My Muse || READER X RAY || The Promised Neverland

📷 My Muse || Chapter One

Every day starts the same at Grace Field House.

I wake up at 7:30, toss and turn for about 10 minutes and then decide to get ready to wake everyone else up. I smiled jealously at everyone's serene sleeping faces. "I wish I could sleep as peacefully as them." I thought to myself.

The day after I turned seven I started having terrible nightmares about being lost in the forest, chased by monsters. I've never had a good look at the... "thing" but I remember how they spoke to me. Mocking me. A raspy, hungry voice. Every word they spoke caused me to run a little bit faster, shivers running down my spine.

"y/n..."

"y/n..."

"y/n!"

I jerked upwards in a cold sweat. "Holy shit. That sounded so... real..." I took a deep breath and flopped back into my bed, my trembling hands pulling the sheets over my head. Every day a nightmare wakes me up and leaves me unsettled for the rest of the morning. I closed my eyes, hoping to get a little more shut-eye.

"y/n. I'm still here y'know."

"Gah!" I screamed and jerked back up. I looked to the right of my bed to see Ray kneeling next to me, a book tucked underneath his right arm. The clock said 5:27. "Hmph. Earlier than 7:45." I laughed to myself. I turned back to the black haired boy, now staring at me amusedly. "W-what?" I questioned him. Ray chuckled, standing up. His eyes hadn't left mine once. "I just wanted to check on you. You seemed a little bit..." He waved his hands around, collecting his thoughts. "I don't know... scared?" I grimaced at his conclusion. He was right. But I didn't want him to know. Or anyone for that matter. They would only worry. I gripped my plain white sheets in discomfort.

Of course he noticed though.

Ray's smile disappeared as he turned around and ushered for me to follow him. "Hey! Wait!" The panic of being out of bed during quiet hours frightened me more than the make believe demons in my head. "Where are we going, Ray?" He put a finger over his lips, glancing at the other children in the room. "Ah, yes. I should be more... Quiet..." I embarrassedly tip toed out of my bed, listening to the soft snoring of the other children. I'm glad I didn't wake them up.

I crept into the hallway, attempting to make as little noise as possible. The door clicked behind me, making me jump. "Eek!" I shrieked. Ray quickly covered my mouth his hand, sighing exasperatedly. "y/n. Can you be quiet?" He asked, a little sternly. I worriedly looked at his deep gray eyes and nodded reluctantly. He slowly took his hand off my mouth and patted me on the head. "Good girl."

He stepped in front of me, once more turning back and placing a finger over his mouth. I gave him a thumbs up and he started to move. I'd never been outside during quiet hours so I took this opportunity to examine every nook and cranny of our home. Mama had hung up pictures of all the kids who had been adopted. My eyes traced their plain wooden frames. "Susan, Olivia, Michelle, Cedi and Hao..." They were the kindest, sweetest children. But in the dark their smiling faces seemed a little ominous. I grimaced at the portraits and decided to focus on my destination... Which was still unknown. "Ray..." I whispered quietly. I lightly pulled the back of his shirt. "Where are we going?"

I could sense the amusement in his voice.

"It's a secret."

Ray finally stopped in front of the library, at the other wing of the house. I crossed my arms in annoyance. "Ray, if you brought me here to study I'll really kill you." The black haired boy glanced at me with his right eye, chuckling. "Of course not, y/n." He placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it. Locked. "As fun as this adventure was, I think I'm ready to go back to bed." I turned around, ready to trod my way back to the bedroom. "Wait." Ray grabbed my hand, jingling something in his other. "Keys?!" My eyes sparkled. "Where the hell did you get those Ray?" He smiled mischievously, unlocking the library door, welcoming me in. I laughed at his goofiness and happily walked inside. "I guess I can stay." I thought to myself, peeking at Ray's back as he locked the door behind him.

"Ray, why did you bring me here?" I asked. I continued to follow him through the vast amount of shelves, each set lined differently as to make it a little maze. There were little cubbies of chairs and tables for the children to study if they ever felt like it. I traced the spines of the stories about princesses, dragons and math and reading, stopping at a peculiar one. The book was dark green, with faded golden letters on it's spine. I looked closer.

"Mythology..?" I whispered to myself. I'd never seen this book before. It didn't seem like it belonged. "Maybe I should take this to Ma-" My train of thought was interrupted by Ray karate chopping my head lightly. "We're here stupid."

Any thoughts I had about the strange book were dissipated by my curiosity for Ray's secret. He led me to a corner. "Do you see it?" He asked me, looking at the wall.

My attention turned from Ray to said wall, tracing it softly with my fingers. "Do I see what?" There was nothing strange about this wall. I've passed it hundreds of times every day, looking for stories to indulge myself in, or playing hide-and-seek with the others. I continued to feel the wall, in search of clues, the darkness of the room not helping my case. Tracing, tracing, crevice, traci- Wait, what? I quickly moved my hands back to a thin break in the wall. I followed the line upwards, feeling it turn sharply to the right and then back downwards to the floor. Air. I felt a soft gush of wind seep from the tight cracks. "It's.. A door?" I thought. But I have to be sure. I can't embarrass myself in front of the number one. I pressed my left ear to the wall. There's wind back there. I knocked on the supposed door and heard an echo coming back to greet me. I turned towards Ray.

"There's a door here."

He smiled at me quite proudly, patting my head again. "That's what I expected from our number three." He turned around and pushed at the left side of the door, leaving me to blush to myself. "Ray is... so weird."

We entered a small square shaped room, empty except for a small ladder that led upwards to what I assumed to be an extension of the mysterious place. "Don't scream this time, y/n." Ray laughed as I playfully punched his shoulder. He closed the hidden door behind us. "Ladies first." I gripped the cool wooden bars, slowly making my way upwards. The wind emerging from upstairs blew my hair into my face. "Ugh, Ray, what is up here?" I demanded, blowing my hair away from my eyes. My hands finally reached the flat wooden floor and I pulled myself upwards.

"Oh. My. God."

I found myself surrounded by the beautiful night sky, filled with glistening stars and constellations. The wind continued to nap at my hair, coming from one of the wall-windows which were left open. I stumbled on something, Ray catching my arm. I felt my face grow warm again. "T-Thanks..." I said quietly, positioning myself upright. I looked at the floor to see pillows, blankets and piles and piles of books about anything and everything. I had happened to trip on a small cardboard box filled with assorted electronic devices. He quickly kicked the box to the corner of the room, throwing a blanket over it. "Make yourself comfortable." Ray said, closing the window. I propped myself into a cluster of blankets and went back to staring at the sky. The night was so beautiful from there. The dark hues of purple, black and green collided to form the mystical galaxies I only saw in books, littered with stars which might as well have been tiny diamonds. The dark wine purples became lighter and more vibrant at the tree line, the walls of our orphanage welcoming a beautiful caramel colored sunrise.

"It's so beautiful..." I whispered softly, falling onto Ray's shoulder. I saw his numbers in the corner of my eye. 81194.

I eventually gave into my urge to sleep, falling onto his lap. He chuckled, patting my head softly. "Good night, y/n."