Page 91 of Darkness Defined

When the oversized doors swung open, I gained a bit of optimism that at least someone was here. My footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as I made my way to Vera’s office. To my dismay, her door was closed and the opaque window dark. I glanced around at a loss. Then I realized the classroom door was cracked open and noise was coming from inside.

I slipped inside, expecting to find one of the TAs. Much to my surprise, Vera looked up at my entrance and her face lit with surprise.

“Roman, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?” She put down the posters she was organizing, giving me her undivided attention.

“No, I mean yes, everything is fine. I… I have a question and I couldn’t think of who else to ask,” I stumbled.

She smiled and waved me over. “Why don’t you give me a hand with these and I’ll see what I can do about answering your question?”

I gently closed the door behind me. She noticed the move, but didn’t comment. I plucked up the next poster and held it where she indicated while she pinned it down. “Why are you using push pins? Wouldn’t a spell be easier?”

She shrugged. “Probably. But just because we have powers, doesn’t mean we should use them for everything. Sometimes it’s nice to do things the long way.” She pressed in another pin and passed me the next poster. “So, what did you want to ask?”

“It’s… uh… kind of personal.”

“Oh? Is it about Matt?”

I looked at her in shock, but she didn’t turn from her task of righting the poster. “Why would you assume that? Never mind, it is about another shadow demon. They did something I’ve never seen before. I mean, I’ve seen it, but not like this.”

She finally stopped what she was doing to look at me. “Let’s hear it then.” She put her hands on her hips.

I swallowed, suddenly anxious about what I wanted to ask, not the least of which, because it was about Matt. “Have you ever heard of our eyes going black without us doing anything? Wait. That doesn’t make any sense. Let me try again. Like, we aren’t actually shadowing, but our eyes are black like we are. It’s nothing, right?”

Her light curiosity vanished behind a cloud of dark seriousness. “Who did you see do this? Did someone say something to you?”

“What? No! No one has said anything to me about it. I just, I was just wanting to know. It kind of freaked me out.” I glanced between the fresh poster in my hands and her, not at all liking her reaction. “So, you’re saying this is a real thing? What does it mean?”

Her intensity slipped to be replaced by what looked oddly like embarrassment, but that couldn’t be right. Vera had conquered nations, had helped overthrow an entire supernatural government. She was fearless. What in Nyx’s name could have her looking so….awkward? “Well… it’s… I mean…” she fumbled, which only ratcheted up my anxiety. “Good grief, of all the questions for a student to ask. I’m not old enough for this shit.” She gave me a sidelong look, her mouth turned down in a resigned frown.

“I take it this is actually a really personal thing?”

“You could say that. So,” she paused, taking a deep breath, “you know how Fire Demons can have flare-ups? Like when they get too worked up or emotional?”

I nodded, though I failed to see how that related.

“Consider this the Shadow Demon equivalent.”

My face scrunched as I tried to make sense of what she way saying and came up empty. “I’m not following.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud.” She ran her hands through her red hair, causing it to frizz. “Alright, here goes. Black eyes are a manifestation of a Shadow Demon’s true nature and their true desires. It’s not contingent upon manipulating shadow. It usually happens when we’re exceptionally worked up and in the moment.”

I shook my head, still confused. “Like angry? I’ve seen that plenty of times. This was different.”

“Think other extreme emotion.” Her face turned red, and she looked away.

“What? Like….” I trailed off. I thought about what had happened and what Matt had said about the kiss keeping him up tonight. “Oh.” High emotion, and he’d given me that grin like… “Oh!” I repeated, the information settling. “Well, um…” I cleared my throat. “Alright then.”

“Yeah, so be careful with that. Having a poker face doesn’t do much good when it’s literally stamped in your eyes.”

I nodded numbly. Well, at least I knew I could trust what Matt had said about wanting to try. Now, to figure out what I was going to do about it. But not tonight. I’d had enough life-altering revelations for one day.

Chapter 27

Restricted

M

Alexhadfledthecoop... again. I sank into one of the kitchen chairs, feeling absolutely miserable.