Secret Secrets

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Our lips were locked under the light sunlight peeking through the clouds. I broke away and grinned. Gabriel smiled back at me. "What?" He asked.

"You called me your girlfriend earlier." I said. "I didn't know I was being considered for that role."

Gabriel leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Well you don't mind, do you?"

I laughed. "Of course I don't mind. I like it. I like having a title."

"Good," He mumbled. Our lips met again, until we were interrupted.

"Mind if I intrude, love birds?" Maxwell hovered over us, seemingly already comfortable in the four hours time he had been there.

Gabriel clicked his tongue in slight annoyance and drew away from me. "What's up, Maxwell?"

"I just thought I would let you two know that I'm a student here now." Maxwell said, pulling out a paper schedule. "I start classes tomorrow."

Gabriel looked impressed. "I'm not even going to ask how you managed that. What dorm are you in?"

Maxwell glanced down at the paper. "Fell's House."

My jaw dropped. "You're kidding."

Maxwell shook his head no. "Why?"

"Venice and I are in that dorm." Gabriel explained.

Maxwell's face lit up. "Alright! Party!"

I laughed in spite of the situation. "How is this possible that all of us are in the same dorm? Even Della is in it!"

"Really?" Maxwell asked.

I nodded. "Who is your room mate?"

"Don't have one," Maxwell shrugged. "they had an extra room, I think it's a little smaller than the other ones or something so no one wanted it. Sweet deal for me, though."

"No kidding." Gabriel agreed. The three of us began to walk over to Fell's House, making small talk about how the school worked. Then we got on the subject of teachers.

"To give myself an in I asked to have Dax Thyme for math." Maxwell told us.

"You didn't have to do that." I said as we started up the stairs to our dorm.

"I wanted to." He said as we entered Fell's House. The three of us stood in the entryway for a moment to direct Maxwell in the right way, and soon he was bidding us goodnight.

Once Maxwell was gone to his room, Gabriel put his arm around me. "Can I walk you to your room?"

I smiled. "Certainly, sir." The two of us stumbled like a love drunk couple over to my door. But before I could pull out my key, we noticed the door was ajar. I looked to Gabriel with a worried look on my face. Gabriel seemed to reflect my feelings on his own face.

"Della?" I took my hand and gently pushed the door open further. Gabriel was directly behind me, I could feel his light breath on my neck. The room was dead silent and dark. "Della?" I repeated.

"Venice," Gabriel warned. "be careful." I felt behind me to grasp his hand. I squeezed it and let it go, continuing into the room. I found the light switch and turned it on. Warm light flooded the room and I could feel someone's eyes on mine. And they weren't Gabriel's. I took a small step in a repeated Della's name.

Then I saw her.

She was pressed against the wood closet door, her eyes so red they appeared to be on fire. Her fingers were digging into the door behind her and she was taking sharp breaths, almost a growl. Before I could move another inch, she was lunging toward me.

"NO!" Gabriel screeched, appearing in front of me mili-seconds before Della would have reached me. His hands wrapped around her thin neck and she began to struggle, but tried not to let it show. They were throwing each other against the walls, and hissing in each other's ears. Soon, Della had freed herself from Gabriel's hands and she was more able to fight back. Her hand formed into a fist which she plowed into Gabriel's stomach. He staggered back. She was overpowering him.

I knew I needed to help somehow, for if Della gained any more power she could possibly kill Gabriel. I looked around, and the first thing I saw was a lone high heel. I grabbed it and whistled to get Della's attention. Her head twisted in my direction, and she paused only a moment before charging toward me. I threw the heel with the most power I could manage and it flew at her eyes, causing her to react like Gabriel did to her punch.

Gabriel caught his bearings and raced over to her, putting her in a rough headlock. He looked up to me. "The umbrella." At first I was confused, but I soon understood. By the closet door, there was a broken umbrella: the wood of the handle was cracked and had jagged ends. Gabriel was going to kill Della. I scooped up the umbrella and carefully tossed it at Gabriel. He freed one of his hands to brake off some of the stray wood, and was just about to plunge it through her heart when she freed herself and sprung up.

Gabriel didn't have time to stop her.

She cracked her neck and came bounding toward me, a snarl on her lips. She trapped me in the nearest corner. "Venice." She spoke my name in a vile voice and even laughed a dark, unearthly laugh before sinking her fangs into my throat.