The Above || Completed

23 History

Apparently, we were to meet up with the rest of the Renewal candidates in the library. So Aeron and I made our way there in silence. He still hadn't told me what to expect from Erica and I was still wondering what his behaviour in the hospital wing was about. I supposed he'd tell me later. I had my fair share to tell him about... However, like I said, the only things I was supposed to be worrying about were the Renewal and the Above's most recent visitor.

The library carried the light smell of books. One I'd grown to love. Hushed voices came from the place where Aeron and I had discovered the book written in a strange, possibly angelic language. Earthly or angelic, it was a tongue only an angel would recognise around here. We turned a corner and met with the others. Zachariah nodded solemnly from his seat and quickly went back to reading a book splayed open in front of him. Grace smiled in acknowledgement of our presence and stood to receive us, closing the book she'd been skimming through.
"Welcome," she said brightly with her arms outstretched.
Grace was obviously in the best mood when she was utterly surrounded by books.
"Hey," I greeted casually.
"Don't worry, Grace, I can show her what to do." Aeron nodded.
Grace winked at me. "I'll be here if you need me."
This girl was going to grow up to become a librarian. I chuckled to myself, enjoying Grace's positive attitude. She walked away with a spring in her step.

My enjoyment was cut short by the look I noticed I was getting from Erica. Her eyes were so ice cold that it chilled me to the bone. I immediately felt like the worst friend in the world. What's worse, I was scared that she'd been taking the anger -so clear in her eyes- out on herself... I could not hold her gaze for very long at all. Perhaps I looked like a coward but really, it was just me, swallowing my pride. I had no right to be proud. Aeron got close to me and spoke low and consolingly into my ear. I almost flinched away from him.
"Ignore her for now. We'll deal with her later," he said.
I turned my head to look at him and spoke in an undertone, "Just don't get too close.
He looked almost hurt, but didn't let it show for long.

I walked round to the other side of the table, two seats away from Erica. Aeron followed, his demeanor subtly dispirited, and sat next to me, between Erica and I. The tension was thick enough to contaminate the air we breathed.
"All right, what do we need to do?" I asked Aeron.
"Well, we're sitting in the History section of the library, so it's obvious," Aeron replied.
"We're meant to read up on the Above's history? Most fascinating day of my life," I mutter sarcastically.
"Cheer up, Maddison," Grace piped up, half-amused.
"You could learn something new," Zachariah awkwardly suggested.
"Don't think it has the ability to learn anything," Erica said in an undertone.

That shut us all up and I averted my eyes, feeling my cheeks warm up. I heard Erica chuckle softly to herself in satisfaction. I sighed, letting her have her way. The library endured a silence of several hours as the most boring history lesson in -well, history took place.

^^^

Much later, I'd just about fallen asleep on the 300th page in one of the history books I'd been reading. Aeron stood up as soon as the clock read 6PM.
"Dinner time!" he announced.
I'd honestly never been happier to hear those words. We started to file out of the library and Erica shoulder-checked me on the way, causing me to knock the book Grace was reading to the floor. She left the library without a word. Once again, I only sighed.

"You're okay," Aeron assured me and then walked out behind the others.
"Yeah," I said dubiously under my breath as I bent to take Grace's book from the ground.
I stared at the title in astonishment.
THE HISTORY OF ANGELS.
Why would Grace be reading a book like this? And why would the council have it here in the first place? This could help us find out whether Grace was the angel. Or maybe perhaps point us in the right direction of who really was. But what could Grace know about angels? And how would she obtain such knowledge? More so, what does the council have to do with any of this? Last time I checked, we didn't associate ourselves with angels.

"Aeron!" I shouted urgently.
He peered round the corner of a bookshelf just seconds later with a look of shocked expectancy on his face.
I beckoned to him hurriedly, "Come on."
"What is it?" he said, rushing toward me.
I showed him the book and his eyes widened upon glancing at the title.
"Wha-" he started.
"Grace was reading it. We need to check this out now. I have a feeling that both her and the council are keeping something from us," I stated, taking the book from Aeron and running out of the library, Aeron following close behind.

^^^

!!Author's Note!!

As soon as I came up with this little plot twist, there's no way to describe how much motivation I had to write this chapter. Don't even get me started on my levels of determination.

This is the last I'll be updating for quite a while. Lol, yes, it's cruel but gives you time to think this over.

Thanks for all the positive feedback. I'm eager to receive more.❤️👻