Home Away From Home, Ryder

Lilah's eyes zoomed back and forth across the pages. She had already read this reference book, of course, but she enjoyed the information nonetheless. The current chapter she was reading was about werewolf mating rituals. Even though she had memorized it, she still got a shiver up her spine when she read this part.

Suddenly the book was ripped from her grasp and thrown to the floor. Her eyes followed the book in horror, then lifted to stare into the face of one of her former bullies. His name was Duncan. He was a huge, well muscled beast of a person, constantly seen with a cruel smirk on his face. They had gone to the same orphanage, and he had been making her life hell ever since he met her. He still did, after all those years. Not to mention the... She couldn't even finish the thought.

Lilah swallowed in fear, her mud-colored eyes wide with trepidation.

"Don't like that, do you, freak?" He taunted, then spat on the book and wiped his dirty shoe on it. In a sudden act of bravery, she whispered feebly, "Don't," but that only encouraged the bully. Grinning with malice, he picked up the book and started ripping out pages, then tearing those pages into shreds. Lilah had tears in her eyes, and she sniffed and wiped them away hurriedly. But Duncan had already seen them.

He grabbed her arm with a painfully iron grip and yanked her to her feet, pulling her close against him. "Poor Lils," He mocked, running a hand down her face before throwing her into a nearby bookshelf. Books fell off the shelves and on top of her, making the pain worse. But she couldn't fight back, she was too afraid. He crouched down, way too close for comfort. He yanked on her hair, forcing her to look up at him as she cried out in pain. "Don't cry, you ugly thing," He cooed, hurting her emotionally now. She wept in misery, unable to stop the flow of tears.

He laughed and leaned down to sniff her neck, then bit on it a bit roughly, but not enough to break the skin. He didn't think she was worthy of being turned. "I'm a werewolf now, you know," He informed her pleasantly, smiling in the most feral manner at her moan of fear. Lilah knew she was done for now. She choked on a loud sob, completely terrified.

Alistair never was big on books for research, he would go to the library once in a while to read fiction books and write some lyrics. He wouldn't perform the songs for anyone, he'd write them just to keep himself busy from the war, and he'd had no trouble in the library at all, until that night.

At first, Ryder hadn't bothered much with the nerdy girl sitting by herself, then this guy just went at her and he decided the guy needed to learn a lesson. Walking over, he could tell the girl was crying, and he got there in time for the guy to bite her lightly. "What's your problem?" he asked the guy annoyed.

"First off, this is a library, shut up or leave. Second, leave her alone, what did she ever do to you?" He had no idea why he stood up for the girl, but he didn't like seeing anyone like that, being bullied. He'd been there once himself and it wasn't pleasant, no way he'd sit by and watch someone else be bullied.

"What's your problem?"

Annie?

But as she raised her eyes, she felt a wave of disappointment. Of course this wasn't Annie. Annie had been dead for four years. Lils frowned, trying not to dwell on it.

"First off, this is a library, shut up or leave. Second, leave her alone, what did she ever do to you?"

The wave of disappointment she had felt was washed away by a stronger wave of hope, admiration, and devotion. He was saving her. She didn't know who he was, but she now owed him everything. Maybe it was Annie reincarnated. Don't be silly, But she couldn't get rid of the hope that swelled within her. Duncan stood, glared at both of them, gave Lilah a swift and hard kick to the ribs, then stormed out, mad that his fun had been cut short.

When Lilah could breathe again (that kick had not only hurt, but had knocked the wind out of her as well), she stood up and stared at the new guy in awe. "Thank you," She began in a whisper. She cleared her throat, willing herself to be stronger, to speak. She started to walk towards him, but being her clumsy self, tripped over a book and crashed to the ground, her head landing near his shoes. Blushing fiercely, she carefully stood up, averting her eyes. "I..." She swallowed thickly, nervous. "I wanted to thank you... Most people think it's funny when I get hurt." She turned her gaze downward and stared at her brown loafers.

Ryder was surprised when the guy ran off, but not until after he'd kicked the girl hard in the ribs. Looking her over he had to smile slightly, she seemed like she cared more about books than how she looked, but he didn't mind. He wasn't gonna bully her about it or even mention it the slightest. "You're welcome," he said and smiled.

"Are you okay?" he asked when she went crashing to the ground. He was about to help her up when she got herself up to her feet. "It was nothing, I know how it is having a hard time," he smiled at her. "I'm Ryder," he held out his hand for her to shake. "So what were you reading anyways?"

"It was nothing, I know how it is having a hard time," he smiled at her. "I'm Ryder," he held out his hand for her to shake. "So what were you reading anyways?"

Lilah beamed back at him and took the proffered hand, shaking it vigorously. "Lilah. You can call me Lils, if you want," She let go of his hand and kept smiling, unable to get rid of the blush adorning her face. "I was reading one of the reference books on werewolves." Her smile dropped as she remembered how it all started.

"My friend..." She choked back her tears, refusing to cry any more. "She... A werewolf killed her..." She looked away and moved her head so that her bangs fell down and covered her eyes. Her huge glasses were still poking out at the bottom, though. Speaking of glasses...

In a very distracted manner, she pulled them off and cleaned the tears off with the bottom of her shirt. She peered at him through her bangs without the help of the lenses, but all she saw was a dark blur. When she put the glasses back on, she pushed them up to the bridge of her nose. With her face still burning an embarrassed shade of pink, she started to talk again.

"Thank you, so so much," When he waved off her gratefulness, she grabbed his hand desperately, trying to make him see how much it meant to her. "No, I mean it! Only one person has ever stood up for me before, and she's gone. You don't have a clue how much this means to me, Ryder!" After all the words had left her and she was still clasping his hand, she blushed even more fiercely than she already was and dropped his hand like it burned her. She opened her mouth to explain herself, but all that came out was an embarrassed squeak.

Ryder smiled when she shook his hand, telling him he could call her Lils. Reading about werewolves? Didn't sound like such a bad idea, after all the world they were living in was either vampire or werewolf, nothing seemed human anymore. They were the prey, the nobodies.. Reading about their so-called superiors made sense, it would prepare them for the time they were faced with them.

Listening to Lilah tell about her friend was sad, and all he could say was "I'm sorry," smiling slightly when she cleaned her glasses. He didn't have to worry a whole lot about cleaning his glasses, as they were rarely dirty at all.

He was a little surprised when she started thanking him again and grabbed his hand again. "Let's make sure more people start standing up for you," he said with a smile. At her squeak, he smiled. "Come on, let's go for a cup of coffee," he said, wanting her to feel better about it all.

"Let's make sure more people start standing up for you," he said with a smile. At her squeak, he smiled. "Come on, let's go for a cup of coffee,"

Her face only turned a darker shade of red as she smiled sheepishly. He was too sweet to her. And he wasn't violent, like Annie was. Not that she didn't appreciate Annie. She did, and sometimes she still cried herself to sleep at night. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She shouldn't be thinking about that right now, at least not in front of Ryder.

"Okay," She whispered meekly, waiting for him to take the lead. She never took the lead. Never, not once, and she wasn't about to start now. She followed him out of the library, but not before grabbing a few books and shoving them in her bag.

[continued at the Paramount]