Evening Tales: Dark Academia Short Stories

We Danced and Fell

"May I have this dance?" The stranger holds out a gloved hand, his emerald eyes sparkling in the candlelight. 

"I suppose so." I reply, taking his hand. We did not break eye contact as he guided me to the center of the room. Dancers swished by in a blur of color, but still, I could not look away. This man was enchanting. 

A new song began, we bowed to each other, and off we went into a graceful waltz. I blushed and looked toward the polished floor as I realized his stare had only become more intense. 

"Is there something on my face?" I questioned as we danced on. 

"Apologies, my lady," he smirked, "you just look...familiar." 

"I do not believe we have met?" 

"No," he whispered, "I suppose not." 

My gown swished and swirled and shimmered, the matching mask on my face concealing my features. Our bodies moved in perfect unison as he lead me around the ballroom in a graceful dance. I could not help but notice how, although I knew we had not met before, he was so very familiar to me. His gentle but commanding touch was a comfort in this sea of people watching us. Watching him. 

"They are all watching you." I said, a bit confused, although there was no doubt it was because of his beauty. 

"I believe," he spun me and caught me in his arms, our eyes meeting, "they are looking at you."

"Me?"

"You." 

We danced and danced and suddenly I did not care that people had stopped to watch or that the king himself was now staring down the stranger and me. It had become just the two of us in this wonderfully crowded room, and I loathed the moment it stopped. 

He pulled me close as the song ended, and like a feather, his fingers brushed the corners of my mask, moving up slowly. He hesitated at the edge and stopped, separating our bodies. 

"It has been a pleasure." He bowed, took my hand in his, and for a fleeting moment his lips touched my hand. While I was still wondering if his lips had actually made contact or not, he had disappeared into the crowd, and I was left alone. 

Feet aching, I made my way to the balcony on the opposite side of the ballroom. I threw open the glass doors and ran outside, breathing in the fresh spring air. The moon hung high in the sky but it was partially clouded over. I held my hand to my chest. My body burned where his had once been pressed to mine. Who was he? And why did I feel this way? 

I slid off my mask and made my way down a small set of steps into the castle garden. The flowers were beautifully illuminated by carefully placed torches and I found myself following a path to a large oak a few meters away. From inside, the music went on and the large panes to the ballroom glowed with light. 

Sighing, I took a seat on the vine covered swing hanging from the ancient tree and closed my eyes. What was this feeling?

"I have been looking for you for forever." A deep, familiar voice sounded from behind me and I shot to my feet with a gasp, "My apologies, I did not mean to scare you." There, behind me, stood the man from the ballroom. Only now, he had no mask and his embellished shirt now appeared unbuttoned at the top and his overcoat was thrown over his arm. 

"You were looking for me? We only just danced." It was all I could do to form words. This man was beautiful. He seemed carved from stone, every feature that of a god. 

"Not tonight," he took a step closer, "I have been looking for you for a very, very long time."

"I am afraid you are not making sense."

"Of course you wouldn't remember me." He muttered and sadness filled his eyes. 

"I- I don't believe we have met." I said again. 

"We have. You just do not remember. You never do. I suppose it is part of our curse." 

"What are you saying?" 

He threw his jacket onto the swing and in one stride he was inches from me.

"You," he took my face gently in his hands, "are my queen."

I took a step back, fear creeping in. "My lord, I am afraid you are making no sense." 

"I know, I know. I am terrible at explaining it." 

"Explaining what-"

"This." He waved his hand between us and then at the castle behind me, "all of it. I will not ask you to stay," he breathed in a shallow breath, "but I ask that you listen with an open heart." 

"Go on," I urged, ready to run if I had to. 

"Did you," he ran his hand through his brown-gold hair, "did you feel that tonight? When we danced, there was this, this connection. This unity." I felt as though I couldn't breathe. "Well, my lady, I have felt that feeling a thousand times before." Suddenly my heart stopped. He had felt it all before? "But only ever with you. I know it makes no sense, but we have lived hundreds of life times before this, and in every one of them I have found you. And in every one of them I lose you in the end."

"How is that even possible?"

"Long ago," he clucked his tongue against his teeth in thought, "a witch fell in love with me. She would stop at nothing to have me. But she could not seduce me, for my heart belonged to a beautiful maiden, whom I had known my entire life." He smirked at me and stepped closer, but this time I did not step back, "I confessed my love to that maiden," his fingers brushed mine as he closed the gap between us in seconds, "and the witch cursed us. I was to live a thousand lifetimes and always come so close to that maiden, but I was never to obtain her." He looked at me with a sadness that told me he was telling the truth. 

"I do not understand." 

"Then let me show you?" He whispered. A slight nod had his lips crashing into mine. I had never felt more alive in my life. His lips moved with a familiar rhythm, his tongue grazing my bottom lip. I had felt this kiss before. I know these lips, I know these hands, I know his heart.  Like a flood, memories came rushing in and I gasped. My knees gave out and he held me upright. Tears gathered in my eyes and he wiped them away before they could fall. "Do you remember now?" 

I looked into those beautiful emerald eyes that I now realized I had looked into a million times before. He had not been a dream. He had always been real. I brought my lips to his, his shoulders sagging with relief as he kissed me back. Our kiss was longing, passion, loss, and reunion all in one. This was love. 

A tightness released in my chest as I realized, he had found me again. He found me today, he found me every life time leading up to this dance, and he would do it all again. 

He would always find me. 

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I enjoyed writing this one :) 

Happy reading, and don't forget to vote on your favorite short story for a sequel!