Ethereal: The Light in the Shadow

by Zoe Knights

  Irritated and worried, Eddie went to the girl’s bathrooms instead, deciding to distract herself by freshening up a little. She grabbed her toothbrush from the room before running in there, keeping her eyes peeled for Sam the whole time.

  She wasn’t watching where she was going, too preoccupied with her concerns and so she nearly walked straight into a towel clad Linh.

  “Jesus… sorry,” Eddie muttered quickly, taken by surprise as her eyes flickered over the girl. Her dark hair was dripping and clung to her honeyed skin that looked as smooth as silk under the warm yellow lights of the bathroom.

  “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain,” Linh said rather sharply, before smiling quickly. “But, no harm done,” she stepped around Eddie, though her dark eyes continued to gaze at her. “You seem upset,” she commented simply.

  Eddie frowned, “I’m fine” she muttered quickly, moving around the girl to get to the sinks. But, then she paused. Turning back to Linh suddenly who was now dressing in the corner. “Why do you think Sam is the Antichrist?” she demanded.

  Linh turned her head, observing Eddie across the room. “He… exhibits certain signs,” she said strangely. “If you come to our youth group, I’d happily-”

  “I’m not going to do that,” Eddie said bluntly. “Just tell me who is the Antichrist supposed to be in your mind?”

  “Well… the Nephilim,” Linh said as though it were obvious. “The half-mortal spawn of the Devil, of course.”

  Eddie’s heart pounded a little harder, but she wouldn’t believe something so absurd. Magic wolf did not equal God and the Devil.

  Do you think I’m more devil than angel?

  Sam’s voice rang through her head obtrusively, and Eddie swallowed. But, she ignored this. That… was too much. There was no way… no… she already knew these bible fanatics were… just that: fanatics. She shook her head and looked away, turning back toward the shower. “Right. Well, I’ll try not to think you’re insane then…” she muttered a little rudely.

  There was a moment of silence.

  “Don’t forget my offer, Eden,” Linh sang softly behind her. “Our youth group is always open to you.”

  Eddie ignored her, and the girl thankfully let her be. She finished brushing her teeth the moment the bell rang. And in a huff, she ran back to her room, grabbed her bag and headed to class on an empty stomach that was swirling with paranoia over Sam’s extended absence.

  What if those things had come back and taken him? What could Eddie do? Who could she tell? Who would even be able to-

  “Eden?”

  Eddie swung round, her heart pounding as Sam was walking toward her, entirely unscathed, his hands in his pockets.

  “Morning,” he was smirking. “Ho-”

  “Sam!” Eddie was almost annoyed. “Oh my God, you’re okay!” her eyes darted over him, inspecting him for injuries, but he was fine.

  Sam laughed slightly in surprise, frowning at her in confusion. “Yes, of course. You sound so relieved. Why?”

  Eddie stared at him in disbelief. “Because of last night!” she hissed wildly. “What happened?! Who was there?”

  “Oooh,” Sam nodded. “Right. Just some drunk blokes lost on their way home from the pub,” he threw off casually. Then he frowned again, a curious smile on his lips. “Were you… worried about me?”

  Eddie huffed in frustration, all the tension from last night had built to such an extreme it now hurt to be relieved. “Yes, of course, I was worried!” she snapped. “Jesus Christ…” she swore. “I’ve been looking for you all morning. I thought those things had come back!”

  Sam’s face fell slightly, guilt tweaking his brow. “Oh… I,” he seemed quite thrown, “I didn’t realise you’d be… concerned.”

  Eddie exhaled slowly, shaking her head slightly, “Sam…” she said lowly. “Of course I’d be concerned. Don’t you realise that’s what friends do?”

  Sam fidgeted a little uncomfortably. “Right well… er,” he cleared his throat. “Anyway,” he veered off awkwardly. “I heard about your predicament. I’ll get you out of your detentions, don’t worry.”

  Eddie frowned. “No, don’t do that,” she said quickly. “It’s fine. I should just go.”

  Sam raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll get you off,” he brushed off like it was nothing. “You’ll see this afternoon,” he winked.

  “Sam…” Eddie said in a low warning tone.

  Sam just laughed, his eyes flickering over her face. “You look very cute when you’re annoyed,” he quipped lightly, randomly reaching up and lightly tugging one of her curls that fell beside her face. “Quite inconvenient for you, I’m sure.”

  Eddie was about to splutter in response, her cheeks flushing royally, but before she could, Quinn and Millie had found her.

  “Eddie?” Quinn still sounded stiff from the previous evening’s conversation. “You’re going to be late. Let’s go,” she said while Millie looked a little nervous, her eyes flickering between Eddie and Sam.

  Sam raised an eyebrow, but he looked back to Eddie, smirking slightly before leaning into her ear and whispering, “I’ll see you in detention…” before winking one last time and walking off.

  Eddie struggled to look Quinn in the eye, knowing how that must have looked, particularly with her flushing red cheeks.

  “Well, let’s go then,” she said gruffly, quickly walking past her friends, hearing Millie mutter ‘ok, you were right’ to Quinn as she went.

  Reckless Abandon

  14

  Eddie entered the morose and nearly empty classroom late that afternoon for her first detention. There were only three other students and one teacher – Mr Omera with shaky hands who Eddie had learnt since her first day that he taught graphic design.

  Eddie signed in at the front and was given a pile of forms, the first sheet titled ‘Responsible Thinking’, and she had to fill out what she had done wrong, why it was wrong, how she should rectify her mistake and so on.

  She felt a headache coming on just looking at it. Wearily, Eddie sat down and leant heavily on her elbow, reading through the pages and unable to help but wonder if Sam was really going to get her off.

  She knew she shouldn’t. She should just suck it up and do these detentions. Yet, every few seconds she’d glance up and look around, wondering where he was already.

  The third time she did this, Mr Omera fell forward on his desk in a slump.

  Eddie stared. So did the other students.

  There was a whistle from the door, and Eddie spun in her chair to see Sam leaning on the doorway of the classroom. She stared in disbelief before mouthing, ‘Did you do that?’

  Sam just smirked, before leaving the doorway and walking off after beckoning for her to follow.

  Eddie huffed slightly, glancing again at the other kids who were murmuring amongst themselves before looking one last time at Mr Omera.

  Then she made up her mind, grabbed her things and darted out of the room without delay.

  She saw Sam grin when she caught up to him.

  “What the hell did you do to him?” Eddie hissed quietly, glancing over her shoulder and feeling thoroughly like an escaped fugitive right now.

  “Oh, he’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Sam said vaguely. “Just popped a few pills in his flask.”

  “Sam!” Eddie gasped in alarm. “You are going to get yourself expelled!”

  Sam laughed at that. “Well, that’s cute. But, I’ve done far worse. And as long as my dad wants me here they can’t get rid of me,” he smirked.

  Eddie didn’t find this funny; particularly after the previous night’s tense conversation about his father. But, Sam seemed able to flip a switch like it was nothing.

  “Oh, come on,” he cast off idly. “Just forget about it – he was the one drinking on the job anyway.”

  But, Eddie shook her head; for that was not what she was concerned about. “Sam…” she said slowly. “About your dad-”

  “Don’t worry about him,�
� Sam brushed off far too quickly, his tone flippant and careless. “If you remain the person you are, you will never have to see him,” he finished, bopping her on the nose and smirking at her when she swatted his hand.

  She frowned at him, her mind ticking over his words while nerves churned in her stomach, Linh’s stupid advice about the ‘Nephilim’ fighting with her logic.

  I am merely more accustomed to angel wings than you might imagine…

  Her eyes slid to his back, observing his posture closely and wondering if there was any possible way he could magically hide angel wings under that slim fitting uniform, knowing she’d lost her sanity to even ponder this.

  “Getting a good eyeful there?” Sam quipped cheekily, jolting Eddie back into reality. “I’m rather flattered – with all your blatant refusals to my advances, I thought I mustn’t appeal to you at all,” he continued idly. “So nice to be proved wrong.”

  Eddie glared at him, her cheeks flushing royally. But she ignored his joke. And instead, “What are you doing for Christmas?” she asked abruptly.

  Sam raised an eyebrow, but he went with the change of subject gracefully. “The usual debauchery, I imagine,” he cast off vaguely, looking away.

  Eddie’s teeth grazed her lip, her brow contracting as she hesitated. But then, “I’m going to London. To have Christmas with my brother… he’s there for work.”

  She paused again, and Sam looked at her.

  She continued to chew her lip. “Do you want to come?” she blurted abruptly.

  Sam stared, his eyes opening a little wider in a rather innocent form of surprise. “Do I… what?” he seemed confused.

  “I’m sure it would be okay with Alex if I brought a friend. And surely it’s got to be better than being here over the break. I mean – it’s Christmas!” Eddie said very quickly in a fluster. “If you want to I mean… you’d be more than welcome.”

  Sam frowned, “I… don’t celebrate Christmas…” he said slowly, sounding unsure.

  Eddie thought she should be surprised by this; and yet… she was not. “Oh,” she said quietly, as though affirming a fact. “Well um… that’s okay. You could still come just for the company if you wanted. We don’t do anything religious. Just food and games really…”

  Sam didn’t say anything, but he was still looking at Eddie with an indiscernible gaze.

  Eddie looked away quickly. “Think about it,” she said quickly. “Don’t feel any pressure either. Just leave it as an… open invitation.”

  Eddie couldn’t look back at Sam, simply continuing to roam aimlessly through the halls while she could feel his eyes burning into her for a good five minutes before he finally spoke.

  “Okay,” was all he said at first and Eddie hesitantly glanced at him. He looked, for once, unguarded. “I’d like to come,” he finished quietly.

  Eddie smiled slowly, about to respond.

  But then,

  “Eddie?!” it was Quinn’s voice.

  “Oh no…” Eddie muttered, turning around quickly to see Quinn and Millie walking out of the dining hall upon spotting them.

  Quinn cast an angry glance at Sam before looking back to her. “I thought you had detention?” she asked pointedly.

  “Erm…” Eddie had no idea what to say, her stomach churning with guilt.

  “They changed their minds,” Sam put in for her, eyeing her friends with one of his unreadable dark gazes.

  Quinn shook her head angrily, giving Eddie a disbelieving look. “I thought you were better than this, Eddie,” she said derisively, before turning on her heel and stalking off.

  Millie sighed quietly, looking at Eddie awkwardly. “Sorry she’s…” she shook her head. “I better go,” her eyes flickering once more between Eddie and Sam. “You should… you should come, Eddie,” she added, before darting off after Quinn.

  Eddie sighed lowly. “She hates that I’m friends with you,” she muttered.

  Sam frowned slightly. “This is because of me?” he said, and Eddie was surprised by his surprise. “I…” he sounded unsure. “I’m sorry,” he looked at Eddie seriously.

  Eddie just shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault, it’s mine,” she sighed. “But I should go… I want to try and fix this. See you later?”

  Sam nodded hesitantly, still seeming unsure.

  Eddie frowned. “Don’t be weird about this,” she said seriously. “It’s not like they can understand. At least they can’t understand how this all happened. But, I’ll get them to see you’re… well, you’re a good person,” she smiled at him. “Oh and uh…” she was blushing slightly now as her eyes darted down while she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Friends… text sometimes, you know. So I thought-”

  A smile tugged at Sam’s lips again. “Are you asking me for my number?” he asked, the cheeky tone back to his voice.

  Eddie gave him a look. “Well… yes,” she said flatly.

  Sam appeared to like this a lot. He held his hand out for her phone, “I’ll put it in for you,” he smiled charmingly.

  Eddie felt her stomach flip again, but she ignored it. She tried to unlock her phone, but it was doing that thing it did when its screen blurred with several coloured lines. She wacked it against the wall multiple times. Hard.

  Sam raised his eyebrows.

  But, it worked, and she unlocked it before handing it to him.

  He took it gracefully with no comment, but his eyes swam with mirth as he looked at her.

  Eddie waited with a lofty expression for him to finish.

  Sam prank dialled his own number and handed her phone back. “There, it’s official now. I have Eden Osmond’s number,” he smirked. “You better hurry along. I don’t want to be the reason for antagonising your friend.”

  Eddie smiled quickly, feeling strangely light-headed. “Okay,” she agreed, thoroughly enjoying the way he looked at her. “Well, see you later. Oh and… thanks for getting me out of detention by involving me in a drug crime, by the way,” she added jokingly, offering him a last impudent smile before hurrying off after her friends.

  “Quinn!” she called when she reached them several corridors away. “Millie, Quinn, wait,” she continued when Quinn didn’t turn around.

  Millie stopped, and Quinn was forced to also, but she did not look happy about it.

  “What is it, Eddie?” Quinn said after Millie gave her a look.

  Eddie sighed. “Look I… I really don’t want to fight with you just because I’m friends with someone you don’t like.”

  Quinn stared at her in irritation. “Are you serious?” she stomped forward. “Eddie – that’s not what this is about. This is about you changing since you’ve started hanging out with him.”

  “What?” Eddie snapped. “I have not changed. I-”

  “You’ve been sneaking out with him, getting detention, skipping detention-” Quinn began listing her atrocities on her fingers.

  “Quinn,” Millie cut in. “Let Eddie speak. Let’s not make this into a bigger deal than it is.”

  Eddie gave Millie a grateful glance. “Look I… don’t expect you to understand. I just… I accidentally found out a bit more about Sam, and it’s… brought on this friendship. And I think he really needs a friend,” she said honestly. “But I… I know that I might have been getting a little reckless.”

  Quinn sucked on her tongue, seeming unsure of what to say.

  So Millie pitched in. “Are you… just friends Eddie?” she asked hesitantly. “We’re just a bit worried because he… he doesn’t have a good history for this sort of thing, you know.”

  “I know,” Eddie said quickly. “I really do. But… it’s not like that. We’re just friends.”

  Quinn found her words. “Then look me in the eye and tell me honestly you don’t want more than that with him,” she said bluntly.

  Eddie sighed roughly. “Really?” she said tersely. “That’s going to make you happy if I can just say that?”

  “I just want you to be honest,” Quinn s
aid, crossing her arms over her chest. “With us and yourself.”

  Eddie bit the inside of her mouth, her eyes flickering from Millie and back to Quinn. She clenched her jaw, looking away, her cheeks flushing. “I…” her stomach churned before she looked back to Quinn’s face. “I don’t know, ok?” she muttered finally. “All I know is that’s not going to happen anyway, so it’s not even worth thinking about.”

  “Ugh, God Eddie,” Quinn scoffed, “how the hell did this happen? You’re supposed to be smart! You’re not supposed to be the stupid girl that falls for the bad boy.”

  “I haven’t!” Eddie cried defensively. “And you don’t understand what is going on at all! Neither do I! I… I wish I could talk to you about it, but I can’t and I just,” Eddie suddenly felt infuriating tears springing to her eyes. “I don’t want to be fighting with you,” she finished, her voice wavering just slightly.

  Quinn’s frown finally fell, “I don’t want to be fighting with you either…” she muttered quietly.

  “Are you okay, Eddie?” Millie added in, her sweet voice concerned. “You know you can talk to us.”

  Eddie nodded quickly, wiping her eye where a tear had slipped by. “Yeah,” she laughed slightly, feeling stupid. “Yeah, I’m okay. I… I really wish I could tell you both. But, I can’t… it’s not my business to say…” she mumbled, then she looked back to Quinn. “I’m really sorry for how I’ve been acting. I… could you trust me that I’m not changing? I’m just trying to help someone that I think could really use a friend…”

  Quinn’s brow pinched, and she sighed quietly. “Eddie…” she said softly before sighing again. “Yeah… ok,” she relented quietly. “But… don’t expect us to stop worrying about you. And I’m not about to trust him no matter what you say.”

  Eddie nodded quickly. “Okay,” she said hurriedly. “Okay, I get that,” she smiled meekly. “We can work with that, right?”

  Quinn glanced at Millie who smiled and nodded encouragingly. “Yeah, Eddie…” Quinn mumbled, finally offering a small smile of her own. “Just… I think you should stop sneaking out late with him. You’re risking too much. I really don’t want to see you lose your scholarship.”