Raiden and Zane didn't stay long at the party.
Raiden thought of informing someone- at least Jennifer, Aaron or even Jayden that she was gonna go back to the house, but seeing them nowhere in the big crowd of drunk teens, she just decided to text Jennifer.
RAIDEN: I'm going back 2 the house.
JENNIFER: Okay, don't stay up, we'll be late.
RAIDEN: Alright
'Seems like your friends are gonna stay here all night,' Zane commented as he peered over her shoulder.
'You do know it's rude to read someone's texts, right?' Raiden asked putting away her phone.
'Are you texting someone important?' He mused, 'Perhaps, your boyfriend Jayden?'
Raiden rolled her eyes as she scoffed.
'He is NOT my boyfriend.' She assured him.
'Oh really?' Zane asked amused, 'I always thought there was something between the two of you. You know, the way you four are always together, it's very much easy to guess there is something between you two. I may be deluded but that's what it seems like.'
'Then you're deluded,' she replied. 'If you don't mind me, I will go back to my dorm room and sleep. I'm not in the mood to watch Netflix anymore, so might as well get going have a good night's sleep. Good night.'
'Wait, I'll drop you back to your dorm. It's not safe to leave a girl walking around alone like that. Especially a sexy Harley Quinn.' Zane winked.
'My my, what a gentleman.' Raiden feigned a fake accent.
'Only for you, Princesa.'
***
The sepulchral hour of the night is the best friend of the shadows. Who knows what might be brewing within these shadows, away from the humans; its nature far away from what we categorize as normal. And in these unholy hours, also known as the hour of the devil, was the time when Raiden's sleep took a break.
Ah, the beauty of the ominous. Wonderful, isn't it?
Or perhaps the fact that he was thirsty contributed to the fact as well.
On waking up, Raiden noticed that the door of her room was slightly open and a faint light peeked from behind. She looked at the watch on the nightstand beside her. It showed the awkward hour of 3:45 am.
What are they doing so late in the night? She wondered as she rubbed her eyes.
'Hello? Is anyone there?'
No response. An uneasy feeling gripped her stomach.
'Guys?' Silence. Even the door didn't budge.
'Jennifer?' Raiden asked as she the flashlight and gate card and got off the bed.
'Guys, if this is a joke, I swear it isn't funny.' He said as he opened the door only to be met by silence. There was no one around; not that she could see anyone around. Just plain, unholy silence. The source of the faint light was a small bulb hanging from the ceiling.
The uneasy feeling in Raiden's gut had multiplied tenfold. She walked into the common room just in time to see a faint shadow moving out- a faint silhouette of a woman. Jennifer.
'Jennifer,, wait!' he called out as he followed the shadow out of the dorm building and into the main house. It made no effort to stop.
'Jennifer come on, if this is about me leaving you at the party, then I'm sorry. I was sleepy. I texted you, you said it was alright. Come on Jennifer, it's three in the morning. Come on, Jennifer, I'm tired. Let's sleep we can talk it out in the morning. Jennifer!'
The shadow was standing in front of the gate of the main building. It stopped there for a moment before going inside.
I swear if this is a joke, I'm gonna murder her in the morning. Raiden thought frustrated. 'Jennifer!' she called out again as she followed the shadow deeper into the building and passed through another door that opened to a flight of stairs leading down. Raiden hesitated.
She's so gonna get us in trouble.
The shadow had now vanished in the darkness of the spiraling stairs. Raiden now only went down trusting her instincts and her flashlight. The stairs led down to a small tunnel with a dead end.
What the hell is she trying to do?
Raiden paused shortly as the shadow stopped in front of the dead end. The shadow seemed to turn glanced faintly in her direction before disappearing.
'What the-'Raiden gasped as she walked towards the place where the shadow had been standing only to be met by the wall.
'Wha-how-what the-' Raiden's words remained incomplete as she felt the wall trying to find a door or something through which the shadow had just passed through the wall.
At last, she decided on the fact that she had just been dreaming and decided to return to her room when something caught her eye.
It was placed in a very subtle place, in a dark spot in the corner formed by the two walls. The two walls did a very good job of hiding the book had the light from Raiden's flashlight not fallen on it.
'The hell?' she muttered as she picked it up.
It was a book, no bigger than the textbooks that she was used to seeing in the library, a black leather-bound journal, old and tattered but seemed pretty much well taken care of.
The words were written in golden, strong bold writing
TANTABULUM OF
THE SCHATTEN GARDIEN
KEEPERS OF THE GATE TO THE KINGDOM OF SCHATTEN AND LICHT
The hell is wrong with people?
Raiden seemed confused as she read the cover of the book, nothing made sense to her. Suddenly she heard shuffling as she began to walk back towards her dorm.
'Shit!' she cursed under her breath as she tried to hide in the darkness.
'Raiden? You still there?' a voice called out into the darkness, she recognized the voice immediately.
'Jayden?' Raiden asked confused as she stepped out of the darkness and into Jayden's clear view, 'What are you doing here?'
'Isn't that what I am supposed to ask you? What the hell are you doing here? You do know that this place is out of grounds, right?'
'Uhm,' Raiden looked back at the place where the shadow had once been.
'Uhm, what? And what the hell is that in your hand?'
Raiden looked at the book in her hand and clutched it to her chest.
'Nothing,' Raiden affirmed, 'I thought I had seen someone coming here and I found this book. The main question is what are you doing here following me? She smirked.
Even in the darkness, Raiden could see Jayden's face considerably reddening.
'Nothing, I had gone to get a glass of water and I saw you walking out of the dorm. I was worried so I decided to follow you.'
'Aw, you were worried about me?' Raiden teased her voice deliberately sweet.
'Shut up Storm, I was not worried about you. If you got caught by any of the guards around here, we would get punished as well. The house gets blamed.' Jayden explained.
'Whatever floats your boat, Black.' She replied as she walked past him.
'Hey, wait for me.' Jayden yelled as he tried to catch up with her.
Little did the two of them know that they were being watched by someone else.
'Just you wait for Zia, I will do anything to get you back to us. You have the book now, it won't be long before we get you back as our queen.' He said.