Day 11- Today was a fairytale (10)

I grabbed her wrist and turned her around. It was a bit too easy since she is a vampire too, but I think it’s because she didn’t even try to fight back. I rested Titan on her shoulder, next to her neck. Romeo’s attention was caught before I had even called out to him. He angrily stomped towards us, but I simply stood there waiting for him, fearlessly… Ok, maybe I was a little scared…

“Hey Hay, what’s going on?” Odell came, “a moment ago I was frightened and thought it was an earthquake, but turns out that it’s just you.”
“Wha--,” I said blurrily, but I got what she meant, “that’s so not cool.”
“Huh?” Cherry eyed us weirdly, “I don’t get it.”
Josephine rolled her eyes and said, “She was trying to insult Haley for being scared, shaky legs, see?” then she tried to shake her legs.
 “Oh…” several people exclaimed at once.
“Why are you scared, Haley?” Wendy asked without stopping the wrapping of gifts.
I was stuck all of a sudden by the question and decided to find an excuse, “Well, won’t you be scared if you are the one taking pictures of everyone?”
All four of them stopped their hand movements and glared at me, only Jake answered, “nope.”
I elbowed him quickly and stared at him to send some mind wave to him saying, Are you not my best friend? Save me… Save my ass~~~~~
“Oh, stop that wave thing,” he mind spoke to me. And he said out loud, “BUT, I will be scared if everyone looked horrible in my pictures and blames me for making them look horrible but actually they DO look horrible.”
They paused for a few seconds until Odell broke the silence, “I totally agree.” And the others nodded as well. I sighed in relief… 

The three of them that was previously slammed on the floor jumped up immediately, frightened by me. Nathan and Blake exchanged looks and decided to attack Romeo, even though they know that they don’t stand a chance against him. But Ryan quickly stopped them and saved my plan. As I guessed, Romeo stopped stomping to us when he is close. He wanted to snatch Juliet back, but he fears that he might hurt her. And I took advantage of that, however, I didn’t expect Juliet to help me, but she did. 

I was about to start the negotiation when Juliet said, “Keir, can’t you see that I’m held captive? Don’t you dare be an idiot; get over here and save me now! And get back to normal, you are freaking me out.” She said all those word so heartlessly; it made me wonder if I have tabulated the situation wrong…  

Romeo… I mean Keir frowned and reluctantly followed her order. He said as he got back to normal, “Aw… and I was just starting to have fun…”
After he turned back to normal, he was only left with his half torn jeans. My mind was running through logical explanations, but I was too distracted and can’t help but simply stare at the odd situation now. When I was contemplating surroundings, Juliet took me off guard by turning back hand and escaped my grip. She stood right in front of me and said, “Leave.” 

“So,” I stretched my back and said happily, “finally, we are done!”
“Yessss!” Wendy looked at her phone, “there’s still time for us to dress up!”
“Oh right!” Josephine joined her, “I brought my make-up kit too.”
“About that,” Odell scratched her head, “Can I borrow yours?”
“Yeah, me too,” Cherry said. And they continued their talk… 

“So, how’s your dress preparation?” Jake asked leaning on the wall.
“I don’t know…” I frowned, “it seems like I’ve forgot about something…”
“Lipstick?”
“It’s never forgotten ok?” I gave him ‘it’s a matter of fact’ look.
“Camera?” he thought hard.
“Its right here, you idiot…” I waved my camera at him.
“Well… You can’t forget your dress, right?”
“Oh yes, my outfit!” I search my mind, there’s something about it that I should remember of…

“Haley Darcastle!” Nikki’s roar spread through the whole hall.
“Huh?” I searched for the source of the voice, and it came to me.
“Forgetting something?” Nikki suddenly appeared in front of me, with her brother Nicholas by her side.
“Yeah,” I nodded, “but I forgot what I forgot…”
She rolled her eyes, “You… are… … hopeless…”
“What?” I stuck out my lower lips, “you are the one that said that I had a black hole in my head, so I have the right to be forgetful.
“Whatever,” she grunted and handed me a bag, “your costume.”
I took over the bag and finally recalled that due to some technical errors, I couldn’t go get a costume, so I asked a favor from Nikki… 

“Ok, we’ll leave,” I walked to my group, “we need to take Mr. No Beard.”
“Sure,” she nodded, “take him if you can.”
“Where’s he?” Nathan stepped forward.
“The guy is a coward,” she said, “you won’t be able to see him anywhere near this compound until he has recovered.”
I wanted to comment, but she continued saying, “however, I’m quite sure that you are going to meet him again, real soon…” 

We remained in silence and we knows that she might be right. But it is a bit too troublesome for me to figure out what to do next. I don’t think we can continue our quest after this incident though…

“Oh well,” Nathan smiled, “we should be making a move now.”
“Sorry for the disturbance,” Ryan smiled too.
“It was a pleasure meeting you guys,” Blake didn’t smile. I looked at them, eyes wide. Nathan and Ryan pushed me out together while Blake watched if the couple will attack us.
“So what should we call you if we meet again?” I asked while being pushed.
“Hmm?” Juliet voiced, “Keir and Gwendolyn.” 

I whispered to the three of them when we are out, “so does this means that we are going to meet again?”
“Good,” Blake punched both his fist together, “I’ll be waiting.”
“Until then,” Nathan rubbed his chin, “we have to find a way to counter Mr. Keir.”
“And locate Mr. No Beard.,” Ryan’s eyes flashed to the car in front.
“Jasmine?” Blake called out in shock.
“Hey guys,” Jasmine smiled to us, “I found it… boring inside… s--… so I came out for… air.” 

I was dream-walking and reached the dressing room safely at last. Still dreaming, I put on my dress… thing… and when exited the dressing room, I saw that everyone is also already done… and I realized something odd…

“Hey Mulan,” Jake teased, “Where’s Shang!”
“Oh god, why is it in there anyway?” Wendy covered her mouth with one hand… Aw… they are all dressed in Victorian style… and I’m a Chinese? That’s so sad… I felt like I’m being racist-ted…
“No,” Nikki rolled her eyes, “we are not ‘racist-ing’ you…”
“What’s racist-ing?” Nicholas asked after a long pause, “is that even a word?”
“Yes, it is,” Nikki glared at me from sideways, “in her dictionary.” 

I looked at every one of them absent-mindedly… then I felt a hit from my back.
“Stop looking at us like that,” Odell glared at me smiling, “you looked like a douche.”
Wendy giggled in agreement as Cherry and Keith came in.

“Wowuu…” Cherry suspended her ‘wuu—s’ as she saw me, “I didn’t notice that in the boxes of dress…”
“Not bad,” Keith rubbed his chin, “you can be our mascot.”
Jake pushed Keith’s head with his finger, “don’t be so mean, this is still better than… her original self…”
“True true,” they nodded in agreement at once… such rude asses…

“Well in case anyone is wondering,” I raised my voice, “I’m going to get my cam.” Bitches I said quietly inside…   
“Bye…” Jake waved to me.
“Fuck you,” I smiled and waved back. 

I stared right at her as she gets down the car and walks to us.
“Where have you been?” Blake asked.
“Just out here,” her right shoulder moved a little, “since it’s… err… hot, inside.” 
“Hot?” I raised my brows.
She turned to me nervously, “yeah, it’s… too packed.”
I nodded but not believing her. I felt Nathan and Ryan’s doubt too, but they probably didn’t think that it’s wise to question her now, neither did I. 

“Well, it had been a long night,” Nathan stretched his back.
“Yeah, we should be leaving now,” Ryan started making his way to the passenger seat.
“Let’s get us a comfortable place to stay,” Nathan took in a deep breath, “and lots of food to eat.”
“Agreed,” Blake jumped on to the backseat from the outside.
“Come on,” I waved to Jasmine that is still standing on her spot. She rushed to my side quickly and got into the car. And I followed, “I am going to need a good night of sleep.”
“Or a good day,” Ryan smiled and drove off. And I saw the first ray of sunlight for the day.

I closed my eyes to steal some sleep, but I’m can’t, so I thought about everything that happened just now. It all seemed like a dream, now that it ended, I’m not really sure if it is real anymore… But the bruises and cuts on me proved otherwise. So it means that Ryan did left us at the beginning of the fight, and Jasmine left reaching the end. That is a bit too coincidental. Plus, being a vampire and all, he should have knew that Mr. no Beard is a vampire. And, Jasmine too, isn’t she an angel, all of us went through fighting class in pre-school. She should at least defend herself. But what I’m seeing is that she is running away from the attacks or hiding behind Blake instead of countering them. It all adds up to that one word…

“Betrayal…”
“Oh, come on,” Jake slid to my right, “it’s not that serious. We were just teasing you.”
“No, it’s not that,” I played with the strings of my costume. It’s actually quite fascinating that there are so many strings to play with…
“Ah,” he face twisted to exaggerated horrifying wise look.
“What?” I sneered, “You don’t even know what it is.”
“I do know,” he smiled that smug smile, “well actually I don’t…”
“idiot,” I mumbled. And I suddenly felt like stabbing his wound and pressing on it with my germs filled finger covered with salt, “so, how are you dealing with the Kayly thing?”
He shot up in alarm, “so far so good…” I kind of saw sorrow in his eyes… I suddenly felt sad for him…
“That’s good to hear,” I smiled, “want to go meet Takashi with me?”
“Nah, I’ll just stand here,” and sulk... I heard the unspoken words.
“Ok,” I am regretting bringing up the topic… I feel so mean…
“Haley-chi!!” someone’s shout crawled into my ears.
“Katzuo,” I turned around trying to find him. Then I saw him, dressed like Darcy, running towards me, with a bag hung at his arm. 

“Haley-chi and Jakey!” Katzuo shouted… again, “I brought snacks for you guys!” he waved the bag in front of us.
“Oh, snack,” Jake smiled a friendly smile, “nice.”
“What is it?” I asked, I decided to linger around longer since Jake is smiling again…
“Your favorite,” he took out a box from the bag, “sushi!”

Somewhere in the dressing room, a girl dressed in blue heard the word.

I felt movement from my right. When I turned my sight towards it, I saw a whirl of wind rushing to us and I was knocked aside.

“Nate,” I whispered to him in the dark, “There’s a buffet table downstairs filled with food.”
“Huh?” he licked away his saliva.
“There’s food~ food~,” I whispered to him while walking slowly towards the door. He followed me like a puppet. 

When we are out in the lift, I hit his head with all I’ve got.
“Ouch,” his eyes look less sleepy, “what did you do that for?”
“I need to talk to you,” I frowned, trying to show him how serious the matter is.
“Is it about Ryan?” he frowned too.
“Yes,” I wondered if he suspected the same thing as I do.
“I wanted to discuss that matter before too,” he smiled awkwardly, “I just didn’t get the chance.”
“You noticed it from before?” I gaped, no wonder he is the future king, he is better than me…
“Yeah,” he nodded, “you have to admit, it’s quite obvious…”
“Really?” I rubbed my head, “I had only taken notice during the fight.”
“Woah,” he said while we exited the small moving room, “for a girl, you are slow…”
“What does it have to do with me being a girl?” I asked I took him to some place far far away from the restaurant. I brought him to the pool. 

“We are talking about crushes right?” he raised his brow and smiled.
“NOOOOO,” I slapped his head, “You idiot.”  
“Ouch…” he rubbed his head. And I saw a sudden movement somewhere far, on my right. I pressed a finger on my lips, motioning Nate to shut up, and then my sight followed the shadow very closely. 

“Are you… hungry?” Jake looked at Nikki that is now stuffing Katzuo’s homemade sushi into her mouth. She’d even made crunching voices. Katzuo looked at her happily, enjoying the sight of someone eating his food so happily while Nicholas looked at her with disgust and all the other people looked at her, worried. I simply stared at her blankly… until someone pushed my head… and I glared up.
“Now, that’s much better,” Keith smiled at me from above, “you look less dumb now.”
I bit my lips and swallowed down my anger, oh god, what did I see in this jackass?
“Nikki you should stop eating like that,” I heard Jake said, “You are scaring me. Come on, you are in a god damn dress!” oh, he did it this time… 

I fear the consequences if I let her anger roam free, so I immediately said, “You people are such mean asses!”
“Mean asses?” Keith rubbed his chin, “I wonder why is it that the word ‘ass’ is so frequently used.”
“Oh, you wonder why?” Nikki smiled her scary fake smile thing… “I’ll tell you why.”
She wiped her mouth with a tissue and walked towards the both of them and punched them with her small but lethal fists, “hear that?”
“Ouch…” they rubbed they head, “why did you do that for?”
“To show you how empty your heads are,” she poured some water into her mouth.
“Wow, that’s…” I said, “Hurtful...” I know how Nikki’s fist can hurt…
“That’s not very smart, Nikki,” Jake shook his head.
“Nope, it’s not,” Keith swayed his finger in her face, “it’s barbaric.”
“But still, we can’t really blame her for that,” Jake added in, “she’s too much of a brute,” and he winked at Keith. I was a little slow that day so I couldn’t do anything but I saw Nikki’s hand held into a fist.
“Nikki,” Nicholas’ cold voice interfered with my thoughts, “I like your friends.” 
“You should probably keep that big hole on your face shut,” I said ghastly, “unless you are craving for blood splat…”
Nicholas scoffed calmly… 

I waited for the shadows to be further away before starting to follow the almost unnoticeable footsteps. When we were close enough to eavesdrop on the conversation, we stopped by a tree. This way, they wouldn’t notice us at all, because we are damn far away from them. 

“Where were you just now?” the male voice sounded annoyed, “Do you know that it might blow your cover?”

“I didn’t want to be caught in the scene, ok?” the female voice replied.
“Who gave you the authority to question your superior?” another female voice joined the conversation.
“I apologize if that is counted as disrespect to the council,” she doesn’t seem to be too tame.
“I will not accept that,” newcomer said, drowned in a silent fury, “this is your last chance, disdain yourself from such ruthless actions, or I promise that you’ll never be able to open that mouth of yours.”
“ Cut the chatter,” the first male voice said, “Jasmine, you have to gain their trust to obtain the date. If you don’t get the exact date within the next two days, even the both of us can’t get you out of this mess.”
“I don’t understand why is it so important to the council?” she shifted her legs, “it’s just a bloody myth.”
“It is not just a bloody myth,” finally, he showed up after all… 

I stared into mid air and started to think if I have left out anything… and I ended up dreaming again.
“Nikki,” I spoke to the girl beside me, “I think my dreaming had gotten worse…”
“Huh?” she replied.
“I said, I think my dreaming…” I rolled my eyes, “you know what, put that aside, what’s up?”
“Other than the ceiling, there’s the light, ribbons…” I slapped her back.
“I don’t know why…” she mumbled, “I’d been having scenes…”
“Scenes?” I frowned, “what scene?”
“Well, there’s one that stuck,” she stared into mid air like I just did, “I saw this piano, and two persons, a dude and a dudett, and it just keep turning around, and around, and around…”
“Ok, fine, I get the point…” I stood up, and pulled her hands, “come, let’s gussy up.” 

Before she can protest, I’ve already pulled her into the washroom.
“How do I look?” I asked, staring right into her eyes through the mirror, “do I look good?”
“No, you look evil…” she lazily glared from the mirror.
“Well, I think you look nice,” me, myself is trying to play nice for the second.
“Nope, I think I look mean.”
“You are beyond hopeless,” I washed my hands…
“Why?” she asked while we were pacing out of the toilet.
“I don’t know,” I shook my head, “it just popped into my mind.”
“Well,” she raised a finger to my face, “you have to choose your words wisely…”
“Why?” I asked.
“It just popped into my mind…” 

“Ah, there you are,” Keith suddenly appeared in front of us from nowhere, “I had been looking for you guys all over the place…” 

To Be Continued…