Chapter 92-Had enough (2)

Chapter 92: 92-Had enough (2)

By the time Maisa returned to the hotel, the eastern horizon had begun to pale and the sun was coming out.

She slipped through the entrance as quietly as she could, hoping to reach the room before anyone noticed she had been gone. She didn’t even check if the students were back.

The corridors were almost empty, the other students still asleep after the exhausting night. Somewhere beyond the tall windows, the first hint of dawn was spreading across Old Scaris, turning the edges of the ancient buildings a faint gray.

Maisa had barely made it halfway down the corridor when she heard her name. "Maisa?"

She stopped because she recognized the voice and after the night she had, the voice felt like a breath of fresh air.

Sapphire was standing in the doorway of their room, her hair a complete mess and her eyes narrowed with suspicion. She looked as though she had been waiting there for some time.

"Where have you been?" She asked, tone full of worry and concern.

Maisa opened her mouth and closed it again when nothing came out. Where could she start, the element attack, Varitreya’s lounge, the cemetery, the dark forest or the waterfall. Her night had been eventful and tiresome but also traumatising.

Sapphire folded her arms. "And don’t tell me you were taking a walk. You’ve been disappearing constantly since we arrived," she called out her strange behaviour. "You’ve not Bern yourself and I am starting to feel worried."

Maisa sighed. Indeed, she had been pulling the disappearing act since they arrived for many reasons.

"Sapphire..." The excuses she had were stuck in her throat. She couldn’t lie to her friends, there were already too many lies weighing heavily in her heart.

"No." Sapphire stepped into the corridor. "I’m serious this time. First, you’re rescued by the princess for reasons unknown to all. Then Zolani keeps visiting you with extravagant gifts... also for no reason. Then Lumi starts taking you everywhere with her and barely hiding her likeness for you. You disappear from the hotel, somehow end up walking with the class heartthrob and his twin and now you come back at sunrise looking like you’ve been through half a war. What is it with you?"

Maisa looked away. Her life was dramatic, that couldn’t be helped. She hadn’t intentionally planned to have such twists and turns either. They just happened to her.

Sapphire’s expression softened slightly. "Who are you, Maisa?"

The question struck harder than expected. Who was she? Just the very person who’d go on number one most wanted of the vampire nation if her truth was discovered.

"And what exactly is your relationship with the student council?" Sapphire was starting to have doubts and suspect that there was more to her friend and roommate than met the eyes.

Maisa rubbed her tired eyes. She was too tired to stand on ceremony and be interrogated. The truth was that she was an Everheart above all other identities she obtained recently.

A name she has come to learn to hold more dark secrets and monstrous acta that vampirism.

That alone obershadowed her matebond secret and her dramatic new life. Because no matter where she went or how far she ran or what name she took, Everheart was a curse she couldn’t outrun.

"I don’t know," she answered.

She had no idea who she was. She no longer wanted any ties with the Everhearts but she couldn’t erase the blood in her veins. She didn’t want the zing that links her to vampires who have scars that relate to who she used to be and would hate her for it. She didn’t want to exist between both worlds but it was her reality.

Sapphire stared at her. "You don’t know?"

She doubted that answer just as much as she doubted everything else she was learning about Maisa. There was more, she could feel it even though she couldn’t prove it.

"I mean..." Maisa struggled for the right words. "Everything happened so quickly. I barely understand it myself."

Sapphire studied her face. "You know you can tell me things, right?"

"I know."

"Then tell me... I am supposed to be your friend. Unless I am only valuable when you are no longer busy with your classy and powerful friends... just tell me so that I know where I stand."

Maisa looked toward their room and then at her. She could understand why Sapphire was feeling insecure, she would feel so too if she was the one with a friend who has a secret life.

But some secrets weren’t meant to be shared. The day the truth comes out, her enemies might also harm Sapphire if she were in on the secret.

"I will tell you everything that you want to know. Just...not now."

"Why?"

"Because I’m exhausted, Sapphire. Emotionally, physically and mentally, I am so tired that I can’t have this conversation right now," she told. "But you have my word, I’ll fill you in on whatever you want to know later."

That much was certainly true. Her entire body felt heavy despite being a vampire. Her mind was worse. Too many revelations had piled on top of one another: Nersus, the Dark Forest, her family, Lumi’s father, Zoe, Asher, Saphra, Rayne, and Varitreya.

Maisa couldn’t think anymore. She was on the brink of losing her sanity.

"Can we talk tonight?" she asked quietly. "I’ll explain what I can."

Sapphire hesitated to agree. After all, there was no assurance that Maisa would be open to her when the night came and worse, she wasn’t sure Maisa considered her a friend or if she was just an irrelevant sidekick to her.

Despite that, she sighed. "Fine. Tonight, we set everything right between us."

Maisa gave her a grateful look. She barely made it through the door before heading straight for the bathroom.

When she saw the sink, the memory of vomiting sand there at the start of the night made her swallow. The saliva hurt, almost as though it was rough sand going down.

She ran a hand through her hair and breathed out. Her heart, mind and body was a mess. She had a feeling that one more week of being a vampire was going to lead her to needing a therapist.

The shower was quick. She didn’t bother doing anything elaborate. She simply stood beneath the warm water, letting it wash away the dirt and dried blood clinging to her skin.

When she was done, she changed into a sleeping gown and over it, she adorned Varitreya’s blazer that the princess had draped on her when escorting her back. She needed the soft scent from it to help her sleep.

After she finally crawled into bed, she barely had enough energy to pull the blanket over herself. Sleep claimed her almost instantly.

Sapphire came in, seeing her sleep without even covering herself, she shook her head. "What are you upto that leaves you this exhausted?" She asked, pulling the blanket and tucking Maisa in. "I hope after our talk that we are still friends. But I won’t settle for being a sidekick you discard and pick up whenever it suits you."