The Above || Completed

27 Stunned

I woke with a start the next morning, sensing the presence of someone standing over me. It was Zachariah. I gave a stretch and let out a moan.
"Sorry to disturb you, Maddison. But we need to talk," he said.
I sat up and replied with a croaky voice, "Not a problem. What's the matter?"
I took a brief look at the dorm around me. Both Aeron and Erica were awake, getting ready for the day. I couldn't bear to look at Erica, because now her assumptions had become quite correct. Although, my feelings for Aeron were still questionable. Grace was the only one that Zachariah hadn't woken just yet. He'd grown fond of her fairly quickly.
When he saw my eyes land on Grace, he spoke, "She's been having nightmares all night. She only got to sleep around two hours ago when I went to lie with her. I'm worried."

It appeared that making Grace talk to us about her past the way we did definitely took its toll. Surely, her nightmares featured her memories of the angels being tortured. But I couldn't tell Zachariah about this, nor could I let him worry himself so much.
"I'm sure she'll be fine by tonight. You can sleep by her side just in case though," I said calmly.
He nodded. "Thank you. Should I let her sleep in a little?"
"I don't think you can; she can't miss the Renewal preparations. You're very thoughtful, Zachariah," I reasoned, feeling achingly sympathetic.
Again, he nodded and moved to wake Grace. I got ready to face the day ahead.

^^^

That day, we had to study and analyze previous Renewal laws. Every law thought of by every Renewal winner over the last hundred years. That's a hundred laws. All before lunch time. Under different circumstances, 100 would've seemed like a small number but under these? I decided I wouldn't bother and instead, I asked Grace if I could borrow THE HISTORY OF ANGELS to read. It's not like the council had anyone watching over us. Grace said she'd look through the Renewal laws for clues and Aeron said he'd be doing the same. Perhaps we weren't the only ones who'd ever known about the council's terrible ways.

Erica kept giving us these quizzical looks as the morning drew on and the sun lit up the library brilliantly. She noticed that Grace was now closely associated with us. Although she was discussing something with Zachariah. Erica was trying to think of what we could've been up to. Aeron and I didn't interact much. Except when we exchanged coy glances and sometimes he'd run his hand along my thigh, making me blush and bite my lip. He was such a tease.

THE HISTORY OF ANGELS started off with a chapter about the appearance of angels. Their eyes always had gold in them, they didn't have halos but rather they had this glow about them. Their wings were extravagant and white, holy and divine, crafted with heavenly fire. Archangels had gold fibers in their wings. They were remarkable in every way. Of course, they hid these celestial qualities among other beings. And that must've been why it was so difficult to identify whoever this angel was posing as. This angel had to be a real professional at hiding even the smallest spec of gold in his eyes.

My attention tore away from the book as everyone else got up to leave. It was lunch time now, all those hours had flown by so quickly. Grace took THE HISTORY OF ANGELS with her as she left, holding Zachariah's hand. Aeron tugged at my arm and we stood together. But we didn't get to walk together because Erica took hold of my arm and held me back. I gave her a stunned look and she grinned awkwardly. Aeron was staring at us fearfully, as though he might have had to stop a fight from breaking out. But there would be none of that; Erica didn't want a fight. So, I smiled at Aeron, signaling him to continue ahead of us.

This left Erica and I to speak between ourselves.

^^^