Dark Night: Episode 2 (The Darkest Nights Series) Read online

  "Nice to meet you," I said as I observed her. She wore a formal outfit, something you'd expect a business person to wear. There was something about hers though, that made her look elegant and flawless.

  "As it is to see you. Come, we have much to discuss." Robert and I walked side by side as we followed her.

  We went through a door that led to another long hall-way. Finally at the end there was another door we went through.

  It was her office, or I should say her home. At the entrance there was an office, but beyond that I could see the staircase which led upstairs and I imagined it was where she stayed, her home. It was weird how it was all connected.

  "You may sit. You too Robert,” she sat down. "Where shall we start?" She thought for a second. "Of Course, I was so intrigued by all of this that I forgot to introduce myself. I am Goddess Illyanne. I am not a vampire, but I am a goddess, one of the first of our kind. A Goddess in this world has a whole different meaning than what you were taught to believe before. We are the protectors, and guardians for you. I won’t tell you how you become one at this time it is irrelevant. But you do need to know that one is assigned to each group.

  A group is you for example, Robert, a roommate plus one or two Gods or goddesses, if you don't have a roommate than there is only three that are part of the group, in this case you, Robert and your assigned Goddess or God. Oh, also if he has not graduated then he will probably have one too which, Robert does and because he's a Lord he has two. I am one and God Frederick is the other, if you need anything they will also be available to you. Let me see," She looked through some papers. "Yes. Your Goddess is Isabelle, she__"

  "I already met her." I said without thinking. Illyanne just raised her eyebrows at me and glanced at Robert who was sitting beside me listening quietly.

  "Don't interrupt her." Robert said, not looking at me.

  "That is something you must teach her, among other things. As I was saying, yes you have met her. She will join us Sunday morning. Did you know she has not had a student in a while? Well she is one of the best. In a way we are also counselors to you, like I said we are here to help twenty-four seven. Now moving on," She paused and looked at some more papers that sat in her large desk.

  I thought that she had a huge room for an office and so little in it. Her "office" consisted of a large dark wooded desk, some papers sitting in front of her, a laptop that was closed, a large painting that I couldn't tell what it was and a lamp that was the only other light lighting the room beside the lantern that was behind Illyanne and the chairs we were sitting on.

  "Here is your class schedule. We are on a daytime schedule, same as humans. We are surrounded by them, and so our time must remain the same to have some equality. You could say we compromised on some things. The night is our favorite time, but light does not bother us. However, the heat can. It will not harm you unless is over one hundred degrees. Now for the Rules," She handed me a packet.

  "They are fairly simple but the most important rule of all is to have respect for your Elders at all times. Our dress code is not a big issue, we wear our uniforms from Sunday - Thursday__ Oh, I almost forgot. Our week starts Sundays, and it ends Thursdays. Most of the other time if you are involved in other curriculum activities; you have other clothing you can wear. Other than that, most afternoons and weekends you may wear almost anything. Just do not walk around in your bikini or anything even remotely close to that." She paused. "You may leave campus during the weekends, of course if you need to go somewhere during the week you need to ask for permission. Slips are in the front office."

  She stopped talking for a second, when she noticed my necklace, "Virgo? That zodiac is uncommon but we do still have classes for that sign. Not many students have it that is why we combine it with Libra since it is the closest. We go by the book technically since I am a Goddess, I need to represent a sign. That is why when students are picked we base it on their birth and that is how it is." I nodded. “It is fairly simple you will understand as time goes by. Robert will explain to you anything you have questions on once you get some rest. You do look very tired. One last thing that I almost forgot, sometimes boys and girls share rooms. Separate beds of course but our dorms were not built separately and we have about the same amount of boys as we do girls. We trust our students and so far nothing bad has happened. I am telling you this so that you understand us better. Robert will probably need to share a dorm room with you for a while." She looked at Robert. "I am sorry Robert but we had to give your room to someone else. You were gone a while. Perhaps you can share a room with your charge? Will it be a problem?"

  "Of course not, Goddess. We can share." He didn't smile. I knew how he was feeling just like I was, very unhappy.

  "Then you may go, everything is ready for you both. Enjoy your stay at the Dark Night Institute, Miss. Dawney." The ancient but beautiful lady said, as she winked at me and made me feel awkward.

  I nodded and we walked out of the room but didn't say a word until we were at the main office.

  "Where's my stuff?" I noticed my things were gone.

  "It's already been taken care of." The lady said, behind her desk.

  "Oh," was all I said.

  Illyanne had given the room key to Robert. I hoped he wouldn't lose it. As I followed him, we walked in silence. We were on the main hall that led to many rooms. Suddenly we turned and through another hall we went. Then we circled around a wall where there was a staircase. Lanterns throughout the castle or "institute" were very nice fixtures, but unnecessary ones if you asked me.

  I noticed the brighter lights coming from chandeliers all throughout the hall. We went up and walked down another hall-way. They all looked the same. I took notes mentally otherwise I would definitely get lost. There were only a few doors but we went through none and just kept walking straight ahead. Then suddenly he took me through a narrow hall that had no doors. That’s when I saw the big door. It was at the very end, because it was the only room in this small and narrow hall it almost blended in with the wall.

  He slid the key-card and the door opened. We went in, and both our mouths fell open.

  "My room was not even this nice." I detected some annoyance in Robert’s voice as he said this.

  The room was like our own private apartment. It had a living room area which both beds faced. A very big plasma TV, a mini kitchen that included a microwave oven, mini fridge and a plug in stove top, coffee/cappuccino machine that were all sitting on a counter. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling similar to the one in the office.

  I kept looking around and noticed both queen sized beds made. One with dark colors and another with bright girly colors so I knew immediately that was my bed. Going to the armoire next to it, I opened it and saw all the clothes that were hanging neatly on matching hangers. My neat freakiness wasn’t even that bad. There were more shoes and more space to put more shoes on, which I had.

  Closing it I saw a door a little further to my side, and opened it, flipped the switch to turn the light on and to my surprise it was a bathroom. My own bathroom because it was girly as well so I hoped Robert had his own too cause I wasn't sharing mine. Then I opened another door and it was a walk-in closet that had even more clothes. Wow. I wondered how often they bought clothes for their students.

  I saw my luggage sitting on the floor and went to it and automatically started putting things up. Forgetting Robert, I focused on unpacking. Once finished I started to walk out of the restroom when my reflection in the mirror caught my attention.

  It was weird, like my reflection was not mine. I could tell there was a change in my appearance maybe not so noticeable to others but to me I looked different. It was the new me, maybe a little frightened me.

  I shook it off and walked out of the bathroom closing the door behind me. Robert wasn't in the room anymore so making myself at home, I sat on the sofa – which was very comfortable – and turned the TV on.

  They had cable! It was a miracle. TV had not been on my mind in a long
time and the feeling was new.

  Flipping through the channels, I saw that the world did look normal. Leaving the news channel on, I went to the mini kitchen and looked in the fridge. It was full of food. Grabbing a coke, I looked in the cabinets which were full too. Then found some hot Cheetos and grabbed a small bag as well.

  As I was about to sit down and start eating I was thinking that I’d been trying to keep my friends out of my mind for a while. But I wondered if they had gotten caught too or if they were still living in the building? If they weren't, where would they be? How would they be? I was thinking about a lot of different scenarios when someone interrupted my thoughts.

  "You look comfortable." It was a female voice and she did not sound welcoming at all.

  Turning around I immediately noticed the snob attitude all over her face, "Yes and you are?"

  "I'm Princess Genevieve." She wore a plaid mini skirt with maroon boots, a matching tank top, with a white button up shirt on top.

  "Can I help you with something, I'm new but I could get someone?" I tried but was on my guard.

  "No. I don't need anything. Well, maybe one thing." She took a few steps closer to me. Standing up, I put my Cheetos and coke down on the coffee table. "Robert is mine. I don't care that he has been assigned to you or whatever but he is mine no matter what. Got it?"

  So that was the princess that Robert had been talking about?

  Interesting.

  "You can’t be going into people's rooms and threatening them. You know next time you want to talk why don't you knock first? That's what the door is for or didn't you see it?" She had basically threatened me and I wasn't going to stand for any more of that especially coming from someone that acted like a spoiled, stuck up brat.

  "As a matter of fact I did! But that doesn't stop me from walking in whenever I feel like it! Who do you think you are talking to me like that? I'm a princess and you're just a__"

  "No. you're wrong, I think you need to turn your ass around and go, before I make you." I said taking a step towards her.

  "Ladies," Robert said coming through the door as if he had just witnessed everything, which he probably did. I hadn't even noticed he was standing there before and probably enjoying all of this, maybe even making his own assumptions about us arguing over him.

  Ugh.

  "Why don't you tell your little girlfriend to get a life? I don't like either of you. Who knew people were made for each other?" I was literally pissed off and if she didn't leave I would have probably done something to make her leave.

  "Genevieve." Was all Robert said and she followed.

  I could tell she was one of those people who thought just because she was in a position of power she could get away with talking to people however she wanted. Not me though, no way, not anymore.

  She was little. I'd say about sixteen and small like a twig.

  Once I started calming down, I sat back down and kept eating my Cheetos and drinking my coke. When I was done, I went to the bathroom and then watched some more TV until the sleepiness started to set in. Changing my clothes, reality was starting to hit me, the fact that this was going to be my new home now and I had a new bed where I lied down and fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 5

  I didn't know what time it was when Robert came back into the room. He barely made any noise, but I still sensed he was there.

  The next morning I woke up early. It was seven and to me that was early. It was the first time in a while that I’d slept peacefully. There were no nightmares, no nothing. That was something I could get used to but I couldn’t help wonder if it was because of this place. If it was, it was a good thing. Robert was still asleep and I tried to get up, careful not to make any noise but I failed. Somehow he heard me move and had sat up in less than a second.

  "Jesus Christ, can I not go to the bathroom without being stalked?" No pun intended. I asked knowing he was paying very close attention to my movements. I put on a pair of pretty slippers and started walking to the bathroom.

  "She is not my girlfriend, never was. We were supposed to be together after graduation by law but not because I wanted her. They do that to you. You have someone like that too. Everyone does, it's just the way it is. Although there could be changes, depending on the circumstances but other times you have no choice, like I did."

  I froze and turned to look at him. I was shocked by what he said and for some reason that made me uncomfortable. "You did and you don't anymore?"

  "That all depends, in what the King and Queen decide." He started walking towards me.

  "What did you do to change that?" I sat on the arm of the sofa as he kept his distance, about three feet away.

  "I bonded with you. It was clearly a mistake, because that was not what I had intended to do. No one is supposed to drink the other person’s blood, unless you have become a vampire and it is with your partner. That is because when things like this happen no one needs to worry since they are meant to be together and then they are. But things can change before that time comes, like it has with us. I don't know what’s going to happen now." He slowly took a step towards me, his face expression changing completely to something I didn't recognize. "I didn't mean to do that, I was trying to put the venom in you but well, the princess was supposed to be my partner, my soul mate.

  She's the daughter of the King and Queen Stuart. If they decide I should be locked up, then it will be done. If not they will make us stay together, even if the bond is artificial. That means that we're only united by the blood, but we don’t really bond. For example we never have any real feelings for each other or even like each other. And those are the only two choices we have." Lines formed underneath his eyes as he squinted as if bright light was blinding him, while he looked into my eyes.

  "I knew this was all too good to be true." Something inside of me told me to break the awkwardness and the tension that had been building up throughout the conversation. "Sure you get these nice things, the glam, the power but for what price? Freedom? No. That isn't right and you know don't you? They couldn't force us to be with someone we didn't want to be with. It’s wrong," It was the best I could come up with.

  He smiled, "Mia no, they don't make you, you do choose. Since you were born, we believe your destiny has been written. We believe that you have a soul mate and that you will be happy and so far all have turned out to be true. What I did was not right, and I will be punished but you? Well I’m not sure but you might be punished too. It takes two to bond and if you had not let me in then it would not have happened. But it is my fault in the end." He turned his back to me and walked towards his bathroom but stopped short to glance at me when I spoke.

  "This is insane!" I finally snapped, "How can you walk around and be so," Oh well, what happens, happens." I air quoted. “No. we have to do something! Me and you? There's just no way!" I stomped off towards the bathroom.

  This was not happening to me. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I couldn’t be with that guy! He was such an ass and no way were they going to make me. I'll leave, run away, yes. I'll run away. Maybe I would wait for them to trust me enough and then make a run for it. It would be the only way.

  After babbling in my head for a while, I took a shower and then wore a long robe. Outside in the room, it was quiet. Robert had left.

  I went back inside the bathroom and looked in my closet. There was so much to choose from. Everything was dressy. I was more of a casual person, even when I had lived in Jacksonville. Florida had nice weather, so I decided to wear something nice but not as dressy.

  To my surprise the doorbell rang, which I didn’t know we had. Luckily I was still wearing my robe. When I opened the door, there was a lady standing there.

  "Hello. This package is for Marissa Dawney."

  "Um, Mia actually, yes it's me." I said as she handed a package to me.

  She nodded and walked off. The package was large with bright red wrapping paper. It didn't say who it was from but I opened it and saw it was a very old fash
ioned dress, from the Victorian Era.

  A note slipped out.

  "Dear, hope you like my gift to you. I didn't think you would have a dress to wear to the ball tonight. -Isabelle"

  That meant Isabelle was here. Good thing she was, I was going to talk to her soon. Leaving the dress on the bed I went back to getting dressed with the purpose to make myself presentable. There were probably a lot of people that I was going to meet today. With that thought in mind, I went for a simple cocktail dress. It was simple because it only had the design of my zodiac. Apparently they took it very seriously.

  Surprisingly the dress was not black. It was actually a neutral gold and the design was made up of sparkling beads. It was located on the upper left side of the dress. It had straps, like laces but I liked it. It showed off my back, though nobody would see it because my hair was going to be down. It was good length though and it flared out some, right above my knees.

  I picked a pair of maroon stiletto hills then I mentally patted myself in the back for trying some new colors. Then I also picked out a maroon Virgo necklace and bracelet to match my shoes and I was ready to go. It was Saturday, obviously there were no classes but I would be starting tomorrow according to Illyanne. I took the key with me and walked out of the room.

  "Wow. What's the occasion?" Robert asked after I shut the door.

  "I would prefer to wear jeans every day, but I guess they don't like jeans so I'm stuck wearing cocktail dresses and skirts forever right?"

  He sighed. "I guess you're right. May I escort you? I wouldn’t want you to get lost." He was dressed very casual and wore his hair the same. He had on a button up shirt and dark blue jeans and dress shoes. The whole outfit made him look completely desirable. I blushed and stopped looking to finally answer.

  "Be my guest. But shouldn't you wear a tuxedo or something?" I wasn't trying to be too mean, but there was just something about him that brought out the sarcastic, passive aggressive in me.

  "I could change, but then you would have to wear that ball gown this early. Sure you wouldn’t want that." Glancing at me, he smirked.