"Oh my god, oh my god are you serious?? Diviya eagerly cuts him off.
"Yes as a heart attack, if you didn't get to finish your education, you have the opportunity to do so here. We have a high school and a college for our kind, however humans are welcome to join." Michael explains.
Diviya's spirits were lifting, she thought her life was completely over, never did she imagine this would be an option and she never even dared to go there with her thoughts.
Diviya was slowly accepting that this was the end of everything for her, she really heard people said before 'you cannot think past your grief' and Diviya never understood that until right now.
Plus her dreams of Managing a business one day can still come true, well at least she would be qualified and she excitedly thought that maybe she can shadow a prominent business man behind these walls where she was heading.
Diviya couldn't believe the tides were turning in her favor and she was beginning to see light, but she also couldn't help but wonder if this was too good to be true and believed she might get the rug pulled from under her.
She just didn't want to get her hopes up right now besides it's too early to tell. She will have to see and experience it all herself to know and start believing.
Though she relaxed a bit and the wheels in her head started turning with possibilities, she left her walls up only peeking over from time to time. She felt like maybe she was getting too comfortable with Michael now.
"Well I would love to enroll in the College, but…" Diviya trails off as she needs time, she is excited that the option is available to her but she honestly didn't see herself enrolling anytime soon. She told herself she need time to grieve but on the other hand she thought maybe this is just what she needs to distract herself and keep focused.
But….in the end she wanted to work through her grief and not just keep doing things to distract herself, as that would not be good for anyone in the long run.
She remained optimistic though.
Michael was looking at her knowingly, "you need the time to settle first".
"Yes I do."
"Don't worry about it, as I mention you do have time to make decisions, we do not rush anything upon anyone."
"Thank you, I appreciate that."
After a small moment of silence, Michael continues, gently stroking his chin with his finger.
"Now, where were we?"
"Maybe you can go over the rules", Carlton suggested.
"Ahh yes the rules, well the rules are very simple, for witnesses— commit a crime and you are out immediately to fend for yourself, for us if we commit crime, first offense twenty lashes, second offense you are cast out and imprisoned, however if we harm a witness under our protection in anyway is death."
Diviya felt a bit safer as she understood with laws like that people will think twice to harm her, she had a fair idea of what she was walking into, these were 'the different kind' we are talking about here, they have magic, extreme strength, they are powerful and so much stronger than a human and she would be living amongst them now, that bit was weighing heavy in the back of her mind.
Yes Diviya was intrigued, curious and excited for the opportunity to do just that and to be in their world, to see how they live, to see what makes them tick, to see them use their special powers, to learn as much as she can about them. Since they retreated back into their world no one really knew what was going on in the inside, but she was not naive to not think of her safety amongst them.
Before Diviya realizes it she was asking her thoughts out loud "Any rules against humans and the different kind interacting?" She gasps and blushes at the question she asks and what it might insinuate, which in turn earned her a smirk from Michael.
"No there are not, we are all adults and can make our own decisions, who are we to dictate who someone can interact with or be with and honestly we have had plenty of witnesses who came and fell in love," Michael was grinning at this point because he has set his sights on Diviya. She is beautiful but he would have to work out his thirst and hunger for her blood first."
They have been talking for hours and the conversation did take an interesting turn. Diviya blushes and looks out the window in an attempt to hide her blush and her red face allowing some of her hair to cover the side of her face like a shield.
And then one moment she was looking at the dull green grass that sprang from the ground of a field that by the looks of it ran for miles, the sky looks a dull pale blue. Then looking ahead of her she saw dead land.
For miles only dead land.
They drove in, everything looks dead and deserted, burnt to a crisp, some parts like it's chocolate brown dirt and rubble and no life form can be seen.
"Watch this," Michael interrupted her thoughts, he then pulls out his phone, touch the screen a few times, swooped and a blue light came flashing out of the part where the camera flash is and the light was directed in front of them and there was a crack in the picture of a dead burnt land and suddenly....
'Swoosh.'
In the next instant she felt a shift in the atmosphere, she felt an overwhelming amount of power radiating in the air, the place is brighter, the colors are brighter, the greens of the field were greener and the sky was bluer.
Diviya gasp hands resting gently over her chest "oh my god it's beautiful"...
"Indeed it is," and this time it was Carlton who spoke smiling from ear to ear.
Still in awe Diviya asks, "How far to go still?"
"We have a long way to go still, about a couple hours give or take", he pause. "Maybe you should get some rest" Carlton offers.
No way could Diviya sleep now as her eyes were glued out the window taking in her surroundings everywhere they can reach as they drove along a highway.
Michael did not like Carlton's suggestion one bit, he wanted to continue his conversation with Diviya, he wanted to know more about her and he had more to say.
However looking at Diviya now even he knew the conversation was over at least for now, she was caught up looking out the window in amazement.
"Oh My God, look it's a dragon" Diviya squeals excitedly.
Diviya could not believe her eyes, he was huge, or she. Beautiful, black, she wonders how the scales would feel under her fingertips.
"Yes that's Dracul, he is actually the last of his kind." Michael responds.
"Ohh that's so sad," Diviya felt for the poor guy. "What happened?" Diviya was brave enough to ask.
She didn't know if any one of them would answer or how much information they were willing to divulge but she wanted to know.
"Oh that happened thousands of years ago, there was a Great War with dragons and the evil that roamed the earth back in 6009 BC. Dragons were our protectors from the evil below. Dracul has been the only surviving dragon since then. He has lived the longest of us all but that's his story to tell." At least he had his bestie.
Diviya was definitely intrigued and her interest was well peeked. She had glance at Michael briefly while he spoke but when she looked back the dragon was gone. She couldn't help but feel sad for him and wonders if he was lonely and how has he been copping for all these years, what was it like living for that long.
Diviya was buzzing with anticipation for the information she would be exposed to because in her history classes they only skim the details.
She knows the position she was in, she can learn so much. Not in a bad way to go publicizing intimate details about them anywhere or anything like that she genuinely wanted to know about them because honestly Diviya herself always felt like she was different.
From the moment Agent Ward told her where she was going Diviya was not afraid. In the back of her mind she saw it as an opportunity.
She thought she may very well end up amongst family or at least find out what she is and where she really came from.