SHADES of GREEN ↬ m. wheeler

XX. DARK

CHAPTER TWENTY
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❝DARK❞

　
　

I had a dream, which was not all a dream.

The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars

Did wander darkling in the eternal space,

Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth

Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;

Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day,

And men forgot their passions in the dread

Of this their desolation; and all hearts

Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light.

—Lord Byron, "Darkness"

　

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DARKNESS, a tangible thing, had long since taken residence in her skin now. Try as it may, it could not remain; it had finally lost the battle.

　The final signs: Her eyes flew wide and cold breath ripped into her lungs.

　

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"ARE YOU SURE?" Jade nibbled at her lip with every free breath. Though she could fight it, she could feel how cold it was outside. Esme, standing in the doorway in a dark blouse and jeans, did not seem to mind. "It's freezing."

　"We'll bring blankets," Esme suggested. "A ton of them. Plus, we won't be gone that long. I just really want you guys to see what I found. I promise you won't regret it."

　"I don't know." Jade crossed her arms; her chest trembled inside, as though she were freezing or extremely nervous. She didn't feel either of those things, however—just the feeling that something was coming, something vital.

　"Come on!" Esme rested all of her weight on one foot, stubbornly. Her pale porcelain skin and long spill of white-blonde hair contrasted starkly with the deep black of her sweater. She wore a choker around her neck, silver and dangling emeralds; Jade could not tell if they were real, and she did not care.

　Jade could not help but to wonder, in the midst of this, why Esme was acting so normal. Had she forgotten? Forgotten the way how, on the last day of school before Christmas Break, Jade had burned her? Had she created her own explanation? It would make sense; Esme was the only one, out of all of the boys, of Jade and Max, who was ignorant to the supernatural.

　Esme huffed. "Well, you don't have to go, if you don't want to. But everyone else is going."

　Jade straightened, like she'd been zapped with electricity. "Fine. Let me go get ready."

　

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