Free Darksoul by Eveline Hunt Page B

then I froze. Everything around me was dark. The lamp had been turned off. I tensed, but didn’t move. Nothing was out of place.
    Except for the silvery orb of light hovering in front of me.
    Startled, I reared back. Despite its brightness, it didn’t light much of the room, darkness clutching the edges of its faint halo. I considered lashing out at it. Didn’t. Instead, I watched in wary fascination as it unfurled in the air, stretching into a shapeless blob of light. Two dark eyes blinked at me. Then the little creature giggled and fluttered closer, touching the tip of my nose with a shining paw.
    Our gazes met. I t smiled again, its mouth spreading into a toothless grin. Then it purred something and stroked the side of my face with its small mitt. As if it were worried. As if it were asking me what was wrong. I reached up to touch it, but it skittered away, dancing across my neck and wiggling up my jaw.
    “No, no,” I whispered. “Stay.”
    I don’t think it meant to leave. Right away, it came back and nuzzled my cheek. It was warm, and now that it wasn’t flying wild and going as fast as lightning, it felt furry, as though it were a teddy bear. I hesitantly reached up to brush the back of my forefinger against it. When it didn’t wink away, I cradled it to me. Its warmth was so calming, its furriness so soft. Soon, I succumbed to sleep once again.

    Arms wrapped around me. A soothing whisper.
    “ Shh.”
    Silver. The room was silver. The arms shifted. My eyes clung to one of them, to the drawings on it. Dark. Deadly. A skull. A frown crawled across my mouth. Who would want a skull on their skin?
    Gently. “Shh…shh…”
    The air smelled sweet. Minty. Like cigarettes. Mixed with something else.
    “Shh … ”
    I closed my eyes and melted into the warmth.
     

 
    Chapter 8
     
    I spent the entire day Saturday working on my costume.
    It had been a strange morning. I’d woken up in my room, cocooned in a nest of blankets. The furry blob of light had been sprawled on my stomach. I’d tried to scoop it up and place it on my pillow, where it could continue sleeping, but its eyes fluttered open at my touch. Immediately, it giggled and flew up to land a kiss on my nose.
    I’d stayed statue still. Yesterday was a faraway haze, and I didn’t think that this particular part of the evening had been real. But there it was, soft and warm as it nuzzled my cheek. It obviously didn’t mean me any harm. I just wasn’t sure…
    Angels with bladed wings. Boys with tapere d arms. Monsters with eyes full of claws. And now a cute creature of light?
    Unbelievable. That’s what this whole thing was.
    Unbelievable.
    Mom had been sleeping when I went to check on her. Later, when she woke up to go to work, she acted as though nothing had happened yesterday. No. Not acting. It was like she didn’t remember. And I planned to keep it that way.
    When I went downstairs, I found that there was nothing to be seen of my breakdown yesterday. No broken plates. No knives, no forks, no hammer, no scissors. I wanted to feel relieved, but in truth I felt violated. I tried not to. It’d probably been Mr. Angel and I should be grateful. After all, he didn’t steal the TV or go through my underwear. Right.
    After Mom left, I took out a knife and kept it close to me. Then I put on my awesome cello music and blasted it through the whole house. The tuft of light sat on my shoulder. Sometimes it purred or said something that sounded like babyish babble. At one point, its shapeless paw caressed my jaw. Softly. Tenderly. Like it wanted to soothe me.
    “Are you actually…real?” I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, gripping my towel. Fuzzy and bright, the little thing lounged on my collarbone, blinking at my reflection. “Can I just…”
    Swallowing , I reached up, but it skittered away. “No, no,” I said softly. “Stay still. I just want to touch you, okay?”
    At last, it rolled to a stop in front of me. I stretched a hand