Thud.
Hitting hard against the wall, copping a hard hit right next to the doorframe.
At the same time, the door slammed shut, trapping me in the dark. I shut my eyes due to the sudden ache in my back.
I could feel someone's presence, hovering over me as they let out a breath. The scent of his cologne–a masterful blend of fresh, spicy, and woody notes–that's both refreshing and seductive.
It's like a warm hug—inviting, comforting, and utterly irresistible. Making you feel at home. I hide my left hand behind my back.
The only hand that's free. Ready to defend myself from any harm.
I slowly open my eyes. I could barely see anything. I looked to my side and found Callob's hand on mine, leaning against the wall beside my head. Close to the door. I can feel my heartbeat increase. "Ember," My eyes widened. He and I were millimeters away from one another. Too close. "What?" I manage to make out in a calm tone. As if the situation isn't screaming danger enough.
"Do you really not recognise me?" he calmly asks, "what do you mean? Recognise you." I repeat his words confusingly.
"Fine. Who are you actually, Ember Styles?" I swallow deeply, hesitating to speak and regretting not convincing the others to continue to play that silly game once more and maybe I wouldn't be in this situation right now. "I-" I hesitate, not knowing if I should lie or tell the truth.
"Well…" he awaits.
"I'm Ember Styles. Who else would I be?" I confidently say. Straightening my back against the wall. Trying to grow taller. "Hmmm-" his grip loosens. What does he want? And why is he doing this? I thought he just wanted to chat somewhere else.
I didn't expect that he meant slamming me against a wall and interrogating me. "Why do you ask?" I question with curiosity, "I've-" he was about to say something, when without warning the door swings open. A strong light enters the room. Both our heads turn towards the commotion.
A girl and a boy from our year, class B. Who are also Yamma's friends, that I've seen multiple times hang around with. Walk hand in hand. "Oh! Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt you two!" She apologized, "we'll let you love bugs be." She giggles.
We both look at each other, as if only realizing just now that we're so close to one another. Callob instantly moved further away from me. Releasing his hand from mine. Giving me enough space for me to breathe peacefully again.
My face in my hand, looking down in pure embarrassment. I looked over to Callob. He didn't seem a bit faced by what just happened. Before I knew it, she was already gone.
I glanced back at Callob once more, and then it hit me. Those starlit eyes. That build. The jet hair.
I've seen him before.
No wonder he asked me in secret. He's the one I bumped into. "I remember now. I've seen you before" I pointed at him.
"You're not from this world, are you?" I took some steps forward, "so, you do remember," he responds, forming a grin on his face. "I bumped into you in the shadow kingdom and you picked my map up." I elaborated.
"Indeed so,"
"What are you doing here? Revenge? Or are you looking for someone?" I continue on interrogating him.
"No."
"A holiday." He says with an annoyed expression. "Why are you here?" I feel unsure on what to do. I look from one corner to another.
Does he think I'm from the shadow world?
"Wait, are you from here?" Shoot. He's going to rat me out to the rest of his kind. "No…" My tone sounds unsure. "What makes you think that?" My lie doesn't even seem convincing to myself and it won't to him. "Look, I don't care if you are from here or not. However, don't mention I'm from the shadow kingdom, got it. Otherwise you won't see the brink of daylight again."
The brink of daylight…again. I gulp.
He rests against the wall. A dark aura surrounds him. One that I hadn't noticed earlier. He's really a shadow creature. I managed to get myself tangled into a deal with the shadows. I close my eyes for a moment, relieving my frustration from exploiting. I take a deep breath before asking.
"Are you threatening me?" I rest my hands on my waist. "Maybe?" He grins. Fiddling with a marble. Due to how dark the room was I couldn't tell of the color. "I see," he put an act on about being a new student here and all the other things, even his character. I can't believe him. I can believe he grinned just now as well. Tells you how insane this guy is. Although, we've only known each other for a couple of days and I don't really know him that well. "You like to act, then?"
I feel betrayed. And that hurt as well as annoyed me. I shouldn't care. But do. Though I shouldn't. Ember, you can't feel betrayed by someone you've only known for three days.
How could someone do that, though? Nevertheless, why did it make me feel like that?
"It wasn't an act. I generally-" I stopped him mid track coming out with a blackmail he used on me. "You sure you're the only one that has the upper hand. I could very well do the same thing to you." he stares at me, lifting his right eyebrow. He chuckles at the thought. "Really? Well then. I'll spread the word, I have eyes on a unique guardian." He turns, revealing his broad back to me. Then he began walking towards the door.
"You wouldn't mind if I told a few bounty hunters that I know the location of an elemental guardian." Huh. How would he know that I'm a guardian? He's bluffing. He has to be. Or did I hear him wrong? "What, are you going to lie?" I question stepping towards him, "I might," his tone is playful, though his eyes feel like they're staring into my soul.
"You can't do that." my voice stays low. Is he really going to tell them? If he does they'll know as well that he's from the shadow dimension and then we'll both be screwed. Well, I would.
If he tells a bounty, they'll definitely figure it out in time and it wouldn't be safe for me or the others. Then the bounty would slowly catch up to the others, if one guardian is there it would be more likely for more to be there. However, he also might be tricking me, thinking he'll actually do it.
Is he really implying to tell them that I'm an elemental guardian?
We are being bounty hunted for a lot of money. Though for him to actually tell somebody else and not keep it to himself, so he can take the prize money. Tells me he doesn't care about it all.
Even if he thinks I'm not an elemental guardian. His friends won't and that won't be good for me or the rest of the guardians. Damn, I'm going to have to stop him, aren't I? You've got to be kidding me. I hate this. Before he steps any closer to the door I reach for his left wrist with both of my hands wrapping around it, stopping him in his tracks but still not confronting me.
"Wait!" I could sense that smirk he was making on his face, even though I wasn't looking at him. "So, what's the deal?" I hesitantly ask, "I won't tell my friends about you being an ELE guardian and you won't say a word about me, got it?"
"Got it, anything else?" I positively agreed, "nothing else. Other than keeping an eye on you." I wasn't shocked by that, since that's what any person would do in a situation like this. Well, not exactly like this, but something similar. I'll keep a close eye on him too.
It's like a mafia gang still being suspicious of another gang they recently joined. Keeping a close eye on the other gang. Viewing their every move. Making sure there's nothing fishing going on without their knowledge. Me with mystery books, seriously, or was that about a book Oceane was reading the other day. Was it about Mafia romance or something. Not sure.
The situation that was happening right now seemed awfully like I was being interrogated by the Mafia boss assistant. Although, I may be over exaggerating it.
Shortly after we made our deal, we headed to the canteen. Grabbed some fries, and salad and went to find a table. I glared at him all through receiving our food.
That's when we soon spotted Ocean and the other's, already sitting at a table. The sunlight shining through the window. I take a seat next to Sven, while Callob sits in front of me. "Hi, guys" I greet them. My voice sounded kinda drained. I guess I spent too much of my social energy already today. "What have you been up to?" Callob asks sitting down, everyone looks at each other unsure on what to say. "We've been-" Sven begins, when Yamma finishes the sentence for him "-working on our projects." She quickly makes up. "Nice, from what class?" He plots a piece of penne pasta covered in tomato sauce, in his mouth. "English." Cole rapidly says, "History!" Oceane then says seconds later. They both looked at one another, worried about what was going to happen. I look at them, and see the worried look coming from them both.
They're stuck. If no one says anything, they're going to get caught in a lie. "Oceane. Didn't you tell me you had to do two projects by the end of this term," I quickly made up, clearing the confusion in the air. "Yeah," she exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Hey, Yamma, Sven, do you know what class we have next?" asked Kyle, changing the topic. "Science." Yamma replies, "then, history." Sven mentions as well.
*
"Yamma, tell the others I forgot to get something." I tell her.
"Alright,"
I head all the way down stairs by the emergency staircase, where the hideout is hidden. As soon as I entered the hang-out area to grab my headphones, I heard voices coming from Bizro's lab.
"Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Daniel's voice comes into play, "it's a wild guess, but something seems off about him." Bizro's voice follows up, my brows furrowed in confusion.
"We have to keep an eye on him, just in case he's from the shadow dimension."
Someone from the shadow dimension?
"What makes you think he's from the shadow dimension?" I need to be quiet.
"He gives off a mysterious aura," I sneak towards the coffee table and slowly grab a pile of study notes for English, along with my headphones.
"Mysterious aura?" Daniel questions in confusion.
Is it who I think it is?
"We can't have him hanging around the guardians, it's not safe."
Shit. It is. It must be.
"I understand."
I opened my mouth to resort, but nothing came out.
Do I tell Callob about this?
To be fair I barely knew the guy. Yet, there was something I couldn't resist about him.
A homey feeling that just drew me closer.
He could be uncovered at any point. If they see him using his powers…
Maybe we can think of a way for him to stay undercover. Wait a minute. Why should I care if he gets caught?
If he's caught I won't have to worry about being told to the bounty's or shadow guards, whoever he'll tell about me being an ELE guardian.
The conflicting thoughts swirled in my mind as I processed Bizro's theories.
"Ember has been spending a lot of time with him lately, so look out for her." Bizro advises.
Okay, it's definitely Callob.
"If that's all, I'm going to get going. Sandy is waiting for me back home." Sandy is his cute pomeranian dog that he loves so much.
Honestly, at first I thought it was his wife. Who shows that much affection to his dog.
For her birthday he even brought Sandy to a massage place. The pictures show it all.
I moved quietly and swiftly, making my way to the door and scurried up the staircase.
Hoping to not get caught.
As soon as I made it to a safe place within the school.
The bathroom.
I begin thinking about what I should do with this information. Maybe I should pretend I never heard it at all.