Eternal by Raven Jean

Author:Raven Jean [Raven Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Raven Jean
Published: 2022-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

Lorena showed up at the apartment unannounced the next morning, just as Andrew had told me she might do. Fortunately, with his warning ahead of time, I managed to be dressed and ready to go wherever she was going to take me.

“Hello beautiful,” she greeted me when I opened the door. Today she wore a pair of black workout leggings and a short-sleeved black t-shirt, those golden armbands gleaming in the dull light of the apartment building. She noted my gaze as I shut and locked the door and she smiled broadly, gesturing to them. “You want to know what these are, don’t you?”

I shrugged. “I’m curious, I’ll admit.”

She laughed, the sound drawing a smile to my own lips. We reached the elevators and she pushed the down button, folding her arms across her chest. “They each belonged to my parents. At home, those of us in the guard are given golden armbands to signify our rank, rather than a uniform to wear. Once you have been accepted into the guard, you are given an arm band.” She sighed, shaking her head sadly. “I inherited theirs when they passed, and have worn them every day since. Except to bed, of course. They are enchanted so they do not lose their shine, but I still have to clean them so they don’t smell.” She wrinkled her nose as the elevator doors opened. “They get rather stinky.”

I laughed as we stepped into the elevator, shaking my head despite the anxiety gnawing at me as I pressed the button for the first floor. I leaned against the wall with my arms folded across my chest. My knees locked for a second as the elevator began to descend, but I was proud of myself for not grabbing onto the railing like I usually did, on the rare occasion I actually took the elevator.

Lorena, noticing my discomfort, said, “I hate it, too. It feels like the world is opening up beneath you, to swallow you up.”

I swallowed, nodding. “That is a perfect way to describe it.”

“Have you had anxiety your entire life?” she asked, and I blinked at her, brows furrowed. “Sorry, that might be a personal question. I just...you tug on your hair a lot, whenever you are in stressful situations, and even sometimes when we are just having normal conversation.” She grimaced. “I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“No, it’s okay,” I said, smiling reassuringly. “It’s not too personal, you just caught me off guard, is all. I’ve always had a little more anxious energy, though as a kid, that mostly just manifested in extra hours spent outdoors, or training once I was old enough. The past few years, since graduation, it sort of morphed into going out dancing with Auri and Emily.” I shrugged, unsure why I was telling her all of this, except that I wanted her to know. I knew Lorena would not judge me, or make me feel less than for something out of my control. “Then, when Auri almost died two months ago.

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