Chapter 51 213
Lilian POV:
My eyes widened at what I saw, and I gulped while looking out the window. The place was massive—too massive. Tall structures rose behind black iron gates, layered with stone and glass that reflected the dull sky above. It didn’t look like a prison, but it didn’t look like freedom either. Everything about it screamed control.
The driver got down and opened my side of the door, and I felt stupid for making him do that. But he just looked at me and said, “Don’t worry, it’s my job anyway.”
I nodded and moved to grab my bags. “Lilian, leave them. The helpers are going to come carry it out for you and take it to your designated room.”
I nodded again and just stood there like an idiot while the driver motioned for me to follow him inside. My feet felt heavy, like the ground itself didn’t want to let me move forward.
And I followed him.
He opened a tall brown door and entered inside while holding it open for me. I stepped in and muttered a little thank you. He smiled at me, then continued walking down the hall.
The hallway was long and quiet, lined with doors on both sides. The walls were painted a dull cream color, and the lights overhead hummed softly. My footsteps echoed more than they should have, and every sound made me hyper-aware of where I was.
He suddenly stopped at a small door with the number 213 written boldly on it and knocked.
Not less than a minute after he knocked, the door swung open with force. I saw a young girl almost my age, but she looked a little more mature than me. She had green eyes and bulky shoulders, like she trained a lot—or fought a lot.
She looked at the driver and said, “Can I help you, sir?”
The driver nodded and said, “Yeah… no, actually. I was told to bring the new inmate in here, so initially she’s your room inmate.”
“Oh, forgive my manners. You can come in,” she said while opening the door wide enough for us to enter.
The driver dropped the bag he had gotten from the boot and turned to me. “I’ll direct the helpers to drop your bags here.”
I nodded and smiled awkwardly. I watched him leave and just stood at the spot where he left me. As much as I was talkative back home, when I was out like this, I was always oblivious about what to do next.
“You can have the bunk up there,” I heard the girl say. “I already stay down here, and my former roommate stayed up, so yeah.”
I nodded again, gripping the strap of my bag even though there was no bag in my hand anymore.
When she noticed how quiet I was and that I still wasn’t responding properly, she sat up and asked, “What’s your name?”
I twirled my clothes with my hands and said, “Lilian.”
“Oh, Lilian. You’ve got a nice name, by the way. I’m Kayla. Nice to meet you. You’re going to love it here,” she said with a smile that exposed her teeth.
And her fangs were out.
Is it just my eyes hallucinating, or does almost everybody’s fangs stay out here?
Seraphine’s own was always in, but whatever.
I smiled back at her, trying not to stare. Just as I was about to make an attempt to talk, the door burst open.
Some people who were also my age came in carrying my bags, and they dropped them exactly where the driver had kept the first bag he brought in.
Kayla sat up immediately. “Oh my God. Are you guys the ones on duty this week, David?”
The boy carrying the heaviest bag dropped it with a groan and turned to Kayla. He didn’t even spare me a glance. “Nope. But since Rebecca chose to be a piece of unwanted flesh in here, we keep getting punished.”
Kayla’s eyes widened when she heard the name Rebecca. “Shit, man. What did she do this time?”
The boy shrugged and sat beside her on the bed. “There’s a new inmate she bullied, and I stepped in. But of course, the elders had to show up just when I stepped in, and they said I was misusing my powers and energy on a helpless girl.”
Kayla scoffed. “They don’t know what that witch is capable of.” With that, she turned in my direction. “She’s the new inmate—and my roommate too.”
The boy finally turned to me and smiled. “Oh, nice to meet you. I’m David,” he said, extending his hand toward me.
“I’m Lilian. Thank you,” I said, shaking his hand.
“You’re going to like it here if you go by the rules,” he continued. “But if you don’t, then you’ll be like me right now—playing a helper. And trust me when I say it’s not a nice feeling.”
I heard Kayla snort, and David smirked before he stood up and stretched his clothes since they had gotten rumpled when he sat on Kayla’s bed.
“Gotta leave, Kayla. Bye, Lilian. I’ve got some help to offer.” With that, he left our room.
The silence that followed felt awkward.
“Have you met the elders yet?” Kayla asked.
“Yeah, but it was early last month.”
She shook her head. “No, like before you came in here.”
I shook my head slowly. “No… is there a problem?”
Kayla suddenly narrowed her eyes at me. “Wait… are you a Trueblood?”
“Yeah. That’s what I was told.”
Her eyes widened, and she did a mini dance right there on her bed. “Oh my God, that’s so cool. Rebecca is the only Trueblood here. That’s why the elders always spare her.”
Then she scrunched up her nose. “And with her minions, of course.”
“O…kay.”
She leaned closer, her eyes curious. “So, do you have any special skill? Like how to slit a throat with one swipe of a finger?”
I blinked. “No… I’m still kind of new in this vampire shit.”
She looked at me in what I could only describe as pity and said, “You’re going to be a real big piece of work.”
I let out a small breath and glanced around the room again—the bunk bed, the neatly arranged shelves, my bags sitting untouched on the floor. Paradise, Jacob had called it.
Yeah.
Something told me this place was going to tear me apart before it ever tried to build me up.