Dance with Darkness - Ghost Dance

Chapter 1

A/N: Hi everyone!  As a 1-year Wattpad anniversary celebration, I decided to try my hand at posting my first Wattpad story.  Please vote or leave a comment below so I can improve! :)

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“You have two choices.  Take the ring and pledge your service to us, or walk away and never find the answer you are looking for.”

Staring intently at a spot on the floor before me, I clenched my fists.  No matter how hard I thought about it, I could come up with no other way.  It had to be this.

“Will you give me a day to think about it?” I asked, biting the inside of my lip to hold back the worry churning in my stomach.

Gregory Hearne slowly leaned forward in his chair, propped his elbows up on his desk, and looked at me over his interlaced fingers.

“What is there to think about?  Either you will or you won’t.  It just depends on how far you’re willing to go.  Surely in a case like this, it would be a shame to turn away.  Unless, of course, you do not care as much as you say you do…”

He was baiting me, and I knew it.  But still, the words stung, and I really had no other choice anyway.

“Fine.  Give me the ring,” I said, straightening my posture and looking Hearne directly in the eyes.  The smile that met me was so pleased I could have reached out and smacked it right off his face, had I not cared to make my situation any worse than it already was.

“Wonderful.”  His hands lowered to the small black box in front of him.  When he handed it to me, I dropped it in my bag without even taking a look.  I’d only wear the thing when I had to.

“Initiation is tomorrow evening at five,” he said after I had signed the paperwork and handed it back to him.  “Don’t be late.”  He leaned back in his chair and motioned with one hand to the figure that had been leaning against the wall by the door this entire time.  “Caine will show you out.”

I forced a polite smile onto my face as I turned to face the boy, who couldn’t have been much older than sixteen.  Caine simply stared back at me, unmoving from his slouch against the wall until I had almost reached the door.  As I was reaching for the doorknob, however, he finally pushed off from the wall and rudely cut in front of me.

As I followed Caine out of the office, I scowled at the single black curl sticking straight up off the back of his head, biting my tongue against all the insults that came flooding to mind.  I had agreed to work with these people—though granted, more out of desperation than sheer willingness—and didn’t need to feel any more out-of-place than I already did.

To keep from starting an argument, I instead surveyed the boy’s outfit—a plain black tracksuit like the kind professional runners wore.  It was made of a light material that allowed for easy movement and probably maximum comfort, but looked sloppy in contrast to the polished wood-paneled walls and ornate furnishings that we passed on our way out of the massive Victorian-styled estate.

We turned a corner and Caine stopped abruptly in front of me.  At his sudden action, I nearly fell trying not to run into him.

“There’s the door,” he said, giving a little nod in its direction.  “Well, see ya.”

“Thanks so much!” I gushed, smiling brightly, though I was currently fighting against the childish urge to kick him in the shins.  It wouldn’t have done much good if I did kick him, seeing as he was much more athletic than the average person and could probably dodge my slow, clumsy foot.  Besides, after the little meeting with Hearne in his gloomy office, we were now coworkers, and I couldn’t let things get off to an even worse start.  Who knew what job they'd assign me then?