The new Salem Official Trailer 2016 is here! ^^ So excited to finally share it with you guys.

{Editing Status: Unedited}

I woke up the next morning with the sun streaming in through the glass window. As I groaned and rubbed my eyes, I realized I forgot to close the curtains last night, because I was too fascinated with the moon. I lifted the white covers off me and sat on the edge of the bed. I looked over at my phone that was on the floor and rolled my eyes with a sigh, but I walked over to it and picked it up. Ten missed calls from Liana, but none from Aurelia. I phoned Liana, and she picked up after the second ring.

"Where the hell are you? Do you know how worried I've been? What's wrong with you-"

"Can I talk?" I interrupted, and she fell silent. "I'm perfectly fine. I'm staying with Lucas-"

"But why? What-"

"Liana," I said sharply.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"I'm sorry I left without saying anything. I'll be back soon. I just needed to clear my head, I guess. I'll tell you everything when I come home."

"Mom is pissed," Liana said.

I rolled my eyes. Of course she was. "See you later," I said. I hung up, and stuffed my phone into my pocket. I got changed into fresh clothes, swung my backpack over my shoulder, walked out of the bedroom, and down the stairs. I smelt bacon, and my stomach growled hungrily. I followed the scent to the kitchen, where Evan stood. I was surprised to see him; I expected Lucas, for some reason.

"Hey," I said, rather reluctantly. I still wanted to punch his nose.

He turned around, and grinned. "Morning. Do you want some?"

I sat down at the kitchen table. "Duh," I said, and he chuckled. He plated some bacon, and handed it to me. "Thanks." I shoveled it down ravenously.

He sat down beside me, and ate his quickly, too. When I was finished, I put my knife and fork down. He watched me as he ate. I shifted uncomfortably on my seat.

When he finished eating, he took his plate, and mine, and dumped them both in the sink. He ran his hand through his messy hair and leaned against the counter, folded his arms, and sighed.

"What are you doing today?" I asked him.

He looked at me, his hazel eyes sparkling in the sun pouring in through the window. My heart jumped slightly.

"Not sure yet. Why?" he raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "I'm just asking."

"Want to do something?" he asked. I looked at him, from his messy dark blonde hair, to his perfectly sculpted jaw, to his black leather jacket and his black jeans, and the way he slouched on the kitchen counter. Of course I wanted to do something with him. I wanted to do a lot of things with him.

"Like?"

"Anything you want. Lucas might not like it though," he winked.

"I don't see why you two need to be so jealous of each other," I sighed, rolling my eyes.

He snorted. "I'm not jealous of him," he laughed. "He's the green-eyed monster."

"Oh, and you're not?" I teased.

He grinned. "Nope," he said.

I laughed and stood up. "Okay, so what do you want to do?"

He looked thoughtful for a minute, and then his face lit up. "I want to show you something." He grabbed my hand, and we left the house.

I felt bad for not saying goodbye to Lucas, but I would text him later, saying thank you for everything that he did yesterday.

Evan's hand was so big that my own hand got lost in his. I wasn't sure where he was taking me; he took me around the back of his house, where there was a small wood. I had never been in it before. As we walked through it, the sun streamed through the trees, lighting up the wood. It was like something out of a fairy tale. The morning sun rose in a hurry as if trying to make up for setting too early the evening before, blooming into the pale sky with a warm mellow glow, sending what was left of the moon packing until its next shift guarding the night.

The trees were sparse, unlike the forests surrounding my house, where the trees were packed closely together. The sun was warm on my face, and I breathed in the mixed scents of bark and moss and wind and saturated soil from the rain.

I pricked my ears. I heard running water in the distance. I had never even been in this wood before; if I had been in it, I would have definitely remembered.

We walked for about five more minutes, until the trees broke into a clearing. The rushing of water was loud now. When I saw where the sound of the rushing water was coming from, I gasped with delight.

Where the trees disappeared, there was a cluster of rocks at the top of the cliff, and the water rushed over the cliff. It wasn't a big drop, but still high enough to jump off into the water. I peered over the edge, at the river at the bottom. Where the water tumbled into the river, the water was white from the rapids, but further down the river, the water was clear blue; so clear, that I could see the rocks lying underneath the water. The grass on the riverbeds, on either side of the river, was a vivid, emerald green, rich with color, and vibrant with life, with tiny flowers of yellow and red entwined in the blades of grass. Even from up here, I could see the miniature sparkles of dew on each blade of grass, like specks of glitter.

It was the most beautiful sight.

I looked at Evan, and he was already looking at me. He smiled.

"How did you find this?" I asked him, awestruck. I had to raise my voice slightly, over the roar of the water.

"I don't know, actually. I was just walking in here one day, when I came across it."

I looked down the drop again. Evan let go of my hand, and took off his jacket. It dropped to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" I asked.

He grinned at me, and lifted his t-shirt over his head, throwing it on the ground. My eyes drifted over his defined abdominal muscles, and his shoulder muscles.

"Going swimming, of course. You coming?" he grinned.

I swallowed and tore my eyes away from his god-like body, to the rushing water below. "It's kind of high, Evan..." I said.

He chuckled. "Come on, Ivana. You know you want too," he said as he undid the belt of his trousers and pulled them down. I looked away quickly as my heart rate quickened.

He walked over to me, and put his hand on my jaw, gently turning my head so I was looking at him. My heart beat was deafening in my ears; a thousand times more deafening than the water.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked, softly.

I swallowed. "Drowning," I muttered. And you.

He chuckled, and tucked a piece of loose hair behind my ear. "You'll be safe with me, I promise," he said.

Somehow, his words calmed me even though my words were on edge. What was I doing here? He walked over to the edge of the waterfall, and looked back at me. "You won't drown if you take your clothes off," he winked.

I flushed.

And he jumped. I gasped and ran over to the edge, and looked down. There was no sign of him. Just the whitewater, rushing against the rocks on the edge of the river.

"Evan!" I yelled. I suddenly saw him rise to the surface, and he looked up at me. I breathed out in relief.

"It's fun, I promise!" he yelled up at me.

Come on, Ivana, I hissed to myself. Don't be a baby.

I lifted my shirt over my head. Luckily I was wearing decent underwear today. I pulled my jeans down, and kicked them to the side. I stood there, on the edge of the waterfall, shivering from the frigid breeze. I closed my eyes, breathed in, and then opened my eyes. You can do this. You can do this. I repeated this in my head, again and again.

And then I jumped.

I gasped as I fell. The wind rushed past me, deafening me. It whistled in my ears. Adrenaline flew through my veins. It felt like flying.

When I landed in the water, I stayed in there for a short while, and soaked up what had just happened. It was amazing; exhilarating.

I finally surfaced, laughing.

Evan swam up to me, grinning. "I told you," he winked. Water dripped from his hair, down his face. His hair was a darker blonde when it was wet. My heart jumped into my throat as I watched the tiny droplets of water slide down his face and onto his lips.

"That was amazing," I breathed. "Have you done that before?"

"No," he admitted.

"No?!" I gasped. "How did you know it was deep enough?"

He grinned. "I didn't."

I splashed him, and he laughed, splashing me back.

"Okay, okay. Truce," I laughed. He pushed his hair back. He really did look like a god of some sort; he had the body for it anyway. And the attitude.

He swam further downstream, and I followed him. It was shallower there, so we could stand. The water came up to just above our waists.

He stroked my cheek, and I felt my cheeks flush under his touch. He bit his wet, lower lip as his eyes traced over my face. I tightened my thighs together; I hoped he didn't notice. 

But, he did. His hazel eyes watched the movement, and he looked back up at me, his one eyebrow raised and a smirk forming on his lips. Damn, this guy is hot. And he knew it, too.

He curled his arm around my waist, pulling me tighter against his body. I was close enough now to admire every inch of his flawless face.

I couldn't stand it anymore.

I crushed my lips against his, and entwined my fingers through his wet hair. His hands gripped my waist eagerly. His lips were wet and soft and perfect. I moaned softly and I could feel the edges of his lips pull up at the edges, into a smile, under my lips.

His lips moved from my lips to my jawbone, then my neck, and he pulled gently on my skin with his teeth. I sighed and held onto him tighter, trembling against him. There was a growing ache in between my thighs.

A moan escaped my parted lips as his lips traced my collarbone, and then the top of my breasts.

"Evan," I whispered.

He stopped and looked at me. "Yes?"

I inhaled and exhaled quickly, still out of breath from the jump, and now even more so from the way his body was against mine.

"We can't," I breathed.

He brushed a drop of water off my cheek and frowned. "Why?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted. Because I wasn't. I wasn't sure what I was doing. Betraying Lucas? Betraying myself? I didn't want to think about telling Lucas about this, after I promised him I wouldn't go near his brother. He had his reasons, and I needed to respect that. But how could I, when every inch of my body ached for this man?

He chuckled. "It's okay," he said. He gave me an evil look, and then splashed me.

"Hey!" I laughed, and splashed him back. "I thought we had a truce!"

We swam over to the side of the river, and climbed out. It wasn't as cold as I expected. He looked at me when I stood up, running his eyes slowly up, and then down, my body, and he pulled me against him. I laughed.

"How can you expect me not to do anything to you when you're looking like that?" He whispered, his tongue lightly tracing his lips. My pulse throbbed everywhere in my body and I squeezed my thighs together. I was already wet enough.

"Would you like me to go and get my clothes?" I asked him sweetly.

He shook his head. "No way," he grinned.

I laughed and he reluctantly let me go. We walked up a small hill, to the top of the waterfall, where our clothes were, and he lifted on his t-shirt and pulled on his trousers. I picked up my t-shirt and jeans and put them back on, even though I was still wet. I wrung my wet hair.

"Well, that was fun," I said, and he grinned.

"I knew you'd like it."

"You know, you're not half as bad as I thought you were," I said.

"Is that meant to be a compliment?" he asked, chuckling.

"Take it or leave it," I said.

"We'll have to do this again soon," he said, and I nodded.

"Definitely. It was amazing. I can't believe I never knew it was here."

We walked back the way we came. When we exited the woods, I grabbed his hand and he raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell Lucas," I said. I felt like a lying bitch, but I wanted to tell him myself. Maybe if he heard it from me, rather than a brother who he despised, he'd take it better.

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "I don't feel like getting punched in the nose today, thanks," he said, sarcastically. But he smiled and squeezed my hand. "I won't, I promise."

I breathed out in relief. "Thank you," I said.

He kissed me softly. "I'll see you soon," he whispered, caressing my cheek with his fingertips.

"Bye, Evan," I breathed, and he walked away, looking back at me, and smiling.

Only as I was walking home, I realized I had left my bike at Lucas and Evan's house. I sighed. I was not looking forward to getting home and being lectured by Aurelia. I didn't want to leave the wood; I wanted to stay there, in the water, with Evan, for the whole day, just floating and talking. I felt like a coward for stopping him; I wanted him to carry on, more than anything, but I was scared. I didn't know what I was scared of, but I was. I wasn't dating Lucas, so it wasn't cheating, was it? It's not like we did anything anyway. We just kissed. No big deal.

Aurelia was waiting for me on the porch, like I knew she would be. She stood, her hands behind her waist, watching me like a hawk. I glared at her, but she watched me calmly.

She was always scarier when she was calm.

The waterfall felt like an illusion, a dream, now that I was back home. It was like it had never happened, and I just dreamed the whole thing up. I wouldn't be surprised; I had a vivid imagination.

"Welcome back, Ivana," Aurelia said. I didn't say anything. I walked past her, without looking at her. But she grabbed my arm as I walked past her. I gritted my teeth.

"Let go of me," I hissed through my closed teeth.

"No," she said, calmly. "I will let go of you, once you tell me why you left."

I looked at her, my heart hammering in my chest. "Let. Go. Of. Me," I snarled.

Her eyes suddenly glazed over, and her hand dropped from my arm. She came back to her senses as soon as she dropped her hand, and she widened her eyes at me. I felt uncomfortable under her gaze.

"I left...because you are so secretive all the time! All you and mother do is talk in riddles. How do you expect me to live in a house like that?" I said.

She sighed and shook her head. "There is so much that needs to be discussed, with both you and Liana. But you have to understand -"

"No, Aurelia," I interrupted. "You have to understand how frustrating it is."

She laughed sadly. "Trust me, I know. But you have to trust me, Ivana. You have too. Have patience. Mother and I will tell you everything very soon." She looked at me intently one more time, and then walked back inside. I stayed on the porch, and watched her leave.

When I finally walked inside, I walked straight up to Liana's bedroom. I knocked softly before entering. She was sitting on her bed, holding her duvet in her hands and staring at it, a look of intense alarm on her face.

"Liana?" I said, worriedly. She looked up at me. Her eyes were distressed. I walked over to the bed and put my hand on her arm. "Are you alright?"

Tears appeared in her eyes and shook her head. She looked back at the duvet, and I looked to where she was looking.

There was a patch of blood on the duvet.

I frowned.

"Did you cut yourself?" I asked her. "Are you hurt?" I ran over to her, my heart hammering.

When she didn't answer, I shook her arm.

And then I realized.

"Oh," I whispered. She'd started her period. I thought she had started already. She had started quite late. "Liana, you're fine! It's normal."

"I never realized it was going to be...this...well, messy," she muttered.

"Yes," I laughed. I took the bloody covers off her, and I was about to stuff them in her wash basket, but mother burst into the room, and took the covers off me. She stared at them, and then dropped them on the floor. Flames burned in her black eyes.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

She stared at Liana, flaring her nostrils. "Come with me. Both of you," she whispered, her voice dangerously soft. "Now."

---

A/N

Ooooh things are going to get interesting now!

I'm finally on school holidays now so I've been writing as much as I possibly can!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter - stay updated for Chapter 9 coming soon.

Check out the new 'Salem' Official Trailer up there! ^

Olivia J. Clarke

© Olivia Clarke 2016

Salem