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FD ;)

Chapter Two

"Just put on the ring, just do it, its only a ring…"

Larissa stood staring at the ring sitting silently and glimmering on her palm, her furious mutterings not achieving in making her anymore willing to put the ring on.

She had showered, had breakfast and was dressed in her uniform ready for school, she had been ready for the past half hour. And all that time she had been struggling to even attempt at putting the ring on.

She had been dreading this all morning, had been trying to be as slow as possible in getting up and showering and such so she could truthfully tell Tawny she didn't have time to put it on. But somehow she was quicker then normal and had an hour to get herself to slip on the ring.

That sense of unnerving fear was bubbling in her again, her hand shaking slightly and sweat breaking out over her skin and trickling down her spin chillingly.

Something deep within her knew something she didn't. It knew why she shouldn't ever wear the ring. Yet Larissa couldn't grasp what it was or even begin to decipher the code of this uneasy feeling to reveal it.

"Just put the damn thing on," Lara murmured, angry at herself now. She had to put it on, not for Tawny, but herself. She couldn't be afraid of a ring! It was foolish, childish and insane. She had to get over it or it would drive her mad!

Picking the ring of her palm, she decided to place it on the third finger of her right hand and began to move it forward. But she couldn't make it slip on. Her hand was shaking so much and the sweat ran so thick that the ring slipped out her grasp and bounced to her wooden bedroom floor with a little, musical clang.

Dropping down onto her bed, Larissa let out a long breath and whipped the sweat away from her forehead.

It was just a ring.

Just a simple, pretty, metal ring.

A ring Larissa would never wear because of some idiotic and indescribable feeling of unease.

"Pathetic." she mumbled miserably, sitting up and looking down at the ring that sat just before her feet.

It was so glamorous, to never wear it would be a such a waste. Giving it to someone else or selling it made sense then, but Larissa knew she couldn't part with it. Though it unnerved her, she adored it, and couldn't imagine giving it away to some stranger.

"You are an absolute twit." she told herself softly, glancing over to her clocek on her bedside table and seeing she only had twenty minuets to walk to school.

She leapt up quickly, running into her bathroom to splash some water over her face, then pelted down the stairs, grabbed her bag, shoved on her shoes and leapt out the house.

With the bang of the front door, Larissa was gone.

And somehow from Larissa's floor, the ring was also gone.

* * *

"So where is it?" Tawny demanded as she slumped into her seat next to Larissa in English class.

"Where's what?" Larissa asked innocently, like she didn't know.

"The ring! You said you would wear it today." her friend quickly said, staring at Lara's fingers in dismay. "You're not wearing it! Why not?"

Larissa shrugged, saying she ran out of time but Tawny knew her all to well and smelled the lie before it left Lara's lips.

"Whatever! You always have time in the morning. What's the real reason?"

Lara, after gulping to moisten her dry throat, managed to stutter an explanation of the strange, unexplainable loathing towards wearing the ring. She tried to tell Tawny how uncomfortable she felt when trying to put it on, tried to explain her fear.

Tawny listened and looked blank because she knew Lara wasn't lying but didn't know at all what to make of this strangeness her friend spoke of. It sounded mad, but Tawny could tell by Lara's nervous shifting in her seat and clenched hands she really felt all she told of.

"Maybe it's all just in your mind." Tawny said, quickly realising they were the wrong words to say and continued hurriedly on to add, "Or maybe its because of the fact you sort of accidentally stole it."

Lara was caught by this, "You think?" she asked, frowning as she thought about it herself.

"Yeh, you feel guilty so you think you should never wear it."

Lara nodded distractedly, pondering on this idea. It made sense, she did feel guilt about taking it though she knew she shouldn't because it was an accident. So in creating this fear of it, meant she had another reason why she should never have to wear the ring.

"I think you're right," Lara said, smiling to Tawny thankfully.

"Of course I'm right!" Tawny boasted playfully, flicking her black hair over her shoulder and laughing "I always am!"

Lara joined in her laughter, running her hand through her own hair. Her carrot ginger, part curly, part straight hair. She never liked her hair, she wanted to dye it but mum wouldn't let her. She wanted hair like Tawny's, long, black, flowing and beautiful. She wanted vibrant green eyes like Tawny's, not her dull silver ones. She wanted a slim and graceful body like Tawny's, not a plain, shapeless one of a child's. She was 16, she was supposed to have a woman's figure, like Tawny and all the other girls, yet she still didn't.

Letting her head fall into her waiting hands, Lara tried not to dwell on all the faults of her, though they were many, she tried to search for some little glimmer of light about her that she could cling to.

It came to her quickly, surfacing to her like an old friend waiting to make her feel happy and special.

My voice, she thought with a smile, my singing voice.

Though she suffered from chronic stage fright, anyone who was lucky enough to hear her sing in the shower or when she was plugged into her MP3 player and unaware she had begun to sing said she had an incredible talent. They all gushed with praise and talked of how she should get herself on stage or try to become a famous singer. But Lara couldn't sing in front of people, she just froze or fainted or threw up like on one occasion. She had long since given up any hope of trying to flaunt her only good point.

As the teacher began to take the register, Lara drew herself back to the present and forced her mind to focus, following the words begin read aloud from the book "Of Mice and Men". She was glad she hadn't been asked to read, she hated reading in class and found it far more easier to just let the words drift past her eyes and imagine the action taking place in her head.

It was about halfway through the lesson when Larissa become aware of something small in her trouser pocket that was digging into her hip.

After a while of trying to figure out what it was as she was sure their was nothing in her pocket the last time she looked, she finally gave up and decided to find out.

Leaning back in her chair, she shoved her hand in her right pocked of her dull black trousers and drew out what pained her.

She was frozen with shock to see clasped in her fingers was the ring.

"You have it!" Tawny suddenly whispered in Lara's ear, making her jump and quickly lay her hand flat on the desk with the ring hidden beneath it.

"I thought you said you left it at home?" Tawny added, barely moving her lips so the short, bald, round little man that was the teacher, Mr. Gritten, wouldn't hear her with his dog-like hearing and make her read aloud.

Lara was unable to draw words to her mouth, she was confused and mystified and shocked thus beyond verbal communication.

It was left at home. It was left where it had been dropped upon the floor. In her rush to get out the house she hadn't even put it away in its box. It was left sitting on the middle of the floor next to her bed.

Then why the hell do I have it now?! Lara's mind screamed at her, making her believe what sat beneath her hand. It was there. It had somehow just appeared in her pocket, she was sure of it. She had a clear memory of leaving it on the floor, she didn't touch it, she was positive. It. Shouldn't. Be. Here!

It was though, there beneath her hand, its little gold leaves digging into her palm and the gold and ruby were oddly cold.

"You okay, Lara?" Tawny mumbled, looking at her friend with concern at seeing her quivering open mouth and eyes that looked like they would pop out her skull like a cartoons.

Gulping, Larissa managed to nod, lifting her hand to glimpse the ring shimmering on the dull green, plastic table top.

It seemed far shinier and beautiful then normal against the plain table top covered in graffiti of past bored students. Lara was fixated by how suddenly enchanting it was and found herself unable to look at anything else. As her eyes blurred to everything but the ring and she was sure it began to glow. A pure white light was being admitted from it, like some celestial glow of a star. And as the light increased gently, a low but clearly magnificent murmured signing grew with it.

Lara suddenly couldn't breath as the voice increased and flooded her head like a sweet water that was drowning her while enchanting her.

She had heard this voice before. This unearthly singing was familiar.

Then she realised why with a gasp.

Her dream.

It was the same voice beckoning to her beyond the mirror with the light.

The same light that possessed the ring now.

This was too much. That sweet water was going to drown her quickly if she didn't block out this madness and grasp reality.

Reality was gone though. There was only her being softly consumed by the light and song.

Lara didn't realise that in reality she had closed her eyes and was swaying gently, her hand had lifted off the ring and was softly slipping it on to her ring finger. And once she had put it firmly on, she suddenly collapsed into unconsciousness and fell off her chair.

But in her mind, she was blinded by beautiful white light and the heavenly voice lulling her until that also faded to nothing.