= Chapter 8 =

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever."

-Jeremy Lockhart

=================
⚓️SKYLAR⚓️

Dante held my wrist tightly as he pulled me through the empty hallways. Throughout out the time he held my wrist, he didn't speak a word. We made a sharp turn into the girl's toilet.

"Dante, you do know a female toliet is for girls...or do you have some confession to make that you're gay or something?" I smirked.

"Screw the rules. " he muttered before lifting me onto the table where the sink was.

"Are you okay?"

"I have stood up to people a million times Dante, I'm quite sure I'm fine." I smiled.

"I'm proud that you did that cause I must admit it definitely turned me on." He chuckled.

"Well sorry to you turn you down now but I need to get to class." I hoped off and was about to leave when he pulled me back by the waist which caused me to yelp in shock.

"Do you...um...want to skip the rest of school with me?" He asked, uncertain of my answer.

Well, I did really have a messed up lunch so maybe a bit of a cool down would be good. Biting my lip, I thought hard.

"Sure." I smiled mischievously.

My mom would kill me if she found out that I was doing this.

Why am I messing with the bad boy?

===============

"Where are you bringing me? It's been like one hour and this road looks like it's never gonna end!!" I whined.

We've been on Dante's motorbike for the past one hour and he never said a word since we left. It seemed like he was having some internal conflict within him, it was hard to decipher.

Tall trees created a forest along the road and as we drove further, the road become more narrow.

What could possibly be so interesting here?

This looked more like my future grave yard.

"Dante, are you okay? You're making me feel creeped out."

He pressed his breaks abruptly, causing my grip to tighten around his torso. My eyes soon came upon the sight in front of me.

There it stood.

An abandoned church. It's walls were so tall and never-ending, encircling me as if I was the victim of an ambush.

I then noticed something, almost forcefully, an empty space where a window would have stood—shattered, sharp remains of glass still lie, threatening me like someone putting a knife at my throat.

The windows of the church were clouded with a shade of grey and the roof of the the small church had moss all over it, clinging onto it like life depended on it.

Dante got off his bike swiftly and ran his fingers through his raven black hair. I got off the bike unsteadily, my eyes still glued on the church which screamed haunted.

"I want to show you something." He said in a straight tone.

"In there?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Is my Skylar scared?" Playfulness laced in his voice.

"Let's see who's scared when I hurt your family jewels." I gritted through my teeth.

"Feisty."

Rolling my eyes, I stepped in front of him and walked ahead. The ground felt moist and muddy, and unkempt growth was everywhere.

Before I could walk any further, Dante pulled me back by my wrist causing me to gasp in shock. His arms wrapped around my waist, and mine went onto his shoulders.

Why does he keep pulling me back?

"And to answer your question from before...yes, I'm perfectly fine. There is nothing wrong with me...I'm always okay."

He whispered softly as he caressed my cheek gently with the tips of his fingers while his hot minty breath fanned against my cold cheeks.

Although his words were meant to sound comforting, it made me shiver in fear instead.

Walking at a comfortable pace, he led the way into the church. The door creaked open as Dante turned the knob. Cobwebs hung listely, a dusty red velvet carpet led down the hallway. Along both sides of the carpet were benches and at the end of the church was a spiral stairs which curled upwards.

This place was long forgotten, no doubt. And that brings me to the question which had been bothering me.

"Why are you showing me this, Dante?"

Taking a deep breath, he walked ahead as he replied.

"This church had not always been a void of life. A long time ago, the house had lived and breathed. Happy children had run through the velvet carpeted halls. Red, white, and yellow roses grew on the walls outside the church. Every Sunday, a crowd would gather here to sing and worship...but it all changed when the people started...disappearing."

"What do you mean by that?" I was utterly confused.

His finger dragged along the sides of the benches so smoothly as he gave me a wicked smile.

"Rumors said that someone lurking in this forest didn't like the presence of happy people. And for every time they gathered here, someone would be kidnapped and never to be found again...but that was a long time ago." He shrugged nonchantly.

"You're joking right?" I chuckled lightly, trying to break the creepy atmosphere.

"That's for you to decide, but since then I used this place as my hangout." He smiled playfully.

Without hesitation, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me up the spiral stairs. We ran up the stairs and each time, we got higher and higher. To be honest, heights and I weren't exactly good friends at all.

We came upon a door with a large golden lock on it, it was most likely the only thing in the church which looked new and clean.

He pulled out his bronze necklace that was tugged under his T-shirt and I realized that it was key in the shape of a eagle's wing.

Unusual.

Slipping the key into the lock, he pushed the door open and my jaw literally dropped. At different corners of the room, were pictures placed. From portraits to scenery pictures, it was beautiful.

Mysteriously beautiful.

"When I'm alone, I come here to draw..." He simply said.

My eyes widened in shock. I never thought of Dante as an artist. I moved closer to a picture that caught my attention almost immediately.

The picture had an elegant lady in a long red dress that fitted her body like second skin, and beside her was a blonde man who had his arm around her waist.

But before I could look at it more in detail, Dante took the picture away from me.

"I'm not finished with that yet..."

"I think it's still very beautiful, Dante." I smiled in awe.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he smiled shyly.

"How do you get all these amazing ideas of what to draw? All those portraits, they look so real..." I asked as I scanned the different pictures.

"Imagination?" He said which sounded more like a question but I just nodded in acknowledgement.

Something doesn't seem right with him...

"You're the first person I actually show this place to, I hope you can keep this as our little secret." He said with sincerity.

"I promise."

Little did I know that those two words would actually destroy my life...

===================
// hellooo my beloved readers!//
So I know this chapter wasn't that interesting but it's important as it would lead to a big mystery in the later part of the story!!

>>Tell me which character you love the most!

A million hugs and kisses,
Celine!!

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net