Divulgence

Chapter 2 - Dark Dynasty

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours. It was pitch black in the streets, Ara could barely make out the figure of a tree or the footpath from the road. Any hope she had of finding her way back home soon was thoroughly diminished. She continued walking feeling extensively apprehensive of being alone at this time of night.

"Hey there, what are you doing alone on the streets at this time of night?" She heard an unfamiliar, masculine voice behind her.

Her eyes widened and her heart dropped. A gradually increasing bloom of heat crept upon her face out of fear, whilst goosebumps had began to arise across her arms and the back of my neck. She attempted hiding her trepidation and refrained from making any sound as she noticed how close the voice was. Slowly taking a few steps forward and turning around, she attempts to scrutinize the figure before her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not going to hurt you or anything you're assuming," he paused for a brief moment, "Here, you can have this small torch if you'd like."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion for the 'coincidental' convenience, Ara decides to extend her arm out to receive the torch. She felt the mini item placed into her hand, the strangers fingertips lightly tracing over it before letting go.

"Right, thank you. Just a question, do you mind telling me exactly how did you see me if it's so dark out here?" Ara inquired, while fiddling with the torch in search for the 'On' button.

"I just sen-," He coughed quickly, as if trying to cover his stutter. "I saw you near a light and you seemed really worried like you were running away from something."

"Was he referring to the glowing puddle I saw earlier?" Ara thought to herself.

"What light exactly..."

"I'm not sure - I saw you from a distance and when you rushed off you seemed particularly alarmed so I ran after just watching to see if you were okay - " He trailed off.

"That's a little creepy."

"I know. Sorry."

She felt his hand over hers, trying to find where the torch was placed on her hand. Once he found it, he offered a small chuckle while clicking the on button. It flashed right into Ara's eyes and she stumbled back from the sudden light. Rolling her eyes at her clumsiness, she pointed the flashlight towards the person in front of her.

She took a sharp breath as she looked up to see the face of the unfamiliar figure. She stared in admiration at the young boy who smiled fervently back at her. Although it was still quite considerably dark, It seemed he still stood out. Ara made out a few of his conspicuous features.

Her eyes traced over his features as she moved the torch along with my eyes. His eyes were like sapphires, effulgent and glistening with amusement. It was at that moment she realised she had been staring and immediately directed the torch to the ground, rolling her eyes at her own oblivion.

"Everything alright?" He raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"What? Yes, of course. Why wouldn't it be? I mean, I had to just - see if you were wearing a mask or... I might need to remember your features because I could always get lost again and bump into you or - " She rambled, making fake excuses in order to cover up the fact she was staring.

"Alright alright, understood." He softly spoke, with an ethereal smile plastered on his face.

His smile began to slowly fade and he looked directly at her with benign eyes.

"Hold on, you're lost? That explains why you're out here alone," He examined his surroundings.

"I might be able to help you get back to your street pretty fast, what street do you live in?"