A WAR AMONGST THE STARS

CHAPTER TWELVE

All scourer in fear of the unknown, everyone running in the opposite direction down this unlit, shadowy hall, and as they do, Nolance leads me by hand, towards the dark terror that frightens them all.

Ominous and unreal, a violent storm of black clouds and purple static lightning illuminates before us.

A mix of fright, curiosity and thrill nearly stuns me immobile. "Are we really heading towards that?" I ask.

"Yes," he responds.

"But you said you were taking me some place safe. Safe is not near whatever that is!" I end with pointing ahead, yet as I stare, I cannot help but find myself drawn to it. Like a moth to a flame, I fear I am to be burned but as someone who is used to pain, what's a little more? Leave it to me, to run towards danger, rather than away.

"Turn around," her urgent, nervous voice speaks within.

"Since when are you afraid of the dark?"

"Something isn't right. Turn around," she presses.

"Why?" She does not respond."I swear you go from hot to cold so easily. You're so confusing. Fine. When you come up with a reason, then you let me know."

Like a siren's song that whispers into my ear, I can't escape it, this—pull. It beckons me, awakening a part of me that I do not recognize. Impossible to resist, I do not fight it. No, I let it pull me. I allowhimto tug me deeper into this magical, dark unknown that he is determined to lead me into.

He speaks. "You can spend your entire life in fear of the unknown, or you can learn to trust me. Take a leap of faith, Serena!"

"A leap of faith? Trust you? I don't even know you!"

Those violet eyes stare back, and I don't have to see him through the shadows to know that he is smirking and stupid me, I smile by it. I smile a little too hard.

He turns forward, hustling through the chaotic crowd with me in tow.

How he can guide us through this madness, I have no clue, but seeing how we haven't run into anyone yet; I suppose Icantrust him. At least I hope so.

"Come Serena! I can guarantee you do not want to miss this," he insists.

"Why I am blindly following you into darkness, I will never know," I sass, yet he just chuckles. Adrenaline. It courses through my veins, resurrecting a part of me that has been long lost, but I feel it. I feel that broken part of me begin to mend, to come alive. There's a spark, not hers but one of my own and it is shining. Greater than ever.

Nolance makes an unexpected hard right turn, pulling me along with him.

I grunt after being pushed roughly against a wall. "What the—what are you doing, you psycho?" He stands close, his warm breath blowing upon my skin like the sweetest of warm summer breezes. "Nolance?" I nervously question. Danger. He is the epitome of every warning sign, every red flag. Even my own light screams for me to run yet for the life of me, I cannot resist this—pull.

I should flee. I should fight. I should—the tip of his nose nudges mine.

One flick up, one flick down. He presses a finger to my parted, wet lips. "Shhhh," he hushes. So slowly, he lowers that finger down over my bottom one and then lets up, allowing it to spring back into place. My mouth remains agape. My breath heavy. My eyes wide. His lips hover barely before mine. "I can taste your fear, but it is diluted by something stronger."

"What?" I ask.

A wicked chuckle vibrates from beneath his chest. "Wouldn't you like to know."

One by one, his arms cage my face close between his two. Not only am I trapped by him but by those penetrating violet eyes I swear has the power to reach into the depths of my soul.