Page 29 of When Night Falls

I can wave this car down and beg for a ride back home, tell the driver I’ve been kidnapped by some vampire. But who would believe that?

The car comes down to a slow cruise and as expected, it stops before it passes us.

I can still feel Rivian’s eyes on me as the window rolls down on the passenger side and a male driver leans his head over the center.

“Everything okay out here?” That’s when I hear static coming from inside of the car and realize that this is a police officer. I didn’t see his overhead lights before in the dark, but his badge shines in the cab lighting and my heartbeat quickens its pace.

If I asked him for help right now, he’d most likely not question it, and I can free myself of this monster in front of me. But I don't actually feel as though I'm in any real danger right now. Not any more than I could be getting into a stranger's car, even if he is an officer of law.

I feel Rivian step forward a bit, but it doesn’t feel like it’s out of concern for my loyalty, it feels like it’s out of protection. Possession.

Then it hits me, what if the policeman is a vampire as well?

So many things whirl through my mind and I know that I’m taking way too long to answer when the officer asks again.

“Miss. You in any trouble here?” He looks between the so-called vampire prince and me.

I close my eyes and take a quiet breath before speaking on what my heart is telling me to do.

“All good here, officer. Just enjoying an early morning walk.” I notice a small sliver of sunlight attempting to creep up over the horizon of dark trees, the moon is moving behind the tips of them.

Rivian dips his head to nod at the officer before he rolls his window back up and drives off. I feel a gentle touch at the small of my back and I shiver slightly, looking over to see Rivian a few steps closer to me now.

“He had impure thoughts. They all do,” Rivian explains his sudden need to stand his ground to me.

“Was he a vampire too?” I wonder and he simply shakes his head at me.

“I want to tell you everything. Come inside with me.” Rivian’s words sound comforting, and though I have a lot of apprehension surrounding his offer, Iwouldlike a full explanation. I want to know everything in hopes to make the puzzle whole.

But one more question eats at me. “Inside?” I ask, and Rivian simply turns us to face the hills beside us, and there it is again. The gate and the castle.

Hollows Trace.

“How did you-” I attempt to ask, but I close my mouth shut as the gate starts to slowly creak open.

“Welcome to my kingdom, Lucynda.”

12

to be a horrifying romantic

Lucynda

Rivian leads the way up the long driveway I've admired from afar for so long; turning back to see that I'm on the other side of the gate is a surreal feeling and one that I will forever hold on to. Especially since I now know that it really does exist.

As we get closer to the castle, nervousness eats at me and chills swarm my skin.

"Here." Rivian removes his jacket and helps it around my shoulders. It's a chivalrous act, but he claims to be a life-sucking being. Those two things should not be mixed together. Unless he's lying to me about what he really is. Or unless the lore of vampires I've read of isn't true at all.

But I push the thoughts aside as he leads us up to the black double doors of his mansion and pushes them open.

Entering Hollows Trace is like stepping into an ominous scene of your favorite dark academia book and I don't know where to look first. Everything is over the top extravagant. Gold anddark marble layers surfaces that I had no idea could be gold or marbled. There are vintage paintings of major landmarks and naked men and women placed calculatedly along the walls in gold filigree frames. Beautiful chandeliers hang from the ceiling with crystal embellishments and moonlight shifts its way into the high-wall windows that must provide excellent natural light during the day. But the darkness that's still present in the early morning hours gives an ethereal effect to the grandness of this fortress. I've envied it from the outside of its barriers and now . . . well, now the outside world seems so small compared to the way standing inside of Rivian's home makes me feel.

"How did you…" I think over how to word my question. I start to develop this need to not make myself sound too dumb or incompetent enough to learn more about this life . . .hislife. "Noone seemed to believe me when I asked about this place. And just now, I thought I was crazy because it wasn’t there. Yet, you somehow make it reappear." He holds his eyes steady over my face as I continue to look around at the wonder of my surroundings. "How?" I finally ask.

"It's magic, of sorts. A cloaking spell really. It's cast over the Hollows Trace compound so as not to attract the curious minds of those who do not belong inside of the gates. So in short, not a soul in Shadow Creek or anywhere else in the world for that matter—other than other Nocturnes and anyone else we allow to be privy to the knowledge of—knows of its existence. It's meant to keep the Society safe from outside harm." Rivian doesn't hesitate to give me an answer, feeding me information that I feel I have no right to know. But I'm grateful for his straightforward honesty as it clears a few things up as far as the illusion of his home is concerned.

Which has me asking my next question.

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