COLD HANDS• VOLTURI KINGS

CHAPTER NINE

A few calm nights later, Oliver sits curled up on his bed, wrapped within his many blankets. It's very late, and his room is dark. But the boy is wide awake as he laughs at something Theo says. They've been on the phone for about three hours, and conversation isn’t even close to running dry.

"And then Mike was like, 'literally you're so stupid' and I was like 'me?'and then-"  Oliver feels the urge to cut off Theo's rambling, absolutely unable to hear another word on Mike Newton.

"Oh my god, Theo, just sleep with him and be done with it." He says into his pillow, laughing at Theo's extremely verbal reaction. It's a mix of over exaggerated gags and gasps of shock.

There's rustling from his end, and Oliver can just picture the boy sitting up in disgust. "You did not just utter those words Oliver Alexander Swan. You know full well how repulsive I find him and -"

"Alright, alright, I apologize. No need to use my full name. You just gave me extremely uncomfortable deja vu." He snickers into the phone.

Theo hums and seems to lay back down, "so what were we saying before all that? Something about a hidden room in your accommodation?"

Oliver comes back to himself and sits up in a burst of excitement. "Yes! There's this secret passageway or something, and the last time I tried to explore it, this staff member told me off. I'm quite literally bursting with excitement."

"I say just do it, man. You only live once." Theo encourages brightly.

Oliver scoffs. "You did not just say YOLO. I refuse to believe that." Theo laughs and makes an embarrassed sound of dismissal.

"But do you think I should actually do it? Explore, I mean." Oliver says slowly, unsure. What if it really was some gruesome torture chamber? But he'd always been nosey, and so the curiosity blazed within him badly. It's better to just look, he supposed. Surely the kings wouldn't mind. They did say they wanted him to be at ease, after all.

"Yeah, definitely!" Theo exclaims happily. "I mean, you probably should be careful and all that, maybe go at night so the staff are asleep."

Oliver winces at his words, "Yeah, something tells me that there's always going to be someone awake here." It's strange to think that there's probably hundreds of vampires in the castle, wide awake and ready to defend their masters. He'd never given it much thought. Oliver finds that he feels no fear at all. It's more so a strange sensation of comfort.

Theo pauses to think for a moment, "Maybe just walk super confidently. No one will question you, I swear." He sounds like he's grinning, proud of his intelligent contribution. Oliver laughs.

" Y'know what? I'll try that." He says.

The conversation draws to a natural close an hour later when Theo's given a new list of chores to do. And as much as Oliver wants to be lugged around as his friend complains about the price of food and the unfairness of his mom, he tells him that he's tired and bids him goodnight.

Oliver tries to sleep. He really does. But it simply doesn't reach him. His mind is stuck on that passageway. It's a secret for a reason, Oliver knows that. But the thought of a real-life secret passageway, like something from a James Bond movie, is too tempting to pass up.

He gets up, excitement coursing through his veins. So much so that he forgets to put shoes on, he shuffles out of his room in his pajamas and his red socks with polka dots on them.

The hallway is light, and he has to blink a couple of times to adjust to it. Carefully, trying to be as quiet as possible, he walks slowly to that gorey hall he discovered on his first night.