Falling Grace

Chapter Five

                While they were waiting for Kora’s saviors to arrive, they decided to throw her in a dark, and as far as she could tell, empty room. Alone, she sat in front of the door shivering. Besides it being cold, she was scared out of her wits. Just today she had witnessed her boyfriend’s corpse. She covered her face as she thought about his parents’ reactions. His mother would be heart broken. She would see him and scream, fall to the floor on her knees… Kora sobbed softly. Michael had nothing to do with this. He never did anything to deserve to die. And so horribly. She remembered the way he stared back at her with those lifeless eyes and she shuddered, taking in a ragged breath.

                How long had they been dating? Three years, she counted. They were set up to go to the same college as well; it wasn’t just some high school sweetheart deal with them. She’d never wanted anybody else; he was the only one for her. Now she had no one to lean on, no shoulder to cry on, and no one to confess to. She never trusted anyone as much as she’d trusted Michael. She wished so badly that it had all just been a dream. That she would wake up anytime now and everything would be fine. He would call her just like any other day and they would go to the movies together. Her soft sobs turned into loud, pathetic cries of helplessness.

                Not an hour later, the door opened. Kora looked up into the dim light, blinking away more tears. “Come on,” a male’s voice commanded. She didn’t recognize this one. Slowly, she stood and stumbled to the door. She wasn’t in any rush to die, even when she didn’t have her significant other; she couldn’t give up just yet. “We’ll be going to a room you haven’t visited yet,” he informed her. He didn’t have any particular hateful tone to his voice, but it wasn’t kind either. Almost neutral.

                She stayed silent anyway and tried not to trip over rocks that jutted out from the cave floor. She heard the male huff from behind her, obviously annoyed. She wondered what race he was, since he didn’t seem to show much hate toward her. Or it could have possibly just been pity. Either way, she didn’t want it. She just wanted to wake up and be gone from this miserable place.

                “You’ll be okay,” the male finally said.

                “Is that so I don’t try to run away screaming?” Kora asked. His voice, she realized, sounded young. “What’s your name?”

                “Why do you care?”

                “I don’t. I’m just trying to make conversation,” she said in her defense. There were a few moments of silence. “Well?”

                “Calanon,” he finally answered.

                “That’s a nice name,” Kora commented.

                “Yeah.” Calanon sounded like he felt awkward somehow. Was it because he was making conversation with a human? “You’re Miss Sky’s friend,” he said after another awkward moment of silence.

                “Miss Sky?” Kora asked.

                “Oh, Sahale,” Calanon quickly corrected himself.

                “Yeah, I’m Kora. How do you know Sahale?” Kora figured that maybe everyone called her Miss Sky except for Kane. Maybe it was a sign of respect.

                There was a long pause before Calanon finally exhaled. “She took me in when I was just a kid.” That was a shock.

                “So you’re not a vampire,” Kora said knowingly. Unless it was a myth that you have to be turned to be a vampire and you don’t age.