2. The Sixth Floor
Bella was a junior this year and therefore not an amateur when it came to planning her schedule. All of her classes began after 11am and she had no class on Friday. It was a dream schedule and many people were envious of her luck.
On Monday morning, she leisurely woke up and prepared for class. It was still mildly warm weather so she decided to go with a blue, sheer maxi dress. She took some time to pin up her hair in a messy bun to match the beach chic outfit and paired it with simple black sandals.
Jessica, already tucked away in her second class of the day, woke up early enough not only to get to the campus early, but also make blueberry muffins, a first day tradition since freshman year. The muffins were still lukewarm when Bella bit into the fragrant bread. She took a few more lazy laps around the apartment, stuffing things into her purse as she thought of them. But finally, she couldn't avoid the inevitable and set off towards the campus.
Bella was a business major. Not because of any particular affinity for the subject, but because it seemed the most practical. She dabbled in a few other areas – politics, humanities – but nothing really stuck. She always thought there was something else she was meant to do. She could feel it just out of reach, but could never put her finger on what exactly it was. So business was her default.
And her first class of the day, the ever so exciting, topics in macroeconomic theory. She could feel herself falling asleep just thinking about it.
She parked in a rarely used parking lot on the edge of campus and walked towards the center quad. The college was a very beautiful nature filled campus. Huge old trees lined all of the walkways, and every building had unique architecture and flowers or benches near the entrances. It was not unusual to see groups of students walking or biking around campus because of how accessible and friendly it was. Bella particularly liked it because you could sense the campus had a history. The college was the story and the buildings were the chapters, but all of it shrouded in mystery. No one knew the exact account of how the campus came to be or who started it, but it only added to its charm.
Her first class was in an especially old building, the Harper Building, off the right side of the quad. The class was nothing special. The information was just as monotonous as every class she had already taken in college and, most likely, the same as all the classes she had yet to take. She would coast her way through like every other quarter, but Bella was particularly excited today because she was making it a point to visit the library (a place she worked hard to avoid just on principle) to look up her mother's book. Maybe something in there could help point her in the direction of how to open the darn thing.
Two hours later, Bella, in a sleepy haze, meandered out of class and circled the quad till she found Eric and Tyler lazily stretched out in the grass under the shadow of a tree.
"You look dead, Swan, what time was your first class?" Tyler asked as Bella sat down next to them.
"11."
"11! I've been in classes since 7:30 this morning. You have no right to look that tired," Tyler complained.
"But it was Professor Hayes, you know how he just drones on and on and on. And we only went through the syllabus today."
"I don't think you heard me. Seven. Three. Zero. In the AM. You're complaining to the wrong person."
"He is a bore. I had him for a class freshman year once, he was definitely one of the reasons I switched over to a science major," Eric commiserated.
"See!" Bella threw back in Tyler's face. "This is why I will always like Eric more than you."
"What a shame," Tyler mocked and was immediately met with a face full of grass and leaves Bella dumped on him.
Bella sat with the guys trying to waste time before her next class. The unfortunate part about classes that began late, her day usually ended a lot later than everyone else's. It wasn't till Bella stepped out of Olson Hall at 7:15pm that she was finally free.
The campus was always really quiet around this time and Bella loved it. The twilight cast a lovely warm glow. The tops of the trees looked like they were on fire, as the waning sunlight colored the branches orange. Birds and other critters were settling down for the night and slowly, one by one, crickets began their chirping. She took her time to cross the quad over to the library, enjoying the awakening of the evening.
Bella stood in front of the tall grey building, watching as all the lamps around the area started clicking on. This would only be one in a handful of times she had ever been inside the library. She didn't like the way students would compete about how much time they spent in the library compared to someone else. There were other locations and better ways to study than to surround yourself with that type of environment. Yet eventually some assignment or another always dragged her round at least once a year. At least this time, it was for a more interesting task rather than homework.
Bella walked through the entrance. There was a large staircase directly in front of her, made of glass, which led to the second floor. To the right sat bored student librarians behind their desks pretending they weren't texting away on their phones. To the left, as expected, students claimed tables like dictators claimed countries. They had all their books and personal items spread across a four person table so strangers knew it was off limits as a place to sit. Who even had that much work to do on the first day of class?
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and compared the section she wrote down from her Google search with the directory on the wall. The directory was telling her she had to go to the sixth floor. Who even knew the building had that many floors. She couldn't even recall anyone ever saying they'd been to that floor. Strangely enough, there was only one elevator that had the ability to go to the sixth floor. She located it on the map buried deep in the depths of the second floor. After climbing the stairs and searching for a solid five minutes, she finally found it partially hidden by a bookcase.
No wonder no one went to the sixth floor, no one could find the damn elevator to get there. Bella called the elevator and with an immediate ding, the doors slid open.
It was the most ornately decorated elevator she had ever seen. All the walls of the elevator were made of mirror with twisting copper handle bars on every side. Even the ceiling was made of mirror with a small crystal light piece dangling from the center. The carpet was a rich plush material colored copper to match.
She stepped inside and saw herself reflected on every surface. What a strange elevator to house inside a school library. Even odder, there were only two buttons on the electrical panel: two and six. She pressed six and felt a small shock run through her body.
The tiny shock was turning into a tingle. It wasn't unpleasant. It actually felt wholly comfortable and familiar. But Bella brushed it off as natural because of her change in height while riding the elevator.
Finally the doors slipped open again into a huge expansive floor. It had vaulted ceilings, floor to roof windows, and the bookshelves were huge, at least ten feet high, made of real cedar wood unlike the metal ones in the rest of the library. The cedar mixed with the smell of old parchment made for an enjoyable aroma. Bella stepped out of the elevator. The sixth floor was at least three or four times wider and longer than the floors below it. It was amazing what they could do with architecture. It had to be a trick of the design to make it seem this large because there was no way a building could actually have a larger top floor.
Her footsteps slightly echoed in the large space. From the looks of it, no one else was on the floor. She followed the signs and ended up in front of a bookshelf on the western corner of the floor. She let her hand glide along the spines of the books, trying to match the number on her phone. Finally at the very top of the shelf, Bella found the book she was looking for. She used a sliding library ladder to grab it.
It was a book similar to her own, bound in leather but much thicker and denser. She spotted a comfortable looking group of arm chairs off the end of the row. She picked the plushiest one and settled in. The book was embossed in the same gold lettering, but this one read: Sanguinem Mundi. Bella pulled out the translation app on her phone. A quick translation provided the title of the book – Blood of the World. Unlike her mother's book, she had no issue opening this one, but Bella did not anticipate that the entire book would be written in Latin.
She flipped through to what she thought was the table of contents. It listed four main sections of the book, with her app, she was able to figure out the English equivalent quickly:
Familia Aqua – Family of Water
Familia Ignis – Family of Fire
Familia Aeris – Family of Air
Bella was most excited about the last chapter and didn't need a translation at all, Familia Terrae. She flipped to the last quarter of the book and found the section labeled Familia Terrae in intricate cursive scrawl. On the accompanying page to the left was an opulently drawn tree. Each branch was unique from the others on the page with distinctive flowers, leaves, or knot designs in the wood. While half of the page was taken up by the tree, the bottom half was filled with twisting, woven roots. You could not tell where one part of the root began and another ended. They were drawn off the page so you had the feeling that although you could not see it, you knew their reach was far and wide.
Bella took another moment to appreciate the beauty of the drawing before turning the next page. With dread, she was met with pages of text, all in Latin. She definitely didn't have the stamina to translate it all, but she thought she should at least attempt the first paragraph.
Inventores rerum natura mater cognationes terrae. Ducunt potestatem humo de terra. Praecipiunt cum feris facultatem et fortitudo. Originem bibes profundum et immitem.
In a painstakingly tedious process, Bella entered word by word in the app and came out with the rough translation of:
'Families of the earth are descendants of Mother Nature. They draw their power from the ground. They command with wild ability and strength. Their origin is deep and untamable.'
Despite never hearing about this part of her family before, she could feel the words resonate in her heart. If you asked anyone to describe Bella's mother, the first word that always came to mind was strength; the strength of her love and loyalty for her friends and family; strength in standing for what she believed in, even if others did not; strength in her passion for life. For the first time in a very long time, she felt thin, tenuous strings reawakening her connection to her mother. It was emotional. It was beautiful. But it was also very tiring. Almost an hour had passed since she came into the building. She didn't want to leave, but she obviously needed a better translating system than her phone app. But before putting the book away for the night, she wanted to try one more thing. Bella glanced around and listened, but couldn't hear anyone on the floor. She cleared her throat and began to speak in careful and stumbling Latin:
"Inventores rerum natura mater cog…cogna…cognat…"
"…cognationes terrae," finished a deep, melodious male voice behind her, the Latin flowing off his tongue like water.
Bella nearly jumped out of her skin. She whipped her head around to glare at the intruder reading over her shoulder, embarrassed at someone finding her attempting something that made her feel vulnerable.
She locked eyes with his hazel, almost gold ones – what an unusual color. He stood nonchalantly dressed in a blue jeans and black t-shirt, hints of a well-muscled body outlined underneath the clothing. He was tall; she guessed he was a little over six feet and in no way showed any type of remorse for embarrassing her. In appraisal of the newcomer, she forgot to keep her anger pointed and sharp. She readjusted, and in a cold voice asked:
"Can I help you?"
"Not at all, but I am more than willing to offer my services to you. That is quite a lot of Latin you have there," he flashed her grin.
"I'm perfectly capable myself, thanks," Bella responded. She knew she was being a bitch and overreacting for no reason, but it was difficult for her to recover gracefully.
"I'm sure you are," he began either ignoring or not noticing her tone, "it's just that we don't usually see your kind back here, I didn't think they could get up here, anyways I thought I could be helpful."
"My kind?" Bella questioned offended. "And what do you exactly mean by 'my kind'?" she demanded.
He had the decency to show regret at his wording.
"Oh no, not in any bad way! Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I apologize," he reached over to pat her on the shoulder in an apologetic way, but the instant his hand touched the skin on her bare shoulder, a spark flashed, and he pulled his hand away. Bella reached up to her shoulder to rub the spot. It didn't hurt, but it felt peculiar. She looked at him, and he had broken out in a very knowing smirk.
"Hmm, looks like we aren't so different after all."
"I absolutely have no idea what you're talking about."
"When's your birthday?" he enquired out of the blue.
"Uh," Bella hesitated, "I don't think those are the type of questions you are supposed to ask someone when you first meet them." This guy was acting so abnormal.
"I'm going to guess you are 20, a few weeks away from your 21st." Bella's jaw mentally dropped. How the hell did he know?
"Lucky guess."
"It's more than luck, it's magic," he winked at her. Bella rolled her eyes. His grin was obnoxious, but she couldn't deny it was also striking.
"You know it's customary when you first meet someone to begin with a 'hello, how are you'."
"But don't you find the customary so boring?" He was playing with her now, maybe even…flirting?
"Well then you should appreciate this non-customary exit." Bella closed the book and walked past him.
She started looking for the correct shelf to place the book back on, while also making mental notes to come back with her laptop to get down to serious translation next time. A few seconds later, she could hear a second set of footsteps following her.
"Hey, I'm sorry, don't walk away. I'm usually much more charming."
She stopped in front of the bookshelf and climbed the rungs of the ladder to place the book on the top shelf. When she was ascending down, the rung she stepped on felt like it was covered in a slippery material. She tried to keep hold of the ladder, but the surprise of the step got the best of her, and she accidently let go and slipped off.
Just as Bella was sure she was plummeting to her doom, expecting at minimum several bruises from falling off such a high ladder, she felt two very strong arms catch her mid fall. Bella opened her eyes, closed from preparation for impact, and was staring directly into the stranger's gold eyes. She was tucked safely against his chest, and she couldn't help her heart from beating a little faster.
"Hello, how are you?" he smiled at her. She could feel a small blush forming on her cheeks. She squirmed so he would put her down before he could see her redden.
"You can't just start over like that." She smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles in her dress and readjusted the purse strap on her shoulder to give her face some time to cool down.
"Of course you can! The only people who would know would be you and me. And I would never tell," he replied cheekily holding up his right hand in the typical Boy Scout salute. Bella gave him a skeptic glare. His voice shifted into a softer tone. "And truly, I would love to get to know you." It was the most sincere thing he had said yet.
She quickly weighted the pros and cons. He was super good looking, but weird in a quirky way. He didn't have any problems randomly approaching people and reading over their shoulders…but he was trying to be helpful. She looked at him again and decided, fuck it.
She cleared her throat as if wiping their conversation slate clean. "I'm doing well. My name is Isabella, but everyone calls me Bella." She held out her hand. His eyes lit up, very pleased that she was willing to give him another chance. He enclosed her small hand in his large one.
"I'm extremely honored to meet you, Bella. I'm Edward."
For the first time that night, Bella smiled back at Edward.
"I meant it before when I said I could help you. I pride myself on my Latin," Edward commented while he following her to the elevator.
"That's very nice of you. I might take you up on that offer, if this thing becomes more complicated."
"Can I ask what you're translating the book for? Latin assignment on the first day of class seems like a lot."
They both got into the elevator, and Edward pressed the button for the second floor.
"It's a personal project," she replied curtly.
"I can appreciate a woman of mystery," he responded jokingly. "And where is the mysterious woman heading tonight?"
"Home. I encountered this strangely tiring man today, and I have no energy for anything else."
"And she also has jokes! Well if you don't mind, it's dark outside, and for your own safety, I think I should walk you to your car. You never know what lurks in the shadows."
"Sometimes not even in the shadows. Sometimes they pop up behind you while you're minding your own business reading in the library."
"Touché."
Bella laughed. It was surprising how easily the banter came now that she calmed down a bit. She had more of a chance to appreciate his handsomeness and his wit. She noticed how his eyes crinkled a bit when she said something he found amusing or how fully he would throw himself into a laugh or how dazzling his smile could be.
True to his word, he walked her fifteen minutes across campus to her car. They talked about the campus, the weather, and classes. She told him how boring her first few classes were.
"Why are you a business major if you find it so dull? Hate to break it to you, but you have another two years left of classes just like macroeconomic theory."
"I know. I always thought maybe I could be great at something else, but I could never really figure out what that was. And business was as good as anything else here. What's your major?"
"I prefer not to reveal it right now. Keep them guessing and they'll keep coming back for more."
"Guarding the important secrets, I see," she playfully mocked.
"For now," his eyes twinkled with laughter.
They reached her car. She unlocked the passenger seat and threw her purse into the back.
"Thanks for walking me to my car."
"I had to, since you fell so hard for me," he said referring to her slip off the ladder. Bella was glad for the darkness so he couldn't see the embarrassment on her face.
"And that's my cue to leave." She was about to climb into her car, when he grabbed her hand.
"No jokes this time. It was really great talking to you, Bella. Hopefully I'll see you around some time?"
She was surprised how cozy she found the warmth of his hands. She could see the optimism in his eyes and realized she felt the same.
"I think I would like that." He let go of her hand and watched her get behind the wheel.
"You think?"
"Keep them guessing and they'll keep coming back for more." She smiled at him before closing the door and driving towards home. She watched his retreating figure in her rearview mirror, a grin tugging at the sides of his lips. Her car drove up to a stop sign, she looked back once more before driving off, but he was nowhere in sight. Gone just as quietly as he came.
A/N: A quick thank you to Tarbecca for recommending this story over at ADF! I hope you along with all the other ADF readers enjoy this update!