Inside the Fire Book One in the Warden's Series (7 page)

I changed into my sleep clothes and braided
my hair in pig tails letting them hang in the front. I picked up my
phone and opened Wesley’s message taking on last longing look at
the image he had sent me.

I turned on the camera of my phone and took
a shot of me lying in bed. It wasn’t exposing anything my baby doll
shirt covered every important part of my upper anatomy all it did
was leave a little hint of flesh of my stomach.

Me: *attached image* Heading to bed.

Wesley: Lucky bed! See you tomorrow
beautiful. Sleep well.

I put my phone on my end table and rolled on
my side. My head was swimming with all the images of the day. I
fell asleep welcoming the darkness.

With This Ring

“
Dawn!” My mother called
from the living room.

It was Friday already and Wesley and I had
spent every day after school together in the park just talking. It
was nice to have someone I could feel comfortable with. Not to
mention someone that seemed to have his own cooling system.

“What’s up mom?” I asked as I ran from my
room.

“You have plans tonight?” She asked as I
came into the room.

“No, not tonight.” I raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”

“No reason.” She smiled sweetly. She had a
reason.

“No really Mom. You don’t ask me what I’m
doing if you don’t have plans already.” I frowned at her.

“Want to start a fire?” She said.

“The last time you said that I burnt down
the shed at the old house.” I was confused.

“No. I mean do you want to start a fire and
roast hotdogs tonight.” She rolled her eyes.

“Oh. Yeah that sounds like fun.” My frown
turned into a smile.

I loved when we spent time together. I loved
it more when we did it before everything had happened. She was
starting to feel better I could see it in her face. All her work at
the church was paying off. Maybe all we had to do was leave El Paso
for her to find herself again.

We grabbed the hotdogs and buns from the
kitchen and went outside. She had dug a fire pit in the middle of
the backyard. She must have done this while I was at school because
it wasn’t there yesterday.

“Do your worst.” She pointed at the pit.

I rubbed my hands together and closed my
eyes once I felt the warm prickle in my fingers I opened them
willing the fire to escape. The flame hit the pit and instantly
started a warm fire. She put the hotdogs on two spits handing one
to me. We took a seat on the concrete blocks and roasted our
dinner.

“What brought this one Mom?” I asked softly
as my hotdog began to sizzle.

“I figured we hadn’t had a good night just
the two of us in a while. I miss spending time with you.” She
looked at the fire as if she wished she could jump in.

“I missed spending time with you too Mom.” I
smiled at her and she winked back at me.

“So what are your plans tomorrow?” She
asked.

I had a feeling she knew something. She
always knew something. I couldn’t go a day without her asking about
something that had happened during my day. It was as if the moment
I was in her presence she could read my mind. All kidding aside I
thought she really could.

“Nothing much. Just thought I would catch a
movie in town.” I said not wanting to tell her that it was a
date.

“Oh? Anyone special?” She asked as we put
our hotdogs on their buns and smothering them in mustard.

“I suppose.” I lied.

The longer I spent with Wesley the more I
wanted to be with him. We had only shared the one kiss on the cheek
in the previous days though there had been plenty of hand holding
and hugging. He was old fashioned I suppose. Never once did he make
a pass at me. Not that I would have stopped him. I probably would
have died right there in his arms actually.

“Do tell.” She said leaning forward.

I laughed instead.

****

I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling
when my phone buzzed. Every night around the same time we would
send message to one another. I had often fallen asleep talking to
him but he never held it against me. It had been five days since we
first met and it felt like I had known him most of my life.

Wesley: What are you doing?

Me: Lying in bed.

Wesley: Sounds like fun.

Me: What about you?

Wesley: Watching a really crappy horror
movie.

Me: That sounds like fun.

Wesley: Yeah, just wish you were here
watching it with me.

Me: Me too.

Our conversations always bordered on the
edge of romance.

As I had mentioned before I was no stranger
to teenage relationships. I had my fair share of boyfriends while
we lived in El Paso. None of them wowed me enough to fall in love.
I had in fact, never been in love. I had also never been up till
after midnight texting a boy that I had known for a few days. On
the outside looking in we appeared as if we were nothing more than
friends. From the inside looking out though, it was as if we were
already beyond that point.

Neither of us would admit it though. We knew
something was there. I mean really look at our last conversation.
There was a mutual attraction forming. We longed to be near the
other when we were apart. The students at school pretty much
ignored us together. I received a few sporadic death looks in the
hallway, but all in all they were blind to what was happening.

Wesley: I’m excited about tomorrow.

Me: Yeah, me too.

Wesley: What time do you want me to pick you
up?

Me: I figured we could just meet in
town.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to meet my
mother. It was just that I wasn’t ready for all the questions that
she would ask. She would want to know all of his family history. I
guess in a way to see if she had maybe met an ancestor of his in
the afterlife. It was easier this way. At least then if the date
went bad I could come home and he wouldn’t have to know where I
lived.

Wesley: You scared of me meeting your
mom?

Me: Actually yeah. I just want to make sure
she doesn’t freak when she meets you.

Wesley: She into death metal and Satan or
something?

Me: Why do you ask?

Wesley: Have you looked in the mirror
recently?

Alright, that I would give to him. In this
day and age I was considered Goth by fashion sense. I always wore
black, always had a dark look on my face, and always listened to my
music loud. While the other kids got in their cars blaring the
newest Bruno Mars I got into mine blaring Pantera or Metallica.

I was a mother’s worse nightmare honestly.
Even my ex-boyfriends feared the inevitable when it came to meeting
the parents. That was probably why shortly after I always found
myself single.

Me: Not the point! My mother is a different
breed of mom.

Wesley: Then it is probably best she doesn’t
meet my father.

We talked for a bit longer before deciding
to go to bed. I laid there for a bit in the silence before I let
sleep take me.

****

Standing outside the theater house in the
Midvale square I waited for Wesley. He had said we should meet at
six out front for the seven o’clock showing. However, I was already
nearing six thirty. I was becoming antsy. Had he stood me up? I
felt hurt and anger mixed together. Nobody would make a fool of
me.

I stomped to my car and swung the door open
throwing myself into my seat I grabbed my phone and frantically
texted his number.

Me: I’m standing outside the theater
wondering where you are. You said six right?

I waited for him to respond but just like
every other text message it sat there with no response. My heart
was pounding. I had to take a walk if I didn’t I would wind up
singing the upholstery of my car. I enjoyed my seat covers. The
last thing I wanted was to burn them.

Getting out my car I took one last look
around finding that Wesley was nowhere in sight. This is what I get
for actually thinking that a guy was into me. I walked along the
sidewalk letting the late summer air hit me in the face. My hand
stuffed securely in my pockets my head down. The anger in me kept
pulsating. I was hoping by keeping my hands concealed nobody could
see the sparks if they decided to fly.

I rounded the corner heading towards the
main drag. There was a pond just on the other side of the road and
I figured being near water was probably in my best interest. I saw
two figures across the road in the darkness. Their faces were so
close together it almost looked as if they melted into one. I
couldn’t hear them at first than the words flowed over the air.

“You know you cannot ignore her.” The male
voice was seething. I could almost see his lips parting from his
teeth and sneering at the other figure.

“I can and I will.” I paused. It was
Wesley’s voice.

“She demands you return.” The other figure
grabbed Wesley around the throat and backed him into a tree. “You
do as the mistress commands.”

“Don’t you ever just want to be alone John?”
Wesley was unaffected by the treatment this man was giving him.

“Why are you so special to her?” I could see
the boy had dark black hair that curled in the front. His eyes were
ice.

Wesley looked at the boy and smiled
cruelly.

“Maybe I’m just better than you.” He bit at
the other boy. Wesley’s eyes were hard and cold as he stared at the
boy he had called John.

The other boy’s eyes shot towards me and
dropped Wesley from his grasp. I trotted over and he grabbed my
hand holding it close to his side as if he was protecting me.

“Watch your back Jensen. I won’t let you run
away like she did.” The man looked at me and smiled. “I will see
you soon enough.”

Wesley stood there holding me close his face
not moving until the dark haired boy was out of sight.

“What was that supposed to mean?” I asked as
he squeezed my hand.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. He is all talk
and very little action.” He turned his head towards me. “I am so
sorry.”

“No, I just thought you had stood me up is
all.” I shook my head. “That was a bit intense don’t you
think?”

“Naw. John is relatively harmless.” He tried
to smile but there was something in his eye that told me the other
boy was far from harmless.

“You ok?” I looked up at him and he pulled
me closer to him wrapping his arms around my waist kissing me on
the forehead.

“Yeah. I’m much better now.” He laughed as
buried my face into his cool chest.

“What was he talking about?” I asked my
voice muffled by his shirt.

“What do you mean?” I could feel him playing
with my curls.

“Who demands for you to return?” I
questioned.

He tensed for a second and then his body
relaxed.

“There are some things about me that are
better left unknown.” He said simply, and I didn’t press the
issue.

We stood there for a while just holding each
other. I had a feeling he was waiting to see if the dark haired boy
would reappear. When he was satisfied that he was gone we were
good. He led me to the grass, and we laid back into it and looked
at the stars.

“So tell me Dawn, did you leave some
heartbroken boyfriend back in Texas?” He teased me.

I let out a little laugh and shook my
head.

“You might find this hard to believe but I
really didn’t date much back home. Boyfriends were few and far
between. The only guys that would go out with me went to other high
schools. Everyone at my school was too scared to even look at me.”
I saw his eyes shadow for a second.

“So that means no boyfriend then?” He
grinned like a Cheshire cat.

“That means no boyfriend.” I repeated.

“Well if you are ever in the market for one.
I have someone that would be interested in the position.” He
blushed as I smiled.

It had been so long since I had smiled. Not
that I don’t smile at all. I just don’t genuinely smile. I save
those for special occasions. Apparently every moment I spent with
him was a special occasion.

“Oh you do huh?” I narrowed my eyes and
laughed.

“Yeah. Tall guy, kinda skinny, he has a
thing for dark eyed girls.” His eyes locked with mine and both your
smiles faded. The current between us was embarrassingly strong.

He leaned in and placed his lips to mine.
Their coolness calmed the most restless fire in my body as it
turned to butter. His kisses became sweeter as his hand came up and
cupped my right cheek. The kisses got heavier as our lips pressed
together harder. There was a fever there that I couldn’t explain.
Never had this much chemistry been felt with anyone. This was going
somewhere I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. It seemed too soon to be in
this situation but it felt so right.

He pulled his lips from mine and fought to
breathe.

“I’ve been meaning to do that for a while
now.” He caressed my face with his thumb.

“Do what?” I asked dreamy.

He laughed. “Kiss you.”

“Oh.” I came out of my trance.

“You ok?” He asked as I looked at the
ground.

“Yeah, that was just…” I couldn’t finish the
sentence because the right word to explain didn’t exist.

“Amazing? Exceptional? The best you ever
had?” He looked at me with a smirk.

“I would say awesome.” I raised an eyebrow
at him as his lips brushed mine again for a just a second.

“So what do you say Dawn?” He took my hand
in his.

“About?” I asked confused.

“Global warming.” He smiled at me and I
wanted to punch him.

“No really.” I demanded sitting up, so I was
looking down at him.

“You are going to make me do this the hard
way aren’t you?” He followed my lead but went one step further and
stood up.

He offered me his hand, and I graciously
took it as helped me to my feet. I brushed the grass from my pants
and looked back at him as he went down on one knee. I couldn’t help
but to break out into hysterical laughter. Pulling a key ring from
his pocket he took my hand.