresistible mouth takes possession of mine. All thoughts vanished at the feel of his luscious lips on mine. This kiss was different from all of the other ones; it was raw, magical and intense. My body quivered, an audible moan of pleasure escaped my lips. I can feel our bond intensify as our kiss continues to deepen.
As he pulls away from me, I shake my head to clear the daze of that heated and passionate kiss.
Looking at him once more, I see for the very first time, a breathtaking smile has taken over his face. For the whole time I've known him, he has never once given me that beautiful smile that I always wish I could see.
Turning back around, I take a deep breath and open the door.
As I walk into the room, I come to a halt when I see a wall full of pictures on the right side of my bed. I slowly walk towards them, as my heart begins beating at a fast pace.
There are pictures of my parents by themselves looking at each other with nothing more than true love in their eyes. Some of the pictures are of us all together looking like a family in a cereal t.v. commercial, and others are of Ryan, Ashley and I goofing off.
Then my eyes rake over to the last picture on my wall. The one of my aunt and I at Disneyland, when I was ten. She begged my parents persistently, to let her take me there so she could spend some quality time with her niece. It took them a while to say yes, but she was eventually able to convince them because they wanted their "alone time".
I was so excited when they said yes, because I was able to spend some quality time with my aunt. Something wet falls out of the corner of my eye, when I think about how happy my family used to be. It was always just the four of us. I'll never forget the story my parents told me about how they met and how I was born.
My mother came from a small Italian family that barely held a dime to their name. She got a job at a restaurant when she was sixteen so she could help her family put food on the table.
After years of struggling, they were able to get back on their feet. Her parents sent her to school so she could finally start living out her dream of becoming a chef. Once she graduated, she got an offer from a small Italian restaurant to become the head chef. That restaurant is where she met my father.
When my dad went on an important business trip, he found this place tucked away in a small town of five thousand people. He liked the food so much that he wanted to give his compliments to the chef. Well, when they met the rest was history, and their love story was like a fairy-tale.
They instantly fell in love and got married, bought a house, and my father bought my mother her own restaurant.
My parents were extremely successful in the working world and loved their lives, until one day they found out they were having a beautiful baby girl. My mom and dad were ecstatic when they found out, and immediately started prepping a baby room. It was that night when everything changed.
My mother got hit by a drunk driver on her way back from the restaurant. A driver of a red pickup truck passed through the red light, hitting my mom's car on the driver's side. Thankfully she was fine, but the baby she was carrying went comatose.
That's when they decided they needed to do a C-section and remove the baby immediately, before it could do anymore harm to her body. After long hours of waiting in the hospital waiting room, the doctor finally came to see my father. The doctor told him the surgery was successful, but the baby was not doing so well, and would have to be kept in the NICU for observation.
After months of waiting, I finally woke up. I was called the "miracle baby" because somehow I survived when my body should have just given up fighting. I was born with dark silver eyes, black hair, and a long scar that goes down the back of my neck. When they tried to cut me out, I was facing down instead of up. So they ended up cutting bits of flesh with a scalpel. That is how
I, and my scar came to be.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my skin. Trace instantly pulled his hand away taking a few steps back. "Sorry, you've been zoning out for ten minutes."
"I was just thinking about how my parents met and how I was born. Do you..." I hesitate, afraid of the answer.
"Do I what?"
"Do you know the real reason why I can only remember some parts of my life but not the others? You said you took away some of my memories of you and your family, but why do I have a hard time remembering other memories? It's like I have the important ones, but the rest have just vanished." Sighing, I go over to my black canopy bed and take a seat.
He comes over and sits down next to me. I'm not sure why, but it's moments like these that I feel as if he's my long lost best friend that had finally found me. I'm more relaxed in this moment than I ever have been with him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see him raise his hand to my back as if a way to comfort me, then he decides against it and puts it back in his lap. "I'm not sure any of us know why you lost your memories. I think it might have to do with the trauma of what happened that night with your parents, and another part of it could be from me as well."
I don't think I have ever seen him so conflicted in all of the time I've known him, it's as if he's fighting his inner demons. It seems like part of him wants to tell me, but the other part doesn't.
"Why won't you tell me what you are?" I have so many questions running through my mind at once, and I've been waiting to be alone with him hoping that would make him tell me.
Shaking his head in denial, he gets up from the bed and goes over towards the pictures on my wall. "I can't tell you yet. It's for your safety and mine. Just like you can't reveal your true form, I can't reveal mine either. It's my only way of protecting you, and I have to keep it hidden."
"How do you know so much about me, when I know nothing about you?" He turns around and raises his gaze back to mine.
"I can't tell you, Hart. I just...I just can't. I need you to respect that, please. You'll know when the time is right, trust me, but right now it's for your safety."
"But..." His eyes suddenly lose that soft touch and turn into a hardened stare.
"Just drop it Dammit!" I flinched away from the sound of his harsh voice.
"Hartley Daniels! If you don't get your ass down here this instant, I will come up there and drag you down here by your pretty black hair!" A booming voice comes from downstairs and I instantly recognize it as Ashley's.
I got up and ran down the stairs when I heard her call up to me. I was never so happy in my life to see her. I ran up to her throwing my arms around her neck. Tears started streaming down my cheeks at the thought of being around someone I know and trust.
"What's going on girl? I tried calling you, messaging you and you never answered back. What happened? Why are you soaking my shirt with your tears?"
Sighing, I pull away from her and look into her sparkly green eyes. Her eyes hold confusion and wonder when they suddenly travel towards the stairs. She looks back at my tear stained face, and walks around me and up to Trace.
"You son of a bitch! If you hurt my best friend I will personally serve your head on a platter!"
Trace crosses his arms, and raises an amused eyebrow. "Serve my head on a platter huh?" He chuckles at her attempt to be intimidating.
"Now you've gone and done it, way to piss off the beast, Ash." I gasp and look towards my other best friend who has a huge smile on his face.
I run over towards him, wrapping my arms and legs around him. "I'm so happy you're here!"
"Um, Hart? As much as I love you, I really don't want to be murdered right here in your aunt's living room," he whispers in my ear, and I pull away from him holding nothing but pure confusion in my eyes.
He looks at me and then nods to behind me. Turning my head back to look at Trace and Ashley, I see that the teasing look is completely wiped from his face as he holds nothing but pure anger in his gaze.
Rolling my eyes at his possessive stance, I drop my legs and back away from Ryan.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked fixing my wrinkled clothes.
"Hmmm, well let's see shall we? Since you never showed up to school, and I haven't heard from you in twenty four hours. I figured my best friend is either dead or out of her damn mind for not calling me!" Ashley's face turns red from blowing up on me.
Raising my hands in defense I say, "I'm sorry okay? A lot has happened since then."
Hearing a buzzing sound coming from someone's pocket, I see Trace take it out, leave the room and go to answer it.
Ashley comes back over to me, crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. "And what exactly is Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome doing in your house, much less your room?"
I raise my hand to the back of my neck, and begin to tell them.
"Well, here's the thing..."
Chapter Thirteen
Trace
As I step outside, I put the phone to my ear. "Yeah?"
"Trace, he's been watching her. You need to bring her home as soon as possible."
"Fuck! Her friends are here, what the hell am I supposed to tell them?" I groan at the thought of making up some random story.
"Mom said to bring them here. She said we need to have a deep discussion about everything that's going on. Oh, and dad said he wants to train Hartley immediately."
"Can't he give her a few days to I don't know mourn the loss of a loved one?" I roll my eyes, our dad can be so unrealistic at times.
"Quit being a little bitch. It's not my decision and just because you’re older does not mean that I still can't kick your ass. So just shut up, grab your girl and get the hell over here!" He yells heavily into the phone.
"Fine!" I end the call and shove the phone back into my pocket.
I swear Cole can be such a pain in the ass. I walk over to the back door and stop when I see Ryan and Ashley consoling their friend.
This moment paints a clear picture of how much pain Hart is in. Knees on the floor in a slumped position, her shoulders are shaking with pain and sorrow. Ashley clings onto Hartley's neck, while Ryan's arms surround the both of them.
Sighing, I run my fingers through my hair. I hate seeing her in so much pain.
I head into the house and clear my throat, "Sorry to interrupt, but we need to pack up your things and leave."
I can feel all of their eyes on me, but I am only able to focus on the red tear stained face of my counterpart. She wipes her gorgeous silver eyes with her long sleeve shirt and raises her gaze back to mine.
She is absolutely beautiful.
"What's the hurry?" The sweet sexy voice that I love is laced with confusion and pain.
"My mom needs us back at the house." I say getting lost in her gorgeous eyes.
My gaze is instantly broken as Ashley gets up, walks over to me and starts jabbing a finger into my chest. "You are NOT taking my best friend away! She needs her friends and she does not need to be surrounded by people she doesn't know!"
Narrowing my eyes at her, I grab her hand, push it away from my chest and grit out through clenched teeth, "You need to relax. You and Ryan are coming with us to my house."
Her eyes widen in shock of how deathly low my voice sounds. I look into her green eyes telling her to drop it and shut up. Shaking her head in understanding, she takes several steps away from me and goes back over to the comfort of her friends.
"Come on Ash, help me pack up my stuff and we'll leave Ryan down here with Mr. Pissy pants." My hardened eyes immediately switch to Hartley's. She rolls her eyes, takes Ashley's hand and drags her up the stairs.
Ryan walks over to me and puts an unwanted hand on my shoulder. "Dude, you need to chill."
With darkened eyes I look at his hand and back at him. Once he finally gets the hint, he lifts it as if he was just burned.
"Are they always this irritating?" Sighing, I grab the back of my neck and close my eyes taking a deep breath.
/> "Unfortunately that's how it goes when your best friends with two chicks." He takes a few steps back, crosses his arms over his chest and tries his best to give me an intimidating glare, "So are you going to tell me why you and your family are so eager to accept Hartley into your home? I mean if anyone should be taking her in it's us. Ash and I are the only family she has left, and I won't have her getting hurt by some random people she just met."
"Look, I can't tell you everything yet, just know that my family would never do anything to harm her." I say getting more irritated by the second.
"Okay, what about you?" His gaze continues to harden.
A surge of anger hits me at his blatant question. "I would die before I let anything else happen to her." I say through clenched teeth.
Nodding his head he says, "Fair enough."
I sighed heavily and shook my head. This will be so much easier when they know everything, it will be easier when she knows everything.
I think back to when I kissed her in the hallway. With my hands roaming that tight toned body of hers, as her sweet juicy lips collided with mine. I had kissed her like my life depended on it, as if I were about to take my last breath.
Her touch makes my skin crawl with goosebumps. Her voice is so seductive that it can bend any man to her will. She demands attention with her tough exterior. She is one tough little firecracker, but I wouldn't have it any other way. She is mine, always has and always will be.
The demon side demands I fully claim what is rightfully mine. While the angel side begs me to wait until she is fully developed. I fell in love with her years ago, and now that she is permanently back in my life, I won't let her slip through my fingers again.
Vyrix stole everything that was rightfully mine, and soon I will have my revenge. I guess he wasn't prepared for the dark haired vixen to willingly tie her soul to mine, and because of this I have an advantage over him.
Soon I will be free of these chains that bind me to him.
Good vs Evil.
A fight to the Death.
He will lose.
We will win.
Chapter Fourteen
Breaking The Darkness (The Light and Dark Trilogy Book 1) Page 5