Moonless Night

Chapter 11

  The week flew by in a blur. Literally. The day after I accepted Aliss' invitation to her house, it began to snow. I was really surprised at first. I wasn't used to snow. I came from LA, so I was constantly in the powerful view of the sun and it's unbearable heat. Here, in Soronts, it's the opposite. Constantly out of the view of the sun, always cloudy year around, and always cold and wet. Only a few hours of sunlight graced us a week.

  In the fall, I thought that was as cold as it would get, but I should've expected more. The winter was twice as cold since the sun didn't come out once from behind thick, white clouds. Strong winds blew continuously from dawn til dusk. It couldn't have gotten worse.

  But then it snowed. It wasn't a small fluttering of white frozen water, but a freaking blizzard. In minutes after its initial start, there was already over an inch of the stuff. Thankfully, it slowed and stopped at only half a foot.

  Before I knew it, it was December 24th, my birthday. It came shockingly fast. Just the day before, I went shopping with Jesse in a city a few miles away. I gave her the excuse it was for the Winter Ball at school on Christmas night.

  Jesse, as expected, loved shopping. She was all the more excited when Sam asked her to go to it with him. She was so happy I thought she'd crack her face smiling so much. And she didn't seem to notice her ex fuming over it. Jonathan was so mad he asked out Sara, who accepted.

  Megan and Jackson were going together of course. I wasn't going at all. It's not like I wasn't asked, because I was, by some cute juniors and seniors, but I wasn't interested. I knew how to dance, from the annoying dance lessons my mother forced, er, took me to as a child, but I stopped when I figured out I could pretend to not have any talent.

  Mother was fine with that, after I got to a certain level, and let me occupy myself with books.

  Anyway, I bought an expensive dress with a tiny fraction of the fortune Mother and Father left us. It was quite a bit considering they'd been saving it since before we were born. I wouldn't expect less from the jobs they had though.

  I bought a strapless, emerald silk dress that was tight around the torso and waist with a white sash. The skirt had flowing layers of varying shades of green. The layers stopped just above my knees, and I wore black stockings underneath. I would need the extra warmth with the cold outside. But as Aliss said, I dressed pretty.

  Around my neck is wore a silver necklace with a small alexandrite resting on my chest. It happened to be my favorite color, in a way, and represented a promise I made years ago to one of my rare friends. On my left wrist, I wore a blue topaz diamond bracelet. Also my favorite color, it represented a lie, if you could call it that, from another old friend. They were the only jewelry I had and they were important.

  It was five minutes till as I slipped on my dark calf-length boots. I would never wear heels, they'd limit my mobility if It were to run away. Which also explains the loose layers that allowed my legs to move freely.

  At the moment, I was completely alone. Earlier that day Cole came over to celebrate with Evan and I. Evan couldn't that night because he was busy. I made a homemade cake and Cole brought a huge bucket of vanilla ice-cream. No one else came, it was just a small party of three. Evan and I were officially seventeen-year-olds, the same age as Cole until he was eighteen in a few months.

  That ended two hours ago. Now I stood anxiously, not that I'd ever admit that to anyone, at the window watching for my ride. A ride Aliss hadn't informed me about in the slightest. It probably wasn't Aliss and Kaspian in her silver Porsche, not from the mischievous look she gave me before.

  So who could it be? 

  I'd be finding out in a moment. A black Ferrari pulled up and the door opened. I turned away before I could see who got out. I knew who drove that car, but I was hoping I was wrong.