The Above || Completed

08 Shadow Boy

"Were you stalking me?" I giggled.
Aeron blushed. "Yeah..."
"Why?" I asked expectantly.
"I'm not sure." He took a step closer. "But I want you to come with me."
I have to admit I was sceptical. But something told me that this would be interesting. And Aeron didn't appear to be joking around. Also, I was liking the mystery."
Fine," I said.

He led me toward the most isolated part of the library. There was a large wooden table with cute wooden chairs placed around it. I sat down while Aeron searched for a book. Aeron? Searching for a book? It couldn't get weirder than this. I mean I never thought Aeron would read. Much less know his way around a library. Once Aeron found the book he was looking for, he placed it in front of me and sat to my right. The book was relatively thick and its cover was mahogany brown. But the absence of a title is what shocked me. How did Aeron know that this was the book he was looking for? I narrowed my eyes at the book.
"Aeron, what is this?" I asked, exasperated.
"Open it," he urged.
I frowned sceptically as I opened the book. At first, it seemed like a normal book.
But as soon as I took a closer look, I realized it was written in a strange language. Nobody in the Above could possibly know a language like this. How could Aeron? Unless he's-
An angel?

"I don't understand this, Aeron," I said, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Neither do I. That's why I'm showing it to you," he said, shrugging.
I scowled at him. "Is this a joke or are you just looking for a way to spend time with me?"
"While the latter is part of this whole thing -no, I'm completely serious." He smirked.
I rolled my eyes. "Explain."
It was then that he broke out into an enthusiastic rant. "Right, so remember how the council lady told us about the angel? I can't stop thinking about it. We could even know this angel person. I mean, if he or she is in the Above, it has to be because of the Renewal. I say we try to find out who this angel is ourselves."
"How do you suggest we do that with this book? We don't even understand the language it's written in," I said.
Aeron rolled his eyes, shifting closer to me. "Think about it, we know the Above has only one language. Nobody can speak a different language, let alone read one. Clearly, whoever can read this has to be the angel."
"An angel probably did write this book," I said absent-mindedly.

We sat in silence for some time. At least I knew Aeron wasn't crazy. His plans made perfect sense and so did his curiosity. Quite frankly, I was curious too. He probably knew that I would be and that's why he chose me to help him. He used this book to see if I was the angel first. But how was I to know that he wasn't just the angel trying to create his own alibi so he wouldn't be suspected?
"Aeron, how do I know you aren't an angel yourself?" I said, my eyes narrowed.
"That's where you need to trust me," he said.
"Where I'm from, trust is earned," I countered bitterly.
He moved much closer to me, meeting my eyes with his own stark, blue ones.
"If I were the angel, I wouldn't be showing this to you because I know you'd turn me in. I would be destroying this book, like any intelligent being would. I'm showing this to you because I want to solve this mystery with you," he said, keeping his attractive, deep voice low and firm.

I sat back and looked at Aeron with a sigh. There was no contradicting him. What he was saying made sense. Much like a lot of what he said. I was still doubting him but I guessed for now, I could rule out the fact that he could've been an angel. He looked at me expectantly, his hopes looking to be raised high.
"Why me?" I asked him.
"Why, Maddison, you're the only person I know right now who's worth trusting." He shot me a wink. "And besides, I knew you'd just love spending so much time with me."
I couldn't help but blush as I said, "You wish, Aeron. When do we get started?"
Aeron stood up, taking the book with him.
He flashed a buoyant smile. "Meet me in the courtyard after lunch, we'll talk then."
With that, I watched him leave. My heart was racing a little. This was kind of exciting. But I couldn't let Aeron know that I was excited about any of this. There was no way I was going to put all my cards out on the table. All we were going to be doing was investigating an angel. I was going to make sure of that.

All of a sudden, I jumped at the tap I felt on my shoulder. I turned around to find Zachariah standing behind me. He held out his hand to help me stand so I accepted it gratefully. I stood before him unblinking, wondering whether he'd been listening in the shadows. A shadow boy.
"Sorry, did I scare you?" he said innocently.
I finally blinked. "Um, no. What are you doing back here?"
"Oh, I was looking for Grace. I saw her walking this way. I think she went for lunch." He shrugged.
"Then we should get going too." I smiled. "Come on, Zachariah."
We strolled out of the library as I was still wondering dubiously if he had been telling the truth.

^^^