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Love and Other Disasters [Chapter Seven]
HERE IT IS! THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER! -cues dramatic music-
“Nami, close your eyes. And think of somewhere you’ve always wanted to be. Always dreamed of going. It can be here in Shaker Heights, Indiana, or anywhere in the world. Don’t think about limits. Anywhere,” Alek instructed. I shut my eyes tightly and thought about the place.
“Now…count to three,” Alek said, without first asking if I had the location in mind or not. I began to count in my head. “Out loud, please,” he added, his hands placing themselves over my eyes.
“One…two…three,” I counted. Alek still had his hands over my eyes. “Alek, I don’t feel anything diff—”
“Open up, Nami,” he interrupted, taking his hands from over my eyes. I gasped as I opened them. I was standing over a city. It was nighttime, and all kinds of lights were on, of all kinds of colors. I could see fireworks off in the distance. Music was playing faintly, and I could hear people chanting and laughing and making other sounds of having fun. Somewhere in the distance, there was a hint of the sunset. Overall, it was so beautiful that I wanted to cry. Oh, did I mention that I was standing above all this?
“Alek…where…where are we?” I asked, unable to look away from the marvelous sight my eyes were taking in.
“Tokyo nighttime skyline. Just like you wanted. Oh, by the way… we’re standing on a cloud,” he said, amused. I reluctantly looked away from the scenery to gape at Alek, and then under my feet. Sure enough, there was cloud beneath my feet.
“A cloud?” Alek only nodded. “How did we get here?”
“Magic, Nami.” I swear that my eyes quadrupled in size when he said that.
“M-magic? Alek, are you…are you a—”
“Magician? Yep! Surprise!” Alek grinned at me. I dropped to my knees, holding my head in my hands.
“Nobody tells me anything. First, I find out I’m some reincarnation of some ancient princess. And now my best friend is a magician,” I mumbled. Alek laughed quietly.
“Wow, I didn’t know that I was your best friend, Nami. Oh, and vampire. You can’t forget the vampire,” he added happily. I looked up at him.
“Vampire?! Why can’t my life be normal?!’” I almost screamed. Alek laughed again, and sat next to me.
“I was lying about the vampire. And…I’m your bodyguard,” he said quietly. I hit my fist to my forehead.
“I have officially gone insane,” I muttered, burying my face in my arms and shaking my head. How could all this be happening to me? I know you think I’m being a total brat, but how would you like it if in the course of one week, you find out you and your four-year-old brother are both royalty, your best friend—a guy, when you supposedly dislike the entire male species—is some sort of magician, and on top of it all, he’s also your bodyguard. Life is just great right now. Alek laughed.
“Isn’t it?” he asked lightheartedly. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.
“How did you—” I began before Alek cut me off.
“Mind reading,” he answered, tapping my head. “Benefit of being a magician. Sometimes. Speed is my magic, as is the teleportation. I’m sure you’ve noticed?” I rolled my eyes, averting my attention back to Tokyo. I brought my knees up to my chest, resting my arms and chin on top.
“Alek, I’m so confused,” I sighed.
“I know, Nami. I’d be, too, if I were in your position,” Alek said.
“But…aren’t you? Didn’t you just find out about me being royalty, and being my bodyguard and such?” I gave him a confused look. Alek only grinned.
“How about I start answering your questions?” He strung his arm across my shoulders, bringing me into his own.
“That would be nice.”
Turns out Alek didn’t ‘just find out’, like I thought he did. He’s pretty much known me all my life, except for a few years when I was younger, when he apparently lost connection with me. He didn’t know me, know me, but he’s been sort of watching over me like some kind of guardian. So he’s known that I’m a reincarnated princess. Woo.
Anyway, I found out, starting with yesterday, that there were now people out to get us. Sent by Alek’s evil grandfather. They were likely to kidnap Yasuo and hold him for ransom. I’d probably be kidnapped, too…except I’d be used for my body to, y’know, do stuff. I think that hit me the hardest.
“WHAT KIND OF STUFF?! ” I had yelled. “Prostitution stuff? That’s sick and wrong!” Alek laughed.
“Nami, you have to admit. You have a rockin’ body,” he had said, making my face flush. Somehow, I didn’t mind so much when he had said that.
Anyway, back on topic. Turns out that Alek’s sisters…are only his half-sisters. They all share the same mom, it’s just Alek who has a different father. And his dad was a magician, which makes Alek half of that. But apparently his magician genes are more dominant than his human ones, which explains his abnormal brown eyes. And although they exist, but isn’t one, vampires, he told me, generally have dark blue, an almost black color, or, like me, gray-blue eyes.
After I finished with my interrogation, I changed topics.
“Why’d you bring me here, Alek?” I asked.
“I knew you’d like it,” he answered quietly. He moved closer, putting his arm more securely over my shoulders. I guessed that he was trying to be sly about it.
“Thanks.” I felt Alek put his face in my hair and inhale deeply.
“You do smell like a cloud,” he softly mused, then sighed.
“Where’d you get that from?” I asked.
“Yasuo told me.” I smiled. I guess Yasuo had a pretty accurate sense of smell. I wondered what he was doing right then. Asleep, most likely. I then wondered what time it was.
“Almost ten-thirty, our time,” Alek whispered. I nodded.
“Hey, Alek. I have two more questions for you.”
“Shoot.”
“How much of my mind do you read?”
“Not a lot. Your mind is pretty interesting, though, so I tap in from time-to-time.”
“Okay…fair enough. Last question. Are you going to turn me into a frog?” Alek laughed.
“Never. Not you, or anyone else.” With that reassurement, I fell asleep.
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