The Edge Of Darkness Read online

  “Leave it. I’ll clean it up.”

  He took my plate and we moved around the counter and sat down. I could tell he had so many more questions. When people found out I was blind, they always did.

  “Do you miss Connecticut?”

  “I used to, after we moved here, but I hardly remember what it was like to live there. I miss my mom more.”

  “Do you remember the accident?” he finally asked.

  I took a deep breath. “It’s a memory I can’t quite remember and somehow can’t quite forget. It’s the last thing I relive every night before I go to bed, and it’s the first thing I remember every morning. It traps me and I find myself surviving my nightmare every day. The only thing I remember clearly is what I was doing an hour before the accident.”

  “What was that?”

  “Dancing.”

  Ryland

  Thirteen

  I swallowed hard. “You dance?”

  She definitely had the body of a dancer, I thought as I watched her sitting next to me.

  “No, I used to dance.”

  Okay, I would give her that for now.

  “Were you any good at it?”

  “I did okay. I wasn’t any Darcey Bussel, but I could have been if I hadn’t…” She trailed off, slipping out of her chair.

  She found the sink easily and turned on the water, rinsing her empty plate. I was out of my chair and behind her, doing the same.

  “I have no clue who that is.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to. Thank you for lunch.” She changed the subject and I let her.

  “I should be thanking you. You did all the work.”

  She looked up at me and smiled. “I did, didn’t I?”

  “Thank you.”

  She was leaning with her back against the sink, drying her hands off, when I finished putting up the dishes. I stood in front of her and took the towel from her nervous hands. She dropped her hands and looked up at me so innocently.

  Resting my palms on the edge of the sink, I leaned into her. Her skin looked so soft and pale compared to the tousled mass of red curls that framed her face. It was like watching strands of fire kiss her cheeks and I wanted to run my fingers through the flames. I was torn between wanting to touch her every chance I got and pushing her to do things on her own.

  “How can you be so wildly sexy and unbelievably innocent all at the same time?”

  I pushed away the curls around her face, and my finger trailed around the curve of her cheek. I knew she wasn’t going to answer.

  “Can I ask you another question?”

  “I’m afraid to say yes.”

  I laughed. “Why?”

  “Because you ask me questions that I don’t know how to answer sometimes,” she confessed.

  “I promise to take it easy on you this time.”

  She took a deep breath. “Okay then.”

  I took a minute to figure out how to ask her. I touched the corner of her eyes, tracing the scars.

  “How did it happen?”

  “An infection. It took almost an hour for them to find us and by the time I got to the hospital, the doctors couldn’t control it.”

  “How much can you see?”

  “Not a lot. I can see light and blurry shadows, but nothing is clear.”

  “So you can’t see my features, but you can see my shape?”

  “Kind of. I’ll explain it to you some other time.

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  She lifted her hand and rested it against my cheek. My eyes closed and I lost myself in her touch.

  “I wish I could see you, though,” she admitted softly.

  I realized then how dangerously easy it would be to fall for this girl if I let myself get too close. It would never be about looks or money for Araya. When she fell in love, any guy would know where her heart really lay. He would know with everything he had that she was in love with him.

  “And what am I interrupting here?” Sebastian’s question boomed behind me.

  A low growled snuck up my throat and Araya dropped her head.

  “What do you want, Sebastian?”

  “Hey, don’t snap at the messenger, little brother.”

  “That depends on what kind of message you’re delivering?”

  “Nina’s here.” Araya sighed.

  “She’s good,” Sebastian said. “Hey, Red, you want to ditch your aunt and come help me win a porker game? Who’s not going to trust the blind girl?”

  “Sebastian!” I growled, swirling around on him.

  Araya put her hand on my arm.

  “It’s okay, Ryland,” she said, smiling at Sebastian. “He’s got a point, but unfortunately, I’m not very good at cards.”

  “Just my luck.” Sebastian looked at me. “Better hurry. That chick doesn’t seem like the kind that likes to wait around for anyone. Even someone as pretty as you.”

  “He’s right,” Araya said. “About Nina, I mean.”

  “No, Red, I’m right about it all,” he said in a way that made me glare at him.

  I pointed at Sebastian and snapped. “Don’t do that!”

  “Do what?”

  I didn’t bother to answer as we walked out of the kitchen. I watched Araya most of the way as we neared the foyer. The backs of my fingers brushed against hers as we walked. Startled, she looked down at our hands and then up at me. I stared back until we cleared the entryway and with my hand on her back, we walked into the room.

  Her aunt scrutinized us closely as we walked into the room. After a few seconds, her lips twisted into a tight smile. Seeing her now, she no longer seemed nice enough.

  “What are you doing, little brother?”

  Sebastian called to me as I walked past the kitchen to my room. I stopped and ran a hand down my face.

  “Not you too.” I leaned into the doorframe and glared at him. “Why does everyone think I’m going to ruin her?”

  Sebastian lifted his eyebrows and took a bite of whatever was in his bowl.

  “All I wanted to know is what you’re doing right now.”

  I wanted to call bullshit, but Sebastian wasn’t the type to get into my business. His attention span didn’t last longer than his next drinking binge or fight.

  “Oh.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I have to run an errand and then I’m probably going to stay in and go to bed early.”

  He frowned. “I was wondering how bad you had it.”

  “Had what?”

  “Had it for this girl.”

  “I don’t have anything.”

  “Prove it. Truth or dare?”

  I rolled my eyes. “That only works on the girls you’re trying to sleep with.”

  He laughed. “Every time. It’s not any worse than your I dare you,” he said dramatically, and we both laughed this time.

  In high school, Sebastian and I thought we were pretty slick to come up with the clever pick-up lines that coincided with our last name. It worked liked a charm. Then and now.

  “Old habits die hard, I guess.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. Anyway…” he said, un-straddling the chair and going to the sink to rinse his bowl. “Come watch me fight tonight. You haven’t been to one in a while.”

  And for good reason. I couldn’t watch Sebastian get beat on night after night. He’d taken up fighting when he turned sixteen. He was good. Really good, actually, but then he started drinking and gambling and he became sloppy.

  It got rough and he pushed Careless and me away as he spiraled into a dark abyss. I didn’t like seeing the person I’d looked up to for most of my life fade away.

  “Maybe next time.”

  I ignored the flash of emotion in his eyes and decided not to tell him I had an errand to do.

  “Suit yourself. Enjoy your night of lusting away.”

  I rolled my eyes and wished him luck. My errand took me an hour and then I was home. Back in my room, I went straight to my laptop and turned it on. Sitting down, I pulled up the web and typed in Dar
cey Bussel and searched everything I could about her before I pulled up another page and typed in a different name.

  My phone went off some time later and I jumped. I’d fallen asleep on my laptop. I stretched my cramped neck, rubbing it with my hand, and grimaced.

  Picking up my phone, I frowned at the unrecognized number but pushed the answer button anyway.

  “Hello?” I pulled the phone back as the caller screamed into the phone over the music.

  I partially paid attention to what he was saying as I cleared my search screen of the random letters I’d typed in during my nap.

  And then he had my attention.

  “Is he okay? How bad is he?” I asked, getting up from my chair and grabbing my jacket. “No, I’m on my way.” I slipped my arms inside my jacket and grabbed my keys from the desk, hitting the end button.

  When I arrived at The Underground, the place was still littered with the regular adrenaline junkies. This place was a poorly done attempt at a rip-off of Fight Club, filled with a bunch of guys always trying to prove something to someone.

  Smoke, blood, and sweat assaulted my nose the second I stepped into the rusty old shed. The smell was overpowering and I felt suffocated by the muggy aroma.

  I shifted through the bodies of busted-up guys until I found the small office in the back. I slipped inside and immediately saw Sebastian sleeping it off on the couch.

  Dropping down next to him, I took in his busted face. His right eye was swollen shut; his bottom lip was split open and twice the size of the top. There was a horizontal gash across his cheek and it was crusted over with dried blood. He was definitely going to need stitches.

  His arm was around his ribs and I was afraid to think about the injuries I couldn’t see. We’d be making a trip to the hospital tonight.

  “I told him not to fight. He could barely stand on his own two feet. He was so wasted,” Stitch said, coming into the room from the back.

  He ran The Underground, and he was probably the closest thing to a friend Sebastian had besides me. He got his name from having more stitches than any of the other strays -what they called random fighters- that fought in this place.

  “Was he on anything?”

  Drugs weren’t normally Sebastian’s thing, but he was drowning.

  “Not that I know of, but Craze was selling earlier tonight.”

  I tossed that idea quickly. Sebastian hated Craze.

  “Craze is here?”

  He nodded and pointed toward Sebastian. “Who do you think did that?”

  “What? Craze did this?”

  “Yep. That douche was on some super speed tonight and it didn’t help that Sebastian was drunk off his ass. It wasn’t a fair fight and Craze took advantage of that.”

  “Has he woken up since he got knocked out?”

  “Once. Mumbling some shit about being a disappointment. I don’t know. His lip was pretty busted up and he was slurring.”

  “Sebastian, wake up.” I nudged him lightly, still not sure if anything was broken. “Let’s go. I’m going to take you home.”

  Sebastian grumbled and rolled over, groaning in pain. I grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He protested at first but allowed me to drape his arm over my shoulders.

  “Thanks for the call, man,” I said to Stitch.

  “Of course. Craze is a dick.”

  I lifted Sebastian off the couch and he leaned his weight into me.

  “Yeah he is. Thanks again.”

  Before I could pull Sebastian through the door, some stray nearly fell through. Dried blood stained his dirty shirt and splattered his neck and face. Sweat drenched his hair and pooled at the ends, falling onto his forehead.

  “Stitch, boys in blue alerted, they’re sending out a few squads now. You have about twenty minutes,” he slurred and turned out before anyone could respond.

  “Fuck!” Stitch cursed and flew around the room in a blaze of organized panic.

  He picked up a couple of bags of weed off his desk and shoved them into his pocket. Grabbing a fistful of papers, he threw them into the trash before picking up the bottle of vodka on the desk and brought it to his lips. Throwing his head back, he swallowed hard and fast. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and then poured the rest into the trash, tossing the empty bottle in too. He lit a match that he took from his pocket and flicked it into the can and it was immediately engulfed in flames.

  He looked up at me. “You better get him out of here before shit goes down.”

  I nodded and dragged Sebastian with me through the doors. No one else seemed to be in a state of alarm as they crowded the pathways, waiting for the next fight. We’d almost reached the door before someone whistled behind us and a chorus of chuckles followed.

  “Aw, did little brother have to come save the day?” Craze mocked behind us.

  Craze’s little sidekicks snickered with laughter. I wanted to keep going, but Sebastian stopped us.

  “Let it go, Sebastian,” I warned.

  “Do you know who you’re talking to?”

  “Yes, damn it.”

  “Then turn around, little brother.”

  I sighed and turned us around. Craze stood in the front with a flock of minions in a V behind him. He was a short, thin guy. His dark greasy hair was slicked back and sweat moistened his skin. His tank top was dirt-stained, almost brown. His pants were ripped and just as dirty. He spit dark slimy gunk and you could see the spots where he was missing teeth.

  “You win one fight and you think you got the right to run your mouth?”

  “One fight? I believe I’ve won two now. I’ve had the immense pleasure of kicking both of the famous Dare brothers’ asses.”

  “That’s a pretty fancy word there, Craze,” Sebastian drawled. “You sure you’re using it right?”

  There was a quick moment of doubt on Craze’s face before it was gone.

  “Why don’t you get wasted some more and then come back and let me kick your ass again.”

  “Because that’s the only way you can kick my ass.”

  “Your brother wasn’t wasted when I kicked his ass.”

  “He was seventeen and way out of his league. Keep talking. You’re only making this worse on yourself.”

  He realized what he said and glared back at us.

  “You should keep your washed-up, rich ass on your side of town, Dare! I don’t want to have to make you my bitch again.”

  “So much hostility for such a small guy, don’t you think, Sebastian?”

  “He’s got to make up for the things he lacks in other places.”

  “It’s like The Outsiders up in here. You greasers want to go outside and rumble?” I joked.

  “I’ll show you a small dick,” he said, grabbing himself and thrusting his hips toward us.

  “It’s funny how that’s the first thing that comes to your mind, but we’ll pass. Watch your mouth, Craze. That shit you’re on won’t last forever.”

  “Let’s go, Ryland. He isn’t worth it.”

  “Run away like a little bitch. I’ll fuck you up anywhere, anytime, rich boys.”

  “Whatever you say, Craze.”

  He hollered more empty threats as we turned to walk out, but we didn’t make it far before the doors burst in and a team of police officers swarmed the place.

  A roar of chaos finally broke out as everyone scrambled to break free. Sebastian and I weren’t that lucky as two cops grabbed us. I was thrown over one of the side tables, and the officer pulled my hands tightly behind my back and pushed my face into the surface so hard I felt the skin above my eye burst open.

  “Twenty minutes, my ass. Impressive response time, officers,” Sebastian said as they threw him down on the table across from me.

  His face twisted in pain and they showed him no mercy.

  “My brother’s been beaten up pretty badly,” I said, lifting my head.

  The officer slammed it back down. “Don’t move!” he ordered.

  “He’s probably got a broken rib. You’re
not making it any easier, damn it.”

  “I said don’t move and keep your mouth shut!”

  They hauled us out of the shed and threw me against one of the cop cars. They placed us in separate cars and drove me back to the station. It took three hours before I was finally released, and I wasn’t even sure why they released me, but I didn’t stick around long enough to ask anything except where my brother was.

  They informed me they’d taken him to the hospital and I could pick him up there. It took me twenty minutes to get to the damn hospital and another ten minutes for the staff to find him.

  When I finally walked into the room, he was handcuffed to the bed and passed out. His face was bandaged up and he had a wrap around his ribs. He seemed to be completely out of it.

  “Can we at least get the handcuffs off him?” I yelled to anyone who bothered to listen.

  At the sound of my voice, he stirred and opened one eye. “Ryland?”

  I sat in the chair across from his bed. “Who else would be here to pick up your sorry ass? Thanks a lot by the way. This is exactly how I wanted to spend my night.”

  “You haven’t lived if you haven’t been arrested at least once.”

  “I’d rather not live my life by your mottos, thanks.”

  “Suit yourself.” He grimaced and held on to his ribs as he turned. “How long have I been here?”

  “Well, let’s see. I was in jail for three hours while you were here getting taken care of and enjoying a warm bed.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, I had to get ten stitches.”

  “It does. I hope it hurt too.”

  “Like a bitch.”

  “Good,” I grumbled and slouched into my chair.

  I pushed my hands into my pockets and lifted my shoulders.

  “How long do you have to stay here?”

  “I don’t know. Until the drugs wear off I guess. How’d you get out?”

  “Who knows? They just told me I could go home. I didn’t stop to ask why.”

  “Do you think?”

  “I don’t want to think,” I said, dropping my head back so I could stare up at the ceiling. “I just want to forget this night ever happened.”