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TWENTY-NINE | SUN AND MOON
“How you became a vampire,” Skye said, nodding. His eyes darted from side to side, like the sun rolling around the earth, and he bit down on his bottom lip.
I sighed. My fingers clenched at the dirty blanket, and I took a deep breath. I fixed my gaze on the orange lamplight filtering through the tree in front of us, the shadows of the other leaves dappling the brighter ones underneath.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go first?” I laughed, but it sounded dry, hollow and unnatural, even to my own ears. I glanced up at Skye, and, at his weathered expression, my eyes dove back towards the tree.
“I – mine is – it’s dark,” he admitted. From the corner of my eye, I could see his hands tapping restlessly on the thighs of his jeans.
This time, the wry tone in my voice was intentional. “And you don’t think dying and coming back as a vampir
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She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-ONE | LOST
I stared at him, my body frozen and my mind transfixed. What was he doing here?“Ellis?” I realised that David was speaking, and I moved slowly, as if through melted toffee, to look at him. I could just see the Skye-shaped shadow below in my peripheral vision, and I struggled to focus on David’s face.“Sorry,” I mumbled. He was smiling at me, warm and bright, if a little timid, and I shook myself.“Did my story scare you?” He frowned. I scrambled desperately to remember what we’d been talking about, and my eyes shot open.“Oh! No, no. Sorry,” I said again. “I just – I need to stretch my legs. Mind if I walk the perimeter?”“That’s fine,” he said, very slowly. His eyes appraised me, but they were no longer fathomless. Now they were closed off, and my chest ached as I reco
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I smiled to myself as I hung up the phone. Skye’s voice had begun to trail off, and his words had been peppered with yawns, so I’d let him go. I’d slept through the entire day, and I needed to get up, to stretch, and to hunt.I luxuriated in the feel of my warm sheets for a minute, sprawling my legs out beneath the duvet. My mouth felt heavy, swollen, and there was a familiar ache in my throat. The sun had dipped away, leaving darkness in its wake.The only light in my room came from the flat, blue-tinted hue of my phone screen, and it made everything look creepier than if there had been no light at all. It was ghostly, shining off the edges of my desk and bedside table, making them into strange, new shapes that weren’t really there.With a sigh, I shoved the duvet back with my feet. The cool air swilled around my bare legs, breathing in through the open window. I frowned at it for a moment. I thought I’d left it closed. Then I shook myself; I’d been asleep all day. That always left me
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I pulled the door open slowly, wary about who might be on the other side. The knock definitely wasn’t Falmer’s – he was abrupt, aloof, and never quiet, unless he was scheming slyly in the corner. His knocks meant business. This one was… shy.As I reached for the door handle, I wondered, for a beautiful, terrifying second, if it could be Skye. His knocks would be quiet, I imagined, and polite, and more than a little uncomfortable. Skye always seemed as though his skin didn’t fit quite right; he stood awkwardly, as if afraid to stand up to his full height.Thinking of him made my heart blister with warmth, but I shook my head at myself. He wouldn’t risk coming here; he definitely wouldn’t risk coming inside.I smoothed down the front of my dungarees, pushing out the crinkles in my t-shirt, and then I pulled the door open.It was Kathrena. She looked b
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