Realization

Realization


Chapter 167

Ruby’s POV

My heels clicked one after the other, and i noticed that the sound was vibrating oddly through the hallway as I moved. It felt so odd,  like the floor was hollow or the sound was being amplified in a way that was not normal at all.

I followed after the hotel staff that was leading the way in complete silence a couple of steps in front of me, her back stiff and not even turning abck once to make sure taht i was still following behind her. 

There was a thin trail of sweat slowly dripping down the back of my neck, and I could feel my palms getting wet too. I wouldn't lie… I was nervous. 

My stomach was doing those kind of tight flips, and I didn't understand why I felt this way even when Thane was right here with me. I kept telling myself that things wouldn't go that bad with him standing in my shadow, right? and that thought was the only thing keeping me from turning around and sprinting back to the car.

Just then, we approached a pair of huge double doors that reached from the high ceiling all the way down to the floor. They were slowly dragged open with a heavy creak, revealing a massive hall. 

The room was already filled up with people sitting perfectly still, all of them facing straight ahead toward the front of the room. It was odd yet again.

Was I late? The whole setting of me coming in last while everyone was already seated made it feel awkward, like I was the bride or something and seeing as everyone was dressed in black while i was dressed in red liek the invite had stated but I didn't let that bother me as I was shown to my seat. I walked down the long aisle, my skin crawling as I passed row after row of silent guests. 

I finally reached my spot and settled into the chair, but I immediately found it odd that my table was the only one right in the center of the room. Besides that, it was completely empty, with only me seated there while everyone else was clustered together. A heavy, dead silence seemed to fill the whole room as I looked around, feeling how everything just seemed so... odd.

‘’Thane, do you feel how odd it feels in here? Something is definitely not right… Thane...’’ I whispered out, my voice no higher than a whisper. We had practiced this speaking in such a way that even someone seated right next to me wouldn't hear a thing. 

I waited for the familair tone of his voice to answer me, but there was nothing. ‘’Thane...’’ I called even more intensely now as my heart starting to thud against my ribs, but I still got no response from him. ‘’Thane?’’ My eyes snapped down to the floor, hoping to catch a glimpse of my shadow where he was hidden, wondering why he wasn't responding to me.

That was when I discovered something shocking that made the blood freeze in my veins. I didn't have a shadow.

The floor beneath me was bright and polished and reflecting the overhead lights perfectly, but there was no dark shape stretching out from my feet. This was more than odd…even the huge table in front of me didn't have a shadow on the floor. 

What the hell was going on? My heartbeat suddenly increased, hammering so loud I was sure the whole room could hear it. I tried to play it off, leaning over and pretending to fix my shoe while I tried to cup my body under the table, hoping to form a shadow from the lighting in the room, but there was still nothing.

That was when my heart stilled in my chest at the sudden realization that Thane wasn't here. I was completely alone.

I snapped up so fast I feared I would sprain my back, my breath coming in short gasps even as i tried to get my heart beat under control. It was at that point I noticed that the crowd in the room still hadn't made even a squeak of a sound. They hadn't moved an inch, sitting like they had been perfectly frozen in time. 

Even the little children seated in the front rows... they hadn't even blinked! I needed no soothsayer to tell me that they were fake, what they were exactly, i couldn’t tell right now. Without another thought, I slowly rose to my feet, my legs feeling like they were turning into water. I tried to keep my mind steady as I turned around and started heading for the huge double doors that had been slammed shut in the distance.

I was just about ten feet away from the door when it was suddenly being pushed open from the outside with a loud groan. My hand went to the gun hidden under my dress, my fingers locking around the cold metal as I prepared for a fight. 

But the last person I expected to walk through that door was what was staring right at me. It was Thane. No... it wasn't Thane. The man walking toward me had his face, his height, and even his clothes, but his eyes were …too soulless and even blacker. He tilted his head to the side, a sickeningly wide grin spreading across his face as he stepped into the light.

‘’You seem to be looking for me, wife…’’ Thane said, his arms spread wide apart in a welcoming gesture. He had a wide smile on his lips that looked oddly bright which Thane would never do on normal occations and might I add, it looked completely fake too. But he had Thane’s voice.

‘’Tautia,’’ I responded coldly, my voice flat as I took a deliberate step back. I didn't let my hand move away from the weapon hidden against my thigh as he approached me. His eyes were raking over my body like I was a piece of jewelry he would like to hang in his bedroom and i wanted nothing more than to roast those eyes of his.

He was dressed up to par in a sharp black suit, his hair combed back perfectly without a single strand out of place. He even had a small red rose tucked into his suit pocket, looking every part the perfect groom for a wedding that this was supposed to be.

‘’You seemed to have dressed up so nicely for me… I love every bit of it. Come, let’s get the party started wife,’’ he said calmly. His eyes were fixed on mine as he slowly walked past me, only to pause and give a mocking bow in my direction. 

I forgot to add how much my skin crawled in pure disgust as he called me that word. But something else got my attention, that movement of him bowing with his hands out looked odly familiar, and I need to add that there was something in his gaze that felt familiar,even the way he tilted his head. 

I didn't know how to place it yet, especially since he looked exactly like Thane, even having his exact shade of blue and black eye color but it was the way he looked at me. It felt oddly familiar in a way that made the hair on my arms stand up but at this point, I just couldn't place the memory.

‘’Party? What party? They are all fake anyway… cut the crap and go straight to why you planned so nicely to have me here. And I am not your wife,’’ I added the last part with venom in my words. It ended up sounding more like a warning than anything else, my voice coming out sharp enough to cut through the heavy silence of the hall. 

All Tautia could do was smile even larger, like my anger was some kind of amusing joke to him. That just got on my nerves so bad I could feel my fingers starting to tingle, itching to release some flames and fry the shit load out of him right where he stood. I wanted to see that smug, stolen face melt off his skull.

‘’Your patience seems to have waned even further down the years,’’ Tautia finally said, breaking the silence with a sharp snap of his fingers. In the next second, I watched as all the people that had been seated down slowly vanished like a painting being cleaned away.. 

The chairs, the long tables, and the elaborate floral decorations all slowly faded into black mist, leaving the room emptty. The only thing left was that one lone table I had been seated on right at the center of the floor. But instead of the four chairs that had surrounded it before, there were just two chairs there.

‘’Come, have a seat. We have a lot of catching up to do and most importantly, a lot of fact-checking to open your eyes to the lies that your beloved Thane has fed you.’’ Tautia’s voice got to me as he had his back to me already walking towards the table. I wouldn't lie, I was curious about what he had to say and I found myself walking after him.