Born Dark

by H G Lynch

  “Ashton? Ah, yes, I’ve heard about you,” she said to Reid, slight disapproval pinching her mouth. Ember swallowed a groan, wondering how the hell her mother knew about Reid. Probably, she guessed, the same way that she’d known about the autumn dance. However that was.

  “My reputation precedes me I suppose. What exactly have you heard?” Reid dropped the false polite smile for a more natural cheeky grin. Ember didn’t want to hear this conversation, but she held her tight smile with some effort.

  “You’re a scoundrel. I hope you haven’t been corrupting my daughter,” Mrs Jennings sounded light-hearted enough but Ember could see the cautious, dark look in her green eyes. Damn, I’m screwed.

  “Mum! Shut up!” Ember hissed, feeling heat flood her face. But she was also trying not to laugh at how her mother had picked the perfect word to describe Reid: Scoundrel.

  Reid grinned, amused as ever. “No, Ma’am. Don’t think I could if I tried. Ember is extremely stubborn. I’m afraid she’d rip me to pieces before I had the chance,” he said boldly, giving Ember a sly glance. She whacked his chest and glared, but his teasing words and her violent reaction seemed to have eased her mother’s worry a little.

  The woman laughed. “Same Ember as always then. I’m guessing with your attitude versus hers, you’re more like a punch bag than a friend,” Carol smiled, and Ember sighed, relieved her mother wasn’t going to stress about her ‘friendship’ with a notorious bad boy - for now, at least.

  “Can we go now? It’s freezing out here.” Ember hugged her arms to her chest and shivered dramatically. Mrs Jennings followed her daughter and Sherry, bidding goodbye to the chuckling boys.

  “So, anything you want to tell me about those boys?” As soon as they were in Ember’s room, her mother began the questioning. The shreds of hope that her mother had believed they were all only friends, the shreds that Ember had been clinging to, vanished.

  Sherry looked away shyly but Ember replied calmly. “Nope. Not really. Ricky’s nice. Reid’s an ass. That’s all there is to it.” She shrugged and flopped onto her bed. She pulled her bottle of coke from under her bed and took a swig from it, watching her mother grimace. She’d always hated Ember’s caffeine addiction, thought it was unhealthy. Ember didn’t care.

  “Come on, I’m not stupid girls. I was a teenager once. You’re old enough to have boyfriends and I’m not going to preach to you about that kind of thing.” Carol smiled pleasantly, taking a seat next to the desk in the far corner of the room. It’s a trick, Ember’s paranoia screamed, she’s lying! Admit your relationship with Reid, and she’ll eat you alive! Ember knew her mother too well, knew she’d accept Sherry’s relationship, but then, Sherry wasn’t her daughter. “And anyway, Ricky and Sherry are clearly together. It’s obvious as daylight.” The woman added, giving a keen glance to the now-blushing Sherry.

  “How’d you know?” Sherry asked quietly, twisting her fingers together nervously on her lap.

  “The way you looked at each other. Thought I didn’t notice, did you? Well, I’m glad you’ve got yourself a nice boy, Sherry.” Mrs Jennings did seem glad for the girl, but a puzzled look came across her face as she turned back to Ember. No! Don’t even start! Ember pleaded silently. “It was easy to tell what kind of relationship Ricky and Sherry have, but as for you and Reid…” she trailed off, green eyes searching Ember’s face curiously. Ember scoffed, though her stomach was knotting anxiously as she spoke.

  “There’s nothing going on between me and Reid. Trust me,” she lied, hoping her face wasn’t turning pink. Her mother didn’t look convinced, so she knew her hopes hadn’t been fulfilled.

  “Uh-huh? You can’t lie to me about this sort of thing Ember, you know that.” Carol’s voice wasn’t scolding or condescending, it was simply a statement: a true one at that. Ember had never been good at lying about guy problems and such to her mother, because those were the things that embarrassed her to talk about. “Ember, are you worried that I’ll disapprove? I mean, I’d be happier if you were with someone less wild, but if he makes you happy.” Carol smiled weakly and Ember felt herself flushing, with both embarrassment and nausea - why did her mother have to make it sound so… Romantic? Blegh. She’s still lying! Ember’s mind warned her. She definitely disapproves.

  “Mum, there’s really nothing-” Ember began to lie again helplessly, not wanting to even think about explaining the unofficial relationship status between her and Reid.

  But her mother cut her off, “Are you seeing him, Ember? I mean, physically. Is that why you won’t tell me?” Mrs Jennings sounded suspicious and coldly critical all of a sudden. Ember gaped at her mother, eyes and mouth wide in offended shock. Of all people, her mother should know that Ember wasn’t like that. But apparently not, though.

  “WHAT?” Ember choked. Heat flooded her face, burning in her cheeks. She was sure she was as red as a tomato.

  “There was just something in the way he looked at you that made it clear there was a physical attraction between the two of you and if that’s all there is to it, it would explain why you’re so reluctant to tell me anything.”

  The woman’s voice was hard, her eyes sharp. Behind Carol, Ember could see Sherry’s ‘I-don’t-want-to-be-in-the-middle-of-this’ expression.

  Ember, almost speechless, burst out with, “Mum!” She didn’t know what else to say. She was stunned. Her mother didn’t flinch. “Look, Mum, it’s not like that! I mean, yes, I think he’s… but it’s not like that!” Ember spluttered helplessly, her eyes stinging with hurt tears. How could her mother think that!? Memories of Reid’s hands on her hips, his mouth on hers, the burning under her skin she felt whenever he touched her, went swiftly through Ember’s head, and she shook them away. Those images weren’t helping one bit.

  “Have you had sex with him?”

  It was a direct, demanding question and Ember screeched, “WHAT?” Sherry, on the bed behind her mother, was smothering silent hysterical giggles now, while still looking like she didn’t want to be there. Apparently Mrs Jennings was fine with Ember having a boyfriend - as long as she didn’t have a sex life. Fun. Ember laughed nervously, incredulous and sure her mother had to be joking. The woman looked deadly serious though.

  “You’re serious!” Ember gasped, “No! NO! No, no, no! Oh my God, how could you even ask? How could you even think that I’d…” Ember stammered desperately, her face flaming. Oddly, she had this pit-of-her-stomach feeling that the occupants of the room weren’t the only ones listening to this conversation. But her mother looked convinced at last. Her eyes had cooled and her mouth was no longer a blade-like, thin line.

  “Well then, why are you trying to lie to me? I can tell there’s something between you and Reid.” Why did her mother have to choose now to be perceptive?

  Ember groaned but answered anyway. “It’s complicated,” she said shortly, hoping her mother would let it go. Her mother looked at her expectantly though, obviously wanting more information. What was she supposed to say? That her and Reid had started out enemies and had played cruel pranks on each other until Ember got fed up and then found out Reid liked her, and she eventually worked out that she liked him too, but they didn’t want to become a mushy couple like Ricky and Sherry, so they played about with their usual witty banter and some touchy-feely-ness. Oh, and of course, Reid’s a vampire. Yeah. She’d have fun trying to explain all that to her mother. ‘Complicated’ was an understatement.

  “I can’t explain. It’s too confusing. It gives me a headache just thinking about it,” Ember replied eventually, shaking her head like she could shake away the confusion. Her mother gave her a knowing, sympathetic look but let it drop. I’m going to die this week, Ember thought to herself, resisting the urge to smother herself with a pillow to save time and humiliation.

  An hour later, they were all caught up on gossip and news, and Mrs Jennings went to unpack her things in the visitors’ dorm.

  Once she was gone, Ember sighed and was about to complain about how her mother hadn’t
even noticed how obsessively tidy their room was, when a knock at the door cut her off. Groaning, she went to open the door, knowing what was coming next. “You were listening,” she stated unhappily as Reid wandered in, grinning.

  “I was curious.” He shrugged, closing the door.

  “Of course you were.” Ember rolled her eyes.

  “I’m, uh… going to the… library,” Sherry muttered quickly and shot out the door abruptly. Ember gazed after her, confused. She’d bolted like the room was on fire. As Ember turned to give Reid a questioning glance, she realised there was a fire - in Reid’s blue eyes. He was looking at her in that burning, hungry way that she’d seen a few times but never got used to. Something occurred to her at that point.

  “You weren’t listening, you were in my head!” she accused, remembering the few images that had popped up when she’d been trying to explain her attraction to Reid to her mother. Colour filled her face, and she bit her lip.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t feel it,” Reid crooned, running his fingers down her temple, along her now-pink cheekbone.

  “I was too-too stressed to…” Her words faded as he brought his mouth to hers. She felt her bones melting as his soft mouth moulded with hers. Reid pulled back to whisper in her ear.

  “You know, I was a little surprised your mother picked up on our… attraction, so easily. But then again, I have quite a bit of trouble holding back around you…” Reid murmured against her jaw, making her shudder. “For example, right now, I’d like to hold you tight and kiss you until you’re dizzy…” His voice was husky and so sensual that he might as well have been taking her clothes off, because she was about ready to do it herself. Obviously, Reid couldn’t even keep up the ‘just-friends’ charade for a single day. Then again, her mother had already worked out there was something between the two of them so it didn’t really matter. But this was unprecedented, this level of intimacy. Ember swallowed nervously, her heart beating an erratic rhythm in her chest.

  “But I’m not going to because that would be unfair on you. You have no idea how much of a concession that is on my part,” Reid continued, sliding a hand to her butt and squeezing, eliciting an unintentional, soft sigh from her. As devilish as he was, Reid didn’t usually say things like what he was saying right now, and it was driving her mad. “It’s almost impossible for me to just hold you like this when I know that, really, you want more,” he whispered, one hand still on her butt while the other snaked round her shoulder blades. He spoke into her neck and she felt sparks fly over her skin, her heart rate increasing until she was sure her heart would stop at any moment. “Do you have any idea what kind of effect you have on me?” he asked, his cool breath spilling over her neck and making her shiver with pleasure.

  “No idea what so ever,” Ember replied breathlessly as he kissed her throat, touched his teeth to her skin teasingly. She felt the sharp edges of his fangs. More sparks, more flames and more tingles. Her skin was prickling. Using the hand on her butt, Reid pushed her hips more firmly into his and her eyes widened as she got a very good idea of just what kind of effect she was having on him at the moment. She bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood.

  “Now do you realise how much I want you? How much I hate your damned self-control? How much I have to hold back around you?” His voice was a purr in the curve of her neck, his lips brushing her skin as he spoke. Ember was too breathless to reply, and almost too far gone to realise he was desperately trying to seduce her out of her common sense. Almost. She was about to protest but lost the nerve as he gently nipped her flesh in his teeth. She gasped, felt rationality slipping away from her, out of reach. She very nearly dropped her control completely as his hand slid up under her shirt to her bra clasp. His skin was so warm and smooth on hers, felt so good.

  “Reid-” she breathed, finding some semblance of self-control and ready to resist. Unfortunately, before she could protest, someone else did for her.

  “Ember!” A sharp voice cut across the room, and Ember cringed. Oh, shite! Please, God, no! Ember felt her face burning as she leaped away from Reid and turned to her mother. Mrs Jennings, standing in the doorway, looked furious and shocked, her face red with anger and her eyes glinting. Ember searched desperately for the words to make this torture end. “Mum, look, we weren’t- I mean, I wasn’t- We weren’t going to…” she gasped, trailing off as she saw the darkness in her mother’s eyes.

  “I’d thought better of you Ember. I believed you earlier when you said you hadn’t. But now I’m not so sure.” Mrs Jennings shook her head in disappointment at her daughter. The woman had only been here a few hours and she was already making Ember’s life hell. This was more or less what Ember had dreaded to start with. Someone just kill me now, she thought wearily.

  “Mrs Jennings, it wasn’t Ember’s fault. She was about to stop me I know she was. We weren’t going to do anything more, I swear it. Whatever Ember told you about our… um, relationship, she was telling the truth. Your daughter has outstanding self-respect and I’d never degrade that.”

  Ember had almost forgotten Reid was still here until he spoke in her defence. She felt a tiny, grateful smile touch her lips. Mrs Jennings, though, still looked unhappy; in fact, even more so as she turned her glare on Reid. “Well, yes, I can believe she would contain herself appropriately. It’s you I’m worried about.”

  Ember wondered achingly what had happened to her mother’s earlier playful mood. “Mum! He’s not pressuring me or anything!” Ember gasped at what her mother was implying, blushing furiously at the words she forced herself to say. This is ridiculous! Reid looked stony-faced, clearly unhappy and angry at such accusations. But he controlled his temper, presumably for Ember’s sake. Seeing his anger reminded Ember of her own explosive temper, and of the fact that this was her mother. The woman she’d fought with countless times since she was able to talk. It didn’t make a difference where they were or why she was here, Ember wanted to argue back. It was in her nature. “And anyway, I’m sixteen! I’m legally old enough to have sex if I want to! It’s my life and my body to do what I please with!” she practically screamed the words viciously at her mother’s astonished, furious face.

  “Ember Jennings, you will not talk to me that way! And if I find you’ve been having sex with this boy, I will-” Hearing her mother speak to her like she was a small child, pissed Ember off beyond description, but she’d gotten good at channelling her anger into snide, smug answers.

  “You’ll what?” she smirked, deliberately making her tone cold and arrogant. Her mother seemed at a loss for words and, shooting her daughter a murderous glare, turned on her heel and left, slamming the door behind her hard enough to rattle the bookcase against the wall. Ember grinned in triumph but it was forced. She wanted to punch something repeatedly.

  “Jesus, I thought you only spoke to me and the school bitches that way.” Reid sounded both impressed and a little shaken. He obviously hadn’t expected her outburst any more than her mother had. He was right to be shaken. Ember sometimes wondered if she should get some therapy, anger management classes.

  “Yeah, well, I had to learn my wit somewhere. And practicing lines in arguments against her was the best way,” Ember replied bitterly. She and her mother had always had a strained relationship because she’d always felt neglected next to her younger brother; the ever-perfect, angelic, Josh. Her brother was smart and well mannered and had little trouble keeping his temper in check… when their parents were around. The rest of the time, he was the little brother from hell.

  “Look, I’m sorry about this. I really didn’t mean us to get caught and I didn’t mean to get you in so much trouble.” Reid was actually, seriously apologising, and sounding sincere doing it. Ember looked at him and saw that his expression was one of guilt and regret.

  Ember took a deep, deep breath and let it out slowly. The burning rage in her chest was starting to cool, but her hands were trembling. She curled them into fists, closing her eyes and counting to twenty. When she opened her
eyes again, Reid was watching her cautiously, like she might explode again. She forced a reassuring smile. Though he clearly didn’t buy it, Reid smiled back tensely, and told her that he had things to do. She suspected he just didn’t want to be around her until she calmed down, likely fearing she’d take out her anger on him. Truth was, she probably would. She let him leave without any protest, and gritted her teeth.

  As soon as he was gone, Ember picked up the nearest non-breakable object - which happened to be a hairbrush - and lobbed it at the wall. It hit with a satisfying thud and tumbled to the floor. She felt a little better for that and sank to the floor herself. What was she going to do now? She had to apologise to her mother… eventually. Not right now. They both needed to cool off first.

  That was when Ember realised her outburst may have been reinforced by the warm hormones swimming in her system after Reid’s attentions. Damn. That would explain the dizziness too. She sighed and apologised pointlessly to the wall where she’d whacked it with the hairbrush, returning the hairbrush to its desk. Why was her life so damned complicated all the time?

  Tuesday, 21 September. Ember, reluctantly, apologised to her mother and explained what she’d walked in on.

  “Mum, I swear, we were going to stop right there just as you walked in. I let it go a little too far that time, but that’s the furthest we’ve gone at all! I know I’m not ready for that yet and Reid knows it too. He would stop the second I asked him to, no matter how much he…” Ember shut up, realising she was probably not helping by continuing that sentence.

  They were in her mother’s temporary room in the visitors’ dorm, and Ember stood by the door, ready to make a hasty retreat. The rooms in the visitors’ dorm were exactly the same as the rooms in the students’ dorm, only dustier, since they were rarely used. Mrs Jennings sat on the bed and didn’t speak, stared at Ember with narrowed eyes and a cold, shut expression. Ember grew exasperated quickly.