Shadows of Ash and Gold

Chapter seven

My head was pounding tremendously in my head when I forced myself to open my eyes. I groaned, immediately putting a hand over them as sunlight blessed my vision.
    
"Are you alright?" A deep voice said from the corner making me turn my head.
Bash sat on the windowsill of my dorm watching me.
  
"Well, that's not creepy," I muttered as I sat up in my bed. I looked at my nightstand and then turned back to him. His emerald eyes had angry dark circles underneath them, his jaw was set and a glare was firmly placed on his gorgeous face. Great. "Should I ask what the hell you're doing in my room at seven a.m?"
     
"You don't remember." It was a statement, not a question.
     
"What happened-?"
      
The door suddenly opened and Nyan walked in with a tray of food. When she saw my face hers brightened and the biggest smile I've ever seen graced her lips. "Good! You're awake," she beamed. "I brought you breakfast. I didn't know what you liked so I brought everything. Pancakes. Crepes. Oatmeal and of course, Waffles. You Americans seem to love Waffles-"
      
"Nyan," Bash groaned, cutting her off.
She shot him a hard glare and then turned back to me grimacing. "Sorry for babbling."
     
I felt a smile on my lips, a genuine one. "I don't mind." I cleared my throat.     "So is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"
    
"Oh!" Nyan acknowledged as if it had slipped her mind. "Bash found you last night passed out in the library, reading. He brought you back here."

I squinted at the air in front of me processing her words. That didn't sound like me. I would never fall asleep in the library at night. My anxiety was way too extreme.... Maybe I did. I did want to research that book ... but why wouldn't I remember?
    
"Oh." I don't know why but I was expecting something ... else. My eyes flicked to Bash whose expression was dull as if he were bored. "Thanks."

He shrugged and got up before he walked out of the door he glared at me.    "Don't do it again." And then he disappeared.
     
"Geez, what crawled up his ass?"
Nyan chuckled and shook her head. "Don't take it personally. He's always like that."
       
"Trust me, I don't," I lied. The truth was, it did hurt when Bash was mean and I had no idea why. I don't even know him.
Nyan handed me the tray of food and said, "here, eat something."

        I hadn't felt right for the rest of the day. Maybe I was sick? Most likely not. I rarely got sick. What is wrong with me? I couldn't shake this feeling. I felt ... empty. Like I was missing something.

I brushed off the strange feeling and stared shocked at myself in the mirror.
My blonde curls, which were usually cramped into a ponytail, now flowed down my back in lush waves. My gray eyes seemed to shine more with the mascara around them. And the dress ... yeah, I definitely didn't recognize myself.
      
It was the first time in my life I didn't hate the way I looked. I was mostly skin and bones, no curves but this dress made me seem like I had some sort of figure. If mom saw me she would be so proud, she'd probably be weeping on the floor. I took a picture, reminding myself to send it to her later.
     
"Oh!" Nyan squealed in surprise as she saw me. "You look so good, Ryn."
      
I stared at her, her black dress clung to her curves in all the right places and her white-blonde hair was pinned up in a beautiful bun.
     
"Not as good as you," I retorted, staring enviously at her.
     
"Well, duh!" she smiled, a playful gleam in her gaze. "Nobody could ever look as good as me."
Smiling, I shook my head. I really did like her.
     
"Shall we?"

    Crestwood had a ballroom. Not that I expected them to hold their dances in a school gym like most schools but, a ballroom? An extravagant chandelier hung from at least forty feet in the air. The ceilings were white marble with gold swirling through it, along with the walls that were lined with great big pillars and forty feet windows. It was like I was transported to Italy during the renaissance era, this had to be the most beautiful architecture I had ever seen.
    
The Devara walked in (minus Nyan) they strolled down the stairs as if they owned the place, which they technically did. There was raw power coming off them in waves and you'd have to be an idiot not to notice how important they were.
     
I averted my eyes before I got sucked in too deep. My gaze landed on the adults in the room who also seemed like they were important.
    
"Who are they?" I asked Nyan.

"Those would be the parents."
     
My eyes shot to hers. "Yours?"
    
"God, no. My parents wouldn't be caught dead at a school ball."
     
I raised my brows. "Don't they own Crestwood?"
   
"Precisely my point, anyway, those are the important parents. They fund most of the school and control the board. When there is a school function like this they have meetings, which is really an excuse for them to get drunk and gossip. in about fifteen minutes they'll disappear."
     
And she was right, fifteen minutes and they did disappear, so did Nyan. She had left my side to go dance with Octavious, so now I was just standing awkwardly on the rim of the dance floor. What was I supposed to do? My first school dance and I was alone.
    
"Would you like to dance?" a smooth deep voice asked from my side.
    
I turned to the stranger and recognition dawned on me. "You," I said, surprised.
    
The boy from the dress store grinned. "Nice dress," he complimented with a charming look in his eyes. "I would like to think I had something to do with your choice in red."
    
"You didn't," I lied, stubbornly. He was just as gorgeous as he was yesterday, sadly. His sharp jawline was defined and ruff. High cheekbones, long lashes. His eyes were just as mysterious, taking on the same strange black color. Silver white curls hung over luxurious golden brown skin,, like some kind of god. I was envious of him.

His grin only widened, he knew his effect on people. "You didn't answer my question."
    
No And for a reason. Something about him felt dangerous and not in a good way. Also, my anxiety seemed to be at its highest when he was around. I stuck my chin up determined not to show how nervous he made me.  "Don't you have a date? Or were you looking for dresses for yourself yesterday?"
     
"Quite the sense of humor you have, Avaryn." He remembered my name.    "And no. I was actually with my sister." Oh. He held his hand out, that charming grin still on his face. "Well?"
      
I rolled my eyes but found myself sliding my arm through his. This was a bad idea. But I would be mortified to stand on the sidelines all night, so he was my only option. I immediately stiffened at the feeling of his big, strong, arm around mine. It's fine. I'm cool. I totally don't feel like I'm going to throw up. Once we got on the dance floor they started doing some kind of waltz. Great. The boy slid his arm around my waist, while I slid mine on his shoulders, letting him lead me.
His feet moved in sync with the rest of the crowd.
     
I chuckled, surprised. "You're good at this."
  
  "I'm good at a lot of things, Avaryn." I didn't trust him, all his words seemed as if they had a double meaning behind them.
   
"Do you have a name?" I finally asked, while trying to keep up with his pace.
     
His smile widened. His smile reminded me of the dark, it was terrifying and alarming, but beautifully alluring when the stars came out.  "Has it been bothering you that much?" Yes, and I hated that he knew that. Names held power. Back in the old days parents would give their children strong names because they believed it formed their personality.  When you know someone's name you know what category to put them in and so far I had no idea where to put him.
    
He leaned down, our faces inches apart and even though everything in me was screaming to pull back, I didn't. My breath caught in my throat and I told myself it was because of the fear, totally just fear. "Raiden," he whispered and pulled back.
    
Raiden.

I'd never heard the name before and somehow it didn't help at all. I still didn't know where to put him. "Do you go to school here Raiden?" his name felt foreign on my lips.
    
I felt The Devara's eyes on me the whole time, I wasn't sure what was so interesting but I didn't care, I forced myself not to look in their direction.

His smile didn't falter but his eyes flicked down to my ears. "Lovely earrings, they complement your dress well," he whispered, then added, "Thief."
   
I stiffened in his arms. I knew it. I knew he saw me take them.
   
I swallowed down the urge to rip my arms off and run away from him. "I-I don't understand what you mean-"
   
"Relax I'm not going to tell, I simply couldn't care less little thief," he whispered, smirking and by the amused gleam in his eyes, I'd say he knew how much it bothered me when he called me that.
    
"Don't call me that, I'm not a thief." I glared up at him, anger pulsing through me. I wasn't a thief. Or at least I didn't want anyone to know I was.

"So I suppose the earrings jumped from their shelf and crawled into your bag themselves, little thief?"
     
I've never thought of myself as a violent person, I've always thought more reasonable than most, but for him, I might make an exception. Considering I wanted to punch that grin right off his face. He knew what he was doing when he called me that.
He dropped his smile along with his 'I don't care about anything attitude' and suddenly turned very serious. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, darling, everybody has a little darkness in them."
     
I thought of my father. I wasn't like him. "Not me." and then I dropped my arms and walked away.