Inked

Inked Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Pas d'argent

Mason woke up to the sound of singing. The music wafted into his room, high and sweet. He dragged himself up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, flattening his hair down. He walked over to the closet, and picked out a pair of dark jeans and a light blue short-sleeve shirt. He changed out of his pajamas and slipped on some shoes, then walked outside to knock on Belle's door. The corridor was lit by small torches, though they did little because of the bright sunlight shining in through the window at the end of the hall. The singing was coming from Skye's room, and Mason listened intently. It was very beautiful, and she was quite a good singer. He turned and hit his knuckles a few times on Belle's door.

She opened the door slowly. "Morning Mase." She looked tired.

"Morning. You sleep good?"

"Yeah, I guess." The truth was, Belle didn't sleep good at all. She was tormented by dreams all night. She pushed back her thoughts and gestured Mason in. "Did you see the closets?"

"Yeah, all this is pretty amazing." He sat down on her bed.

"You being a Werewolf and all." Belle looked annoyed.

"Belle, I didn't know until Skye told me. How could I have told you?"

"I don't know. Its all just a shock." Belle was already dressed, in a red knee-length dress, and she stood at the end of the room, looking out a window. She wrung her hands together, and Mason noticed that the ink had now spread across all of her fingers and was more than halfway down the back of her hand.

"How long have you been up?"

"A while. I woke up pretty early."

"Did the singing wake you up?"

"What singing?"

"The loud singing coming from Skye's room? Don't tell me you couldn't hear that." Belle looked confused.

"That would be Lycanthrope hearing." said Skye's voice. Mason turned, expecting to see her in the room, but no one was there. There was a knock on the door. Belle crossed the room to answer it. "Told ya you were a Werewolf." Skye leaned around Belle and smiled at Mase. "You two care to join me for breakfast?" She was wearing a long silver dress and little grey shoes that matched her eyes.

"Sure." Mase walked across the room and they all started towards the Mess Hall. It was different to see the corridors bathed in sunlight, due to last night being dim and quiet. Belle could see the fading fabric of the carpets, the sun bleached curtains that hung from the giant windows, and the dark wood floor which had been swept clean.

"I hope you like the cooking. It's quite good, I think." Skye was walking fast, Belle and Mase had to speed up to match her stride.

"Who cooks?" Mase was starving, he hoped there was a lot to eat.

"Oh we have Tarra. That warlock makes anything delicious."

"Is the Inn open to any Mythic?" asked Belle.

"Yeah, any that Mr. Dimone hasn't banned. The Vamps like to get into trouble." They had reached a set of double doors. Skye pushed one open, but Mason rushed to hold the door for both girls. Skye smiled and Belle blushed at Mason's gentlemanly gesture.

The Mess hall was enormous. Mason stared all around the room. It was at least the size of half a football field, and it was filled from end to end with large rectangular tables. 4 gigantic windows took up a whole wall. There was a large door at the far end of the room which Mason guessed was the kitchen. All throughout the room Mythics moved around. He could see a group of Inklings talking at a table, a pair of Werewolves playing chess, multiple pixies with silvery wings flying around, and a large group of pale Vampires who had sharp edgy fangs. Mason heard Belle gasp behind him. It was amazing. All of these creatures they had once thought were Fairy Tales had all been proved real. Mason realized he couldn't really call them Creatures; for he was one of them. This realization hit him like a slap to the face. He was a Werewolf. The life he knew; Phoenix, baseball, his dad, all of this felt like a dream. This was now. He was going to have to stay in this world. At least he would have Belle with him, a little part of his old life, and Skye. That's about the only thing that made it bearable.