Dark Night (6 page)

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.

That morning I woke up early, it was seven
and to me that was early. It was the first time in a while that I
had slept peacefully, no nightmares no nothing. I liked that I
didn't know if it was because I was here, but 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
was sitting up in less than a second.

"Jesus Christ, can I not go to the bathroom
without being stalked?" I asked knowing he was paying very close
attention to what I was doing. I put on a pair of pretty slippers
and started walking to the bathroom.

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

I froze and turned to look at him, he looked
like he had a good night sleep and had drunk an energy drink, while
I was still waking up. But I was shocked by what he had 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 towards me.

"What did you do to change that?" I sat on
the arm of the sofa as he kept his distance 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, for when things like this happen no
one needs to worry because they were meant to be together and then
they are. But things can change before time, and 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...soul mate she's the daughter of the King and Queen
Stuart. If they decide I should be locked up, I will be. If not
they'll make us stay together, even if the bond is artificial...
That means that we're only united by blood, but we don't really
bond, for example we never have... feelings for each other or like
each other... Those are the only two choices we have." Lines formed
underneath his eyes as he squinted as if a bright light was
blinding him, while he looked into my eyes.

"I knew this was all too good to be true."
Something inside me told me to break the awkwardness and the
tension that had been building up. "Sure you get all rich, 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... disgusting," was the best word I
could think of.

"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, you well... you will be
punished too. It takes two to bond, if you hadn't liked it or even
got into it then it wouldn't 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." No. we
have to do something! Me...You...there's just no way!" I stomped
off to the bathroom.

This is not happening to me. I couldn’t
believe this was happening to me. I couldn’t be with that guy he's
such an ass. And.... no way they are making 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 wore a long robe. I looked outside in the room, and
Robert was gone, good I thought. I went back inside and looked in
my closet, I had so much to choose from. Everything was dressy, I
was more of a casual person. Even when I had lived in Jacksonville
which was close to here, Florida had nice weather, so I decided to
wear something nice, but not as dressy, but before I could get
dressed the doorbell rang.

“Doorbell?”

Lucky I was still wearing my robe, I went to
open the door.

"Hello. This package is for Marissa Dawney."
A young man said.

"Um…. Mia actually, yes it's me." I said as
he handed a package to me. He nodded and walked off, the package
was large with bright red wrapping paper and light, it didn't say
who it was from but I opened it and saw it was... a very old
fashioned dress the kind that looked like a Cinderella gown only
not for a fairy tale but for a special occasion.

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. I left the dress on the bed
and went back to getting dressed. I wanted myself to be
presentable, I knew I was going to meet a lot of people today, so I
had to look nice enough, I went for a simple cocktail dress it was
simple because it only had the design of my zodiac. Apparently they
took it very serious, surprisingly the dress was not black, it was
actually a neutral gold the design was made up of sparkling beads
(the pretty kind). 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 I was planning on wearing
my hair down. No. I was definitely leaving my hair down once I had
the dress on I could see how much back I showed. It was good length
though it flared out some right above my knees.

That was perfect. I picked a pair of maroon
stiletto hills then I mentally patted myself in the back for trying
some new colors. I left my hair down but instead of straightening
it, I curled it some. (I also had two different curling irons,
straining irons, blow dryers, and combs.) I picked out a maroon
Virgo necklace and bracelet to match my shoes and I was ready to
walk around. It was Saturday, obviously no school today, but I
would be starting tomorrow according to Illyanne. I took the room
key with me and walked out of the room.

"Wow. What's the occasion?" Robert asked
after I closed the door, I hadn't seen him and he had startled me,
by standing close to the wall.

"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 would not want you to get lost?" He asked
halfheartedly. He was dressed very casual, he wore his hair the
same. Button up shirt and dark blue jeans, but still with the
dressy shoes, which 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 attitude in me.

"I could change, but then you would have to
wear that ball gown this early. Sure you don't want that." He
smirked and glanced at me.

"How did you know? Are you snooping around my
things now?" I asked annoyed. We were now walking downstairs, once
again the halls were empty, I wondered where everybody was.

"No. I helped Isabelle pick it. Do I have
good taste or what?" He smiled to himself, which I had to roll my
eyes to.

"I wouldn't say good taste. Because that's
just not my style, but it's not ugly either, I'll wear it." I
glanced at him to discover that he was staring at me, then he
looked away and his face changed.

"You have too. Everybody is required, girls
wear big fancy dresses. And we get to wear the usual tuxedos, lucky
us." He smiled slightly and tried hiding it, only annoying me
further.

"Yeah, not fair," we were now at the first
floor. We went through some doors and it was dark. When lights came
on, I realized I was in an auditorium. Joy. "What is this?" I
asked.

"Just a regular school meeting, the whole
student body is here, let's sit there." He pointed at the last row
in the bleachers. I followed him, no one looked at us, everyone
seemed to be into their conversations, the auditorium was full of
students but it was too dark to see clearly. We sat quietly and
then we saw a lady walk up to the stand on the stage.

"Good morning. I am sure you are all waiting
for breakfast. This will only take a few minutes." she said looking
down at some papers she was looking through. "We are having the
Fifth Ball Room Dance tonight." To that announcement, the students
applauded. "We will have contests and serve dinner as usual, some
received their clothing yesterday. Some will today, but you will
all be dressed appropriately by this evening. We will have a band
play for us tonight." She hesitated before she continued,
apparently not liking what she was about to announce. "Today's
activities will be limited, because of the ball. But go about your
day as normal as always. If you would like to volunteer to help
out, see me or God Frederick. Thank you, have a good day. You are
released." She left the stand in an instant.

"That's it?" I asked expecting it to be
longer. "Pretty much, yes," he said standing up.

"I already like it here." I stood up and
followed him.

"Good, you're making progress." He said as he
smiled and looked at me until someone broke the awkwardness.

"Mia? Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god! It's
really you!" It took me a minute to really see who I was looking
at.

It was Mereily.

“Give her space to breathe.” Robert said. I
could hear everything, I wasn’t faint, but I wasn’t there
completely. This whole time I had been hoping that my friends were
alive, and sure enough I walked into Mereily. She was so different
and I was still in shock staring at her. Her hair was so long and
it looked so smooth down. She dyed it? No. it was just darker than
I remembered. Her skin was simply white, not pale just white, and
her eyes were an even brighter blue. She was wearing a purple skirt
that was too short for my taste, with a really pretty black blouse.
She did always look her best. To her left, friends of her stood
looking at me oddly. To her right was a girl that I had seen
before… oh right, Genevieve.

“I’m fine… I think.” I told Robert who was
over me, I moved him out of my way to have a better view.

“Only here a day, and already causing
trouble.” Genevieve said loud enough for people that were trying to
exit the auditorium could hear.

“That’s not nice Gene, she’s my friend.”
Mereily said to her, Genevieve snorted.

“I am, so back off okay?” I snapped at her,
she really had an attitude problem.

She gave me a dirty look and turned away.
“See you around Mere.”

“You let her call you Mere? What happened to
you?”

“The same thing that happened to you…
apparently,” She waved her hand up and down at both of us. “It’s
still me, okay? Look, maybe we should go.” She grabbed my arm and
pulled me out of the auditorium. I didn’t argue and followed along.
Nobody followed us, not even Robert. We went through so many doors
I got dizzy, just trying to remember.

“I’m so glad to see you!” She hugged me, and
I hugged her back. It was a relief to know at least one of my
friends was safe.

“Mereily, I was hiding in an old building
somewhere in England for the past five months! Where have you been?
That night, I don’t know what happened… I can’t remember, do you
know?”

“No. I don’t know what happened to you, I
know what happened to me. We can talk about that later but tell me
why were you hiding in a building, an old building?”

“Because… it’s a long story, are they
treating you right?” I wasn't comfortable talking about this with
her just yet, so I quickly changed the subject.

“Are you kidding me? This is better than it
used to be! It’s awesome!”

“Yes, the gifts and all., but how are you?” I
felt like she was just saying that but didn't really mean it.

“What do you mean?” Her excitement
dropped.

“How are you? How do you feel?” I didn't
believe her.

“I’m fine, Fabulous actually.” She tried
smiling but failed.

“You look delicate, like you’re sick or
something.” She really did and more fragile than ever, touching her
felt risky as if she would break.

“Oh.
That
, is the change that’s all.” She
said trying to convince for me or herself, but I wasn’t buying it.
I could see her bones, not healthy.

“Well, if you say so. Hey,
where’s everybody else? Bonnie, Dana, the guy’s and__?” Changing
the subject seemed like a good way to go, I didn’t want to be pushy
on my first day here.

“They were sent to other schools.” She sighed
crossing her arms as if she were cold.

“But why?” I was disappointed at hearing they
were somewhere else, but at least safe.

“That’s how it is, we’re not allowed to ask,
it’s rude. I talk to Bonnie and Dana though I know what schools
they go to.” She uncrossed her arms and gazed at the garden, as if
this conversation was making her uncomfortable.

“Really?” I was not happy with the idea of
not being allowed to ask questions about my friends, I was going to
talk to Robert about it. “Where’d they go?”