Page 27 of The Blood we Crave

Black and white.

Yin and yang.

Dark and light.

Rest and movement.

Blurred lines. Bloody touches.

We’re two souls with damned beginnings, created from the same wicked seed, never meant to be together, yet it’s impossible to pull me away from him. Stalking him isn’t enough to keep what’s inside at bay anymore.

I need him to see me.

“You’re the only one who wears a watch, Thatch. How the fuck are you still the only one of us who shows up late?” Rook Van Doren’s explosive voice almost makes me smile. If circumstances weren’t so grave, I might’ve laughed.

“I prefer to make an entrance,” he replies smoothly. “Not to mention, I’m not the only one who couldn’t make it on time.”

Rook just smirks, walking towards his friend. “I missed you too, asshole.”

Thatcher scoffs, letting Rook squeeze his shoulder in greeting. That’s the closest thing to a hug anyone would be getting from Thatch, and everyone knows it. Alistair takes this time to move towards them as I step farther into the group, spotting the two people who mean more to me than anything.

“Does this count as a Loner Society meeting?” I smile happily.

Sage and Briar swarm me in a hug, limbs looped over limbs as we wrap each other in a much-needed embrace. The three of us had faced the unspeakable, haunted memories and desolate trauma that will stick in our souls till the grave.

We’d run from and towards trouble hand in hand, escaped deadly fates and gone toe to toe with the evil that lives within the town limits of Ponderosa Springs. What we had endured, what we shared, it forged a bond that would not bend.

It would not break over the pressure of time or distance. It’s tungsten, coiled and wound so tightly that it will last a lifetime.

The Loner Society had been loosely inspired byDead Poets Society, a book my mother read to me more times than I can remember and a film I knew by heart. While I’d never been a poet or a writer of any kind, I longed for a secret group of friends, ones that shared passions, dreams, and the mysteries of their lives they hid from the rest of the world. People you could be yourself around without fear of ridicule. Friends you would carry in your heart for years and years.

When I met Briar and Sage, I knew.

They, too, had experienced the hardships of life and existed just beyond the curtain of the world’s standards. Those who wandered along the outskirts, with no place to call home or people to call their own.

Forgotten ones. Alone and desperately searching for acceptance.

It didn’t matter that we were all drastically different in both personality and physical appearance. I mean, without our particular circumstances and fate of meeting, we probably never would’ve spoken to one another.

Had Briar Lowell never said yes to her acceptance at Hollow Heights, I never would’ve crossed her path. She could’ve asked for a roommate change once she saw the dead bugs plaque on the wall and the state of my side of the dorm, but she hadn’t. She saw something in me, just like I did her.

I saw the person I’d strived to be. Intelligent, strong-willed, and resilient. She hadn’t let her upbringing taint the good in her. She’d used the skills they had taught her as a child to fight her way through life, and there’s no one I respect more.

I know for a fact I’d never darkened Sage Donahue’s doorstep in high school. A girl made of steel and flames, hardened from abuse and the queen of masks. The mean cheerleader with superb and beautiful grace was only one of her facades created to protect the girl I know now.

Someone caring, passionate, and fiercely defensive of the people she loves. More than the sum of all the things people speak about her. More than what her father forced her to become. Sage is more.

“You should’ve just come with us,” Briar mumbles into my shoulder. “I told you to come. My mom was fucking bummed she didn’t get to meet you.”

“That was time for you and Alistair. I didn’t want to intrude.” I inhale their familiar scents, and if it weren’t for the dread of what was to come, I would have cried in happiness.

“He wouldn’t have cared!” She pulls back, staring hard at me, “He likes you, even though he doesn’t say it. You don’t get theI hate everyonelook from him anymore, which is a win. Much more than this one can say.” She bumps Sage with her hip, grinning softly.

Sage groans, flipping her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. “He’s never gonna let it go. You’re the one who wanted to go that night!”

“Alistair will get over it. He’s just grumpy. Must not harm his baby and all that,” I joke, and it causes them both to laugh loudly.

Catching up with them was what made waiting worth it. They’d both offered to let me accompany them on their vacations, but I’d declined. Not because I didn’t want to go, but I knew they needed time.

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