The Realm of Silver

Chapter 2 | A Dark Melody

For a few moments, Alexis just stood there, panicking. She really did not want another incident like the one that had happened that morning. Then she realised, she still had her phone. She could call someone and tell them to come get her. But the problem was, she had no idea where she was. What would she tell them? How could she ask someone to come pick her up if she, herself, didn't know where she was?

However, she still took out her phone and looked at the time. An hour until sundown. Great.

She thought about who she could possibly call. Both Colin and Cassidy were out of the question as they lived on the other side of town, and she didn't want to trouble them. That left Josh.

Josh Manne and Alexis had been close for a couple of years now, but only as friends. Some people thought that they might have something between them, but Alexis had never thought about him that way.

She sent him a quick text saying that she was lost in the woods, and that she would look around and try to determine her location. With that, she started looking around.

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Alexis was standing in front of a huge cave. She had been looking around the woods when she found it. And now, standing in front of it, she was mesmerised. She could distinctly make out some engravings on the entrance of the cave. They looked like letters, but in a language, she knew not to be of this world. She took a step closer to look at the inscriptions more clearly, and that's when she heard it – a slow melody, seemingly coming from inside the cave. The music was hypnotising, urging her to come closer. Alexis knew she shouldn't but it seemed like her body wasn't under her control anymore. Out of the corners of her eyes, she noticed that the in the areas where light was supposed to fall into the cave, darkness, instead, seemed to be coming outside. Hypnotising her. Calling her. Pulling her in. She was almost at the mouth of the cave now. She raised her leg to take one more step, just one more step...

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her yelp. She snapped out of the trance and reacted instinctively – pushing the person behind her. Her vision cleared and she saw that the person had fallen on his butt.

"Alexis, what the heck?" he groaned. She instantly recognised the voice.

"Josh! Oh, my God! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed and offered her hand to help him up.

"Are you okay, Al?" he asked, brushing away the dirt from his pants, "I was worried about you."

She turned around to take one more look at the cave that almost took her in, but there was nothing there anymore. The trees grew from the same spot where the cave had been moments ago, as if the entire ordeal was nothing but a figment of her imagination.

Maybe that's exactly what it was, after all.

She turned back around to face Josh.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she gave him a small smile. "Thank you for coming to get me."

"Of course," he smiled and nodded.

He motioned for her to follow him, and she did, noticing his grey Prius parked nearby.

"I call shotgun," she stated, rushing towards the car.

"We're the only two people here, Al, and considering you can't drive, I'd say that's obvious," he chuckled.

She rolled her eyes at him but got into the car silently.

Josh got into the driver's side, closing the door behind him. He then looked at her, sighed, and shook his head.

"What?" she asked. "What is it?"

"I've missed you. Also..." he trailed off.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You've got a little dirt on your face," he chuckled.

"What?" She wiped her face with her hands. "Did I get it?"

"Just..." he leaned forward and slightly brushed his fingers against her cheek. "There."

Then he grinned. "Let's get you home now,"

Alexis gulped from the close proximity and turned away, looking out through the window. Josh put the key in and started the car.

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The whole way home, Josh drove in silence; the sounds of their breathing and the slow rumble of the car engine being the only noises breaking the silence. For some reason, she stole a glance at him. Josh had striking features – a beautiful golden complexion, messy brown hair, enchanting emerald eyes, and a sharp jawline; not to mention, an amazing physique to top it all off. He even had a deep and velvety voice.

How was any of that fair?

While she was studying him, she had not realised that the car had stopped moving. Josh turned to look at her and noticed her staring. Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment at being caught, but he only smiled at her.

"We're here," he declared.

"Thanks a lot, Josh. You really saved me today."

"Anything for you," he grinned. "So, I'll see you tomorrow at school, yeah?"

"Definitely," she said, opening the car door. "Night, Josh."

"Wait!" he called out, and she turned to look at him.

He looked at her, his gaze intense, and said in a soft voice, "if there's anything bothering you, anything at all, you can always talk to me about it. You know that, right?"

I wish I could, Josh. I wish I could tell you about everything that has been going on – inside my head and in my life. But she shook off the thoughts as soon as they'd come. He would only think she was going crazy, and she really didn't want to lose one of the only people she had in her life. She couldn't.

Instead, she gave him a small smile.

"Of course, Josh," she said and got out of the car. She heard him whisper a good night as she closed the car door.

She jogged up to the front door, and only heard the car pulling away on the dirt road after she had closed it behind her. She was finally home. It had been a very long and tiring day and now she really couldn't wait to get some rest. But sleep meant dreams – and that was something that she really wasn't looking forward to.

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࿐ྂ。 A/N

hey!

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. If you have any feedback or theories, I'd love to hear them! Please press the little star button if you like this book so far (^-^)

All the love,
Selene ☽