The Awakening: A Witch-Vampire Romance: Feel the Heat. (9 page)

“We’
ll figure it out. My uncle will know what to do. I promise we can make this work.” He looks at me with all of the confidence in the world in his eyes.

We ge
t up from the table and follow my friends out the door. As we separate to go to our different lockers, I detour to the restroom. After I take care of business, I cross to the sink to wash my hands. I jump when the bathroom door is thrown open so hard that it bangs into the wall, and I look up to see Sabrina walking in alone for once and she looks furious.

“
Aww, if it isn’t the little bird. And all alone, too. I bet you aren’t so tough when you don’t have your band of freaks with you,” Sabrina sneers as she saunters up to me.

I
try to ignore her and finish washing my hands because I am already feeling the drain of being away from Jaxx. I just don’t have the energy to deal with her. As I reach for a paper towel to dry my hands, she grabs me by the back of my head and clenches her hand in my hair. The next thing I know my head is heading toward the sink.

My forehead ma
kes contact with the rim of the sink, and I see stars and black out for a moment. When I come to, my vision is graying around the edges.

“I warned you
, bitch! No one takes what’s mine and gets away with it,” she is all but screeching.

Since I
am still doubled over, holding onto the sink, trying not to fall over, it makes me an easy target for her to shove her knee into my stomach. When her knee impacts I slip to the floor and lay there dazed.

What the fuck just happened?

I fe
el a surge of anger, so black and deep, that I can’t control it. I feel myself flowing to my feet, as if I am another person standing up. The black void that is swirling inside me continues to grow. Mirrors start shattering and someone screams as glass explodes outward. I just stare and can’t comprehend what is happening. The stall doors start to slam on their own, the sinks start to rattle, and glass from the broken mirror is swirling around me like a sphere of refracting light. I hear screaming, but it doesn’t register until I look down and see Sabrina on the floor with blood streaming down her arms and legs. The broken glass from the mirrors had cut her as they’d imploded outward. It had all taken place in a matter of seconds. As fast as the surge came on, it is over. I slump to the ground, not far from where Sabrina is struggling to get to her feet.

“You fucking freak! What are you?
I’m going to tell. Don’t think that I won’t! You will never be able to show your face in this town again you…You…
Witch
,” she is screaming hysterically.

With that she stumble
s her way out of the bathroom, trailing blood in her wake.

I d
on’t know how long I sit there, just blank. I don’t know what happened. I have never hurt anyone in my life. There are so many thoughts and feelings running rampant through me that I can’t cope. I start to shake and can’t stop. I feel so cold all of a sudden. I scoot backward until I can cocoon myself in a corner as I wrap my arms around my knees. I rock silently, trying to come to grips with what just happened.

Jaxx busts
into the bathroom and stops short at what he sees. There are splashes of blood on the floor, shards of glass scattered about, and me rocking pathetically in a corner like a toddler.

When I
see him I start to sob. The shaking gets worse with each sob, but I am still numb. I feel nothing but the cold that is spreading inside me.

He
strides quickly over to me, slides down the wall and gathers me into his arms. He holds me tightly and rocks me until I start to calm down.

I c
an feel the warmth from his skin leaking into mine. An eternity later I start to hear the words that he is murmuring to me.

“Baby
, it’s okay. Just try and breathe. That’s right just breathe. I’m here now. Nothing will ever hurt you again. I swear it. I’m so sorry, little raven. So sorry,” he murmurs.

I look into his ice blue eyes and believe
him. I don’t know what happened exactly, but with him I am home. I am safe. I slowly start to come back to myself. The shaking stops along with the numbness leaking out of me.

“Can you tell me what happened
, pretty eyes?”

“I don’t know
, Jaxx. I was washing my hands one minute and the next Sabrina stormed in and started to bang my head against the sink. She was screaming about me stealing what was hers. Then she kicked me in the stomach. I think after that I blacked out. When I came to it was like I wasn’t even in my own body. Just this anger. This huge pit of black anger had taken over. Everything went crazy after that,” I say.

I t
ell him about the shower of glass, the doors and sinks shaking and moving on their own, and what Sabrina said as she left.

“Okay
, first let’s get you cleaned up. Then we will figure everything else out. Are you sure you’re okay,” he asks me anxiously.

I th
ink for a moment, assessing myself, and then nod. “Surprisingly, yes. Nothing hurts now. Every time we touch I feel nothing but comfort.”

“That’s part of the mating bond,” he sa
ys with a smile. “We are each other’s other halves.”

“Mating bond?
” I start to ask, but then think better of it. “You know what? Never mind. We’ll just talk about it later when we get this shit sorted.”

“There
is that fire that I love to see.”

I look up at him at that. Startled slightly at his choice of words.

He
pulls me into a firm hug. I pull back a bit and look at him with gratitude in my eyes. “I know we have a lot to learn about each other. I also know it’s fast. Really fast, but I feel stronger with you here with me.”

“What are you trying to say
, Ella?”

“What I’m
trying to say, before I start rambling, is that I am glad you found me, Jaxx. I am glad you are in my life now. Completely.”

He grab
s me roughly by the upper arms, drags me to him, and really lays one on me. The kiss starts out rough, but quickly turns gentle and coaxing. The man tastes good. Like mint and Jaxx. A newly formed snowflake in the midst of a blizzard.

“We can’t
do this here,” he whispers out in a rush.

He pulls
back, breathing hard. I blindly try to follow his lips with mine, wanting more. He chuckles as he tucks my head under his chin and holds me until my breathing returns back to normal.

“Wow,
” I mumble into his chest.

“My thoughts exactly
,” he smiles down at me and then looks around at the mess I created in the bathroom.

“Time
is running short, Ella. We have to fix this and get out of here before Sabrina brings someone back to witness this.”

“How
do we fix this? It’s a disaster.” I look around bewildered.

“Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and picture what the bathroom looked like when you first walked in. Picture the mirrors as whole, the floors clean of blood, and the cracks in the sink sealed. Now
, open your eyes and will with all you have for it to be so.”

I open my eyes and watch as the mi
rrored glass on the floor floats back to the wall and melts into full sheets once more. I stare as the blood dries and flakes away into the air around the puddles and splashes, and I watch the sinks seal themselves before my eyes. I look at Jaxx in total astonishment.

“I did that? I really just made that happen
,” I ask in astonishment.

He rub
s his nose against mine. I like his gentle side, the side that he only lets out when he is with me. He appears so fierce with everyone else.

“Yes, it was all you. You are a natural. So very strong. Stronger than you think, little raven. I think you could accomplish anything you wanted too.” He leans down to kiss me again just as several people rush into the restroom.

I turn out of Jaxx’s arms and
see Sabrina gawking around the bathroom. Several teachers crowd in behind her as she stops short.

“What
is this,” the principal asks. He had to have come in last, because I didn’t see him standing there until now.

I blush
and hide my face in Jaxx’s chest.

Jaxx look
s around the crowd meeting everyone’s eyes.

“Sorry, sir. My girl was upset due to some bullying and I came looking for her. I found her in here crying.”

I stiffen at that
, but he just winks, encouraging me to play along.

“That doesn’t explain why you two children were necking when we arrived
,” he basically yells at us in a scandalized voice. Necking indeed.

“I got carried away comforting my girl. Can you really blame me Mr. Boyd? I mean
, look at her.” Jaxx actually has the nerve to smile at the man. Some of the teachers lightly laugh at that and Mr. Boyd looks a little pink in the cheeks.

“We got a complaint that
Arabella was mistreating Ms. Gardener here.”

“As you can
see sir, Ella is still upset. From what I have gathered in the short time I have been here, she has never bullied or bothered anyone in this school.”

“Well that
seems to be true enough. Obviously this has been a misunderstanding, but I still have to have all of you come to the office to call your parents and discuss this at length.”

“Of course
, sir. Lead the way.”

Chapter
7.

With that we all file out of the bathroom and follow Sabrina and the Principal to the front office. When we arrive the principal
asks me for my parents’ home number.

“
I’m sorry Mr. Boyd, but I have recently left my parents’ home. I’m a legal adult and responsible for myself.”

“And you Mr. Royce?”

“Same,” Jaxx answers absently.

Sabrina s
uddenly explodes.

“This
is all bullshit. That freak sitting there acting all innocent just made glass fly at me and...and… made the doors open and close by themselves!” She is sounding a little crazy with all of her accusations. She is screaming while shaking her head back and forth.

“That’s enough
,” Mr. Boyd shouts at Sabrina. She falls back into the seat she had taken when she entered the office.

“Now young lady
, we will get to the bottom of this, I assure you, but there was no broken glass. There wasn’t any damage to the lady’s restroom at all.”

Sabrina start
s to sob.

“But…. s
he had a tornado around her. Her feet didn’t even touch the ground!” She jumps up and points her finger at me, looking demented. “She worships Satan! She’s a witch! She was using her dark powers on you to make you believe her!”

Mr.
Boyd looks like he is boiling from the inside out by the end of her rant.

“I will not have this craziness spouted in my school. You will be silent or I will have you escorted off the school grounds.”

Sabrina s
its back down with a huff and glares at Jaxx and me.

“Now I know what Ms. Gardener said happened
, but I want to hear from you, Ms. Reese. In your own words. What happened in the girl’s bathroom?”

“I was washing my hands after lunch when Sabrina stormed into the bathroom and grabbed my hair and yanked my head back. She accused me of stealing from her and threatened me,” I sa
y calmly.

“Liar! She’s totally lying Mr. Boyd! I can’t believe you are even listening to her! She’s a witch
,” Sabrina interrupts, jumping from her seat again.

Mr. Boyd
gives her a sour look and she sits back down, crossing her arms over her chest. “Go on, Ms. Reese, what threats did she make?”

I t
ell him about the verbal threats and what was written on Jessa’s locker and car.

“And she sent disgusting things to my friend Devon’s house, and his parents have involved the police.”

“You are such a liar! I didn’t do that! She’s a member of some satanic cult, Mr. Boyd! Just look at her! She’s a witch! She’s probably doing some kind of voodoo magic right now!” Sabrina shrieks.

I mentally roll my eyes. Nothing new there, I’
ve grown up listening to this shit. I just look at Mr. Boyd blandly, and Jaxx takes my hand in his, squeezing my fingers as he frowns at Mr. Boyd.

Mr. Boyd st
ands up behind his desk. He looks shaken up by what I said. He takes a moment, I assume to decide what needs to be done.

“Well it
seems we need to call the police since they have already been involved in this escalating problem,” he surmises, looking at the three of us.

Sabrina start
s screaming at Mr. Boyd, her face purple as she shakes with rage.

“Do you know who my family
is,” she demands. “You will be not only out of a job for this bullshit, but I will personally make sure your life is a living hell,” she threatens him. “You are done here! Your fat ass will be run out of town when my daddy hears about this!”

With that Mr. Boyd pick
s up his phone and calls campus security. They arrive moments later.

“Please escort Ms. Gardener off of campus and make sure she does not return at any point today. I will have to
investigate these claims and sit down with her parents before I can decide how long she will be suspended.”

“Yes, sir,”
the guard says as he takes Sabrina by her arm and drags her out, kicking and screaming.

“You’ll pay for this Witch Slut
,” she spouts shrilly. “You and your stupid satanic cult,” she continues as the guard pulls her down the hall.

“
I apologize for this. No child should be subjected to that,” he acknowledges as he looks at both Jaxx and I, frowning. “However, you were both caught out of class, no matter what the reason, without a tardy slip. Not to mention the PDA. So, I am going to have to give each of you detention,” he continues apologetically.

We both sigh with relief that it
didn’t ended up worse, so much worse.
I could have been ousted!
I think as I nod somberly at Mr. Boyd.

“We
do not condone bullying in this school. Ms. Gardener will be investigated and if she is found to have been bullying students here, she will be expelled on those grounds. So rest easy,” he says, attempting to reassure us.

I
roll my eyes. Yeah, like that means a whole lot to me. Her parents will back her up. They always do. She tried to kill a girl just months ago, and she got off without a hitch! They didn’t even question the hag.

“Thank you, Mr. Boyd,” I repl
y with a tight smile. Jaxx and I take our tardy and detention slips and leave the office.

“We need to get out of here
,
now
,” Jaxx decides. “I know this is your school and you think you belong here, day in and day out, but it’s not, Ella. Staying here is going to be detrimental.”

“
I’m starting to believe that.” I tangle my fingers with his as we move down the hall toward the side exit that led to the parking lot.

“
Norms
cannot
know about us,” he reminds me yet again, looking at my bewildered face and shaking bottom lip. He pulls me into his arms and strokes my cheek.

“This is
not your fault. I know that. You have to believe that also. You have not been trained, but we are going to fix that,” Jaxx is trying very hard to assure me.

I nod and smile up at him. With a sigh I la
y my head on his shoulder.

“
If it’s important to you, you can always finish high school online, but you can’t be around so many Norms without better control,” he continues softly.

“Jaxx, I know, a
nd I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. You’re right, I need better control. I need to learn everything I can. Can your uncle help me? Will you help me?” I am all but begging him for his help even though I know deep down he will freely give me anything in his power.

“We’
ll both help you, little raven.” He grins. “I meant what I said. I am here for you. We are in this together, forever. I promise.”

I need to call my uncle. He is going to hear about this and I want to be the first to tell him.

As we are walking I call Uncle Dan. The conversation goes well enough, he isn’t exactly mad, there isn’t any yelling on his end. But I still cringe at his lack luster voice, it’s dull. I think that he feels as if he is failing because I am in trouble my first day in his care. Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I will handle Dan when I get home tonight. Do whatever I have to do to persuade him that he is the best parent in the world for me.

We finally reach
the lot and I find my bike on its side with WITCH scrolled across the body in white paint. That is the last straw! I can’t handle anymore! I just want to crawl into bed and pull up the covers. Jaxx sees my face and seems to be able to tell what I am thinking.

“No, don’t
do that, it’s fixable. Anything is fixable as long as we are together, Ella.” He pulls out his iPhone and dials the local body shop. He speaks quickly, telling them what had happened and where we are located.

While he
is on the phone I sink down onto the curb and stare at my boots, deep in thought. Today was supposed to be a good one. A new me. Tough and unshakable, but it is too much.

No, fuck that! I can handle anything. I just have to keep picking myself up. I have something to live for now. Something to look forward to. I can do anything as long as I let myself be strong,
I think.
After
the show in the restroom, that proves I’m one fierce bitch!
With that thought I smile.

“What has put that smile on your face
, little raven?”

“Just you.
You being here for me. I’m so lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I would be.”

“I could argue that
I’m the lucky one.” He takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. “Let’s get out of here. My uncle knows the owner of the body shop. They’ll be here within the hour.”

“Jaxx
, can I ask you a question?” I look into his eyes when I ask.

“Anything
, little raven,” he answers automatically.

“Why
is it sometimes you speak like you are an eighteen year old from this time? But at others you speak like you are out of one of those regency novels.”

“I already told you that we are long lived. We are essentially immortal. We stop a
ging when we hit our maturity, for most that would be at about twenty five years of age, although we come into our powers at eighteen.”

“Exactly how old are you
,” I ask, curious.

Jaxx look
s pained. As if I won’t like his answer.

“Come o
n old man. It can’t be that bad,” I joke.

“
I am two-hundred and forty-six years old,” he mutters under his breath while trying not to look at me.

My jaw drop
s at that and I start to laugh. It isn’t really funny, but the words that pop into my head make me laugh and he frowns at me.

“Cradle robber,” I snort with laughter, a
nd soon he is laughing also.

“But it
isn’t fair that you’ve had to wait so long to find me, when I’ve only had to wait eighteen years to find you.”

“We all face our own trials before we find o
ur other halves, little raven, some worse than others. Yours haven’t been a picnic from what you have told me.”

“True
, but soo long,” I say, thinking of his endless years, always searching for his other half.

“You are with me now. That
is all that matters.”

I wrap
my arm around his waist as we approach his sleek black ride with a smile.

He open
s my door and hands me into my seat. Then we are speeding away from the one place I used to look forward to. School used to be an escape from my parentals, from the abuse and hatred. Things have changed.

“Will your uncle be home when we get there?”

“He should be. You can never tell with him though. He is always popping in and out of places. No worries, love. He will adore you. I guarantee it.”

“
I’m sure I will enjoy meeting him. Anyone that puts up with you has to be special,” I say, laughing it off. I am still nervous though.

“So what
do you want for dinner tonight? We didn’t eat lunch thanks to the energy drain. You must be famished,” he looks over at me with concern.

I
just nod and snuggle into my seat, enjoying the ride to his home.