The flames of youth were burning in her blood. The more it was suppressed, the more she wanted to be released.
She waited for hours until finally her mother left for work and her sister took a nap. It was a chance for her to sneak out.
Her friends had texted her that they were waiting for her at the art festival in the middle of the city of San Fierro, San Francisco.
She opened the window to climb it, then she jumped to the ground like a warrior. She almost fell down, but fortunately she had good balance. She took her phone to fix the Google maps, then she walked away.
Going out of the house used to frighten her. But not this day. She forced herself to take a long walk. Her small lips pulled up, and her watery blue eyes sparkled like an aquamarine gemstone with high clarity on her necklace.
A couple minutes later, the Californian young woman was astounded when she arrived and saw a massive building in front of her. It was supported by tall pillars, and two dragon statues adorned the top of it. Cars were neatly parked in the yard, while on the side of the road, electric scooters were tied up.
Without hesitation, she walked right in, then handed the ticket to the door guard and asked where the stage was.
The man behind the glass wall directed the young lady to take a straight path from the entrance. She nodded and said "thank you" before heading there.
Looking for her friends, she stood on tiptoe behind the crowd, but all she saw were strangers jumping up and down, shouting the names of their favorite artists. Their energy seemed to last forever. She then pushed herself further into the room.
"Hey, watch out!" a random man exclaimed.
"Sorry, dude!" she apologized as she briefly turned her head to face him.
As she made her way through the crowd, she ignored the screams, complaints, and glares of those around her. She just moved forward because she couldn't wait any longer to meet her favorite illusion artist.
She came to a halt in front of the stage on the side, because there were VIP seats in the front row. Her chest heaved up and down as she regained her breath and tried to fill the empty spaces in her lungs. Sweat was dripping down the back of her neck. She could feel the temperature was rising. And the fragrance of the different perfumes of people almost made her stomach churn. However, the magnificent stage drew her attention away.
She texted her friends to let them know she was waiting for them in front of the stage.
"Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Demon Illusionist Art Festival!" The emcee's loud voice was heard and the audience's euphoria was competing with the thumping sound of remixed music.
Suddenly, her feet trembled as she noticed the stage interior. It was dominated by dark colors, with black pleated curtains, layers of red spotlights and fire, and red candles melted thick like blood.
The audience's voices boomed again when the host mentioned the names of the artists who would be performing in the show. The young woman with the golden yellow hair was no exception. She was excited.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, a very talented artist will be presenting the opening show. Get ready for Zeryon Drax!" the host announced.
"Oh my goodness...I can't believe Zeryon Drax will be standing in front of me." She whispered to herself. Her lips were twitching as nervous feelings began to infiltrate her.
The black curtain on the stage lifted and the shadow of a large black-horned figure suddenly shot out, then disappeared as the flames on the edge of the stage burst out, followed by the sounds of admiration from the audience.
Finally, the person she had been waiting for appeared. At the center of the stage stood an athletic, tall man. He looked different than usual in the YouTube videos.
From the large screen on the stage's wall, the camera seemed to be focusing on Zeryon's face which was not painted with an illusion effect. However, his eyes remained the same; almost entirely black, his jaw was defined and his shoulder-length wavy hair was bluish-black.
Zeryon raised his right hand. He appeared to grasp the air, then pull it down. His long black cardigan fluttered open and revealed his muscles. It was as if the wind was spinning where he stood.
Three-dimensional paintings in the frames float down from the ceiling. She began to count. The total was exactly a dozen. Then the young woman was looking for strings or anything mechanical that was visible. But it looked like there were no strings attached. How? She wondered. She was lost in her own thoughts until the burst of applause returned to Zeryon.
The half-meter-sized paintings were lined up in front of the audience. The color strokes were very smooth, and the images appeared very realistic. Zeryon drew strange creatures. Like a cross between humans and wild animals with horrible grinning faces, long nailed hands, big ears, stacked eyes and other odd looks.
Soon, a box as big as refrigerator with four doors displayed in the center of the stage. Zeryon took the paintings one by one, then he put them into the box before he closed it.
For a moment, Zeryon was silent, making the atmosphere quiet as if the audience's heart beat could be heard. Everyone's gaze was fixed on him. Their facial expressions suggested that they were intrigued by what would happen next.
Then, he began to say, "Sometimes the human eye can't see everything, so now I will show you my illusion arts."
The box suddenly popped open on its own. Then a dozen creatures came out of that empty box. Their appearance was identical to the image in the paintings.
They walked around like zombies, holding blank canvases, then dropped it on the floor. They smirked, revealing sharp pointed teeth.
It was more as if they had come out of the paintings. But strangely enough, the creatures were getting bigger and had doubled in size. Their bodies and skin seemed elastic.
People started to scream. It gave the young woman goosebumps. Their loud voices seemed to rise from their throats to the top of their heads. Squeaky and trembling.