Chapter One
"So give me the scoop, who's here?" Sarah Wenham, fresh from summer, transfered from Boston, looked around inquisitively, her new roommate Kate next to her. Kate drew her gaze to a brown-haired guy, with some frizzy haired girl on his arm,
"First thing you need to know, Aaron Abbott, treats girls like dirt," Sarah giggled. Her attention was caught by a person moving through the crowd like a predator, his eyes searched, hungry for something, she nudged Kate,
"Who's that?" Kate turned and shrugged,
"New guy, don't know much about him. But I intend to find out." The two girls laughed and then were swept up in the party atmosphere, dancing to the music.
Across the beach, four figures were making their way over the sandbank, emerging from the darkness, one of them inclined his head towards another partygoer, in reply he got a wave and,
"Yo Caleb!" Kate's head snapped up, looking towards the figures, she pulled Sarah in,
"They're here," Sarah followed her gaze, saw the four figures, including the blond she had seen earlier that evening in the school. Her eyes searched for his again, but he wasn't looking at them, his attention otherwise engaged by some scantily clad freshman girls dancing nearby. She looked around at the others, one with clear, bright blue eyes, and dark messy hair, he looked younger then the the others, another was tall, dark, his eyes intense, and with a look of someone much older, finally there was a long haired one, with the sharpest eyes, who apparently knew Kate quite well, for she had left Sarah's side and run into his arms. Sarah barely registered this act, the blond one had finally turned his gaze on her, she could feel his eyes on her, burning through her, then Kate was speaking,
"Sarah, my new roommate, this is Pogue Parry, Tyler Simms, Reid..." The blond stepped forward, stuck out his hand and said with a smirk,
"Garwin, Reid Garwin. Good evening." Sarah giggled, took his hand and said,
"Good evening," she made to move her hand but he wouldn't release it, her skin began to tingle, like he was sending her electric sparks through his fingertips, then it was gone,
"You know Sarah's my Grandmothers name," Reid was knocked out the way by the last boy, he spoke with a deep, husky tone,
"Caleb Danvers, and you don't bring my Grandmother to mind in anyway." She blushed a little, then laughed nervously, and said her name again, as if he didn't know it,
"Good...I'm Sarah..." She even waved a little, feeling like an idiot she looked away from them. Both Reid and Caleb couldn't take their eyes of her, she almost looked up again but was unceremoniously shoved out the way by the frizzy haired bint from earlier, she put her hand on Caleb's arm and fluttered her eyelids,
"Hey Caleb, how was your summer," Caleb was hesitant, his eyes were still for Sarah, but Sarah was intent on watching Reid, the appearance of this girl clearly irked him. The frizz girl followed the line of Caleb's sight and turned to see what all the fuss was about, when she saw Sarah, she scowled,
"I'm Kira," Sarah smiled,
"Sarah, I just transfered the Boston public," Kira smirked, behind her Reid was making a face, akin to one a person made when seeing something truly foul, Sarah suppressed a giggle. The girl in front of her was making some smart arsed remark about where she was from when Caleb stepped in to defend her, his path, however was blocked by the boy Kate had pointed out to her earlier. Aaron Abbott. She watched as each of the Sons of Ipswich tensed up, all of them suddenly very much on guard. Reid caught her eye, the deep blue depths of them searched through her. She felt a shudder run down her spine, something was off about these boys, and she intended to get to the bottom of it. So distracted was she by the enigma of Reid Garwin, she missed the fight for her honour, even the new guy had stepped in, only to be broken from her reverie by Abbott's friend chucking up all down the pricks back. She laughed along with the others, though the air around crackled with something she couldn't quite make out, and she could have sworn she saw Reid's eyes flash a disturbing...never mind, she shook it off, she wouldn't want people to think she was a fruit loop, seeing things that weren't there. The music was cut off abruptly, over the speakers, the DJ called out,
"YO! Dylan just called, saw three cops cars headed this way on Old Dell Road!" Everyone was suddenly running off in all directions, Kate grabbed her hand and they followed the crowds back towards the forest, where most people had parked their cars. She vaguely registered people talking around her, the fact that Reid was walking close behind them was distracting, she kept having to fight the urge to look back over her shoulder, but all to soon they had reached her car. Chase was riding with them, a good faith gift considering he to had defended her honour. She looked to Tyler's hummer, to her disappointment Reid was already in before she could look at him, but Caleb was still watching her, she smiled, waved and said,
"Good night!" Then hopped in the drivers seat of her old banged out VW, stuck the key in the ignition and turned, nothing happened. She tried again, but the engine just turned over,
"Shit!" She stuck her head out the window and yelled, "My car won't start!" Tyler rolled down the drivers side window and said,
"Hop in with us," what a sweetheart, but she shook her head,
"I can't just leave it here!" Then he was looking at her, his blue eyes drilling into her even though the distance between them was great, he said in a lazy drawl,
"I could fix it for you." She smiled, after a brief minute he was in front of her car, popping the bonnet. Then she felt it again, the same crackle through the air, and it all seemed to be radiating from one Reid Garwin, "Try it again," his voice, she turned the key. The engine roared to life immediately, she smiled and said,
"Thank you!" Flashing him her flirtiest smile, she got back in the drivers seat, slammed the door and sped the little car out of there. In her rear view mirror she saw the hummer peel off in the other direction, she felt a tingle run down her spine, the blond boy was getting to her and she had only known him for going on ten minutes. Shaking the feeling off, she sped the car back to Spencer Academy.
"You see chivalry's not dead after all," She giggled, Kate smiled, looking Chase up and down,
"No, it just transfered in." Chase smirked. They had gotten back to the school with no problem, he had walked them back to their dormitory and rescued Sarah from the dangerous, small spider that had been crawling on her shoulder. He said goodnight and sauntered off down the corridor, Kate watched him go as Sarah unlocked the door, "He's hot huh?!" Kate laughed in her ear, Sarah chuckled and pushed the door open.
"Yep! But I've seen better!" Kate raised an eyebrow,
"Really?!" Sarah smiled coyly, grabbed her pajamas and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She laughed as she heard Kate yell though the door, "Don't think you're getting away with that one! I'm gonna grill you later, when you least expect it!" The blond girl smiled, it was nice to have an actual friend here. Back in Boston, she had had an army of loyal friends, ready to defend her, ready to comfort her. She missed them, but Spencer was looking up, thanks to Kate, and the others. Her thoughts turned back to Reid, what was his story? The two encounters she had had with him, left her with tingles all over her body, as if had electrocuted her. His blue eyes were burnt into her memory, she tried to shake them out, but they persisted. It was a mystery. She finished cleaning up and opened the door. Kate was sitting at the dressing table brushing her hair. Sarah flopped onto to her bed, and flicked through the text book she had left there earlier. Kate smiled to herself, then looked over to her new friend,
"You know, Caleb and Reid were both checking you out tonight. But if I were you I'd go for Caleb." Sarah jolted at hearing his name, she mumbled,
"Why?" What did Kate think was so bad about Reid? Kate flounced,
"He's just, you know, one of those really good guys. He could stay here in the dorms and party like the rest of us, but instead he stays at home to take care of his Mom." Sarah smiled, Caleb had given off that good guy vibe, but she was fed up of that type of boy. Her last boyfriend, the one she had left behind in Boston had been one of those. She wanted something different, something exciting. "Sarah?!" She shook her head, Kate was looking at her weirdly,
"What?"
"Where'd you go there? You spaced out!" Sarah looked down,
"Sorry, was just thinking. What's wrong with his Mom?" Kate got up and wandered to the bathroom,
"She was pretty messed up after Caleb's Dad died. No one says it, but she's pretty alcohol dependent, or so Pogue tells me." Sarah sighed, clearly Caleb was the safest bet. Reid seemed unpredictable, and in a new town with new people, she didn't want to get a bad reputation straight away, and besides Caleb was cute, in a boyish, jock sort of way. Maybe she would be better off with him,
"So is he seeing anyone?" Kate grinned and came out the bathroom,
"So, we are interested!" The blond smiled sheepishly, and went to get her things for a shower. Deciding it was best to avoid the subject for now, she changed it,
"Why do you call them the Sons of Ipswich?"
"Supposedly they are the descendants of five families that founded the Ipswich colony. Though, they say one of the families were killed off during the Salem witch hunts, cool huh?" Sarah opened the dorm door,
"Or creepy," with a small smile she left in search of the bathroom. Finding it easily, she dumped her stuff and went to stand under the hot jet of water. It felt good after being out in the chill night's air. Creak. She jumped at the noise, turning to look behind her, she couldn't see anything. Jeez, she shook herself, she wasn't some chick in a B rate horror movie. Shit like that didn't happen. The noise sounded again, followed by a crash. She shut the shower off, and wrapped her towel around her, peeking around the cubicle door. One of the lamps was smashed all over the floor,
"Hello?" She called, no answer. Tentatively she crept out, looking around. Hurriedly she grabbed her things, and ran out the bathroom, all the while feeling as if someone was watching her. She was almost at her dorm, when the feeling hit her more powerfully then before. She stopped dead and looked over her shoulder. Still nothing. She started walking before she turned, and found herself crashing into a warm, hard body. She screamed, but it died in her throat when she found herself looking up into the now familiar blue eyes of one Reid Garwin.
Reid liked wandering the halls. When he wasn't fucking, or partying, he just prowled the halls, not for any reason in particular other then he didn't like to sleep. His mind seemed to be always awake, always alive. Sleeping was a secondary instinct, he could go for days without it. Maybe he was addicted like Caleb was always yelling at him. He chuckled, maybe he was, but he'd never admit it, especially to the boy wonder. After they had dropped Caleb and Pogue off, Reid and Tyler had returned to Spencer. Tyler had said goodnight straight away, leaving Reid to his night time wanderings. That was the best thing about having Baby Boy as a best friend, he never asked questions, always let Reid be Reid. Whilst he walked his mind drifted, Kate's new roommate, Sarah. When he had seen her first in the hall earlier that evening all he had wanted to do was fuck her and be done with it, but after the two encounters with her tonight, he had to admit that once may not be enough. He could still feel her eyes on him, and hear her tinkling laughter ringing in his head. He hated it, he was Reid Garwin, he didn't get affected by girls like this. Fuck them and leave them, yes, but start thinking about intimate little details like that? No, that wasn't his style. He had just reached her corridor, when he felt it. A huge shock of the power rippled through the air making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He'd never felt anything like it, not even when him or one of the others had used big time. He could still feel it pulsing in his veins, calling out to him, from the direction of the bathroom,
"What the fuck is that?" He muttered under his breath. He was just about to walk forward when he saw her. Sarah, in only a towel, barely doing its job. He stopped dead in his tracks, not really knowing what to do. She was coming straight for him, her head turned back seemingly unaware that he was even there. She realised when she bumped into him, screaming her head off in the process,
"Oh my God!" He chuckled,
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. We just got back." It was a lie, but how else to explain his presence in the corridor. Her breathing stilled, and she shuddered a little,
"I'm sorry, its just, I felt like someone was watching me in the shower." She couldn't take her eyes off him, he looked incredible, and this close he smelled even better. He had, bought his hand up to his chin, and was tapping it in a pensive manner. The black of his fingerless gloves was stark against the contrast of his pale skin, and his eyes almost glowed in the dim light in the corridor. He gave her a half smile, that almost had her collapsing from the shudder it sent through her. Dropping his hands to his sides, he walked past her, held out his hand and said,
"Let's take a look shall we?" She took his hand, and allowed him to lead her to the bathroom. The contact felt the same as the last time, as if he was sending her electric sparks through his fingertips. It took all of her self control not to beg him to take her right there. They entered the bathroom, and he let go, she almost protested the distance. He was tapping his chin again, a nervous gesture perhaps, either way she liked it, it added to the mystery. "Don't see anything," he drawled, then his eyes dragged over her form. Taking everything in. He walked around her to the door, she felt as though he was circling her. A predator and his prey. Reid was trying his hardest not to just reach out and caress her skin, its milky smoothness was calling out to him. His cock was hard, and it was taking all of his resolve to not just throw her against the wall and fuck her senseless. She looked uncomfortable under his piercing glare, they had just met after all and she probably wouldn't respond well to such a blatant act of lust. She was crumbling under his gaze, images of him moving on top of her were flashing in her brain, she felt small, sheepish. His blue eyes were smoldering, she could see the tinge of lust dancing around his irises. She began to back out of the bathroom, and he did nothing to stop her, only followed her out silently, walking in her trail back to her corridor. Just before they reached it, she stopped and turned to him, not knowing what else to say, she mumbled a quick 'goodnight' not daring to look at him again, for fear she wouldn't be able to control herself. He smirked, his blue eyes darkening and said,
"Goodnight." She begun to leave but could feel his gaze burning into her back as she walked away. The tension stretched out, followed her, she couldn't stand it,
"Reid..." She started to turn back, to look at him, but didn't even have to move very far. He was right behind her, grabbing the top of her arm, he shoved her into the wall and pinned her arms above her head. His eyes were almost black, turned the deepest shade of navy from pure, unadulterated lust. She was panting, needing his touch, on her, in her, anywhere. He lowered his head to her neck and inhaled, his lips grazed her earlobe,
"You smell like strawberries," he whispered huskily, she shivered from need. He darted his tongue out and licked her neck, "Taste like them to." He savagely attacked her neck with his lips, licking, sucking, leaving his mark, claiming her for himself. He had released her arms now, and right hand was ghosting down her side, his fingertips smooth, contrasted by the courseness of his gloves. She fisted her hand in his hair, and tried in vain to drag his head up so she could taste his lips. But it was to no avail, she was almost screaming from want for him. She clutched her hand in his shirt, pulling him closer, she could feel his cock, hard against her leg,
"Reid," she breathed out, "Reid, please, I want you. Fuck me." He had let this get to far, Caleb had already sparked an interest in her, and Reid wasn't going to argue with him. No matter how much he wanted her. He was the one in control and he could stop this now, before things got more out of hand then they already were. Reluctantly he stopped his ministrations, pulling away from her completely. She looked shocked, and disappointed at the same time. He leaned in once again, breathing in her scent, then kissed the top of her head and walked away. Not looking back. She was shell shocked, embarrassed, he must have though, 'what a slut', asking a boy she didn't know to fuck her against the wall of her new school. Cursing to herself, she fled for her room. Thankfully Kate was asleep, she threw herself into her bed, not even bothering to change and burrowed deep under the covers. Making sure the sound was muffled before she let the tears fall.
Reid had walked, and walked, the night air biting his skin. Even the chill couldn't destroy the feel of her skin under his fingers, and her smell in his nostrils. His lips were tingling were they had tasted her. He had run for the hummer, Tyler's keys still in his pocket, he shoved the keys in the ignition and had driven for miles. Right to the outskirts of town, back down the forest trail. He had tapped into the power to ascertain the location of the police cars, and avoided the route that would lead him past them. Reaching the edge of the woods, he stopped the car and got out. Leaning against it he lit up a cigarette. Frustrated with himself for allowing himself to do that to a girl he hardly knew. Even he wasn't that much of a bastard. But hearing her rasp out his name, asking him to fuck her, he had almost lost his mind.
"FUCK" He yelled, his eyes burning black. He blasted out bursts of the power at the nights sky. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He called, slouching down to the ground, against the car. This had never happened before, not with any other girl. And now it had, it had to be with the girl that one of his best friends had already laid claim to. No matter how much he resented Caleb Danvers, they were still brothers, bonded closer then blood. And he wouldn't ever betray one of his own, even for this girl that had captivated Spencer's resident man whore.