The Darkness Within Her

Chapter 3: Now You See Me

“You do know that it is the girl who is supposed to spend six hours looking for something to wear to prom,” I flexed my feet as I straightened my legs in the air above me, “Right?’

            “You know what Jaye? You’re really unhelpful,” Caleb shrugged out of the jacket, which was a grey Calvin Klein with two buttons a lapel that he happened to look extremely handsome in.

            “You are welcome, my darling,” I plopped my legs back onto the arm of the chair.

            “I wasn’t thanking you,” Caleb’s tone was sharp, sharper than usual.

            I rolled over on my side and looked at him. Caleb had hair that was trimmed closed to the shape of his skull and a deep brown color, like that of Hershey’s chocolate. His eyes were a pale grey that were framed by thick lashes, made all the more startling by the honey tan that coated his skin; he had a strong jaw and a body of a dancer. He was handsome, and desirable. My heart constricted painfully. I don’t know when I fell in love with him, just that I was and it hurt like hell because he saw me as a little sister. Nothing more.

            Taking a deep breath, I swung my legs around and sat up, “I’m sorry. The first jacket looked like dog shit; the second one made you look like you were a lawyer; and that grey one was slightly better than the second.”

            “Thanks Jaye,” Caleb smiled at me in the mirror, “Are you sure you don’t want to go to prom with Tyler?”

            “Ew, no,” I wrinkled my nose. “I’m fine Caleb. I don’t need to go to prom.”

            “Tyler isn’t that bad,” Caleb chuckled as he slid back into his regular clothes.

            “Tyler wants to go with me because one, it makes him look taller and more macho than he already is; and two, nobody knows me so he can bring me to make his ex jealous without the strings attached,” when Caleb was bending down to grab his shirt, I rubbed at my chest.

            “Those aren’t the only reasons as to why he wants to take you,” Caleb said pathetically.

            “Don’t even try,” I laughed, “Do you want to grab a couple more options?”

            “Yeah, let’s do it,” Caleb followed me out of the dressing room.

            I veered away from him, walking down aisles to scan for other possible options. I lifted my left arm to grab a jacket that looked like it would be nice only to jerk away when I saw my fingers shaking so badly my own eyes couldn’t keep track. I gripped my wrist with my right hand tightly and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to try and steady myself. When I opened my eyes again, I saw blue fire. I gasped taking a startled step back but it was already gone. I started forward, almost running to the end of the isle and looking around the clothes rack to see a brilliant blue disappearing into the crowd outside of the store.

            I jogged forward, following it. It felt as though I were going through déjà vu as I left the store, weaving through the crowd that was in the mall. I kept seeing the blue in front of me before it disappeared again. My chest was throbbing but pure curiosity seemed to have given me strength as I trudged forward. I kept walking the occasional hints of blue guiding me. I realized with a slight sinking feeling that I was being drawn outside. I knew that I should stop and go back – it would be the smart thing to do – but I felt as though I couldn’t stop.

            The glass doors of the entry came into view and I could see over the heads of the family in front of me that the blue color I was following was reflected on the glass. I shoved past the automatic doors as they opened, shivering at the cold wind that smack into my body. I broke into a jog, noticing that there were no lights and no signs of anything blue.

            My heart rate spiked as panic flooded into my veins at the thought that I had lost the source of the blue or…I was having hallucinations again. I came to a halt and smacked my hands against my thighs in frustration. I turned around to head back inside when I came to a halt. At least two dozen feet away from me – getting into a black Mercedes – was a man in black clothing…

            …engulfed in blue fire.

            And suddenly I felt like I was standing at a cross walk in the rain looking at a teenage boy with blue fire around him. My legs shook violently before my knees buckled and I collapsed to the ground. My vision blurred and my hearing went mute except for the sound of my own, unsteady heartbeat in my ears. I clutched my chest, struggling to breathe through the pain. I blinked several times before my vision could focus on the car as it drove away. Through the rear window I saw not only blue fire, but also red.

           

I walked back into the store, chewing on my bottom lip. I had no idea whether or not what I had seen was real but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was. I rubbed at my chest absently, the fear about that being pushed to the back of my mind.

            “Jaye!” I looked up to see Caleb coming towards me “Where were you?”

            “I thought I saw someone I knew but I was wrong,” I shrugged pathetically to show how pathetic I was.

            Caleb watched me with his steady grey eyes before nodding and saying, “Fine. Hey, I found a couple other options, can you help?”

            “Totally,” I replied, smiling in relief. I followed him into the dressing room and came to a startled stop, my jaw dropping, “Holy shit. How many freaking options do you have?”

            “Just a few,” Caleb smiled. He had closer to half the store full of options. And he seemed to be proud of it, the bastard.

            “This is gonna take a while,” I sat down with a huff and texted my dad, telling him that I would be home late.

            By the fourth jacket, I was lying on my back trying – and failing – to not fall asleep. Caleb chuckled, “Alright, let’s go.”

            “Thank God,” I sat up so quickly my head spun. Caleb laughed and helped me to my feet before we went out to go pay for whatever he had decided on.

            We got to the cashier and paid for his suit before heading out of the store. Not even three steps and I head a “Caleb!” and turned to see Natalie Fields coming towards us with her little gang of friends behind her.

            Natalie Fields was beautiful. The kind of beauty that you would associate with Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox – without the toe-thumb. Perfect, size 2 body; long black, luxurious hair; curves that complimented her body; full, naturally red lips, blue eyes that were piercing from the fluorescent lights. Caleb’s entire face lit up at the sight of her and he casually slipped me the bag containing his outfit for prom and placed his hands on Natalie’s hips before his lips came down to hers. It was a tender moment between the pair, one that was like a knife in my chest and also an itchy awkwardness because I was watching this tender moment like a creeper.

            I turned on my heel without another word and kept on walking. Caleb wouldn’t even notice I was gone until later when he would realize that there had been sarcastic comments that degraded his handsome looks, or his intelligence. Only then would he realize that I wasn’t there and he would text me to ask where I was and what had happened. And I would say everything was fine, I just had to get home.

            Which was only partly true.

            I sighed, gripping my purse and Caleb’s bag tighter. I quickened my step almost pushing people out of my way. I just wanted out of this flipping mall.

A/N: Hi guys! Thank you for reading! Please vote, share, and comment :) if you see any grammar errors, let me know! Critiques are welcome (as long as they aren't rude).

On the right is my drawing of Timotheus who hasn't really made an official appearance yet, but I wanted to show you anyways. I used the song "Shadows and Conspiracy" by Jeff Broadbent for the music.