The room was tiny like a closet and it was pitch black inside.
Ms. Kelly stepped in until the soft red light from the darkroom lit her face. She smiled. “We can’t turn the light on until the door is shut. Come on in, I’ll explain inside.”
Oh. Right. No light in the darkroom. That makes sense. I nodded and hurried into the little closet sized room. There was enough of the red light inside for me to see the other two girls standing in the back of the closet and Ms. Kelly was on the left.
“Saffie, can you close the door please?”
I threw my hand behind me — and my palm hit something firm and warm. I jumped and spun to see what I’d hit and my breath left me in a rush.
Riah.
My palm was flat against his stomach. Heat rushed to my face and my pulse skipped a few beats. My body locked in place. The warmth radiating off of him was enough to make me sweat. His golden eyes met mine and I sucked in a gasp of air. He arched one eyebrow then glanced down. SHIT. My hand was still on his stomach. I tried to yank my hand away but my body was disobeying me. Instead, I slowly dragged my fingers down, feeling every ripple of his abs through his shirt. His eyes widened just a fraction.
“Hello, Riah,” Ms. Kelly said cheerfully behind me.
He looked up at her then nodded into the room. “May I?”
“Of course. Shut and lock the door behind you, please.”
I stepped back to make room for him but there just wasn’t room. There was a counter on the back wall and one of the girls was standing in front of it. I couldn’t go any farther. The sliver of red light was closing by the millisecond, yet everything seemed to slow down around me. Riah’s body loomed over me like a shadow of a tree – and then his arm brushed against mine. I sucked in a breath and held it. There was nowhere to go and he was everywhere. Even though we both wore leather jackets and hoodies, it still felt like our bare skin was touching from the heat in his body.
The smell of burning embers filled the air around me. It hit me like a brick wall and to my horror, I swayed into him. Riah’s arm shot out and wrapped around my waist. And then I heard the click of the door…and we were drenched in darkness. I felt each of his five fingers pressing into my side and it sent bolts of electricity racing through my veins.
“Incoming…lights…”
Riah’s hand squeezed my side – and then it was gone, replaced by sudden cold air.
I shivered but it made my arm bump into his even more.
Bright white light shined from the ceiling. Ms. Kelly smiled. “Sorry, just want to take a second so Saffie knows what we’re doing.”
We’re torturing me, right? That’s what this is? That’s why he’s standing so close to me? I glanced up to Riah and then his gaze found mine. My heart fluttered like the traitor that it was. His gaze dropped to my cheek, then came right back to my eyes – which meant I was probably as red as an apple right now. I clenched my teeth together and peeled my eyes off of his.
But Ms. Kelly didn’t seem to notice any of this or my panic. She grinned and held up a silver metal contraption. “Okay, Saffie. When we turn the lights back off I’ll be taking each of your rolls of film one at a time and loading it on to one of these. Once we’re all done, we’ll go back out into the class and develop them. All right?”
I licked my lips and nodded. “Got it.”
She reached for the light switch and darkness swallowed us whole once more.
“Okay, Ali. You’re first. Film please.”
“Here you go,” Ali said without hesitation.
It was weird to be in complete darkness while knowing four other people were right beside me and I couldn’t see them. For a moment, my eyes tried to adjust to see but no matter how hard I tried everything was black. My other senses kicked in stronger. I heard the cracking of chewing gum from the girl beside me. There was a clicking sound coming from where Ms. Kelly stood.
And then there was Riah. I was overly conscious of everything. The sound of his breathing. The smell of his leather jacket mixing with his burning ember scent. I couldn’t see him but I could feel him. There was some kind of energy radiating out of him. It was hot and pulsing with electricity that made the hairs on my arms stand tall.
“You’re all set, Ali,” Ms. Kelly said, her voice a lifesaver in the dark. “Okay, Katie?”
Katie bumped into me so I jumped out of her way…and my back slammed into Riah’s chest. I gasped. He gasped. I was flush against him, from my shoulders down to my thighs. Our bodies touching in too many places. Heat exploded inside me. I was tiny, so my shoulders fell just under his chest…and my lower back pressed into his hips.
His breath brushed over my hair and then his hands gripped my hips. I bit down on my cheek as raw, hot energy rushed through me like I’d been plugged into an electrical socket. Every nerve ending in my body was on fire. I’d never felt my pulse beat that erratically. I knew I needed to move but my brain seemed to have melted.
Riah cleared his throat then lifted me up by my hips. I inhaled through my nose and instinctively reached down and grabbed his hands. His fingers dug into my skin as he lifted me off my feet then gently placed me back down on the ground so that I wasn’t pressed against him. His grip loosened but mine didn’t. My brain was just not with it, there must not have been enough blood getting there. My hands had not received the memo to let go.
“All right, Saffie. Your turn.”
My roll of film was sandwiched between my palm and the back of his hand. I stared down at where I knew my hand was despite the darkness, yet it didn’t move. Riah pulled his right hand free from my hold then grabbed my left wrist – the one holding the film – and lifted my arm up in the air until I found Ms. Kelly’s outstretched hand.
The coolness of her skin jostled me long enough to clear the Riah-induced haze in my brain. I dropped the film into her hand then yanked my hand back to my chest. Riah chuckled in my ear and it made me shiver. I pulled both of my arms into my chest and held them there.
“All right…here you go, Saffie.”
I threw my arm out until I felt the cold metal hit my fingers. Then pulled it back into my chest like the life saver it was. Breathe, Saffie. Get control of yourself.
Ms. Kelly cleared her throat. “Okay, Riah? Your turn.”
“I did mine myself while you did theirs,” he said with his deep, rumbly voice.
“Oh fantastic. Then let’s get back out into class. Riah, open the door please.”
A split second later I heard the creaking of the door and then that soft red light spilled into the closet. Riah pushed it all the way open and stepped aside. I didn’t wait. I rushed out of there and practically sprinted for the door out of the darkroom. I needed space. I needed light. I needed air.
I needed to get away from Riah before I lost my damn mind.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Riah
June 11th 1692
I paused between two large pine trees, letting their overgrown branches hide me as I watched her. She walked about fifteen feet ahead of me with her little spotted dog trotting along at her feet, his tail wagging and ears perked up. As she walked, the forest came alive for her. Birds flew over her head from tree to tree, singing their hearts out. Butterflies hovered around her fiery hair. Squirrels and rabbits bounced after her.