Chapter 1
This has not been edited.
The light of the moon shines a path through the dark narrow staircase I run up to avoid the fire surrounding the castle. Everywhere I look, the prince is nowhere to be found, but the sad cries and cracks of the flames eating all things that encircled it. Reaching the top, I catch my breath at sight of a dark shadowy figure that stands at the edge. Instantly, my body goes numb and anxious to see the mysterious figure before me.
"Madeline," I hear a soft voice wake me from my dream. Two blue eyes stare at me with concern as Damon gives me his sweet smile.
I blink my eyes quickly and look around to see the classroom mostly empty. "I fell asleep again?" I say in disbelief. Ever since last year, my freshman year of college, I've been slowly developing this same dream and growing more restless in my sleep. It's surreal, but my boyfriend of two years, Damon, has been my grasp of reality.
A soft kiss is planted on my forehead after Damon says, "I'll lend you my notes later. I have to get to practice before I'm late again." He stands up and throws his backpack on, revealing his brawny tan arms underneath his plain black shirt. "Don't fall asleep in your next classes," he says quickly while giving his blonde hair a quick fix as he begins walking down towards the exit.
I watch Damon leave, his shoulders back and walking proudly. Sighing, I look back down at my stuff on the table, trying to collect my thoughts about the dream. It was the first time that I've ever seen that dark shadowy figure appear. Could it have been the prince that I was looking for all along?
"Son, you can't be falling asleep in class every day," says Professor Lismore to the student in front of me. He wore a denim button-up shirt with tan jeans that are tucked into his brown leather boots. He has light brown hair that is gelled up and out of his face, highlighting his broad jaw line.
"I get it, I get it," the student waves off Professor Lismore. He stands up to reveal his tall height, collecting his things in a black backpack with a light brown leather accent. "Pops, philosophy is too easy... could you try to make it more challenging so I won't fall asleep?"
Everything about this guy made me feel warm inside, a feeling that I couldn't understand. Maybe I've had him in a different class of mine that I couldn't depict at the moment, but one thing that really caught my eye is the small red glow from his ring.
A big ruby red circle gem that's embedded into gold plating that matches Professor Lismore's square ruby gem. The two notices the glow from each of their rings; Professor Lismore's eyes grow large as he covers the two rings with his big palms. Quickly his eyes search the room, stopping to stare at me.
"Kyler, leave now," the Professor urges, pushing the boy towards the exit with his eyes glued to me. Kyler fights back, but reluctantly leaves the room; a couple students still in class discretely look in our direction.
Instantly, a wave of concern washes over me, causing me to pack all of my things into my backpack before I notice a faint glow from myself. The ring that I've been wearing all my life, the one that I've never taken off, suddenly has a different appearance from the usual round cut opal gem surrounded on a thin silver band.
"Could I see you outside of class, Miss Gould? I'm assuming," Professor Lismore asks with his green eyes still enlarged. I gather my tan leather bag and tuck my hands into my high-waisted jean shorts, in hopes to hinder the faint glow from my ring.
Stepping out into the empty hallway, I stare down at the marble floor in fear of what Professor's next words will be. Maybe he's come across this sort of reaction from our rings before? If there were any ethical explanation at all...
Professor Lismore clears his throat and pulls his face together to appear calm and approachable. "First," he breathes, "what is the color of the jewel on our rings?" Taken aback from his odd question, I reply with an answer that causes his worried expression from earlier to come back.
"Is there a problem, Professor?" I ask, peaking up from behind my eyelashes. I've never seen a professor act in such an odd behavior before, which frightens me a bit.
He shakes his head and takes a long breath, "You need to drop my class. I can recommend you to a different professor that will accommodate you better." Staring at him in disbelief, I could feel a negative chill surrounding the two of us. Professor Lismore's expression changes to a defeated one as he whispers, "It's already started."
My eyebrows furrow together when I ask, "What are you talking about?" I could feel this faint energy around us, making me think of the Professor in a negative way, but I feel as if I have no control over my thoughts.
"Hey, Professor Lismore?" A student pokes out their head from the classroom to ask, "Could you help us with a couple questions we have about the reading you assigned?"
The Professor lets out a small chuckle before whispering, "Of course this would happen..." He waves to the student and starts to head towards them, but turns back to give me one final icy stare. "Bad things will happen to you if you don't listen to me."
I stare back at him, my body numb and unsure of what to do or what to say. Everything that just happened wasn't making sense to me: the ring, my professor, or the ominous energy I felt. Even after he left, the negative energy faintly lingers in the air, sending small bolts throughout my body.
I push back the black sleeve of my loose-fitting cardigan to reveal my brown leather watch telling me that my next class is starting soon. My eyes pop out in defeat, there was no way that I would be able to walk from this building to the north campus area in time for class. With that said, I pull my thin knee-high black socks up, securing them in place to make a run for it.
As much as I'd like to skip out on this lecture, it was impossible. Due to the class not being as large as most, our professor actually takes attendance, but his class never fails to be interesting. Professor Astor teaches paranormal studies and usually has great stories to recite during his lectures.
Avoiding the curious looks from students passing by, I pick up speed to finally reach the Russell building on north campus, which is usually about a good ten to fifteen minute walk from my last class. Entering the building, I pause to catch my breath, realizing how out of shape I was in when I felt the pain from underneath my leather belt.
Due to my reckless running, I take a few moments to tuck in my white shirt into my shorts and fix my long brown straight hair, reassembling myself as I walk towards the stairs. Giving a good sigh, I force my legs to run up to the third floor; all good signals for my need to start working out.
Walking towards my classroom, the hallway feels longer and endless. Finally, reaching the door, I peek into the room to see my seat that I've been sitting in for the past couple weeks taken. Reluctantly, I open the door, breathing a bit more restlessly than usual, and take the first open seat that I see next to a girl with dark orange hair and pale freckled skin.
Looking around the front, I notice that Professor Astor had his back to the classroom as he was on the phone. He puts the phone down by his side and announces to the class in his deep voice, "I'm sorry, I need to take this important phone call. Class will resume in five minutes." He brushes back his gelled raven hair and loosens his red tie before shutting the door to the hallway behind him.
Perplexed and curious to the phone call, I use this time to take out my notebook and pen. Flipping through the pages, my back straightens, startled by a deep voice behind me asking, "Was my old man giving you a hard time?"
Turning around, I see Kyler, the student from earlier. "Your 'old man?'" I reply quickly, unsure of who exactly he was talking about.
He gives me a quick smirk, "I'm Kyler Lismore, the Professor's son," he says with his hand extended out. I grab it and firmly acknowledge his introduction. Both of our eyes enlarge as I feel this inaudible connection flow through my arm. This moment has happened before, but I couldn't get a grip on when.
"I'm Madeline Gould," I say, embarrassed as I retreat my hand back, soon realizing the glow of my ring. Instinctively, I look at his ring and realize the same shine as earlier.
Instantaneously, my eyes grow wide and my eyebrows furrow together in confusion. Did our rings always do something like this, or am I just imagining it? I look up to analyze Kyler's expression, which also mirrored mine.
My first instinct is to remove the ring and analyze it, although the only problem is that it won't come off. My heart rate increases with every struggle to pull the ring off my finger, but Professor Astor's voice brought me back into reality.
"Sorry, class," the Professor says while rubbing his templates, "an emergency has come up and the lecture is cancelled for this evening." At that moment, I grovel in disappointment as I remember the effort I put into not being late for this class. "I will give a completion grade if you can accomplish the online quiz I'll be sending out with a short reading from the book."
Everyone in class gave a quick sigh before heading out, but my eyes stay glued to Professor Astor, analyzing his frightened expression. His big dark brown eyes frantically search through the papers on his desk while his pale palm covers his mouth; finding it quickly, he turns around and says, "Lismore, come see me in my office in thirty minutes." The Professor turns back around to his desk and begins to gather his papers.
Mechanically, my head turns to find Kyler, standing near my table; his face is blank until he makes eye contact with me. "Hey, Gould, we should get together sometime," he says confidently with a slanted smile to reveal his pearly white teeth. "I'd really like to get to know you better."
Kyler looks at me with his light brown eyes, highlighted with deep gold flecks, and gives me a wink. He turns towards the door, as if my surprised expression was confirmation to his statement. Shaking my head, I put up my things, and begin to stand up until I feel a cold hand grab mine.
The girl sitting next to me studies my ring with great awe, "what a beautiful diamond you have there." She has a high-pitched voice that sends chills throughout my arm as she continues to stare with her small jade green eyes that rim with a light brown. "I've never seen this kind of circular jewel before, usually square ones..." she trails off in a whisper to herself.
My smile spreads from ear to ear, receiving an abnormal feeling of haughtiness, knowing my ring is stunning. "Well," I let out a confident scoff, "it's hard to come by something like this." Saying all of that, in my mind I knew that was something that I would never admit to out loud.
The girl gives me a sour look, but I couldn't move my lips to apologize to her. I'm not the type of girl who would say something so arrogant to anyone. This negative feeling harbors in my mind, but it doesn't seem like I could shake it off so easily. Surprisingly, she gives me a sinister smile and says, "I think it suits you well."
I stare at her in disbelief of her odd compliment and expression while watching her exit the room. I sit, still stunned at my actions and cover my glowing ring with a shaking hand. A small pressure pounds against my templates and blood rushes to color my face. What was going on with me?
Quickly, I throw my bag over my shoulder and head for the exit. The only person I could think of to talk to about this is my mom. As a child, she always conditioned me to be mindful of my ring, but I never understood why.
Finally, at ground level, I call my mom on my cell phone. The ringing seems endless, but luckily she answers with a welcoming voice. "My dear, Madeline! How are you? Are you ready to transfer colleges yet?"
My mother resented me choosing this university to attend. She often told me stories of an old lover that made her college life hell, and that I wouldn't succeed if I went here as well. Although, Damon has many opportunities here, as do I, so we both chose this school.
"Mom," I groaned, not wanting to hear her bashing banter about school. "I actually have a question for you about---"
"Sorry, dear! I've got a call from a client! I'll call you when I'm free," she frantically says before hanging up.
I stare at my phone, my jaw hardening as I close my eyes. I feel so angry about this and I can't ask the one person who could help me. I march outside in disbelief as I stare at an empty text message to send her.
Looking up, I see the girl that commented my ring talking to a few boys I remember seeing with Damon once before. We make quick eye contact before I look back down at my phone, trying to come up with a careful message to send to my mom.
"Gould, right?" the familiar high-pitch voice slithers into my ears. Embarrassed, I look up to meet her gaze. Giving her a quick nod and smile, I notice that the radiance from my ring has gone mute. "I'm Carling Wickham," she says with her hand extended out.
"Nice to meet you," I reply with a quick shake. Talking to people can be fun, but I don't feel the need to have many friends. Usually, people I meet at school are friendly with me until the semester is over, so I've lost much interest in meeting new people.
She gives me a big grin, "If you need help with Astor's class, let me know. I help him out in the garden and have many chances to talk with him about his lectures."
Giving her a small smile back, I nod before taking a step towards the exit. "Thanks, I'll remember that." Only taken three steps, I feel an odd weight push against me. Quickly I look back and see Carling staring at me with a crooked smile.
"You should be careful, Gould, or bad things will happen to you," is what I hear in my head, but Carling's lips haven't moved at all. Her eyebrows dip down together, making her presence have an ominous aura. She turns around quickly and catches up with the group of boys she was with earlier, giving me one final hostile glance.
I stare back, my body feeling numb and unsure if I imagined any of this.