The Last Shadow Witch

10. Prince of Flames

I stirred the soup in my bowl absent-mindedly, I still couldn't get the hallucinating thing out of my head. It felt so real, in fact, it was real. How did I walk outside? Everything was complicated and I was too afraid to tell anyone. Elle was sitting opposite me at the breakfast table, typing away on her phone with a giddy smile. I needed to tell her, I had to tell her. Who else would explain what is going on?

"Elle," I called shakily.

"Yap?"

"Can I ask a question?"

"Shoot,"

"Is hallucination common in Twilight Castle?"

"Not at all," she said, chewing the food in her mouth. She paused her fingers and raised her head, raising her brows at me. "Why? Did you hallucinate?"

"Yes, a very crazy one and it is scaring me," I said shakily, looking down at my soup. I felt her gaze burning into my head, a very suspicious intense look. "Stop looking at me like that, you are making me uncomfortable,"

"What did you see?" She asked calmly as she kept her phone aside. I itched my left arm nervously. "Trust me, Rinette, what did you see?"

"Ace,"

"Ace?" She asked sceptically.

"Not the way you are looking at it," she leaned back on her chair and folded her arms.

"Okay, explain." I exhaled and told her everything that happened, including our discussion and how Ace flirted with me…or, at least, the imaginary one did. At first, she concluded that it was my subconscious showing me a scenario to make me feel better about crushing on Ace. It took a lot to convince her otherwise. She sighed and tapped her middle finger on her lips.

"So? What is it?"

"I can't conclude yet, I don't understand a thing but all I can say is that the next time you feel such a thing again, don't run, don't shiver and even if you do shiver, still stand still and encourage whatever it is to come out. I guess that someone is trying to reach out to you."

"By using Ace's image, really?"

"If my guess is right, then Ace's image was used because he was the closest friendly face you know, the one nearby and the one you would have easily followed because he's Ace. We were all far apart in our various classes and if either of the others were to show up, you would have brushed them off and run to find me because of your fear. If you haven't noticed, Ace has a jovial and friendly aura– should I say flamboyant, buoyant and comfortable? There is something about him that leaves one smiling like a fool, feeling his energy flowing into you like a contagious disease. Ace is the funniest and most lively person in Twilight Castle, that must be why he was used."

"Why not use Twyla? She's funny too,"

"Twyla is sweet. She's a happy-going girl with an amusing way of twisting English. She's good but she has nothing on Ace,"

"Okay, let us skip that part and talk about the part where I must stand and encourage whatever it is to go ahead and kill me," I said with a sweet, sarcastic grin.

"You haven't died all this time, Marinette. If you are what Dad thinks you are, then trust me when I say you can't get killed that easily," She said nonchalantly.

"What am I?"

"Remember when you were twelve?" She asked with a knowing look. I remember vividly how I changed when I turned twelve. I started seeing shadows, shadows of people, animals and things that weren't there, ones no one else could see. I was terrified. I could hear scary voices in my head, some calling me and some discussing like normal people. I talked to Elle, made her my comforter and it was during that period we bonded completely. It, however, stopped when I turned fourteen, right after she gave me a black and white rosary. "Yes, it has something to do with why you could see shadows and hear voices back then, he isn't sure but since the rosary helped stop it somehow, then it might be true."