Dark Night

by Stefany Rattles

Tears are streaming down my face, as I try to wipe them away I say, “You’ll get better, and when you do we’ll throw that damn slumber party we’ve been talking about. Guess who’s going to be the guest of honor?”

  She smiles in reply. But we both know better, what Robert was going to say earlier was that he didn’t think she was going to make it. And as much as I hated to admit that he was right, he was. Mereily closed her eyes, and when she does she whispers one last thing, “Tell Jordan that I love him, but that he’ll need to move on… You guys are the best friends a girl could have...” Mereily’s voice faded until she fell into a deep sleep. That’s when I knew she was gone.

  “What where you doing in her room?” Illyanne asked me the minute the nurse told her what happened.

  “I was seeing my dying friend. Who I didn’t know was dying.” I said with still tears in my eyes.

  “Technically she is still alive, do not go assuming she is dead. She is just in a comma… she might or might not come out of. But there was a sign outside, because she was in intensive care and you had to go in there while it was restricted.” She was saying while she was writing something down on a paper.

  After Mereily fell into a comma, I had gone into shock momentarily. Losing someone in your life wasn’t easy, and here I was talking to a Goddess who just wouldn’t understand what Mereily was going through, not that I did. But at least I cared enough to comfort her while she was still awake in her last minutes. Illyanne didn’t see that, all she saw was me as an intruder in her room, maybe she even blamed me for my friends’ comma but I knew better and she wasn’t about to tell me otherwise. “Look lady, I don’t know what you want from me right now, and I really don’t care. I have had a long day and just so you know, that stupid V2 was what was killing her in the first place, you had to know right? If you did why would you continue giving it to her under her condition?” I stare at her. She doesn’t take it as an insult or anything like that. Instead she sighs.

  “Mia that was keeping her alive and it still is darling. It wasn’t intended to harm her. Even if her body was rejecting it… that was her only chance, if it works she will wake up tonight. But if it doesn’t then I am afraid we have done all there is to help her.” While she was saying one thing her face was telling me something else. Like: If she dies, oh well there will be more. Get over it. Which if it wasn’t for the secretary’s interruption I would have said something very un-lady like to her. But instead I let her be with her business and left, ignoring her call my name when I slammed the door.

  …… The next day I visit Mereily for a few minutes, early in the morning. After seeing her barely alive laying on that bed unconscious, it makes me question everything the institute stands for. If they’re really who they say they are, if they really care about us or if there is something else they are hiding. And on the surface, they just want to make us believe on something that is not true. But there would be no way of knowing that right now.

  I walked out of Mereily’s room, hoping she would wake up and we could talk about her sickness. Until this moment I hadn’t realized how bad her condition really was.

  “How is she?” Sophie asked when I was walking out of the infirmary. Her hair was in a braid and she was not wearing any make up, she was still pretty upset. She wore an entire white outfit, white sweat pants, white sweat shirt and white tennis shoes.

  “Same. For some reason, I don’t think Illyanne cares much.” I rolled my eyes and Sophie nodded in agreement.

  She crosses her arms. “Well, a least they let you see her.” I sensed the attitude in her voice, but I chose to ignore it since she was right, sort of.

  “Actually I don’t, but I still went in anyway.” I sighed.

  “The nurse told me that.” She shrugged, “But I’m sneaking in anyway, so I’ll see you later.” She tried to smile but she failed. Something about the way Sophie was acting was not right. I wasn’t going to bother with it, I was sure that it was about Mereily. So I let it go.

  Later that day I had gone to the library for some research paper in my Astrology class, I hadn’t even begun and it was due in two days ( since Isabelle interrupted me yesterday ). I began by looking through some non-fiction books which were located on one side of the Library and the fiction on the other. The library was very large with fourteen foot ceilings and full of windows.

  After looking thoroughly through numerous books, I grew antsy and tired. I had taken only one page of notes, it still wasn’t enough. So I decided I needed a break and stepped outside for a few minutes for some fresh air, when I heard some voices coming from around the corner. I got close enough to hear who it was.

  “She doesn’t know anything.” Sophie was saying growing irritated. “No one does. Just give me what I asked__” She whined.

  “Not yet.” Jordan told her. “It’s too soon, it might seem a little suspicious. We need to wait till__” He was cut off by the sound of the front of the library door opening. Quickly I walked back inside and tried to make sense of what I had just heard. Sophie and Jordan were talking about someone, a girl someone, not knowing something that they didn’t want her to know. Not knowing what to do I gathered my notes and checked some books out. When I walked out the door, this time wind blew in my face pretty hard, and it was cold. It had been a little chilly before, but somehow it felt like it had gotten colder.

  I walked as fast as I could and when I opened the door to the dorm rooms I slammed into a body then I fell forward, only not hitting my face on the ground if I wasn’t holding onto the door by one hand. I didn’t see who it was until I stood up and when I did, I realized it was a big mistake.

  “You dumb ass! You just ruined my favorite Dolce and Gabana boots! Why don’t you watch where you’re going!” Genevieve yelled while her hands were on her hips. As usual, she was wearing a skanky outfit, which consisted of a gray mini skirt, a black see through blouse and high, very high boots. That now, had mud on them.

  “Sorry little princess, must’ve not seen you. Since you are like a foot tall. Now, if you excuse me I have more important things to do then waste any time with a brat like you.” I said, walking past her. While I was glad I had left her speechless, I really wasn’t in the mood to put up a fight with her. But like most trouble makers she wasn’t having that.

  “Ever since you came here, you’ve been nothing but trouble. You should really consider leaving, this isn’t your place, it is mine. Only mine,” She picked the wrong day to mess with me.

  “In case you haven’t notice_” I was getting in her face. “You don’t run the show here, your parents do. Unless they say so, I’m not going anywhere. So don’t bother to try and intimidate me, because it’s not gonna work, capiche?” I patted her head and she slapped my hand away. Right before I turned I gave her the best of my smiles and flipped her off.

  CHAPTER 21

  I had told Anna what had happened with Sophie and the tattoo that I had seen on her back, and then about Genevieve. She wasn’t sure what to make of what I overheard from Sophie and Jordan’s conversation.

  We were in her room and she was pacing while I was thinking. Her room was about the average size room and she didn’t have a roommate, one of the few. It looked the same as always, decorated with her favorite colors black, hot-pink, white and red.

  “I don’t know what to tell you. That’s very weird. This is coming from me “the weirdo” so I suggest we should keep an eye on them. Maybe it’s nothing bad, but then again why would they be talking like that? I think, I can sneak in her room while she’s out. To try and find something…” She trailed off.

  “Maybe it’s nothing, and I’m just imagining things. Don’t worry about it, right now all I want is for Mereily to wake up.” I looked out her window and saw what a stormy night it was going to be.

  When I woke up the next day, I was tired. I had not had any sleep at all and it was almost time for me to go to Illyanne’s’ office for the meeting I was going to have. Slowly I got out of bed and went to take a quick shower. Afte
r a while of looking through my clothes, I settled for a silver dress that was neither long nor short just about perfect and it wasn’t a flashy or too casual dress. It was just right for the occasion. I blow dried my hair as usual and let it down. Looking at myself in the mirror I realized my eyes were changing, their color was looking more like a hazel ( I had thrown away my contacts a month ago ). And I wondered if my transformation was close, but I quickly dismissed that thought when I heard a knock on my restroom door. When I opened it, It was Robert standing before me with an unreadable look on his face.

  “Are you ready?” He asks, while I just blink. “I will be escorting you to the office, now are you ready?” He asks me again irritated. I just nod and walk along beside him.

  “Why do you need to escort me exactly?” I don’t look at him, because I’m afraid I’ll give something away. Instead I stare straight ahead while we take our time walking out of the room.

  “That’s how things work here, you know.” He simply says, not looking at me either.

  “Why you?” I ask once and for all not beating around the bush, as they say.

  He stays silent for a moment then stops me and stands right in front of me. When I don’t want to look at him, he pulls my chin up to make me look into his emerald green eyes that I have missed looking at. He stares into my eyes with such intensity that I feel numb all over again. But before anything else could happen, a door down the hall creeks open and we both keep walking.

  Then, Genevieve walks out.

  “Hey baby.” She says, leaping into his arms while I feel sick to my stomach. Then she plants a kiss on him so gross I just keep walking not looking at them. Gag.

  Finally, when I reach the office ahead of Robert, I’m greeted by the guards standing right in front of Illyanne’s' office. They step aside and open a door for me.

  When I walk in, I can’t believe what I’m seeing before my eyes. The minute I saw who the two creatures in front of me were, I just wanted to run, run far away and not look back. Before I could do such a thing, Robert comes through the door while I hear Genevieve argue with the guards on the other side of the door.

  The whole room is spinning and before I could fall back, a set of hands that I recognized right away hold me up from my waist and leads me to a sofa on one side of the wall where I’m only closer to___ my parents.

  “Mia.” The woman who looks just like my mother says. “We have been waiting for so long, for you to join us.” She steps closer, while I cringe back.

  “Don’t be afraid.” The man that looks like my father says. “We have been looking for you. Then when we were told that you were found, we wanted to be here when you arrived. But the circumstances would not allow it. Now here we are. Aren’t you glad to see us?” He asks with such love in his voice that I don’t buy it, not for a second.

  “Y-You can’t be.. You died. How is this possible?” The words barely coming out of my mouth while I stare with wide eyes at two different people from the one’s I used to know. The woman was about five six, with curves and a small waist that made you wonder what she ate, her long wavy dark hair falling over her shoulders and her face features just as I remembered them, yet different in some way. She had pale skin, and amazing pure green eyes that were looking at me for a response to the man’s question. He was tall and his hair was blonde, his eyes gray and his face also the same as I remembered but with a flawless tanned skin color that made him look young.

  “We did not die.” The woman answered with a surprised look on her face. “Why would you say such a thing?” She asked hurt.

  “I was told that, when my aunt told me you were in a car accident.” I managed to say. Though I had no idea why I had to explain, something they very well knew.

  “What car accident?” The man asked concerned.

  “The car accident in which you died… at least I thought you did. Why are you doing this? Why are you pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about when you two were the ones that abandoned me?” I said, feeling the tears in my eyes. I had stood up and was moving towards the door where Robert -who I forgot about-was blocking it. I glared at him, but he didn’t budge instead motioned for me to sit back down, which I didn’t.

  “What? We never just abandoned you. Ever, Julissa was supposed to watch you for a while, we had a few things going on at the time and__” She shakes her head. “We could not risk your life. It was a hard choice, but I do not regret it you turned out exactly how I thought you would, I am very proud to have a daughter like you__” She was saying.

  “I am not your daughter!” I snapped. “For years I thought you were dead. I didn’t know about you, about this. I turned out fine, no thanks to you. I refuse to be called your daughter, the only daughter you have is… Genevieve. Who is very proud to be,” The tears were now coming faster and I couldn’t stop. I was hurt. Everything that happened was basically a lie. The two people that I had missed for so long returned and suddenly they wanted a place in my life. That was not going to happen. “What about her? I didn’t know about having a__” And though it kills me to say it, I had to, “sister. What happened with her?” I wanted to know how she had her life with them and I didn’t.

  “That's a long story we can discuss later, but right now__” The man was saying consoling the woman who was also in the verge of tears.

  “No. I don’t care. I don’t want to know about anything. I just want to be left alone…” I trailed off, while I beg Robert with my eyes to let me leave. He steps aside and I walk out of my sorry life.

  I ran to the auditorium, the only place I could be alone without being questioned. As soon as I go through the doors, I drop to the floor feeling defeated.

  It was useless… everything I believed in was not even reality. This moment was. Everything happening around me… I was so blind not to see it. The way Genevieve treated me, her real reasons behind it all. I didn’t blame her, she felt like I was an intruder that had no right to barge into her perfect little life. If I were her I would probably feel the same way, but I still couldn’t believe this. It was a nightmare. I wanted nothing to do with. Yet I had no choice, if I tried to escape they would find me again. Then, there was the whole issue with Robert. Now, I didn’t care much about that right now. Still, everything was falling in place and not the way I wanted it too.

  There were so many questions running through my mind about them, and how vampires came to be. But I couldn’t bring myself to forgive them, ever. I was babbling, and crying mindlessly when the door to the auditorium opened. I didn’t look to see who it was. Instead I got up and slowly walked down the aisles, until I reached the first row. Then, I sat down. At first I thought it was my imagination-that I had not heard the door open-then, I jumped as someone sat next to me.

  “Would you not sneak up on me like that!” I snapped at Robert, who just grinned and then softened his look to more like a feeling sorry for me one. I sat back down, but decided not to say a word. For a second till the silence was irritating me. “What are you doing here?” I demanded.

  He looked at me then shook his head. “ I was just checking on you..” Then he changed his mind. “Okay. I wanted to talk, alone.” He didn’t look like he was joking so I just shrugged, and figured whatever he had to say It couldn’t be worse than what I just found out.

  “About what?” I said barely a whisper, but he heard.

  “Mia, you need to go back and talk to your parents. They are your parents__”

  I was shaking my head. “No they’re not. They have been lying to me this whole time, about well… everything.”

  “They never lied. You should go back. They have some things they need to tell you, before you assume anything. Trust me things are not always what they seem to be.” He admitted, looked at me in the eye and then away.

  “Why do say that, like it applies to you?” I finally asked. “You’re always giving me these hints, and riddles that I just don’t understand. What are you trying to tell me?” I turned to almost facing him, and reached for
his hand but then again, we were interrupted.

  By Genevieve.

  She slammed the door close, and stalked to where we were sitting. Her face was normal, composed as if nothing in the world could bother her. Then as she closed the distance I saw how sad she really looked, how she was upset but she was trying to hide it. She stood a few feet away from us with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. We stood up and I wanted to just walk past her but she put her leg right where I was thinking of walking through and shook her head.

  “I knew I’d find you two here.” Her voice was almost sweet, but something told me she was not there to make friends, but for business. She cocked her head to the side and glanced at Robert, then smiled. “You two should sit, now.” She ordered. When she said that, that’s when I knew, that she knew about me and Robert. Great.

  “I knew it.” She spat, “So, you two huh?” She paced for a few seconds. “You know what that means Robert, don’t you baby?” She stopped in front of him and gave him a cocky smile. “I should have known, all along what was going on. But no, I chose to trust you. Then… you ruined everything. How could you do that to me? Remember all the promises you made before you left months ago? Do you remember? Huh?” She glared at him, with such hate that I felt bad. I knew what she was talking about. She was the one who wanted the bond, not me. But it was too late for that now.

  Robert didn’t even blink. He didn’t even look away from her instead he cupped her face in his hands and said. “You have always been the bad one. Not Mia. I never actually promised you a thing. I only said we would try again. Sorry, it didn’t work out.” He let her go. And she stood back watching us closely.

  Then, she turned to me. “Look at you, that’s no way a princess, should be acting. You are seriously a disgrace to this family, you should know…” She walked up to me, to where we were only a foot away. “He doesn’t love you. He can’t! You know why? Because that’s how things are around here, there is an order you know, and whether he likes it or not we are going to end up together, with you out of the picture. I don’t care if we are…. “Sisters” I want nothing to do with you.” She leaned back and put her hands on her hips.