In a castle that existed in a land unknown to man, outside the doorstep of a closed room stood a young man with an orange backpack hung on his left shoulder.
Knock. Knock. Knock. The young man knocked and hoped the person he was knocking for was inside the room.
"Ray! Ray! Ray!" the young man yelled the person's name as he kept knocking on the door and a frustrated Ray opened the door and yelled back at the young man, saying,
"What?! What?! What?!" 'Shit,' the young man cursed inwardly. He had forgotten that Ray was short-tempered and could be very aggressive if anyone irritated him. It wasn't as if the young man would feel the pain of whatever Ray would do to him if he made him mad, but he'd die regardless. The young man might as well just dig his grave by himself if he ever pushed Ray to the edge, and no one liked to be pushed to the edge.
"Dude, what the fuck?" the young man said. "Just let me come in first." Ray sighed and said,
"What do you want, Connor?" 'Seriously? This guy doesn't know how to talk to a prince. 'It's Prince Connor to you, Mister,' Connor thought and wanted to say but kept his mouth shut because Ray would disrespect him even more than and, nevertheless, Connor was used to it. Plus, Ray was Connor's partner in crime, and they were like the Bad boys. Although Connor loved the idea of them being like the bad boys, Ray didn't mind it because he thought Connor was just being his usual silly self. The two of them only rebelled against one person, and it was Connor's oldest brother, Arthur. Besides, Ray and Connor weren't cops.
"Let me come in first. You don't want Mr. Ridiculous to stroll down here and see us talking like this," Connor whispered to Ray as if there were people around the hallways that could hear him. Moreover, Mr. Ridiculous was Connor's oldest brother. Connor had another brother named Damien and he was the second-born, Connor was the third born; it was just the three of them. Connor nicknamed Arthur 'Mr. Ridiculous' because 'ridiculous' was Arthur's favorite word to say; he said it all the time, and it was annoying to Connor. Connor would always roll his eyes and groan every time he said the word. However, Connor didn't go scot-free after giving Arthur the nickname. He was strung upside down and surrounded by cats, and he hated cats!
Ray rolled his eyes at Connor's and said,
"Oh, sure. Come in. It's not like what you're gonna say is useless." Connor noted the sarcasm in Ray's boyish voice. Connor had also forgotten how insulting and sarcastic Ray was.
"H— Hey, Wh— What are you tryna say?!" Connor asked, flustered.
"Why the hell are you carrying a backpack that's the same as mine over there?" Ray gestured to an orange backpack lying on his bed. The backpack did look similar to Connor's, but Connor strongly believed he got the backpack before Ray. 'Still got the backpack before you, so whatever,' Connor said inwardly and wanted to crack a smile. He thought he had gotten something trendy before Ray could but got disappointed when Ray said,
"No, you didn't get the backpack before me if that's what you're saying in your mind," Ray smirked smugly at Connor, and Connor's face reddened. Ray knew Connor too well. Connor had always tried to beat Ray at buying trendy stuff because he believed trendy stuff was his thing and not some nerd's, and Connor believed Ray was a nerd. However, Ray loved to see Connor's face fall whenever Connor thought he had beaten him to something but hadn't.
"…I— I wasn't thinking that!" Connor defended. "Anyway, I'm here because I need you to cover for me. I'm going to the—"
"Human world," Ray finalized his sentence. "I know." He smirked and went to his reading table. This was the reason Connor believed Ray was a nerd; Ray loved to read books, novels, and all things similar. Connor picked up his backpack that was next to Ray's backpack on the bed. He didn't even care to look if he had picked the right backpack because he believed he could recognize his backpack anywhere even though it was similar to Ray's. Anyhow, Connor had always been nonchalant about everything and the choices he made in his life.
"See ya later!" Connor said to Ray as he moved toward the door. Ray was peering at some magazine. 'Tch, I bet it's a boring magazine about boring stuff written in boring words with boring pictures. Pfft, lame!', Connor thought, shaking his head as he shut the door.
Why did some people read anyway? Connor wondered about it as he walked through the passageways of the large castle, keeping an eye out for Arthur because if Arthur caught him sneaking out, he'd be screwed. However, reading had never been Connor's thing. Why would it? And why read, when you could learn the world by going out and having fun instead? Connor believed one could learn or educate oneself by actually going out to experience things and not from books written by someone else who might have, probably, gone out himself to experience those things he's written; that way one could understand what one wants to read even more because one has experienced whatever and could relate easily. And for novels, Connor thought they were just fiction, not true, made up, imaginary, and was all to entertain the reader and for the reader to see the author's inner mind based on a character that was created by the author, however, some stories were true and not made up, but Connor stuck to the fiction because they were quite entertaining like him. He believed he was a god.
'Yes! I made it outside of the castle, and I don't think anyone saw me', Connor rejoiced inwardly as he was now outside on the castle's premises. Besides, if there was anyone in the castle's great hall, Connor would've known; that was what heightened senses were for, right? To hear and see things clearer than the normal human.
When Connor strolled out of the castle's gates, he was greeted by a familiar voice.
"Prince Connor!" Connor jolted at the mention of his name and turned to see a slow zombie behind him. The zombie's left hand was missing and so was its right eye. What was it now? Connor didn't want anything that'd waste his time because all the time he had was so precious that he'd like to use it on himself and not for anyone else.
"Yo. What do you want? I don't have time to waste," Connor said and stared at the watch on his wrist, except there was no watch on his wrist.
"Well, prince, you still owe me a—"
"A couple of bucks? Yeah, yeah, I know. But how dare you ask for it, huh?"
"…You—"
"Do you wanna know how deep six feet is?"
'Stupid zombie asking for a couple of singles, that's funny,' Connor thought after leaving the poor zombie hanging. He didn't let the zombie answer how deep six feet was because he had used his super-speed to flee. Connor wasn't a terrible guy, he was just impolite and very irresponsible; although he believed he was just cool and awesome. With a whoosh, Connor appeared in a place and a city called Greenwich, Connecticut in the USA, it was what the sign in front of him said. He believed the place was more of the countryside. He could see the green fields, and there weren't so many people walking on the path. Maybe he needed to go further into the city. The sun was shining brightly but there was no need for Connor to worry, the sun didn't hurt vampires. There was only one vampire in Astoria the sun affected, and Samson was the vampire's name. Connor had wondered why, but he didn't care about it that much.
Whoosh. Connor was in another location. He believed the place was called Cardinal Road because he saw the inscription of the street name on the surface of the well-built road written in white and huge letters; few vehicles passed by now and then. Connor glanced behind him and saw a skating club sign up ahead. He wondered where his skateboard was.
Turning his head back to the front, Connor began his stroll. He greeted the people he saw on the street, and they replied cheerily; he liked that. Although, he wished they could be more respectful and bow to the amazing Connor. Connor walked for about nine minutes before arriving at a new street, Hillside road. 'Gosh, isn't there any gambling center or casino around here? Or am I in the wrong country?', Connor wondered and hoped it wasn't the latter because he believed the USA had the stuff he was searching for, except he was in the wrong city. 'Aha!', Connor said inwardly as he saw a pawn shop; he wondered what it was. Well, he was going to find out. Connor entered the pawnshop not minding the jewelry stand near it and the man sitting on a bench that stared at him. 'Oddball,' Connor thought.
"Collateral?! What's that?! I just need some Grimms!" Connor yelled at the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper had told him that a pawn shop was for loan making with collateral as an exchange for the loan. Connor thought it was bullshit.
"Mister, I do not know what you mean by Grimms but I will tell you this, this is not a casino or gambling center!"
"Alright then. Do you know of any casinos around here or some other place? And don't play with me this time."
"I do know a casino, and I am not playing." The shopkeeper shook his head in an indication that he wasn't lying. He didn't have to reassure Connor, Connor had read his mind already.
"Okay, tell me where it's at," Connor said.
"There's a casino at Stamford on 27 Cerretta street."
"How long would it take to get there?" The shopkeeper said 'Hi' to someone and turned back to Connor. Connor raised a brow at him.
"Well, it depends on your selection of transportation… You are not from here, are you?" The shopkeeper was studying Connor now. Connor didn't want to use his powers on him. The shopkeeper glanced at Connor's backpack, shirt, and then at his face again.
"Aren't we all from nowhere?" Connor said, smirking, and walked out of the shop. Leaving people hanging today, was he? Connor believed he had said a deep and meaningful quote to the shopkeeper; he thought he was on fire. Connor glimpsed at the jewelry stand guy as he stood in front of the pawnshop. The shopkeeper was selling a necklace to some girl. Connor took a glance at the female. She was beautiful and had dark brown skin and thick black natural hair. She put on the necklace and it suited her flawlessly. Momentarily, a new buyer obstructed Connor's view of the brown skin girl and he sighed and took a turn, on the left, to leave for the casino.
"Are you hungry?" Claudia's mom asked as they entered the house. Why did she even ask that? Of course, Claudia was hungry. She was human, wasn't she? Claudia noticed that her mom was just teasing her again from the way her mom had smiled at her. She rolled her eyes, earning the usual chuckle from her mom.
When Claudia was twelve, she used to say she was a vampire and didn't need food. Her mom would laugh and say, 'Vampires feed on blood which is the same as humans feeding on food, don't you think?' Claudia would pout and her mom would shake her head but continue to speak in her warm but lecturing tone, saying, 'Sweetie, it's very similar. The only difference is you eat food and they drink blood, so your blood is your food.' Her mom air quotes on blood and pointed at Claudia's food that was placed on the table. Claudia would stare at her food, her tiny brain convinced that it is, in fact, the mortal kind of blood. Recollecting that memory right now, Claudia felt kind of dumb for accepting that statement, though her mom might have been right. Maybe her mom had said it that way for Claudia to understand; their food was blood and theirs was food…? No, that didn't fit the concept; Claudia needed to find a better notion.
The vampires saw human food as a way for humans to quench their hunger, while humans believed vampires drank blood to quench their thirst, in other words, hunger. So, technically, both creatures were feeding on the general word — food; the only thing was one seemed normal, while the other seemed abnormal — humans saw blood-feeding as abnormal and food eating as normal, while the vampires recognized blood-feeding as normal and food eating as abnormal — that was the fascinating theory Claudia had put together. She felt pity for the people out there who needed blood to survive. Yes, Claudia wasn't making a theory out of fiction but out of reality this time.
"Of course, mom. I'm hungry. I'm human," Claudia said with another eye roll, and her mom shook her head and said,
"Oh, I thought you were a vampire. Or did you turn mortal all of a sudden?" Her mom faked a surprised face, and Claudia plopped her head down on the kitchen counter. She heard a chuckle from her mom. Her mom enjoyed teasing her, her dad enjoyed teasing her, and her brother enjoyed teasing her; but she believed her brother's tease was more like bullying.
"Can I just have some food, please?" Claudia asked, moving to the sink where her mom was washing some plates. She took a plate from her mom to dry it with a towel. While her mom washed, she dried.
"What about Darb? I didn't see her with you today." Claudia dried another plate.
"Detention," Claudia replied. Her mom rinsed a cup and handed it over to her. Claudia didn't fail to notice the smile on her mom's face with a nod following it; her mom was very fond of her best friend.
"Classic Darby," her mom said, and Claudia nodded in agreement.
They ate dinner heartily, Claudia and her mom. Her mom sat across from her at the dining table. Max wasn't back from basketball practice yet, he was practicing for a competition, and was also in the Greenwich Stars Basketball Organization. Claudia doubted Max's team would lose because they were really good players, and she had watched them play a couple of times on the basketball court. The Greenwich Stars Basketball Organization's facility was a thirty-seven-minute (1.9miles) walk from Fairfield, five minutes by car, fourteen minutes on a bicycle, to E Putnam Avenue. It wasn't very far. Claudia would always walk with her brother and his friends to Putnam whenever they were going for practice or having a match. Max's friends were nice and didn't annoy Claudia as much as he did, and Claudia was thankful. She wondered why Max couldn't be as sweet as them. When Claudia got bored of watching her brother and his team or other teams play on the court or got bored of the place, she'd take a taxi to Bruce Park Playground at 52 Museum Drive. It was a five minutes drive, twenty-five minutes if she chose to walk. Claudia would go play on the swing when she got there, sometimes she'd take a novel with her to read as she sat on a bench. The park wasn't often swarmed, but sometimes Claudia would wish she had never gone there.
Claudia's dad, on the other hand, hadn't come back home yet from the Greenwich Country Club. It was located at Golf Club Road, and it was a three minutes drive from Fairfield, twenty-three minutes on foot. Yes, Claudia's dad loved golf, and whenever Claudia saw her dad wearing those short shorts golf players usually wore, she'd chuckle. Her dad had hairy legs and didn't like to shave them; nonetheless, Claudia didn't mind her dad's hairiness, her dad didn't mind his hairiness either, it was a natural physical trait. Besides, her dad wasn't as hairy as a bear or most dogs; the amount of hair on his skin was as normal as every other human being. Fact.
Finally, Claudia had finished reading the manga she purchased from the book store, and it was amazing; Jujutsu Kaisen was the name. Claudia had also fallen in love with a character from the manga, and Gojo was his name. Grabbing the next book to read, Claudia got up from her bed and moved downstairs; her mom was watching a movie and it wasn't just any movie, it was a Dwayne the Rock Johnson movie. Her mom loved that actor and so did Claudia. Max was back and was sitting in the kitchen munching on some kind of meat, and Claudia thought what he was doing was gross. Her dad wasn't back yet. She glanced at the clock, it was 8:30 PM. Her dad might be back at nine.
"Where to?" her mom inquired. Claudia paused in the middle of the living room and turned to look at her mom, her mom's eyes were still stuck on the TV screen, and Dwayne the Rock Johnson was speaking; Claudia thought that the movie was a great distraction because of the actor in the movie.
"The balcony," Claudia replied, but her mom didn't hear her. Claudia didn't expect her mom to hear her reply anyway.
The weather outside was cold and airy, Claudia thought it was going to rain. Brrr. She shivered. 'Vampire darlings' was the book Claudia wanted to read; she looked at the title of the book thoughtfully as she hesitated to open it. Claudia wondered what the difference between humans and mythical creatures was, thanks to some local TV star that said, 'Humans are the real monsters.' Well, Claudia believed the man because she felt it was true. No mortal knew what another mortal might be thinking or planning in their heads! Was it revenge? Was it destruction? Was it to abduct the president of the United States? No one could ever tell.
"I wish something supernatural would happen to me," Claudia let out, gazing at the dark sky filled with thousands of twinkling stars, the moon was a full one today. Claudia had always loved the full moon, and it wasn't related to anything fantasy; but with her belief and faith that dreams came true if you believed, she made the wish.
"Peekaboo!" Claudia flinched at the voice she heard, it was her dad; he startled her.
"Hey, dad," Claudia said with a smile. Her smile was warm — she was very fond of her dad.
Her dad walked over to stand next to her, resting his arms on the railing of the balcony so his upper body, from his shoulder to his head, was bowing over the railing; he could look down at the ground outside from that position. Claudia was sitting on top of the railing, her legs almost touching the grounds. She plopped her right leg up on the railing, while her left leg was down swinging; the railing had a flat, smooth, and wide surface.
"…Haha…dad…stop!" Claudia cried and giggled as her dad tickled her; her dad always did that to make her laugh when she was sad or angry, and right now her dad thought she was sad because she was sitting on the balcony alone. Soon, her dad stopped tickling her and started to sing,
"Twinkle, twinkle little star…" He peeked at Claudia, waiting for her to join him singing. Claudia smiled and began to sing with him; the bonding moment brought back the childhood memory of her singing that rhyme with her dad all the time. She was in nursery school then, and it was her favorite rhyme.
"…Haha. Missed that rhyme?" her dad asked after they finished singing. Claudia shook her head, smiling, and said,
"Not really, dad."
"Aww, that used to be your favorite rhyme," her dad said. "How was school today?" Claudia knew her dad was going to ask that. Her dad thought she was upset about something, and maybe something happened in school that upset her. But, no, nothing happened in school that upset Claudia. The meanies in school didn't cross her path this time, namely; Tasha, Nicole, and Stacy — the reasons Claudia always got detention sometimes. They were always looking for trouble. Whenever Claudia fought with the meanies, she ended up in detention. Also, Claudia was the one that nicknamed the three girls, 'the meanies', because they were bullies and very mean.
"Normal as usual, no trouble from the meanies," Claudia replied. The meanies would've been crazy to cross Claudia's path again after what she did to them. Yup, Claudia kicked their asses hard, and she enjoyed every bit of the ass-kicking that she thought she could be a secret agent, going undercover, and kicking bad guys asses, or she could be a ninja in very dark clothing, going after an assassin that attacked a certain clan; the thought of doing something heroic or being badass made her happy.
"Oh, so they learned to leave you alone the butt-kicking way, aye? That's good since they didn't wanna learn to leave you alone the easy way." Her dad loved that Claudia defended herself. He didn't appreciate bullying and disliked weak people, and his motto was 'Kill, or be killed' which made Claudia wonder, now, why he liked that phrase.
Gazing at the stars in comfortable silence with her dad, Claudia felt something. She looked down at herself and didn't see the rest of her body. She was fading away! She called out to her dad but he didn't seem to hear her. What was going on? Why was her necklace glowing? Claudia took a glimpse of her dad once more before she completely faded away.