Tempting Darkness

"What's the next class?" I asked, changing the subject.

Darius eyed me suspiciously, and Kalen stared at me. His eyes were more around my body than on me, so I knew he was assessing my aura, making me nervous about what he was seeing. I was careful not to let it touch my lighter side, but I wasn't sure exactly how auras worked. I could feel them but not see them the way he did. "You have a theory class with Darius," Lycus said, oblivious to the strange questioning tension surrounding us.

"Come on, we will be late," Darius said, though the look on his face never changed. I reluctantly followed him to the classroom.

When Kalen wandered into the room with me, I stopped and looked at him.

"Darius said I could join you." He smiled, bumping my shoulder and pointing to a desk next to Darius's. With a sigh, I pulled the chair out and sat in it. Kalen sat beside me.

The lecture was boring, and I felt extremely exhausted and heavy. Kalen nudged me halfway through.

"You okay?" he whispered, and I nodded, feeling sluggish.

Only a few minutes after he asked, my stomach cramped and twisted painfully. Forgetting about the shredding with my excitement of being trusted with magic earlier, it wasn't until I felt my underwear dampen that I gasped.

Moving my legs, I hoped I had imagined it. When I did, horror washed over me, and I glanced down at my jeans to find a small red stain on my inner thigh. Glancing around the room, everyone was deep into discussing whatever the heck Darius was talking about. Sweat began to bead on the back of my neck as the cramping got worse, and I felt nauseous. My chair screeched as I slid it back before running from the room.

"Aleera?" Darius snapped, but I didn't stop. Instead, I took off, wanting to get back to my old room. Please, please, please, I prayed before I felt my pants become saturated. The sounds of people walking in my direction had me rush into the first bathroom I came

across.

I bolted into the cubicle, locked the door, and dread filled me. How did I forget? I felt the blood drain from my face when I found my pants completely soaked; I could feel blood trailing down my legs and filling my shoes.

For six years, I had put off the shredding, and now I knew why they said not to. Still, I had no choice. However, I regretted that now, as my feet became slippery on the tiled floor. I looked like I was bleeding to death, my blue jeans now soaked red; frantically, I started ripping toilet paper out of the holder, trying to clean it up. It was no use, and I was mortified. How would I get back to my room, and what would happen tomorrow when it was over and I started shredding my non-existent power? Struggling to see through my blurred vision from the bloody tears I was shedding, I tried to clean the mess I was making, the tiles beneath me pooling with blood. My tears made the mess worse. It was another side-effect of shredding; our tear ducts changed. Our entire body changed for the shredding. Even my tears had turned to blood.

Giving up, I sat on the toilet. I had no idea how long I was in there, but I couldn't bring myself to open the door and have everyone see me like this. It wasn't bad enough that I was tormented daily and now had to be tortured over something I had no control over. Shame washed through me.

"She hasn't run. She wouldn't, Darius," Kalen told Darius as I heard everyone searching for me in the halls outside the bathroom. My face heated at the idea of them finding me in this state. Yet, I was in too much pain and too embarrassed to ask for their help. I wiped my bloody tears. I knew I was smearing blood over my face, but what else could I do? The tears wouldn't stop, just like the damn shredding wouldn't. My stomach felt like it was twisting in knots. I would be stuck like this for at least the next twenty-four hours, although I wasn't sure since I had avoided this for six years on the run. If this were anything to go off, maybe, it would last longer.

"F*****g find her!" I heard Darius scream angrily at someone before hearing Tobias's voice, and my stomach dropped.

"Can anyone else smell blood?" he asked.

Darius's yelling was cut off. I listened to the bathroom door jiggle. My heart beat frantically in my ears as the door was pushed open.

I stood up, trying to find an escape, but found none when I heard it creak open all the way. I held my hand on the cubicle door. Tobias growled, and the sound was more like a savage beast. "Get him out!" Darius snapped at someone.

"Is she hurt?" I heard Kalen ask, and my cheeks flamed when I heard one of them sniff the air.

"Aleera, I know you're in here. Open the f*****g door. You don't just run out of my class," Darius growled.

"I said get him out!" Darius roared. I heard a struggle, then the door shut as Lycus was pushing who I assumed was Tobias out of the room.

My lip quivered; my vision blurred worse and tinged red.

"Aleera, open the door," Darius snarled, pulling on the handle. A sob tore out of me as I panicked, looking between the gap that went to the next cubicle over, but I was not going to fit through it.

Darius growled before kicking the door. It flew inward, and I screamed at the bang before dropping down and trying to cover myself. Blood coated the floor and me, my hands covered in it from trying to clean it up, and Darius gasped. Yet I couldn't even look up to meet his gaze. I was far too embarrassed.

"Is she alright? What is it?" Kalen asked.

I looked up to see Darius just staring at me before looking over his shoulder at Kalen, whom I couldn't see.

"She is fine. Just go," Darius told him.

"What?" Kalen asked.

"I said go. Go check on Tobias," Darius told him.

"What? No. Aleera?" Kalen stepped closer, coming into view. He gasped as he peered into the cubicle.

Darius growled at him, but Kalen pushed past him before reaching for me. I pulled my bloody hand away from him when he tried to grab it. Kalen looked over his shoulder at Darius, and I swallowed at the pitiful look they both gave me.

"Find her some fresh clothes," Darius murmured, putting his hand on Kalen's shoulder, who didn't look like he knew what to do. Hell, I didn't even know, and it was my body. Kalen nodded before rushing off.

Darius crouched down, and I looked away from him. "This is why you wanted the devil's bane. You weren't running, were you?" Darius asked. I swallowed and nodded, and he sighed.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," he murmured, and I looked at him, horrified at the thought of stepping out of this cubicle.

"I am not going out there. They will see me," I panicked before pressing my face into my knees. However, the tears wouldn't stop making this already gory scene worse.

Darius moved beside me before I felt his hand smooth down the back of my hair. Never in all my life had I been so embarrassed. I was just glad this didn't happen in the mess hall; I thought that was the most embarrassing thing I would face. Oh, how wrong I was. Darius sighed when I felt arms go underneath my legs and behind my back, making me jump and try to move away from him. "Stop, don't. I'm bleeding all over you," I cried, flustered.

Darius ignored me and just scooped me up off the floor. "It's just blood. I'm not squeamish," he murmured, pressing his face into my neck.

I looked at the mess on the floor, knowing someone would see it when I felt his skin heat. He moved his fingers, the tiles catching on fire. The blood staining the floor evaporated and burned off the tiles before I felt the room shudder. He turned, stepping through a portal and into the bathroom attached to our rooms. He sat me on the edge of the bathtub before turning toward the shower, just as Kalen suddenly rushed in with towels and clothes before coming over to me. He cupped my face in his hands.

"It's fine, nothing to be embarrassed about," Kalen whispered before kissing my forehead when I noticed Darius started stripping his clothes off. Kalen glanced out over to him, and he bit his lip. "Find some feminine products. Surely we have something here she can use until I can take her to town," Darius said.

Though, I doubted that. What would an army of men do with feminine products? Kalen rushed out and shut the door while I peered over at Darius, who stood with his briefs drenched in my blood.

Darius tested the water temperature with his hand before walking over to me; he stopped in front of me before gripping my arms and pulling me to my feet. My face heated, my skin was prickling with heat, and my stomach cramped. I hunched forward slightly, the pain unbearable, when Darius started undoing my pants' button and zip. I grabbed his hand.

"Don't. This is embarrassing enough," I muttered, but he shook my hand off, ignoring me, and I was forced to grab his shoulder when he shoved my pants down that were sticking to my skin. I hissed, feeling like I was suddenly waxed.

"Sorry," Darius murmured before gripping my panties and tugging them down. I stepped out of them, looking anywhere but at him, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

I removed my top coated in blood from crying when I felt Darius undo the zip in the middle of my sports bra, making me quickly clutch the front closed.

"Seriously? I have already seen them, just like the rest of you," he said.

I sighed before turning and tugging my arms out of it. Darius moved toward the shower and motioned for me to get in. I stepped into the shower; the warm water helped, and the floor turned red as my humiliation washed down the drain along with any dignity I had left. Darius stepped in behind me and moved the shower head higher so it sprayed toward the wall near the seating piece before sitting down on the shower recess.

He gripped my wrist, tugging me onto his lap. I tried to get off him, but he wrapped his arm around my waist, holding me in place before reaching for the soap. My stomach cramping made me squirm when I felt his hand heat against my stomach. The extra heat helped, and I leaned against him.

"You should have reminded us of the shredding. Why didn't you say anything? I would have made sure we had feminine products."

"I was going to stop it. That's why I wanted the devil's bane."

"That's how you managed while running?"

I nodded, and my body tensed as pain rippled through me, and he pushed harder on my stomach, his hand heating more.

"I will take you to town once we find something to hold you over," Darius murmured behind me. Blood trailed down his legs from me sitting on his lap, my eyes moving to the steady stream, and I tried to wash it off when he grabbed my hand, tugging it back onto my lap. "It's fine, Aleera. It's not the first time I have been covered in blood."

I shuddered at the memory of the exploded demons and gory, bloody limbs from the mess hall when he tore apart Zac and his friends for their wandering hands. The door opened, and Lycus and Kalen came in, holding fistfuls full of cotton buds and medical supplies.

"Really, Kalen, a Band-Aid?" Darius asked, and Lycus nudged him.

"I found a wound dressing?" Lycus said, holding it up, and Darius growled at him while shaking his head.

"Find a wash cloth or something. What the heck is she going to do with a Band-Aid?" Darius said while I was too busy staring at the wall. It was sweet that they were trying to help, but they were just making an already awkward situation more embarrassing. "Out, you are both bloody useless. Where is Tobias?"

"In the room, trying not to come in here and gobble her up," Kalen snickered.

"Out, both of you and get my car ready," Darius told Lycus, who nodded.

"You're driving into town?"

"Yes. Now, go," Darius hissed at them, and they both left.

"Do you want to come with me? I am not really sure about buying tampons. Wait, do you use tampons?" He shook his head, obviously finding this topic of conversation just as awkward.

"No. I have never shredded before," I told him, my face flushing.

"Well, we can both be clueless together then."