Chapter 3
'You're beautiful,' he whispered, brushing his lips against my neck. A smile curved upon my lips, my heart leaping between beats.
I opened my mouth to continue the compliment, but a blood curdling scream escaped instead. The sound of dripping echoed through the room, and the aroma of blood filled my nostrils. A stained rope was swinging from the ceiling, but suspending nothing. The boy took three steps backwards, his eyes glazed as he stared at me accusingly. 'You know this is your fault. You couldn't help youself, could you?' He jibed, a tear of ink draining from his eye.
'I didn't... I-I'm s...sorry' I sobbed, willing myself to run to embrace him, but my feet stayed stationary. I forced myself to move, but I couldn't reprieve myself from the spot I was standing on. I screeched, pleading him to come back. But he ignored my mercifull yells, looping the rope around his neck.
'And you don't even know my name.' He barely even croaked.
The outburst of a melody awoke me from my tormented illusions. Beads of perspiration escaped from my forehead, my bedsheets already contaminated with sweat. I rubbed my eyes, trying to erase the horrifying images that had played in my dreams not moments before.
'JESUS DAD! Can't you keep it down!' I shouted, more out of something to do rather then out of annoyance. Footsteps clambered up the steps, and a few seconds later my door was ajar, my fathers head poking through the sliver of light.
'Sorry honey,' he smiled, but when he took in my appearence his lips slanted downwards. 'Are you alright Is. If you don't mind me saying, you look a little rough.' I looked like shit. Why couldn't he have just said that.
'Yeah. I have a crap hangover. You know, last night wasn't as uneventful as I thought it would be.' He chuckled.
'You don't have to explain to me. I remember doing all the things you have.'
'Yeah, those were the days.' I joked sarcastically, tugging the duvet over my bedraggled head. I waited till the door clicked before slipping from my happy cherade. I couldn't tell my dad about the dream. He would over exagerate. Take me to a shrink. And I didn't want to talk to anyone about her. About Amber. Because I knew that was who the dream was really about. Not the mysterious boy I couldn't draw my attention away from. It was about what she did. I did. I didn't want to relive the memory.
Desperate for something to do, even if it meant swaying away from my ordinary personality, I did the unimaginable (for me anyway). I went to see Seth.
'Seth, you alright?' I greeted as he creaked open the door.
'Ismay, hey.' Seth tried to sound upbeat, but he seemed withdrawn. Not his usual self. 'Come in.'
His house had the same lay out as next door, but the place was a lot more cluttered. Homely, I'd even stretch. He led me up to his room, which was as small as mine. Posters of basketball players and porn stars littered the walls, and mess blanketed the floor.
'Nice room.' I complimented, though I wasn't really interested in the decoration. I was more interested in the picture resting on his window sill. It displayed Seth among 6 other boys. They all looked so similar, easily mistaken for brothers, but 1 distinguished himself more then the others. For me anyway. It was the boy I had seen last night. The boy stown away in the depths of my nightmare.
'Who is this?' I queried, indicating towards the smiling figure.
'Oh him, that's Embry.' He explained, seeming slightly put out. 'He's a good mate of mine. Went out with my sister for a while. He was at the bonfire last night. Did you see him?' He asked, but his expression seemed as though he already knew the answer.
'You could say that.' I giggled, and once again I found my actions completely out of charactor. 'Do you think you could maybe, you know, introduce us?'
'Well, if you want. His mums having a baby today, but I guess we could check out if he's still working his shift at the mini-mart.' He suggested willingly, but again, his eyes let his act down. I would ask, but then again, it wasn't my problem, and I couldn't give a shit.
'Jacob said he was taking over his shift though.' Seth lead me out the door, pausing only to retrieve his tee.
'Yeah, that was for another job. Us boys all sort of do a, parole, of La Push. Make sure theres no trouble and shit.' I looked at him incredulously. Who did they think they were. Tom Cruise? 'Yeah I know, sounds lame. But better then causing the trouble right?'
'That's a matter of opinion.' I smiled. 'We're walking?' I asked as he walked me past my car.
'What's up? Can your contamined lungs not handle a 3 minute walk?' He joked, cracking the first smile today.
'Haha, very funny.' I sneered, pulling a ready made roll up out of my pocket. The walk didn't take long, though I struggled to keep up with Seth's giant strides. We walked in silence, a silence crossing the border of awkwardness and comfortableness. When we reached our destination, I smiled. It was the only sane, familiar thing in this alianated town. The trolleys were all placed in identical lines, and the aisles were lit up by eye startling glows. It was amazing how something so dull and common could make you feel so comfortable.
'Embry!' Seth shouted, recieving someones attention stacking the fruit shelves. His hair was tucked behind his slightly enlarged ears, his emerald eyes swimming with boredom. When he achknowledged I was accompanying Seth though, they seemed to light up.
Weird.
'Seth mate, you alright?' He asked, but his attention was still on me. I felt exposed, raw. Everything seemed out of place.
'Yeah I'm good mate.' But his voice didn't convey the feeling 'Good'. In fact, there was slight resentment in this voice. I wasn't the only one who seemed to have noticed either, as Embry snapped his gaze away from me and gave Seth the once over. There was hidden meaning in his look, but I couldn't quite work it out. 'Anway,' Seth continued, feeling the tension, 'this is Ismay. I was just introducing her to the people around La Push.'
'Ismay. What a beautiful name.' He smiled, stretching out his hand. I couldn't help but be reminded of last night, and a shiver was sent down my spine. I shook it off, taking his hand. I didn't know why I was so enticed by this boy, but there was something about him that made me feel like I had never felt before. And I was determined to find out what.
