A Demon's Kiss

Chapter 4

A Demon's Kiss ©

Chapter 4

Quickly, my body reacted to the unlocking of our door, and I began my elegant walk outside of the room and into the filled hallway. Everyone knew very well what to bring for the Assembly, so every SH was dressed formally and neatly. Most boys wore suits with ties and others wore an ancient SH toga, which I’ve only heard of and not actually seen. The girls were dressed in dresses, and while all the colors they wore were safe and on the down-low, I seemed to be shining in the mob.

I knew most of the reason the eyes lingered on me was that I looked like my mother who everyone seemed to know. I could imagine the SHs having a class on pros and cons to the Assembly. My mother’s name and face would be under the cons.

After managing a straight face among numbers around me, I told myself everything was going to be all right. Just as I was midway in beginning to walk further down the hall, I felt a hand clasp onto my arm.

My first instinct was to twist back and attack, but the peacefulness the charm offered didn’t allow me. Also, I wouldn’t do anything bad to uphold my mother’s bad reputation around here.

“God, Joanna, turn around,” Brent’s voice came from behind me. Thankfully, it was him. I turned around but made no affectionate contact towards him. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and feel his warmth, but SHs were watching, not to mention possible watchers. Instead, I gave him a smile.

He was admiring me too much to even smile back. The way his eyes scanned me and his mouth opened a little made me nervous.

“Brent,” I interrupted him. Then he looked up into my eyes, and I felt stupid to draw his attention to my face. He was entranced. God, he really liked me. After a few seconds, he blinked and smiled. I could feel him blushing.

“You’re gorgeous,” he said, stepping closer to me. Even in my heels, Brent was still able to loom over me like a castle. Despite my heart jumping in my chest, I casually went along.

“And you are incredibly handsome,” I whispered, since it seemed the appropriate to. This was probably the closest I’d been to Brent, and I was thankful no one was watching. I backed away from him, and finally caught my breath. Why was I leading him on?

Unconsciously, my hand met my waist, and my heart skipped a beat when I felt no belt. My fingers retracted. It didn’t feel right to have no weapons on me in an unknown place, but at the same time it felt safe here.

“We won’t need our weapons here,” Brent pointed out. It was surprising to hear him say something like that with us being in an unknown area where we weren’t informed of any exits. But then I reminded myself that in the air was something convincing and soothing. . .

The microphone-ed voice was back.

“SHs, head down the staircase and meet with your given Elite Six. We’ll be awaiting you in the ballroom.”

There was a three second pause before the spacious hallway of yammering SHs began to push their way through. It didn’t feel real to be around this many SHs. Besides the bland colors they wore, their skin tones adorned the hallway with colors beyond belief.

Six continents. Countless countries and ethnicities. I started to wonder what language each elite of the Elite Six would speak to his or her group. I couldn’t even begin to guess.

Instead, I turned my attention to around me. The excitement was evident in most eyes, and I’d bet there was some in mine, too.

Brent and I walked—or rather were shoved—down the hallway for minutes until we reached the staircase where it was surprisingly organized. There had to be about a hundred stairs on the wooden, curved staircase. No one had fallen down yet. There were men in black SH uniform, or Assembly monitors, on the right and left of the staircase, and they organized the number of SHs allowed down.