Empyreal: Awaken - Book One (6 page)

But this was her life. And the society
that she lived in.

Her parents were not societal and
money driven like those that surrounded them. Though, both were
from wealthy families, her parents chose to
'give back'
and
they were seemingly making it a societal trend.

Coralie continued to make her way
through the crowd.

Just as she thought that she may make
it to the side door, leading out onto the terrace, before being
caught up with, Coralie heard someone call her name. “Coralie...”
she turned in the direction from which she heard her name.
“Coralie, dear...” she looked around casually then turned to be
faced with her mother, who was walking toward her, followed by her
father and a young man, handsomely dressed. She couldn’t will her
eyes away from his. Something about him was so familiar.

“Coralie, I want you to introduce you
to someone ... you may remember him from when you guys were just
kids ... this is Courland, Courtland Cumberlin...”

Sticking his hand out to take hers,
“Just call me Court...”

“Court...” Coralie nodded and placed
her hand into his, his touch sending chills up her arm, almost
electric.

“Yes, Coralie, you know his sister,
don't you? Criston Cumberlin?” Katelyn asked, attempting to provide
her daughter with some sort of connection.

Coralie nodded, unsurely. “Oh, yes, of
course ... I don’t recall having seen her at all this semester at
Chelsea, though...”

“Yes, umm...” Court started, as he
looked at Katelyn and Cal, then back at Coralie, “… she's been
studying abroad ... Romania ... she loves it there...”

“Oh ... wow ... Romania, that's great
... I hadn't heard...”

“Well, don't feel like a bad friend or
anything ... nothing was finalized until the day of her
departure...”

“Did Headmaster Norewood have to
approve something like that?”

“Umm … Yes, but that was actually the
easy part ... Norewood is extremely favorable of learning through
different cultures. He highly recommends studying abroad for all of
us
...”

“It seems that you know him well...”
Coralie stated, more as a question.

“Well, yes, of course ... he's a dear
friend of our family ... much the same as he is with –”

Interrupting, Katelyn quickly
interjected, “Coralie, dear, Court is here visiting for a few weeks
... he's also been studying abroad...”

Seemingly distracted with this, she
directed her response back toward Court. “Oh, really ...
where?”

“Greece...” he replied.

“Oh, wow... Greece...”

“Yes, well ... luckily, for me, I was
given the privilege of choice,” he said with a smile, “... so I
chose to study in the old homeland...”

“The old homeland
...” Coralie
repeated.

Court continued, though, a little
confused by her reaction to his choice of wording. “Well, yes, ...
and I guess you could imagine my parents were disappointed with me
being unable to visit over Christmas break ... but when I got their
phone call, explaining the situation –”

“Okay, kids,” Katelyn spoke up,
interrupting again, and shooting Court a look that Coralie didn't
understand. “... We thought that you two could keep each other
company this evening ... maybe do some catching up ... but don’t
stay away too long ... and Court,” Katelyn paused eyeing the young
man, “ ... stay close to her, okay...”

Cal added, “Yeah, while we old people
mingle amongst the swarms...”

“Right, Dad...” Coralie said,
appearing only slightly amused, while still questioning the comment
of her mother’s.

“Yes, ma’am … Mr. and Mrs. Collier, go
enjoy your evening...”

“Well, then, we'll leave you two to
enjoy the rest of the evening, as well ... Come on, Kate...” Cal
said, attempting to escort Katelyn away.

“Coralie, stay close, won't you...?”
Katelyn said, letting a bit of concern escape her.

“Of course, Mom...”

Katelyn smiled at her daughter, as she
allowed her husband to escort her to the other side of the
room.

“You were on your way to terrace, I
believe...” Court said, jogging Coralie from her inquisitive
stare.

“Oh, right...” she replied, grinning
shyly, as she passed through the open door leading out to the
terrace, being held opened by Court.

“So, your parents are nice...” Court
said, seemingly trying breaking the ice.

“Yeah, they're great. It's just that …
I guess, I just wish that –”

“They trusted you more?” he
questioned, finishing her sentence.

“Well, sort of ... I mean, it's like I
know that trust me, you know, I'm their daughter – of course, they
trust me – but it's like they don't trust the elements around me. I
just wish that –”

“They didn't worry so much...” Court
finished her sentence again.

She smiled. “Yeah.”

“She worries a lot ... your mom...”
Court said, perceptively.

“Yeah, pretty obvious, huh?” she said,
as she crossed the space between the door and the balcony's
edge.

“Do you give her reason?” Courtland
asked.

Shocked by his brash and honest
question, Coralie stood speechless for a moment.

Court spoke instead. “I'm sorry, that
was out of line...”

“No, really, it is fine...” she
shrugged. “But the answer, to your question, is ... no...” Coralie
continued as she stared out into the darkness from her perch on the
balcony. “They have always been very protective of me ... maybe
because I'm an only child, who knows...”

“Maybe ... or maybe, it could be that
they are both just loving parents that care deeply about their
brilliant and beautiful daughter. I, myself, would feel very
protective of something so special.”

Coralie's cheeks started to fill with
bright red heat, as she took in a deep breath.

Court leaned closer to Coralie along
the terrace railing, “Too forward?”

“No,” Coralie said, still blushing,
“... not at all...” Then she continued, trying to sound unshaken,
“I know that it's something that I should be grateful for. I mean,
look around us ... I bet you that half of the parents at this event
could not tell you where their children are or what they're doing,
who they're with ... it's a shame! They probably couldn't even tell
you their kid's favorite restaurant or their hobbies or pastimes
... You know; I am thankful. Parents should spend more time,
quality time, with their kids ... you know, parents should actually
share things with their kids. They should make every attempt to
ensure good, open relationships with their kids. You would see
fewer troubles out there, if people would take the time to be, you
know, good parents ... truthful, trusting parents...” she said,
finishing her rant. Coralie looked to her side, noticing the grin
that filled Court lips. “What?”

“You sound just like her … your
mother, I mean,” Court said, still grinning.

“I shall take that as a compliment...”
Coralie said, smiling assuringly.

“You should... also, you may want to
think of hosting next month's Event ... I can see it now ...
The
Parent Project...”
Court said, waving his hand in the air, as
if he were reading the stars.

“Yeah, I'll be sure to mention that at
the next meeting...” she said, prompting them both to laugh,
followed by endless smiles stretched across both of their
faces.

Coralie looked back out into the
darkness, just beyond the terrace. “Look there,” she said pointing,
“you can see the park from here ... I've never
noticed...”

“I take it that you like it there...”
Court questioned.

“Yeah, I guess ... It's nice. I go
there just to get away sometimes, you know, just to
think.”

Court grinned. “Yeah, I know what you
mean. I have a place like that of my own. Maybe I could show you
sometime...”

Coralie's breath caught in her chest.
“Yeah, I'd like that ... so, when are you leaving?

“Are you kicking me out already?”
Court questioned, jokingly over-dramatic.

Looking into his eyes, she shrugged.
“No, that’s not how I meant for those words to come out … I just
meant, how long will you be in Thessla? How long will you be
around...”

Court allowed the most handsome smile
that Coralie had ever seen to spread across his lips. “Time … it's
a funny thing, always uncertain ... but I will promise you this...”
he moved closer, looking deep within her eyes, “... the time I do
have here will be especially accommodating to the schedule of a
certain beautiful, young lady.”

Coralie couldn't help but to let her
face become flush with a deep shade of red once again. Gathering up
some courage, she finally said, “I think I'm going to take a turn
at being forward this time ... but I'm really glad that you are
here, in Thessla ... and I'm really glad that you came here
tonight...”

Court added. “Me, too...” causing
another smile to flash across her face, as she turned to look back
over the terrace.

Coralie's smile suddenly faded. “What
is it? You okay?” Court asked in response to her sudden change of
expression.

“I don't know. I thought I saw
something...” she said, still staring out into the shadows, cast by
the trees, just beyond the University's quad, “It looked like there
was someone out there...”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it looked like someone was
standing, right out there, watching us...”

Court's demeanor changed, but not
enough to distract Coralie from what she saw. “Hey, it was probably
nothing. Look at you, you're shivering. It must be this night air,
here, take my jacket.”

“Umm, thanks,” she said, as he placed
the jacket around her shoulders.

“Anytime ... Now, let's take a walk
back inside...” Court said, holding the door and looking at
Coralie, waiting for her agreement.

She nodded and calmly walked through
the terrace door, though she still felt the presence of eyes
watching her every move.

The breeze from outside took one more
whip through her hair. Coralie tried to casually flatten her
tousled hair, without notice from Court.

No such luck.

When Coralie tried to steal a quick
side glance, Court was staring at her with the intensity of his
bright blue, beautiful eyes.

This caused a wave of sheer delight to
come over Coralie. Court was so beautiful. So refined and proper.
So handsome. So wonderful. So charming. Was he really so interested
in her?

She shook the thought, as she suddenly
caught sight of her parents, who to her surprise were not wearing
their usual exuberant smiles. This was a look of concern. The same
look she had seen grace the surface of their faces more recently
than ever before.

Court led her across the floor. She
could tell something anomalous was going on. She locked eyes with
her parents and mouthed the words, “What's going on?” The both of
them just stared at her.

Cal shifted his eyes to Court. Court
nodded, as if to answer some sort of silent question.

Coralie looked around, unable to shake
the eerie feeling that something strange was about to
happen.

The guests were all still lingering in
small crowds around the room. Coralie shifted her eyes from the sea
of guests to her parents then back to Court. His disposition wasn't
entirely different from the terrace, but not quite the same either.
He seemed to bear an incredibly protective gait. Protective of
what? Her? Why was he trying to protect her? And more importantly,
what from?

She looked at him, as he stared deep
into her eyes.

Then, in an instant, the lights went
out...

The Banquet Room of the University was
pitch-black. Coralie felt a sense of panic shoot through her body.
Sounding shrieks filled the room. She felt a hand grab ahold of
hers. “This way...” Court said, leading her through the
darkness.

Coralie began to protest. “Wait
–”

“No, we have to go ... now,
Coralie...”

Coralie began her protest where she
left off, “Court, my parents ... I've got to find
them...”

“They're fine! We'll find them later
... right now ... we've got to get out of here...”

“I can't just leave ... they'll worry
about me...” Coralie pleaded.

Coralie felt Court pull her near him
in the dark. “Coralie, you must listen to me ... I promise that
your parents will be fine ... my only concern is getting you away
from here ... so, you must trust me...” He paused, allowing the
only sound to come from their breathing.

“What is going on?”

“Do you trust me?”

“I trust you.” Coralie felt no more
need to argue. The sincere tone of his voice was convincing enough.
His words made up for the blindness that the darkness had created.
She did feel that she could trust him. In an odd sort of way, she
just
knew
that she could. The familiarity had set in again.
She felt that she had
always
known that she could. How was
that possible?