Until Dawn

Chapter Seven

                                                                  Camryn

I slapped Castor across the head when I felt it.

“You prick, what did you do that for?” I demanded, fuming.

“She deserved it for the stunt she pulled yesterday.”

“You can’t show a girl her dead mother laughing at her!”

My brother and I were on the other side of our home, probably a ten minute walk away from our house guest. Our family living room was spacious, devoid of life; mother and father had gone to do some council business, and out younger siblings were in classes with their nanny, Mag. It was strangely quiet. Ivan and Felix had left with Uncle Dolton and Aunt Vanessa, orders from my father because it was for their ‘own safety’. Castor and I had bets that they’d be back in two weeks; Felix wasn’t one to stay away from any given female, let alone a human one. Dawn enticed to him already, and after her challenge against him this morning, he was a goner since his belt always gave way to rational thought.

He was a shit prince, to be honest, when it came to women.

The fire was roaring, one of the maids having put it in after the bitterly cold temperatures were determined that morning. Castor and I took the opportunity to embrace the peace, but unfortunately my older brother and heir had his own ideas of relaxing.

I could feel Dawn’s emotions like they were my own sometimes, and frankly she wasn’t a happy lady. She was downright near distraught, actually. I couldn’t help but pity her; she’d lost her mother not a year before, but I couldn’t decipher how she died for the memory was locked in the deepest confinements of her mind. I didn’t want to pry. Instead I got the feeling of her grief, still fresh beneath that hard skin she wore. She also worried for her father, and I made a mental note to speak to mother about whether we can have someone keep tabs on him for her.

Castor rolled his eyes to himself as he grinned. “Cerise is dealing with her, it’ll give her something to do for a while.”

“And you wonder why the humans think of us as cruel.” I said, my tone dripping with venom I hadn’t intended to unleash. Castor looked at me, his pale blue eyes sharp, and Dawn’s emotions quickly waned out due to the intensity of his silent fury.

“Cam, she wanted to kill you yesterday, she deserves punishment.” he said coldly, his usually cool voice on the brink of cracking with anger.

“She’s frightened, Castor. We’ve stolen her from her home, treated her unkindly—”

“May I remind you, dear sister, that she is here for your benefit?” he said, cutting me off. “She doesn’t matter, you do. Treating her unkindly will do no harm to you. She committed an act of treason yesterday, and under any other circumstance she would have been killed for it without question.”

“I understand that, but there was something wrong. I felt it. Those weren’t emotions she was in control of... she woke up this morning almost hating herself for it.” I met his gaze, silencing whatever comment he was about to throw back. “You forget that she is human, Cas. Human. We can’t push her any further than what we have, or she’ll probably lose it. So, I’ll ask you nicely; leave her mind and emotions alone.”

He stared at me, his anger residing to that of surprise. He has a very lazy posture, my brother, for he slouched back in the arm chair he was sat in. I was on the floor, settled happily by the fire warming my left side. He stroked his jaw, a replica of father’s, as he regarded me with a fond smile.

“You know, sometimes I wonder if you’re a Darkling at all.”  he mused. I grinned at him and outstretched my arms, Mark free. He laughed. “Aside from that.”

 “Maybe I’m actually adopted.” I joked. He chuckled, but we fell silent. I wasn’t adopted, we both knew that. In fact, I was as pure as the Lathairs got, but I was very ill. A Darkling without Marks shouldn’t exist, and now that I’ve been alive for sixteen years was a miracle. I should have died upon birth, but I didn’t. I should have died in my cot one night, but I didn’t. I should have died, and yet here I am. But I was dying, truthfully. I lacked the healthy glow of my family, and the abilities every Darkling had were very weak in my system. Feeling Castor’s emotions now were a draining effort.

And that was why Dawn Colchester was here; to save me.

“Everything will be okay, Cam.” my brother told me softly, leaning down to squeeze my shoulder. I smiled my thanks, wishing I could believe him. Yes, Dawn was here to save me, but how could she if some foreign force wanted her to kill me?

Using what little energy I had left, the warmth of the fire sending my eyes droopy, I sought out Dawn through the household, presumably safe in her room again with the door locked. She was still unconscious, her mind blank, but the racing of her heart told me she was enduring something in the darkness she was trapped in.

The connection I felt to Dawn was stronger than what I felt with the others. She had a light aura, a candle in the shadows in order to guide me the way home. It was hard to get into her mind, but her emotions were easily felt; she wore them on her sleeve. Right now her fear poisoned the air like a gas leak, flowing into my own system with a shiver as it followed the cord connecting us. Pity overcoming me, I sent a cloud of calm her way, envisioning it being embedded into her head and her dreams, softer than a feather and as soothing as a massage. I felt her relax, her heart rate dropping to a more regular beat. I smiled, unlatching myself from her again once satisfied.

Castor was smirking at me. “What?” I said.

“You were always the caring one out of us,” he said. “one of the good ones.”

I licked my lips, smiling but saying nothing. Yeah, I made myself to look that way, but then he had no idea about Talon and our shenanigans in my bedroom every other night. Heat bubbled in my lower abdomen uncomfortable as images of him flickered through my mind, and I quickly bottled them up before Castor could catch them. No one could know about Talon; not only would he lose his head, but I would probably lose my right as the second heir to the throne.

I shivered despite the heat of the fire. May the Lord give me strength, since I had very little left right about now.

I excused myself from Castor’s company, insisting that I needed a lie down. He demanded if I was okay like the protective older brother that he was, but I assured him I was just tired. In truth I was, for Dawn’s turmoil of emotions were exhausting to endure.

I reached my room, elegant and cluttered with books and magazines. As usual my bed was made, the pillows puffed, covers practically ironed wit not a single crease in sight. I always felt guilt about dishevelling my bed, because the maids tried so hard to make everything perfect. It was a battle just to insist of having them leave my novels alone in their mismatched, lopsided towers of the floor near my bed, yet they never left a single item of clothing on show, nor was a single speck of dust ever spotted.

How did Felix convince them to leave his room alone? That place looked like a bomb had hit it!

I sighed and collapsed into my mattress, face buried in the pillows. I could feel sleep taking me away almost instantly, pulling me under the sea of consciousness and into the abyss of dreams. I welcomed it, since my night’s sleep had been disastrous the night before due to unwanted nightmare and coughing fits. I dived into the sea of sleep, swimming down, down, down until I could see nor hear anything more.

And then I found myself dreaming of Dawn Colchester, on her knees with blood on her hands, my own body lying on the ground beside her. I wanted to scream, but I had already drowned beyond waking.