The Cloaks of Twilight

Chapter 1-Tessa

I pulled the blanket over my shivering body, trying to cover myself from the cold and chilly air. The wind was howling strongly and blew against my curtains. I had wanted to shut the windows but it would have been too stuffy if I had done so. It was not easy, living alone in this huge house left by my aunt who had taken care of me her entire life. She had left all her inheritances and her wealth behind and luckily it was abundant and accessible such that I could use it easily for my own survival. Under the blanket, in the darkness, my eyes darted around trying to make sense of the darkness. I knew it was going to be a long night and I was not exhausted at all. However, I knew that if I wanted to make it to school the next day, I would need my proper 7 hours of rest that were precious to me. It had never been so cold or in such darkness ever. The darkest night that I had remembered was when my aunt has passed on and when my Brother, Sebastian, had held me tight to comfort me from my grief. I thought it was my aunt's death that was the worst thing that could have happened to me. It was not the fact that she died that gave me horror but the fact that she was murdered that horrified me. I was worried and in my presence again, several months later after recouping our losses, Sebastian was murdered. Not before he had thrown a note to me, the last remnant and most meaningful and memory-provoking remnant I had of him. And thinking of his scream as he tried to throw that note to me and the blood that poured from an open wound in his heart, I closed my eyes to realise that that was the only scene that I would see. In my darkest and coldest night...

I pulled myself into a sitting position, not reluctantly, but with much alert as I inhaled and exhaled quickly taking huge gasps of air as I tried to fathom my nightmare. It was true that you dreamt of whatever you thought of before sleeping but never had I thought any of my nightmares would be so vivid. That letter that he threw to me... It was written in some weird language one that I never bothered to decipher. And yet I knew there was some deep meaning to it. But it couldn't have been what he had said it was in my dreams.

I tossed my pyjamas onto the floor and threw on my usual jeans and t-shirt. I tied my hair into a messy bun and rushed out of the house to find Simon's car parked idly in front of the pavement. My lips curled into a smile and as I walked towards the car, there was a bounce in my every step. I clicked the door open and sat comfortably on the seat.

"Ready to go, my Friend?"he asked sweetly as he started up the car. It was seldom that Simon was able to pick me up like this so I appreciated this kind gesture. I knew why he would choose today of all days to drop me off at the academy.

"How did you survive in that storm yesterday? I mean it was pretty cold," simon said casually as he pressed the accelerator with his bare foot. He focused on the road, waiting nonchalantly for an answer.

"Well, it was kind of cold, very cold in fact. I was too scared to even shut the windows!" I exclaimed.

"Scared? Or lazy?" He teased as he halted the car in front of the school. I hit him lightly on the shoulder and shut the door and he drove off to park his car. I entered the premises after flashing my card at the metallic detector which beeped loudly at me. I stood at the gate and after ten minutes, Simon appeared with a vexed look on his face.

"What happened?" I asked as he flashed his card at the metallic detector.

"Oh nothing... Accidentally hit a car. Lol." I stared hard at him and had no reason to argue against that statement. He looked really vexed and apprehensive but I did not bother to press on the issue further. people were slowly strolling into the school and upon reaching our lockers, Simon and I took out our necessary books and threw our bags inside. My mind had drifted away and I was thinking about my nightmare of Sebastian. I bit hard on my lip and did not even realise. Simon nudged me out of my reverie and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sup, whatcha thinkin' About?" He asked. As soon as I opened my mouth to lie to him, his attention had been diverted. He was back with that vexed face and seemed to be staring at something although I could not understand what it was. He walked a few steps ahead and I had to speed up my pace to keep up with him. He suddenly took a left turn when he was supposed to take a right towards his class while I continued straight on.

"Hey where ya going?" I asked with sincerity and concern but he dismissed me with a wave. He continued towards whatever he was following or staring at, and I shrugged my shoulders. I sighed and walked towards my Art class.

The teacher droned on and on but nothing went to my head. Something about Simon's odd behaviour did not add up and honestly, I was slightly worried for him. He looked as if he saw something that he could not believe or something that he knew was there but could not explain. I was just coming up with crazy theories and when my head started throbbing, I laid my head on the table and closed my eyes.

When the Lunch bell rang, I stood up and swiftly glided around my table and out of the door. I made the bad decision of going to check if Simon was still in his class. When he wasn't, I face-palmed myself and walked to the cafeteria. Holding my books tightly, I surveyed the area, searching for his trademark brown and dishevelled hair and his classic black Tshirt. Normally, I would have found him almost instantly but for some strange reason, my eyes did not seem to work as well as I thought it would. Raising an eyebrow, I walked through the crowd of hungry students and searched frantically for Simon. Not being able to find it him, I tossed my books onto an empty table in the corner and sat down and started playing with my phone.

I spent the entire lunch period alone and hungry. I would have eaten but a part of my heart that belonged to Simon was worried. My heart leapt everytime I saw someone enter, hoping it was Simon. But, my hope depleted gradually.