Chapter 2: Awakening of an unknown
It was so cold. The cold wind touched her bare face and made her body shiver. The shivering was insane. Like a tremor. Her head was shaking on her neck, but the helmet she was wearing helped a lot. The pace was incredible for the girl behind him.
The ground loomed white and unyielding below them, and Lauren squeezed her eyes shut. She bit her lip, keeping her eyes squeezed firmly shut even as her heart threatened to burst out of her chest at any moment. 'If this is the end, I don't need to see it coming,' she thought.
The thought distracted her and had her wondering just what her mom and dad might have seen coming. He had forgotten she was behind him, and by the time she shut down that line of thinking, Zaiden shuddered to a halt.
"We're here," he said in his silken voice, a grin plastered on his face. 'He is making fun of me again!' Lauren yelled in her mind without looking at him.
She knew exactly how it felt. Right now, even her toes were trembling. Lauren peeled her eyes open slowly, resisting the urge to pat herself down to make sure she was really still in one piece. Then she pushed herself and jumped down, praying the whole time that her knees would support her when she hit the ground.
They did, just barely.
After taking a few seconds to make sure she was not going to crumble and to pull the brand-new coat more tightly around her because it was literally about minus degrees out here. Lauren took a breath when she felt the floor beneath her feet. She thought she was flying; he was an incredible racer.
To her surprise, when she looked up. He was no longer there. Where? When? She didn't hear any noise from the bike starting, moving, or anything else. She shook her head and murmured something in her breath before looking ahead of her.
The scorching frost went down into her lungs like a knife. She coughed, gasped, shifted her weight from foot to foot, and batted her hands together. Her gloved hands make a muffled, ghostly sound.
Lauren took a deep breath and saw a black wrought-iron double gate that had never closed before.
Máville—an enigmatic place that had garnered its fair share of rumours Whispers suggested that it possessed a gathering of natural powers intent on eradicating human society.
Tales of murders and historical references painted the mountainous region as "The Land of Flesh and Fire," a moniker derived from the fiery inferno that had engulfed the land and claimed lives. These grim tales, Lauren thought, were nothing but superstitious exaggerations.
The thought occurred to her that maybe it would be better if she didn't know what was going on around her; maybe then everything would be as she wanted it to be, even if things wouldn't necessarily turn out as desired.
A bitter smile curled her lips at the idea. She knew better than to hope for that. There would never be a place where she could belong completely, where she could truly be herself. Unless she chose to belong to the shadows…
I just don't know if it's right for me, she thought to herself, to live with my uncle.
Lauren felt bad because she didn't want to go there and stay with them, but at the same time, she wanted to experience more independence than she had.
It was all so completely ridiculous.
Since when has Laurence Anna Warner been scared of meeting people? Since when has she been scared of anything?
The University of Máville was a mysterious place. She never heard about the university from anyone except her uncle, aunt, and cousin. She even googled the location a thousand times, but there was no website, no article, or even a sign of such an institute.
That's why she was here—to get the answers she was looking for. Not minding the consequences of what she had done, what was waiting for her, and what she would do. It's all about the next—future. What is important right now was for her to get her answers.
There was something about the mystery of it all that drew her in, and made her want to unravel the secrets that lay hidden beneath the surface.
She looked ahead of her, as a huge, mysterious place called Máville was looking over at her. Either welcoming her or warning her to go back.
"Good luck on your first day," she wished, patting herself on the shoulder. She took the first step with a warm smile on her face, thinking of a new beginning in her life, not knowing where she had just walked into with each stride she took as an unknown devil also walked behind her.
After wishing herself well, Lauren exited the gate. She didn't seem to realize that she had just arrived somewhere where everything from her name to her sneakers was unwelcome. She was busy with her bag, looking for something.
But she did seem to realize she was being watched. Feeling the sensation stays more than a second, she looked up but she saw no one there.
It was strange because she felt eyes on her. It's the nature of humans, especially women, to easily recognize watching eyes nearby.
In a room where the lights were turned off, the spot was perfect to see the whole university from here and outside of it.
A young man was standing in the window, holding an expensive glass of blood in his left hand.
"Is that her?" Noah asked, standing behind him as he stared at him and then at the girl who had just entered through the gates with Zaiden. They had acknowledged the girl's arrival.
Elliott looked down at the girl entering with Zaiden and said, "Yes."
"She is so foolish," he chuckled in distress. "What do you think?" Noah chimed in.
"She isn't foolish, but she is made." It was in the way her shoulders slumped, in the way she looked at where Zaiden had disappeared, and in the way she looked at the building like they were the biggest obstacle she had ever seen in her life.
"Why are you still here? Don't you want to meet her or somehow welcome her in a beautiful or romantic way? Like how those lovers do." Noah frowned while Elliot just kept staring out. "You have waited for this day." he finished this line in a low voice.
"I would prefer to stay away from her for the time being." After a pause, he continued, "I warned Harrison, but he didn't listen to me. Staying next to me is dangerous for her."
"So, are you going to stay away from her?" Noah was determined to know exactly what was he planning to do? Will he be able to stay away from the girl he has been waiting for so long?
"How do you know what is lurking beside her? Care to share?" A question came from someone who was not available a minute ago in the room and now was seated on the sofa. The door didn't opened nor a single sound was made by the boy. He just entered like magic in the air.
"Stop entering in my room without permission!" Elliott snapped without looking at the source because he knew who it was.
"Oh, my dear brother." Zaiden groaned loudly as if he was so tired. But in reality he was just bored and sat more comfortably; almost lying on the sofa.
"Do you sense something unusual on your way?" Noah choosed to be question.
"Yes." This time Elliott was also forced to look at him and waited for him to continue.
They had specially sent him to fetch the girl. They were curious to know if, by any chance, evilness had been awakened by her arrival.
"What?" Noah asked right away while Elliott had a concerned look on his handsome face.
"Trees looked longer than before, and it was snowing a lot when I was waiting for her, but then it stopped when she...what?" Zaiden asked when he saw their dumbfounded faces glaring at him. He sighed and spoke.
"No— nothing at all." Zaiden informed, showing his hands in a giving-up gesture.
"What a relief," remarked Noah, and he rubbed his hands on his face to soothe the tension.
Elliott shot him a look as Zaiden grabbed a thermos of blood from the mini refrigerator at the bottom of one of his bookcases.
Elliot wasn't able to hold more packs of blood for himself. And here he just entered and started.
checking his refrigerator.
And just like in the second, Zaiden ran out of the room with that pack. Noah laughed at the silly act of their younger friend, while Elliott did nothing but gulp down the remaining drink in his glass.
He stared at her figure as she walked into the building with determination and something new in her hands. He unknowingly gave her a shake with a smile and wished for her safety in his heart.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone