The Darkness Series: Book one, The Beginning

Chapter 4: Secrets and Love

          The door opened when the gears finished ticking into place, Sassy walks inside. How did I miss the door in the side of my closet?

          “Come on Axel.” She holds out her hand and I take it we started to walk down the hallway where at the end of the dimly lit hall was a silver ladder leading up to a panel where you have to push open the top to get inside.

          “Want me to go first, you have a dress on.” She nods and I start to climb, I reached the hatch and push it open the lights cut on and I climb inside onto a soft carpet. I stand in awe at the sight, two levels of floors and a smaller crystal chandelier stringing down in many different lengths. “Come on up, it’s cool up here.” I jump onto one of the red couches; it was so soft like it was filled with a cloud that was created to perfection. Sassy peeks up and climbs onto the white rug.

          “This is beautiful.” She stands up and brushes off her white dress still smudged with the dirt and dust from the garbage chute.

          “If my dad made this, it must be a trap or something.” I look around and see a basketball court on the roof of the hotel, I know we are on the roof due to the fact I can see the dome.  The sound of popcorn popping and arcade games fill the room, this place doesn’t seem that bad. Sassy walks up the stairs to the second part of the room and walks out onto the balcony and holds onto one of the crystals.

          “These are beautiful Axel, come up here.” She waves down to me with a smile, her hair waving in front of her face. I climb the stairs and walk out to Sassy and the chandelier.

          “It’s a nice view from here.” I look out the window and see the rest of the city lights and the dome shining the light out to the world calling people to their place to sleep. I walk down and over to the arcade and put a coin into one of the games and start to make the frog jump across the river, “This game is pretty easy.”  The frog jumped onto a log and fell in.

          “Yea super easy, you fell on the first level.” Sassy laughed out sitting on one of the couches with her legs crossed, the game made a weird beeping sound and the screen read “Game Over!” with three skulls bouncing around the screen.

          “Yea…” I whimper out and go to sit next to you on the couch; it was perfect, not too hard and not too soft. She looked over to me with a smile and flipped her hair to one side.

          “Have you been around the entire hotel? You know seen everything it has?” Sassy asked with a smile as wide as a whale.

          “No just in the lobby, garbage chute, and thirtieth floor.” I look up at the small chandelier and smile, maybe dad isn’t so bad after all, maybe he has his nice days.

          “I could show you come on.” Something about Sassy was different she just had eyes that could lure me into anything. A deep blue that had a hint of mystery and sadness, I wonder what she has gone through? She pulled me up from the couch and took me over to the hole in the floor that led down to my room.

          “Ladies first.” I extend my hand out to help her down the ladder and then climb down myself. The trap door slams shut and I jump down and Sassy is waiting by the closet door.

          “Come on slow poke.” She smirked and walked toward the door and then into the hallway. How does Sassy know so much about the hotel, I don’t even know everything about it.

          “Sassy wait.” I pull her to a stop and say, “How do you know so much about this hotel?” her face saddens and she looks down.

          “I work here, it was the only way my family could afford it. I asked for a job as a maid and your father said yes. Now I am trying to help pay off my family’s room.” I realized that not everyone here was rich like the people on the thirtieth floor, and that the few people on the first five floors are the workers.

          “Really? I could lend you some mon-“she pressed her finger to my mouth.

          “No its fine, it is kind of fun.” She pulled me along to the elevator and pressed the one. As we shot down to the main floor a few more people emerged from my mothers store wearing her clothes, almost everyone in the lobby was wearing a suit, or a dress.

          “Sassy where are we going?” I look around to the laughing crowds and some of the butlers passing out drinks. She said nothing to me and kept walking until we stood in front of a large wooden door with a brass doorknob.

          “Look inside and see.” She pushed me forward until I stand almost close enough to smell the wood. I twisted the cold handle and walked inside a room with tile floors and everything was shiny, even the crystal blue water. I didn’t even know that we had a pool. I saw no one but lifeguards and a few men and women lounging in the chairs.

          “This looks amazing.” I stepped closer to the pool and crouched down close enough so I could touch the water. I dipped my hand in and was instantly hit with warm bathtub temperature water. A small ripple expanded to the other side of the pool that looked endless, I never realized how big the hotel was. “Where are we going now Sassy?” I walked over to a rack of fresh white towels and wipe off my hands.

          “Follow me to the library.” She extended her hand and led me to another door with a brass doorknob and pushed it open. A few people were sitting down reading books, and the woman at the desk with the gray hair, she must have been getting close to eighty five, wrote something down in a few of the books piled on her desk.

          “I have never seen so many books.” I smiled in awe and Sassy walked over to one of the stacks and picked up one called, “Never Truly Alone.” The cover was black with silver writing, and the pages were a tawny color.

          “I love this series, there are four books.” Her smile lit up the room and I couldn’t help but stare at her. I picked up a book called, “Call Me Beautiful.” I made an awkward face; it must be a girl’s book. I tossed it to the side and the librarian glared at me. I give her a sorry face and walk around until I was in a back corner of the library, Sassy followed close behind. I pulled down a book and flipped through the pages, a classic book about fairy tales and myths. I could never get over how in those stories everyone had a happy ending. Sassy peeked over my shoulder and pointed to a picture of a prince and princess.

          “This story is my favorite, always with a happy ending.” I turned around and look at her, her blonde hair flowing behind her and one sticking in front of her face. I closed the book and sat it on the shelf, I moved the hair from her face and rested my hand on her cheek, it was warm and soft like a pillow. She started to blush and then I did what I thought I would never do on the first day of meeting someone and pulled her head towards mine and our lips made contact, her soft pink lips against my rough pale ones. Sassy did not pull away but wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back, I stumbled back and hit my head on the shelf and closed my eyes. I pulled back and looked at Sassy’s bright red cheeks and smiled.

          “Im sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” I spoke softly life I was trying not to wake someone, and she took a step back.

          “Ohh well I guess that’s ok.” Her smile softened and her cheeks became paler and then she handed me a piece of paper. “Don’t read this until a later date.” Her smile started to lift again but not to what it was after the kiss. I nodded and tucked the paper into my pocket.

          “On with the tour?” I smirk but she looks away.

          “Maybe some other time Axel, its getting late.”