Chapter 3: (The fall and the stranger)

I didn't wait to hear the final bell ring. The moment the teacher closed her book, I was out of my seat, my books already in my backpack.

I had earlier told Dad and Mom not to bother picking me up. Not because I was embarrassed of them, but because I wanted to take in the glory of the weird town again, and most especially, I wanted to watch the translucent girl closely.

Raven Hollow High School was just as strange as the town that housed it_quiet, eerie, and filled with eyes that lingered a little too long. But none of these strange things stuck to me the way the strange breathtaking girl did.

The girl with the snow white skin, and long gray hair, you'd think it wasn't real.

True, that she hadn't said a word to me, or even spared me a glance... but her presence was suffocating. Cold. Ethereal. Distant. Like she belonged to another time, another world entirely.

She was the kind of character you'd see in horror movies. Her porcelain skin made me remember the vampires from the "twilight" movie, and that thought made me shudder.

What was I even imagining?

Of course, there's no way she isn't human. Vampires ain't real. I told myself.

I looked up, and saw her walking ahead, and I thought to myself, it was the right time to stalk someone.

I followed her from a safe distant until she turned a bend. I contemplated whether to follow or not, and then decided to do that when next I saw her.

I wondered if she had noticed that I was following her. Well, she couldn't have. I had kept a safe distance.

But then, why did she walk down that road?

I walked the winding path that led away from school, my head clouded with thoughts of the good old days, when I would ride home with my friends after school. Now, here I was, walking down the lonely path to my house alone.

From afar, I saw smoke climbing out of our chimney, and I guessed that Mom was probably preparing her bland meatloaf. That was my favorite dish, but something in me resisted the urge to head straight home. I didn't want to be indoors. Didn't want to see my strange looking room. At least, not yet.

I turned at the fork in the road, and headed toward the hills behind our neighborhood. The same hills that had been rumored to be cursed, and haunted by monsters.

Our neighbor, Mrs Sanderson caught me, and yelled a warning.

"Oh dear Mary, you shouldn't be out there.."

"Go inside, Mrs Sanderson." I called back, and kept walking.

I was tired of everyone telling me what was safe, and what wasn't. They all advise me to stay at home....the same home that I barely feel safe in. The same home that makes me feel like someone was watching me everytime.

Looking at the woods that everyone had warned me to stay off, I realized that these people were just deluded. How could they say that hideous creatures were in these woods? Here, nature was at its full glory, and this was what I needed. As I had no friends, and nowhere to visit, I could spend all my time in here.

Screw their stupid fears.

I wasn't one to believe in curses or creatures. That was only fairy tales spun by people too bored to live in the real world.

But yet, I couldn't deny the thrill that licked my skin as I stepped onto the rough trail that led towards the base of the Hollowback ridge.

Leaves crunched under my boots as I moved deeper into the brush, the air thick with the scent of damp earth, and pine. The town disappeared behind me like it was a part of another universe. In here, there was only wind, and silence....and the gentle whistle of birds overhead.

So peaceful.

The wind was picking up, but I didn't care. I climbed higher, holding on to my backpack, that was slung over my shoulder.

Something flashed ahead, and my breath caught. It moved with the speed of light, and for a moment, the warnings came back to me. I stood rooted a spot, and waited. Nothing happened.

"Oh, Mary...."I groaned. These townspeople were really messing up my head, and now, I was even imagining things. So I thought.

I kept climbing, wanting to know how far I could reach. I was fascinated at the sight of the woods. Even the trees seemed to be holding their breath.

I didn't realize how close I was to the edge of a steep rock face, until the dirt beneath my right foot crumbled. My heart lurched. I teetered forward, arms flailing for balance_and then, the ground disappeared beneath me.

I didn't even have time to scream.

I closed my eyes, and braised for the fall that never came.

Strong arms caught me in midair, the world jerking sideways as I was pulled back to solid ground. I gasped, clinging instinctively to the stranger's shirt, my heart hammering like a wild animal in a cage.

"Careful," a deep accented voice murmured close to my ears. "You do not want to make that fall."

I blinked, dizzy with adrenaline, and looked right into the most striking pair of eyes I'd ever seen.

If I had thought the icy gray eyes of the strange girl from class was stunning, then his was way more than I could explain. The boy holding me was tall_towering actually, and built like someone that ran with wolves.

I'd seen broad-shouldered boys before. Football players back in Texas, with puffy chest and cocky smiles, but none of them looked like him. His body was way different than every other body I had seen, like the wilderness carved it carefully with patience and purpose.

His chest rose and fell steadily beneath the white shirt that hugged his body in all the right places. Every line, and every curve of his body was visible through that fabric.

The slope of his arms took my eyes downward to where his chest broadened_taut, and strong, like armor made of flesh.

When he moved, I could see the way his muscles flexed beneath his shirt, the faint outline of a defined chest, that could pin someone in place without effort.

His collarbones peeked just slightly from the neckline, shadowed and tempting.

And his scent_God! Not cologne.

He smelled of Earth, like pine and smoke, and something unique. It wasn't just his chest that was captivating_the heat he radiated was surreal.

The man holding me midair from the ground, wasn't just handsome. He was magnetic. Like danger wrapped in desire.

And I couldn't look away.

"Are you okay?" He asked, not letting go. I didn't want him to let go.

I nodded dumbly, still clutching to his shirt. "Y-yeah.... I just.... I didn't see..." I stuttered.

"Of course, you didn't. Most people don't, until it's late."

He set me gently back on my feet, and I stumbled, still a bit shaken. My hands felt numb. "Thanks. I don't know what could've happened if you hadn't appeared when you did."

"You could've broken something for sure."

I forced a laugh, trying to look everywhere else, but those broad shoulders and chest.

"I'm Mary." He nodded slightly. "Mary Ginger. My family moved here from Texas."

"I know who you are." I narrowed my eyes at the response. "Word travels fast in Raven Hollow."

Of course it did. I should've thought of that.

I thought he'd offer his name, but he didn't, which was a bit rude since I told him mine.

"So....what are you doing here? I asked, trying to sound casual.

He looked toward the distant peek of the mountain, then back at me. "I could ask you the same."

"Well, I needed some air."

He studied me for a bit longer. "You shouldn't be here. You'll find more than just air in these woods."

A shiver ran down my spine, but I squared my shoulders. "You mean the stories? Monsters in the woods, werewolves on the hills, and the whole vampire bullshit?" I gave a laugh. "I don't believe in fairy tale."

His head tilted slightly, and I couldn't read the expression that passed his face.

"You think they are fairy tales?"

"Well, if I'm wrong, and they aren't. Then why are you here? Don't you fear for your safety as well?"

He gave me a cocky smile. "I am the one to be feared."

Before I could ask what he meant, he stepped away, and began walking down the path. I hesitated for a moment, my heart still racing.

"Wait!" I called out. "You didn't tell me your name."

"Not necessary." He said without turning back.

"Please!" I shouted again.

"Damas." He said over his shoulders, and kept walking.

"See you some other time, Damas!" I called out again, but he didn't respond.

Damas.

The name lingered in my mind. He was the first normal person I had seen in the whole town, and he was gorgeously handsome.

Maybe in the end, I could make a friend or two.

I went down the hill, still thinking of the stranger I had planned to make a friend, but I never knew that befriending him, would give rise to a lot of things.

Thrilling, and dangerous things.