Mote of Darkness

Chapter 21

I sit up in bed panting, and my eyes dart around the dimly lit room. I grip the blanket tight around me. Just another nightmare I tell myself. I'm not screaming this time, but tears steadily fall down my eyes. I wipe them away. The creature had Sarah's ankle and was drowning her underwater. I clawed and clawed at the thing and it wouldn't let go. On Sarah's face was pure terror.

I push the blankets off me and walk to the dark hallway outside my room. I didn't turn any of the lights walking over here, and the flickering flames from the fireplace are too dim to cast a glow in the halls.

But I just need to know if my friends are okay. I know it was a nightmare. It wasn't real, but... maybe a shadow is out here, and they can tell me if my friends are okay. "Aerig?" I whisper softly. Maybe he isn't here, but if he is I can ask.

A man's voice fills the black hallway, "He's on Earth right now, what do you need Brixlee?"

My eyes search the darkness for the source of the voice. They land on Zorin sitting on the hallway floor, just in front of his door. Why is he sitting outside of his room instead of in it? "I just wanted to make sure my friends are still safe." I whisper.  

My eyes can barely make out Zorin's figure on the floor. He leans against the wall with one leg outstretched and the other bent.

"Yes, Brixlee. They are fine. Probably sleeping, as you should be." The leftover panic from the nightmare fades out of me at his words. Sarah and Penny are safe.

I let out a breath of relief. "Thank you for letting me know." I shift my weight to go back inside my room, and an odd twinge of sadness hits me. My eyebrows squint in confusion at the emotion. It feels odd to my sleepy mind. I pause and ask "Zorin why are you outside of your room instead of sleeping?"

He stays silent for a long moment then sighs and says, "Your usual guard is busy."

"Is the castle not safe?"

"It is, but if you decided to roam the halls or world outside, it'd be better if you had someone to make sure you don't stumble into anything dangerous."

I shake my head, "You should sleep. I can stay in my room for a few hours so no one has to follow me."

He stays silent, making no move to get up.

I sigh "Zorin, I will be fine for a couple hours. It's not like your room is far anyways." I walk over to him and offer my hand to help him up. His warm hand is in mine instantly, and he stands.

"Alright, Brixlee."

"Zorin, if it's easier, I can just go back to Earth... I don't want to inconvenience you." His eyes widen at my words. In the darkness, I can just barely make out his features, but as normal, his glowing eyes are as clear as ever.

"You are not an inconvenience."

I shake my head, "But I am if someone has to constantly keep an eye on me."

He sighs, "For the shadows, watching you is as easy and thoughtless as breathing. They can observe many places at once without putting in any real effort, especially in Celestaria."

"So no one is wasting their whole day by watching me?"

"That would be correct."

I blink my sleepy eyes, and say, "You couldn't have done the same and just kept an eye on this door from afar?"

He shrugs, "If I was a shadow that would be simple."

I stifle a yawn and rub my eyes.

Zorin sighs, "Brix, your friends are safe. I promise. If you like, I can take you to visit them the day after tomorrow. For now, you should get some rest."

The adrenaline rush from my nightmare has completely faded by now. The anxiety and fear is gone. I have no idea what time it is, but judging from the crickets I can hear from the window behind me and the darkness, I should really be asleep right now. "If I visit them, that could risk the plan of luring my sister though. Penny says the vampires would follow my scent."

"It wouldn't necessarily risk your plan, I could throw up some magical barriers for a few minutes and make it as if you were never there."

I nod my head, "Okay. Goodnight Zorin."

Moments before my door clicks shut, Zorin says softly, "Goodnight, Brixlee darling." At his last word my heart rebels and does a flutter. No. I will not think about that.

But still, my body is hyper aware of each step I take through the sitting area and towards the bed. I force my mind away from the topic it wants to think about. I need to think about anything else and not the man just outside my doorway. Not how the top buttons of his shirt were lazily undone, revealing a few inches of skin that is normally covered, or how his hair was straighter, as if he ran his hand through it many times. Or how his voice was a bit huskier than normal...

I spot my book on the coffee table as I pass. Yes I can distract myself with that. I should visit the library tomorrow. I could look for books on everything. The one book I took on vampires should be plenty on that topic. After reading some of that one earlier tonight, I feel like a vampire expert in the making. I doubt I will need another book on vampires. 'The Vampire Guide' is six hundred pages of every detail of a vampire's existence. I'm about eighty pages through it. Sadly, it is a bit dull and slow to read. It's more of an information dump than something I can speed through, but the information does seem useful.

If I visit the library again, I could learn about other creatures too. I saw so many different mythical creatures in town. I'm sure there's books on them too. Like the lamia. It's definitely not a unicorn or dragon that everyone would know what it is. I could learn about all the creatures in Celestaria, and maybe figure out what ones are hidden on Earth that I never knew about. Maybe there's even books on shadows. Or maybe I could figure out what Zorin is. He did say he wasn't human, but... No. Not that topic. I tug the blankets back around me and curl up in the bed. Sleep quickly takes me before my mind wanders in the direction it's been avoiding for a while now.