Chapter 23
It was the middle of April before I finally managed to get in to see Adrian. It was on a Saturday, and most of the teachers were enjoying their time off. I went over to the north wing at around nine o'clock, which was an hour before curfew. There were a couple of vampires in the common room playing a card game, but other than them I didn't see anyone there. I was quite surprised when I reached Adrian's room and there was no one waiting outside the door for him to try to escape. I thought perhaps he wasn't there, but I knocked on the door anyway. Adrian opened the door a minute later, and his face brightened right away. He looked out in the hallway from side to side to see if there was anyone else there. When he saw no one he stepped aside to let me in.
"Do you mind if I lock the door?" he asked. "I don't want anyone barging in and finding you here."
"Nah, go ahead," I said. I flopped down on an unused bed and looked around the room. It had dark green wallpaper and dark wood furniture, and there was only one light on in the room that cast a soft yellow glow, leaving the whole room looking dark and cosy. There hardly seemed to be any personal items, so the room looked quite neat. "Nice room," I commented.
"I guess, but there isn't much to do in here," Adrian said, sitting down on the bed beside the one I was on, so we were facing each other. "It's really good to see you, even if you won't be able to stay long." He looked his alarm clock.
I shrugged. "I haven't been too good at following the rules since I got here. There's no point in starting now."
Adrian laughed. "I guess that's one way of looking at things," he said. "As long as you don't get in trouble because of me."
"I'm not worried. I doubt they'd kick me out of school even if I did get caught. You'd probably get in more trouble than I would."
"That would depend on what time it was when they caught us. How long do you plan on staying?"
"It's your room, so that's your choice," I said.
"Well, then I guess you're staying forever," Adrian joked.
"I can live with that." I stretched out on the bed so I could rest my head on the pillow, but I continued to face Adrian, and he continued to watch me.
"How have you been doing?" I asked softly.
"I'm fine," he said. "I still feel a little trapped in here, but it could be worse. At least I have you here with me now." He grinned and winked at me, and I couldn't help but smile back.
"Are they ever going to let you out of here?" I asked.
"If my good behaviour continues, they plan on moving me back to my old room in about two weeks. I asked if I could stay in here, but they didn't think it would be a good idea. My therapist thinks being around other people might actually be good for me." He rolled his eyes. From what he had told me in Calculus, I could tell he didn't like his therapist. He didn't talk to her at all, which only succeeded in driving her crazy, he had said.
"Does that mean you can go where you want again soon?"
"Yes, which is all I look forward to. I miss being able to go outside. I feel safer there, out in the open."
"Why? Do you just like-"
Adrian interrupted me by holding up his hand. I stopped talking, and I realized that he was listening to something. We both heard the soft footsteps in the hall.
"Damn," Adrian whispered. He went over to the door and looked through the keyhole. He frowned and went back over to his bed. "Mr. Dawes is on hallway duty tonight, and he's the worst one," he said quietly. He got up again and went to his mp3 player, which was on his bedside table and attached to speakers. He turned the music on and turned it up.
"Don't you think he'll find that suspicious?" I asked quietly.
"Not at all. I have music on all the time," he said. Instead of going back to his bed, he came over to the one I was on and sat down beside me. "We'll still have to talk quietly, but at least he shouldn't hear us."
"I guess it will be a little difficult for me to leave now," I observed.
"Then you'll have to stay," Adrian said. He took my hand in his and began tracing the lines of my palm.
"Do they actually have any meaning?" I wondered.
"The lines in your palm? No, only fake psychics use those."
"Hey, I could totally become a psychic. I doubt anyone would take me seriously though."
"What do you really want to do when you finish school?" Adrian asked. "Do you have any plans?"
"None whatsoever," I told him. "I've never had any money, and I have no parents to support me, so I don't think I'll be able to go to university. I really don't even know where I'm going to go when I'm done here. I have no home to go back to."
"I have a home, but I have no intention of going back there. My father was a pack leader, but he was killed, and now my mother hates me because I remind her of him. She couldn't wait to send me off to school."
"That almost sounds worse than having no parents," I said. "Do you know where you're going to go?"
"When I was younger I wanted to be a cop, but I have a criminal record, so they might not accept me. I kind of want to travel, but I don't have enough money. I'll probably end up working in construction or something."
"I doubt that. Good thing we've got lots of time to decide."
"Why don't you do something with music?" Adrian asked me. "I've never heard anyone play like you do."
"You're not the first one to ask. I just like playing my own music, but to have a serious career I'd have to play someone else's, and I don't want to do that."
"Can you sing?"
"Yeah, I can sing, but I never do it in public."
"Well, if you can sing and play amazing music, then you can have a career in music without having to play other people's music. If you could write your own songs, do you think you could do it?"
"I don't know," I said honestly. "It's a possibility, but even if I wanted to do it there's no guarantee that I'd be able to. It's a competitive business."
"That's true," Adrian said. He continued to trace the lines of my palm. "How are your arms?" he asked.
"They've been healed for a long time," I told him. "I still have scars, but they aren't that bad."
"Can I see?"
I nodded. I was wearing a sweater with only a bra on underneath. I tried to roll my sleeves up all the way, but they would only go about halfway up my arms. I had to settle for taking off my sweater instead. The thin white lines left from Adrian's claws were still visible. He ran his fingers along them, which gave me a chill, but his eyes wandered elsewhere. I blushed and pulled my sweater over my chest. Adrian chuckled.
"Need I remind you that I've already seen a lot more of you than that?" he said. I only blushed more at the reminder. When we'd been in the woods at night all of my clothes had been burnt off. He'd even helped me get dressed after. Of course, I'd seen him naked more times than he'd seen me. I reminded him of that, and he laughed at me.
"I'm kind of used to that," he said. "When you're a werewolf, people see you naked all the time."
"Well, I'm not a werewolf," I said, and I pulled my sweater back on.
There was a loud knock at the door. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and hid behind the door, though I didn't close it. Adrian got up and turned the music off. He glanced over at where I was, and he went to answer the door. He opened it slightly and stuck his head out.
"It's past curfew," I heard Mr. Dawes say. "Time to turn off that music and get to bed."
"Yes, sir," Adrian said, and he shut the door. He locked it again and came over to the bathroom. "We're going to have to be really quiet," he whispered. "We might as well go to bed."
"Yeah, it's kind of hard to talk like this," I whispered back.
"I'm going to change, so I need to get in the bathroom."
"Okay, I'll be out here."
Adrian grabbed his pyjamas and went into the bathroom. I took my shoes off, but that was pretty much all I could do. When Adrian was finished in the bathroom I w
ent in and washed my face. When I came out, Adrian held out a big t-shirt.
"You might not want to sleep in your clothes. You can wear this if you want," he whispered.
I took the shirt and went back to the bathroom to change. When I put it on it only went to mid-thigh, but it covered me well enough. I folded up my clothes to wear them in the morning and went back to the bedroom. Adrian was already lying down in his bed, but his eyes were open. He watched me as I walked over. Instead of going to the bed beside his, I went to his. He moved over to make room for me, and I laid down beside him. He pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me, which made me feel safe.
"Goodnight," he whispered in my ear.
I turned my head so I could kiss him. "Goodnight," I said back, and I snuggled in closer. I could feel his warmth, and it made me feel content. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.
I woke up the next morning feeling as if I was waking from a dream, but I couldn't remember dreaming. I expected to feel Adrian beside me, but when I rolled over he wasn't there. Confused, I looked around the room until I found him. He was sitting on the bed beside the one I was on. He was already showered and dressed, and he was reading a book, though he looked over at me when he heard me move. He smiled.
"You're a really sound sleeper," he said quietly.
"Is there still someone outside?" I asked, just as quietly.
"Yes. I think Victor is out there now, but there's a good chance he'll be leaving soon. You might want to get dressed if you want to leave."
I did get dressed, but leaving wasn't quite that simple. Another teacher came to take Victor's place before he left, which left no time in between for me to escape. Adrian left the room to get breakfast while I hid in the bathroom, and the teacher followed him, so I was able to get out then. I went to my room before going to get breakfast myself.
When I got there, I was ambushed by my roommates, who wanted to know where I had been all night.
"I was really worried!" Heather exclaimed once I got into the room. "If you're going to sneak out, you should at least give us a little warning!"
"Sorry. It wasn't really planned," I told her.
They kept asking me where I was, but I dodged the question and went to get cleaned up. When I was by myself, I couldn't help smiling.
Michael found me in the cafeteria and sat with me. He looked very happy, and I asked him why.
"Light's Kingdom is playing on Friday at seven o'clock in the ballroom," he announced. "I always get excited when we're doing a show. We've been rehearsing at every chance we get."
"That's great," I said. "I'll try to be there. Do you play your own songs, or do you do covers?"
"We play our own music. Patrick does most of the writing. We only play songs by other people when we're practicing, mostly just to test our skills. Don't worry; we've improved a lot since the last time you heard us play."
"You weren't that bad," I said kindly. "I can't wait to hear you play your own music."
"Hey Mike!" I heard Jack say, and he sat down beside me. "I heard your band is playing soon."
"We are," he confirmed. "We're playing on Friday."
The two of them ended up in an involved conversation about the bands they liked. I liked some of the same ones, but I mostly just listened to them talk. They ended up in an argument about which band was best, which I found amusing. Jack tended to listen to older rock songs, and Michael liked metal. When they brought me into the argument, I had to side with Michael. At least he was actually a musician.
I spent some time in the library that afternoon looking for books about the god's cities, mostly just out of curiosity. They sounded like really interesting places, and they were supposed to be very peaceful. I wondered how hard it would be to get to one of them. I found a book that described Nevali in detail, and it even had a drawing done by someone who had been there. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. It was harder to find information about Asantis. In a way it was more isolated than Nevali because it was surrounded by water, although being surrounded by desert sounded quite isolated as well. I wasn't sure which place sounded more interesting. I was sure that the castle on Asantis must be magnificent.
The following week went by slowly. I didn't get to see Adrian again except in class, but we made plans to meet in his room on Saturday. He said he would leave the room at exactly seven o'clock to get food, and I could sneak in then.
My teachers were starting to treat me more normally, which was probably because they were finally realizing that I was normal. It was a relief to me because I didn't feel like they were expecting as much from me, and I felt more relaxed.