Chapter 8 – Deadly Midnight Mission
"As some of you may know, Zeptoria wasn't always a place of happiness." Ms. Ambrosia said. "There were times where the people went through many losses."
Giselle sat back and continued to listen to Ms. Ambrosia's lesson on Zeptoria. She tuned out at the beginning of the lecture because Isaac's words kept replaying in her mind like a bad show tune.
Though it was hard to focus she was happy to be back to class after what happened yesterday. She was now learning about the person she was deep down inside. Giselle cleared her mind allowing Ms. Ambrosia's lesson to be heard, she had to know as much as possible about her home land.
"There were times that Zeptoria had enemies, times that they had to fight for their land because evil was trying to take over." Ms. Ambrosia continued. "This evil was from the land of Cromin."
"What's that?" A boy from up front yelled.
Ms. Ambrosia laughed. "I'm getting to that." She said. "Cromin, is the opposite of Zeptoria, it is under earth, an underworld but right above hell."
The whole class went cold, possibly frightened.
Giselle felt her hand go up above her head, a question dying to be asked.
"Yes, Ms. Riley?"
"Does," Giselle swallowed hard. "Does Cromin still exist?"
"No." Ms. Ambrosia said. "15 years ago, there was a war between Cromin and Zeptoria, the defenders of Zeptoria charged into Cromin, there were many of us and we killed off any life forms knowing that if we didn't they would have planned to take over Zeptoria."
Giselle let her hand fall feeling slightly relieved.
"Cromin was a land for gifted as well." Ms. Ambrosia said. "Except, this land was for individuals who didn't want any part of Zeptoria, for the gifted that refused to follow anything that consisted of Zeptorian rules and preferred to be dark and menacing, mischievous gifted beings that not only separated themselves from Zeptoria society but planned to go after the royal family, kill them all and then take over our land."
A gasp escaped many students while Giselle stiffened.
"Not to worry, our battlers knew of the plan due to lots of suspicious evidence, Cromin had spies but we took them out also." said Ms. Ambrosia. "Now Cromin is deserted, a land with absolutely no life forms and has been that way for more than ten years."
A sigh escaped Giselle as small chatter arose. She found herself picturing Cromin. It sounded so evil and so wrong. Why go against your own people?
"There are text books on your table." Ms. Ambrosia continued. "In the books you will find story's of our war against Cromin and pictures of our battlers, you may look through them for the rest of the time period."
Giselle grabbed a text book in front of her. The book was red with large dark brown letters in the front that read 'The Battle of the Home Land'. She began skimming through the book, page after page. When glancing in front of her she noticed the twins doing the same except they were sharing a book.
Something felt right as she flipped through the books thinking about the previous day. Page's of battlers with weapons. One page had a picture of the royal family, the queen sitting in a large chair.
That’s when it hit her.
My father. She thought. He has to be in here.
Giselle began turning the pages rapidly, anxious to find anything. She stopped on a page that made her heart skip a beat, there was a man there but she couldn't see his face. Something inside her told her it couldn't have been him, there were hundreds of battlers so what were the odds?
But as she stared at the picture it all clicked, her heart began to steady.
He stood in front of the queen, kneeling in front of her face turned so she couldn't see it. But the red hair flared through the page and his light skin matched hers. The caption read: Queen Isadora honors and dedicates SIR NICOLAS RILEY as Knight of battle.
Giselle's heart sank and as she stared at the page she could feel her breathing increasing by the mile. She continued to turn the pages but that was it, there were no more pictures and nothing more on her father, just the battle in great detail.
"Are you all right?" Zoey asked her.
"You look sort of pale." said Zach, practically finishing the statement for his sister.
"Fine." Giselle muttered before shutting the book. "Where can I get more information on this battle stuff, or the people engaged in it?"
Zach glanced at his sister looking confused and then focused his attention on Giselle. "The library of course."
"Yeah, they've got everything in there." Zoey said. "In alphabetical order."
Giselle nodded. "Thanks for the tip."
"Unfortunately you need special privileges to get inside different sections." Zach continued for his sister. "That’s if you want information that might be off limits because of different reasons."
Why would a book on her father be off limits? She thought. Well he was a free spirit, and liked to be mysterious, maybe he would want to remain unknown.
"What are you saying?" Giselle asked him.
"He's saying," Zoey said. "That you'd have to go at night, preferably after the clock hits 11:59 pm."
"How could I possibly -"
"Oswald, Library Security, is always knocked out by midnight." Zach said. “Easier to sneak in"
Giselle stared at them "Have you guys-"
"NO." They both said at the same time, and then started laughing nervously. "We're good kids."
There was a twinkle in Zach's eyes that said otherwise.
Instantly the bell rang signaling next class. Giselle got up not forgetting her bag and jacket. Zach and Zoey waved goodbye to her as they headed out.
Giselle knew what she had to do, and it wouldn't be easy.
-
* LATER *
Giselle was practically running to the library when her wristwatch read 11:58. It was across campus but she had to go, she had to know more about him.
Even though he probably wanted nothing to do with her, even if it meant he wasn't curious to know about her at all. This man was her father and she had to know.
Finally she reached the Library. The sky was dark and almost black besides it shimmers of dark blue. The stars twinkled above her making her feel the sudden urge to make a wish. But she didn't have time for that.
She pushed the large dark doors that lead into the library to find Oswald, sitting at his desk head onto it like he was dead. The only thing reminding you that he was still alive was his hard-core snoring.
Giselle sprinted to the N section, looking down isle after isle of millions of books. When she reached 'N-I' her heart did a back flip.
To her surprise nothing was there. She scolded herself when she thought about it but before she could remind herself she saw something shimmer in the darkness besides her flashlight. It was a golden door up ahead that read KEEP OUT.
Knowing Giselle anybody could tell that she would not listen to these directions. She turned the knob of the door to realize it was locked.
In seconds she was beside Oswald looking for keys to this door. Then she saw them, a gold key lying right beside Oswald but man was he knocked out.
She grabbed the key and headed right back to the door before sticking it in and shaking it a bit. Finally it budged and opened to reveal a small room, big enough to be a walk in closet.
Giselle walked in glancing around astonished. There was a red leather chair in the middle of the room that looked comfortable. The floors were marble and the walls were a dark brown. The book shelves never ended and each book was a golden brown color.
Okay, Dad. Giselle thought. Where are you?
When Giselle began through the 'N-I-C' section she felt her heart go rapidly again. She was so close that she could taste it. Finally she saw it, the dark brown lettering across the side: Sir NICOLAS RILEY
She pulled the book out the bookshelf nearly gasping. A tear welled up in her eyes. All her life she wondered and now, she would finally know.
Giselle put the key right back to where she found it and closed the door to the special sections of books. She hoped nobody would notice it was gone.
Oswald was still snoring by the time she raced out the library and she couldn't help thinking that was just too easy.
She made her way across campus, a couple yards away from the sleeping dorm when she saw something that caused her to pause. It was a couple feet away but too dark to tell.
She squinted and then her eyes went wide. Her knees gave out from under her causing her breathing to rise. Vampire.
He approached her and Giselle wanted to run, run as fast as she could but something about his eyes and perfect looking face told her to stay put. Those red blood shot eyes were staring at her as if she was something to eat.
Vincent.
Giselle straightened up as he stood in front of her, ready for anything and forcing the fear out of her mind.
Vincent smiled slightly and mischievously. "Look who it is."
Giselle took a step back. "I'm not afraid of you."
He grabbed her arm to make sure she wouldn't move again, he held it tightly still not causing any pain. "Are you sure?" He breathed.
Giselle's eyes went wide. "You can't hurt me, it’s against the-"
"Rules?" He questioned, eye brows up in amusement. "Rules don't matter to me."
Giselle stood silent. Her book bag felt heavier than usual now that it had a giant book in it.
He stepped forward his breathe shocking her more than ever, it was warm but when it hit her face it felt oddly cold. "It's been so long since I had human blood." He whispered. "And just imagine yours; you being gifted must make it even more worth the ride."
His hands were at her throat in seconds, choking her. She felt her body give out, he was too strong. She tried to remove his crispy fingers from her skin but she had no chance.
Giselle's hands began to tingle as if the fire was burning in her, ready to release. But it wouldn't, she couldn't focus and before she knew it lack of oxygen was forcing her to pass out.