by KB Benson
“Iris,” I say again, holding her in my arms.
“Jace,” Laney shouts from downstairs. “Jace!”
Reluctantly, I lower Iris’ body to the ground, grab the camera, and sprint to the top of the stairs. “What?”
“There’s no service here!” Laney’s voice trembles. “What do I do?”
I take a deep breath. “We need to take her to the hospital fast.”
“I’ll start the car,” Chase says. “You grab Iris.”
I rush back to the room where Iris was attacked. Her body is gone. Frantically, I look around the room for any sign of her. This can’t be happening, I think.
I flip around to get Laney and Chase to help me find her. Either she’s alive or someone has taken her body. I step out into the hallway and suddenly jerk back, falling on my rear. Rising above me is the most sinister, beautiful being in the world. It’s Iris, but she looks darker, more menacing: evil. A smile of relief spreads across my face—Iris is okay. She lowers her face close to mine, her dark lips standing out against her pale skin. My heart beats wildly in excitement. She rests her hands on my shoulders, pushing my body flat to the ground. She spreads herself on top of me and whispers in my ear.
“Just go with it. It’s all an act.” Her eyes look at me lovingly, but there’s no love in her soul. She backs away from me, eyeing my body, and then she strikes.
Sliding the camera to the top of the stairs, I scream as she tears me apart with her teeth. Chase and Laney rush back up the stairs while I writhe in fake blood on the floor. Iris spins to face them. Chase picks up the camera as the blood drains from their faces, and they sprint back down the stairs. Iris charges, picking Laney up and taking her into a shadowed hallway to finish off her kill.
Chase keeps running down the stairs and just as he reaches for the front door, Iris slams it closed. Her eyes are dark, the glow gone. She looks at Chase—her next victim.
“Please, Iris,” he begs. “Please.”
She bends her head low to Chase’s neck and his body goes limp. Blood drips from Iris’ lips, her cold dead eyes burying into the camera clutched in Chase’s cold, lifeless hands. The power shuts off.
“Yeah!” I high five Chase, Laney, and Iris. “That was awesome!”
Laney laughs, too. “That was so freaking scary. Iris, we had no idea you were going to get us to come upstairs—that was genius.”
Iris smiles, a blush rising into her cheeks. “I told you guys, I was born to play this part.”
“You totally were,” Chase says. “How did you do it? You seriously looked dead.”
“A real magician never tells her secrets.”
“Well, our movie is going to blow all the talents out of the water, thanks to you.”
We can’t help but rave about how intense the movie is. I have no idea how Iris orchestrated everything so that we were all clueless.
Chase and Laney start to clean up their cameras and props and load them back into the car as the first raindrop falls.
“Iris, you did awesome,” I say. “I like the makeup, too. You know, you should do it like that for school sometime.”
“Oh, should I?” she teases, her eyes drooping with a hint of exhaustion. “Would this make all of the boys fall head over heels for me?”
I roll my eyes. “I think it’s more like it will keep them farther away from you, so I can have you all to myself.”
She smiles and looks away. “In that case, I think I’ll wear it all the time.” I laugh as she winks at me. “But it’s starting to crack now that it’s dry and is super itchy so I’m going to go wash my face really quick.”
“I think you may need an entire shower,” I suggest as she walks to the side of the house.
“Haha, yeah, you’re probably right.”
The thunder rolls again as Iris works to clean off the remaining effects of her costume.
“Hey, we’ve got to get going,” Laney says. “Are you guys okay getting home or do you want us to wait?”
I look back at Iris who’s just finishing up. “Nah, you’re good to go. Iris is almost done and then we’ll head out.”
“Okay, sounds good. Thanks again for helping us out; the movie rocks!”
“It totally does. See you, Laney. Chase.” I wave to them as they disappear around the corner bend leading to the house.
“You about ready?” I ask as I walk over to Iris. Lightning cracks in the sky and a roar of thunder rumbles above us again, shaking the old, rickety house.
“Yep. All done.” She pulls her hair over her shoulders looking refreshed and clean.
We make our way toward the car, which is quite a ways from us now—Laney had me re-park it once we started filming so it wouldn’t interfere with the hiking scenes.
“Did you feel that?” I ask as a raindrop splashes on my cheek.
Iris stops and tilts her face to the sky. “It smells like rain. I love the rain.”
Within a matter of seconds, thunder rumbles again and the rain pours down on top of us. I grab Iris’ hand and pull her in the direction of my car. Before we can take a handful of steps, we’re drenched from head to toe. Iris’ clothes cling to her body, her long hair dripping.
She smiles looking up into the rain as she follows behind me. “Jace, wait.” She drags me to a stop under the covering of trees. “Look.”
She points back to our movie set. The rain falls so hard you can barely make out the frame of the house. The world around us is completely masqueraded in a shower of green; the vibrant life of the vegetation brightening with the shawl of rain. I have a quick flashback of standing on my porch trying to peer through the rain toward the ocean as a kid.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, shaking off the nostalgia.
Iris nods. “I think so, too.”
We stand under the tree cover and watch the rain for a few minutes. “Iris?” I ask.
“Yeah?”
“What are you thinking?”
She waits for a few seconds. “Well, if I told you, then I’d have to kill you. And I kind of like you and would like to keep you around for a bit.”
I laugh. “Ah, c’mon now, you can tell me.” I tug Iris’ scarf off her neck and wrap it around mine.
Iris shoots me a sneaky smile. “How do I know you can be trusted? How do you know I can?”
I intertwine my fingers with hers, her soft skin warming my hands. A bubble expands inside my chest as she locks her fingers around mine, tightening our hold. I look into her dark, piercing eyes, feeling my very soul being drawn to her.
“Iris,” I whisper, leaning my head closer to hers.
She looks up at me with big eyes as I wrap my hand around her waist and lock her to me. Her hands wrap around her scarf and ever so slowly she pulls my face closer. I tilt my head and gently press my lips to hers. Her lips are cold, but soft and silky nonetheless. She kisses me back, her bottom lip pushing in between mine, and wraps her free hand around my neck.
For a moment, time has frozen. Our kiss slow and penetrating. I let go of her hand, and I can’t hold her close enough to me. My hands hold onto her waist, feeling her skin and ribs through her wet blouse. I rub my hands up and down on her ribs as we kiss. Her blouse is tight against her and my hands slide easily across her back. Iris runs her fingers through my wet hair before she breaks away, keeping a hand on my heart.
I take short breaths; I can’t believe I just kissed Iris. Her eyes smile, her teeth gently biting her bottom lip as she looks away shyly. I touch her chin, leading her face back to mine.
“Iris,” I whisper, gauging her reaction to my intimate touch. I’m about to tell her how beautiful I think she is, but then all of a sudden I can’t. She’s so pretty on the outside; her body, her eyes, her smile, but what I love isn’t those physical attributes but what I see in them. I know Iris more than just the superficial beauty of Santa Cruz High. I know she’s smart, deep, funny; she’s more beautiful on the inside than the outside.
“Yeah?” she asks as I think of what I want to
say.
“Iris,” I pause. “You’re my best friend. I’ve never had a best friend like you before.”
An automatic smile spreads across her face, growing and illuminating her entire being. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a big, genuine smile cover Iris’ face before. Iris brings her head forward to face me, tears welling in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, my hand gently cradling her cheek.
Iris tips her head back, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes. A glistening sparkle dances across the raindrops. I blink and it’s gone. “I’m sorry, crying is stupid,” she says. “You’re my best friend, too. I’ve just… I’ve just never had anyone tell me that before. Ever.” Another tear trickles down her cheek. A small laugh escapes her lips and she quickly wipes it away again. “Ah, they won’t stop now.”
I wrap my arms around her shoulders and she locks hers around my waist, hugging me tightly with surprising strength.
I don’t know, but maybe Iris has never been kissed—never been hugged—before.
Chapter 16
JACE
Rubbing my eyes, I drop my head into my hands and pretend to pay attention in class. I didn’t sleep at all last night. My brain wouldn’t quit running circles around my kiss with Iris. I could feel her in my arms again; I could feel her hands on me, the way her lips pressed to mine. The memories—so vivid and real—made it impossible to sleep. It was worth it, though.
Iris stares straight ahead at Mr. Demonas’ scribbles on the white board, her cheek cupped in her hand. I watch her for a moment and a small smile tugs at the corner of her lips. Her eyes flicker to me, and I quickly look away. Iris shakes her head, her smile stuck on her face, and refocuses on the front of the room.
Immediately, I study her again. Her dark eyes framed by thick eyelashes, her full lips pursed in concentration, the glow of her snowy skin. My heart lurches in my chest with a visceral craving. I need her to be mine and only mine. Tearing my gaze from Iris, I face Mr. Demonas. There’s no way I can pay attention today. Despite my exhaustion, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pay attention to anything except Iris when she’s around.
The bell rings before I even realize class is half over. I stay seated at my desk knowing Iris will spend awhile packing up her bags. Besides, I’m too tired to move.
“Jace.” Iris kneels next to my desk as she gathers the last of her things. “You look exhausted. Are you okay?”
I lift my head up and offer her a smile. “Are you kidding? I’m better than okay. I’m doing awesome.”
Iris’ expression matches mine, her face radiating happiness. “Yeah?”
I know what she’s really asking. Am I happy about yesterday?
“I’ve never been happier,” I answer.
Iris’ teeth catch her lower lip. “You ready for your match this afternoon?”
“I hope so.” I try not to groan. Mr. Sudds had set up an in-house competition for the team this afternoon. Apparently, they’re ‘great for training and boosting morale’ so long as you aren’t the one in last place. “I could use a cheerleader again.”
“At a practice?” Iris stifles a laugh.
“Of course. No one’s there rooting you on at practice.”
“Will Mr. Sudds allow a fan to stalk you to practice?”
I think for a minute—he probably wouldn’t be too thrilled with Iris showing up, but I don’t think he’d do anything about it. “He won’t care. If you’re worried about it, just pretend you’re at the beach by yourself, not with me.”
Iris smiles but doesn’t give me an answer.
“Tell you what,” I say, hoping to get a firm commitment, “meet me in the commons right after school and I’ll take you to the beach myself.”
“You’re relentless.”
“Is that a ‘yes’?”
“Fine.” Iris shakes her head as she swings her bag over her shoulder and heads for the door.
I check my watch as I stand by the front entryway waiting for Iris. She arrives a couple of minutes after the bell sounds.
“Let’s go!” I grab her hand, distinctly aware of her fingers weaving around mine. We rush to my truck, the sun reflecting off my board strapped to its bed, and take off.
“So, are you going green or black today?” Iris eyes the two wetsuits I have in the back of the cab.
“Well, I was thinking green; but you know I always try to make my fans happy. Do you have a preference?”
“Green’s a good choice.”
Iris tucks her hair behind her ear as the wind blows in through her open window. It’s not long before we pull up to Marina State Beach. Mr. Sudds is already applying his sunscreen and some of my team members are tightening their wetsuits.
I hold Iris’ hand, leading her onto the beach until she finds a place to watch. She flips off her sandals and buries her toes in the sand.
“Make me proud,” she calls after me as I hustle over to the team, pulling my wetsuit over my swim bottoms.
To be honest, I’m not really sure what happens during the competition; but somehow, I managed to not come in last. Besides the overwhelming tiredness that ached through every part of my body, Iris was more of a distraction sitting on the beach than if she’d been riding on my board with me.
Every time she stood to get a better seat, I wondered where she was going. Every time her attention shifted to the edge of the beach or out beyond the lineup of surfers, I wondered what she was staring at and what could possibly be going through her head. Then there was every time she was watching me, that small smile would tug on her lips and sometimes she’d offer a quick wave so Mr. Sudds couldn’t see. That distracted me the most because then I knew she was watching me and the pressure was on to not mess up.
I pull my board from the water, the muscles in my arms burning with the effort. Mr. Sudds wraps up the practice by informing us that he filmed each wave we took and we’d discuss our tactics and decisions during the next class. As soon as he dismisses us, Iris tentatively pokes her head around the other team members and offers me a big smile.
“I don’t think I deserve that big of a smile,” I say, a little disheartened at getting second to last place.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Iris says, but it falls flat.
“I was a total mess out there.”
“Well, it’s still better than I could have done; and, besides, now you know what you need to work on.”
“Practically everything, so it would seem.”
Iris rolls her eyes. “C’mon, it seriously wasn’t that bad.”
“You know I blame you for it.”
“Me?” Iris says aghast. “What did I do?”
“Where were my ‘rah rah rahs’? Those could’ve gone a long way.” I elbow Iris in the ribs.
“Please, I made an appearance. I was not going to give you ‘rah rah rahs’.”
I wrap my arm around Iris’ shoulder. She tries to push away from me, her slender fingers gently digging into my ribs; but I just hold on tighter until she laughs.
I keep my arm around her as we make our way back to my truck. “So, Iris, tell me something about yourself that I don’t know. I could use a pick-me-up.”
Iris’ face looks unperturbed, but her body tenses at my question. “Something you don’t know about me?”
“Yeah.”
She thinks for a minute and laughs nervously. “I don’t know, what do you want to know?”
“I don’t know, there’s a lot I don’t know… like tell me about your parents? Your family? Or what happened to make you hate the water? Or what you like to do for fun? It can be anything.”
Iris thinks for a moment, unconsciously tugging on a strand of her hair. I’ve been hoping to figure these things out for a while, and no time’s better than the present. She swallows again and shrugs her shoulders.
“I guess my family’s… normal. I had a bad experience with water. And I like to do… stuff.”
I stare at her, letting my mouth hang open. “Are you kidd
ing me? That was the worst answer ever.”
Iris laughs and nods.
“Let’s try it again. Tell me about your family—where did you come from?”
Chapter 17
IRIS
My mind scrambles trying to come up with answers on the spot to Jace’s growing list of questions. No matter how many questions he asks, he always has more about my past. I don’t want to lie to him, not to Jace; but if I have to, I will. It’s never been like this before—my prey never gets to know the real me, they never ask me about my past, about my dreams, about my future plans. They usually stare and drool until it’s time for them to leave mortality.
I’ve never had an issue lying to the others; I always lie to get them to follow me into the ocean. So why is Jace different? Maybe because despite why I first started talking to him, I don’t want to kill him. I’ll never admit it to another siren, but I actually like Jace. But I have to protect my family; despite our differences, they’re still mine and besides they’re my only link to returning to the ocean.
I was reminded of this very fact just yesterday at the abandoned house where we filmed Chase and Laney’s movie. Like a tidal wave slamming into my memories, I remember Brandt, Damion’s prize sentry, appearing behind me in the house. He didn’t even try to appear human, except for the two legs that had replaced his tail. How he had legs, how he was on land, how he had found me, I have no idea. He warned me not to forget where I truly belonged.
An icy cool spreads around my neck as though Brandt’s grip is still there pushing me into the mirror. I grit my teeth against the hot breath that still moistens my ear with his last warning—the humans in the room below us were only meal tickets, nothing more. I pushed back and so did he. He carved another mark into my wrist as a reminder of our conversation and what would happen if I did not uphold my end of my eternal servitude. The pain was near unbearable and my blood was everywhere. Jace came after me and spooked Brandt; he was not to be seen by humans. Brandt strung me up on display in another room and left me there bleeding to clean up his mess and to keep what I am a secret.