~Temporarily~

Chapter 1 Denver, Colorado 2310 My alarm clock is going off. The annoying sound ringing in my ears. I tried to ignore it as best I could, but it was pointless. In the end, my hand ended up slapping it off of my dresser, knocking it to the floor and to its death, just like every other one. I pushed my covers to the end of my bed. A wave of coldness crept over me without warning as soon as the covers were off of me. The springs in the bed all cried out as I sat up. In some ways the noise was comforting. A type of sign that things hadn’t changed, yet. But then, in other ways, it was as annoying as the alarm clock. I stretched out my arms and cracked my knuckles. Under my feet, the floor boards were cold and sent goose bumps up my legs. They moaned their forbidden melody with each step I took. When I got to the door, I smelt something horrible. It had made its way from the kitchen, I knew that much. I opened the door and in came the stench, staining my room with it. I slapped my hand over my mouth and nose. Just the smell made me sick. I didn’t need to look into mirror to know that my face was turning green. I could feel it changing. I hurry into the kitchen and discovered who had caused it. My mom was standing over the stove, spatula in hand and a confused look on her face. I go over to her and snatch the spatula out of her hand. I turned off the stove. “Oh, good morning Lia.” She said. Her voice apologetic. I turned around, a deep sigh coming out of my mouth. I point the spatula at her, my eyes narrowing. “You know we both agreed that I would do the cooking.” I say while my mom tossed some of her hair behind her shoulder. My mom’s name is Cassandra Kay. If you asked me, I would say that she is really beautiful. Her hair is a straight, long, dark red color. As blue as blue can be was her eye color. Her skin is kind of pale. Freckles were on her cheek, over the bridge of her nose, and then onto the other cheek. She was a bit shorter than me, but not by much. (Oh and, by the way, she’s not really my mom. I go through foster care. She just happens to be the one who adopted me this time. Just a bit of info you should know.). I, on the other hand, have curly, light brown hair that falls down to my shoulders. My skin is all tan, not a single freckle on it. My eyes are the most important, and special, feature. They’re a shiny gold with a tint of blue. No one else had this in their eyes except for one person that I saw a long time ago. But I was ‘tired’ at the time and nothing made much sense so I was probably just imagining it. There was another person too but I don’t really remember much about him, except for the fact that he was the one to seal the contract. My eyes meant that the contract had been done. That everything was finished and this is me paying the price, or holding up my end of the deal. And I didn’t, and wouldn’t, regret anything. That was all there was to it. “Yes, I know but you’ve been working yourself so hard that I thought you needed to take a break. Between your studies and track team, I didn’t want to burden you with cooking this morning.” She said. I put down the spatula and shake my head. “Okay, how about this. You make the both of us a bowl of cereal while I get ready for school?” I say. She smiles and nods. I give another sigh and leave for the bathroom. The bathroom almost smelt as bad as the kitchen but I managed. Our bathroom was small and could be considered claustrophobic to some people. It was also the only bathroom in the entire apartment. I hurry up and brush my teeth and hair. After that, I hurry back to my room that was still caked with the horrible smell. I ignore it and take off my PJ’s. I go over to my dresser, take out thigh high socks, pull them on, and put on my favorite jean skirt and a long sleeved red shirt. I only stopped a minute to run my hand over the scar I had on my chest but then put on my black and white high tops. Satisfied with how I look in the mirror, I go out to the kitchen. The smell had mostly gone away, thanks to the open window. On the small rectangular table sat two bowls of fruity pebbles. I took my seat and started eating. My mom sat down across from me. We both sat in silence until she said, “So, is anything interesting happening at school today?” “Aside of the first day of school being today, on a Friday, nothing I know about.” I take the last spoonful of cereal, put it into my mouth, and finish drinking my milk. “I’m gonna leave early today with it being the first day of school and all. I’ll see you after school. Oh, wait, no, I’m going to be with Clover till 5:30 tonight but I’ll be home right after that.” Before my mom can answer, I’m out the door, and jogging to school. As soon as I get to school, I sit down in front of the doors, waiting for them to open. I laughed to myself and shook my head. “I should have put on a jacket.” I tell myself. Just then a sudden breeze blows through making me shiver and the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. I curl up into a ball, saving all the warmth I have until the doors open. What a day to choose to come to school early Lia. I scold myself and then laugh a little. Then I hear an engine. I look up and see a black limo pull into the schools parking lot. Maybe it’s a teacher. They might let me sit in the car with them. I get up and walk over to the limo, not giving much thought to what teacher might own it or how they would have bought it. It only takes me a minute to get over to the vehicle. I knock on the passenger door window. The window goes down and my eyes widen a little. I quickly get it under control. A guy looks at me, taking off his sunglasses. His eyes! I thought. “Can I help you?” He asks. “Um, uh, I was wondering if I could sit in the car with you. It’s really cold out here. But I understand if you say-” The door opens up and the guy steps out. He has a good two inches on me. His hair is the same color as my moms and his skin is almost as tan as mine. His face showed no expression. His eyes are what caught my attention though. They were a bright, almost shiny, venomous green with….a tint of blue. Without thinking I ask, “Did you make the contract too?” Something, maybe surprise, passed through his eyes but was gone as fast as it appeared. “Go ahead in if you want.” Even his voice showed no expression. I was reminded of that day 314 years ago. That guy that showed no emotion and yet helped me so much. I go inside the limo, moving all the way over. Instantly I’m filled with warmth and I’m glad about my decision about asking if I could sit in here and wait for the doors to open. The guy follows me in and shuts the door behind him. “Thanks for letting me sit in here. My name’s Lia Kay by the way.” I smile, looking over at the guy. He just nods and leans his head up against the window. “What’s your name?” This makes him look at me. There was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. I didn’t really know why but I didn’t care all that much. “The name’s Tristan.” As soon as I heard the name, something inside of me went off. Kind of like a buzzer going off uncontrollably after a basketball round. It felt like I had heard the name before. Since he has such an unusual name, I should remember it if I have heard it before. As if Tristan was reading my mind, he said, “It’s an unusual name isn’t it? I can tell that’s what you’re thinking just by the look on your face. You’re pretty easy to read….Lia.” As soon as he said my name, my heart skipped a beat. I hadn’t realized that I was holding my breath until I said, “Have we met before? I know it’s a strange question, but…” I trailed off. I heard Tristan laugh and I looked up at him. “Wow. Nice pick up line.” I could feel myself blushing, but not from embarrassment. I open the door on my side and stepped out. A sudden breeze swe