Fayre

I used to think that my energy spiked whenever I see Ruen because he made me angry. But after this morning, I realized that I get sudden bursts of energy whenever Ruen is near. It’s weird. The closer he gets to me, the stronger I feel. I stay energized for a short while after he’s gone but then, sadly, it fizzles out.

The last time I saw him today was in the first period, and right now I’m drained and it’s only the third period. I’m moving so slowly and by the time I get the papers that I forgot from the locker, the hallway is almost deserted. The bell rings as I head for chemistry lab and I would have crawled there if it could get me there faster.

Labs are mostly on the North Wing of the main building. The hallway leading to the labs is long and imposing. One side of the corridor is filled with big, arched windows. Stone head busts of various scholars decorated the other side. My footsteps echo the cavernous hallway.

A loud cawing draws my attention. A crow is perched on the windowsill outside. It looks like any other crows but its sharp, intelligent, and malicious eyes are staring right at me. Its inky black feathers gleam in the sun. It jumps from one window to the next, following me as I trudge along the silent hallway as if it’s taunting me. The hair at the back of my neck rises and my spine and my fingers tingle in a warning.

“Oompphh..” I run smack into a hard and warm wall of muscle. Two hands settle on my back to steady me. My body tingles with a different kind of energy and reason. “I’m so sorry,” I start to apologize. “I wasn’t looking where I was....” My eyes meet with brilliant blues surrounded by thick black lashes. “...going.” I straighten up and his hands fall to his side.“Ruen...” I suck in a deep breath. The scent of the forest fills me. The air is thick between us. The energy flows from his body to mine and from mine to his. It’s as if we’re feeding off each other’s energy. Our eyes locked until someone clears his throat.

Finley is standing behind him, looking amused.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” I apologize again, mainly to dispel this awkwardness and awareness between us.

Ruen steps back but keeps his eyes on me. “What were you looking at?”

“There’s this crow...there.” I point at the window.

“A crow?” Ruen suddenly grasps my upper arms and pulls me away from the window.

Finley’s amused smile instantly vanished and he practically jumps to the window. “Where?” he asks, leaning close to the glass to look outside.

“It was standing right there on the windowsill,” I tell him. The crow is no longer there. “Maybe you scared it away.”

Finley mutters a string of unintelligible words under his breath. It sounds like a curse to me but I can’t be sure.

Ruen keeps his firm hold on me. The warmth of his hands seeps through the fabric of my uniform and my energy surges in waves. He places his body between me and the window like he’s shielding me.

The two boys look at each other as if they’re communicating without words. Their expressions grim.

After a while, Ruen turns his vivid blue gaze back to me and Finley returns his watchful and wary eyes back toward the window.

Ruen’s grip on my arms tightens before he says, “Fayre...”

My whole body freezes. No, no, no... This isn’t right. I must still be dreaming. I try to move away. I want to run but his hold on me is firm and unbreakable. “My name is Melissa,” I tell him. “My name is Melissa Crawford.”

Something like pain flashed in his blue eyes and his jaw hardens. “Fayre,” he firmly repeats. “Your true name is Fayre and I refuse to call you by the name given to you by the mortals.”

I shake my head in denial but he continues, “We need to talk. Come with us, Fayre.”

I suddenly remember mom’s cryptic words from this morning. “You’ll always stay with me, won’t you, darling? If someone came to take you away, you won’t go with them. You’d tell them that you want to stay with me forever.” Is this what she was talking about? “I can’t,” I tell him.

“You’re in danger and time is running out for both of us. We need to talk. Please, come with us. Our lives depend on it, a Ghrá mo Chroí,” he says. “Your light is dying. Don’t you feel it? Fayre, I’m dying too.”

His words struck me right in the chest. I’ve known for a long time that I’m dying but the thought of him dying destroys me. I know he’s speaking the truth and my heart is splintering into a million pieces but I can’t go with them. I shake my head as words stuck in my throat.

His eyes search mine as if he’s looking for some missing piece of me. Something deeper. “Don’t you love me, Fayre?” he whispers.

“I can’t,” I whisper back brokenly. Something close to devastation and hurt mar his expression before the shutters of thick eyelashes come down as he closes his eyes. Pain sliced through me when he lets go of my arms. He turns around and moves to stand by the window with his hands bracing the frame. I can’t see the expression on his face but his body is tense. I can see the definition of the taut muscle of his shoulders, arms, and back even through the thick fabric of his navy blazer.

“Look, I need to get to class,” I tell them, backing away. Maybe they’re the ones that mom told me to stay away from.

“Didn’t you hear us at all, Fayre?” Finley is suddenly standing in front of me. “You’re dying! You’re dying and he’s dying and you’re concerned about getting to some mortal class?” His hand comes up to hold my shoulder to stop me from running off. “Listen to me. You are NOT. LIKE. THEM. You don’t belong here. You belong with us. Come with us. Please, little one.”

Little one? Where did I hear that before? That name strikes a chord inside but my mind draws a blank. “I don’t know who you are and I’m very late for chemistry. I really have to go now,” I tell him.

Finley reels back as if I struck him. He stares at me in disbelief.

I do need to get to class. The school might call my mom if I didn’t show up for the class on time again, then I would have to deal with her and her questions. I would have to tell her about Ruen and Finley. For some reason, I don’t want her to know about Ruen and Finley. “I think you’ve got the wrong person. I need to go.” I’m breaking up inside.

Finley removes his hand from my shoulder and curls his hands into fists by his side. His jaw clenches. A storm is brewing behind his eyes. The electric green is now a dark, turbulent, grey-ish green. It suddenly grows windy, which is strange considering the hallway is closed off, even the windows are sealed. The wind picks up and my hair, my skirt, and my tie whip violently around me.

“Thane,” says Ruen. His tone is full of warning.

The wind keeps getting stronger until the hallway becomes a tunnel filled with the wailing, resembling that of a banshee. I hug my bag to my chest as I’m being pushed toward the wall. The glass windows rattle and a couple of the stone head busts topple over. The air is being sucked from my lungs. My glasses tilt to the side, and before I manage to grab it, it falls and smashes against the side of a block stone that holds one of the head busts.

Ruen grabs my arms and brings me to his chest, shielding me from the forceful wind and the rattling windows.

“Thane, stop!” hollers Ruen above the howling wind. “Stop or you’re going to hurt her!”

The storm in Finley’s eyes disappears and the wind dies down as swiftly as it started. I stand there, pressed up against Ruen’s chest while Finley stares at me. Then he fixes his gaze on the floor. His shiny golden locks fall into his eyes. His jaw moves, clenched and unclenched. I don’t know what he’s thinking. Is he mad at me? A moment later, he strides away. His head is bent and his fists are shoved deep inside his pants’ pockets.

I look up to find Ruen staring after Finley’s retreating back before he turns his attention back to me. His eyes are searching mine again, trying to find...something. We stand there, staring at each other with that energy pulsing between us. This time, without my glasses, I feel like I have nowhere to hide. I step back, fighting against the powerful energy that pulls us together. I had felt safe in his arms. Safe and right. I tear my eyes away from his and look around for my glasses to avoid his penetrating gaze.

He watches my every movement in silence before he says, “He’s not mad at you.”

“Really? Could have fooled me,” I reply, as I bend down to pick up my glasses that’s lying broken on the ground. There’s no way for me to fix the glasses but I wipe it with the tail end of my blazer and slip it inside my bag.

“He’s mad at...everything else. The circumstances, himself, the mortals...”

He speaks as if he and Finley are not mortals. Not humans. But then again, after seeing what Finley is capable of doing, maybe they aren’t. Or maybe I’m going bonkers. Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe I’m never sane to begin with?

I see the evidence of Finley’s anger littering the hallway as I make my way to the chemistry lab. Ruen walks silently a few steps behind me. My steps are stronger. His energy is buzzing in me. His footsteps echo the hallway along with mine.

Everybody looks up when I enter the room with Ruen following closely behind me.

My eyes find Finley right away. Thane. Ruen called him Thane instead of Finley. Thane or Finley is sitting quietly near a window. He takes his eyes off the scene outside the window to look at us just like everybody else. He’s looking calm and undisturbed as if he didn’t just cause the destruction in that hallway.

Mischief and amusement suddenly enter his expression as his eyes move from Ruen to me and back again. At least now he doesn’t look like he’s about to destroy the building.

I’m amazed that Mr. Mendoza, our chemistry teacher is just getting ready to get started. The clock on the wall shows that we’re just on time for the class. I do a double take. How could that be? The hallway was deserted because I was late coming to class and my encounter with Ruen and Finley...or rather Thane must have taken at least twenty minutes even though it had felt a lot longer than that.

I frown as I slide into a seat closer to the front. I purposely pick an available chair in between two occupied seats so that Ruen or Thane won’t be able to sit beside me if they so wished.

Ruen folds his tall figure into a seat next to Thane but I can feel their eyes burning a hole on my back.

“Hey.” I tip my chin up toward my two new neighbors. On my left is a chubby girl with frizzy strawberry blonde hair and freckles all over her face. On my right is a skinny Asian boy with glasses and straight black hair. I don’t remember ever seeing them before. Or maybe I’ve been oblivious to the people outside my circle of friends all this time.

I spend time recalling what happened in the hallway with Ruen and Thane/Finley instead of focusing on what’s going on in the class. It’s hard to concentrate anyway, when I can feel their eyes on me all through the lesson.

I should be afraid, but I’m not. I know they’re dangerous but being with them feels right.