My Soul to Reap (Archived)

Dark Circles

I didn't say a word as he led me away from the house. The neighbourhood seemed a little less sketchy in daylight, but his suit and posture was still attracting attention. I trailed behind him, trying to study his movement. He'd said that the twins were his friends, but at this point that was looking less and less likely. They seemed a lot more like his bosses, people he had to keep happy. If he was as scared of them as I was he certainly didn't show it, glaring down the few people who though it was a good idea to try and pickpocket him. I frowned at the distance between Brie's house and us, since we seemed to be walking to wherever the girl in question was. And if she was this close, then they would have had all this time to- no. I shook my head fiercely, trying to rid myself of images from religion textbooks of hell. Even if they were demons, they wouldn't do anything to Brie unprovoked, would they? I felt a growing sense of dread as we turned corners and I effectively lost my bearing.

I was relying entirely on Aryan, which wasn't something I wanted to be doing. I hung back as a result, the unshakable feeling that something was wrong making me nervous. It was only after a while that I figured at least part of it out- Aryan was in the sunlight without a problem. I swallowed hard, stopping and then forcing myself to walk forwards and breath normally. But he hadn't been kidding, apparently, nothing that would normally kill a vampire would affect him. Which meant that I had no chance against him. The revelation made me stop again, in the middle if some seedy alley with pipes snaking up brick walls. Not the best place for a confrontation, I realized, but it was pretty much my only choice. He stopped but didn't turn around, instead he looked like he was searching for someone. No, I corrected myself, he was searching for witnesses. Because his patience had to be wearing thin at this point.

In one swift motion he pinned me against the wall, hands on either side of my shoulders, and I cursed as I realized my hands were trapped against his chest. I pushed him away even though I knew it wouldn't do any good, and poured as much hatred into my glare as I could. But his eyes looked soft, and it made me pause. He breathed out a sigh, and I stopped struggling.

"Cammie," he said, quietly so even if there was someone around they wouldn't hear him. "I don't want you to join them." I frowned in utter confusion. It was like an act had been dropped, the arrogant ass he'd been the whole time gone.

"Wait, what? A few hours ago you pretty much threatened me if I didn't!" I couldn't help raising my voice, and he shushed me, leaning closer. I gulped.

"They were watching," he hissed, and realizing how close he'd gotten be backed off a little, giving me space to breathe. "And now they aren't. So listen to me, and listen carefully. Never summon them again. Get away from the reaper as fast as you can and run, run as far away as you can get and never try and get caught up in this again." It was obvious that he was either a very good liar or actually not as bad as he seemed. It wasn't a hard guess. I used his distraction to push him off, fuming.

"I wasn't the one who attacked and killed a girl!" I spat. "It's hardly my fault any of this happened!" I was furious. How dare he think he could play the good guy when this was all his fault? He stumbled back in surprise rather than the actual force of my push, but the result was the same.

"Cammie, I can't explain right now. Please, just trust me." He was speaking so calmly that it pissed me off, but there was something in the way his eyes were roving around, looking for something, that made me drop it. He was scared, just as scared as me if not more. And he was at least kind of trying to help me.

"I won't trust you," I said stubbornly. He sighed, looking like he was about to interject. I kept going. "But there's also no way in hell I trust them." He seemed satisfied by that, and started leading me again, like conversation had never happened. I followed him, confused, until I realized he might actually have been telling the truth. Maybe- and it was a big maybe- the twins had enough power over him that he had to put on an act all the time. Maybe it hadn't been his choice to kill me after all.