knowing whether she would come.
I could only rely on my feelings. They told me that the excitement I felt at
that moment increased with each passing minute, as if my own emotions were
mixed with someone else's.
A few minutes later I felt some familiar trepidation.
She was there. Turning around, I saw Eileen just a few steps away from me. She
smiled enigmatically and incredibly attractively. She was wearing a light white
dress, and a cascade of her golden hair fell over one shoulder. At that moment,
I thought she was a vision, an angel. Despite the fact that it could sound too
trivial, I couldn’t find other words to describe her beauty and my own
feelings.
“I knew you would come,” smiling I said.
“You must be a very confident young man, Mr. Fairey,” raising
one eyebrow in amusement, she replied.
“Not at all. I just could feel you,” I grinned, taking a
few steps towards her.
“To be honest, I don’t really like it. Every girl should
have her secrets, and I’m like an open book for you,” she said disappointed.
I took her face in my hands and looked into the depth of
her beautiful eyes.
“Actually, you are the biggest mystery of this world.
And, believe me, I would have given up a lot, just to know more about you,” I
said, seeing that my words caused a charming blush on her cheeks. Frankly, I
liked that effect very much. I didn’t know what was going on with me, but every
time I saw her or touched her, the only thing I could think about was sweeping
her my arms and kissing those inviting lips of hers. I was dying to taste them
and feel their touch on mine.
“So why did you choose such an unusual place for the
meeting?“ she said, changing the subject and took a step away from me. I
immediately felt lonely without her.
“There’s one place I’d like to show you. It's not far
away from here.” I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the cause of this
meeting.
“Don’t we need permission to go there?” she asked,
walking beside me. Her proximity made me feel confident and incredibly
powerful, as if she was the source of my life energy.
“No, we are not going beyond the campus territory. These
gates lead to the University Park. It stretches for miles along the border.
This is sort of another security measure to prevent the outsiders from finding
us so easily. You have already noticed the crystal shape of Dever, right? But
in reality it’s a combination of thin layers of sand, wind and water. These
nature elements are protecting our territory. So ordinary people simply can’t
find us.”
“Are you saying that during the existence of Dever, this
place has never been found before?”
“Never. The thing is that Dever was built on the lake.
And its crystal shape is transparent, it can be easily hidden under the water
surface. No one can see it there, so when the humans come to the borders they
see nothing but an endless dark lake between the mountains.
“I can’t believe that! This massive construction can
just disappear under the water!”
“Well, it doesn’t happen every day, of course. Only if
there is a real danger or the risk of being disclosed. I’ve never witnessed it
myself, but those who have, say that they have never seen anything as magical
and breathtaking. It feels like swimming in the ocean in some huge glass
globe.”
“That’s incredible! So many security measures! Not
surprisingly, students may not leave the campus unless accompanied by
teachers.”
“Actually, not just teachers. Only first and second year
students need the escort. It is believed that other students already know how
to protect themselves if necessary. So for example, I can accompany you if you
want to leave the campus.”
“Really? Amanda and I wanted to go to town tomorrow,
so... you could go with us,” suddenly said Eileen.
“In this case, you need another attendant. As a student,
I can take responsibility only for one beginner.”
“So, it means we must find someone
Joyce Chng, Nicolette Barischoff, A.C. Buchanan, Sarah Pinsker