Chapter 44
Bayla
Living in the Dark
Myuu
I was in a room that smelled just like when you open old books. It was empty. No furniture, nothing . Just dark brown wooden floorboards, black floral wallpaper and a dusty golden chandelier on the ceiling, which gave the room its own charm. Just like the windows, which reminded me of the ones in Moenia. They were large, tapered and let a lot of light into the room.
My gaze wandered to one of the two open doorways, which probably led to other rooms on the first floor.
There was a draft, which meant that there must be several windows or doors open somewhere.
I moved cautiously through the room toward the old glass panes.
I didn’t even know how I had gotten here...
A spider crawled across the glass and I backed away, but the spider quickly disappeared, so I approached cautiously.
A glance outside showed me a matte black terrace with Victorian wooden ornaments surrounding the house and in front of it an untended lawn filled with dried autumn leaves, just like the street in front of it. The houses on the other side of the street were also colorful Victorian villas. It looked familiar to me...
“Bayla.”
I wheeled around, ready to defend myself, but all that stood before me was an old woman, almost certainly of Latin American heritage. Despite the wrinkles around her eyes, she looked very pretty for her age, with her black hair braided back. I looked at her black cardigan and the matte black pearl necklace she was wearing. Then I spotted the beginnings of a jet-black tattoo, made up of strange runic characters interwoven together, peeking out of her collar and traveling up her neck, stretching out in different directions like tendrils of a plant.
I looked at her face again. She looked grim, very serious and yet... relieved?
“Who are you?” I looked around briefly, but it was only the woman in the room. “Where am I?”
“You’re not safe.”
Confused, I took a step back.
“They’re going to hunt you down!”
There was fear in her raspy voice and she stepped further toward me.
Panic spread through me.
“Come to us,” she whispered softly, and I pushed against the window, terrified. “Come to us, child...”
With narrowed eyes, I pressed myself against the window frame.
The woman’s voice became more frantic.
“Follow the snakes. They will guide you.”
Her voice was very close to my ear.
“Come to us before it’s too late.”
Then my eyes snapped open.
Startled and gasping loudly, I jerked upright.
My Kind of Illusion
Jay Varton
I had been dreaming. What the hell kind of intense dream had that been? So short, and yet as if I had really been in that creepy house...
I looked around with caution.
Julie was still asleep. Larissa was probably at the DeLoughrey estate and Emely was at the Copeland’s.
The alarm clock read 5:30. Great . I wasn’t even tired anymore, but I’d only slept for five hours, and my next lecture wasn’t for another four.
I slipped out from under my blanket as quietly as possible.
What was the point... Then I would just use the time to finally use the bathroom for myself. Vivienna and Amber were always the first in there and usually the last, and I often had to wash my face in the kitchen.
So, I gathered my things together, grabbed a fresh towel and slipped out of the room into the bathroom and into the warm shower.
The warmth felt so incredibly good, especially in the cold here in British Columbia. There was no snow yet, but I was freezing every damn day.
When I was done, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around me, because even though the bathroom was heated, my body was complaining about the drop in temperature.
Buddy was, as usual, lying by the window – probably because the bathroom had underfloor heating – with his eyes closed.
I was glad that Julie had found the little guy again, even if it had been rather more of a lucky coincidence. We had looked for him for ages but couldn’t find him anywhere. Julie had said he’d been wandering around near the professors’ accommodations.
Strange little fellow.
I blow-dried my hair, hoping not to wake anyone, and went over my thoughts.
The plan we’d come up with yesterday was a real mess because there were so many people involved. I was worried that we might get caught, but Larissa had assured me that the more people who could make sure that Alarik or anyone else didn’t accidentally enter the corridors at night again, the better.
I put the hairdryer away, grabbed my brush and went to the mirror to brush my hair. It was fogged up, so I had to wipe the foggy coating off the glass before I could see myself properly.
The shock was so intense that I dropped my brush. The dull thud of the brush on the tiles made me wince. My towel slid down a little, revealing my upper body.
I stared into the mirror in horror.
My body began to tremble.
My eyes were neither yellow nor red... but not blue or green either...
I cautiously stepped closer, fascinated and frightened at the same time.
The irises of my eyes were dark, streaked with... purple glowing fibers.
My eyes glowed purple .
I breathed, the mirror fogging up again.
How could that be?
My gaze slid down to my exposed torso, and my heart stopped for a moment.
In the center, right between my breasts, where I always felt that slight tug, there was a black dot.
I blinked, looked down, tried to scratch it away, but it hurt because it was... part of my skin.
I squinted my eyes in pain.
What the...
I knew immediately that it wasn’t a mole because it was too dark. Darker than ink. It was as big as the eraser tip of a fat pencil.
Anxiety spread through me.
How on earth did I get this?