Page 42 of Touched By Darkness

The mouth of the dark, open doorway gapes at me, and I wait for the robed man to step through, convinced he’ll kill me.

Nothing happens.

An eerie silence settles, pressing in from every corner.

Silence can be gentle and welcoming.

Not this silence.

This silence mocks me.

It laughs and jeers.

It wants me to rise to my feet and step back into the library to face my nightmares.

Are you not brave enough? Who’s a scaredy-cat?

I am. I am that scaredy-cat.

I squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to wrangle my panic into submission. When that doesn’t work, I inhale a deep breath.

“Are you okay?”

My eyes fly open, and I jump to my feet.

Dariana stands in front of me with an uncertain look on her face, as if she thinks I’m strange.

My back meets the cold stone wall. “I’m fine.”

Where did she come from?

I flick my eyes over her shoulder to the gaping doorway. “Were you in the library just now?”

“No…” she drifts off, following my line of sight before looking back at me with her brows pulled low. “I, uh, I stayed to work on a project.”

“A project?” I ask skeptically.

“Yes.” She takes a hesitant step closer. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I look at the door again, then at her. “I’m fine.”

“Wait!” she calls out when I walk off, and I slow to a halt. Her heels click on the marble as she runs to catch up.

I’m enveloped in a cloud of her flowery perfume, fruity shampoo, and strawberry lip balm. Struck with a sense of nostalgia, I breathe her in as discreetly as I can.

“Where are you heading now?”

“Back to my place.”

I’m still shaken by what happened in the library and need to be alone. Someone tried to attack me.

Not only that, they knew I was in there and hunted me like prey. What would have happened if I hadn’t made it out in time?

The thought sends chills down my spine as we turn the corner.

“You’ve grown pale,” Dariana points out. “Maybe you need to sit down for a bit.”

“I’m fine.”

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