Dark Night

by Stefany Rattles

  DARK NIGHT

  Stefany Rattles

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2014 Stefany Rattles

  DARK NIGHT

  PROLOGUE: ROBERT (September 2011)

  I was looking at a picture of her when she came in the room, god she was beautiful. Even in the dim candle light I could see her perfect figure moving so gracefully towards me. She didn't know I was directly in front of her yet, because she was not looking. Her mind was set on something completely different. She was crying quietly, her eyes were almost blood red from crying a while, tears streaming down her flawless face. She didn't spot me, yet I didn't move an inch when she stopped dead in her tracks and dropped to the cold hardwood floor. I never imagined how a ... person so perfect could break down so easily.

  Once again I tried reaching into her mind, but.. This time I didn't come up blank. Then, I understood.... she hated herself, the being she had become the person she now was. She loathed herself. It was painful, feeling her pain, her own hatred, yet I wanted to make it better. To tell her that it would be alright, that there was no reason why she should be so upset with herself, but I would be lying. Because we both knew the truth now, and it was not going to be fine, or okay, or whatever other word that would describe that.

  But I had to comfort her. I had to for the life of me. And so, ever so slightly I moved closer to her, she knew I was there, I sensed it. She covered her face quickly, and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of the gown she was wearing. Then, looked up at me with a sad, sad, the saddest look I had ever seen on her face.

  CHAPTER 1 (August 2010)

  "Mia." Bonnie called.

  “Yeah?"

  "We're going to be late."

  "Coming, wait up." I was putting my shoes on. My roommate (also best friend Bonnie) and I were going to be late to class. I attend to Castle High in London, England. I was born in Jacksonville, Florida, my parents died in a car accident four years ago. I was sent to England to live with my aunt Julissa Smith and her adopted daughter Deidre. I found the boarding school and sent myself there. I didn't want my aunt to feel like she was stuck with me even though I was an only child.

  "How about we go out tonight?" Bonnie asked, as we walked downstairs.

  "I don't know."

  "What else are you going to do?"

  "You know I don't like going out." I argued because she so knew how much I disliked her partying habits even though she was fun to hang out with.

  "Come on nerd. It'll be fun, 'sides you're going to turn eighteen!" Technically it was still a little over a week and I knew it was just an excuse to persuade me to go with her.

  "So? That's in a week."

  "Who cares, celebration!" she semi twirled around in her mini skirt.

  I sighed and gave into her, only because it had been a while since I had gone out but it wasn't as if I wanted to get really drunk. "Fine, I guess, but no drinking." I told her. Bonnie also had a habit of getting wasted every single time she went clubbing.

  "Sure..." she smiled.

  "No drinking Bonnie, I mean it!" I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

  She turned around and rolled her eyes, "okay, okay" she whined," fine."

  It was Friday, and that means "Party" for the average teenager, which I was still considered to be. Bonnie always partied from Friday thru Sunday while I sat in our dorm room reading or doing homework. We were allowed to leave campus on weekends but I hardly ever did, just because I was not interested in drinking or hanging out with the wrong crowd. I wasn't a nerd like Bonnie had said. There was a reason why I didn't do what "normal" people my age did. I wasn't a pretty girl either, I was five four, dark brown hair that I let grow out after I moved here. I wore hazel contacts on top of honey colored eyes.

  Anyway, I was always concentrating on homework and school, mainly because I just wanted to graduate this year and go off to college somewhere. I did have a lot of friends though, and perhaps too many, there was Mereily, Chloe, Vivienne, Dana, Miranda, Ben, Derrick, Dean, Edgar, Drew. Just to mention a few, who I've known since I moved here. I was the gossip columnist for the school paper. Yes, we had a paper, also a gossip/advice column that was part of the reason why I knew many students here. I was recently assigned to write a column on young love, a very touchy subject for me.

  Cole. He was the love of my younger days. I went out with him for several years. I had thought he was the one, but before anything could happen, my parents died. That's when our relationship started going downhill, and now I was single.

  By now, I was in my fifth class. I had just entered the twelfth grade AP English class room. It was a very different classroom then in Florida. Then again I was in a completely different country. The classrooms here were elegant. it really made you feel important. Maroon and gold were just two colors they used a lot throughout the school campus. All furnishing was very delicate, that was the reason they made us use pencils only, to prevent any damaging on the special tables and seats. The last bell rang and the rest of the students came in and sat on their assigned seats. The teacher came in next and told everyone to settle down. He announced that we were going to have a very short class, because there was a teachers meeting going on. It meant that school was going to be out three hours early...

  Time went by fast, today faster than other days. As I was walking to my dorm room, I bumped into Bonnie, Mereily, and Dana. They were all gawking at me.

  "What?" I asked irritated.

  "Clearly your outfit is up. You are not wearing that tonight." Mereily said, looking up and down at me. Mereily was the fashion police, literally. She re-did her wardrobe every three months, if that. She would rarely wear the same outfit twice. "Rich Bitch" was what most students called her, in a good way. She was very thin with hair to her shoulders, and her skin looked a light tan... she had dark hair, with blue eyes that stood out a lot. She had a reputation being daughter of the head principle and all. Everyone respected her, in a way. She was so simple and nice which didn't match her fashion attitude. She was likeable, sometimes...

  I however liked to dress casual and so I had put together a pair of jeans and a simple shirt, with my last year hoodie that I loved because it was the only comfortable one I had ever owned. And a pair of Reebok tennis shoes that I had just bought a week ago.

  Bonnie had a curvy body and she was about two inches taller than me. Her hair was long, curly and blonde but she always wore it up in a do. Then Dana, she was chunky but pretty and she dressed up all the time.

  "I wasn't." I said quietly, so no student could hear our conversation.

  "Well, we got you an outfit that's going to rock your world." Mereily was excited. I sighed then we walked to my dorm room.

  "It's only two o'clock, guys I don't have to wear that until tonight." I pointed out the big zip up bag that had clothes in it. My friends glared at me.

  "You don't understand. We're taking you out-all-day-looong." Dana stretched the last words. I stared__

  "We're leaving at four, so better get in the shower you have about an hour and a half." Bonnie added with an evil smile I recognized well.

  I didn't argue any further, I wasn't going to get out of it, I gave in and showered. Then I took the clothes out of the bag, to my surprise there were two outfits, and they weren't really provocative, one of them was a strapless silky royal blue dress that would be right above my knees. No. Second choice was more....me, a purple top with straps, it showed some skin but it was nice, and a pair of black trousers. Perfect, I had a jacket that would go with that. Quickly I fixed my hair down and blow dried it, curled the bottom and put make up on. I was ready, except for my shoes I still didn't know what shoes to wear. I walked out of the bathroom, and the girls were gone, they were probably still getting ready. I glanced at the clock and
it was late, nearly four thirty.

  I sat on my bed wondering...when I looked down and saw a birthday bag, It had a card that said:

  “Happy Birthday from your best friends enjoy’ your presents." I took out a box that was wrapped with pretty silver wrapping paper, hmm...I opened it and....shoes, that went with my outfits.

  I'll remember to thank them when I found them. The shoes were black with silver. They were gorgeous. I put them on, and just like the clothes, perfect fit. Mereily did her homework. I got my new jacket, the one that Bonnie gave me the day before, it was black, it had a design in the back that was silver, pretty but I didn't know what it was. I got my purse and headed out.

  I went down the hall where Mereily and Dana's room was. The door was slightly opened. I knocked. No answer. I peeked inside.

  "Hello? Is anybody here?" I waited and no answer. What in the world?

  "Excuse me, ma'am?" A man's voice startled me. I jumped and nearly tripped on my heels. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He was handsome. "I am Robert Townsend. I'm lost, could you help me?" I was stunned by his appearance. His jacket was almost black, but because of the bright lighting I could see his pants from the knees down. His hair was dark, combed back, it looked wet he was tall standing next to me. He wasn't skinny he looked like he had a great body.

  "Yes. Sure." I managed to answer while we stared at each other. His face was flawless, he looked my age. His eyes, they were... black.

  I passed out.

  What happened after that I still don't know.

  When I woke up, I was screaming.

  CHAPTER 2

  (Present time) Five Months Later...

  "What is it?" asked Deidre.

  "Nothing new same nightmare," I said catching my breath.

  "It's getting worse." She said worried.

  "No... I don't know." I stared down at the mattress. I did have a nightmare, but it was also true. Five months ago I had been almost captured by a man or creature as they like to call him, and then saved by my aunt Julissa and my cousin Deidre who brought me here ('here' was an old, abandoned building somewhere, away from civilization). People lived here, including us. We were hiding, hiding because creatures that did not belong in this world were taking over the planet earth. Sadly we didn't know how many humans were hiding out too. But we were about twenty and we took turns in looking for food. When we would go raiding ('raiding' was what we called it) we were prepared for the worst, if someone got caught during a raid they would be left behind. That was a main rule and only two had been caught during raids the last few months, we used to listen to news and updates on the world but after two months nothing worked the satellite was out, radio stations were dead. During our raids we discovered that 'they' didn't like heat, they could be in the daylight but not in the heat. So we imitated that.

  These creatures, we didn't know what they really were. People had speculations, calling them demons from other dimensions, monsters from the underworld. I didn't want to believe the superstitions I had never really seen them do anything out of the ordinary. I knew there was something wrong but I didn't want to get ahead of myself, Even though I had encountered one before.

  As for my friends, well I missed them, I feared that the worst had happened to them and I hadn't heard from them. I hoped they would still be alive, but I knew there was a very small chance they would.

  "Do you want me to get Cole?" Deidre asked.

  Cole Murphy. Yes, he was now sort of a boyfriend again and he was the reason why I was never again like I used to be when I lived in Florida.

  Cole had gone to my aunts and they were planning to surprise me for my birthday when everything went wrong. Now we re-united and we still had feelings for each other, we didn't bother hiding it.

  "I'm fine really." But I did want to see Cole, I felt safe with him. I looked at my watch, it was six-thirty a.m. but he would be up.

  "I insist he knows you better." She smiled.

  "Okay, I'll just get dressed and head downstairs."

  When we went on raids we tried to get a lot of clothes. We didn't have washers or dryers yet. We had to wash by hand, and nobody liked that. It was very hot in here, I put on a red tank top and white shorts, I knew I was showing a lot of skin but it was really hot in here, and I wasn't minding to dress like I used to these days. I left my hair down though, it didn't help that it was almost to my waist, I needed a haircut. But for some reason the thought made me a little upset.

  I walked downstairs, and knocked on the last door. It wasn't dark in here only at night we turned out half the lights.

  "Hey." He yawned, as he hugged me. "You're up early." He noticed. Cole was a muscle junkie, every time he had a chance to workout he would and boy was he buff, he had a wide jaw and glossy gray eyes that sometimes looked kind of blue with a golden ring around them, just dreamy.

  I didn't want to upset him by telling him about that stupid dream or nightmare, I should say. "Did I wake you up?"

  "No. Just going to take a shower," he smelled good though, but he really looked at me. "What's wrong?" His face changed, he knew me too well.

  "Nothing just had a nightmare again."

  "Come in." He said as he took my hand and pulled me in, closing the door, "how many times this week?" He looked worried.

  "Every night this week," I was shaking inside but I didn't want to admit it to myself it was just plain scary.

  "That's not normal, Mia, you need to remember what happened that day, it's the only way to get rid of these nightmares that are not right."

  "I know, but Cole don't you think I've tried don't you think I'm scared?" I felt chills talking about that. I was talking normal, though you could hear the fear in my voice.

  "I'm sorry. I know that, I'm stupid." He hugged me and I hugged him back.

  "You're not stupid," I corrected him. "You're great."

  He moved my hair out of my face. So he could see me better. He was five-eleven, but still taller than me. We started kissing .his lips were soft and warm against mine. He had one hand around my waist pulling me close, finally closing the distance between us we got on the mattress, we started breathing heavily and I realized where this was going. When he ran his hand up my thigh...I stopped him just in time. We stopped kissing and I rolled away from him.

  "I'm sorry." I said after a few quiet seconds.

  "No. I'm sorry, I thought you were ready." When he said that, it shocked me, I had no idea that I was giving him the wrong impression, I hadn't meant to. Even though I still had feelings for him it wasn't like before.

  "I'm not ready...yet," I tried not to lie. "This is not the place or time for this." I thought quickly to come up with an excuse.

  He sat up. "You should go," he didn't look at me. "I love you, I always have, always will. But you should not provoke me like that and then leave me....I'm a man and if I was a punk ass, man I would've had you no matter what. You should go now if you're not ready you shouldn't do that again." He smiled apologetically and gave me a quick hug. Yes, he was a man and he had also awaken my hormones but my heart said something else than my body did.

  "Give me some time." I whispered before I closed the door behind me.

  It was breakfast time we had a dining area in the first floor too. We built a semi kitchen, all appliances were plug-ins but they worked.

  "Good morning." Everyone was already there.

  "Good morning." I said back at them.

  "Here you go." Deidre said with her strong British accent.

  "Thanks." She gave me my breakfast and we sat down to eat in picnic tables. From where I was sitting, I could see Cole they were on the next table across from us. He was sitting with Luc who was and still is Deirdre's boyfriend I was forcing myself to swallow the scrambled eggs. But I could hear Cole talking to Luc and joking around, what made it all unusual was that he always sat with me during all meals of the day. Today of all days he chose not to and I knew why. I was trying hard to not be mad when I saw a girl about my size approach Cole's ta
ble.

  "Hey guys." She said in a very annoying voice. I couldn't tell who she was because she had her back to us but her voice was so annoying that I immediately recognized it.

  "Hey." They said smiling like little boys.

  "Cole, could I talk to you? It's important." Jewel said to him making me very jealous. We found her a month ago and she had since slept with more than half the guys here, excluding Cole and Luc.

  "Yeah, tell me." Cole said careless.

  "In private," she said loud and clear. She wore a mini skirt that if she bent over you'd see everything and I'd bet she wasn't wearing underwear. Her top was so short it could've been a sports bra, but it wasn't. Her shoes were not high heels, because no one in this place owned any, but she was wearing combat boots, trying to make her outfit look sexy. It was so not.

  "Sure." He said as he got up and followed her (not looking in my direction) to the opposite hall from his room, where her room was.

  "Do something!" Deidre said sounding upset. No one was paying attention everyone was too busy in their own conversations.

  "Like what?" I asked mad.

  "Bloody hell, Go." She pushed me and I almost fell off the bench. My balance was terrible, but I steadied myself and walked through the same hall they had gone through. I stopped at the corner when I heard their voices.

  "... but, she's not good enough for you, and I am, why do you not see that?" I felt my stomach twitching inside when I heard Jewel say that, because of course she was talking about me.

  "Jewel…. Please."

  "What?" She kissed him. I couldn't stop myself from spying, he didn't stop her instead he kissed her back.

  "See... you know you want me. Let's go in my room..." She said still kissing him and touching him in places she shouldn't. She opened the door behind him and shoved herself against him, closing the door behind them.

  That’s it! It's over!

  All because he wouldn’t wait, I cried all the way to my room, when I went in Deidre was waiting.