Guardians: The Last Elder

Chapter 7: Twilight has been the One Great Lie. I'm hurt.

"She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did."
~ Markus Zusak (The Book Thief)

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I was sitting on one of the couch on the lobby, staring up at the bust of a bearded guy, my fingers absently tracing over the jade necklace. I had almost forgotten it was still there in my pocket until now - just one necklace to hold on to her.

After I got tired of staring at the bust, I returned my gaze to the fire burning on the hearth. It was dancing cheerfully in bright yellow and orange colours, making me feel lonelier than ever. The tears have long since dried and so has my energy. I couldn't seem to feel anything now. Or maybe I was just too shocked and numb.

The others had given up trying to talk to me. Others as in Mr Blackwell, Vanessa and Kace - the only people I knew here. Oh and Meredith, she came by too. They kept on asking me questions like 'Are you okay?', 'Do you need anything?', 'Can you please talk to us?'

But when I only mumbled incoherent replies, Mr Blackwell decided I needed some time alone. While the others, they just threw me pitying looks. Josh, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Good.

"Hey, Ava?" Vanessa's voice came from the doorway of the lobby. I immediately pocketed the necklace so that it was out of her view. For some reason, I didn't want her to see it. She was standing there unsurely. I looked at her questioningly. "It's, uh, quite late. Everyone's already had dinner. I saved you some in case you were hungry?"

I shook my head.

"Well, never mind, I have kept it in your room. You can eat it whenever you want. So, maybe if you're ready, I can show you your room?"

I had a good thought of just spending the night here, sprawled in the couch but then I decided the lobby was much too large and creepy for me to stay alone at night. Sighing, I got up and Vanessa's eyes lit up in relief. She chatted away as we crossed various hallways and rooms. She didn't really appear the chatty type when you looked at her. She looked like a badass girl who could whoop your ass if she wanted to and, I guessed, she was exactly like that. But for both our sake, she kept the conversation alive will I just gave curt replies.

"The Fort is huge, Ava! It has different sections; the one that you saw today was Section 1 --- the area for research and all that stuff. Section 2 is for training purposes. But training isn't just done indoors. In fact, we often go out in the fields for sword-practice, archery, horse-riding et cetera. Then there's the Residential Wing.

"All of us in Morlea, between the age of 12 and 18, come here to train and study, you see. Most of us stay here too because why take the trouble of going back and forth when you can just live here? But there are some students who go back to their home at the end of the day. Me, though, I stay here. So does Kace, you've met him right? Well, if you need anything, just come and ask either of us, okay? Apart from that, the Fort is also used as a meeting place, you know? There's the enormous Assembly Hall upstairs. Maybe I'll show it to you tomorrow? Oh and, here we are!"

We were standing on a dimly-lit corridor with countless doors lining it. Some of them were closed, while a few were open, voices and laughter filtering out of them. I could even make out the soft sound of a guitar playing, emanating from one of the many rooms.

"C'mon, now," Vanessa said, walking all the way to end of the hallway. She stopped in front of one of the doors, opening it with a key. I stepped inside and was genuinely surprised to see a beautiful room. Frankly, a part of me was expecting to see those dull and dingy hostel rooms but, no. Although the room was quite small, it was well furnished. It had peach walls and large windows with its curtains parted elegantly, showing a spectacular view of the lake. A small bed on the corner was draped with white sheet and a study desk was pushed to the side, adjacent to a small wardrobe.