THE MURDERER AND I

chapter eight: the boys

We found ourselves at a run down loft in a dark neighborhood. I could hear loud yelling and laughing coming from inside.

"Just like I remember." Ryder whispered softly.

He walked up to the door, hesitating to knock.

"Go ahead." I urged him gently.

He knocked three times before anyone answered. The door opened slowly to reveal a muscular dark haired boy. I could see a few more boys peeking behind him. Some seemed to be young, around 14 or 15, while others seemed to be our age.

"Ryder!" The muscular boy yelled. "Where you been man?" He opened the door wide open to let Ryder in, while the other boys talked over on another, obviously excited to see Ryder.

"Umm..." Ryder cleared his throat nervously. "Guys, this is Bella. She's with me."

He stepped back to reveal me to the boys. They looked at me wide eyed. It was awkward for a second, but they welcomed me in too. The muscular guy didn't seem too happy about it though.

We entered the run down messy house, which was surprisingly warm. Maybe I was just too cold.

"Hey, thanks for letting us lay low here for  while." Ryder said to the muscular guy.

"Anything for my best bud." The muscular guy replied. I was guessing they were best friends or something.

"Hey Bella!" Ryder motioned to me. "C'mon over here, I'll introduce you to everyone."

I made my way over to him, and he put his arm around my shoulders as he named every boy one by one.

"This here's Scout." He pointed to a 14 year old boy with dirty blonde hair who gave me a goofy grin.

"Over here's Ace," I looked over to see a dark haired 15 year old boy with a strong build. His dark eyes were sharp, and I could tell his was angry at the world.

"Over here we got the infamous Fox," I looked the direction where he pointed to find a skinny red headed boy who looked like he could cause a catastrophe if he felt like it.

"And there's little Gunner." He gestured towards Gunner, and I expected to come face to face with another mean faced badass boy, but I saw a soft faced, skinny, brown eyes boy. I smiled at him, and he seemed to blush deeply. "He can fight real good." Ryder went on.

"And last but not least, this here's Jax." Ryder told me, playfully slapping the shoulder of the muscular guy from earlier. I smiled slightly, but he gave me a straight face.

"Are you forgetting someone?" A voice from behind me said. We all turned around to look at who and spoken.

"Who's this?" Ryder asked Jax, confusion on his face.

"He joined us a little while after you left." Jax explained.

"The names Phoenix." The 17 year old boy nodded. Ryder nodded back unsurely. "And you must be Ryder." Phoenix continued. "The boys talk about you a lot."

I stood there awkwardly until Phoenix spoke up.

"And who might you be?" He said slowly, his eyes scanning every inch of me.

"Bella..." I replied, dumbstruck. Finally getting a good look at him, he was unreal. His fair white skin almost blended into his shiny golden locks of golden hair. His deep blue eyes sent shiver down my spine, making me feel out of breath, as if I were swimming in an arctic ocean within his very own eyes.

"Bella who?" Phoenix continued. "What? Cats got your tongue?"

"Bella Lauder..." I said slowly. They all shrugged, but they obviously knew about me.

"I'll show you guys to the extra room." Jax spoke up, trying to ease the tension.

Jax led the way, and Ryder took my hand protectively, but I couldn't break my state with Phoenix. He winked at me, which only made me feel more dumbstruck.

As I entered the extra room, I heard the younger boys whispered between themselves, obviously discussing who I was, and what I had to do with Ryder.

But I could only focus on Phoenix. Something about him made me uncomfortable, but incredibly intrigued for some reason...