Chapter Six

Aria’s pov

The dream comes again.

I see flames all around, red and gold, like a living storm. When I reach for them, they burn, but not my skin. It's like the fire wants to get inside me and just stay there. Voices whisper in the flames, so many of them saying my name, pulling me closer until I can't get any air.

I wake up suddenly, grabbing air. My chest is going up and down fast, and I'm sweaty all over. For a second, I don't even know where I am, and the shadows in the strange room feel close. Then I see them, two big green eyes are staring at me from super close. I almost yell and grab the blanket, pulling it up to my chin.

“Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!” the girl says super-fast, like she can't stop talking.

She backs away, putting her hands up like she's not going to hurt me. “You looked like you were sleeping great, until you weren't. You were moving around a lot, like you were stuck in a bad dream. I wanted to wake you up, but then you opened your eyes and……..wow, sorry, sorry, I'm talking too much”.

I blink because I'm still out of it. The green eyes were attached to the body of a girl, a very pretty girl. She has soft pink hair that's wavy and goes to her shoulders, and her uniform is perfect, even late at night. Her bright green eyes are all nervous, and she's moving around like she drank too much coffee.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my room?” My voice sounds rough because I just woke up. God, I hope it wasn’t one of those students that are curious about my humanity or something.

“Oh! Right, sorry. I'm Isla. Isla Harker. I'm your new roommate”. She smiles big, and brought out her hand for a handshake. I looked at her like she had grown two horns.

“I didn't mean to stand over you like a weirdo. I just wanted to say hi. We're going to be living together. Oh, and don't worry, I'm an omega, so I won't try to boss you around. I'm cool”.

She's still talking…….boy she can talk, I have already lost track of what she was yapping about, something about school I think. My stomach makes a loud noise. She looks down at my stomach and then back up at me, looking embarrassed.

“Guess you're hungry”.

Hungry is not even close. It feels like I have a hole inside me, and it's not just from missing dinner. It's like I'm really hungry, and it won't stop. I stood up and went to unpack, trying not to think about how bad I want food, like it's hurting my bones. My tummy growled again…..shit.

“I haven't had food since morning”, I say, putting a hand on my stomach. “I need to find somewhere to eat”.

Isla moves her head to the side, and her pink hair goes with her. “It's late. The cafeteria might be closed but we can find somewhere else! I know this place. My two older brothers went here, so I heard about this academy my whole life. You're Aria, right? The human they enrolled this year? Of course, you are. I saw your form.

I froze…..ok the girl is seriously getting on my nerves. She sees my reaction and gets red, putting her hands up.

“Not like that! I wasn't trying to get into your stuff! Okay, maybe a little. I was just excited. You're new, so I was wondering things, that's all. Let me take you to the cafeteria”.

“No!” my voice came out too loud, I felt guilty. “Just give me the direction, no need to bother yourself”

I rub my head, I was getting a headache from all her talking and the last thing I needed is more of it. She reminds me of Eve too much, she was too happy, too excited and too nice. My chest hurts when I think about it. I can't do that again, I am not ready for any form of female friendship right now. Isla bites her lip looking sad with those gorgeous green eyes, but she nods.

“Okay. Once you leave the dorm, Go down the pathway, third Street on the left, then just look for the blue signs until you find the big doors. It’s close to the admission building, you can't miss it”.

“Thanks”. I get a hoodie and jeans and put them on, not even looking at the uniforms in my closet. I got curious and check their tags, my exact size. How did they know my size? It makes me uncomfortable, like they wanted me to be here a long time ago.

My hair was a mess so I put the hood up to cover it and leave, closing the door on Isla still talking to herself.

I followed the pathway and I try to do what she said, but I've always been bad with directions, and now all the pathways look the same. Was it the Second Street or Third Street? Was it from my left third or from my right?

“Great”, I say. “I'm lost. I’m going to starve to death before I ever find food”. Was this a school or a country? It was too big.

My stomach growls again, super loud. I cross my arms over it and walk faster until I see some students who are dressed nicely walk past me. They look like they know where they're going, and they're laughing loud. They seem rich and important and they're all going the same way.

I stopped, then turned around and I start walking behind them. If they're going somewhere, the place might have food. They go to a big fancy building at the end of campus, with golden lights and music that's so loud it hurt my ears. How do they endure this? Students are walking in and out, dressed like they're famous instead of at school. The music hurts my ears too much, but it smells good, like spices and food, so I keep going.

Inside, the house is huge, with shiny lights, velvet curtains, and so many rooms. I try to hide, pulling my hoodie tighter, hoping people won't see me. I look around at everything. I don't care about the parties or the clothes or the laughing. I want food.

I open a couple of doors that are wrong, and then I finally stumbled into the kitchen, with waiters all around.……..I’m saved. Thank you lord.

I looked around, rich people really know how to live it up. My eyes fell on a group of pretty girls in shiny dresses standing around a long table island. There's so much food on it, like meat of all kinds steaming, cheese, bread, fruits, and glasses of red stuff that smells kind of weird. Two of the girls turn around. Their eyes flashed once they saw me, and they open their mouths to show sharp teeth.

Vampires………shit

I start to freak out, but I'm really hungry. My tummy hurts so bad I can't stand.

“Sorry”, I say putting my hands up. “I just got lost along the way. Can I have some food?”

“You can't be here”, one girl says, and she sounds so mean. “Go away before we get in trouble”.

Trouble? I look at the food. There is so much food to feed an army. I’m sure most of it will even go to waste, surely they could spare some. I know I’m not dressed for the party but still.

“Please, just some fruit”.

“Get out”. One of the girls gets closer, and I can see her fangs.

I think about grabbing a piece of meat and running, surely they won’t chase me in their pretty tights skirts, would they? Then someone says something in a deep voice.

“Is that how you talk to my guest?”

The vampire girls froze, they suddenly don't look mean anymore and look scared. I turn around slowly and I forgot how to breathe. The man in the doorway looked amazing……I don’t think that’s even the word to use. He's really pretty, like not from this world kind of pretty. Flawless baby pale skin, his dark hair fell around his face with the cutest baby blue eyes…..wow, okay.

He looks young, but has this old aura around him. Tall, strong, and scary. The vampire girls put their heads down. My heart is beating fast. Who is he?

“Get my guest a plate”, he says, and his voice sounds so rich. Then he looks at me, and smiled, the one sided kind.

“Well, look what we have here” he breathe in like he was inhaling my scent. “It’s not every day a lamb walks into the lion's den willingly”