Reminisce.

Reminisce

Everything was the same and nothing was different. I longed for something new and enthralling. But in Tabitha Castle, located in an almost deserted town probably thousands of miles away from any type of civilization, boring was the most exciting thing you had. It was mid-October, and the leaves had almost already starting to fall off and the cool weather had almost settled all its way into the season. I woke with the rose-pink light of dawn, which was utterly beautiful. Though I knew there was a long period of time before our classes started, I got dressed and silently tiptoed my way down the old, stone stairs of the ancient caste. The name wasn’t an exaggeration; this castle was built hundreds of years ago by the first arrivals of the town, the founders, John and Pricilla Tabitha. When they passed, initially it was redone but they kept most of the old structure but converted it into an all-girls boarding school because of the Tabitha family’s thoughts of education being of the utmost importance, especially for young girls. So, the school both looked ancient, but was entirely old fashioned, they all wore uniforms, there were no electronics allowed, people around here still rode horses. But I came from an overly wealthy family and was up to date with the technology. I missed my iPod dearly, but adapted to the strict ways of the school after the first month, when I hid my iPod but got caught and faced a two hour detention. I crept silently to the door of the servant chambers, the only way to get out into the back of the school, a garden with the smallest pond in the middle.

I had already memorized the way out, and in five minutes, I was free from the tight chains of the castle, outside with the soft autumn breeze blowing my long black hair out of my face. I could hear the soft noises of birds and other animals in the distance and walked along the grass near the pond, glazing down at my reflection in the dark water, my own soft green eyes stared back at me, I had always thought they were odd, I had jet black hair and a tanned skin tone, naturally born with it, but my eyes were light, almost angelic seeming. I didn’t really mind my petite appearance, I was just a little different, and nobody in my family had green eyes or black hair even. But nonetheless, I loved them. As I sat down on a bench near the water, my expression dazed as I remembered the trips to Paris, Greece and Rome, how I missed the freedom of wearing whatever I wished, listening to what I wanted and not having to constantly be scolded for having imagination, my parents had hastily sent me to this school one year, claiming that I needed to be educated correctly or I would never find a husband. I rolled my eyes at the thought, husband? I was only sixteen! Or, well I would be in five days. After I exhaled once and stared out into the forest that was mildly far from the school, I caught wind of a small silhouette in the bushes, but it wasn’t light enough for me to see exactly what it was in the forest, fear bundled up in my stomach, and I blinked once.

“It’s just a deer.” I whispered to myself after opening my eyes, lingering back to the bush but nothing was there. By this time, I realized that the sun was fully up, and the others would be up soon, so with one more glance backwards, I walked back into the castle.

Classes dragged on, and I paid no attention as Mrs. Millicent read a chapter of the text book while pacing around the front of the class, my mind elsewhere as I stared out the windows at the gravel road, nothing passing, nothing ever passed.

“Ms. Tresean, if you would kindly repeat the last sentence I just read?” I heard my last name being called in front of my desk and flinched; Mrs. Millicent had somehow walked all the way to my desk, her old, wrinkly expression turned into a glare as she snapped me out of my daze. I stuttered slightly while trying to find the page we were on, a light pink blush creeping up my cheeks.

“Don’t bother.” She said, shaking her head and adjusting her small glasses. “If I catch you not paying attention again, Ms. Tresean.” I assumed she paused for dramatic effect “You will receive an hour detention.”

With that, she was back to walking through the aisles of seats, I drew in a small breath and then exhaled in defeat, staring down at my book and trying to pay attention to the boring lesson ahead. Though, during the time I looked down at my book, I felt a small prick at the back of my neck, like it was trying to indicate someone was watching me, but I didn't dare to look out the window beside me, in fear that it was true.

After class, I caught up with one of my best friends, Emily, waiting at the door for me. She was almost five inches taller than I was, with soft blonde hair that was almost always tied up or braided. She had the prettiest eyes I had ever seen, they were blue, but an almost gold color tinted them around the iris, she stood there watching me leave with an amused smile.

“Seriously Sia, if you don’t start paying attention, Mrs. Millicent is going to eat you!” She joked, giggling while we walked back to our dorms with our homework in hand, there was an hour before supper, and you either got ready for it, or do your homework, simple.

“I think she wants to.” I said, rolling my eyes. “Hey Emily, did you finish Ms. Eleanor’s math homework?” I asked, tilting my head to the side so I could stare at her while we walked.

“Of course I did, why do you ask?” She questioned, looking back at me for a second in confusion, but when seeing my apologetic smile, she shook her head. “No way! It took me hours to finish it in the first place; I’m not doing yours too. No thank you.” She replied, still shaking her head.

“Pretty please.” I asked, pouting my bottom lip at her as I stretched out the word please, she glanced at me once and I could see her go to shake her head again, but then it dropped, and before she said it, I knew I had won. “Thanks Emily!” I squealed, dropping the papers into her hands and running to my dorm before she could change her mind. I had decided to take a shower and just get ready for supper, not wanting to sit there and die because of how boring the homework would be. I finished washing my hair and then got out, seeing my specific soap to wash my face on the counter. I groaned, though I actually never got pimples I made it almost a ritual to wash it, not wanting to break the good luck. I wrapped a towel around my body and carefully tied my wet black hair up before soaking my face again, my body bent over the counter as I made sure to rub in the soap into every part of my face. While my eyes were closed, I felt the slightest stir in the air, like the presence of something near me. But I couldn’t open my eyes because of the soap so I stood there, wondering if it was just my imagination, but it wasn’t. I felt two hands rest themselves on my hips; I couldn’t tell if they were male or female, because they were barely resting there. In addition a soft breath hit the back of my neck, and a shiver ran down my spine as I felt a pair of soft lips brush against my neck. Though, while that happened I was trying to get the soap off my face to see, by the time I opened my eyes a peered into the mirror, nothing was there. The only thing changing in the room was the small opened window, the bathroom door was still locked. But the window was too small to fit a person, also too high up to climb, the only thing that scared me was the fact that I had never opened that window; I was too short to reach; so who did?

Shaking the uneasy thoughts out of my head, my hand rose up to touch my neck, the skin tingling slightly. There were no bite marks, so it wasn’t a vampire. I snorted lightly to myself and walked to the door, unlocking it to go out and get dressed for supper. By the time I was ready, there was only fifteen minutes left and I was trying to hurry. I had thrown up my hair in a messy bun, that actually somewhat made me look pretty, and settled with a pair of black tights, a frilly white tank top and a black cardigan atop of it, the only time we were allowed to wear anything other than our uniform was on trips, supper time and the hour and a half before bed. I never wore makeup, it looked odd with my eyes, so I left them plain and grabbed a pair of flats, walking outside and running into Emily, who was glaring at me, my homework extended.

“You owe me, big time.” She said. I took the homework with an innocent smile and placed it on my shelf, and then shut the door; we walked along with all the other girls to the dining hall, and sat in our assigned seats. There were only about one hundred and twenty girls attending the school, it was very private, and didn’t like to accept un-wealthy families. After everyone finally filed in, there was a small amount of chatter until the teachers quieted us to give prayer. I didn’t have anything against religion, I just didn’t have any of my own, so I looked down at my lap while they said what they had to say, a small headache surfacing, I usually got those during this time ever since I had arrived here, but they just come and go.

Supper passed slowly as we all ate in moderate silence, until we were served desert and then dismissed to free time, they expected us to be in bed at eleven thirty, so we had an hour and a half of roaming time, and then half an hour of just relaxing in our rooms. I didn’t do much, just sat in Emily’s room while she chatted with her friends; I wasn’t really friends with anyone but Emily. I preferred to be alone most of the time.

“Hey Em, have you seen like, an animal outside while you were at the stables today?” I asked, Emily owned two horses, and the school allowed them here, to cope while you were away from your family.

“An animal? Well, there’s an occasional bunny or something. But nothing big, why?” She asked, I didn’t respond, only shook my head and fell back face first into her mattress, I doubted that a bunny could sneak into my bathroom and kiss my neck, but I didn’t push the topic.

“You’re so out of it today, more than usual.” Emily commented as the people walked out of her room, there were only five minutes until we had to be in our rooms.

“It’s nothing, really.” I lied easily with a shrug, standing up and smiling at her before I walked back to my dorm, hesitantly opening the door and peering inside, I walked in and switched on my lamp before falling into the bed, turning on to my stomach to look out at the moon. I changed into my pyjamas until settling under the sheets, easily slipping into unconscious. In the middle of the night, presumably early in the morning, actually. I slowly slipped into half sleep, feeling a slight pressure at the side of my bed and a small kiss be applied to my forehead, soft fingers brushed against my cheek. I fought to wake up, but was soothed back asleep by comforting words being whispered into my ear. They told me to sleep, but the sound of the voice, a male, was soft and gentle, but at the same time oddly familiar.