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She pushed open the door to the small shop 'Darkness Embraced'. She wasn't Gothic so she still stood out there, but it was with them that she felt at least somewhat accepted. She tended to hang around there because of the variety of rare oddities that the store was known for. Theo had always had a fascination with magic of all sorts, so a place like that was the best thing for her.
She greeted the shop keeper, a man by the name of Shade. His real name had long since been forgotten. All who pass through the doors of the shop know him simply as Shade. And with good reasoning. The man wore nothing but black from head to toe. His hair was jet black and covered his left eye while a long black scarf covered his mouth and nose. He nodded in reply to her greeting, a gesture that others may have found rude, but she had grown use to his lack of formalities.
She smiled as she happily went through the jewelry. The shop had the most extravagant jewels, but most were out of her price range. She lifted a long golden necklace with a large black stone on it to examine it further. It was beautiful, but she knew it far to expensive for her. She placed it back where she found it and turned, now moving on to the books. She skimmed through the titles, one by one, looking for a book she might like. She found several that seemed interesting, but one stood out. The name of the book on the side was written in gold lettering, but in a language she didn't know. She pulled out the book to get a better look at it.
The book was bound in thick black leather. A number of beautiful jewels sparkled upon its surface. Golden lines indented into the cover made an intricate design, all forming up around the title. The title on the cover, like on the side, was imprinted with thick gold runes that she didn't know. After staring at it for a while, she decided to make a purchase.
She brought it to the counter and placed it before Shade. "I'd like to buy this book." She said clearly pleased. Shade reached out for the book without looking, but stopped once his eyes rested on the book. He recoiled his hand in a way that made it seem like he was afraid of it. Without missing a beat he regained his composer.
"That is quite an expensive book. Are you sure you can afford it?" He asked the cruel question with in a way that made it seem almost nice.
She stared at the book again, but finally let out a sigh. "No, I probably couldn't." She turned away from the book and started for the door.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Shade said, lifting his gaze from the book for only a moment to watch as she left, but then returned it upon the the books leather surface.
Theo walked sadly down the street. She had had her heart set on buying that book, even though she couldn't read it. It fascinated her in a way she truly didn't understand, but she knew it wouldn't be hers. She didn't have much spending money and from what Shade had said, the book was way out of her price range. She shook her head, trying to forget about it. "It's best to just not think of things you can't have." She said to reassure herself. She squeezed her eyes tightly and lifted her hands to her face as she said this. Not seeing what, she ran into something hard.
She was knocked down by the force she hit it with. She stood up, rubbing her head a bit as she did. Realizing that it was man that she had run into, she bowed her head, blushing and stuttering through an embarrassed apology. When she looked up from the bow, she saw just who she had run into. Shade stood before her, a parcel in his right hand that was now covered by a thick leather glove. He stared deeply into her eyes, not letting his gaze waver in the least. The bright pink tint of blush returned to her face more violently than before. Quickly, she turned her gaze away, suddenly finding a chip in the sidewalk very interesting.
After what seemed to Theo like an eternity, Shade extended his gloved hand to her. Slowly, he let the parcel fall into her hands. She could do nothing but stare for a moment at the heavy object wrapped in brown paper in her hands. She looked back up at Shade, inquisitively. "Consider it a gift." Shade responded to her unspoken question.
Without a word of departure, he left her. Once more, this was an excellent example of his mysterious lack of formalities. She watched him leave intently, waiting for him to be out of sight before running home.
She flung her stuff onto her bed upon entering her room. Flopping down next to her stuff, she stared once more at the parcel he gave her, still in its' wrappings. Finally, she gathered the courage to open it. Slowly, she tore at the paper, revealing the jewel encrusted, leather bound book she was looking at back at the shop. Her stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies. She held her stomach, blushing for no one to see.
Joyfully, she placed the book into her bag. An abundance of questions swam through her head, but they would have to wait until tomarrow to be asked. She cleared off her bed and got ready to go to sleep. She had school the next day, but it would be worth going to to go to the shop afterwards. Smiling softly, she slipped into dreams.
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