Page 79 of When Night Falls
The incessant knocking against my door is what wakes me from my deep sleep.
After fumbling around with Rivian last night—yes, that's what I'm calling it—I was sent to my room, again. Now, I would say I'm pissed off at the fact and maybe even say something along the lines of,"didn't we talk about this, Rivian?"but this time wasn't the same. This time, I felt the shift in the air between us. I know we both feel the flame that kindles our souls together and I feel like he might truly let me in.
I can say that I am starting to feel the effects of the tether and despite the previous fits or arguments we found ourselves in, Iam partial to believing that this might actually work whether he denied me the oddity of love or not.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Kacian, it's too early for this," I groan as I lift my head from the silk-covered pillows.
I can see the rays of sun peeking through the drapes, and instead of ravens cawing, blue birds sing their song of morning.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Okay, okay. I'm coming.Sheesh."
I throw the plush blanket away from me and step down into a pair of slippers I found in the closet last night. After my first night here, all of the shelves and drawers have since been filled with everything a girl could dream of, assuming someone took it upon themselves to do the shopping for me.
I wipe the sleep from my eyes before walking to the door to twist the knob, swinging it open. I’m half ready to give Kacian a piece of my mind for waking me from my slumber earlier than I would have liked.
"What do you want, Ka-" I stop myself short of ripping the wrong person apart with my irritation, noticing that Kacian isn't the one knocking at my door. "Oh, Troian," I say in surprise.
She shoves her hands into her pocket and pulls out a little plastic bag with three pills inside.
She looks tired, considering vampires don’t really need much sleep. But it's when I step closer to grab the pills out of her hand, that I notice she was actually crying. The red in her eyes is the tell.
"I was supposed to take you to get these last night, but you were sound asleep." Her voice sounds cracked and dry, not as sarcastic and charismatic as I'm used to.
"You came into my room?" I feel uneasy knowing that anyone at any time can just waltz into my bedroom while I'm sleeping, door locked or not.
"No, I could hear your breathing through the door." She looks down at the floor. “If you didn’t know. No one is allowed to penetrate these walls when your door is locked. It’s some kind of magic that prevents unwanted guests from invading your privacy. However, your guard can break the door down if needed.”
I like that at least I know I’ll be able to close myself away if I need to, without the fear of someonemanifestinginto my space.
"Oh, well what are these?" I cross my arms over my chest realizing that I'm only wearing a silk pajama set, the bag of pills closed tight in my palm.
"Your birth control pills. You have to take one right now. Another tomorrow, and then the day after as well. All at the same time of day."
"Okay," I say.
Awkwardness swims around us, neither of us keeping eye contact or speaking freely like we did at the boutique the other day.
I can tell that something is bothering her and I grow curious as to what, but I know that it's not my place to ask her.
"They're effective immediately so you might want to pop the first one," she says as she nods toward the pills in my hand.
"Right." I turn around and walk back into my room.
I leave the door open behind me, allowing her to follow me inside if she feels inclined.
"So about last night-" I proceed to say as I disappear into the bathroom to fill a cup with some water.
"Not my business," she hollers. "What you and my brother do when you're in the public view of the castle hallways is not of my concern." I smirk, hearing that infamous sarcasm drip from her tone.
I place the pill on the tip of my tongue and wash it down with water as a question replaces it, setting the other pills down on the countertop.
I head back out into the room to see Troian standing by one of the windows and looking out at the trees. From here, you can see parts of the creek running into a drop-off from the cliff where it falls into the ocean.
"Do you think your brother could ever…" I trail off leaving my question unfinished. I hate that I'm asking something too serious to someone I barely even know. But I seem to have more and more questions about my life here the moment my eyes open from sleep, likely wanting to make sure that I don’t screw this up or become a disappointment to someone.