Shadows of Ash and Gold

Chapter eight

The night air was cold and crisp as it lashed against my skin. The ball was still going on from behind me but I didn't care. I needed some fresh air. I couldn't stop thinking of Raiden and his words. Everybody has a little darkness in them. He was wrong. I didn't. Mom didn't, Finn didn't, West didn't.

As I took another step forward it felt as if the oxygen was sucked from my lungs. I looked up, across from me was a dark shadowy figure. A familiar figure.

No, no, no.

This wasn't real. A burst of pain spread through my skull and I held back from crying out. Images flashed through my head. Of me in the library alone, images of two shadow figures fighting Bash, images of me throwing a knife.

And then it all came back to me. Everything. And I turned from the figure and ran through the doors of Crestwood. I ran through halls, left and right, not knowing where the hell I was going.

I stopped in my tracks as I rounded one corner, I saw them. They were all in a circle like they were discussing something. My eyes locked on Bash's, almost instinctively, and he knew. He knew right away.

I shook my head, turned on my heels, and ran from them.

He appeared in front of me in almost a heartbeat. "Ryn-"

"No!" I shouted and turned around but in a split second Everson was in front of me, blocking my way. This wasn't real. This isn't happening. People couldn't just appear out of nowhere.

They weren't people, a voice whispered in my head.

I remembered all the things he did last night. I remembered his eyes, I remembered the way he fought, the way he killed one of those shadows.

"Stay away from me!" I snapped at Everson and backed away, my back hitting Bash's chest.

Bash grabbed my arm. "Ryn, calm down-"

I spun on him. "Calm down? You lied and manipulated-"

His eyes started to glow, those white diamonds that held my stare. I was sucked in immediately, my gaze never leaving his. No. He was controlling my mind somehow. I was aware of it but there was nothing I could do about it. I wouldn't let him erase my memory again, I just couldn't. "Stop!" I shouted and he surprisingly did, letting go of my arm. He exchanged a look with Everson before he looked back to me and said, "sleep."

And then the world was engulfed in darkness.

I woke up in a room I wasn't familiar with. The walls were mint green, lined with gold, and indented with an expensive-looking flower design. Everything looked like it was straight from the renaissance era, it wasn't like anything i'd seen before, but i was starting to think it was my kind of style. The conversation quieted as soon as my eyes opened. Six pairs of eyes stared down at me. Everything came back to me in flashes ...

I was going crazy. That was it. I was becoming like him. I was becoming my worst fear.

Bash sat down in a chair directly in front of me. This time I didn't freak out.

I remembered everything from the library, including the fact that he protected me. I had no reason to be afraid of him, at least not yet.

"If you don't talk in the next five seconds I'm going to scream," I stated impatiently.
I thought I might have seen his lips twitch but it was gone before it started.

"She's charming isn't she?" said Everson.

My eyes never left Bash. I didn't trust myself to look at any of them. "What are you?" I asked as calmly as I could. I was pushing away the shock, the disbelief, and letting the numbness of my brain take over, just like I always did.