Midnight Blue

3 / The Attic

The hand, which she soon found belonged to Alex, a boy not too many years her elder pulled her to a halt. Alex turned her to look at him. He smiled in a way that she saw to mean 'Sorry.' That kind of smile when you know you can't admit it out loud. It showed in his eyes, in the way his features seemed to fall. And then, he began to walk again, pulling her with him up endless staircases. Rose knew he was trying his best to support her weight. In the short interactions she had had with the boy, she had found him to be rather considerate even going as far as to share some of his meal with her one night. She felt horrible that it was him that had been ordered to do this, for surely he wouldn't do it of his own accord. She thought he might be wracked with guilt.

The top of the stairs was finally reached. Rose said a silent thanks to the Moon Goddess for just a minute or two before, she had wondered if the top even existed at all. The stairs levelled off at a short landing, the corridor short with a single door standing at the end of it.

Alex pulled out a key, opening the door then leading her inside. He looked behind him before setting Rose carefully on the floor as if she might break if he were too rough. His voice was but a whisper when he spoke. "If anyone asks, you got those burns from that." He nodded to a silver rod hanging by the door, the coated handle ensuring those that wielded it wouldn't be burned also be burned in the process.

Rose watched him as he turned away. As he stepped from the door, she called out to him. "Alex." The boy tilted his head to face her. "Thank you." He just nodded at her words, knowing how much she meant them.

And with that, he left.

Rose spent the night on the ground, watching as the sky outside grew ever darker.

It was some hours later when she heard the noise of cars outside. The stars hung high in the sky, the golden light shining brightly. Focusing on the noises, she could hear the unusual cry of one bird in the trees near the building. She knew that cry. It did it every night at the exact same time since she arrived.

Midnight. The Alpha King was arriving. Rose couldn't help but wonder what had kept him late. She imagined the panic that must be being felt by the workers she'd left behind.

Rose could hear the cars pull to a stop and, straining her ears, she could make out the sound of car doors opening and closing.

The room itself seemed to grow even colder than it had already been and outside the glassless window, she could begin to feel a certain darkness rising.

The girl had heard stories about the Alpha King. How he carried the darkness of midnight with him everywhere she went. She thought it fitting then that he was arriving at this time of night. A sinking feeling grew in her stomach at the thought that those rumours might be true. And for just a moment, Rose was glad that she had fallen, that she had been locked in the attic. For then she wouldn't have to be downstairs. She wouldn't have to be closer to him.

But then she remembered that her Alpha would be told about her mishap.

And the fear returned to her being once again.