I walked through the grounds silently just observing Marla as she took everything in. I remembered what it was like the first time I had crossed this campus with Neferet and saw all the castle like structures. I had been completely in awe. The grounds looked like something straight out of an old movie, with the dark trees and the buildings made out of black stone and red brick. Then, like tonight, the moon shone bright combining with the oil lamps and allowing the school to feel slightly less intimidating.
I turned my head as the bell rang and watched as students began pouring out of the dining hall and out onto the school grounds. Marla seemed completely unfazed by this which surprised me. I had been completely freaked out at being surrounded by the fledglings as they laughed and talked together. She walked along the sidewalks just staring at the buildings and up at the night sky, until her eyes came to rest on a Nyx's temple.
"That's her isn't it?" she asked staring at the marble statue in front of the door. "That's Nyx?"
I nodded, "it is. Nyx's temple is always open, but we hold formal rituals twice a week after school, so next Tuesday will be your first," I told her as we continued to walk by the temple.
"What time does school get out?" she asked.
"Classes begin at 8 pm and get out at 3 am. Dinner is approximately around 4:30 but the dining hall remains open along with the field house and library until dawn," I said quickly gesturing in the direction of each place as I spoke of it. She gaped at me looking around her trying to figure out where everything was. "Don't worry," I said giving her an apologetic smile, "I'll give you a more formal tour tomorrow and I'm sure your roommate will help you out as well."
I had been trying to decide where to place her since we had left the infirmary. Usually dorm assignments were made up before the new fledgling arrived and the roommate was notified. I hadn't had a chance to do either. I thought about the fledglings with open rooms and decided that Jaylynn was probably my best bet. She had arrived only a few weeks ago and was one of the fledglings Natasha had decided to mentor. She had already made a few friends and I figured she would be able to help Marla find a place to fit in.
I heard her stomach growl again as we walked into the now empty dining hall. Well almost empty. Still sitting at my usual table was Aphrodite and Darius who seemed to be discussing something serious. They looked up as we entered; Aphrodite's face becoming confused as she looked from me to Marla.
"What are they staring at?" Marla asked her voice becoming annoyed.
"That's just Aphrodite," I said giving her a smile, "And the warrior across from her is Darius. He's the one who found you," I added. "Come on," I said leading her to the serving line. "All the food here is extremely healthy. They don't really allow for fledglings to eat junk," I said as I picked up a tray of hot steamed vegetables and chicken breast.
"Why?" she asked getting a tray of her own.
"It's all a part of staying healthy. The instant we become fat or sick, our body will begin to reject the change," I said softly trying not to scare her. It was hard enough being Marked and starting a new life without having to deal with the possibility of your death constantly hanging over you like an ominous cloud.
She nodded. "Does it happen often?" she asked looking at me and catching me completely off guard. Her eyes were almost trusting and vulnerable in that second, which was something I hadn't expected. This girl had shown no signs of letting anyone in since she had arrived. The only reason I knew anything about her at all was because of Nyx. I felt Nyx urge me, sending a little leap through my spirit and knew that somehow I had to get Marla to trust me. This girl needed my help and for some reason I sensed that whatever had happened to Marla was connected to something much bigger than any of us knew.
"No," I began, but then remembered the two kids who had died in the last couple of weeks before they even made it to the school. I sighed, "It's not an everyday occurance," I said slowly, "but it does happen and unfortunately here at the House of Night, it's just a part of life," I finished gently.
She nodded again and I watched as her eyes became hard once more and the walls came back up around her. She looked at her tray of food and then back at me, her black hair falling across her face. I smiled at her and then moved to the table at which Aphrodite and Darius were still sitting.
"I was wondering what happened to you," Aphrodite said as soon as we sat down.
"It's been a long morning," I replied. "Aphrodite, Darius, this is Marla," I said motioning towards her. "I'm going to be her mentor."I watched as Aphrodite's mouth fell open.
"Mentor?" she repeated looking as stunned as I had when Neferet first told me.
"It is good to see you looking well," Darius said bowing slightly to Marla.
"Thanks," Marla whispered opening her water and taking a sip.
"Wait, I don't understand," Aphrodite continued as if there had been no interruption. "How can you be her mentor? You're not even an adult Vampyre."
"It's just what Nyx wants," I said simply. She narrowed her eyes at me and gave me a look that I knew meant we would so be talking about this later.
"So, what do you think about the school so far?" Darius asked Marla politely.
"It's big," she said taking a bite of food. I looked down and noticed that her plate was already almost clean. She was devouring every last bit and I suddenly had a flash of her running through the woods. She had been starving, and I had been thoughtless. I should have gotten her to food sooner.
"Would you like seconds?" I asked her, gently touching her arm.
She nodded, her mouth stuffed too full to respond.
"I'll be right back," I murmured standing up.
"I'll come with you," Aphrodite said joining me. "So what's the story?"She asked when we were far enough from the table not to be heard.
"Neferet assigned me as her mentor," I said piling food onto another tray. I made sure to grab fruit salad which was delicious and yogurt parfait.
"Just like that?" Aphrodite continued not satisfied with my answer.
I sighed stopping what I was doing and turned to face her, "I saw her coming."
"What?!" Aphrodite practically gasped.
"I had been having dreams about her for the last few weeks, and then yesterday I had some sort of vision…"
"Wait, you had a vision and you didn't think to tell me about it?" she asked glaring at me.
"I didn't know that's what it was, it didn't feel like the visions you have," I said sighing.
Aphrodite looked over her shoulder at Marla and then back at me, "so is there anymore to this story?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
I let my mind run over everything I knew once again, and felt my skin crawl as a chill swept through the air around me. I knew it wasn't really the air, because fledglings didn't really notice the cold. No, it was Nyx once again sending me a warning. It was my gut telling me that there was danger close by. "I'm not sure," I said softly, picking up the tray and walking towards the table. "I think she's in some kind of trouble," I said quickly. "I'm just not sure what."
"Great, just what we need," Aphrodite said cynically, "more trouble."
I had to say I agreed with her, trouble always seemed to find us somehow. The only problem was that this time I didn't know what the trouble was or where it was coming from. I just knew it was coming. I set the tray in front of Marla as we reached the table and watched in amazement as she instantly dug in. I opened my brown pop taking a sip and then started in on my own food.
"So I'm assuming that we won't be doing Dark Daughter stuff next hour?" Aphrodite asked raising an eyebrow.
I looked at her and smiled, "nope, but I have something that I think you'll enjoy."
"And what's that?" She asked suspiciously.
"I need you to use that gold card of yours to influence a few shops to open for us. Marla is going to need some blankets and a few changes of clothes until someone can get to her house to retrieve her things," I said taking a bite of food.
Marla looked at me a surprised expression crossing her face, "we can leave the school?"
I examined her face carefully. Though her face seemed naturally curious there had been something in her voice that I couldn't quite place. "Fledglings are allowed to leave campus when classes aren't in session, but there are a lot of rules that are to be followed, such as you must always have your Mark covered," I told her.
"Technically, fledglings are supposed to inform their mentor when they are going to be leaving the school grounds," Darius said.
"However, most fledglings sneak out on occasion, whether to go shopping like us, or just to get junk food or catch a movie," Aphrodite said tossing her hair to the side as she stood up. "Are we going or not?" she asked looking at me.
I narrowed my eyes at her, but stood as well. "Yes we're going," I said glancing again at Marla as she, too, stood and dumped her tray. Her back was to me and for a brief second I thought I saw something shimmer around her and then it was gone.
