章 8: Chapter 6
Jayde saved the document and closed the laptop. It was early enough in the day that she should definitely explore the place. Going for walks usually helped clear her mind.
She slid the key into her pocket, making sure it wouldn’t get bumped out of her pocket, and set out to explore. Now that she was roaming on her own, she also didn’t feel so bad when she stopped to study the paintings. The one on the wall across from her was what she assumed was a nymph running away from a very obviously horny satyr. Jayde blinked in shock at it and continued down the hall, wanting to check out one near the beginning of the hallway.
Reaching it, she trailed her fingers over the scales of the dragon, studying its eyes. They were slitted, glaring forward at an invisible enemy. Its glare was cold, yet fiery as it displayed a sassy attitude through the slight tilt of its head, its ferociousness through the lip curled in a snarl away from sharply pointed teeth. The horns curling up from the face were the purest ebony, a startling contrast to the glimmering green scales, and bright silver eyes.
Voices suddenly reached her from the room nearest to her, laughter startling Jayde from her focus on the painting. She did another quick study of the dragon once more before hurrying down the hall to the split and turned left. She soon was passing the vampire and werewolf painting, passing what she assumed was the girls’ supervisor’s room, and ended back in the foyer. Since she wasn’t sure if the library would be open to students on a Saturday afternoon, Jayde wandered down the hallway that was left of the stairs.
The hall was similar to the first one leading to the girls’ rooms, wider, but with windows only on the left side. There weren’t any paintings either, which was kind of disappointing for Jayde. She just reminded herself that she could always wander the hallways upstairs to look at all the paintings.
It didn’t take long for Jayde to reach the glass door with sunlight streaming through it. Jayde was excited to leave the building, since it obviously led outside, and she peered through the door for a second. Having noted the greenery and trees, Jayde didn’t hesitate to open the door. She pulled her hood up as she stepped into the warm sun.
And into a courtyard full of students.
Jayde’s steps faltered for a moment before she continued walking, taking in her surroundings as others sent her curious looks. Despite their curiosity, it didn’t take long for them to simply dismiss her and continue on with what they were doing. She let herself breath out a sigh of relief, relaxing as she walked towards the shady tree line.
The courtyard was snuggled within the walls of the building, and was about half the size of a football field, having fifteen to twenty feet of concrete before turning into grass. A giant fountain had been built in the concrete slab, nearest the corner closest to the forest, and took up about a fourth of the entire slab. There was a big open space beyond the courtyard, away from the windows of the building, that probably could have been more than a football field or two. The fountain was surrounded, even filled, with mostly female students. If they weren’t literally sitting in the basin, on the second level with the waterfall going down their backs, or simply standing in it, they had their feet dangling in as they sat on the edge of the basin. Jayde was kind of weirded out by the sight, but reminded herself that they were probably a bunch of mermaids or other fishy creatures that needed to be in or around water constantly. Whatever they were, they had a joy of water that seemed entirely inhuman.
A commotion to her right had Jayde stopping at the end of the concrete, turning to look in the direction of the yelling. There was a large group of guys surrounded by other students standing or sitting, who were playing football. They were tackling each other, which Jayde could hear the impact of from over twenty feet away, and throwing the ball with such speed that she lost track of where it went until it was caught or bouncing off the ground.
Rolling her eyes, she put her hands in her hoodie pocket and continued towards the trees. She did take another glance back at the girls in the fountain though. Many were slim, a few with golden skin, some with almost pure white skin, with many having blonde or light brown hair, and a couple girls had jet-black hair that stood out starkly against their skin. They were all very beautiful, entrancing really, and almost made Jayde want to test out the water they were enjoying.
Jayde shook her head, looking away to free herself from the enticement. She paused halfway to the trees as she looked up at the blue sky and breathed in the fresh air. Closing her eyes, she also just took a moment to enjoy the fluttering, whispering feeling of the sun on her face. If what her mother said was true, there would only be so much time for her to enjoy the feeling of daylight. If only-
“Watch out!”
Jayde was jerked out of her reverie at the yell, opening her eyes to turn towards the person who yelled, only to be bowled over by a very large, and very heavy body-boulder.
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