Elysium (16 page)

I must have seen him before to have dreamt about him, but as hard as I racked my brain to remember where, I couldn’t place him. I made my way over to the front desk, knowing I should just let it go, but unable to.

“Excuse me?” A young girl with a smattering of freckles looked up at me. She pushed glasses up her nose, smiling and folding her hands in her lap.

“Yes?”

“I was wondering who that man was?” I pointed to the stained glass, doubting she would know which one I was talking about.

“Can you be more specific?”

I had seen that coming. “The one on the black stallion.” I tried to gauge where he was with my finger, but I knew I was probably way off. I looked back down at her, just in time to see her writing something down on a piece of paper for me.

“You can find out all about the Cimmerian War here.”

Cimmerian War?
I took the piece of paper and thanked her. The library was huge, and I had a hard time finding my way. Finally though, I was able to figure out the right section and eventually found a book referencing to the war she spoke of. It was an enormous brown, leather bound book. I didn’t know how old it was, but just from looking at the tattered cover, I assumed it was ancient. I carried it over to an empty table, setting it down and grimacing as the impact boomed throughout the hushed quarters. I set my book bag on the chair and slipped into the seat, running my fingers over the black ink gracing the cover. The word “Vampyre” was in the title, along with a few other words I couldn’t understand. It was all in a strange language with weird symbols. I flipped through some of the pages, not able to understand any of it, and turned back to the front of the book. I scrolled through the table of contents, able to decipher “Cimmerian”, and flipped to that section. I couldn’t read any of the pages, but there were roughly drawn pictures, which helped.

The male vampires all wore strange clothing, old fashioned and warrior like. I flipped through several more pages, about to give up, when I stopped and stared at the man who had been haunting my dreams. Again, he sat high upon a horse, a crown atop his dark head, as he held a sword in the air. It wasn’t an actual photograph, but the drawing was extremely lifelike and detailed. I had no doubt it was the same man. I moved my gaze down to the caption, at the bottom, all of it in that strange language, but his name easy to pick out. My mouth dropped open from shock.

“Rhyker Rulon.” The man that haunted my dreams stared back at me. Could it be a coincidence I had just happened to stumble upon him? I doubt it. I ran my fingers over the thick, discolored paper and then gathered my belongings and headed back towards the front desk. I set the book down, while I handed the girl my library card—thanks to Violet’s help.

“Do you have any books on this material in English?” The girl looked at me before typing something in her computer.

“We have one book on the Cimmerian War in English.” She held up her finger in the universal sign for “hold on” and took off. I leaned against the counter and looked at the stained glass again. It was as if those blood red eyes could see into my soul, like he was staring right at me. It was like one of those pictures you see in a museum, the one that follows you no matter where you go. It was creepy.

“Is this what you were looking for?”

I glanced back down, surprised it had only taken her a few minutes to find what I needed. I looked at the book, this one much more modern than the tattered and worn brown one. I checked out the English version, heading back to my room, filled with excitement to see if I could dissect my dreams and find out why Rhyker Rulon was haunting me.

****

I sat on my bed twenty minutes later, the book I checked out from the library in front of me, as I flipped through pages. So far I had learned that the Cimmerian War, also known as the Dark War, had been fought in 700 A.D. It supposedly was the biggest war the Arcane had fought, led by the vampire leader, Rhyker Rulon, in his quest for world domination. According to the book, Rhyker succeeded in defeating his enemies, but it was their high governing Warlock, Cetayo, that he was really after. The vampire leader not only wanted world domination, but he also wanted eternal life. This confused me at first, because from what I had read and heard in my time at the Manor, vampires were immortal. It wasn’t until I read later on I realized Rhyker wanted to use Cetayo to make sure he
never
died. Even though the Arcane were blessed with immortality, death was still possible.

Rhyker wanted his immortality, but he also wanted to eliminate the chance one of his enemies would kill him. Cetayo refused Rhyker’s demands, and instead, cursed the warrior to forever live in the
Land of Shadow and Death. I had to flip to the glossary to find out what that was, and I was surprised to see it was similar to the hell I had been taught about while growing up. Cetayo hadn’t stopped there though, cursing Rhyker to walk amongst the living, but to be unseen forever. It was cryptic and creepy.

His people had believed him to be a great and prosperous warrior, but in truth, he was evil and was a very selfish man. He might have acted as if he cared for his people, but his one and only goal was to be the most powerful being on the planet, having all bow before him as their supreme ruler. I read with growing interest, only to find out at the end of this amazing story that it was considered a fable. For ages, everyone had seen Rhyker as a great, albeit dangerous ruler. He had been victorious in war countless times, until his death, during the Cimmerian War.

I pushed the book aside, my mind reeling from all the new information I learned. Why was I dreaming about a dead King? I looked at the clock, seeing it was just about time for me to go to the clinic. Cadeon had found me shortly after class and had asked if I would be willing to come by, so they could run some blood tests. I hadn’t objected because, well, Cadeon was going to be there. Sure, he had been stopping by several times a day to give me the blood, but it wasn’t more than a passing hello.

When I wasn’t at school—and if I was being honest with myself—when I
was
at school, I thought about him, constantly. I didn’t know what it was about him, but he just did something to me.

I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my jacket, making my way towards the clinic with steady steps. This was the first time Mikhail wanted to do tests since I had come to the Manor. I was scared, true, but I was also anxious. I wanted to find out what the deal with me was. I wanted to know why I was like this and why I didn’t have the powers all vampires possessed.

The air was frigid when I stepped outside, and I wrapped my coat tighter around me. I made my way quickly down the cobblestone path, the trees lining the walkway lit up and leading my way. The clinic’s automatic doors slid open on their own accord, and I stepped inside, the heat instantly thawing me, as I waved at Halle and made my way towards Mikhail’s office.

The door was ajar, so I gave a light knock and pushed it open. Mikhail and Cadeon were huddled over a microscope and a stack of papers. They both looked up as I entered, smiles on their faces as they greeted me.

“Thank you for coming, Meadow.”

“No problem.” I took my coat off and Cadeon held his hand out for it. I gave it to him, our fingers brushing against each other. Even the briefest and smallest of touches had my heart pounding erratically, excitedly.

“This should only take a few minutes.”

Mikhail walked over with a syringe in hand as he gestured for me to have a seat. “What exactly do you need from me again?” I knew he needed blood, but he had several needles, as well as his stethoscope and other medical equipment on a tray.

“I’m going to take venous and arterial blood samples to see if there are any abnormalities. I don’t have any reason to believe there are, but like we discussed earlier, you are a hybrid and we have never come across anything as special as you.” He set his needles on the tray next to me, as he rolled up his sleeves. “I also want to take your vitals and see how things are progressing. Just let me know when you’re ready.”

I looked between the two of them, my gaze lingering on Cadeon for a moment before I looked back at Mikhail and nodded.

I gingerly slipped my coat on over my bandaged arm, struggling, as the gauze kept getting caught on the edge of my jacket. Cadeon was near me and chuckled softly, as he helped me, my cheeks heating at his close proximity. He looked down, as he fixed my collar, and smiled at me. We held gazes for a moment, time seeming to stop as everything else disappeared, leaving only the two of us. Just as quickly as it happened, it stopped.

“I want to show you something.”

He held his hand out to me and waited for me to take it. I stared at his outstretched offering a little longer than necessary, probably making myself look like an ass, before I finally slipped my hand into his much bigger one. His skin was so warm and smooth. I had always thought a vampire’s skin was ice cold, the undead not having a heartbeat and unable to pump blood through their body to create heat. I was wrong I realized as he tightened his hand around mine and led me outside.

I didn’t know where we were going, but I soon understood he was taking us to a building catty-corner to another building, off to the side of the Manor. I couldn’t see much, since there really wasn’t any lighting leading the way.

He led me to the front of the building, where he pulled out a small silver key from his pocket and slipped it into the lock. He opened the door, the smell of sweet humid earth filling my senses before I even stepped inside. I didn’t move, but when he gave a gentle tug on my hand, I tentatively followed him in. The door shut quietly behind me, and I looked around the room, my eyes big and my mouth open. It was a massive greenhouse.

The walls and ceiling were glass, the moonlight filtering through it and illuminating all of the exotic and colorful flowers. I let go of his hand and walked over to the wall, running my fingers along the warm, smooth glass.

“It isn’t cold.”

“No. The greenhouse is temperature controlled. Even though it’s ten degrees outside, it’s always eighty in here.”

I looked at the Manor, wondering if anyone inside could see me. “Won’t we get in trouble?”

“The greenhouse is situated so it is blocked by the landscaping, as well as the other building.”

I looked over at him, my hand still on the glass.

“You trust me, don’t you, Meadow?”

We looked at each other for a moment before I nodded. “Yes, I trust you, Cadeon.” I did too, even though I had not known him for very long, I felt this intense connection with him, my feelings so heightened I knew he wouldn’t let anything bad happen. I might have been naïve, but I was going with my gut on this one.

He smiled and started to lead me through the stone path curving beneath the heavy foliage and exotic flowers. The air was honeyed with the smell of the flowers, the temperature humid and a little too warm for my liking. He stopped in front of this beautiful waterfall, carved right out of Redstone, the trickling of the water sounding hypnotic and calming. I sat on the edge of the base, looking up at the glass ceiling and watching as the clouds shrouded the moon temporarily.

Cadeon let go of my hand and walked over to a giant bush covered with thick white buds. I watched him snap off a stem and walk back over to me, sitting next to me as he held the delicate looking flower.

He pointed at the moon which had started to peek through the clouds. “Watch the flower.”

I looked down at the closed bud, wondering exactly what I was supposed to be watching for. As the moonlight started to bathe everything in a silvery hue, my mouth opened and my eyes widened. Right before me, the flower opened, as if the light from the moon activated it and it awoke. It opened wide as Cadeon held it, my eyes jumping from the flower to his face and then back to the flower.

“Oh my.” I said it more to myself, not able to keep in the childlike wonder which I knew I projected. Once the petals unfolded, I was able to see all the beautiful and vibrant colors they held. The tips of the petals were jagged, but didn’t take away from the splendid beauty of the flower. Cadeon held it out to me and I took it, turning it in my hand so I could see every angle of the blossom.

“What is this?” I had never seen this type of flower before. It looked exotic and rare. I looked at Cadeon, who was gazing at me intently.

“It is called
Lantera Dianthisis
. It’s one of the hybrids Mikhail and I have been creating.” He ran his hand over the back of his neck, the gesture making him look as if he were nervous. “The majority of these flowers are night blooming, so the students and faculty can enjoy them.”

I didn’t even attempt to repeat the word, Latin not one of my strong subjects. “You and Mikhail created these flowers?” I was amazed. I looked at the flower and then back at Cadeon, swallowing when I noticed how he was looking at me. It was how I looked at him—with longing.

“We did.”

My heart started beating that predictable rhythm, whenever he looked at me. Time seemed to stand still, and I wondered if he was going to kiss me. He lifted his hand and gently caressed my cheek. I was so nervous I couldn’t even fully enjoy that simple touch, as much as I would have liked.

“You are so beautiful, Meadow.”

I started to feel dizzy from his words. Never had anyone called me beautiful, and here was this gorgeous and intelligent guy, giving me incredible flowers and telling me what I longed to hear. I got so wrapped up in the moment, I found myself leaning forward, yearning for a kiss. I’d never actually experienced one, as embarrassing as that was for me to admit. I wanted my first time to be with Cadeon.