The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER SIX

Ember fidgeted with the ends of her sleeves as the silence between her and Reed stretched on for yet another minute. After she had asked Reed who he had compelled to forget him, he went completely quiet. Cautiously, Ember got up, walking over to where Reed stood with his head hung low. Her heart pounded rapidly against her ribcage as she tapped his shoulder.

When he didn't respond, Ember finally forced herself to speak, "Uh, you don't have to answer that question. I was just wondering."

He tensed up, coming back to reality. Ember jumped backward when he suddenly turned around. Any hint of sadness was wiped right off his face. The only sign of pain that remained was something Reed was completely unaware of. It only took Ember a few seconds to notice it because of how much it stood out.

"Woah, your eyes!" She gasped, amazed by the transformation of both his pupils and the color of his irises.

Immediately, Reed's hand shot up to his left eye, turning his head to the mirror. Sure enough, his eyes had changed into what he had dubbed the 'demon eyes'. It only happened once and a while. Normally, he was able to keep his emotions in check, so there was no one who knew about this, except for the few that had pissed him off enough to witness it. He took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm himself down. The hand by his side started to shake as the color of red, along with his slitted pupils, stayed.

"You alright?" Ember cocked her head to the side, wondering what was going on with him.

    Having forgotten that Ember was still in the room, Reed was startled by the sound of her voice. He removed his hand from his face that had been covering his left eye, facing back towards Ember.

"Is that question a part of the interview?" Reed sarcastically asked, crossing his arms over his chest to hide his shaking hands.

He stared straight at Ember, almost as if he was trying to see whether she would run this time or not.

"I was just being nice. You know, you should try that sometime," She huffed.

Reed looked her over, not seeing any part of her shaking in fear. "Why aren't you afraid?"

Ember looked Reed up and down with a smug grin before saying, "There's no reason for me to be afraid. You've already had your fill of blood for the evening."

"But my eyes..." He mumbled to himself, "They don't scare you?"

"They're just eyes. Nothing too scary there," Ember shrugged, taking Reed by surprise.

Two more questions surfaced in his mind. Was she really good at hiding her fear? Or was she just plain stupid? Anyone in their right mind, whether they are a vampire or a human, will run at the sight of a vampire that looked as scary as Reed did at that moment. That was what he believed. Although, it didn't seem to be true now that someone was standing in front of him, not even the slightest bit scared.

"Well, I'm done here." Ember gathered her things up, heading to the door. She rested her hand on the knob, looking back at Reed. "Thanks, Princess. I'll definitely get that A now."

He scowled, annoyed by hearing her use that stupid nickname again. "You're very welcome, Little Rabbit."

Although Ember wasn't tiny in any sense, she was like a little rabbit around him and the other High-tiers. Too caught up in envisioning a big A written on her rubric for her project, she smiled at Reed. Surprising himself, he smiled back at her in a short moment of weakness. The door closed softly, leaving him standing there with his mouth partially agape. He let his head fall into his hand in embarrassment. Reed could only imagine how much of a fool he must have looked like. As he mulled over this, the red in his eyes slowly returned back to normal.