The Darkest Hour

CHAPTER 3

That’s strange...

No one comes here, ever... And certainly not so soon.

The person also doesn’t come in immediately after the knock, meaning they’re waiting for me to go over there and open the door.

Hesitantly I get to my feet and make my way over to the door, wondering who decided to pay me a visit. Is it the grey eyed man?

It better not be him, for his sake.

I lift my hands up to the cold door handle and pull the door in.

Standing before me is yet another new face.

Two new faces in two days.

“Good morning, my name is Weisz. Alpha Sye sent me up to get you.” Says the tall man standing before me.

His eyes run over my profile, he’s certainly not surprised by my presence but certainly curious.

What he said, however, caused my brows to draw closer.

Alpha Sye, that’s his name then.

After so long, what’s so special about today is that I get to leave my room?

“Really?” I say under my breath in shock. I look at the floor, hand still on the door handle, and brows still drawn, wondering why I'm suddenly summoned.

With a sharp inhale, I realize why.

He’s going to interrogate me on my escape. Ask for my aid. Surely, he knows I could not get the door open on my own. If not, I would have tried to flee far sooner than now.

Weisz moves out of the doorway to let me pass, not saying another word.

I step out the door, and he leads me down the hallway. While I walk, I continue to ponder what lies will spin. Does he know the grey-eyed man? Perhaps he was even captured shortly after my escape. Maybe that’s why he caught up with me so quickly. But if he wanted to interrogate me, he simply would have come up to my room to do it. Is this the height of it? Have I infuriated him so much that he wants to punish me now?

I don't think I've caused a lot of trouble since I came here, this is probably strike one. Is there no room for mercy in his heart? Can he not let me off with a warning? I’ll definitely try it again if given the opportunity, but that’s, by the way. Everyone deserves a second chance.

As we round the corner into another hallway, I began to take in my surroundings. I have walked these halls twice in consciousness, and one of those times I could see nothing. So, this is the first time I have really seen it.

The floors are made of dark wooden panels, and the walls are dark beige. It’s a big hallway, about two meters wide. There's a carpet in the middle of the hall, the width of it does not touch both walls. On the walls are paintings, drawings, and art showing both wolves and people.

We walk for a while before one painting grabs my attention. In the painting, I see two women. The world around them appears to be plunged in darkness, a strong wind blows at their hair and their dresses; both dresses have long trains that blend into the surrounding darkness. One with white hair wears a white dress, one with black hair, wears a black dress. The one in black offers the one in white a flower, but the flower is wilted, the color faded. She wears a wicked smile.

The one in white, seeming resolute in her faith, stretches her hands towards the flower.

She blends into the painting more than the girl before her, almost as though she’s transparent.

The art is breathtaking. I'm drawn to the piece. It is only when Weisz clears his throat at my side that I realize I've come to stop in front of the painting.

“Sorry” I muttered under my breath and continued to move behind him.

We come before a staircase and descend.

After a few more hallways and another flight of stairs, we come to a stop before a brown mahogany door. With a quick knock and a gruff reply from inside, we step into an office.

The room is perfectly organized. A bookshelf makes up the whole span of the wall on the right. There’s also a long couch against another wall. A big window that takes up almost the entire external wall, and seating before that window, behind a large wooden desk, seats Alpha Sye, head bent into a book, not just one book, though, a bunch of really large books take up his entire table.

He looks up after a few seconds.

“Thank you very much Weisz, you are dismissed.” He speaks.

Weisz bows his head and exits the room.

His eyes now fall to me.

I feel small in this place. The weight of his gaze feeling heavy on me. I feel the need to fold my hand across my abdomen or fidget my fingers. However, I do not.

I stare right back into his eyes and straighten my spine, refusing to be intimidated.

A smile so tiny that could be mistaken as just a twitch of the lips forms at the corner of his mouth. He shuts the book in his hands and drops it on the desk before him, then stretches his hands to the seat in front of him and speaks.

“Please, have a seat.”

I move from where I'm standing at the door and move to sit where he motioned to.

I pull the seat back and it makes a nasty screeching sound; I seat and pull the chair forward under me to be closer to the table. It doesn’t pull in comfortably the first time so I pull it again. With another loud screech, we finally settle into silence.

“Well... Good morning.”

I don't want to reply, it feels as though he mocks my failed attempt at escape. I want to protest the only way I can, with silence. However, I do not want to waste my chance at getting answers in a petty attempt at protest.

“Good morning,” I reply.

“In the absence of a proper name, what can I call you.” He asked

My eyes dropped to the table.

“Call me whatever you want.”

After a few beats, he cleared his throat before speaking again.

“I'm sure you must have a lot to say, and a lot to ask.” He heaves a sigh as he says, running a hand through his hair before settling them back into his lap.

I don't respond yet, I just wait for him to speak.

“There’s also a lot you need to know, about yourself, about our kind.”

As he says that, my eyes widen a bit, and I unconsciously move closer to the desk.

Is he offering me answers? I've been here for almost two weeks, and he’s just seeing it fit to give me an explanation now?

I'm certainly offended.

But again, my curiosity surpasses my anger as I begin to wonder.

Does he know who I am? Do I finally get the answers I have longed for over the past year? I can feel my heart beating faster.