LIGHT

Chapter One: FIRST SIGHT(THE UNKNOWN)

Chapter  One: FIRST SIGHT(THE UNKNOWN)

She found the screamer. Although to do so was against her better judgement –somehow she felt like she needed to find out who it was. Not to mention the fact that the question he’d so brazenly screamed out was one she wanted to ask as the pain had racked through her.

Her subconscious barely registered that she was walking a fairly familiar path, but she wasn’t about to stop and make sense of her surroundings when she was working towards a mysterious goal. Yes, that was what it was –some kind of mystery. After all, it had started in the middle of the night, and she was walking practically barefoot in the cold, in her nightdress. It was a perfect setting for a mystery –albeit she had a murder mystery in mind and she shuddered at the thought.

As she ran towards the sound of the voice, she was run through with another burst of pain. This time, she gagged and retched like her insides were trying to get out. She crumpled to the ground on all fours, numb to the cold because of the preternatural agony. Even after it passed, it took her several minutes to catch her breath and stand up shakily. But she still continued until she came upon Danville Prep –which was why the way seemed familiar. With a jolt, she realized she’d crossed more than three miles  from her house.

The screamer was inside the janitor’s shower room. It couldn’t have been weirder than that, except he was lying stark naked on the shower room floor, with the shower on. Heart thumping, she reached out and turned off the incessant sprinkle of water. The guy didn’t seem to notice and remained motionless, slumbering on the floor. Vaguely, she wondered if he’d drowned.

Lightly, she tapped his shoulder. “Hey.”

He didn’t stir.

She tapped him again. “Hey!” More forcefully this time. “Wake up! You’re not dead are you?” It was stupid, but she continued blabbering and slapping his shoulder until she heard him groan in annoyance. She watched as his head twisted to face her, half in fascination. The wet raven hair gave way to an angled jaw line, then thin, cupid-bow lips and a straight, angular nose. His eyes were closed, and she could see the drops of water clinging like diamonds to his long lashes. Pale skin seemed almost to glow under the light and her eyes traveled downward to trace odd marks that curled around his arms and shoulder blades. He was twisting his body to face her, muscles rippling –

“Holy shit. Stop!” She pushed at his shoulder, forcing him back to his previous position.

His eyes flew open, revealing the bright green behind them, and focused on her. She felt heat creeping up her face that had nothing to do with the flush the cold had forced on her pale cheeks. She stood up and motioned at him to wait then walked towards the locker. Her rummaging produced a thick pale yellow towel, which she held loosely in her hands.

“Who are you?”

His voice rang out behind her and she jumped in surprise. She faced him, irritated, then caught herself and threw him the towel instead. “Would you cover up, please? Your lack of clothes is impractical.” Not to mention disturbing, she added as an afterthought.

When she was sure it was safe, she turned around. And stopped

He was looking at her as if she was some kind of dirt under his fingernail. But that wasn’t why she couldn’t look away. She stared at his face because it was so devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. It was the face one would never expect to see. Except maybe on the airbrushed(and photoshopped) pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. The thought disturbed her –the impression of a man with wings curled up behind him.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Suddenly his expression changed to one of interest and his bright eyes lightened, flickering to meet hers. She looked away quickly, in a flush of embarrassment and dropped her eyes at once.