Shadow Slave: Gleaming Stars

Warning: I'm kinda inexperienced with writing compelling dialogue, and this chapter was the result of like 2.5 days of trial error and a lot of pulled hair. Tell me what you guys think and where I can improve, cuz I don't think this is my best foot forward, especially in terms of characterization.

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[Audun's POV]

A calm, questioning voice cut through the air, two blue orbs visible in the veil of the night. 

To my utter dismay, Cassia was sitting up straight, awake and alert. 

I stood completely still, afraid of moving another muscle.

Despite the stillness of my body, my mind raced, a gazillion thoughts and scenarios running through my mind as the initial shock wore off. 

I did not just spend the past 8 nights sneaking around like an unfaithful partner to get caught by a girl who literally can't see. 

Cassia's sweet voice rang out once more. 

"Audun?"

Shit.

Yeah.

The jig is up

Any hopeful thoughts of escape perished the moment Cassia said my name. 

It's over

Done

Finished

I let out a tired, exasperated sigh.

Maybe, there might've been a chance I could've gotten away with it if I stayed silent, hoping that she would go back to sleep, but realistically, deception would be a far more effective answer.

I trudged over to Cassia, gently plopping myself on her right-hand side. 

Casually grabbing her hand, I began tracing my finger on her open palm.

Couldn't sleep, just wanted to walk around for a bit.

Her brow began to furrow slightly.

She simply stayed silent, but there was a subtle hint of something in her expression.

Disappointment.

A small wave of panic bloomed in my heart as I noticed her not-so-great reaction.

Deflecting, I wrote out another string of text on her delicate palm.

Why are you still up, though? It's pretty late, no?

My questions earned a brief bout of tense silence.

Her expression grew complicated.

Sighing in what felt like slight annoyance, she finally responded, though somewhat sarcastically.

"Can't sleep, huh?"

The complex mask of emotions she wore morphed into a small, rueful smile.

"Do you really have to keep lying to me?"

The words hung heavily in the air, but they weighed even heavier in my chest.

"I might be blind, but I'm not stupid. The list of absurd excuses that you've used wouldn't fool anyone. The only reason I haven't called your bluff is that I trust you, I trust that you wouldn't act out of maliciousness or ill intent."

She continued to spit out words with a bitter look.

"Ok, whatever, you have secrets, who doesn't, but when you continue to hide the fact that you're tired, the fact that you're injured, behind a couple of flimsy excuses, you can't blame me for being a bit irritated."

I could do little more than blink dumbly in response to her pointed remarks. 

Cassia took in a deep breath, her eyes taking on a steely glint. 

"Honestly, I was concerned. After all, anybody with even an ounce of sympathy would be concerned if their "selfless" friend seemed to be suffering in silence, but out of respect for your privacy and out of my own ignorance, I kept quiet."

She paused for a moment, hesitating, before a haunted smile graced her lips.

"But things rarely stay secrets around me now. Glimpses into the future, glimpses into the past, ominous prophecies; the list of things I've been shown has become quite extensive. Every other night, I'm haunted by visions, visions of things I wish I had never been shown."

Despite her blindness, her eyes were somehow still locked onto my figure, her gaze aimless yet... piercing. 

My hand unconsciously began to clench, squeezing Cassia's hand quite hard, though she showed absolutely no reaction as she continued without a change in expression. 

"So imagine my surprise when what greets my eyes at night isn't the scene of some dreadful apocalypse, but a record of one of your so-called 'night walks'."

.... (A/N: I actually wrote WAY more Cassie dialogue, but I cut it in favor of a more concise chapter, keep in mind for context's sake that she doesn't actually stop talking after this, she keeps goin on and on while Audun's havin his moment. It'll also just make it easier to understand Cassie's feelings in her own POV) ....................

Cassia was going off on me, her words filling me with a myriad of emotions.

At first, I felt nervous, scared at the possibility of being caught.

The whole reason I had sustained the facade in the first place was genuine fear of everyone's reaction if the original lie was discovered. 

But after listening to her, after listening to her concerns and gripes, the anxiousness faded away, a different feeling taking its place. 

Resentment.

As the original fear of being caught wore thin, the irritation of actually getting caught set in.

Silent injustice took hold within my mind as I processed the fact that my 8 days of sleepless secrecy had been uncovered because a "blind" girl had "seen" me running around at night in one of her dreams. 

I felt like the victim of one of those hidden-camera reality TV shows, the unfairness of being caught by an unforeseen force blanketing my feelings in a subtle sense of bitterness. 

'Is this what Chris Hansen's victims felt like?'

My brows subtly furrowed, my expression growing complicated. 

But oddly enough, after that brief bout of anger, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over me like a cool, refreshing tide. 

Honestly, the complete 180s were giving me a fit of emotional whiplash, but I digress. 

I sighed, a heavy yet liberating breath escaping my chest, as I began to accept the reality of my new situation, my rational and emotions coming to a consensus. 

Sure, I had been caught, but the foundations of the mental wall that had prevented the unutterable truth from leaving my mouth began to crumble, the knot of lies I had inadvertently spun loosening as the realization that someone knew began to wash over my conscious. 

The gnawing anxiety that had plagued me like a nasty STD on our journey had subsided significantly, a gentle pang of nervousness replacing the once crippling social disorder, though it might've just been because the two people who caused me the most stress were currently snoring like hibernating grizzly bears. 

The shackles that my idiotic fib had placed on me had trapped me in a prison of anxiety, and truth would set me free. (A/N: I'm literally throwing shit at the wall to pad the word count ಥ_ಥ)

I set my eyes on the blue-eyed, blonde-haired doll that was currently berating me in all her righteous fury, my gaze for once being full and radiating a sense of confidence.

I paused, momentarily contemplating.

There were probably a hundred other ways I could've conveyed my response to her concern, but I went with the one that felt the most unnatural.

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[Cassie's POV]

I don't know why I'm talking so much right now.

It was like I had accidentally opened the floodgates, every single concern and gripe I've ever had for my silent companion gushing out like a towering waterfall. 

His last insignificant lie crossed a mental boundary I hadn't even realized I had drawn, and suddenly my tolerance for all his shenanigans vanished like snow in the summer sun.

Before I knew it, I was ripping him a new one with my words alone, though, I doubt I'd be capable of doing the same in combat. 

Exacerbating my irritation was the fact that I wasn't able to see his reactions, the mute relaying absolutely nothing in the emotion department despite my heated words.

I sighed mentally.

Ok.

So.

Originally the plan was to enlist his help, sharing my interpretation of the prophecy in an attempt to secure an ally willing to help me change the prophesized future, though, if he were to say no, worst case scenario, I'd force him to help me in exchange for keeping his secret or a simple IOU.

But, I had clearly gotten a little sidetracked. 

And I only became aware of how sidetracked I had become after I had subconsciously summoned the [Endless Spring] to parch my dry, hoarse throat after basically yelling at him for five non-stop minutes. 

After gulping down a hefty mouthful of clean, cool water, I let out a satiated exhalation, the refreshing cold of the water moving like a wave through my system, bringing clarity to my emotionally charged mind. 

And it was then that I realized I had made a teeny tiny blunder. 

A faint sense of embarrassment flooded my mind as I realized I had just used this "negotiation" as an outlet for all my stress. 

Uh oh.

Did I fumble the bag?

Quite possibly.

Would I have to resort to blackmail after hurling all my emotional baggage at Audun?

...maybe

In my defense, I've had a couple of really stressful months since being infected with the nightmare spell.

I felt my cheeks flush slightly, something that I hoped he wouldn't notice. 

Though, as usual, all I got was radio silence.

Sighing, I was completely ready to leave our conversation at that and try my hand at negotiations when I'm less... troubled, but something stopped me.

"Ahem"

Someone coughed into their fist.

A melodious, androgynous voice filled the air.

"I'm... sorry."

A shiver shot down my spine as a shudder snaked its way through my upper body.

The sound of his voice struck me harder than I had originally expected.

Even though I've heard Audun speak, though rather profanely, in my vision, hearing his voice in person resonated rather oddly in my ear. 

It was as if my brain knew what his voice sounded like, but the rest of my body recognized it as something unfamiliar. 

I heard him draw in a deep, shaky breath as I listened on in anticipation.

"I... didn't want to lie."

Raising an eyebrow, I let him continue without interrupting.

"But, once I started... I couldn't stop."

There were long theatrical pauses between some of his words, though I was uncertain whether it was deliberate or born from careful consideration. 

"I regret lying to you all... I was just..... afraid."

The earnest and sincere tone of his dialogue was a testament to his effort in expressing honesty, something I appreciated after the flood of irritatingly stupid lies. 

I felt the air subtly shift, a sharp movement occurring right in front of me.

From a lowered level, I heard him talk, the angle indicative of the fact that he was bowing his head. 

"Thank you... for your consideration and... once again... I'm sorry."

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(A/N: I've lwk been having a crazy case of writer's block. 

I think it might be because I'm physically exhausted after working my actual job, but when I tried to sit down and write this chapter, I felt like I got lobotomized. 

I have a Google Doc where I normally plan out chapters in advance, yet for this chapter specifically I just couldn't muster the words at all.

My fault, this chapter came out way later than I expected, but I didn't want to compromise the quality of my writing for sheer speed. 

I've been trying to stick to a daily schedule, and it's lwk way harder than I initially thought, especially since I've been getting busier and busier as the summer progresses.

Sure, when the chapters were a lot shorter, I could bang out a chapter in like 2 hours, but after I started trying to write at least 2K words per chapter, it started taking like 3-4 hours.

Anyway

Hope you guys enjoyed this one, and thank you for the continued support!)