Nightless.
Chapter One.
I looked straight ahead to the elevator as I sat at my desk. I stared as if I was waiting for the doors to open and reveal a person that would change my life forever.
I watched as the numbers on the top of the elevator decreased one by one.
22, 21, 20, 19, then there was a small bell, and the small light stayed on number 18-the floor I was currently in.
I kept my eyes glued and watched as the doors opened to reveal Mel. Her eyes shined as she smiled and walked out of the elevator and started heading towards me.
“Syd! Are you almost done?” She asked as she stopped in front of my desk
“Um… No I’m not.”
Her small smile turned into a frown and then she let out a small sigh.
“How much longer do you have?”
I looked down at the stack of papers that still needed to be corrected, then I looked at Mel who was looking out at the window, slowly my eyes made their way to that direction and noticed the sun was starting to set. As I caught sight of that beautiful scene in front of me my heart started to race.
“Syd?” Mel asked
“The sun is setting,” I whispered
“Yeah. Isn’t beautiful?”
“Mel…”I said in a lower voice, lower than the whisper I had just spoken.
Mel looked at me with a small smile, but I could tell from her eyes that she was frustrated or at least a bit angry.
Melody had been my friend since junior year in high school, she had moved here to Portland, Oregon from New York City, a big difference in my opinion. She went from city girl to a town girl. Of course she came after all the terrifying attacks. Attacks that scared people for life, I included.
“They don’t exist anymore Syd,” Mel tried to reassure me
“You don’t know that.”
“Then neither do you.”
That was something I couldn’t fight against. I sighed and looked down at my paperwork.
“They’re not going to correct themselves you know.” Mel said stating the obvious
“They can if I imagine them doing so.” I mumbled
I picked up my red pen and went through the article that was supposed to go in tomorrow’s newspaper.
I worked for the local newspaper, people always thought that was great, but I wasn’t a writer, I just looked over the articles to make sure no grammatical errors had been overlooked.
“Do you want me to wait for you?”
My heart jumped as I heard Mel’s voice. I took a deep breath and looked at her, who had her left eyebrow raised.
“I thought you had left.” I explained
“Oh well I’m still here.”
“Would it be too much?” I asked hopefully
“Of course not, as long as you do something for me.”
“Anything you want.”
“Okay you agreed.”
I looked at Mel, with a curious look; she just smiled and turned around. I could tell from her posture and the corner of her smile that this was not a good thing.
I kept on working as fast as I could go, and tried to ignore my gut, it was telling me danger or at least something really bad was ahead to come.
The light that was coming from the sun, outside the building started to get dimmer as the seconds ticked on the clock, and it made anxious. I didn’t want to leave in the darkness of the night, with just the moon’s reflection for light.
“Okay I am almost done!” I exclaimed
“About time.”
“Just need to turn this in to my boss.” I told Mel as I stood up from my chair.
“Okay but hurry.”
I didn’t reply back, I just nodded and walked with a quick pace to the back of the room.
As I walked I noticed that the walls were no longer covered with frames of pictures for the “Writer of the Month” I had always hated that anyway. Instead of those frames, the wall was now covered in a variety of art pieces and photography. I smiled at the sight of a little boy jumping into a puddle of water. As I continued to walk with my head to the side looking at all the pictures I hadn’t noticed Kim, my boss walking right towards me.
“Whoa there.” Kim said stopping me as she placed her hands on my shoulders.
“I’m so sorry.” I apologized as my cheeks started to burn
“Not to worry.” She replied with a small smile
“Do you have the papers?” She then added
“Oh yeah, here they are.” I told her as I extended the pile of papers
“Thank you and I’ll see you tomorrow.” She spoke as she took the papers from my hands.
I nodded and turned around feeling my face cool down. Kim wasn’t the “mean” boss per say, but for some odd reason a lot of employees felt intimidated by her, maybe it was because she wore fine suits, and always walked with a straight posture, never losing her straight firm face.
“Ready to go?”
I looked up and noticed I had walked all the way back to my desk.
“Yeah, just need to get all my stuff.”
I could tell from Mel’s face that she was starting to get impatient, but I couldn’t blame her, if I was in her position I would have probably felt the same.
“Okay we can go now.”
“Thank you!” Mel exclaimed drastically
“Was that necessary?” I asked her as we walked towards the elevator
“Yeah it was, Syd.”
I shook my head and pushed the button with the arrow pointing down. Two seconds later the small bell rang and the doors for the elevator opened. Mel walked in first then I did walking straight to the back wall and leaning against it, as Mel pushed the “L” button.
“I can’t wait to go home.”
“You’re not going home.”
“What?” I asked confused
“We’re going to go out.”
“No we are not Melody!” I told her in a commanding voice
“But you agreed.”
“No, I said I would do something for you.” I corrected her
“Well I want you to go out at night, and for you to finally give up your crazy idea.”
“It’s not crazy when you’ve lived through what I have.”
Mel sighed and said nothing in return. We waited in silence until we heard the bell once more and the doors opened revealing an empty lobby.
“Melody?”
“Sydney.”
I looked at her thinking of what I could tell her to make things better.
“I wished I could be able to go, but maybe another night?”
“What’s the difference?” She asked
“I’m not ready to take that step, not yet.”
“I wouldn’t be asking if I knew you weren’t ready.”
I looked down at my feet then out at the night.
“I’m just so scared Mel.” I whispered
“There are a lot of people that are afraid of the dark.”
“I’m afraid of the creatures of the dark.”
“For the last time Syd, vampires don’t exist.”
I watched as the numbers on the top of the elevator decreased one by one.
22, 21, 20, 19, then there was a small bell, and the small light stayed on number 18-the floor I was currently in.
I kept my eyes glued and watched as the doors opened to reveal Mel. Her eyes shined as she smiled and walked out of the elevator and started heading towards me.
“Syd! Are you almost done?” She asked as she stopped in front of my desk
“Um… No I’m not.”
Her small smile turned into a frown and then she let out a small sigh.
“How much longer do you have?”
I looked down at the stack of papers that still needed to be corrected, then I looked at Mel who was looking out at the window, slowly my eyes made their way to that direction and noticed the sun was starting to set. As I caught sight of that beautiful scene in front of me my heart started to race.
“Syd?” Mel asked
“The sun is setting,” I whispered
“Yeah. Isn’t beautiful?”
“Mel…”I said in a lower voice, lower than the whisper I had just spoken.
Mel looked at me with a small smile, but I could tell from her eyes that she was frustrated or at least a bit angry.
Melody had been my friend since junior year in high school, she had moved here to Portland, Oregon from New York City, a big difference in my opinion. She went from city girl to a town girl. Of course she came after all the terrifying attacks. Attacks that scared people for life, I included.
“They don’t exist anymore Syd,” Mel tried to reassure me
“You don’t know that.”
“Then neither do you.”
That was something I couldn’t fight against. I sighed and looked down at my paperwork.
“They’re not going to correct themselves you know.” Mel said stating the obvious
“They can if I imagine them doing so.” I mumbled
I picked up my red pen and went through the article that was supposed to go in tomorrow’s newspaper.
I worked for the local newspaper, people always thought that was great, but I wasn’t a writer, I just looked over the articles to make sure no grammatical errors had been overlooked.
“Do you want me to wait for you?”
My heart jumped as I heard Mel’s voice. I took a deep breath and looked at her, who had her left eyebrow raised.
“I thought you had left.” I explained
“Oh well I’m still here.”
“Would it be too much?” I asked hopefully
“Of course not, as long as you do something for me.”
“Anything you want.”
“Okay you agreed.”
I looked at Mel, with a curious look; she just smiled and turned around. I could tell from her posture and the corner of her smile that this was not a good thing.
I kept on working as fast as I could go, and tried to ignore my gut, it was telling me danger or at least something really bad was ahead to come.
The light that was coming from the sun, outside the building started to get dimmer as the seconds ticked on the clock, and it made anxious. I didn’t want to leave in the darkness of the night, with just the moon’s reflection for light.
“Okay I am almost done!” I exclaimed
“About time.”
“Just need to turn this in to my boss.” I told Mel as I stood up from my chair.
“Okay but hurry.”
I didn’t reply back, I just nodded and walked with a quick pace to the back of the room.
As I walked I noticed that the walls were no longer covered with frames of pictures for the “Writer of the Month” I had always hated that anyway. Instead of those frames, the wall was now covered in a variety of art pieces and photography. I smiled at the sight of a little boy jumping into a puddle of water. As I continued to walk with my head to the side looking at all the pictures I hadn’t noticed Kim, my boss walking right towards me.
“Whoa there.” Kim said stopping me as she placed her hands on my shoulders.
“I’m so sorry.” I apologized as my cheeks started to burn
“Not to worry.” She replied with a small smile
“Do you have the papers?” She then added
“Oh yeah, here they are.” I told her as I extended the pile of papers
“Thank you and I’ll see you tomorrow.” She spoke as she took the papers from my hands.
I nodded and turned around feeling my face cool down. Kim wasn’t the “mean” boss per say, but for some odd reason a lot of employees felt intimidated by her, maybe it was because she wore fine suits, and always walked with a straight posture, never losing her straight firm face.
“Ready to go?”
I looked up and noticed I had walked all the way back to my desk.
“Yeah, just need to get all my stuff.”
I could tell from Mel’s face that she was starting to get impatient, but I couldn’t blame her, if I was in her position I would have probably felt the same.
“Okay we can go now.”
“Thank you!” Mel exclaimed drastically
“Was that necessary?” I asked her as we walked towards the elevator
“Yeah it was, Syd.”
I shook my head and pushed the button with the arrow pointing down. Two seconds later the small bell rang and the doors for the elevator opened. Mel walked in first then I did walking straight to the back wall and leaning against it, as Mel pushed the “L” button.
“I can’t wait to go home.”
“You’re not going home.”
“What?” I asked confused
“We’re going to go out.”
“No we are not Melody!” I told her in a commanding voice
“But you agreed.”
“No, I said I would do something for you.” I corrected her
“Well I want you to go out at night, and for you to finally give up your crazy idea.”
“It’s not crazy when you’ve lived through what I have.”
Mel sighed and said nothing in return. We waited in silence until we heard the bell once more and the doors opened revealing an empty lobby.
“Melody?”
“Sydney.”
I looked at her thinking of what I could tell her to make things better.
“I wished I could be able to go, but maybe another night?”
“What’s the difference?” She asked
“I’m not ready to take that step, not yet.”
“I wouldn’t be asking if I knew you weren’t ready.”
I looked down at my feet then out at the night.
“I’m just so scared Mel.” I whispered
“There are a lot of people that are afraid of the dark.”
“I’m afraid of the creatures of the dark.”
“For the last time Syd, vampires don’t exist.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Hope you guys are liking it. :D