Burning Stars

Chapter 2

 As the class ended I shot a look at Orion. He stood there almost awkwardly, a subtle change in his demeanor. His leather messenger bag hung loosely from his shoulder as I awaited him to say something. I ignored his silent plea for me to speak first and continued to pack up my bag.

"Can I walk you home? It's dark you know" he asks in his normal low toned arrogant voice. I snapped my head up at him, surprised.

"I think I'll be fine" I pause "Thank you for the offer Orion"

"No problem Asta, feel free to change your mind" he says softly. As he walks off I glance up at the ceiling windows. The stars shimmer in the sky, blinking a sweet hello. I stop as I walk out of the classroom and wonder if I should have said yes to Orion's offer. It was dark.

I tried to shake off the feeling of regret and push open the wooden doors of the university's southern entrance. I pause suddenly, overwhelmed with dread. I glance around at the night scenery. I notice a figure standing by the stables and of course on the one day that I decide to take Dante to school.

I stand in front of the building for a long while, frozen in a state of indecisiveness. Then I hear his voice call out to me.

"Asta? You alright darling?" I glance up to see Orion on top of his horse, Firefly. I look up at him and then at the dark figure standing by the stables.

"I left my lead rope in the barn. Walk with me?" he says. I nod, feeling a bit of relief as we walk down the cobblestone together. I grin slightly as we walk.

"What's the smile for?" he asks curiously.

"You don't use a lead rope. Not with Firefly." I say softly as I remember his cocky taunting, rubbing it in his brother's face his horse didn't need a lead rope, while his brother's horse refused to walk without treats.

He grinned at me and looked back up at the path. He opens his mouth to say something before he shakes his head. I tilt my head as I look up at him, a stupid grin still plastered on my face.

"I'm grabbing Sebastian's," he counters. I do not respond. Instead I just giggle to myself as we walk.

The closer we get to the figure however, the more I begin to feel my skin crawling once again. My heartbeat quickened against my ribs like a jack rabbit, as if it knew that danger was coming, as if it knew the dangers I did not.

Sweat pricked in my palms leading me to grip the bottom of my shirt in an attempt to ease the dampness. But the sweat continued to run, as if trying to escape my body. My body temperature continued to rise with each breath and each step.

My mouth grew dry and my knees shaky. I wished for stability but I could not find it. My legs were unsteady as they walked, unsure if they would be better off dropping to the ground right here then continuing on this path. They grew cold while the rest of my body grew warm, a sure sign of something up ahead.

I was lost in my thoughts of danger when Firefly reared up aggressively. The horse dashed off across the cobblestone, and stopped back in front of the wooden doors of our University to pace back and forth relentlessly, as if it wanted to wait for Orion but could not bear to be as close to the ominous feeling that I had sensed among the night air.

I gasped sharply as I turned to cast a glance at the figure that had once been standing at the edge of the stables. The figure that was once thirty meters away and was now standing about five feet in front of me. The figure that was once a shadowy nothing, but a silhouette in the dark, and was now an absolutely beautiful man with features as clear as day.

I take a step back without ever losing eye contact with this man. My breath hitches as Orion rises next to me. His hands were scraped but he seemed to be walking and standing fine. He positioned himself next to me, resting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. He urged me forward, moving around the man who was standing in front of us.

Energy turned and flipped in my chest. My chest became tight as I tried to breath slowly. My hands grew shaky while I forced my legs to be calm. Orion's hand on my shoulder tightened, leaving me feeling a bit more secure.

"Orion. Asta" the man calls out to us. 

"Where do you think you're going?" he says, his voice no longer sounds strange, but now sending a feeling of dread through my body. 

Suddenly, the feeling of fear became the knowledge I was in danger. 

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Chat two updates in an hour? is this real? 

What do you guys think of my ending?