Carmilla: Moonlight's Guide to Nocturnal Creatures

CHAPTER 3: BLACK CAN APPEAR WHITE WHEN THE LIGHT IS BLINDING

"Nothing is as it seems. Black can appear white when the light is blinding but white loses all luster at the faintest sign of darkness." - Chistopher Pike, Evil Thirst (The Last Vampire #5)

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CHAPTER 3

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A little over a year ago...homeschooling graduation.

It was a hot summer, which would be great if it weren't for the fact my Dad refused to let me see the light of day. I sure felt it, locked in the house. The sun is a leading cause of cancer, apparently. Although, I think smoking seems more dangerous, which I would never do. The closest thing I've done to smoking was a fake cigarette I had bought with my food allowance, I'd receive for the summer fair when I was much younger. I was with a rebellious boy, which would have given my Dad a heart attack if he'd seen who I was with, never mind the fake cigarettes.

The boy had a reputation.

We had been both twelve sitting on a wooden bench, under tall pine trees. Sporting a paper fitted with dirt that came out in puffs of clouds when we blew our hot breath through the filter. There was a red paper at the end of the cigarette that appeared to glow, from the way it reflected the light when it moved giving the illusion of a cherry.

The only reason I even knew what a cherry was is from all the Noirs I've read. Sometimes, I feel like smoking is the one attribute I'm missing to become a professional detective besides a trench coat, fedora and a gloved hand so as my cigarette doesn't stain my fingers of course.
That had been then, now I was homeschooled, and wasn't as daring to break the rules my father had decided to enforce. It was risky business, that I didn't care as much to indulge. So, I decided to become creative.

The heat was becoming so bothersome today, that many purposely well placed exasperations, whenever my father was near, became absolutely crucial to achieve the mission of  PROJECTESCAPETHEHOUSE. The mission was considered complete once he signaled the white flag and grabbed the car keys. I let him guide the way to the car, and we buckled in. He hadn't said a word, but I already knew we were on our way to get ice cream.

The ice cream was melting so fast, that I had to lick as fast as possible so as it wouldn't drip down the cone and onto my fingers. That had earned me a lecture about speedily eating while walking is a choking hazard. Ice cream. A choking hazard. Seriously?

I returned from eating ice cream soup to the last year of homeschooling. My test was about to be ready and sent off to the Educational Department. "Graduation" required me to visit the mailbox often to receive the individual packets that was needed to complete each course.
The mail had brochures, waiting for me to read, whenever I opened the little tab to peer inside. College had been something I'd been dreaming of for a while now. Now, I had brochures being sent to me. It was almost as magical as when Harry had received his Hogwarts invitations. Only one had caught my eye. It had multi colors of pink and purple as it's decorations. My favorite colors that had said "Silas University" in big print.

I had already prepared to go to some other colleges and even put my email and account info into their numerous websites to receive newsletters from them every week or so. That's what made it seem so normal at first. They must have gotten my info somehow from these newsletter prescriptions.

Testing for my homeschooling had finally been completed. Summer break was on its way. A summer full of regrets and thoughts on my future, most likely, but a break nonetheless.
The brochures came again the day I finished my test and put it in the mail box to ship it off. It looked different this time. The decoration wasn't pink and purple, but different shades of colors when it turned in the light. It had floral decorations and a glint of some sort of University symbol in rainbow colors. The top of the symbol had a helmet from a knight's armor and at the bottom it read Et Doborabit Omnia, the school's motto, which I didn't give too much thought into its meaning.