Chapter Six

Layla tossed and turned in her silky sheets as she tried to sleep. After the day she'd had, she had so much on her mind. She'd embarrassed herself by losing control of her powers in front of her class, and now she was “benched.”

And she didn't know what to think of Dr. Thalia. Something in the back of her mind clawed to run away every time she was near.

Layla rolled onto her back, placing her hands over her stomach.

And then there was Theo and Damon. She didn't know where to begin with those two. There wasn't much to go on but there was something insanely magnetic about the two of them. Something that seemed to attract her to them and vice versa.

She couldn't deny that they were insanely attractive. But the two of them alarmed her in a way.

Layla, unable to sleep, got up covering herself with a dark silk robe, embroidered with silver threads that matched her sleep set. She slid her feet into black slippers and shuffled her way to the door of her bathroom.

It was 2 AM and she wasn't getting any rest, she could at least get something done.

Her ears began tingling

“Daughter…”

She looked at her bedroom door. The whispers seemed to be slipping out of the door.

“Daughter of Stars…” it continued.

She left her bathroom and walked across the room, reaching for the black doorknob. She opened it, looking out at an empty hallway.

She stood there for a minute, wondering if she had been imagining things because she hadn't slept. But then she heard it again.

“Daughter of Stars, child of Night… come…” it said.

Her feet began moving before her mind could even process what was happening.

The academy was dark but the halls glowed with the moonlight through the open windows. A cool breeze trickled in and ruffled the silk robe against her legs as she walked.

The place seemed to be sentient. Statues seemed like they were moving, watching her, and the stars all seemed to say hello tonight. It was almost as if the constellations were moving.

She didn't know where she was going but something was starting to grab at her, to tug at her to continue down the hall, turning towards a more closed-off hall and door.

It looked as if the door had been unused. A sign hung on the door with runes and old engravings. On it said RESTRICTED in big letters.

“Daughter…come…”

She found herself reaching out a hand and throwing her head back clearing it. She pulled at something inside like a silver thread, pushing it to go out of her fingers. She didn't know why she thought this would unlock it, but she figured she had nothing left to lose.

A small flicker of power trickles out of her fingers. She heard a thick “click” and opened the door. A sign on a nearby wall inside read “Hall of Lineages”.

The Hall felt ancient. As though it had been here to tell and see many of the stories that it kept safe. Secret.

Layla knew that if she was caught here that would be the end of her stay here at the academy, but she figured that the answers she'd get might be well worth it. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

As she walked in she took note of her surroundings. She was in awe when she saw some of the books and files seemed to be floating in the air as if that alone was the prison that held them up.

She glanced at them, checking the symbols that would help her decipher who the info was about.

Just when she thought she should give up. She heard a book thud to the ground from a nearby shelf. She readied herself to run, in case it was a staff member or the professor, but something told her she had nothing to worry about.

Before she could even speak to whatever had jiggled the book down from the shadows, a figure appeared. Unclear at first, but as it approached., she realized that it was none other than Theo.

Her breath hitched and she thought her legs had turned to lead. She hadn't expected to see him here of all places. The moonlight streaked across his face making her hair almost seem white and the glacier blues of his eyes were almost aglow.

“Theo, what are you doing?” she asked lightly. She was almost afraid that the books would hear her voice and alert someone.

“I could be asking you the same. I saw you slip in here,” he countered.

She just looked at him.

“So you followed me in and stalked around until that book fell?” she asked.

“If that's how you see it, then sure,” he replied.

She nodded and turned her back to continue looking for anything that would help her. Realizing that if he wanted to have turned her in he could have at any moment.

“Wait!” he said, “I found something that you might like to see, the chamber over there was unlocked and this file with your tattoo on it was inside,” he told her

She stopped as he approached, bringing her a file with a crescent moon surrounded by stars a replica of her tattoo that lay on her wrist.

“What is this? “ she said quietly, taking it from Theo's hands.

“Your parentage and family lineage I would assume” he replied.

Taking the file she opened it to find that she was clueless about her origins.

She began to read the first page that stared up at her.

“Layla Monroe. Daughter of the Night and of Juan Monroe.” she read out.

This was her. There was no doubt about it. A baby photo was placed inside from when she was a newborn and she didn't know what to say about it.

She had opened the door to learning about a different version of herself. One that would be completely whole after she figured out what and who she was.