The Dark Ones

be a dreary place at times and the gray tinge from the dark clouds above made it seem more lifeless today than usual. He

prise

see him. He was beautiful and strong, his skin seeming to glow under the moonlit night, the sinew of his arms and chest a million times more desirable because of it. She k

she kept plea

ff. The sight of him so close to her was devastating. At first, she thought it was because she needed to be with him. Analyzing the dream now, Georgia realized it was something deeper. In the d

stinctively, she knew that only she could. Her submissiveness was overpowered by her desire to protect him and she became more forceful in the way she pushed herself toward him. Her renewed vigor ch

sed through them. Only, in the dream she was unafraid. A low rumbling sound ema

derstand," he

t was a deeply disturbing sound; an inhuman sound. Georgia shivered slightly as she thought of it now. Hearing it in reality would terrify her. She'd already heard a lower, tamer version of it twice, once on the street and t

d-she was him! Everything changed. As she glared at the moon above them now, it was like she saw it for the first time, a glorious orb of light that pulled at their collective emotions, egging them on. Before Georgia could impose her own will on them, Hayden's

hey approached a dark, shimmering lake ahead. The body's legs tangled and it fell hard and almost rolled its way forward. For a moment, Georgia's heightene

ked back at her from the water was a terrifying beast, thick with dark gray fur, red eyes, a long

den's voice echoed th

e what I r

her. She hadn't been able to get back to sleep since and her tired, weary eyes drooped as she stared out the school bus window. The dream was a weird, surreal one, and yet,

n icy wind whipped about outside and the drone of the other students was a familiar sound. None o

you" to Mr. Jeffries, the aging driver that gave her the same

out in the lot to soak up a few last minutes of freedom before the first bell. The buzz of chattering students was quieter and Georgia ignored their monotonous drone. She was almost at the steps

the driver was. As Hayden stepped out, she felt herself stiffen with anxious nerves at the sight of him. His hair was neatly spread out on his head, dark clumps of it falling over

spending all of his first day at Beldon ignoring her completely, it was strange to see him acknowledging her with his stare-even stranger to see a muted, almost soft expression on his face. For a second, it seemed like he even wanted to speak to her. Her dre

oks at times. Today, her dark, impossibly straight hair was streaked with a bright red tint, and her bangs fully covered by it. Against her perfect skin, her green eyes, glossy lips, and full cheeks stood out more

K-pop chic. With her gorgeous skin tone and beautiful features, she was a living em

ing look, even for

lp feeling a pang of jealousy agai

d embrace my roots a litt

ur roots were a s

t into her voice as she said it. Whenever Lisa spoke about her 'Asian culture', it was clear

enny?" Geo

un to the

replied sarcastically as she

rance, the worse she felt about her own. She'd planned on avoiding Hayden as much as possible today but now found herself agitated at how invisible sh

, almost on cue, Lisa asked,

o the lot," Georgia

once, Georgia was grateful that he seemed to be the only guy at Beldon immune to Lisa's alluring looks. He chatted to her animatedly. She felt like

basically told her to get stuffed,"

med anno

er mentioned that pa

gged. "Didn'

you learn to

e so I didn't take it per

I don't care how hot he is. I think it's time someone gave

iciously from the corner of the hall but then, to Georgia's relief, Tyler just scoffed and his entourage went back to minding their own business. She was anxious again a second later when Hayden made a beeline straight

, "Hey new guy," in an ob

at her and s

friend yesterday," she added wi

expected Hayden to b

most gentle expression and said, "You're right, I

feel the return of Be

as just...having a bad day," he s

embarrassment, or gratitude, or e

barely able to hold his

n, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Hay

pot free next to me if you wanna join us f

urned to

isa's collective surprise, wore an expre

okay," he said som

t bell rang out. Lisa looked stunned and Georgia couldn't help but feel

more interested

tself passed Georgia by like another surreal dream. From class to class, and even during the break, she couldn't kick the feeling that Hayden seemed drawn to her today and not the other way round. Lisa droned on in the background. She put Hayden out of her mind

. A couple of times it felt like he wanted to talk to her some more, but the opportunity never presented itself and he just stuck to himself again, avoiding everyone else beside Georgia

Benny jumped into Lisa's Volkswagen GTI and Georgia decided to skip the bus ride and walk home to clear her head. She looked for Hayden's car and was grateful when she didn't

uncomfortable at him staring at her throughout the day. She'd just turned the corner and entered a chilly and desolate looking W

he kept one hand on the steering a

weary. His change in behavior over the last day made her feel uneasy and like she had n

if that's a good

Hayden's eyes and expression were softer than she'd ever seen them and he sighe

nswered questions and yet, she still felt

and I'll

med to hate me and today, you want

ted," he said af

girl, I'm sure

at what it would look like to passing pedestrians.

just get in," H

ll me, what's

noyed at her stubbornness, but when h

dreamt of you