What Lies Beneath the Water

Commencement (21)

*Dahlia's POV*

When we got back to the school, I snapped my fingers to conjure my ID and tickets. I had bought two before Santino and I went on a break and didn't have the heart to just get rid of it, thankfully. Because I was going to walk into the ball held in the ballroom on the third floor with my best friend, and we were going to have fun. I was determined to have fun.

I handed Silas his ticket and we made our way to the ballroom while he talked about his ex-boyfriend in Alvalr. I knew it wasn't going to work out from the beginning seeing as the poor guy was just too bland for Silas. Silas was like coral reef, thriving with life and color. You can't just put a coral reef with a brown paper bag. It doesn't work.

After handing our tickets to the guard up front, we walked into the room full of tables to eat at surrounding the large dance floor. I initially thought that we could sit anywhere until I saw a huge sign that read, "YOU MUST SIT WITH YOUR ROOMMATES FOR ATTENDANCE PURPOSES!!!"

"Congratulations, Silas, you get to meet my human roommate." Annoyance was dripping out of my mouth, and Silas looked at me.

"They put you with a human? Are they idiots?"

"Not they, your mom!" I said, and he took a gasp. "I need to speak with mother dearest! What the hell is wrong with her!"

I looked around the room for Aqua and found her sitting at a table with Kalen Jalloh and Tyrus Víla from my war magic class taught by Uncle Vladimir. They were polite and gifted in the class to say the least, so I respected them in the very least.

"Who's the lavender haired boy at two o'clock?" I could see a smile creeping onto his face.

"Oh-no! No, you are not. We have to sit with them for dinner, and you are not allowed to flirt with Tyrus." I immediately shut him down. If he flirted with Tyrus, that would only make our table that much more awkward.

"Oh so his name is Tyrus? Hm." I started digging my nails into his arm, and he said, "That's not going to work. I am immune to your antics." He stated with a smile as we approached the table.

We sat down at the table and Silas had this smirk on his face while he was looking at Tyrus. Tyrus smiled and said, "I don't believe that I have met you before. My name is Tyrus Víla, close confidant to the Fairy Queen."

Tyrus extended his hand out to Silas, and he took it as he said, "Prince Silas Michaelis of the Vampire Kingdom. It's a pleasure to meet you." I kicked his leg when he held Tyrus's gaze for a little too long, which caused Silas to accidentally squeeze Tyrus's hand.

"Whoa, you've got a tight grip there." There was a hint of amusement in Tyrus's voice, and Silas responded by winking.

Aqua introduced herself next, and Silas said, "I know this may sound weird, but have I met you before? You look so familiar, and I don't know from where." I could hear her heartbeat quicken for just a moment.

"I don't think so. I've lived back home in Greece for my entire life, and I do not recall such. But it is a pleasure to meet you, nonetheless." She smiled, and it felt diplomatic, almost too diplomatic for a human. It sounded like she had said the words a thousand times prior.

Before I could question Aqua on it, servers came out and served us all of our food which was pasta primavera and a caprese salad. It was nothing too big, but it catered to all palates and was very delicious in its simplicity.

After an hour of eating and Silas and Tyrus talking, Professor Okeah came behind Aqua and told her that it was time. She quickly reapplied her lipstick and grabbed the violin case that she had underneath her table. She pulled out the violin and bow and walked over to where the stage and microphone was.

"Hello, for those of you who don't know, my name is Aqua Gray and I was asked by Professors Michaelis and Sinclair to write a song to open the dance floor. This song goes out to anyone you love." I smiled and took a deep breath and started playing.

I may not like Aqua an incredible amount, but she was truly talented in playing the violin. Some might even say that her playing rivals most mermaids and mermen, who are the musicians of the supernatural world. It was quite easy to see why Uncle Vladimir and Professor Sinclair chose her to perform. It was absolutely breathtaking, and I wanted nothing more than to join the couples on the dancefloor with Santino.

I could feel the tears coming down my cheeks and quickly tapped them away before I said to Silas, "If you could please excuse me, I need to get some air." Silas's eyes were filled with worry, but he still let me go outside. I didn't want to burden him, so when I saw Tyrus dragging him out on the dancefloor, I smiled.

I flashed my ID to get out and ran down three flights of stairs over to the garden room. It was filled with greenery all the way up to the very ceiling. The flowers were almost neon due to how vibrant they were. No doubt there were some fairies maintaining the gardens.

I sat down near the bed of dahlias, taking in the beauty of them all. They reminded me of Santino and how he always brought them for me because they were my favorite flower. I think he gave me a bouquet of white dahlias once because he said, "I know you think that you are a black dahlia, but I only think of you as light as the white dahlias." I had rolled my eyes at the romantic gesture but secretly was glad that he said it. It was really cute.

One of the last times that we were together in my room and he brought me flowers, he had promised that he would start bringing Aqua white dahlias as a thank you for dealing with me. I can't recall if he actually fell through with the promise, but it was still a sweet gesture. He was always just sweet.

I grabbed one of the white dahlias and cut it off using my nail and a little bit of magic, but the moment that I held it with both of my hands, my vision blurred over. I was standing with blood over my mouth and watched as Aqua got stabbed right in the stomach to protect me. I immediately cut my wrist and tried to heal her wound as quickly as possible before someone else came.

I tried to see more, but I was brought back to reality when I heard, "Well boys, look what we have here, the little vampire princess." He grabbed me by my neck and said, "Where is she! Where is the Mermaid Princess!"

"I don't know! I've never even met her!"

"Guess we are going to have to do this the hard way."

***COMMENT & VOTE***