Immortal Love (Chapter 1)

                                                                            Chapter 1

         “I don’t think I can do this…” I told Summer softly, looking out at the rolling green campus before me.

                It was a vast area of lawn, with a multiple color of flowers spread haphazardly across it. A fountain sat in the very center, spewing water while people carelessly splashed water at one another. Everywhere we looked, students lounged lazily in the soft summer's sun, some in large groups, and others by themselves. The buildings stood along the back end of the campus, looming in the growing shadows of the woods. From here, they looked like the monsters you see as a child, waiting in the darkness until the perfect moment when they can strike.

         “You’ll be fine Rachel. Besides, it’s just like being in high school, only the people are a bit older.” She reassured me softly.

         “No, I can’t do this.  Let’s just go back to our school and forget all about this.” I answered quickly, gripping her arm tightly.

         “You have to do this Rachel. If we go back to that high school, everyone’s going to know that the great Rachel Black chickened out. Is that really what you want, to go from being the most popular girl in the whole solar system, to being someone that’s known to be afraid?” she murmured, tugging me gently to a stop.

         “Do you need help with something?” a strange female voice asked from just behind us.

         Turning slowly, we came face to face with a female whose face would make all the goddesses weep with envy. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, with tendrils framing her features like a frame. From where I was standing, I could vaguely see the pink streaked wildly throughout its golden waves. The most intriguing thing about her however, was her dark lilac colored eyes.

         “Actually, we do. We’re taking some classes here for extra credits, and we’re not entirely sure where to go.” Summer answered without hesitation.

         “I’m supposed to be starting here today too...maybe we can hang out together before class, what time do your classes start?” she asked.

         “We start at two, but figured it would be better to come earlier that way we’d know what was going on.” I told her, quickly regaining my voice.

         “That’s when I start to…we should hang out until then. I can introduce you to a few people that I know here, that way you’ll at least know a few people, and we can figure out where our classes are together.” She stated simply, her eyes glowing.

         I couldn’t help but think that the glow looked supernatural, like something not quite human, and it intrigued as well as scared me.

         “Sure, I’m up for it…I’m Rachel by the way, and this is Summer.” I answered smiling reassuringly.

         “I’m Arial.” She offered, moving in between Summer and me.

         Some deep part of me wondered if that was how it was going to end up, Summer and me, each our own person, separated by some unknown force. No longer the duo that we’d been since the day we met.

         “If you’re just starting here today, how do you know so many people that go here?” I asked suspiciously, as Arial waved to a couple of students walking in the opposite direction.

         “Oh, my brother goes to school here. He’s a sophomore…that’s who we’re going to meet right now.” She answered, leading us down a narrow dirt road that cut off the campus, toward a looming building that stood on the edge of the woods.

         When we got to the dorm building, she led us up the steps, through twisting hallways and corridors that never seemed to end, until she finally reached a door at the far end of the building, away from the rest of the rooms.

         “Open the door Aiden!” she yelled, pounding on the door.

         “Chill the hell out…” a male voice screamed back, and the door swung open, revealing a stunning male figure.

         He looked to be about six foot five, with golden hair that fell disobediently around his perfectly sculpted face, and was streaked with dark red coloring. His steel colored eyes darted quickly down the hallway, before he finally opened the door. He smiled slowly when he saw me and Summer, making the lip ring in the right corner of his mouth gleam in the dim sunlight filtering through the window.

         “Who are your friends Arial?” another female voice questioned from our right.

         Turning, I saw that we were not alone in the room. Two other people, a male and a female, sat idly on the couch that occupied the middle of the room. For some apparent reason, I hadn’t noticed them coming into the room.

         The female, much like Arial, was astoundingly beautiful, with hair the color of the midnight sky, which was streaked with a wild blue color that I couldn’t name. Her eyes were a magnificent swirl of colors, ranging from a soft gray color, to a bright wine red. As she turned her head to get a better look at us, the five gold hoops in her left ear caught the sunlight, as did the six gold hoops in her right ear, making them gleam brightly.

         When my eyes landed on the last person in the room, my breath caught in my throat, and I was unable to look away. The eyes staring back at me were an unnatural pale blue; one covered perfectly by hair as black as a raven’s feathers, with streaks as brilliant as blood. His face was so perfectly sculpted, that not even the highest gods could hope to compete with its beauty, no sculptor talented enough to portray such flawless features. When he smiled, the lip ring in the center of his lip glinted seductively, and when he turned his head, the seven gold hoops in his left ear cast a golden glow along a small portion of the wall.

         “Rachel, Summer…meet Kyle and Kamille, our best friends. And this is my brother…Aiden.” Arial announced, gesturing at the three other people occupying the room.

         “You should have told us that you were bringing guests, it would’ve given us time to get fully dressed.” Kyle replied standing up.

         It was then that I noticed he didn’t have a shirt on, and I couldn’t help but stare at the way the hard muscles of his stomach looked in the light. Glancing at Summer out of the corner of my eye, I saw that she was staring at Aiden in a similar way.

         “Shut up Kyle.” Arial said, staring at him in the admiring way that you’d stare at an older brother.

         Kyle smiled fondly at her, before turning his gaze back to me, a strange expression on his face. For a mere moment, I had the strange impression that he was looking deep into my mind, sifting through the untouched memories that sat in its dark recesses. Then suddenly, that moment was gone and he smiled warmly, making his face seem even more transcendent than it had previously.

         “Sorry, we didn’t mean to intrude.” Summer stuttered, eyes still on Aiden.

         “What makes you think you were intruding?” at the sound of Kyle’s voice, my heart skipped a beat.

         His voice was a raging fire, searing my ears with every word he spoke.

         “I don’t know, I guess I just had a feeling that we were intruding.” She answered slowly, and I could tell that his voice a similar, less strong effect on her.

         “You weren’t intruding…we’re glad to have you here.” Aiden’s voice was smooth and velvety, but it was a mere ember compared to Kyle’s, and yet like Kyle’s had with me, it managed to trap Summer, holding her captive within its silky folds.

         “And we’re glad to be here.” I told them all foolishly before I could stop myself.

         Kyle’s answering smile was one of amusement, but I could detect the bewilderment that lay just beneath the surface of it. For some reason, that smile made me feel more ingenuous than I’d ever felt in my life, and the smile quickly disappeared from his face, as if he somehow knew this.

         “You’re definitely not intruding.” Kyle said, eyes moving slowly over my body.

         “Kyle…” Kamille’s voice was strong and firm, as if she were warning him about something.

         He glanced over at her, and before I knew what had happened, was out the door in mere seconds. Some message had been passed between the two of them, and yet they hadn’t said anything at all.

         “I’d better go check on him.” Aiden announced unexpectedly, breaking the spell that had so entranced Summer.

         “Good idea…knowing him, he’s probably already gotten into trouble.” Arial laughed, a sweet tinkling sound, like music.

         “How old are you guys?” I asked softly.

         Kamille and Arial looked at each other, as if they weren’t quite sure how to answer that. And once again I got the impression that they weren’t quite human, but some beautiful unknown creature that hid deep within the recesses of our community.

         “We’re both 17, and the guys are 19.” Kamille answered after a few heartbeats of silence.

         “We’d better get to class, don’t want to be late on our first day.” Arial murmured, ushering us quickly out the door.

          “I don’t know what the fuck happened…” Kyle’s angry voice floated to us from just around the corner.

         “Shhh…we’re not alone anymore.” Aiden whispered mellifluously, bringing Kyle to an abrupt halt in conversation.

         “We were just leaving.” Arial told them softly; meanwhile I was still trying to decipher what we’d just heard.

         “Hope to see you around.” Kyle replied, looking directly into my eyes.

         “You can count on it.” I answered, my old flirty charm coming back in an instant.

         His eyes held mine for a moment, and I felt myself falling under their spell for the second time that day.

         “We’ll be watching.” Aiden joked, but to my ears, it sounded more like a warning than it did a joke.

         “Bye…” Arial said shortly, her voice holding the same warning that Kamille’s had earlier.