Of Light And Shadows
Chapter Three...

“You don’t have to be such a jerk about it,” Jia muttered, elbowing Evander in the ribs. He laughed and held his hands up in surrender before reclining back on her bed and linking his fingers behind his head.

He’d turned up on her doorstep and insisted she let him in. She couldn’t tell him that if she did she’d get punched, so she’d stepped aside and let him pass.

“Relax, I’m just teasing. I know your nerves got the best of you.”

“Honestly, the only reason we’re friends is because I failed that exam.” She grabbed her pillow and hugged it to her chest. Evander propped himself up on his elbows and grinned at her, oblivious to her nerves. If her father came back while he was there she’d be in for another beating.

“Must have been my lucky day.”

“Doofus,” she chuckled.

“Have you ever thought about taking it again? You could still be an Empath if you wanted to, you know.”

“Nah,” she frowned. “I failed the prelims so badly that taking the actual exam would’ve been a waste of time. When I got the results back I decided to forget about the whole thing and move on with my life.”

“So you drowned your sorrows in the nearest bar and took my beautiful ass home with you,” he winked. “I’d say that was a fair trade off.”

“Something like that,” she answered, rolling her eyes. “Although you are the most annoying human I know. Sometimes I wonder how you haven’t been eaten yet.”

“I’m too handsome to eat.” He sat up properly and shot her a crooked smile. “And I know that if anyone did try to eat me you’d jump in with your mind control stuff and stop them.”

“It’s not mind control, idiot. It’s cognitive recalibration. I make them think they don’t want to do something anymore and they walk away.”

“If you can do that why did you choose to study as an Empath?” Evander asked.

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “The money, I guess. Supernatural counselling pays well.”

“If you ask me, it’s a good thing you didn’t do the exam. You could do so much more than listen to a bunch of people’s problems all day and guess how they’re feeling about it.” He smiled. “You ever thought about law enforcement? Witches are really sought after in that line of work.”

“I’m not a Witch. I’m Lotura. More specifically I’m a sub-species of human with a massively increased cognitive ability. I use a higher percentage of my brain than a normal human due to a random mutation that created our species. I’m faster, stronger and smarter than any Witch.”

“You don’t have to give me the lecture, Jia,” he grinned. “I’ve heard it all before.” Evander was the only person in her life that used that name. He didn’t know about the Demonic Realm, but he did know that when she disappeared she’d been found by kind people that had given her a name. He knew she considered them family and that Lisbeth felt like wearing a dress that didn’t quite fit.

“Stop calling me a Witch then. I don’t need enchantments or sigils to use my gifts.” She scowled at him and his smile grew wider.

“Aww come on, don’t look at me like that. Alright, I’m sorry. Can you replace it in your heart to forgive me?” He cocked his head to the side, watching her innocently. She sighed.

“I suppose I can.”

“Awesome. Now what’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

“I swear you only come to my house to eat my food and get on my nerves.”

“You love it.” He stood up and stretched before he shrugged on his jacket. “Come on, we’re going out to eat.”

“I don’t have the money to go out to eat.”

“I never said you were paying did I?” He smiled and folded his arms across his chest. “Come on, just this once. You never come out with me anymore.” She arched an eyebrow at him, pretending to be annoyed when inside she was terrified. She grasped for the only excuse she could replace.

“Won’t your girlfriend be angry that you’re taking another woman out to dinner?” Evander’s smile faded.

“You don’t avoid me because of Hannah, do you?”

Hannah and Evander met shortly after he and Jia spent a drunken night together. They’d agreed to stay friends, deciding it was better for both of them, and then Hannah appeared and suddenly Evander was ready for a girlfriend. He joked about that night often and Jia always laughed, but it hurt to know that she was no more than a mistake to him. Still, that wasn’t why she was keeping her distance.

“No, it’s nothing to do with her.”

“But you do avoid me. I know you do.” She shook her head. “Oh come on, the only reason we’re talking now is because I showed up at your house. What’s the matter with you? Have I done something to upset you?”

“No.”

“Then what is it? You’re supposed to be able to talk to me about things. Tell me what’s bugging you.”

“Nothing.” He sighed and his brow furrowed in an uncharacteristic frown.

“You know what? Maybe dinner’s a bad idea. I’ll see you around.” He turned to leave and she got to her feet quickly, standing in his way. Despite the effort she’d gone to in order to avoid him, it still hurt to see him give up.

“Wait.”

“What for? You won’t tell me what’s wrong with you and you clearly don’t want me around. If you did you’d answer my calls.” He looked down at her with his hands in his pockets. In the lamp light his deep brown eyes were almost black.

“It’s not like that,” Jia muttered, looking away.

“Then tell me what it is. What did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything, Evan.” She sighed, deciding to tell him the partial truth. “It’s my father.”

“He still hates me then?” She looked up when she heard the flat tone in his voice. His face was turned away slightly and there was a ridge between his eyebrows.

“You know how he is.”

“Yeah.” He still sounded hurt. She chewed her lip before stepping aside to let him pass. “Is that it then? You’re gonna carry on avoiding me until I stop chasing you up?”

“I don’t want that.”

“Then what do you want? You don’t want me to talk to you on the phone, you don’t see me during class and you don’t see me any other time either.” He put a hand on her arm, bringing her gaze back to him. “Jia, what do you want me to do?”

“I want to be friends, of course I want to be friends. I don’t care whether you’re human or Fae or Shifter. Hell, you could be a Vampire and I wouldn’t give a shit. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You know what my father is like towards humans.”

“Technically both you and him are human. You said yourself you’re a sub-species.”

“Yes, but we’re an advanced sub-species. To him there’s a huge difference between you and me, Evan. He sees you as a completely different class.”

“And how do you see me?”

“You know how I see you. You’re my friend.”

“Your friend that you don’t talk to.”

“But still my friend.” She tried a smile and he arched an eyebrow at her.

“Don’t give me the puppy dog eyes.” She smiled wider and he sighed. “That’s outrageous,” he muttered. “Fine. I’ll forgive you for now, but could you at least text me once in a while?”

“I can do that,” she grinned.

“Well, alright then.” He offered his arm to her. “Then I guess dinner’s still on me.” She giggled and looped her arm through his, grabbing her jacket in her free hand as they headed outside. She knew she’d pay for it later, but right then she just wanted to be with her best friend, pretending everything was normal for a while. “Where do you want to eat?”

“You know me,” she shrugged. “I’ll eat anywhere as long as it serves fries.”

“You’re a cheap date,” he chuckled. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Does me dating Hannah bother you?”

“Why would you think that?”

“You rarely hang out with me as it is. When she’s around it’s like you disappear off the face of the earth. Do you not like her?”

“No. No it’s nothing like that.”

“I don’t think that’s the truth.” He stopped, making her pause too. It was a cool night out and the breeze ruffled his collar and his dark hair as he turned to face her. “Is it because we spent the night together?”

“What? No!” She looked away quickly, her cheeks burning.

“Jia, you know I can tell when you’re lying.” He touched her shoulder gently. “Tell me the truth. Please.”

“What good will it do?” she muttered. If he wanted to think that was the problem she was okay with it. “If I said it was it wouldn’t change anything. It might even ruin the friendship we do have.”

“I’d like to know.” He was smiling softly, that beautiful reassuring smile that said she could trust him. She chewed her lip before squaring her shoulders and nodding.

It wasn’t entirely a lie; she’d always had a soft spot for Evan. Anything to stop him replaceing out the truth about her father.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“I didn’t want to ruin our friendship,” she mumbled.

“You’re ruining it by ignoring me.” He folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head to the side, studying her for a minute. “How long has this been bugging you?”

“Pretty much since the day you started dating her. You told me you weren’t ready for a relationship and then Hannah appeared and suddenly our conversation is forgotten. She reminds me that I wasn’t good enough.” She hated how easily the lie tripped from her tongue. He sighed.

“It was never anything to do with whether you were good enough. I wish you’d said something sooner.”

“Sorry,” she answered sheepishly. He chuckled.

“It’s alright. Why now anyway? It’s been years.”

“I dunno. Hannah was part of it but my dad’s been piling on the pressure to ditch you while I’m studying. I told him no but he’s making my life difficult.” She kept it as vague as she could without lying to him any further.

“I understand. I’m glad you told me and I’ll stop inviting you out when I’m with Hannah, but I want you to make more of an effort to keep in touch. It hurts my ego when you let me go to voicemail.” She giggled and just like that, their easy friendship returned. She took his arm again and they continued walking, ducking down a side street as a shortcut.

“This alley is super creepy,” she muttered. The walls on either side were high enough to blot out the fading light, making the alley cold and shadowy.

“You can say that again. Remind me to choose the long way round next time,” Evander agreed, holding her arm tighter. Jia’s eyes were on the ground when he stopped abruptly, drawing her even closer and positioning himself in front of her.

There was a silhouette stood against the bright light at the far end of the alley. She turned back the way they’d come to see a second figure blocking their retreat. She nudged Evander’s arm and he turned, his expression darkening.

“It’s not often food wanders so readily into our path,” said the shadow in front of them. Jia’s stomach turned cold as he stepped away from the light.

Pale skin, deep silver eyes, elongated incisors bared in a dangerous, murderous grin. His movements were graceful and soundless as he walked closer.

Vampire.