literature

Blood Among the Roses- Chap. 5

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                Chapter 5

Evening had fallen early upon the campus, the tall lamps scattered among the university glowing vibrantly as the last of the collegians headed towards their dorms. The first day of classes had gone quite easily, most of them consisting of the professors introducing themselves and the basics of the class as well as what the students would be needing. It wouldn't be long before the campus bookstore would be full of the students, scavenging for the text books they would be needing, most likely the used ones. Luckily, classes had been put on hold for two days since the weekend was next in line, therefore giving the students enough time to get the supplies they needed. It was only a short time after the students had returned to their dorms that the once lustrous lamps dimmed, and the campus was shrouded in complete darkness.

From the balcony on the fifth floor, a light from a lantern flickered, being the only small spot of brightness aside from the stars. Upon the railing which wound its way around the balcony, Candice sat, peering out through the obscurity of the campus. It had only been her second night there and already she had begun to feel homesick. She allowed her legs to sway slightly, glancing over her shoulder as Melina parted the sliding door, stepping outside as she stared at Candice with a feeble smile.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Candice managed to murmur, her mind engulfed in too many thoughts at the moment to say much more.

"You sure don't sound convincing."

Candice remained silent, not exactly sure of what she wanted to say to Melina concerning her emotions. At the moment, they were quite difficult to explain- not even Candice could come about with how she was really feeling. Part of it came from her sudden sense of homesickness, yet she knew that there was something else bothering her. Biting down on her lip, Candice glanced over her shoulder momentarily to Melina before sighing.

"I think it's Felix," she mumbled, Melina raising an eyebrow.

"Felix?"

"I have a feeling I came on too strongly… we just met, all of us… and I think I made him uncomfortable," Candice cringed, her roommate crossing her arms as she rolled her eyes with a slight smirk.

"Well, if someone I just met asked to take my picture and then insisted on me biting them, I think I would be a bit uncomfortable myself."

Lowering her head, Candice's arms began to tremble. She knew that it wasn't right of her to have done what she did… at least not to the extent of how she did it. Felix probably thought she was crazy; she doubted that he would ever even speak to her again.

"…some first day this turned out to be…"

Melina pursed her lips as she tenderly placed a hand on Candice's shoulder. Her roommate turned slowly to face her, amber eyes glinting in the light from the lantern. Smiling feebly from the corners of her mouth, Melina titled her head, hoping that somehow, she would be able to cheer her up.

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself," she whispered, raising Candice's chin slightly. "You never know what might happen. After all, he did say he was interested in helping us with the paper. If he doesn't back out of his promise, then today had no effect on him."

Candice still didn't budge with her melancholy emotions, forcing Melina to wrap her arm around her roommate's shoulders, taking a seat next to her on the railing. She leaned in and rested her head against Candice's, smiling somewhat wider as her hazel eyes met the illumination from the lantern, both hers and Candice's flickering in the dancing flame within.

"And knowing Felix, this had no effect on him."

Melina felt Candice shift slightly, her amber eyes meeting those of her own as her lips parted. "…you really think so? I mean, you didn't see him, Melina. In the bathroom, he looked sicker than anything. He was so pale and cold… I probably scared the ever living out of him."

"You'll just need to wait and see," Melina replied once more. "Don't let it bother you. If he had taken today the wrong way, fine, it's his loss. There are plenty of other people who will be willing to help with the paper, Candice. And even if he is mad or somewhat secluded from us for a while, he's bound to get over it in time."

"True…"

"Now come on," Melina urged, getting to her feet as she helped Candice down from the railing before motioning inside. "Tomorrow we should probably start looking for some of the books for our classes, and of course, there's the blood drove tomorrow, as well."

"Blood drive?" Candice asked almost with a wavering voice.

"Indeed. They come to the campus every few months to collect blood from willing students that wish to donate. It's really for a good cause. I'm thinking of donating myself."

The idea ran through Candice's head for a brief moment, knowing that there was nothing she could really lose by deciding to donate blood. Perhaps she would stop by during her free time the next day and sign up to give some of her blood just as Melina would be. After all, with the idea of a blood drive, Candice figured it would lead to even more evidence for her news article on vampires.

"I wonder if Count Dracula himself will be making an appearance tomorrow at the blood drive," Candice sneered, following behind Melina back inside of the dorm room before sliding the glass door shut for the night.

Melina shook her head with a slight smirk, watching as Candice slid the lock shut on the door, drawing the curtains closed across so that no one could see in. She remained before the now veiled doorway, eyes focused on the cloth of the curtains before shaking her head and taking a seat upon her bed. She peeled open the cover to her notebook, skimming the various amounts of text she had taken note of, marking some bullets with star-like symbols. These would be more important factors for her when deciding to write the article. She practically had everything that she needed- the photographs, the notes, Felix's permission- it was all just a matter of getting time to type the article out in the press room and ultimately getting it in print. Glancing over the top of her notebook, Candice could see Melina crawl into bed as her lamp was shut off, darkness enveloping her side of the room. Pursing her lips, Candice scribbled down a few more ideas, mainly including that of the blood drive, prior to setting down her notepad for the remainder of the night.

Removing her denim jacket, Candice shook her head back and forth slightly to return her hair to its proper place as she leaned back on her bed. She folded her legs as she drew them up onto the comforter, fiddling with the silver cross that had been drawn around her neck. She could see within the sparkling silver surface her own pair of amber eyes glinting in the faint light that her desk lamp had drawn about her room, the same amber eyes that her mother and grandmother had possessed when they too gazed upon the cross. Her fingertips brushed the surface delicately as she felt a steady and heated mist begin to build within the corners of her eyes. Nevertheless, she bit down harshly on her bottom lip in an attempt to blink away the tears that were sure to fall down her pale white cheeks.

It had been far too long Candice had been without her mother- far too long that she had been grieving over the loss, the night that her mother was mercilessly taken from her. She wrapped her fingers somewhat harshly around the surface of her cross, clenching it tightly as her thoughts of fury began to billow. Felix had asked her if she truly had been a vampire hunter, and she had declined. Nevertheless, the more Candice thought about it, the more her heart constricted.

"Perhaps I'm not a real vampire hunter," Candice thought to herself as the edges of the cross began to dig into her skin, "but I will hunt them down."

Her teeth gnashed together as her hand trembled, tears filling the corners of her eyes again as she attempted not to cry out. She couldn't let Melina see her like this- especially not after she had basically convinced her that she was fine. Peering through the shadows, Candice reclined in her bed, releasing her grip from her cross as her lips trembled. She finally tugged her pillow over her face as she sobbed silently through the obscurity. It was going to be a longer night than she had intended.

Meanwhile, on an estate located off of campus, Felix had also been upon his balcony, gazing to the stars. He rubbed his neck uneasily, eyes glinting through the darkness as his thoughts encompassed his mind. For some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about Candice. His incident earlier had been too close to leading to something horrific, and he almost allowed it to get to that point… twice. Now, he was beginning to debate heading back to the campus at all over the weekend, or wait until classes resumed on the following Monday. Either way, he knew that he would have to confront her sooner or later. After all, he had promised to be on the news paper committee. Cringing at the thoughts that had continued to swarm within his mind, Felix finally stepped back inside his shadow covered home, drawing the curtains shut. Perhaps Candice wouldn't be the only one with a difficult night ahead after all…
Unedited chapter 5 to my NaNoWiMo Novel Blood Among the Roses.

Nothing really much to say about this chapter again... shorter than the others- basically just a filler chapter. Chapter 6 will be much better >:3 (I promise)
© 2009 - 2024 DorianHarper
Comments6
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Seranatis's avatar
Other then one or two grammer mistakes, nothing wrong with that chapter =]
Well i enjoyed it, keep in mind i've been up since 6pm yesterday so i am taking it all in, just i'm abit slow reading the chapters now *yawns*
Good stuff though, i like it =]