𝔒𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔘𝔭𝔬𝔫 𝔄 𝔇𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪 | ♛

Part Two

I wake up slowly, blinking groggily against the shafts of light slotting through the cheap, dorm-regulation blinds. It's early; though the birds are singing, my early-bird roommate is still fast asleep in her nest of pillows and sheets; her hair is splayed across the pillow and one hand is clutching at the duvet. As I realise the time, I remember what I need to do. This morning, I'm on a mission.

I get up quietly, not wanting to wake her, and slip out of our room into the corridor, in my pyjamas but with my shirt and skirt in hand. I go to the toilets and change, hiding my pink pyjamas underneath the sink. I know I'll be back before everyone gets up, anyway.

Silently I lope down the hallway and out of the building into the chill autumn air. I relish in the cold before I make my way towards the thin, two-storey, wooden-clad building that no one else ever pays attention to.

I'm going to meet a boy inside - although we're good friends, I can't remember his name. As I come face-to-face with him I remember, and greet him with excitement, although I can't remember why.

"Hi Danny," I say to Dane.

He rolls his eyes at the nickname, and flicks his hair out of his eyes. I think he's a blond, but his eyes are a glittering beetle-black - that much I do know - so blond wouldn't make sense. I do know that he's handsome, and that I pine over him often, but we're good friends so I don't want to ruin our friendship.

"Are you ready?" He asks seriously.

"Yes," I say, eyeing the leather satchel that is slung across his chest. One hand rests on the top of it casually, however it seems like a protective gesture. I'm excited to see what is inside, and I know what it is but do not know it's name.

We go up the stairs of the narrow building and reach the first floor. A brick fireplace stands in the centre of the opposite wall, with a glass vase of daffodils, an antique clock and a candelabra arranged upon it. The room is wooden panelled on the walls and floor, and a single, bare lightbulb sheds a steady cream light over us.

Dane immediately approaches the fireplace and pushes against the glass face of the clock. It compresses and the back of the fireplace shimmers out of existence. I send him a grin and wring my hands as he crawls through the hole before me.

Once I'm through, I analyse my surroundings.

A bigger room than is possible in such a small building stretches out in three directions, with the walls and ceiling being of white marble. We stand on a block of marble that is surrounded by a sheer silver floor. It looks like a mirror; it reflects our faces perfectly, but the image reflected is tinted light grey.

I step forwards - and almost pitch head-over-heels as I sink into the silver floor, until I'm up to my waist in silver liquid. Danny follows, and neither of us made a splash, though the liquid is runny. It caresses my skin as I wade towards the marble platform in the centre of the room.

I brace my arms on the edge of the platform and haul myself up, noting that I am completely dry - not a drop of liquid is visible on my clothes or my skin.

Looking up, I see that Danny is already standing next to the stout, hip-height post on the platform. I get up and stand next to him, shifting from foot to foot in anticipation.

Agonisingly slowly, he opens his satchel and draws out a glowing white sphere with both hands. He holds it carefully as if it is devastatingly delicate, and I know our lives depend on him remaining calm.

The ball glows white-hot in his hands, but it does not seem to affect him. It's light is soft, but it increases in intensity as Danny moves it towards the podium in his cradling hands. He places it in the semi-circular depression in the top of the podium and the ball immediately starts to sink into the marble. The liquid surrounding us turns white and we briefly see the entire universe spread out around us before the liquid fades back to silver.

I give him a breathless grin.

"We need to find the others," I say fervently.

He closes his eyes. "We don't even-"

"I don't care," I say. "Danny, they're white. The colour of purity. It's not as if this is dark magic!"

He looks at me with an unreadable expression. "We don't know what will happen when we find all five, Eve."

I heave a breath, flaring my nostrils and glaring at him. "It can't be anything bad. This stuff could have the power to change our lives completely!"

"Or kill us," he replies. "Listen to me, if we can just do a little more research-"

"Fine! You do the damn research!" I snap. "Because you've got all the time in the world to do that, because you can touch them! You can complete the process whenever you want! I can't! I'm relying on you to help me with this! We have two - we have to find the other three!"

His expression turns from patiently irritated to stony. "And what if I don't want to, Eva. What if I don't want to finish this."

I gape at him. "You can't- you can't be serious. After all we've worked towards-"

"Give me some time. Time alone. Then I'll decide."

He leaves and I stare after him, shell-shocked.

What just happened?

I let out a frustrated yell and snap out my arm, punching the vase with such ferocity that it disintegrates into dust, the flowers falling and scattering over the floor like matchsticks.

I storm out of the building, seething. I'm so angry that I don't even notice the old man sitting on the grass outside, rolling a glowing white orb around his palm and watching my retreating figure with narrowed, calculating eyes.