Mysterious shadow
1156 Words
He was the new transfer student.
Tall,broad shouldered,with hair that fell perfectly into his blue eyes and those eyes were on me. Not like anyone else looked at me. Not like Derrick did.
I hurriedly shut my locker and with my eyes down i collided into something hard,like a brick wall
“Lyra vale”he said,his voice filled with certainty, his voice low but steady.
The way he said my name made my stomach twist. I couldn’t explain why. It wasn’t just the voice;it was the weight behind his gaze , the same intensity i had felt in the forest that night, when the wolf or whatever it was stared at me and Derek.
Derek appeared in the hallways, laughing with his friends oblivious to my fluster. Aeron’s gaze shifted to him for the briefest moment, and I felt a jolt of discomfort almost like heat crawling down my spine.
The intensity in those blue eyes- the unspoken judgement,possessive awareness was the same at the forest. And for reasons I couldn’t understand I didn’t want to look away
As Aeron walked past me, My stomach fluttered,leaving me unsure if it was fear, fascination,arousal or something else entirely
Later,as I walked home, I glanced at the shadows beneath the trees along the road. They felt…..alive. My missing shadow felt heavier somehow,like something was waiting for me.
Turning toward the corner of my house….. I paused; how did he know my name, I was sure Derrick didn’t call my full name in the woods and why did he say it with an air of familiarity like he has said it a hundred times before?
The next day.
The hallway smelled of old locker,sweat and disinfectant.The fluorescent light flickering just enough to make the shadows stretch unnaturally along the hallway.
I kept my head down as i walked probably if i moved quietly enough no one would notice me. Maybe Derek won’t notice me but he always did
Derek leaned lazily against my locker arms folded like he had been waiting there since morning. His dark hair fell across his forehead ,and the his signature smirk sent a knot tightening in my chest
I walked past him like I didn’t see him but he lunged and grabbed my hands
“Running away from me shadowless?”the taunting smirk on his lips were infuriating, he always did that…..reminding me that I was different and he’s the only one that would accept me just the way I am
“You think you can run away from me now?” He continued “after everything “
My stomach twisted, even after all he had done cheating,manipulating me,using me for his personal use Derrick had his own use,his family is one of the most prestigious ones in cedarvale and ever since I started dating him the bullying stopped; guys no longer dared to use my lack of shadow to make money online and call me a freak,things has been well…..peaceful
“I miss you Lyra and I’m sorry for what I said that day, I was drunk and my friends kept pestering me about you so I just said anything to get you off their mouth“ Derek said with a soft smile on his face one I knew very well was fake as hell, used only when he wanted his way with people
And yet……..
A part of me still softened when he spoke to me like I still mattered, Derrick could have any girl he wants but still choose me
“You’ll never be free from me”Derrick murmured.
I felt trapped.
Then I felt it
That gaze.
Cold.
Sharp.
Watching.
Like a snake coiled around my neck.
I lifted my gaze instinctively
Across the hallway,the new transfer student was leaning against the locker was watching me with that cold gaze…..similar to the feeling in the forest that day unconcealed judgement that made me blush in shame and wicked possessiveness that made my toes curl
His blue eyes were fixed on Derek hands,which were slowly reaching towards my shoulders
The moment Derrick touched my sleeves.
The light flickered violently and for a split second the entire hallway went dark.
The students gasped.
And when the light came back on something impossible happened…..A shadow appeared behind me
Not my shadow.
Something else entirely
It stretched across the floor entirely,moving a second too late compared to my body
A girl behind the locker screamed “What the hell…….”
I froze….my heart beating violently against my ribs the shadow was moving and I was not
Derrick noticed it too and his face went pale with fear
“W what is that?!” He stammered then continued with false bravado “Is this some kind of freak show”he continued
Then the shadow turned
Not towards Derrick
Towards aeron
Across the hallway,Aeron went completely still
His jaw tightened and for the first time since I had seen him another emotion showed on his face
He looked shocked
The shadow stretched toward him like a living thing recognizing its master.
Aeron’s eyes flashed deep blue for half a second.
Students around them murmured in confusion and pointed at me like I was a freak, well which I guess I am
But I couldn’t hear them.
Because I felt something else.
A pull.
Like invisible threads tying my chest to Aeron’s gaze.
Derek suddenly grabbed my arm again, harder this time.
“You staring at him now?” Derek hissed viciously at me. “You think he’s going to save you?”
The shadow jerked violently,the hallway temperature dropped.
Aeron pushed himself away from the locker,every step he took toward us made the air heavier.
Students began backing away instinctively.
Derek noticed it too.
His confidence cracked for the first time.
Aeron stopped three feet away.
His voice was calm.Too calm……
“Take your hand off her.”
Derek laughed but it sounded forced.
“Or what?”
Aeron’s blue eyes flickered again.
And the shadow behind me suddenly lashed across the floor like a whip.
Lockers slammed shut,papers flew through the air. The scene was straight out of a horror movie
Students screamed and scattered and the weak hearted fainted.
Derek stumbled backward, releasing my arm.
My breath came out in a shaky gasp.
Because the shadow wasn’t reacting to me.
It was reacting to Aeron.
And Aeron was staring at it like he had just found something he thought was impossible.
Something he had been searching for,for a very long time.
Then his expression shifted towards something dangerous and scary.
He whispered something so quietly only I heard it.
“Impossible…he’s around”
His eyes locked onto mine.
The hallway fell silent.And I realized something terrifying.
The shadow behind me wasn’t gone anymore.
It had returned but it didn’t belong to me.
It belonged to something else.
And somehow—
Aeron knew exactly what it was or who it was.
- Writer
