CADDIE's POV:
Four weeks and two days. That's how long it's been since I broke Mira's body. I sat on the icy bench and stared out at the snow-covered courtyard.
It was December, almost two months since I learned about Dmitri's existence. Heidi was getting closer to finding where he was kept, but I felt like we were just going around in circles.
"You know, if you don't stop frowning your face will freeze that way," Alix said, handing me a hot chocolate.
She scooted next to me on the bench and sipped away at her drink. I offered her a fake smile and let the warm liquid soothe my freezing throat.
"I wouldn't be surprised if my face is the only thing that this weather freezes," I shivered.
She laughed. "Winter is a witch's favorite time of year. In fact, all supernatural creatures relish in the cold and dark."
She wasn't wrong about that. Everyone was out today, playing in the snow. In fact this was my first time seeing a real vampire. With the sun safely buried behind the clouds most of the vampires had woken earlier to play with everyone else.
They were beautiful and deadly, one could never forget how lethal they are. Curfew for most started at 8 o' clock. That was when the vampires come out to learn.
I watched as they threw snowballs at the fairies. It was enchanting to watch, the fairies practically sparkling. Icicles hung off of their delicate wings.
Moments like this nothing seemed real. This is what school at Nox Haven should be like: magic class with witches and dances with fairies. Not wars, death, and dark magic.
"If I was going to be in a snowball fight, I would side with the vampires," Alix said staring at their athleticism with admiration.
"I'm just happy to be comfortable sitting a few feet away from them," I mumbled into my drink.
"That's only because you haven't partied with them," Alix countered.
I gave her a skeptical look. "And you have?"
She smiled mischievously, "No, but Jaxon has. With their cryptic locations and trance music, vampires really know how to party."
I didn't know if scary was the trendy theme for supernatural kids, but that kind of party did not sound fun to me.
"So all of that stuff is true?" I asked. "The holy water and sleeping in coffins?"
Her red head bobbed in agreement. "Yeah, they don't go near anything religious; they're atheists. As for sleeping in coffins, they do it for sentimental reasons. They will only sleep in their coffins because that is where they're supposed to be taking an eternal nap."
I couldn't tell if she was joking or telling the truth so I let it go. We fell into a lulled silence and my eyes began to travel away from the fight. I saw a group of people watching the snowball fight with disdain.
I noticed one of those people happened to be Cam. He looked back at me as well, with very sad puppy dog eyes. I quickly looked away.
"Are you still ignoring him?" Alix asked, looking over at the pack.
"I'm not ignoring anyone . . . we're just not talking."
She made a disapproving noise in the back of her throat and stood up.
"I'm going to join the snowball fight. Please figure out what you're doing, because it seems you're only hurting yourself." She said and skipped over to the vampires.
I watched their interaction for a few minutes before standing up to leave. I instantly collided into a broad chest, my hot chocolate spilling all over.
"Oh shit, I'm so sorry," I said picking up my mug.
"It's nice to see you to Caddie," Aleksander said, shooting me a mildly pissed off look.
I narrowed my eyes, "Never mind; I'm definitely not sorry. What are you doing here?"
"My apologies. I thought the courtyard was open to all," He pointed out and then let out a sigh of aggravation.
"Actually I was looking for you. Has Heidi given you anymore information?"
This is why I wasn't happy to see him. I had no information to give away. Saying it out loud would only disappoint the both of us.
"We're getting closer," I offered and tried to step around him.
He easily blocked me. "What you're saying is that you have no information and this is hopeless."
I glared at him and tried to keep the acid out of my voice.
"No, it isn't hopeless. We're doing something and that's a lot better than your method."
He shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked a mound of snow.
"It's not just my method, Caddie. When someone is taken by the dark ones, people move on as if it never happened."
I didn't know what hurt the most: the words, or the fact that it was true. That's how everyone dealt with Dmitri's disappearance. They believed that if they didn't talk about it, then it wouldn't be real. My coat pocket vibrated, I pulled it out and saw Heidi's text message.
"Well that was Heidi. Maybe this won't be as hopeless as you believe," I told him and made my way towards the school.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Cam looking at me again. I swallowed the lump in my throat and trudged onwards. Once I got far enough from him, the urge to run into his arms would lessen. At least, that's what I told myself.
I hurried into the warmth of the school. I smiled politely to some of my classmates and placed my mug onto a table. Everyone seemed to be glowing from the cold weather. They still looked at me with a mixture of fear and respect. I guess that's what happens when you cripple someone and get away with it.
I walked down the halls with my head held high, ignoring their frightened whispers. So this is what it's like to have power, I thought amusedly. Heidi was waiting for me when I arrived at her office. The secret staircase was already uncovered.
"You found him?" I asked, barely containing my excitement.
"No, but I have found someone who can lead us to him," Heidi told me and gestured to the stairs.
My excitement deflated, but I hurried down the stairs anyway. It might not be Dmitri, but whoever this person was, they would help me find him. I expected for Heidi to lead me into one of the open rooms, but instead we continued walking into a deeper part of the underground tunnels.
"Where are we meeting this person?" I asked, giving Heidi a suspicious look.
"We aren't meeting them," she answered cryptically.
I was confused. Isn't this why we're down here? I didn't say that out loud and kept my bewildered thoughts to myself.
I could trust Heidi. She would never betray me, right? We walked into a pitch-black tunnel; the only light we had was the one emanating from Heidi's hand.
She abruptly stopped and turned left. The light from her hand revealed a hidden cave, which was blocked by steal bars.
"Nox Haven has a dungeon?"
My skin began to crawl as I heard the hair-raising hiss respond from the cave.
"We have to keep the captured dark ones somewhere," Heidi muttered, as if I was the stupid one.
I glanced around the tunnel, without Heidi's light I couldn't be sure, but there had to be thousands more of these cells. Not ten feet above the dungeon, hundreds of students would be carrying on with their daily routine, completely oblivious to what was happening under their feet.
My ears began to ring, and I could feel the Dark Ones' insanity seep into me. Heidi gripped the bars and a new kind of light appeared. The cell door shook and slowly opened.
Heidi walked into the cell and gestured for me to follow. The cell door closed behind us, and Heidi turned her light back on. I could now see the snarling beast that hid in its rags of clothing. It took me a moment to realize that it wasn't a monster, but a girl.
Her dark hair was out of control and her eyes had a wild gleam. She was beyond filthy and shaking like a rabid dog. She stared at us with a hungry expression, but the look Heidi was giving her kept her in check.
"This is what a Dark One looks like without their magic," Heidi said in a controlled voice.
I couldn't tell if I found her scarier then the ones that attacked me or not.
"With her magic, I believe she was very powerful-maybe even powerful enough to know where they're keeping the boy."
Heidi and I shared a look of hope.
"So, what? A-are we going to have t-t-torture her?" I asked choking on the word.
A deep growl sounded from the girl's chest. Heidi snapped her fingers and she instantly quieted. I didn't realize how frightening my aunt could be. Heidi grabbed my arm and pulled us out of the cell.
The heels of her boots clacked against the stone floor as we hurried out of the tunnels.
"A dark one without their magic is like an addict without their drug. It's disgusting to watch." She informed me. "Torturing that girl would only make her worse. We'll need to get someone to break into her mind to find the answer."
The only person that I knew who could do that was Maddox's mom. Unless...
"You want me to ask Maddox if he can do it?"
She nodded and sunk into her chair behind her desk.
"Not now, of course."
"Why not now? We're so close to finding him."
"Caddie, do you know what is coming up?"
She frowned at my puzzled expression. "In a week, it'll be time for the Winter Ball. It is the biggest social gathering in the century. All of the heirs will be officially introduced to our society."
If it were humanly possible, my eyes would have rolled right out of their sockets. But it wasn't, and I was forced to contain my rage.
"How is a ball more important than saving a life?"
Heidi spoke to me reproachfully. "If they haven't killed him by now, then they won't. We can't have this scandal breaking out until afterwards. Our magic is powerful; it can evoke fear in our people. We don't want our people to fear us, so we do social events like this. They only see the show and not what's hiding the behind the curtains."
My arguments disappeared. She was right. Maybe not on a moral level, but after what happened with Mira, everyone looked at me with fear. If I was going to be forced into the role for the rest of my life, I couldn't ruin it all right now.
"What am I supposed to do?" I said weakly.
It was a joke to put me in the spotlight. It took me months to get used to life at Nox Haven, the other students having thought I was some kind of princess. For some reason, I felt like their parents would only make me feel even more uncomfortable.
Heidi stood up, looking weary. I'd noticed these last few weeks have seemed to age her, but I had no idea why.
"You are expected to smile and be polite. Even though you don't know any of the people, you have to act like you do. No matter what they say, you can't lose your temper." She paused and gave me a look. It was one of those "don't even think about disobeying me" looks.
I sighed in defeat. How bad could one dance be?
Hi guys :) so I just wanted to say thank you to all of you still reading. It means a lot, I also want to know what you guys think of Aleksander and Dmitri. Because I have another surprise in store for you guys and those two are involved.