Golden Romance [1]

Chapter One: Cloud of Paper

Chapter One: Cloud of Paper

·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙    Iseul's POV    *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙

I see a door ahead of me and I will my legs to run faster to it, hearing the huffs and the scrape of nails against hardwood sounding from behind me. My hand reaches out towards the ornately curved handle in front of me, but my fingers slip straight through.

Heartbeat pulsing through me like a drum shaking my core, I try again. My fingers slip through again.

I whirl around, the sounds much closer, and my eyes alight upon a creature encased in shadow, dark horns spiraling upwards. Its mouth opens and I screw my eyes shut only to hear--

RINGGGG!

My eyes snap open and my hand swats at the alarm in attempt to shut it up so I can get some peace and quiet. Wanting nothing more than to duck back under my covers and try for a sweeter dream, I blearily get up.

Running my hands over my face and through my hair, I glare at the time displayed on the annoyance in all of its red LED glory.

Fuck.

6:00 AM

The devil's hour. Screw three in the morning, six is worse.

Rolling out of bed with a throaty groan tumbling out of my lips, I stumble to my feet, wincing at the bright sunlight streaming into my room as a second wake up call for the first day of my last year in high school.

I crinkle my nose at the disheveled apparition in my bathroom mirror, my hair looking as if a tornado blew through and then came back for seconds. And my face? Puffier than a plush pillow with red lines streaking across my swollen cheeks.

I go through my morning routine with the rapidity of a snail, not used to it after a long summer of sleeping late and waking up even later. My uniform, the dreaded plaid skirt and white button down, is still pressed in my closet, untouched after two months of no wear.

The house--a more accurate term is probably mansion--is quiet as I make my way down the many stairs, my each step echoing in the silence like a thunderclap. I'm the only person in here, the eerie quiet welcoming as the familiarity of it all settles on me like a second skin.

Being alone has become comforting, the remembrance of what happens when two others grace these halls filling me with overflowing gratitude. It had taken time for the silence to wrap around me like a warm blanket, for the knowledge of knowing I'm alone not sending my nerves into a frenzy.

As I walk through the kitchen, I make sure to grab a granola bar for a breakfast, the thought of anything else making my stomach flip with queasiness. I hunt for my lace-up shoes as I munch on the breakfast bar, slipping them on before swinging my school bag onto my shoulders. It's fairly light, containing only empty folders waiting to be sadly filled with the homework and multiple syllabi that are sure to come with the first day.