by Sky Winters
“Savannah?” Xander called. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Savannah replied. “I just…got a little light headed.”
She had experienced visions like that before, glimpses that weren’t really visions at all, more like flashes of images that she could barely hold on to. Sometimes she didn’t even understand them herself, they were so fast and so bright and so filled with hidden meaning.
“Do you need help?” Xander asked.
“No,” Savannah answered quickly. “I’m all right.”
They walked through a forest that seemed to grow successively higher as they went. Savannah could feel the air thinning as they moved. It was not something anyone else might sense, but she’d had a lifetime of distinguishing even the smallest shifts in atmospheres.
As they climbed higher, Savannah began to detect new scents. There was oak, cinnamon, and the perfumes that came from the wild flowers growing on the hilltops. There were also the many-toned layers coming from a variety of animal scents. Savannah wrinkled her nose as she came across a smell completely foreign to her. It was the scent she had noticed from her room on her first day in town.
“Something the matter?” Xander asked.
“No,” Savannah said quickly. “Are there a lot of animals in these woods?”
“Yes,” Xander said shortly.
“Do you have deer?”
Xander nodded. “Deer and elk, both.”
“What about wolves?” Savannah asked.
She noticed he glanced at her before he spoke, but she didn’t know why. “There are rumors of a small wolf population.” Xander nodded. “But no one has spotted a wolf in years.”
“You think they’re just rumors?” Savannah asked.
“People like a good story.” Xander smiled. “And they feed into the old legends, so it’s convenient.”
“Old legends?” Savannah asked with interest.
“This town is rife with them,” Xander said with a wave of his hand. “Apparently the founder of this town was a witch who sold spells and curses for money. There are legends of vampires hiding in these very forests, and young girls who mated with wolves in order to breed a stronger, more powerful generation.”
Savannah raised her eyebrows. “That sounds…”
“Insane?” Xander offered.
“I was going to say fascinating.”
“That’s one word for it,” Xander said with a shrug. “If you ask me, we should forget the legends and focus on the present.”
As he said the words he walked through a massive clearing, surrounded by trees. In its center was a clear blue lake that reflected the silver clouds hanging over them. Savannah could only stare, amazed at how perfect everything looked.
“This is…amazing,” she said. “Do people know about this place?”
“If they did it would be crawling with them,” Xander said.
Savannah moved closer toward the water, and this time it was Xander who had to keep up with her. She felt as though her senses had come alive, surrounded by all the raw, wild nature. So many of her senses were hit with information that she could barely separate them. Beside her, Xander’s aura grew brighter as though the environment was feeding into him, giving him more energy and more strength.
“How long have you known about this place?” Savannah asked.
“As long as I could remember,” Xander replied. “My mother used to bring me here when I was a boy.”
Savannah sensed sadness waft from him at the mention of his mother, and she instinctively knew she'd died some time ago. She glanced from Xander to the immense pool of silver-blue water, so clear she could see little fish swimming in it, just beneath the surface. When she bent over, she saw her reflection, as though she were staring into a mirror.
Her hair had been tossed about by the unruly wind, but she thought her eyes looked brighter, more alive than they ever had before. They were certainly bluer than she had ever seen them. A moment later, Xander’s reflection appeared next to hers, and it was impossible to take her eyes from it. Savannah felt like a pale shadow next to his unadulterated beauty.
“Are you ready?” Xander asked as he came to stand beside her.
Savannah looked up at him in surprise. “Ready for what?”
“A swim?” he asked as though it was obvious. “It would be a shame not to make use of this big, lonely lake.”
Savannah turned to Xander in disbelief. “Are you serious?”
Xander nodded. “Of course.”
“I can’t,” Savannah said, and she backed away from the water.
“Why?” Xander demanded.
“Because…well, because I don’t have a swimsuit with me,” Savannah said, feeling as if she’d won the upper hand.
Xander raised his eyebrows. “You’re wearing underwear, aren’t you?” he said simply. “That’ll work just as well.”
Savannah stared at him for a moment. “You are serious.”
Xander nodded as he stared her down, challengingly. “I am. If you really don’t want to get in I won’t force you,” he continued calmly. “But if you do, then don’t let the little things stop you. Stop worrying about the cold, your doubt, or your parents. Just do what you want.”
It sounded so simple when he said it like that, Savannah was forced to sit back and consider what it was she really wanted.
“Savannah,” Xander’s voice was gentle. “What do you want?”
Savannah took a deep breath. She was tumbleweed, that’s what she had always been. She went wherever her parents decided they would go. Decisions were so often left up to other people that Savannah rarely got a word in edgewise. Faced with Xander’s searching grey eyes and the picturesque little haven she found herself in, Savannah was forced to come to terms with the fact that she no longer wanted to be tumbleweed.
She wanted to be in charge of her own life. She wanted to make her own decisions. If they ended up being mistakes, then that was her right.
Savannah looked up at Xander with conviction. “I want to swim.”
Chapter Five
Xander smiled. “Go on then,” he said, and Savannah sensed the dare in his tone.
She took a deep, steadying breath and then she pulled her shirt off, unzipped her jeans, and pulled those off, too. She didn’t turn back or glance at Xander because she didn’t want her courage to give way when she was almost there. She faced the clear, blue water in front of her, and without allowing herself to hesitate for even a moment, jumped into the lake.
Instantly, the icy water hit her from all sides, and cold seeped into her body. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned to face Xander. “It’s cold,” she said, her teeth chattering as she spoke.
“Give it a minute.” Xander smiled.
“Are you coming in?” Savannah asked. “Or are you scared?”
He laughed--the sound was like a peal of brass bells. For the first time in years, Savannah was actually grateful for her hearing aid, as she wouldn't have wanted to miss out on that sound. She watched as Xander peeled off his shirt. Her breath caught as she stared at him.
A number of thin scars that stretched across his torso stood in marked contrast to the pale smoothness of his skin. When he turned, Savannah saw a large tattoo on his back, just under his neck. It was the image of a wolf howling at the moon, framed by several larger and more violent-looking scars, most of which looked very new. When Xander turned, he noticed her preoccupation.
Without a word, he pushed off his pants until he was standing in nothing but dark boxers. He came to the edge of the lake and stared down at Savannah, his grey eyes burning. “Do you like my tattoo?” he asked casually, as though it was completely inconsequential.
“It’s beautiful,” Savannah admitted honestly. “But I was focused more on the scars.”
Xander smiled. “I fall down a lot.”
Savannah glared at him. “That’s not funny.”
Xander shrugged. “I thought so.”
Without another word, he j
umped into the lake beside her until he was completely submerged except for his head and shoulders. Droplets of water hung off his dark hair, making it look like he was wearing a crown of diamonds on his head. His eyes looked like silver amethysts dancing under the combined light of the sun reflecting against the water.
Savannah felt her pulse quicken, but she kept the distance that lay between them. “I came up here with you,” she reminded him. “I jumped into a freezing cold lake with you. The least you can do is tell me where you got those scars.”
Xander’s eyes grew serious, and he looked carefully at Savannah. “Haven’t you ever had a secret?” he asked.
“Not really,” Savannah said. “And even if I did, I’ve never had friends to share it with.”
Xander eyes warmed as she spoke, as though he appreciated her honesty. Savannah was too cold and too curious to be shy about the fact that she had little experience with friends, and even less experience with boys like Xander.
“I have a secret,” Xander said.
Savannah nodded. “I know.” She had sensed it from the moment she had seen him. The secret was in his strange and bright aura, and in those haunting grey eyes that said so little and so much all at the same time.
“Can you guess?” Xander asked.
“I don’t want to.”
“The reason I have these scars…is because of my father,” Xander said.
Savannah looked at him with wide eyes. “What?”
“He had a fiery temper,” Xander continued, “and I was usually the thing he took it out on.”
“You’re not a thing,” Savannah said in disbelief.
“He didn’t see it the same way,” Xander replied.
He swam closer toward her. Savannah knew that if she reached out a fraction she'd be able to touch him. She kept her hands wrapped around her body for warmth as the cold didn’t seem like it was going to lessen any time soon.
“You’re still cold,” Xander said. He reached out, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her to him, engulfing her with his entire body. Savannah felt an instantaneous heat hit her.
“How are you not cold?” Savannah asked.
“I’m used to it,” Xander replied.
“And the tattoo?” Savannah asked, trying to distract herself from how close his lips were to hers. “What does it symbolize?”
“My freedom,” Xander replied, “and my independence.”
“From what?”
“Everything that would threaten to keep me down or hold me back,” he answered.
“Does it have something to do with your father?” Savannah asked cautiously.
Xander nodded. “It does, but it’s so much more than that.”
It was so easy to be with him. Savannah realized this was the first time since her days in Africa she'd felt anything close too normal. There was a moment there when she had actually forgotten about her disability, and she was no longer the new, deaf girl who had just moved into town, she was just a girl spending time with a boy.
“Do you have any tattoos?” Xander asked.
Savannah laughed. “Me?”
“There’s no one else here.”
“I’m not the type of girl who gets tattoos,” Savannah replied, coloring slightly.
“What type is that?” Xander asked, raising his eyebrows.
“The safe type,” Savannah said, feeling self-conscious and very aware of how close their bodies were, pressed together in the water. “You know the kind: the boring type, the type who always follows the rules and does what she’s told."
Xander nodded. “Is that what you are?” he asked. “Or is that what you feel you have to be?”
“I…don’t know,” Savannah said honestly.
“Maybe you should figure it out,” Xander said, and there was an almost commanding note in his tone. “Because that’s certainly not what I see.”
“What do you see?” Savannah asked.
“I see a girl who feels trapped,” Xander said. “I see a girl who wants to break free and live her own life.”
Savannah looked at Xander carefully, trying to figure out how he had understood all this about her when she had barely begun to understand anything about him. “I'd like to believe that,” Savannah said. “But I’m not as brave as you might think.”
“You’re here, aren’t you?” he said. “You’re here with me.”
“I…yes.”
“So maybe you’re not as safe and boring as you think you are,” Xander suggested.
“Are you insinuating that you’re not a safe choice, then?” Savannah asked.
Xander smiled. “That’s up to you to decide.”
Savannah found herself getting lost in those eyes. She hadn’t been this close up against him before, and she was starting to realize his eyes held more than just grey. There were blues and greens, browns and reds; it was as though the colors of the forest were reflected in those cool, pearly eyes.
“I think you're dangerous,” Savannah said, mostly to herself. “Very dangerous.”
A slow smile spread across Xander’s face and Savannah thought she saw a flash of something streak across Xander’s eyes, making them seem almost beast-like. “Good,” he said, and then he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.
Savannah felt instant heat spread through her body, yet it wasn’t an unpleasant heat. Rather, it was vibrant, passionate, and filled with unmistakable desire. Savannah felt her body melt into the hard stone of his, and for the first time since she'd met him, she felt truly scared.
His lips were gentle on hers at first, but then grew steadily more urgent. Savannah knew she should pull away, stop him before this went too far, but what she knew and what she wanted were two completely separate things. His arms were strong around her body and his heat radiated across her skin making her feel unbelievably warm in the cold lake water.
She sensed his aura, spitting and hissing like a feral animal, she tasted it in Xander’s lips, she felt it in his arms, smelled it on him. When he finally drew away from her, Savannah was breathless and light headed, her thoughts reeling with a thousand different theories, none of which made any sense to her.
Her eyes saw flashes of light that contained short images that seemed to tell a story, but she could not slow them down enough to understand or decipher them. She stared into Xander’s eyes and they were completely unfathomable.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” Savannah replied.
“You look a little…shaky,” he said slowly, as though he was trying to figure her out, too. That, at least, gave Savannah some measure of comfort. If he remained a mystery to her, then she hoped she would be as difficult to decipher.
“Come on,” Xander said as he led her from the pool onto the shady bank underneath a massive tree. The shade provided some measure of coverage, but it was still cold.
“Sit down,” Xander directed.
The moment Savannah sat down, Xander slipped into place behind her, and wrapped his arms around her like a human blanket. Again, Savannah felt that tickling sense of warmth that was becoming familiar to her. It was a heat that seemed to radiate on her skin and inside her as well.
“We’ll be dry soon,” Xander assured her. “Then I can take you home.”
Savannah didn’t say anything. She didn’t mind sitting there a little longer. If she were being honest, she wouldn’t have minded spending the next few hours sitting beneath that tree with Xander’s arms wrapped around her, and her own senses rose to match the elated euphoria that surrounded her. She felt strangely exhilarated, as though she had jumped off a mountain and learnt she could fly.
“This place is perfect,” Savannah whispered. “People hike in this town, don’t they?”
Xander nodded. “They do.”
“Then how come no one has discovered this place apart from you?”
“There are marked hiking trails in the town,” Xander explained. “Hikers follow the trails; they don’t travel off course.”
“Never?”
“It’s happened once or twice,” Xander admitted. “But it’s a little dangerous to veer off the designated trail.”
“Why?”
“Because of the wolves.”
Savannah craned her neck back to glance at Xander. “I thought you said there were no wolves?”
“I said they hadn’t been seen in years,” Xander replied. “That doesn’t mean they’re not still around.”
Savannah felt a pinprick of fear in her gut. “Then should we be here at all?” she asked.
“Probably not,” Xander replied.
Savannah supressed a smile. “You’re not one for following the rules, are you?”
Xander was looking out into the lake. He seemed far away, immersed in thought. “You’d be surprised,” he said vaguely.
“What does that mean?” Savannah asked.
“It means things are more complicated in this town than you would believe,” Xander replied. He got up, then pulled Savannah up to her feet. “We should get going. It’ll be dark soon, and we shouldn’t still be in the woods.”
“Okay,” Savannah said. She stood and started to put on her clothes. She hated the thought of leaving the clearing, but she sensed the shift in Xander’s temperament. He was a little quieter, a little more watchful. There was no indication of this in his manner, but Savannah sensed it from his aura. She wanted to ask him about it, but knew he'd only avoid the question.
They walked down the trail back to where Xander had left his motorcycle, and then took her home. It was almost dark when they reached the house, but the lights were all on, so Savannah knew both of her parents were home. She got off the bike and passed the spare helmet back to Xander.
“Thank you,” she said, “for taking me to the clearing today.”
His expression was calm and serious, but he nodded in response. “I can pick you up tomorrow for school,” he said.
“Okay,” Savannah said, without hesitation.
He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. Again that familiar sense of heat rushed through her body in a slow burn.
“Goodnight, Savannah,” he said, before he turned his bike around and disappeared in a fog of smoke and dust. Savannah watched until he disappeared from sight. She still didn't understand him. For the first time, her senses seemed to be either blocked or confused.