Forbidden Dreams

Chapter Six: Signs of Corruption

When the girls awoke in the morning, a lot was on their minds. For Alex, her head was swimming with the dream that she had just gone through during the night. For Isabelle, she was struggling to accept all of the information she had just processed before she had gone to sleep. Had she truly seen wings on the back of that man, Dusk? Was Dusk even there still, or had he been all a dream? But there was only one way to find out.

Both girls had managed to fall asleep in Alex’s room. The bed was large enough for both to fit comfortably- it also helped that neither of them tossed or turned in the night. Alex was the first to awaken, if only by a few minutes. She wiggled her way out from under the blankets and rolled off the bed smoothly, managing not to wake up her friend in the process. Tip-toeing across the room proved to be no problem in the least as she left her bedroom and made her way to the bathroom. Not long afterwards Isabelle woke up, peering around the room after staring at the ceiling for a while, wondering where her friend had gotten off to.

Oh well, no matter. It wasn’t that big of an apartment, where could she have possibly gone?

So she pulled herself out of bed and shut the door in order to get changed, leaving to go to the kitchen where she started breakfast. She heard a door close and then another close; and after a few minutes heard it open and, sure enough, Alex walked in not a moment later. “Morning,” the younger girl said cheerfully, stretching with her arms over her head.

“Mornin’,” came the easy response as she finished making herself some chocolate milk, handing a freshly made coffee to Alex. “Careful, it’s still hot.”

She chuckled when she saw the girl’s face light right up at the sight of the drink. “Mmmm,” she commented; it wasn’t hard to figure out that she was distracted by the presence of the caffeinated beverage. Rolling her eyes, Isabelle resumed her cooking.

The last occupant of the apartment stirred just as the food was finished cooking. In fact, he revealed himself by opening his door and walking down the hall just as the chef of the morning was putting the food on plates and setting them on the table. Of course, all of this paused when he stepped into the kitchen; both girls stopped and turned to eye him curiously before returning to whatever it was they were doing. He kept his silence as he approached the table and sank into a chair, looking grateful to the support.

“Good morning,” Alex remarked eventually as she made her way back to the table, sitting down across from him. She had gotten up only to place her empty cup in the sink.

“Morning,” came the soft-spoken reply just as a plate of food was placed in front of him. He looked up at Isabelle with a grateful look and yet somehow managed to wait until the other two were seated and ready to eat before eating himself. Alex peered at him out of the corner of her eye, a faint smile on her lips as she started eating.

Breakfast passed with barely any speaking. But it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence- even though Isabelle still hadn’t decided her feelings towards him- and when they finished, Alex stood and collected the plates to rinse them off and put them in the dish washer. Isabelle looked surprised, watching her with both brows raised. “Since when do you do the dishes?” A damp towel was thrown at her, making her laugh and dredged a smile out of Dusk.

After they were all put away, Alex started the machine and then walked back over, sitting down Indian-style in the chair. “So…now what?”

Both of the girls turned to Dusk when he shifted, lifting his head up a little to look at them evenly. “I think I owe some explanation to the both of you.”

Isabelle looked surprised, speaking up quickly, “Oh, including me now?”

His golden eyes flickered over at her, and offered her a slight smile- that looked almost embarrassed. “Yes. After getting some rest I realized you deserve an answer as well.” He paused, sensing a gaze on him, and as his gaze flickered over to Alex he saw her gazing at him unabashedly. He quirked a brow at her, and after a moment, she just grinned at him. He laughed. “You are…an odd one.”