Truth- Shadow goddess seris(COMPLETE)

Chapter Two

I watched as my uncle and driver rounded the corner. They seemed to be mid-conversation, neither one noticing me yet, which meant they didn’t know I was studying them. My uncle looked so much like my mother I felt my stomach twist into knots and my chest constrict. They both had dark brown hair and lively hazel eyes. He had a cleft chin, where my mother’s cleft was there but hardly noticeable. My uncle had a slightly rounded face where my mothers was heart shaped. But what stood out most, what was the most beautiful thing about my uncle, was how his eyes just lit up when he smiled. 

“Rose!” My uncle bellowed when his eyes met mine, his voice bouncing off the walls echoing around us. 

When he reached me, his arms stretched out in front of him and he pulled me into a bear hug. I grimaced where he couldn’t see me and awkwardly patted him on the back in response. I hated hugs, hated being touched. But my uncle had been kind enough to take me in, so I endured it. 

“It’s good to see you, how are you holding up?” He asked pulling away. 

“Well, I’m here.” I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. 

“And I’m so glad you are.” He said smiling. The look in his eyes telling me he meant every word he said. “Mathew.” My uncle called, never looking away from me. 

My driver rushed over “Yes sir?” 

“Please get my niece's bags and take them to her tower.” 

“Yes sir.” Mathew said, giving him a two finger salute before rushing down the halls and disappearing. 

“My tower?” I asked with my brows raised. “Do you plan on locking me in it?” I joked. 

My uncle laughed. “Heavens no. You’re my niece, and you will be living here, while the other students come and go. So I had the tower converged so you would be comfortable with your new living arrangements.” 

I was touched. He did actually care, he wasn’t just saying he did. He truly wanted me here. So I smiled and nodded in response. “Have my other belongings arrived?” I asked as we turned down yet another hall. 

“Yes, they are waiting for you in your tower. Your motorcycle on the other hand is another story.” 

I froze. “What happened to it?” I questioned, not really knowing if I wanted the answer or not. 

“Oh don’t worry.” He chuckled. “It’s fine. It is just going to take another day or so to get here.” 

I nodded and kept walking, “Other than the motorcycle, everything else arrived. Right? Including an antique chest?” 

“Oh, yes. That’s a beauty you have there.” 

“Thanks. Mom gave it to me. It is now filled with priceless books, scrolls, artifacts, and other things mom and I have collected together.” 

“Really?” My uncle was intrigued. “What kind of things?”

“Well, mom home schooled me. We traveled around the world searching for and obtaining all kinds of things based on the supernatural world. Witches, vampires, dragons, jinn. All kinds of amazing beings. Mom always loved teaching me things like that. Dad didn’t approve, but mom being mom didn’t care.” I explained with a pained chuckle. 

“And what did you think?” My uncle asked. 

“About what?”

“The supernatural you learned about of course.” 

“Oh. I find all of it very fascinating.” I admitted. “ All of them seem like amazing and powerful beings. Of course just like humans the supernatural have a dark past. Some more than others. But overall I loved it, I loved learning and reading about them.” 

My uncle humed his approval as he rubbed his chin between his forefinger and middle finger, but said nothing more. I found myself wondering what had made my uncle so curious all of a sudden. Surely he knew of my mothers obsession, he was her brother after all. Then again mom had always been a private and overly paranoid person. She trusted nobody other than myself and dad. 

She had me studying supernatural creatures as if it was part of your average everyday curriculum. She gave me tests, asked random out of the blue questions about an array of creatures. I got pop quizzes and grades on it. She even had me studying every form of hand to hand combat, and weapons training she could since I was old enough to walk. I could now use almost every weapon and take down a man five times my size. She insisted I’d need the training someday, she said I would need to protect myself. 

I actually remembered when all of it started. Scavenger hunts as we traveled, combat and weapons training. It could all be sourced back to one memory. I was at least four and had fallen off my little bicycle. My hands, elbows and knees were scraped up and bleeding. It wasn’t much but being four I thought I was dying so I did the only thing I knew to do. I screamed, wailing and crying for my mother to come over and help me. When she got to me we both watched in awe and fear as the skin stitched back together until nothing but smooth skin was left behind. From then on things changed, and I had to adapt to my new normal. It wasn’t really as bad as people made it seem. I enjoyed training. It was good for me, especially when it came to getting my emotions in check. They could go a little haywire every now and again. 

I never understood why she thought I needed protection though. Even as I grew and became a teenager, I never knew why. Until the day my parents were killed. I never told anyone, fearing I would get myself thrown into an insane asylum. But I knew who killed them, what killed them. A vampire, and I remembered their faces. I vowed, promising myself I would eventually avenge my parents murder. I would track those evil blood suckers down and rip their hearts from their chest. 

“Here we are.” My uncle said dragging me from my mind and back into reality. I looked up just in time to see my uncle open large double doors at the base of what I assume was my tower.  

I was stunned as I stepped into the base of the tower. It was much larger than I originally thought it would be, The main doors opened to a large sitting room. My uncle had a desk with a laptop, printer and all kinds of supplies I would need for class. A silver rug sat underneath the desk. Across from the desk was a recliner and large couch, while an extremely too large TV graced the wall. 

Two doors were on either side of the room, one leading to a fully furnished spare bedroom while the other had a fully functional kitchen. The kitchen held all stainless steel appliances, dark oak counters and bar along with a four seater table. On top the counters and bar was a marble countertop. The white and dark complimenting the other nicely. 

Smiling to myself I made my way up the stairs to the top floor. This was where my bedroom was. But again there was another sitting type room. The floors were stone but a large black persian rug graced the center of the room, along with furniture. A coffee table that had a sectional wrapped around it, a small loveseat and a large two seater recliner. The furniture faced a grand fireplace, and above the fireplace was another equally large television. 

Again, two doors were on either side of the room. One was empty. I intended to turn that into my music room. I loved playing the guitar and piano. I just needed to buy a piano. The other room was already furnished and decorated. I was pleasantly surprised that my uncle remembered my favorite colors. 

Stone floor, like the rest of this cold castle, ran in front of me. A deep red rug was in the center of the room with a queen sized bed sat dead center, a beautiful black and blood red bed set perfectly neat and straight and ready to sleep in. A night stand was beside the bed and had a beautiful Thomas Kinkade lamp on top of it. A dark mahogany dresser was on the far side of the room. 

Three other doors led off the main room. One was a blindingly white bathroom. Walls were white, shower, bathtub and floors were white. A small amount of silver lined the room, seeming to make it all brighter. I’d definitely have to change that soon. One of the other doors was a closet. Big and just waiting for me to fill with clothes. 

Last but not least was the third door. It opened up to a good sized baloney that rounded the entirety of the tower. I would have so much fun out here. I thought to myself. It was the perfect spot to just lay down and star gaze. I loved the stars. 

“Uncle Jack, this is all amazing, thank you.” I said, encircling him in my arms. 

“You are very welcome Rose.” My uncle said pulling away. “Now you start getting settled in and I’ll come back in a few hours and lead you to dinner in the dining hall.” 

“Sounds perfect.”

As soon as my uncle was out of sight I dropped my smile and rubbed my jaw with a low groan. Ugh, I hated fake smiles. It was painful. I couldn’t show how I really feel, I couldn't let them know. I hated the looks of sadness in their eyes, and how they pathetically tried to lift my spirits. Most of all I hated the looks of pity. I did not want to be pitied. 

I sighed heavily before turning to my old trunk. I pulled it to the end of the bed and uttered the spell to unlock it. The whole process was actually amazing. Mom and I had happened to find the spellbook of the first witch. The whole thing is handwritten, dated and marked with her signature. It told us you didn’t have to be a witch to cast small spells. I took full advantage of that knowledge and memorized how to make a protection spell to lock my most valued possessions. 

Once I was content that everything was here and counted for I went to unpack my clothes. I wrinkled my nose when I opened the closet and saw the Academy uniform. There was a black and sapphire pleated skirt, with both a long sleeve and short sleeve white button up shirt. Then there were sapphire vests and blazers. Last was the most god awful black shoes and knee high socks. No. Nope. Not going to happening. I will wear the uniform and all bit I draw the line at knee high socks and ugly shoes. 

I wasn’t even done with my clothes when someone started knocking on my door. I huffed, blowing stray strands of auburn hair from my face. I pulled the door open only to find my uncle. I already knew it was him. What I didn’t know was how all of this was taking so long. 

“Oh, hey Uncle Jack.” I said, pulling my hair back into a messy bun. 

“I see you’re settling in.” he said smiling as he looked over my shoulder to the mess that was my room. 

I looked over my shoulder to my room and gave my uncle a small smile. “Yeah well, I had more than I originally thought was necessary.” 

“You don’t start classes until Monday.” He assured me. “You have plenty of time.” 

“Thank you.” I said honestly. And I was thankful. Thankful he took me in, thankful he remodeled the tower for me, all of it. 

As my uncle led me to the dining hall I wondered what the people here were like. Were they all stuck up rich kids? Did some have decent personalities? Could I somehow make friends? Not that I needed to. I’d never had friends before so why now? I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out. Maybe this was a good thing, something I absolutely needed. I for one, can’t wait to find out.