Reaper

I don’t know what woke me up the next morning. Call it a strange feeling in my subconscious, a warning – I’m not completely sure. Whatever it was, it was effective.

I sat bolt upright in my bed, chest heaving. I looked around wildly as I told myself to calm down my breathing. As I looked, the realization that I was alone dawned on me like the weight of a thousand bricks. Sawyer was nowhere to be found.

“Will you be here when I wake up?”

“Charlotte-“

“Promise me.”

Sawyer sighed in resignation before planting a small, chaste kiss on my forehead. “Alright. I promise.”

I swallowed hard as I pulled my blanket up to cover my chest, still wearing a bra from last night but no shirt. Running my hand through my hair that never seemed to be combed, I searched for some sign that perhaps Sawyer was just out of the room. There were no clothes on the floor like there had been, no signature leather jacket slung over the back of my chair.

I realized, with a heavy heart, that he was gone.

I knew I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. I felt stupid and childish, asking him to stay in the first place, but also with everything that happened last night. We kissed, and that’s all that needed to happen for me to trust him completely. I fell so hard for him, in that moment, that everything else was wiped from my memory. I felt stupid for thinking it was a good idea in the first place. I felt like a child, confused and alone, wondering where my parents went.

Once my breathing calmed, I finally started to see what was around me. The window next to the fire escape was shut – Sawyer always shut it when he left, and it was always open when he was here, in case of a quick escape. His jacket was nowhere to be seen. And, after finally turning to my left, I caught a glimpse of a tiny, neatly folded red napkin on my bedside table – his preferred method of communication. Wondering why he couldn’t just have a cell phone, I gently picked up the napkin and inspected it.

Charlotte – I am truly sorry for what occurred last night. It was a mistake, caused by a poorly timed lapse in judgment on my part. It will not happen again.

The tears began to prick the backs of my eyes before I even thought to be upset. I was surprised when a tear fell onto the little red square in front of my face, staining the scarlet paper even darker. After that, the floodgates opened up, and I stupidly sat there and cried into the napkin.

There weren’t enough words to describe how completely frustrated I was with myself. I had let myself get carried away with the things I’d felt yesterday, being so close to Sawyer. I had forgotten the reality that lay waiting for the second it could pounce, dragging me back down to the real world. In the real world, outside of that little bubble I had made for him and me last night, we were no better than strangers. He knew almost everything about me, but I couldn’t muster up the courage to ask about him. He was intimidating, closed-off, off-limits. And yet that was exactly why I found him to intriguing.

For all I knew, though, our time had passed. We hardly stood a chance, even in hell – someone ordinary like me and someone extraordinary like him. It’s the stuff of romance novels, and there’s a reason they’re called works of fiction.

I felt my face flush red for different reasons – frustration, for getting so carried away; anger, for being left alone; and embarrassment, for remembering everything I did last night. I buried my face in the sheet, wishing that I could just curl up into a ball of myself and not have to get up. I rolled over to my side and hugged my legs close to my chest. I bit my lip to try to get the tears to stop, to no avail.

In the distance, I heard a knock at what must have been the front door. I dismissed it as it being the mailman or something like that until I heard a familiar voice responding to Mandi’s greeting.

“Is Charlie here?” I heard Jesse ask.

My eyes shot open in surprise. I hadn’t seen or heard from him in days – and, as usual, I was a complete mess. I found myself wishing that Mandi would send him away just so that he wouldn’t see me like this.

“Yeah, she’s in her room, I think.” Traitor.

A few seconds later, Jesse timidly knocked on my door and opened it. When he saw me curled up in the middle of the bed, he froze, ever so slightly, and then promptly rushed over to the side of the bed. From what I could see, the concern on his face was evident, and it made me feel just a tiny bit better seeing that.

“Are you alright?” He sounded nervous, anxious. “Red, what’s wrong?”

It was nice that he was worried about me. But I still felt the sting of rejection in my limbs, so I didn’t answer. Instead, I just pulled the sheet tighter around my body, curling up into a tighter ball, as if that would somehow protect me from the emotional abuse I was trying to recover from.

I felt him reach a hand out and encouragingly rub my shoulder. I felt tears pick the back of my eyes again.

After I didn’t respond, he continued. “You’ve missed class like 5 times now,” he said softly. “I just wanted to check in to see if everything was okay. Things have been weird since… Well,” he cleared his throat. “You know.”

I sighed, but didn’t make an attempt to answer him. I felt very much like I was in high school again, playing sick so my mother wouldn’t make me go to school. Not that that ever worked.

Frustrated, Jesse pushed me lightly so I’d get out of the ball. In resignation, I flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling blankly, my lips pressed into a line. I refused to look at him – the moment I did, I’d spill everything. And then it would become very, very real. And I wasn’t prepared for it to be real.

Jesse took one look at my face. He ran his hand through his blonde hair – I noticed vaguely that he had gotten it cut recently. He looked around the room, searching for something, and he seemed to find it after a few moments.

He looked back at me, then, bright-eyed. “Charlie, how would you like to go on an adventure today?”

I raised my eyebrow in surprise, but I still didn’t trust myself to look at him. “An adventure?” I said weakly. “What for?”

He shifted his weight, somewhat uncomfortable. “I know… I know things in this city aren’t great right now,” he said slowly, choosing his words carefully. “I was thinking that maybe we could escape it for a day or two – get rid of whatever weird vibes are going on around here.”

It was then that I finally sat up and looked at him. I expected him to look predatory, like he was trying to somehow use this to get into my missing pants. But when I looked at him, I mean really looked at him… All I saw was sincerity. His blue eyes were hopeful, but not lustful – expectant, but genuine. I felt my heart warm just a little as he gave me a small smile, perhaps in reassurance.

I figured two things: one, that just because I wanted to get out of the city with Jesse doesn’t mean it has to be a date. We could be just two friends, having a good time away from the memories that plague them in their city. We shared a common nightmare, and some others that weren’t common, but those were enough to warrant a reprieve. I felt like I owed it to myself to try to escape Sawyer and the memory he’s burned into me, and I felt as though a weekend with Jesse, as a friend, would be a good cure for it.

Two: a vacation sounded like it was exactly what I needed.



Sawyer pounded his fist on the table angrily, his mouth a hard line.

“I will not just stand by and let Isis have Charlotte,” he snarled at Hunter, careful not to disturb any of his injuries that the aforementioned girl had tried to dress the previous night. It was a futile effort, since Sawyer’s skin had practically healed itself by the time they reached her apartment, but it was an appreciated gesture.

Hunter, who seemed to have healed almost completely as well, rolled his eyes from across the other end of the dining table. All of Hunter’s pack was in attendance – Simon and Lina sat to the left of their leader, while Saphira and Forrest chose to sit across from them. Sawyer, clearly in opposition to his commander, abandoned his usual right-hand spot in favor of the one directly across from him, a much better position from which to negotiate. Saphira sat quietly in Sawyer’s usual spot, examining the ends of her inky mane of hair.

Hunter pressed the tips of his fingers together in front of his chin. “And what do you propose we do about it?” He leaned forward in his chair. “We can’t seriously just roam around looking for her every night – you seem to have that covered just fine.”

Sawyer’s cheeked reddened a small shade. “An attack is imminent, especially after the incident with that Alpha-“

The table jumped when Saphira spoke up. “That happened weeks ago. If she were going to retaliate, she would have done so by now. It’s clear that that Alpha was just a rogue, like Hunter had said before.” She cast Sawyer an apologetic look, to which he responded by rolling his eyes.

Hunter scowled, his scar twisting into a shape that made it even more fearsome. He nodded in agreement with Saphira. “Sawyer, this is ridiculous. I cannot put all of our lives on the line because you have suddenly developed a fetish for human girls.” The way he said “human” was comparable to the way most people said “garbage”, and it made Sawyer’s blood boil.

Sawyer let out a growl from the back of his throat, and he felt every muscle in his back tense. “She is an extraordinary human, Hunter, you should know that. She is a valuable asset to our pack – she can tell us how she blocks the Feeding, and if we know that, we can better protect ourselves.”

Simon sat up a little bit straighter in his chair. “It would be fascinating to study someone like this girl,” he conceded, avoiding eye contact with Hunter. “Perhaps we should bring her here.”

Hunter sighed audibly, and then leaned back in his chair for a moment. Sawyer’s heart pounded in his chest as he awaited his decision, the decision that would determine Charlotte’s fate. He knew it was crucial to gain support from his pack, because they would be the first and the last to protect her. They could offer the best defense in case Isis did find out about her.

Finally, Hunter spoke. “You will bring here here once,” he said sternly, locking eyes with Sawyer to emphasize his point. “We will proceed from there.”

With that, Hunter stood up angrily and stormed off to a different part of the warehouse. He left without a word. Deciding that the meeting was officially over, Simon and Saphira’s twin, Lina, rose from the table and excused themselves to go about their normal routines. Forrest mumbled some excuse and followed suit, leaving Saphira and Sawyer still at the table.

Sawyer sat with his head in his hands, relieved and yet completely anxious at the same time.

“You really like this girl.”

He jumped when she spoke – he thought she had left with the others. “No, of course not.” Though those were spoken, he was starting to think, in the back of his mind, that they were less and less true.

Saphira took a step closer to him. “You’re lying, Sawyer,” she said softly. “You do. You get this look on your face when you talk about her. You used to look at me like that.” She smiled at him sadly, running a hand through his curly hair, much like a mother would to a son.

He glared up at her. “Saphira, that’s ridiculous-“

“It’s not,” she chuckled. “Just do me a favor.” He nodded unsurely. “Let her into that world you keep up there. It’s not easy getting to know you, especially since you never let anyone know what you’re thinking. We can’t all read minds.” She offered him a small smile and turned to leave.

After a few steps, she turned back. “Oh. And please, be careful.”

As Sawyer watched her walk away, he thought about what she had said. It brought up memories from the previous night, memories that made his chest grow warmer and made him feel like he was trapped in his shirt. He recalled the kiss, made in haste.

And he couldn’t help but feel that careful was certainly a goal to strive for.