Siphon (Siphon Chronicles, Book One) (6 page)

She was stealing the air from me.  Her sweet scent hit me like a brick when she lifted her lashes across the table at the beginning of class.  Did she know I wanted to steal every ounce of essence out of her?  Drain her.

I watched her so close to see if she was the same, but I couldn’t tell if she could sense my desire that was pulling me like a damn pirate to the water.

And just like that, I caught her checking me out too. 

The bell rang and she shot out of her seat like a bullet.

I grabbed her arm before I could think what she might do about it.  She stilled to statue proportions.  I saw her friend look back at last second and wiggle her eyes at her.  She didn’t see because she was looking at me.

“Pigeon, we need to talk.”

“NO.WE.DON’T.” 

She wasn’t out of the hate me stage yet.  Her one shoulder shrug tried to brush me off but...no way was I leaving her and not finding out more about this girl who got under my skin and made me want to fight dragons.  Or ex’s.

“Eventually.”

“Like never.  You just left yesterday.  I was the one left hanging.”
              Why was she so angry?  She hasn’t reacted this far into an outrageously bile filled stage from any of my carefully traced efforts.  I didn't do a thing wrong yesterday that I recall.  She left too!

She pulled her arm out of my grasp and took off.  I followed her not to the cafeteria where I assumed she’d go under the safety net of friends, but to the oak tree.  Maybe she did want to confront the obvious.

All my life I’ve been alone.  No one ever asked.  No one cared.  And three days ago, someone did. 

“You feel it whether you admit it or not,” I cornered her against the tree dropping my books and having luck that they fell into a halfway neat pile.  Not that I cared.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe you were too busy smelling me.”  I moved in before I knew what I would do next.  I just had to know.  Theories based on little background evidence and centered around mere hunches didn’t always pan out the way I wanted, but this one—I think it will.  Oh, I've been in pain before, at the last moments of what was thought to be near death when the energy was that low, but this may just be Pandora's box of the ultimate treasure. Form what I could tell from her forlorn face at the times fears arose from what she thought might be the grimmest future, she'd been close to death too. 

Her face was so close, her scent so strong.  She just needed to tip her head up another fraction and...“I’m going to kiss you, Lark.  If you want to take from me, go ahead, but I think my theory might just be right.”

I may have been calling this an experiment in my head, but it was dangerously close to something else.

She didn’t oppose it.  She didn’t answer at all.  I closed my eyes just as I felt her just licked lips against mine.  Like coming home to a sweet taste of heaven, I continued the kiss.  When she didn’t fight it, I deepened the kiss to a slow rhythm.  Her hand gripped the front of my shirt. Her leg inched up against mine as if wanting to be as close as I wanted to be to her.  I’d never kissed or been kissed like this.  And it had been so long.
 

When she slid her tongue across the inside of my bottom lip, my body answered the call.  I felt the power of the siphon moving in.  It was going to take from her.  Scared crapless, I went as far as she would let me.  I opened her mouth for the taking.  If it was possible, she inched even closer, a soft groan escaping.

Words do not describe what she tasted like, felt like.  This girl was poison.  She would ruin me for the rest of my life.  My hands wound around her waist, hers sending fire all over my neck.

Her velvety tongue slipped into my mouth.  Just then I felt it.  She was taking from me.  Did she know it? 

The kiss continued on until one of us, I don’t know which, sucked in a breath and our lips suctioned apart.  Licking her lips with dark, half closed eyes, she looked up. 

She saw them too.

I looked up knowing exactly what to look for, but it wasn’t there.  Instead were swirls of a misty cloud of color.  Bright vibrant colors.  Every color imaginable if you stared long enough.

Something shot down to the core of my fully male reaction to her when I looked at her eyes.

“You describe it,” I said hoarsely and giving away the way she affected me.

Looking back up with her at the sight, she said in phrases, “My own body is doing dizzying circles around the sensation.  Mixtures of colors stand right above your head like a dance or a song. No one has ever had colors.  What does it mean, Daniel?”

She still insisted on calling me that.  No one did.  One more question before I theorize.  “Do you feel weak, at all?”

She tossed her light silky hair behind her back, “No.  I feel…stronger.”

I smiled then.  I knew.  “So do I.  We don’t weaken each other when we take, we give each other energy.  We are opposites that give, not take.”

She was beaming and giving me the come back of my life, “And you know what they say about opposites?”  Her own eyes danced with the finality of her shoulders officially lowering and letting me in.

“No, Pigeon.  What do they say on the subject?”  I wanted to hear her say it.  See her smile, not begrudge me like the last few days.

“Opposites attract.”

That they do!

What did I do?  I kissed her again.  And again.

I was on fire.  I wanted to fly like Superman and fight the trails of evil.  I wanted to run a marathon.  I wanted to...kiss this boy all day and night.

I could feel what he feels.  Maybe he was afraid to show that he was as weakened by this as I was, yet filled with a kind of energy that surpassed what it feels like when I take from others.  His taste was prominent, but for the first time, I could foresee the coming scent of him mixed with the taste. It was all in one accord.

His heart thundered loud like mine, his breathing became erratic.

We did finally let go of each other’s touch boundaries.  It was so cold to disconnect, it didn’t feel right.

He smiled at me, “Can I ask you something?”

I was still in the kissing cloud called Daniel Crawford, “Yes.”

“Was that kiss better than your last?”  I wanted to know how many she’d kissed suddenly.  I wanted possession. 

She didn’t let me down however embarrassed she felt, “I never really had a kiss like that before.  The last and only one I had was quick and painful.”  She didn’t like admitting that. 

However, I was ecstatic.

“So that wasn’t painful?”  I admit I wanted my ego boosted.

“Euphoric.”

Now
that
was my flippin’ new word of the day. 

A frown pressed against her brows.  I didn’t like it on her face now.  I wanted the smile back.  I could kiss her back to smiling if I had my way.

“What is it, Pigeon?” She frowned more.  What was I doing wrong?

“Was the kiss not as good for you?” she asked.

Oh, she had the same panic I did.  I hated to ever have to admit to her that I’d kissed a lot of spell-ridden siphoned girls to find her.  I wasn’t the least bit disappointed in the first real kiss I’d ever had.  And from someone who despised me getting near her.  That was just so new for me.

Since confessions were flying around the air above us in other fashions, why not spill the rest?

Here goes. 

“I’ve never kissed anyone like that.”

She didn’t believe me.  Her face scrunched up.  “Um, you were way too good at that to be a first timer.”

Ego boost well noted.

“Maybe, but I’ve only ever kissed anyone I made to kiss me because they were under the siphon. You’re the first one I’ve ever kissed who wanted to and
gained
energy from me.”

Confessions feel good when no one ridicules you.  Still, I will regret pouring my heart out when she spits it back at me.  And she would when she found out the truth about why I was here. 

“So that was as good for you as it was for me?” she asked.

I raised a brow at her misshapen innuendo that was said like an accident, but something else was implied.  She was quite the little vixen.  We both laughed.  Mine was husky and wanting more of her, not more high school English and mathematics.  We headed into class...late again.

The eyebrows all shot up in unison across the room. We never returned to lunch and were now late for class.  Daniel walked me here and went off to his respective class.  My lips were swollen and tingling making me feel they were displaying my recent actions. Coughs of inappropriate comments were thrown from every direction that contained a male in the seat.  One obscene gesture was not observed from coach.  My best friend was practically bouncing in her seat.  And Foster...was a raging bull.

I didn’t care.  Euphoria was still floating around the top of my head making me clearer headed, yet kind of fuzzy in my stomach and most likely unable to eat anytime soon.  I was pumped and ready for anything.

Racing through the lesson and heading off to the next class without Daniel was tough, but I wasn’t so achy like yesterday or the day before.  Did the kiss really give that much power?

The day ended.  No detention.  I headed to the parking lot unsure of what the next step in the Daniel Crawford plan might be.  I’d just go home and wait. 

Didn’t happen. 

“Going somewhere without me?”  His voice easily achieved that same hold-you-still-in-your-step honeyed warmth.  I felt like maybe his siphon spell actually worked on me and wanted to say so.

“You know.  I’m not sure your nifty spell you use on girls isn’t working on me.  I feel light headed and woozy around you.”

His face fell to something awful and I couldn’t stand it.  “I’m joking, Daniel.  Joking.  I mean it in a girl kind of way.”

He wasn’t sure at first.  That tough guy I met days ago was falling away, his shell broken open.  “You aren’t lying to make me leave?”

The air was thick between us all of a sudden.  Insecurity would have never been a bullet in my list of guesses about Daniel Crawford.

Geez, he was that afraid.  I opened the door of my car, dropped my bag in the seat, and rushed back to his arms.  I didn’t kiss him long because I had to get us out of the parking lot before we gave the whole school bad rumors that I’d spent years stifling about myself.  I wasn’t that kind of girl.  I’d make sure Daniel knew this, but right now he needed this and so did I. Alive with energy with yet another kiss.

“Would I kiss you if I wasn’t joking?”

He shuddered.  This all male, all brawn, fully capable intelligent guy trembled. 

“I don’t know what you’ve done to me.”

Guess my own spell is working.

This girl, who was wanted by my own kind for god knows what, was getting under my skin.  She made me want to do things to her I’ve never done with anyone I’ve ever cared about and more.  I wanted her for me and me alone and I had no idea why. To me, girls have always been  like clocks.  They run out of time and I move on.  I couldn’t see past this one though.  I couldn’t see a foot past her.  She tunneled my vision and it scared me.

We fell into routine chitchat for the ride.  She didn’t know I was a roamer or what my actual job entitlement included and I never let that part of the conversation go anywhere.  I was so wrapped up in the three days of meeting and not seeing past her that I’d neglected to face the future of what I’d done.  Was doing.  But somehow, in the middle of kissing her, the cloud seemed to tell me it would all work out.  I’d found a person who could touch me without me stealing their life.              

On the way to pizza in the Jeep, we discussed an agreement that when we both entered the “euphoria” as she called it, that we weren’t taking any years from each other.  That seemed impossible to both of us.  How could no one know this and how could they not tell us if they did?  Knowing who my father was made me even more leery.  The two of us asked several questions to the air since we had no answers.  Were we the only ones? she asked.  There was the rest of the council and their children.  Did she know about them?  No flippin’ way.

In the back booth of the infinitesimally small pizza joint that couldn't be topped over pepperoni and black olives I asked her, “Have you ever been to the Siphonic Headquarters?”

Treading lightly she answered with my already made conclusion, “No. What is that?”  Lark took a dainty bite of pizza and licked her lips.  That was euphoric to watch all in itself.  I’d never watched a girl eat.

I’d known for years there were a few siphons out there that were kept purposely hidden and unaware.  I shouldn’t tell her that.  Or that I knew she existed.  I hated her kind for so long knowing they didn’t have to deal with what they were.

“You are a siphon.  You take people’s years for your own survival.  You belong to the council located at the Siphonic Headquarters off the coast of Rhode Island. If you don’t know what it is, you couldn’t have been there.  So why do you live here in Dallas?  Do you know any others like us?”

I’d overwhelmed her, but time would run out if I didn’t fit some puzzle pieces together.  Give and take.

I heard the door chime and knew the recognizable face was heading our way, but all I successfully did was inch a little closer to her in hopes he’d venture away.

He didn't.

“Hello, Lark.  Heard you weren’t happy with who coach stuck you with in class.  Wanted to be sure you were doing okay?” The wingding named Zane asked her, not acknowledging my presence.

“Fine, Zane.  Good to see you.”

The boy’s eyes lit up like that might mean she really thinks it.  I had to shut this loser down. 

“Zane, is it?  Good to meet you.  I’m Dane,” I shoved my hand out to shake his only to not have it returned.  His eyes dilated and blinked.  He was afraid of me.  Good! 

“Yeah.  Call me, Lark,” the boy coaxed unsteadily.

I let out a breath only after the mental midget moved on to his friends.  Lark looked pissed, but she never said so. Instead she started on her food again. 

Shaking hands was against my usual order of business, but I hadn't followed any of my other rules since arriving here. And I did say I was going to try it out.

“First off,” she stopped eating, took a drink of soda and looked me dead in the eyes, “you are kind of the first I’ve ever met of what you call “our kind” and second, I didn’t know this was a norm for many others until you showed up.  If there are more out there, I want to meet them.”

A sudden fear rose in the depth of my stomach.  What if she was just intrigued by me?  What if I lost her?  I’d just met this girl and suddenly I wanted to go all Zales jewelry and settle down for the rest of my unnatural life.  What was wrong with me?

Coolness set back in.  I needed to back off.  Standoffish and aloof I told her, “Sure.  We can do that.  I’m staying near a guy who’s like you.  He has a friend that’s the same.”

I had some work to do.

“You don’t live here?” she asked warily. 

Here’s where the lies would begin.

“No.”  Not a lie.

She sat in wait, crossing her tan arms over like a prowling lioness and narrowing her eyes at me.  I snagged a look at her overall picture for later purposes if she ran from me and never wanted to see me again.  Were her arms cold?  She took off the little jacket she wore.

Freckles covered her shoulders leftover from summer’s heat.  She wore little makeup and her lips were always shiny except now.  Her neck was pretty with the arched shoulders I liked too much.  I wanted to kiss them.  I wanted to earlier too, but that would have been too forward.

“I work for the council.  I travel around, taking care of...things for them.”

Not a lie.

“So you have no home?”

This would get complicated.  She would want to know how an
eighteen
-year-old guy owns a home and lives alone, but travels endlessly with nowhere to go.

“I do.  In Rhode Island.”

She seemed to settle a little.  “With your parents?”

Uh, oh!  “No.  Alone."

“Alone as in by yourself?”

I nodded.  This would get sticky.  I could lie, say they died, and I inherited the house.  I could say it belonged to someone else. Not even my father knew about it.  The more I stared at her face, I couldn’t lie to her.  It was either she accepted me or not.

“Alone as in I own it.”

Her eyes went wide in an innocent display of being sheltered from the world. 

“So we can establish that you are not a typical high school senior, do not live here, and have a real job.  Do I assume you are really enrolled at my school?”

She wasn’t naive.

“No, no, and yes. And yes, I am enrolled with you.”

If she were in fact intelligent like I knew her to be, not at all naive like I’d off and on determined, she would piece together more.  And soon.

“You are here on business?” she asked.