The Dark [2]

flames, falling, and fear

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FATE IS UPON US, THE CHANGING OF TIMES

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FEEL THE FIRE RAIN DOWN, SEE THE SHADOWS RISING ALL AROUND

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[DON'T PLAY THE SONG YET]

There is a few strong curse words in this chapter and a little bit of gore.

"IT'S a masquerade ball?" Edaline asked. Sophie was sitting at the bar, munching tiredly on the purple root Edaline had handed her when she walked down.

"Mhm," Sophie said, nodding.

"And you just now realized?"

Sophie nodded again.

"Sophie!" Edaline exclaimed and Sophie jumped at the loud noise, still not completely awake.

"What?" Sophie's eyebrows scrunched up. Why was Edaline yelling this early in the morning?

"The ball is at the end of this week! There's so much to be done! We have to take your measurements, figure out which color would work best, commission a seamstress and a craftsman for the mask, a cobbler..." Edaline was rambling and Sophie blinked, trying to keep up.

"It's alright, Eda," Grady said soothingly, coming up beside his wife to rub her arm. "It'll work out. We both know how often Jolie waited till the last minute too."

Sophie stared into her bowl as Edaline leaned into Grady's arms at the mention of their daughter. The blonde rubbed her temples.

"Any idea what color you would prefer?" Edaline asked, pulling out a notepad and writing something down. Sophie shrugged. Edaline hummed.

"Red always looks fantastic, but green could be pretty too. The princess will be wearing purple I assume..." Edaline trailed off and Sophie and Grady shared a look.

Edaline went rummaging through a drawer in the kitchen. "Just let me grab my measuring tape and then we'll get that out of the way."

Sophie pushed her bowl away and stood up.

"On that note," she said, nodding at Sandor, "I think it's time we get to school."

She was not in the mood to be poked and prodded today. "See you later."

"But—" Edaline said as she came out of the kitchen, measuring tape in hand. Sophie waved over her shoulder, Sandor trailing behind her as she made her way to the Leapmaster.

Sophie felt the warm light flash over them, momentarily unable to feel Sandor's large hand in hers, before all of it came tumbling back like a wave.

Sophie blinked at the change of light. It was gray around the campus of Foxfire, storm clouds rumbling in the sky. The purple grass stood stark against the dark background, almost reflective in Foxfire's glassy walls.

The Moonlark stared blankly out at the kids filtering through the doors and standing around on the lawn. She sighed and made her way across the lawn, into the triangular building.

Kids crowded around each other's lockers, giggling loudly. Sophie darkened at the feel of an oncoming headache.

"How hard would I have to bang my head against the wall to knock myself out?" Sophie asked vacantly.

Sandor only looked mildly amused. "Not sure, that wasn't covered in my training."

Sophie sighed deeply, coming to a stop in front of two large doors. "I really don't want to do this."