Frost Bites

“Elfish! Hear me! Understand me! Believe me!” Jack’s voice cut through the endless night.
“Nope, that’s not going to do it,” an elf wearing a cute pointy red hat said in a squeaky voice, shaking his small head, “they are naïve, not stupid.”
“What do you want me to say?” Jack growled furiously at Jerry, the elf, “Hello little fellows?!”
“Pish pash,” he did a hand gesture to ask him to calm down, “we need to hit the point, like politicians.”
“then get me a bull’s eye,” Jack grumbled, “at least then, I actually have a point to hit!”
“What did I tell you?” he raised his brow, “wait, did I tell you?”
“Tell me what?!” he roared, he could no longer stand Jerry’s useless suspense.
“I see, I did not tell you…” he then put on a grin so evil, you can’t imagine it on an elf, “I’ve heard the elves’ complain.”
“Their complain?” Jack started to grin too, “I can work something out of that… First, tell me…” 

Mean while, somewhere in Santa’s workshop… 

“Oh, Johnathan,” a fat man in red called out to his best assistant, “I am worried, I felt the presence of naughtiness.”
“Santa,” Johnathan brought a cup of hot chocolate with marsh mellow to Santa, “don’t worry, all will be fine. Have some faith in this magical night that you created.”
“Maybe you are right,” Santa giggled, “since when had I turn into such an old man?”
“Please don’t say so,” Johnathan bowed, and somewhat nervous, he asked carefully, “are you sure I can join you in the sleigh tomorrow?”
“Oh yes!” both their eyes brightened in joy, “I honor my words.”
“Thank you, Santa,” there’s so much happiness in Johnathan’s heart, he felt like hugging Santa.
“Now, you should go rest,” Santa moved his thick brows playfully, and he said, “tomorrow is going to be very fun.”
“Yes,” Johnathan bowed to Santa, “but first I’m going to the stable.”
“To feed the reindeers?” Santa took a sip from his hot chocolate, and Johnathan nodded.
“Remember to groom them too,” the old man smiled with red cheeks, “tomorrow is their big day.”
“I understand.” Johnathan left with a smile, he loved working for Santa; Santa is such a great master. 

After grooming the reindeers, it’s already breaking dawn; Johnathan yawned and collapse on his bed, without checking on the other elves. Suddenly, a vigorous shake woke Johnathan, its Elisha, his best friend.
“What is it?” Johnathan asked gently.
“We have to go,” she pulled him up, and said quickly “the elves are leaving soon! If we don’t go now, we will not catch up with them!”
“Where to?” Johnathan frowned, “we have to stay here until Santa comes back from around the world, and he is not even out yet. Not to mention that he allowed me to join him in his sleigh this year.”
“What?” she asked, still running, “he let you do that?”
“Yes,” he nodded, running along with Elisha, “where are we running to anyway?”
“The other elves decided to…” 

“Great morning my beloved Elfish,” Jack Frost that’s standing in the middle of the stage said with a exaggerated smile on his face.
“Jack?” Johnathan is starting to be dubious of the incident; he never had a good feeling with him.
“I see that everyone is here,” still smiling horridly. Suddenly he saw Johnathan, so he approached him and said in a lowered voice, “Oh, you came too? What’s your name again? Oh right, Santa’s faithful dog.”
“Oh, was that supposed to be an insult? You would have to do better than that, ice head. And, now that I saw you,” Johnathan took a step back, “I’m not sure I’m going to stick around anymore.”
“Then go away, I understand that my presence is too great for you.” Jack dared Johnathan.
“My pleasure, but not before I get to the bottom of this, quick. Your presence disgusts me,” Johnathan laid his firm glare on Jack’s face.

Then, all of a sudden, the sound of bells came chiming towards them. Johnathan hastily turned to the source of the sound, and gasped on horror. It’s the reindeers, and Santa is nowhere to be seen!
“Elfish!” Jack called out to the elves, “come, let us ride the reindeers to South Pole, and start our very own workshop! Oh, and you, you can come too, if you want. I’m sure I’ll find you a suitable job in the toilet or… somewhere else.”
“Hey!” Elisha wanted to defend her friend, but as the sleigh came near, she stunned.
All of the elves rushed anxiously to the sleigh, some had rid it only once, while most had never seen it, for it is a magical and majestic sleigh. 
“Come on,” Elisha pulled on Johnathan’s hand, “Santa is not worth our loyalty, though Jack is not much better, but it is a change!”
“What do you mean by Santa do not worth our loyalty?” Johnathan angrily swing lose of Elisha’s grip, “he is our one and only master!”
“We don’t have more time to waste,” she scowled at him, “are you coming or staying?”
“Staying, definitely,” he crossed his arms in front of his chest, “but I wish you won’t go, because Santa can never be replaced by that lunatic.”
“Fine,” she turned away from him and stomped straight to the sleigh. 

The moment she turned her back towards Johnathan, he felt his heart drop. He thought that she would understand, he thought that she is like him, with the same thoughts and same dream. But maybe he thought wrong, too wrong. Suddenly, an old man’s shout came to his ear, “What is happening?!”
But Johnathan can’t say anything, he felt as if he had failed his master. He left his stare on Elisha’s face; she just got on the sleigh right before it took off. He can’t help but wonder what Jack Frost told them. Then he saw a glint of annoyance between Elisha’s brows. Before his mind could get things straight, Elisha has already climbed to the edge of the sleigh, after taking a deep breath; she slipped her foot off the edge and jumped off the sleigh. Seeing that, Johnathan quickly ran to her with all that he had and at the nick of time, she is in his arms.

“Are you all right?” Johnathan asked worriedly.
“Sprained an ankle or two,” she looked up at Johnathan, and thought that this might be the worst decision in her life.
“Thank you, it meant a lot to me,” he stood her up, smiling encouragingly to her, knowing that it was a hard decision for her to make. And she smiled back, who knows, something good might come out from all this.

By the mean time, Santa knelt on the snow filled ground and shouted to the sleigh, wishing for it to come back.
“Nho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!” his voice radiated, to the ears of a 10 year old girl, standing on a slope.
*by Darcastle 22-1-11 23:33

Five Candles

Every single person in the room is looking at me, horrified. I glance through every single faces in the room and landed my sight on the little crying baby in my mother’s arm. I took a deep breath very slowly then angrily stomped pass the fallen Christmas tree, and went straight to the attic. I heard furious shouts from behind but I ignored them, for they had let me down in the past months. I sat alone in the boxes of junks and dust. 

Back then, whenever I am unhappy, I will sit here in the attic, just to make mom and dad worry, they will always come after me, and try to make it up for me. But all has changed, they don’t care if their daughter is being gulfed up by the thick dust, they don’t care if their daughter is having a mental break down, not anymore. And I don’t blame them; it’s only because of the little brat downstairs that is making all the noise. I don’t care if I’d break the tree, because it is the little brat that drove me into it. The evil little monster made me destroy the one day that I loved the most.

I laid my back to the floor, and thought, I used to be the apple in their eye, why is it any different now? I hugged my legs together and tried to stop the tears from falling. Then I slowly fell asleep…
“Are you sure we shouldn’t go get her?” mom said.
“I don’t know, honey,” I heard a sigh, “we had been pampering her all these years, I think it’s time for her to learn a lesson.”
“But it’s Christmas,” mom exclaimed, “it’s her favorite day of the year.”
“I know, I know,” dad sounds defeated, “but don’t you remember how much effort did we put on the tree? And we made it just for her! I can’t allow her to take things for granted anymore!”
“Quiet, quiet,” mom whispered, but the words are still clear to me, “she might hear you, she is feeling bad enough, no need to worsen her feelings.”
“Sorry,” Dad lowered down his voice, “I really don’t know what to do anymore… how are we going to teach her to be…”
Then I heard cries, its Mabel… again…
“We’ll have to just make sure we don’t screw up on this one…” mom said and they left.

Am I that bad? Are they trying to imply that I’m screwed up? I am so angry and frustrated, that I don’t think that I had felt this before. I want to smash something. I NEED to destroy something! I jumped up on my feet and started to push down and hit everything in sight. I hate Mabel, I hate dad, I hate mom, I hate the tree, and I hate every single thing in the world!! Then a voice in my head said, then why don’t you hate yourself? I shouted back to it, “because everyone else is wrong and only I am right!”
“Are you sure? Because all I can see is you making everyone unhappy. Are you sure that is right?”
“I’m not going to reply to that because I know that you are not real!” I sat down angrily on the floor, grumbling to the voice that I claimed that do not exist. And magically, it did not speak anymore.
“I am really going crazy…” I mumbled to myself after calming myself down. 

      I looked around and wondered why mom and dad didn’t come up after hearing the sound of the wreckage. Maybe I am really too pampered… but even so, it’s still their fault. I did not ask to be pampered and become a spoilt brat… I sighed. Even me, myself could not accept that excuse… how I wish I can turn back time and try to stop Mabel from being gave birth… then none of this is going to happen. Suddenly, I saw a pack of candles that fell off from one of the boxes that I pushed down. I picked it up and turned to its back.    

                 1.Light up the candle             2.Make a wish

     Just take these simple steps, and your dream will come true.
      *this product is not refundable

Thinking that it’s probably a fraud, I opened its cover. There’s 5 candles inside, I lighted the first one and wished for the tree to be beautiful again. Then, I lighted the second candle and wished that mom and dad won’t think that I’m a brat anymore. Smirking at myself, I lighted the third candle and I said this one out loud because I know I sound foolish enough to make myself laugh. I said, “I wish I can meet Santa in north pole.” I actually thought that it might actually come true for a second but, just… 

“What…?” I was filled with fear as the attic started to move. I think that there might be an earthquake. I quickly hid under the dust filled desk with the pack of candles in my hands. I prayed that no one would get hurt so hard that I hadn’t realized that the quake is over. Then, I felt a ray of sunlight shining at my face. It’s morning already? Then I thought to myself sorrowfully, mom and dad did not even care to come and look if I’m injured… I have really done it this time. I carefully opened the attic door, careful not to make a scene. I wouldn’t want mom and dad yelling at me as the first thing in the Christmas morning… I looked out of the window at the end of the hallway. What? It’s snowing already? Aw… I missed it… I crept to my room discreetly. I swiftly worn my winter attire and ran downstairs. I giggled to myself as I made it out of the door without anyone noticing. I must be good; none of them realized that I am gone. 

The lavender colored pack of candles is still in my pocket because I have a hunch that I should stick with it for whatever reason… then I looked up to see if my neighbors are already having fun with the snow, but… WHERE IS EVERYBODY?! I ran to my right up a small slope, and I almost faint on the spot. The whole neighborhood is gone! My house stood alone in the middle of the snow. Frightfully, I ran back home to inform mom and dad that the neighborhood shifted… oh my god, that sounded like nonsense… they will just have to believe me! The search in my house almost killed me with heart attack, because I couldn’t find mom and dad or even the little devil anywhere! Everyone in the neighborhood, even my family, left? Leaving me behind? So… even my neighbors hate me? I walked out of my house thinking that it won’t do me much good to stay there alone. I have to find them, and take REVENGE. Nah, just joking on that… I don’t even think that I am going to look for them; I will find myself food and water, on my own. I am 10 after all, old enough to take care of myself.

I started walking towards north, the direction of the needle in the compass in my watch points to. And I wondered why dad bought me a military grade watch, they must have been planning for this mass moving for a long while… those cunning adults… suddenly, I saw not far ahead, a fat old man in red kneeling in the middle of the snow shouting, “NHO! HO! HO! HO! HO~” I looked up to the sky of which he is screaming at, and saw a sleigh with 3 pairs of reindeers pulling it, flying into the endless sky.  
*By darcastle 15.1.11  23.23pm

Pwned

‘I walked out of your house, without forgetting to keep my grace, and shut the door gently right behind of me. Sorry. I saw that word in your eyes. But I can’t help but wonder if it’s just me trying to console myself. The promise that you made… I don’t even know if it’s real. I was foolish enough to believe even though I had only heard it from a distant voice in a dream. I was so convinced that it was really you… and now I know.’ 

Zoe looked down at Spots that is now sitting obediently by her legs. She mumbled to the dog, “Do you think that she is still there?” Spots rested on his paws, while giving out a short groan, implying that they might need to stay there for a while. “What do you think that they are doing this instance? Argh, why am I caring…? Wait! Why should I not care? After all we are the ones that prepared the stuffs to invite him home, isn’t it?” she looked at Spots anxiously. Spot looked to a side with grieve, thinking, ‘even I can understand that Master is not coming back to us, why can’t Master Zoe just accept it?’ 

“Maybe I should just let go…” she covered her face with her palms, “I should just accept that he is not coming back. It’s not like he promised me that he’ll come back to me…” Spots shot up alertly.
“No, that doesn’t count, it was a dream,” Zoe told Spots, and he barked several times at her. And she told him sluggishly, “It doesn’t matter even with you being there, I was unconscious, and so it doesn’t count.” Spots slid back to his previous position, feeling discouraged. She sighed and started to recall the scene just now. 

The both of them jumped out from their hiding place to surprise Christ, but ended up having a shock, as there’s another woman in his arms. Spots furiously barked at that women while Zoe stood there, staring at point blank. Looking annoyed, the woman said something to Christ but Zoe can’t hear her words as her sight is now glued to Christ’s face. She saw his mouth moved but she still can’t hear anything. With her conscious screaming fiercely in her mind, she forced out an exaggerated smile and said, “So you have a girlfriend now! Should have told me earlier, I would know what to do!” then she winked at him and called out to Spots, “Come here boy, let’s leave the house to the both of them!” Then she walked past the couple and through the doorway. She swallowed down the lump in her throat as she closed the door gently. 

 Flashing back to that moment made the lump come back. “Let it out,” a voice that she’s very familiar with said. She looked up and said, “Let what out?” while smiling weakly to Jack. He sat down beside her and pulled her to him, “oh come on, even passersby can see that you are about to cry.”
“No,” she said stubbornly, “I will not be a cry baby…” but her voice is already trembling.
“Let it go,” he said with a soft tone, “I am here for you.”
“but it’s so humiliating…” the first drop of tear had already fallen…
“It’s fine…” he stroked her hair gently, “I am used to it.”
Then she gave out her best cry, not the soft and silent ones, but those who are loud and destructive. Unlike normal humans, Jack did not run, but he patiently held her firmly in his arms, comforting her without words. 

She went on crying until twilight crept upon them.
“Thank you,” they shifted apart slightly as she sat up straight, “that felt great.”
“Works like a charm,” he smiled widely while wiping off her tears by her cheek, “was it for him?”
She hesitated. But Spots answered for her by barking once to Jack.
“Good boy,” Jack patted Spots head and said, “It’s ok if you don’t want to tell me the story.”
“Thanks,” she sighed in relieve.
“So, will you forgive him if he apologizes to you?” Jack stroked Spots that is sitting beside him.
“Maybe… but what is there to be sorry about?” She sniffed.
“For breaking your heart?” he shrugged, “what if he apologizes over and over again?”
“Apologies are only necessary to be heard once, otherwise it will be nothing but a meaningless word.” 

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…