THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[165] INTO THE ARENA

I FUMBLED the pendant between my fingers as I stared up into the darkness, the ceiling a lighter shade than anything else I could see. 

My body felt exhausted and I realized this was probably because of the training I had signed up for, which I was starting to think I wouldn't keep up with for much longer if exhaustion afterward was this brutal.

I scratched my wrist at the growing irritation beneath the red skin that looked brutal against my dark shade.

The mark that seemed to be throbbing painfully for the last few hours stared back at me.

"Talanda,"

I froze in the darkness at the sound of the quiet mention of my name, like a faraway echo.

My heart began to pound softly.  Eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I miss you."

The gentle pound within me stopped, my ears seemed to tingle for seconds at those words. My breathing was a low misty exhale, sitting up in bed like a robot. For a second everything seemed to be deathly quiet, something that I had not noticed until now.

I knew that voice.

My eyes quickly traveled around the room, almost certain that I would see him here, maybe lurking in the corner.

He seemed to blend well with shadows- but, there was nothing there.

I got out of bed almost on instinct, still convinced I certainly knew that voice, one that often pried itself into my head. It had sounded different this time. Not forced into my mind... It was just as if it had been a shared thought. A quiet statement whispered to me.

The floor was cold as my bare feet trod on it, my heart beginning its soft beat once more the closer I walked toward the window.

Peaking through the thin glass, my breath created a warm mist on the surface as I peered through, into the strangest quietest night.

A mysterious thin layer of ghostly fog hovered above the ground, making it vainly impossible to guarantee sight of anything.

My eyes narrowed down into the darkness, a certain anticipation at the tip of my breath.

I couldn't describe it in its full sense. Part of me WANTED to see SOMETHING there. Something that usually was always there.

I let out a low gasp, goosebumps riding on my skin when I spotted the faint outline of a shadow through the fog, at least I think it was.

My eyebrows arched further, moving even closer to the glass trying to be sure it was him and not the shadow of a tree when the door swung open behind me followed by some giggles causing me to turn abruptly

I was completely startled at the intrusion

Daya and Ellie walked in grinning and giggling amongst themselves. Their eyes met that of mine, only for a second before treating me as if I did not exist in the next second.

My eyes traveled to the floor, glancing one more time at the window, noticing whatever I thought was there didn't appear to be there anymore.

Traveling back to my bed, I slid into my sheets, trying to convince myself I hadn't lost my mind whilst Daya and Ellie laughed their hearts out on her side of the bed.

I, on the other hand, nestled my pendent, staring at the wall.

Why was I so attached to this boy? Even after all of it.

It was not worth lying to myself when I could see judging from my actions. 

I was the one who teleported into the forest because I wanted to be where Harvest was. Miss Almulese said the horn would take me where I desired.