Obscure

fifty one

AUBREY SPENT THE night in Sophie's room.

Instead of sleeping, however, she sat at the desk and skimmed through Google Maps on Sophie's laptop. Her goal was to figure out what their new map lead to, and whether or not it was important. Sophie remained seated on the edge of her bed with a sketchbook and some pencils. She spent the night mapping out what both she and Aubrey knew of the castle. Her small drawing wasn't much though. Despite living in the castle for so long, Aubrey hardly knew anything about it.

The darkness replaced the sunlight that streamed through Sophie's curtains. Aubrey shifted around in her seat and glanced at Sophie. "Classes start soon," she announced.

Sophie lowered her pencil and looked up. Her neck ached a bit from the awkward angle it remained in for most of the night. She glanced back behind her at the window. "I'm not sure that I should go," she said. "The Headmaster said that academics weren't important. Missing one class shouldn't hurt."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Aubrey said. Her expression twisted. "The Headmaster wants you to get closer to the other students and get them to trust you. How can you do that if you skip class?"

"It's just once," Sophie argued. She shrugged and set the map aside. "I wanted to explore the castle a bit more. He can't get mad if I'm not feeling good, can he?"

Aubrey frowned. "Vampires don't get sick...Our venom fights infectious cells."

Sophie scowled. "Stop arguing against my logic," she grumbled. "I'm just trying to help the cause."

"I know," Aubrey said with a sigh. She nodded and rubbed at her temples. "It would be good to explore the castle more. We definitely need more information on this stupid map too." She scowled disdainfully and poked at the small paper map.

"No luck?" Sophie asked.

Aubrey shook her head and groaned. "No. There is no forest or body of water that looks at all similar to this stupid map. I can't find anything at all about it. I've tried everything that I can think of except for actually leaving the castle and trying to find it on foot."

Sophie winced. "I'm sure that there is something out there about it. It's just buried really deep within the Internet."

"If it's out there, I will find it," Aubrey grumbled. Her hand pressed against her forehead and she scowled at the desk. Her fingers drummed against the surface of keyboard. "Maybe we should both skip today. You can go out exploring and I can rip the Internet to shreds."

"That sounds like a good idea," Sophie said, climbing to her feet. She moved to her wardrobe and started to rummage through the drawers for a good spy-outfit. "There aren't any guards or anything that I will have to sneak past right?"

Aubrey hummed. "No. Though the Headmaster will know if you leave campus. He doesn't like that."

That made Sophie pause. A memory of Eli flashed across her mind –the dreaded date. He had taken her out into the city, to his favorite arcade. It seemed so silly to think about it now, about how much she tried to fight it. With a sigh, Sophie pulled several black garments out of the wardrobe and started toward the bathroom. Of course he would have had permission to leave campus with her. He had been the Headmaster's second in command.

She changed into a black silky shirt with long sleeves and a rounded neckline. It hung low on her body, almost an inch below her butt. It was perfect to wear with leggings.

"I'm going to go explore," she told Aubrey as she slipped into some dark sneakers. Aubrey grumbled incoherently under her breath and typed away on the laptop.

As Sophie closed the door behind her, she looked around. There wasn't a single soul in the hallway, and she couldn't hear anybody behind the closed doors. It felt kind of surreal. The night portion of the castle was still asleep, only just waking up for class.

She pulled out the map that she had drawn. She really didn't need it, as her memory was spectacular. But it provided a weird sense of comfort. It was something that she definitely would have needed as a human.

Sophie started toward the right, and followed the hallway until it reached a dead-end. Aubrey had marked several paths, with several signs that marked the beginning. One started at the end of the dorm hallway, marked by a bright red tapestry. She turned toward it, and ducked through a door that Aubrey hadn't been through.

As she walked, she listened.

She could hear the normal castle sounds: the sounds of the ancient stones settling, and students bustling around behind closed doors. Beyond that, there were the natural sound sounds outside of the castle, like birds chirping and wind whispering through leaves. She remained on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. Her main concern was being discovered outside of class. She wasn't entirely sure how she would explain herself.

A strange sound caught her attention. She paused and looked around. The hallway that she stood in was unmarked on her map, but it wasn't far out of the known-zone.

What caught her off guard was that there was nothing around her except wall. The sound that she had heard almost sounded like the distant rumble of water. She moved closer to the wall and pressed her ear against the stone. The gush of running water filled her ears.

She moved her head away and looked around the wall. It sounded different from before, from the normal sounds that she could hear of the outside world. The water sounded closer.

Her fingers brushed over the stones. The wall felt weaker, and even more aged than the others.

The stones shifted beneath her fingers. Sophie's eyes widened and she hesitated, terrified that the wall might crumble. Then she started to feel around again. The stone moved. Several bricks remained stuck together, like a hidden door. The area behind it opened into a small hallway carved directly into the mountain. Dried mud covered the walls and ground. The sound of rushing water grew louder. Sophie glanced back behind her shoulder and then ducked inside. She followed the pathway until moonlight poured into the space and illuminated it.

There she stopped, her eyes wide and senses pulsing.

The small cave opened and formed a small ledge, giving Sophie a marvelous view of the darkened night sky. The moon hung low and heavy, surrounded by twinkling stars. Beneath it sat the side of the mountain, with several jagged edges that looked climbable to Sophie. Water streamed between the edges, down the mountain side.

A forest stretched out around her, its thick trees covered in dark leaves.

Sophie pulled out her map and quickly marked down the route. It might come in handy as an escape route...