Inside the Fire Book One in the Warden's Series (31 page)

I tried to brush off the whole ordeal, but
it was deeming difficult to do so. I reached over and flipped the
radio on and was comforted by the squealing guitars of heavy metal,
instantly I was able to lose myself in my imagination.

Stupid Girl

I pulled into Adam’s driveway as he and his
father was getting out of the car. His dad gave me a slight wave
and headed towards the front door while Adam hung back to meet me.
His father was a nice man, I had only met him a time or two but he
was always very pleasant. His father was very quiet, rarely struck
up a conversation with people he didn't know. He said his dad
hadn't been the same since his mother left three years earlier.

He looked nice today, a white button down
shirt over blue jeans and black Doc Martins. I found it fitting for
the image of the innocent white knight Hell bent on running away
from love and all the things that came with it. I have to admit I
think watching his parents’ marriage fall apart is the main reason
he was so guarded when it came to anything love. You could just
think the word in your head and watch his face turn green.

“Hey there stranger.” He said as he wrapped
his arms around me in a warm hug.

“Hey there yourself.” I said as he squeezed
me hard. I fought to catch my breath as I felt the bones in my back
begin to pop.

“So I was thinking we could just have lunch
here. I only have a few hours till my mother gets here." I
frowned.

I thought that I would have more time than
just a few hours.

“That sucks.” I said softly.

He looked at my pouty face and smirked.

“I have some family party at my
grandparents’ house this afternoon. I figure though we can chat for
a few hours and you can leave right before she gets here.” I nodded
in agreement as I followed him inside the two story brick
house.

“I’m making grilled cheese and tomato soup,
does that sound good you two?” His father yelled when the front
door closed.

“Yeah dad, that sounds great.” Adam yelled
back. “So tell me about you and Aaron?” He teased me.

He couldn’t even let me get into the house
before grilling me on my love life. I had forgotten how great it
was to have a friend constantly plunge into your life.

“What is there to tell?” I asked not really
understanding the fuss over me dating someone other than
Wesley.

“Rumor has it that it’s serious.” He bat his
eyes at me and laughed.

“Good lord.” I breathed. “No it is not
serious. We have spent the last two nights together. He met my
father that is really the extent of the seriousness.”

“Oh my, so he has met the mysterious father
figure." He teased me then suddenly looked at me sticking his lip
out like a toddler. “I’m hurt since I have yet to meet the man that
sired you.”

I punched him playfully, and he laughed. “So
I’m assuming that you are still holding out thinking that Wesley is
going to come back around? I don't understand what you ever saw in
that boy in the first place. He was rude, and he dressed funny.”
Adam led me up the stairs into his room where we sat down on the
gaming couch as he turned on the TV.

“Nope, I cannot be with someone that finds
it necessary to cheat. What do you mean he dressed funny?” I felt
my fingers itch, and I sat on my hands just in case.

“I don't know. I figured I needed something
other than the fact that he was rude. Aaron is a nice guy and all
but he has his secrets just like Wesley did.” He looked at me and
gave me a smug smile. “There were some rumors last year that he
spent the previous summer in a rehabilitation camp for drug abuse.
However nobody ever saw him do anything, so it was wiped off as
just a rumor.” Adam reached over and turned on his X-box and
grabbed two controls tossing one onto my lap.

I started at it blankly.

Did he really think that I would play video
games with him?

“Well you know what they say about rumors.”
I said deciding a few rounds of Halo weren’t going to kill me.

“That there is some truth in them?” He asked
flopping down on the couch next to me and starting the game.

“That isn’t exactly what I was going for.” I
sighed. “He’s a nice guy. I have fun with him even though our first
date was crashed by Wesley and Miranda.”

“Oh Hell, I bet that was painful. Seeing him
with her.” He said something under his breath that I couldn’t make
out.

“I think it hurt him more to see me with
Aaron then it was for me to see him with her. Maybe I’m over it,
who knows. Maybe we really are too young to know what love really
is.” I said softly. “I don’t foresee this thing with Aaron lasting
long but it is nice to have someone around that says that they want
to fix you.”

“Fix you huh?” He laughed. “That’s one Hell
of a pick-up line. I’m going to have to remember that one.”

“Since we are on the subject of those we are
dating, how’s Nadine?” I asked simply wanting to change the
subject.

“She’s good, she’s been dealing with some
family issues here recently so we haven’t seen each other. She
texts me all day every day wanting to know what I’ve eaten and
where I’ve been.” He sounded annoyed.

“You still plan on ending things with her?”
I asked listening to him growl as his character died in the game. I
smiled to myself. Though I rarely play video games I am very good
at them.

“At some point yeah. She’s still Hell bent
on getting me to fall in love with her. I keep telling her we are
too young and I still have one more year of high school after this
one I’m not ready to start picking out china patterns.” He glanced
at me, there was something different in his eyes they seemed warmer
than usual.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hear spring is
the best time to get married,” He reached over and punched me
softly on the arm.

“Not funny Weathers, not funny at all.” I
always knew he was playing with me when he called me by my last
name.

We played the game until his father called
us down for lunch. We all sat together at the table eating our
grilled cheese and tomato soup. His father was quiet and kept
glancing between the two of us before he finally spoke.

“So Dawn, what are your plans for college?”
he said between bites.

I had never been asked this question, so I
wasn’t sure how I supposed to answer. My mother never imprinted the
image of college in my head like most kids mothers. The thought of
me being out of school seemed more of a reason for us to travel
more, see the world. My mother had so many places she wanted to go.
So many people she wanted to save.

“I’m not sure, Mr. Snyder.” I paused and
looked at Adam. He had this horrified look on his face. “More than
likely I will wind up taking some classes at the community college.
My mother wants to take some time to visit family after I get out
of school.”

“That sounds like fun.” He said softly, then
without a hesitation, “You excited about prom?”

Where were these questions coming from?

I blinked and felt a nudge on my thigh and
Adam cleared his throat.

“Oh, of course, super stoked.” I lied. I
hadn’t even thought about prom let alone graduation.

So much was going on I didn’t even realize
that it was more than half way through the year. After a few more
minutes of uncomfortable conversation Mr. Snyder excused himself
from the table and left the room.

“Of course!” Adam laughed picking up my bowl
and plate and walking to the sink. “You haven’t even thought about
it. Nadine is obsessing over what she is going to wear already. We
are two months out and she’s already making plans.” He rolled his
eyes and rinsed the dishes. “You know if I didn’t know you already
I would be questioning your sanity. You are nothing like the other
girls at school.”

“I’ll take that as a complement.” I laughed
feeling great after having a normal lunch with a normal family
talking about normal things.

It wasn’t long after lunch when Adam’s mom
sent him a message stating that she was on her way to get him. I
had never met the woman, but he was scared she would have heart
failure if she met me. My smile alone could cause her to have an
aneurism, my laugh a full fledge heart attack. His mother was very
close minded so anything that didn’t match the same innocent
texture of her son was not supposed to be near him. He didn’t want
her to whip out a can of bitch-be-gone on me. We said our
farewells, and I departed his driveway right as his mother was
pulling in.

****

I didn’t want to go home right away, so I
sent Aaron a message and decided to stop at his place for a bit
just to see how he was doing. Since his run in with my father the
day before I wanted to make sure there was no neurological
damage.

I was still wrapping my mind around the
whole Daddy thing in the first place. There was no way of knowing
what kind of damage my father could have on a teenage brain.
Besides going home now was just going to make me start thinking,
and I didn’t want to think. I had been through enough for a day all
I wanted to do was forget all I knew for at least for an hour or
two more.

Aaron didn’t live far from Adam, just right
down the street. I hadn’t even cut the engine, and he was outside
opening my car door. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of
his face when I got out of the car. You would think this boy had
never seen a girl before as he smiled broadly. I didn’t know what
was catching his fancy. The dress was in no way revealing, the only
part of me that showed was my knees and maybe half of my
calves.

“I’m digging the outfit.” He said wrapping
his arms around my waist and pushing his lips to mine.

His kiss seemed heated and intense as he
forced my lips open taking the kiss deeper than any of the others
we had shared. He pressed me against my car his body molding to
mine as he hands lingered up and down my sides. I wasn’t sure if I
wanted what he wanted, that much was for certain. He pulled away
from me panting and stepped back looking at me again. I couldn’t
understand the lust on his face. His eyes were glassy, his pupils
dilated, and he wouldn’t take his hands off of me from the time we
left my car till we were in the living room of his upper class
home.

He brought me a Dr. Pepper from the kitchen
and sat down on the couch next to me. The TV was off, but the radio
was on, old school Limp Bizkut playing softly from the speakers,
and a book I had never read was lying face down on the arm of the
couch. I didn’t have the chance to read the title or get the name
of the author before his lips crashed into mine again just as
heated as they had been outside.

The only difference now was that we were out
of the public eye so his hands wandered from my waste to my neck
and then gradually down to my chest. I jumped when I felt his hands
on my breasts. I gasped and pulled away from him looking him in the
face trying to figure out what exactly he was doing.

This didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like
we were supposed to be at this point yet. Yes, I had slept with
Wesley after knowing him for a short period but this was different.
There was a connection there that I didn’t have with Aaron. I would
describe it as some primal calling that had to be tamed. Now I was
just feeling queasy like it was my first time all over again. This
nervous flutter was in the pit of my stomach pestering me.

“I’m sorry.” He breathed sitting up and
glancing at me out of the corner of his eyes.

“No, it’s ok I was just not expecting that
is all.” I breathed straightening my skirt that had somehow ridden
up mid-thigh.

“I just thought that...” He stopped himself.
“Never mind.”

“No, what?” I asked softly inching a little
closer to him.

I liked the boy well enough I just wasn’t
sure I was ready to add another notch to my bedpost quite this
quickly. Then again Wesley had wasted no time by being with
Miranda. This in no way made me question my feelings for Wesley. I
still loved him. I just wasn’t with him.

How does that even work, how could he not
tell that she wasn’t human?

I mean you would think he could feel her
coldness with every inch of his naked flesh. The images in my head
made me shiver, and the thought made me want to gouge my eyes out
with a spork.

I suddenly felt a hardening in my heart and
without thinking I pressed my lips to Aaron’s hard and hungry. Here
I was again, and my demonic side was fighting to lose control. I
felt hunger and guilt, elated and scared. I felt like I had an
angel and a demon on my shoulder telling me what I should do and
what I shouldn't. Both of them whispering in my ears to give in to
my animal instincts and I was.

Panting and biting, clawing and groaning my
heart pounding my veins icy and I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing
for the boy just this immense want and need to own him to make him
bend to my will, to corrupt whatever innocence was left in him. I
felt something change, but I didn't care I would own his soul.

I let his hands wander; we didn’t have to go
all the way I could let a little go at a time.

How else was I going to heal from everything
that had happened to me?

Aaron’s hands were firmly on my hips and he
was pulling me up to my feet his lips still attached to mine. In
heated visions I started clawing at his shirt biting his flesh
relishing in the fact that his soul was about to be mine.

I’m not exactly sure what happened. One
second I’m standing there so much heat radiating through my body
not giving a damn about anything staring at this absolutely
gorgeous blonde haired boy. The next I’m suddenly back in that
alleyway behind the club staring into the black eyes of my
assailant. Before I knew it I screamed pushing Aaron away from me
only it wasn’t Aaron I was seeing, it was John.