Ruby Shimmer (re-write)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Once we had our awkward little exchange, we both spent another moment or two in total silence while I let my stomach finish settling down. But, I finally felt well enough to start standing up, though I did give a sharp jolt when Ava suddenly let out a shrill whistle and seconds later, another of the well-dressed young men appeared from behind a door I hadn't seen until now and began cleaning up my mess.

While he was doing so, Ava took my hand in a gentle, yet firm grasp, after which, I found myself being practically forced back through the halls until we finally paused in front of a surprisingly simple set of double doors compared to what I had seen so far.

But for some reason, I thought that they looked incredibly familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on why, though. I just felt like I had seen them somewhere before.

The petite young woman then opened the doors in question, quickly revealing that the reason behind their familiarity was that we had just entered the same enormous library that I had been in the day before.

It was just like I remembered, the vast space was made up of what seemed like a never-ending array of shelves filled to the brim with different books on all manner of topics.

"This is even more breath-taking than I thought!" I said in pure delight before a sudden thought crossed my mind, causing me to turn back towards Ava in curiosity.

"Hey, Ava?" I asked her in a puzzled tone. "What are we doing back here? Does this place have something to do with my training or something?"

"Very observant, Miss Melanie Hawthorn."

The sound of the sudden voice made me jump in both fear and surprise. Apart from that, I could now hear the sounds of not just one, but several pairs of footsteps coming from behind a nearby shelf as well.

And they were coming closer and closer to where I now stood.

Starting to feel all kinds of freaked out, I chanced a panicked look at Ava, who she herself was now quite a few feet behind me with her hands folded in front of her respectively.

She didn't say a single word, however, I was almost positive that I saw her give me a short nod in return. And that act alone successfully reassured me that everything would be okay. That she would be by my side no matter what.

Smiling to myself about Ava's unwavering support, I turned my attention in the direction of the mystery persons, praying that my knees weren't shaking as bad as I felt they were.

"H...Hello? Is someone there?" I called out in what I could only describe as a fearful tone. One that I hoped would have actually been the complete opposite.

And eventually, the unknown owners of the uncomfortably haunting series of steps came around the corner of the bookshelf, immediately revealing them to be the heirs to the Elders on the High Counsel I had met at the welcome dinner the previous night.

Though, I did take note of that there was a distinct lack of Julian Davenport among them.

I also noticed that each one of them wore different casual, yet still somehow elegant outfits like myself.

A complete contrast to the fancy gowns and suits like they had been wearing back then.

"Uh...Hi?" I asked, feeling incredibly awkward about their piercing stares.

Every one of us stood there in total silence, forcing me to focus on nothing but the intense atmosphere hanging in the air. Finally, one of the young women stepped forward. I couldn't actually remember her name, however, I was still able to recognize her as the heir to the Ruby Clan.