Reaper Chronicles: Reformed

Chapter One - Frozen Beauty

Chapter One - Frozen Beauty
Laela

Twenty... thirty... forty... fifty. Fifty punches, fifty kicks and fifty lashings. Honestly, I'm grateful that his beatings only reached fifty, it's the least that he's given me in almost half a year. He must be in a generous mood today because, normally, it would reach up to a hundred and fifty lashings.

"Good. You kept silent, no tears, no emotion, no nothing," he said, his voice dripping with poison. He dropped the whip and untied my hands from the post. "Go clean yourself up. Make sure your wounds and scars are out of view. You have school tomorrow." With that he left, his laughter echoing through the halls.

I shot up into a sitting position, in cold sweat and gasping for air. It's just a dream. It's just a dream. I chanted in my mind. I pulled my knees to my chest and rocked back and forth, trying to rid myself of the memory of my father. I felt something warm and wet drip to my knee, I realized I was crying. I did nothing to stop the tears from flowing. He's gone. He won't come back ever again. I just kept rocking back and forth until I fell in to a dreamless slumber.

Riley

Another boring day at school. It's five minutes 'til lunch and I can't wait to get out of this class. I turn my attention to the view outside the window, it's pretty much the only thing worth my attention in this class. Our school is built smack dab on the boarder of the forest and the town, so obviously, I had a beautiful view of the forest from where I'm sitting.

The bell rang and I made a mad dash out of the room, I was the first one out. I slowly walked towards the cafeteria just so my human buddy, Jim, and my twin brother, Raymond, can catch up with me, they're usually the last ones out.

I was about to pass by a door when I caught a glimpse of a darker shade of ash blonde hair. Something inside me compelled me to never tear my eyes away from the girl crouching over a desk with her hand clutching a pencil as she gracefully let it dance over a notebook, possibly a sketchbook. I had a sudden urge to go up to the girl and befriend her.

I was thrown out of my trance when a hand clapped my back. "Ry, it's a miracle! You actually waited for us."

I just rolled my eyes at my brother's idiocy. "Hey dude, do you know who the girl in the Sketch-Art clubroom is?" I said pointing my thumb over my shoulder towards the classroom we just passed.

"Don't bother, Ry. That girl, Laela Michels, dubbed Ice Queen, doesn't speak, respond or socialize. The best and only response you can get from her is to look at you with a pokerface. She's pretty much the school's number one snob. Heck! I'd be more than shocked if anyone manages to squeeze out a letter from her throat!" Jim said.

"Let me guess. You tried to make a move on her and failed badly."

"Whatever, Ry."

"So you did!" My brother teased. I just laughed. Jim's always been a science project gone wrong when it comes to flirting. No matter what he tries, it either scares the girls away or just outright weird them out. I should know, he tried making a move on me when he first moved here during our freshmen year. Back then, I had long hair. And let me tell you I couldn't stop laughing at the look on his face when he found out that I was gay, a hot stem at that.

"Just shut it, Ray." You could clearly see how red his face is from embarrassment.

"My offer still stands, Jim. Let the master teach you how it's done." I flashed him my infamous half-smirk as we enter the cafeteria.

"You know, this is one of those times that makes it hard to believe you're actually a girl and if I didn't know better..." he trails off and shakes his head as I paid for my food. "And to think you're still a virgin."

"Hey, I may be a flirt, but I definitely don't do random sex. I have boundaries too." Besides, want my first time to be with my mate. I add the last part in my head.

'Secret romanticist.' Ray said through the mind link, while giving me a sly secretive smile.

'Really? I guess that makes both of us. After all, I remember seeing you sucking faces with Jim, your secret boyfriend, under the stars on a picnic blanket with candles all around the clearing in the forest, something you clearly said that you'd never do, ' I threw back with the most innocent face I could muster. That earned me a barely noticeable blush from his cheeks and a gaping mouth.

'H-how??' he mentally stuttered.

'Wild guess. Thanks for the confirmation by the way.' I flashed him my half-smirk.

'Cheeky little bitch.' He shot me a playful glare.

We sat on our usual table. Mike, the nerd, Tony, the Jock, Macy, the mature one of our little group, Brenda, the preppy and witty blonde, and jet, the Goth, were already there on their usual seats. Mike spoke up, snickering, "Who is the unlucky gal this time?"

"Laela Michels," Ray and I say at the same time.

"Oh! Toughie. It is official: you, James Nate Anderson, hold the record of the most failed flirting attempts with every girl who is single in this school," Tony said.

In case if you were wondering why I noted 'human buddy', I'm a werewolf. Mike, Jet and Jim are humans while the rest of our little group are part of the White Sage Pack, the most powerful pack among the Four Sage Packs. I'll leave the details for later.

"Mace, Bren" I held out my hand motioning for them to pay up with my half-smirk plastered on my face.

"Seriously?" Brenda said. Macy just sighed.

"Yup," I said letting the 'p' pop.

"Fine," she said as they both handed me fifty dollars each.

Three, two, one. "What the..!? D-d-did you..."Ray practically screamed at Macy, Brenda and I. We just gave him a sheepish smile. He groaned and said, "I can't believe you guys, especially you, Mace." I think his glare is turning permanent. Oops...

"What? Just because I'm more mature doesn't mean I'm a Stiff." Brenda laughed and I just snickered, trying to hide my smile behind my hand. Keyword is try and I probably failed badly.

Our mindless chatter went on until the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. It's a free period for me, so I decided to just wander.

I couldn't stop thinking about the girl, Laela, and somehow I found myself standing outside the Sketch-Art clubroom's door with my hand hovering over the doorknob. I stopped myself before I could lay my hand on the knob and let it fall back to my side. Before I could turn away, the door flew open revealing the most beautiful creature I have ever laid my eyes on. Laela stood there, below the arch of the door, her fog grey eyes peering into my red ones. I couldn't help but take in every detail of her softly carved face, her ash blonde hair that bordered auburn, her pale complexion, her high cheekbones, her straight nose and her pink, full lips. We just stood there staring at each other for what felt like forever, but in reality would have been a couple of minutes at most.

I cleared my throat, breaking the silence, and said nervously and giving her a soft friendly smile, "Umm... hi."