Asland was a nation of magic-wielding immortals. After its destruction in the 1970s, its fifty thousand inhabitants were displaced and forced to join the human world.
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Young Sophie's prying eyes widened as she peered through the narrow slit in the slightly opened door.
She had never been anxious about anything in her life, but at this moment, when she watched Lizzy Greenwood's lips touch Damon's lips, she felt truly anxious. The moment seemed like an eternity as Lizzy Greenwood's eager mouth caressed Damon's full lips.
'A game for teens, they said. Kids should go to the kids' session. Nonsense!' She scoffed in her mind as her brows creased in anger.
She watched as Lizzy placed her arms around Damon's neck and deepened the kiss. The crowd of teenagers raved.
"Times up!" She heard a blond-haired girl in a blue dress announce, and then she watched Damon remove Lizzy's hands from around his neck and dislodge his lips from hers.
"Times up, birthday girl!" His velvety voice echoed in Sophie's ears. It was a whisper, but Aslandians had super hearing and super sight, amongst other gifts. She watched Lizzy's face turn slightly sour after Damon's whisper, and even more so as he walked away from her.
"I've got to leave, guys," Damon announced with a half-smile.
"No!" The party of teenagers chorused.
Damon's gaze was fixed on the small
opening in the doorway when he announced again, "It was fun, guys. Happy Birthday, Lizzy, but now I have to go."
Hastily, Sophie removed her small frame from the door and scurried back to the kids' session—a room down the hallway where it was just her and Lizzy's eight-year-old twin sisters.
Halfway there, she heard Damon's voice: "Sophie, let's go."
She turned around and saw Damon standing in the foyer. He looked breathtaking as always, but exhausted.
She walked to him slowly as she cooked up an explanation in her mind about why she was in the hallway.
A smile grew on his lips as she got to him, but before she could explain, he teased, "Peeping Tom, let's go."
Guilty and cornered, Sophie's voice raised a decibel as she turned defensive. "I wasn't peeping."
"Yeah, right," he teased again.
They walked out of Lizzy Greenwood's large house into the chilly August night, and the sound of the party blurred away after a few meters. The street was crammed with cars from the party, and they had arrived very late, so they had to park down the street.
The walk to the car seemed longer as Sophie pondered on the words to say to alleviate the awkwardness.
"I am sorry."
Sophie heard Damon's hushed voice. It was softer than a whisper, almost like a quiet tone.
He stopped on his heel under a tall street lamp down the street, a few meters away from Lizzy Greenwood's large house, and she stopped as well.
Under the light of the street lamp, his dark blond hair glistened, and his handsome face glowed, almost enthralling her until she heard his voice again, this time audible.
"I am sorry, Sophie; I was cornered into the kiss, and I didn't know we would be split up."
The word split up resounded in her mind. Damon was going away to college, and she would be starting the eighth grade soon. They were five years apart, but they had been inseparable since her birth.
"Does it bother you that I am so much younger than you?" She asked softly. Her blue eyes widened as she gazed up at him.
A hint of remorse flashed through his eyes, and then he gave her a reassuring smile. "In Asland, some Nigon men have waited a century till they found their mates. I am lucky to have met you when I was five, even more so in this new world where we have lost nearly all our population and the mate bond is very rare, so no, it doesn't bother me that you are five years younger."
"But we can't do everything you want to do." She held her breath as she said those words. He couldn't kiss her yet because it would be considered inappropriate.
He looked at her and grinned. "You won't be thirteen forever, but you have to eat more so you can grow taller."
He was right; she had to grow taller. Damon towered over her, and her head barely reached his ribs.
She was probably the smallest-looking thirteen-year-old in her year, and her human best friend, Maggie Smith, was a whole foot taller and had boobs already.
He sighed. "By the time I am done with college, you are going to be almost eighteen, and I would have missed out on a lot of things in your life."
"Will you come home during the holidays?" She asked, although she knew the answer.
"You know I can't." He said regretfully, and then his gray eyes turned hopeful. "We have to find our way back to Asland. Ruined or not."
She worried, and her eyes narrowed in disbelief. "My mom said she watched as the flames of Isda consumed everything around her. Are you sure Asland still exists?"
The glint of hope in his eyes didn't flutter. "My visions never lie; the call was real. The doorway to Asland has been unlocked. I can feel it, but I don't know its location just yet."
Prince Damon was a pure-blooded Aslandian prince from the house of Nigon with blood ties as old as the magic flowing through the roots of Asland itself. If anyone could find the doorway to Asland, it would probably be him, Sophie thought as she listened to Damon's hopeful words.
She was born in the human world and had never seen Asland; she had only heard about it from her mother and elders, who told stories to the next generation. Damon was also born in the human world, but unlike her, he had dreamlike visions of Asland whenever he slept. His visions were so real that he had drawn a map of Asland at the age of seven, and all the elders had confirmed that his map was valid.
Damon pressed the unlock button on his car key as they reached the car. The car beeped, and he held out the car door for Sophie.
He grinned. "My lady."
"Thanks," she mumbled shyly as she got into the car.
He reached for the seat belt to fasten it.
"I can do it," she said as she grabbed the seat belt next to her and fastened it.
He had always held open the car door and fastened her seatbelt for her, but after they were separated at the party, a small part of her couldn't help but wonder if he also saw her as a child and if he only helped to hold open the car door and strap her in because he was acting as a guardian and he assumed she could not fasten her seatbelt properly.
He shut the car door gently and walked over to the driver's side of the car. He opened the door and sat down, but he didn't start the car; instead, he turned to Sophie. "Sophie, I am sorry that we got split up at the party. I am so sorry about the kiss, and I am sorry about today. You got in first, and when I got in, I didn't see you. You asked to attend a high school party, and I am so sorry I couldn't fulfill your wish. I don't see you as a child, Sophie, and you won't be thirteen forever."
Sophie was stunned. Somehow, Damon always knew what she was thinking. "How?" she asked.
"How what, Sophie?"
"How do you always know what I am thinking of? I thought mind-reading only worked on humans. How are you reading my mind?''
He laughed.
"Stop laughing and tell me." She tried to sound stern, but even her voice betrayed her.
"I can't read your mind, silly."
She had spent so much time with Damon, and she could tell when he was hiding something.
He smiled. "It's easy to guess what you are thinking; your face always reveals your emotions."
And then he leaned forward, kissed her on the cheek very quickly, and started the car.
Sophie had a huge smile glued to her face as they drove home. This was the first time he kissed her cheek, and it was the best memory of her time with him.
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Four years later,
"Your Highness, you are late again."
Raphael notified Sophie as soon as she scurried into the driveway of the Crest's family mansion. Raphael was her driver and bodyguard, assigned to her by the King of Asland after Damon left for college.
Sophie hurried to the car as Raphael held the car door open for her.
"Thanks, and I am sorry, Raphael. I slept through my alarm." She explained as she got into the back seat of the car.
"It's the fifth time this week. It's really unlike you." Raphael's expression was laced with worry.
Raphael was only fifty years old, born after the destruction of Asland. He was a tall and slender young man with brown eyes and black hair, and like all Aslandians, he had stopped aging at the age of twenty-one.
"I have been having some weird dreams," she explained.
"Dreams or visions?" He asked, oddly interested. But before she could respond, her snoozed alarm rang again.
"I am sorry, Raphael, but if I don't get to school in twenty minutes, I will be late for my first class."
"I am on it," Raphael announced as he closed the back seat door and dashed into the driver's seat.
Sophie heard Raphael mumble a spell as he turned on the ignition of the car, and then the car drove out of the Crest mansion and arrived at the driveway of the Crest Public School a few seconds later.
The school's driveway was swarmed with high schoolers, completely oblivious to the spatial distance manipulation that occurred in their presence. Luckily, magic was imperceptible to humans, so Aslandians could use their gifts freely in the human world.
"Thank you so much," Sophie called out as she got out of the car.
You are welcome, Miss Sophie. Have a great day at school." He waved as he drove off.
Sophie's gaze was focused on the Crest car as it drove out from the driveway when she heard Daniel's voice.
"Hey babe."
She turned around to stare at the blonde-haired guy wearing a red and white football letterman jacket.
Sophie's lips pursed into a mischievous grin. "Hey Daniel, where is Maggie?"
He frowned. "Why do you always ask about Maggie anytime you see me?"
"You are her brother, duh!"
"Yeah, but I am not her keeper, duh!" He retorted childishly.
Sophie chuckled. "Let's go in, or we will be late for pre-calc."
Daniel Smith was a human and Maggie's older brother; like them, he was also a senior in high school.
He was the captain of the school's football team and the hottest guy in school.
"Will you come to watch my game this evening?" Daniel asked as they walked through the hallway leading to the school's locker room.
"I am sorry, Daniel, but I have something to do later. Rain check, please." Sophie pleaded.
"Okay." He mumbled and tensed up, "Do you have to meet your college boyfriend?"
He was asking about Damon. Sophie surmised in her mind, then she responded flatly, "I don't have a college boyfriend."
"But you said you did. Last week, you talked endlessly about going to see him in college."
"Yeah, but we broke up." She asserted as anger flashed through her delicate features. She hated the way she felt at the thought of Damon's name, how her body tingled, and how her heart went wild, but she would never dwell on those useless feelings, not anymore, at least not after his actions.
He placed his arm around her shoulders. "I am sorry about that; there are plenty of fish in the sea, me included." The last part was a whisper, but Sophie heard it.
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Author's note.
Please, I am not a real writer, at least not yet, but I enjoy creating stories in my mind, and this story has bugged my mind for months. The story is still in its raw form, but I sincerely hope that you guys enjoy reading it.