I pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them firmly. A thrill ran through me at the feel of my own body heat, radiating through the thin fabric of my pyjama bottoms. I wriggled my toes in my fluffy socks, squeezing them together to feel the warmth pooling there.Had I been able to cry again, I would have been blinking back tears at the sensation. Even alone, without Skye’s body heat to warm me, the feeling of temperature – real temperature, not just an assessment of it – was heady and overwhelming, and entirely enjoyable.For the first time since David’s death, my shower had been an utterly pleasant experience. I’d focused on the hot water, on the oozing steam, and I’d been overcome by the feeling of the heat on my bare skin, and the fresh chill as I’d stepped out and into my towel.I didn’t want to take this lightly. It was a gift, no matter the cause of
I balled my hands into fists, stuffed deep inside my pockets. I’d forgotten what the cold truly felt like: the shuddering, uncomfortable chill that bit at the tip of my nose and made the ends of my fingers ache. Yet still I relished in it, thinking with excitement of how pleasant the warmth of my bed and blankets would feel later. Perhaps I could have another shower when I got in; I could let the hot water stream down my skin, heating me from the outside in.It was a luxury to feel the cold; so much so that I kept missing what Falmer was saying to me.“You took the time to dig out a scarf?” He was tutting, his hands in his pockets out of habit rather than to keep them out of the bitter cold.“You know me,” I teased, “I always want to look my best.”“For school, maybe. But for a night-long patrol?” He raised one quizzical eyebrow.
I grinned at Falmer over the sounds of Camila and Alexander’s bickering. We were walking to the edge of our territory, and it seemed that my mild-mannered suggestion had set them off. And, despite Falmer’s prior claim that he wasn’t interested in their disputes, he kept chipping in with unhelpful information that only served to wind them both up more.With the cold biting at the tip of my nose, I’d never felt more joyous, more free – more alive.“Our first date was at that underground bar, remember? It was in New York, during the prohibition. There was that glass chandelier refracting the light all around us, Alex, and it was shining in your eyes…” Camila trailed off, her own eyes gleaming at the memory.But Alexander was less than impressed. “No, Cam, I’m sorry, but you’re just wrong. We met in the nineteen-twenties, sure, but it wasn&r
The stars suddenly felt distant and cold up above. The warmth of their embers was gone, replaced by a white light that offered no heat.“Why?” I asked. “What happened?”“After I turned Nettie, I didn’t see her for a very long time. I finished my studies at Oxford, and I was accepted into the clergy.” He smirked. “I was different, back then. I was bored. I had no goals in life, no purpose. So I travelled around, searching for something – anything – and then, over a century later, I found Nettie again.”The forest was thickening around us, the path shrinking yet further as it took us beneath the arching boughs of the trees. They blocked out even the cold light of the stars, and I had to rely on my enhanced, supernatural vision to see. It was colder in the woods, too, shaded and quiet. I wriggled my numb toes desperately inside my boots. Though I’d not
I wanted to hunt after the patrol, so I asked Falmer to stay with me. I didn’t plan on staying out for long – I felt frostbitten, from the tip of my nose to the tips of my toes. My hands had suffered the worst, though; they felt hard, like unmoving icicles beneath the cotton of my gloves. As the dawn broke across the sky I hoped that the first rays of sun would bring heat with their light, but I remained cold even as they burned in streaks of pink and gold, blazing through the darkness.“You know,” Falmer said, watching me idly as I crept after a white-tailed deer, “I did encounter a legend that told of a vampire who became human again.”“Oh?” I faltered, and at the crunch of leaves beneath my boot, the deer stuck its tail into the air and ran. I sighed. I didn’t want to go for anything smaller – I was hungry, and I didn’t want to hurt anything I drank from.
My head pounded as I rounded the corridor, the fluorescent lighting too white, too bright, as I broke into a jog. There was someone behind me, inching closer and closer –I turned around. Nothing. The hallway was empty, lined with lockers on either side and devoid of anyone or anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. With that, the creeping sensation disappeared, and I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief.I must have been imagining it. But, imagined stalker or not, I was still late for the assembly. With another, frustrated sigh, I sped off down the hall towards the assembly room.Everyone turned to look at me as I entered. I shot the head teacher an apologetic smile, shutting the door quietly behind me. It creaked, and, for one everlasting, aching moment, I thought it may never stop. But eventually it did, and I slipped silently into a seat at the back of the room.“We’ll w
“Under the bleachers?” I scoffed to myself, though I typed out a message saying that was fine, that I’d meet them there. Kathrena had said she’d be late, so I was in no hurry to rush outside just to wait around in the cold.I was stood at the edge of the cafeteria, leaning against a wall with faded, peeling cornflower paint. I dropped my phone back into my pocket, and was about to leave when I saw the queue for the lunch line shrink.Throughout October the school was selling autumn-themed drinks. They were disgusting, apparently – no match for the coffee shop in town, or so I’d heard – but I imagined that, at the very least, they’d be warm.One of Rowan’s quieter friends, Jade, had been buying them religiously, and they usually smelt pretty nice, too: sweet and spicy, wrapped up with cinnamon and cloves.I ducked through the tables, trying t
“Wait,” I said, pulling back. “That’s – that’s a good thing, surely?”“No,” Kathrena choked, stepping out of the hug too. Her eyes were back on the ground, and her hands twitched anxiously at her sides. “Oh, God, I just – I panicked. I said no to him.”“But why?” Rowan asked, frowning, her red lips pulled into a pout. “He’s cute.”“Look, I – I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Kathrena said, running a shaking hand through her hair, pushing her fringe out of her face only for it to fall down again seconds later, messier than it was before. “We have enough to deal with already.”Skye touched her forearm for a moment, his eyes gentle as they met hers. “Okay. But we’re here for you, whenever you’re ready.”“Tha