The door shut with a click behind me, and I locked the door for the night. The lights in the living room and kitchen flowed out of their respective rooms, just barely visible from the entryway. I could hear the words of a confident blonde law student soaring out of the living room. I gave a chuckle, kicked off my shoes, and turned to the right into the kitchen.
Sure as always, my father whistled as he cooked something for dinner and in-between notes he quoted the movie playing loudly in the living room. If you looked to the right, over the counter bar, you could see directly into the living room. The large television screen he took great pride in blared on, even though he was still it paying it off.
"Hey! What's up, my girl? How was school?" The man hummed from his spot, cooking something indistinct and weird looking. My father loved to try weird recipes off the internet, and surprisingly, they usually turned out great.
"School is crazier than you'll ever know." I laughed, smiling brightly and pulling out the first of two seats at the tiny table in the corner of the kitchen. He shrugged from the stove, and finally turned the burner off before filling two plates for the both of us. He made his way over to me, gently setting a plate and silverware in front of me, as well as his own. He ventured off again, just to return with two glasses of tea.
"Thanks, you didn't have to." I smiled across at him, shrugging my shoulders, but honestly glad to be home. Maybe I'd eat, go to bed, and then wake up in the morning just find out this was a dream, and I'd go to my real new school and it would be normal, not filled with all this stuff.
"Really, I did. You know the drill, I cook and do dishes, you do the laundry. Simple, fast, easy. I can never understand all those buttons on a laundry machine, anyway." He procured the dorkiest look that I never saw anyone else pull off but me. We had the same nerdy grin, just as we had the same dark eyes and dark hair. He had much lighter skin, though, where I received my darker tone from my mom. I really wish I got her height, too, but I ended up just barely over five foot, just like the nerd sitting in front of me.
"What about work, then? Meet any nice, curvaceous women to bring home to a nice candle lit dinner and a showing of Legally Blonde?" I joked, starting to eat the unidentified food on the plate. The strong taste of zucchini, carrots, and okra assaulted my senses. As usual, even though I didn't know the name, the food didn't disappoint.
"Nah, they're all a little too prissy for my taste. Reminds me too much of your mother, but worse. Even though we didn't work out, at least she treated me kindly. What about you? Did you find lovely ladies for date candidates, hmm?"
"You can call her Candace, it's okay." I laughed, shaking my head. "As for me, though I have seen many beautiful girls today, I haven't started dating any of them. Seriously, dad, it's the first day." I snorted in a laugh, sipping on the tea that he brought over. "Maybe one day I'll bring one home and you'll get to embarrass me like always."
"'Tis my job, Fey." He laughed, going back to the rest of his food and devouring it. It didn't take long for me to be amazed. He always had a talent for inhaling food.
"Yeah, yeah, at least I didn't name my daughter after a cat from a novel about eugenics, sex, and murders, Dean." I snorted into my tea, eyebrow raised. My name came from a novel turned animated movie, and I didn't really realize it at first. When I aged a bit, I found the movie and watched it. Felicity, the kindest cat in the city who struggles with being blind, reigned as my namesake. Only my father would make that choice.
"At least I didn't stick you with a bland, generic name like your mother did to your brother." He stuck out his tongue at me, and I couldn't help but laugh. Every night we'd fake bicker over dinner long into the night, over anything and everything just to get giggles out of each other. One particular night, we argued how to pronounce 'vase'. "I'm creative."
"Hey, I think Steve is a perfectly fine name." I chortled. My brother is actually my half-brother, married in when my mom, who is also his mom, married my dad. After their marriage, they had me. A few years later, my mom decided the excessive blandness of raising a family didn't appeal to her, so she divorced my dad. Steve left with her because he stood on the brink of graduation anyway, but we still talked over the internet. My mother and father still talked too, and remained decent friends despite their breakup.
"Fine, fine, whatever you think." He polished off everything else on his plate, and discarded it in the sink.
"Hey, dad?" I asked, leaning back in the chair and watching as he started to head for the living room. When I addressed him, he stopped, turning and taking his place back at our sorry excuse for a dining room table.
"Yeah, what's up?" The man asked, adjusting his glasses that always looked like they might fall off his face. If I could describe my father in one way, it would be the person you see at all comic conventions. The one tipping his hat and smiling reminded me a lot of my dad. Though, I could at least say my dad didn't give off creepy vibes.
"You ever go to any weird schools, like, growing up?" I asked, tilting my head in question. My thoughts fluttered across my day and all of the crazy things I went through.
"Well," He tittered to himself, leaning back into the chair and tapping his foot. "My primary school days were pretty normal. I went to a college, though, and whoa. Weird times. Had some buddies that loved playing Dungeons and Dragons, like, to the point of exhaustion. They played a game that lasted the entirety of Spring Break. I had some friends that regularly went on scavenger hunts in their free time, too. They had little GPS devices, backpacks and everything. Whenever they found a stashed box on their GPS, they would take a trinket from the box and then add one back to replace it." He smiled. "That answer your question?"
"Yeah, thanks dad." I returned the words, standing up and taking my dishes to the sink. As I headed back to the hallway, he called after me.
"Hey, I'm watching old 80s movies tonight. Want to join me? Little Shop is first." My dad adjusted his glasses for the thousandth time that day, though I had no way of knowing.
"Nah, I had a very long first day. Thanks, though. I'm just going to head to bed." I smiled caringly at him. "I love you." I said, heading towards the hallway and going right instead of left, where the hallway bent into an L shape. He called his sentiments of love back.
I turned into the first door on the right, the second being my dad's room, and the ones on the left being the restroom and my brother's old room, respectively. My dad turned his room into a costuming and crafts room years ago.
I sighed, kicking my shoes off and shutting the old door behind me before flopping directly onto my bed. What would tomorrow be like? I rolled over and climbed into the covers before grabbing my laptop. As soon as I opened it, I realized I had an email in my personal box. Upon opening it, Ms. Spiefer's explanation of how she set up my new school email rattled on at me, revealing the address and the temporary password.
After a few minutes, I had the email up and running and linked to my personal account so I could switch between the two with a simple click. So far, I had three email documents within the account: one, a map of the school and school grounds for the game, two, a copy of my character signup sheet and art that Ms. Spiefer made of my character, and three, the email Rowdy showed me containing the hint. After opening the art one, I felt enchanted with my faux persona. Her wings draped down behind her, showing every intricate detail on every paper. The dress she drew looked more like a jumper, but I liked it. Brown, flowing hair that I always wished for draped around the harpy's shoulders, and just beneath the bottom of the dress, strong, powerful avian feet clutched the ground. Disappointment reached my heart because I couldn't watch her draw it.
I opened the third email, and reread it so that I could remember the words perfectly, rather than missing something.
'Inspect me from left to right, up and down.
The wings are outstretched, filled with whispering voices
asking about lights and sounds and time.
Underneath creaking boards hides
a sparkling gem of blood and July.
Rows and rows of velvet blood keep eyes on my head,
while the smell of food wafts through the back.'
The Ruby Gem of Valiance is worth 200 points and grants Vampirism immunity to the owner. Have fun!
-Ms. Spiefer
A grumble rose in my throat, trying to think about where it could be. I didn't know any of the places around the city, so how did they expect me to find it? I switched onto a new tab, and pulled up Google to search about the venues around Larimore, North Dakota. Churches, clubs, restaurants, and stores scrolled by the screen, and the list seemed endless. I groaned inwardly, shutting the lid of the device just as my eyes read the time around midnight in the corner of the screen.
I placed the laptop back on the bedside table, and flicked the lamp beside it off. This shrouded the room in complete darkness other than the hall light, barely seen seeping in under the closed door. I could always sleep on it and try to figure it out later, even though I really didn't want to.
I set the alarm on my phone for seven so that I could get up to go to school in the morning, and plugged it in to charge. Then, I slid the covers over my shoulders and flopped over on my stomach. Five minutes afterward, my gentle, quiet snoring filled the room.