Shadowbook

Chapter 9: Torn

"𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔦𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔱𝑦𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔱! 𝔉𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩! 𝔇𝔬𝔳𝔢-𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫! 𝔚𝔬𝔩𝔳𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔞𝔪𝔟! 𝔇𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔟𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔡𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔴! 𝔍𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔬𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔩𝑦 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔪'𝔰𝔱... 𝔚𝔞𝔰 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔟𝔬𝔬𝑘 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔳𝔦𝔩𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔬 𝔣𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔩𝑦 𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡? 𝔒, 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔦𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔡𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔞 𝔤𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔭𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢!

𝓡𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔍𝔲𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔱, 𝔄𝔠𝔱 𝟺, 𝔖𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔢 𝟸, 𝟽𝟽—𝟾𝟶, 𝟾𝟻—𝟾𝟽

         I thought a lot about what I had seen. Astor was so gorgeous, so monstrous, so frightening, I didn't know what to think. I had seen him do what Shadows did best.

Why, why, why was I so scared? It wasn't as though he was going to treat me that way. Perhaps he thought that allowing me to watch was a privilege. He hadn't hurt me, he hurt a girl who bullied me for weeks. He had shared the essence of her soul with me. He had given me his folds to keep me warm. Perhaps he didn't register just how horrifying it had been for me because he was used to it...

But had it really been so horrifying? I had admired his grace and power; the way he hypnotized her... part of me had wanted to join him. Wasn't that what I wanted? To be a Shadow, like him?

"Hey, Nyx!" Noire called as I walked over to my friends at lunch. "How was your date with Astor last night?"

"Well, it wasn't really a date..."

"Please, Nyx," said Amaya with a laugh. "How was it?"

"I thought you didn't believe in Astor."

"What do you mean? I believe Astor's a Shadow and that he exists, I just can't believe he's Prince Charming," said Amaya.

"Well, he—"

I broke off. Karrine's friends Angelika and Chrissie were walking past our table, their high-heels clicking on the floor. I caught a few words of their conversation.

"...Yeah, she said that she ran into this Goth hottie that attacked her..."

"You mean she was..."

"No, not that... he just... kissed her and was draining her energy or something. Said he was sucking the life out of her and that his eyes turned violet or something... She must have been so drunk last night."

All my friends were staring at me. "What did he do?" Lilah asked.

I told them all about Astor's hunt.

They sat silently. I was waiting for them to tell me that he was dangerous, and that I shouldn't be seeing him anymore. That Shadows were evil all along.

"He got Karrine for us? Really? I don't believe it..." said Amaya. "So that's why she's not in school today! He drained her energy!"

"I hope she never comes back," Senka mumbled spitefully.

"I almost felt sorry for her, almost," I said with a chuckle. "He was so— beautiful, and— terrifying."

"He must have been so devilishly gorgeous," Noire sighed. "I can't wait to meet him!"