Elysium (12 page)

“Oh, it won’t be bad. You already know Nik, and he is in a lot of our classes, so it will be awesome.”

“Hi, Nik. It is okay to call you Nik?” I said the nickname Violet had used, a little unsure if that would be too weird, seeing as we had just met.

“That’s cool. How are you? You look nice in your uniform.”

I picked at my skirt and muttered my thanks in embarrassment. I hated it when people noticed me. I was self-conscious of myself and never knew how to take a compliment. Violet had on almost the same uniform I had, Nik wearing navy slacks and a white polo with the dragon emblem in the upper left hand corner of his chest.

“Ready? Class doesn’t start until seven, but I thought I would show you around.”

“Mind if I tag along?”

I looked at Nik, as he asked the question, shaking my head and smiling. “I don’t mind.”

Violet led us outside, and the cold air hit me in the face like a sledgehammer. We headed off to left and walked a few minutes, until we saw a one story stone house. Candles were lit in the only two windows, the building more like a cottage than where classes were held. We walked inside, the warm air immediately surrounding me. We had only been outside for a few minutes, but with the Colorado weather, it only took seconds to freeze you.

“This isn’t the school, is it?” I looked round the tiny room.

“No, this is just the check in.” There was laughter in Violet’s voice as she answered me, and a big smile on Nik’s face.

A wooden desk sat off in the corner, a fireplace to the side of that and a few black couches across from it. A woman with graying hair looked up from a stack of papers and smiled.

“Good evening, children.” The woman slid over a notebook and a pen. I watched and followed suit as Nik and Violet wrote their names and headed off to a door I hadn’t noticed before. As we went through the door, a small hallway greeted us, an elevator on one side and a set of descending stone stairs on the other.

I didn’t know why the questions popped into my mind, but I looked behind me and stared at the old woman. “I thought Arcanes didn’t age? She looks kind of old.”

“That was Ms. Paryk. She isn’t an Arcane. She’s one of the humans working for the Manor.” Violet spoke as she started to head down the stairs.

Nik cleared his throat and spoke before she took the second step. “I’m all for being fit and all, but it’s still kind of early, so can we just take the elevator?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the pained expression on his face. He looked like he was in really good shape, but as I looked at the endless stairs, I also shared his non-enthusiasm over the trip down them. Violet let out a frustrated breath and walked back towards us, pushing the button on the wall next to the elevator. I vaguely heard her muttering something about elevators breaking all the time, getting stuck in between floors, and crashing. Nik heard it too, and we looked at each other smiling.

The elevator doors opened soundlessly, and we all entered. The doors closed, and I leaned against the back wall, my palms sweating as my heart beat hard against my ribs. As the elevator descended, I knew we were going to the very bowels of the Earth.
At least, that’s what it felt like to me. Even though we were in the elevator, the air seemed to become chilled and the pressure felt like it was increasing. I had never liked small confined places, and with two other people in the elevator, it was like a tight, suffocating box.

“Hey, are you okay?” Nik spoke with concern in his voice, and I saw the same emotion reflected in Violet’s face.

“I’m fine. I just don’t like small places.”

“We’re almost there.”

As Violet spoke those words, I suddenly felt better, happy and excited. I knew Violet was making me feel this way, and I gave her an appreciative smile. The elevator made a slight dinging noise, and the doors slid open. We walked out of the elevator and into a large room.

“This is the common room. See how there are several hallways branching off?” I nodded and watched as Violet pointed out the four hallways. “Each one leads off to different classrooms, except the last one on the right. That one leads to the cafeteria, auditorium, natatorium, and other facilities. Most of our classes will be in hall A.” She pointed to the first hallway on the left. Someone called her name, and she ran over to them.

Another person called Nik, but he just waved and stayed by my side. “You can go. I’ll be fine by myself.” Honestly, I didn’t want to be by myself though because I felt kind of exposed.

“Nah, it’s cool. I see those guys all the time. You look kind of freaked out anyway.”

“Just a little.” We smiled at each other, and he pointed to one of the stone benches against the wall. I followed him, settling onto the cold surface and watching the people around me.  Most of them huddled in little cliques, not any different than what I had seen back at my other school. The elevator made the distinct dinging noise again, and I looked over at it. Out walked Dorian and his crew, Porscha wrapped around him like they were attached at the hip. His eyes searched around the room and then settled on me, a big smile spreading across his face.

“Meadow, the vampire. How are you this evening?” He seemed genuinely pleased to see me, but I had a weird feeling about him.

I could see disgust all over Porsche’s face and knew she hated me, for the interest her boyfriend was blatantly showing in me. The worst part of it all was I wasn’t doing anything; it was totally her boyfriend doing it all. I smiled, not wanting to seem rude. Even though I didn’t feel comfortable around Dorian, he had shown me nothing but kindness. Dorian’s eyes flickered over to Nik, disinterest written all over his face. Nik seemed unconcerned, his body relaxed, his arms crossed lazily across his chest. He still wore the Yankees cap, the bill pulled forward so that his eyes were shadowed. I had a feeling he had purposely done that to avoid looking at Dorian.

“What are your classes? Maybe we have some of the same.”

“I’m not sure.” It wasn’t a lie. I really had no idea what my classes were. I knew they were with Violet, but I was still going in blind. He stared at me for several moments, making me feel really uncomfortable. I was thankful when he gave one last smile and left. Porscha stared at me as they walked off, her long blonde hair brushing her back and her dull hazel eyes so focused on me that the hairs on my arms stood up.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s like that with any girl Dorian talks to. Congratulations though, you get to be his flavor of the month.”

I could hear the teasing tone in Nik’s voice, but there was also something else underlying that. I just couldn’t tell what it was. I looked up as I heard Violet approach, her musical voice calling for us.

“Ready? I want to show you a few of the activity rooms before class starts.”

I nodded and followed her, stopping when I saw Nik still sitting on the bench. “Hey, are you coming with us?” He smiled at me and shook his head.

“I’m just gonna hang with some of my friends for a little bit. I’ll catch up with you in class though. See ya.”

I watched him walk over to a group of guys, each one of them patting Nik on the back like they hadn’t seen him in ages. Violet hadn’t waited, and she was halfway up the hall. I ran to catch up with her. “Where are we going?”

“I want to show you my favorite room.” She led us down the hallway, talking about anything and everything.

I looked around, taking in the beauty of it all. The floor was a white polished stone—marble maybe—the walls rough-looking cobblestone. Built-in sconces were placed at intervals, the light not as harsh as fluorescents, but just as strong. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, if vampires are the only Arcanes that can’t tolerate sunlight, then why is it classes are at night and everyone attends?”

“Well, vampires aren’t the only ones who can’t tolerate sunlight. They are the only ones who fry from it, but there are other Arcane who can’t handle ultraviolet rays. Some, like demons for example, can go out in the sun, but it drains their energy and makes them vulnerable. Between you and me,” she stopped and looked around, her voice going soft, “I say it’s because they are descendants of fallen angels, and because of that, they can’t handle pure light.”

I stared at her, not knowing what to say. I hadn’t read the complete manual for each type of Arcane, and all of the information she told me was new and exciting. “Really?” She started to laugh, and my face fell from excitement to annoyance. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her.

“Oh stop. Only half of that was a lie. I mean, they
are
descendants of fallen angels, and who knows; maybe that’s why the light drains them. I just made the whole pure light thing up. Don’t you think it sounds mysterious?” She laughed. “Anyway, Arcanes are nocturnal by nature, not to be confused with naughty by nature.” She started to laugh again at her own joke, but then sobered up and looked sad. Her bottom lip popped out, and as I stared at her, my irritation faded. “Didn’t your last school teach you all of this?”

I hated lying, but like usual, I hadn’t gotten the all clear from Mikhail to spill everything. I didn’t even know if I would if he said it was all right to. “My school was different.” I left it at that. I quickly changed the subject. “
Just show me the stupid room.” There was no anger in my statement, and I could tell Violet knew that. She smiled and started to walk again, pointing out the cafeteria as we passed it, the natatorium, the game room, and about a dozen other rooms. I was shocked to see how big this area was. “Why do they have the school underground?”

“For protection from the sun and … other things.”

I wanted to ask what “other things” she was talking about, but I didn’t want her to think I knew absolutely nothing, which I didn’t, but still. “I guess that makes sense. How far are we down anyway?”

“I don’t know for sure, maybe one hundred feet. Don’t quote me on that though. Ah, here we are.”

We stopped in front of a set of double doors, the wood so polished I saw my reflection.

“This is my favorite room.” She smiled and pushed the doors open.

I followed her in, the room pitch black, and I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. Suddenly the whole room lit up, and I looked around in awe. It looked like a dance studio or something, polished pine wood floors, a stage on one side, and blue mats stacked on the other side. What really had my attention was the black grand piano in the corner—its very own spotlight showcasing it in all its glory.

“Is that what I think it is?” I walked over to the concert grand piano and ran my fingers over the smooth, black surface. It was at least nine feet of beautiful craftsmanship, a big difference from the
Francis Bacon
I pretended to use back home.

“What, a piano?” Violet said with sarcasm in her voice.

I gave her a look and sat down on the bench, running my fingers across the exposed keys.

“Do you play?”

I nodded, gently pressing down on the keys. The sound that came out of it was a beautiful melody of notes.

“So play something.” She walked over and sat down next to me.

“You really want to hear something?” She nodded, the look she gave me telling me that she wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t. Since I had moved in with Marie, I hadn’t played—the school’s piano so much of a novelty I could only stare. I looked back down at the keys, the cool ivory like silk under my fingers. “What do you want to hear?”

“I don’t know, surprise me.”

I started to play chopsticks when Violet elbowed me in the ribs. “No, something cool. Play some crazy note work.” I smiled and stopped playing, knowing exactly what I should play.

I closed my eyes and let my fingers dance over the keys, a smile covering my lips as the notes of Beethoven flowed out. I stopped playing about five minutes into it, opened my eyes, and looked over at Violet.

She stared at me with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open. “That was beautiful What was it?”

“Beethoven’s
Moonlight Sonata
. It’s my favorite. It’s been forever since I played it. I forgot how beautiful the song was.”

“I have a great idea!” Violet clapped her hands together, a huge smile on her face. “I’m going to perform at the Winter Solstice celebration. You should play my backup music!”

I was shaking my head before she was even done. “No way. I’m not even that good.”

“Are you kidding me? That was excellent. Please?” She looked at me with big eyes, batting her eyelashes and putting on the most pathetic expression.

I really didn’t want to do it, but how could I turn down a face like that? “I’ll think about it. When is this celebration?”

“Next weekend.”

“What? No way, I can’t get any kind of song ready in that short of time.”

“It’s not a big deal. You can totally play this moonlight song. I hadn’t picked a song anyway, and that one is perfect. It’s not like anyone will see you anyway.
You’ll be behind the piano and off to the side.”

I felt slightly relieved by that, but could I really do it? Have all those people watching me, critiquing my playing? What if I played horribly? I had never played in front of anyone, well aside from the piano instructors and my foster families, but they didn’t really count. Violet actually wanted me to play in front of the whole school.
At least, I assumed it was the whole school. “It’s in front of everyone?”