Chapter One

Royce, a 6'ft tall boy with light skin that has no blemish, short brown hair, electric blue eyes, straight nose, a star-shaped birthmark at the nape of his neck almost completely hidden by the round neck t-shirt that he wore, a lower reddish-pink lip that was swollen because of his continuous biting due to anticipation as his eyes skipped through the contents of the articles written on the newspaper, not finding what he wanted, he dropped it on the floor and picked up another one. He was standing beside the vanity table in his room, a bunch of newspapers was on the floor while little remained on the table. He was looking for something, an advertisement, for young writers. His life wasn't getting any better and he was due to leave for college next year, not that he didn't have a family, mind you, but his family wasn't a supportive one.

Footstep sound approaches from the hallway. Royce packed all the newspaper from the ground and with those that remained on the table and forced them all into the top left drawer of his vanity table. Jumping on to his bed and pulling the black blanket over his body, he closed his eyes and pretended to be fast asleep. The sound of the footstep stopped at Royce door but only for some seconds and the door was pushed wide open.

A face peeped in; a middle-aged woman came in and in her left hand was a short cane meant for beating. Seeing that Royce was sleeping and his room wasn't messy, she turned around to leave. Stopping at the doorway, she swished her head back to look at the figure that was lying on the bed, observing his body posture and not seeing anything strange from his posture, she left and closed the door behind her; tonight he was free from getting punished.

Royce breathed a sigh of relief inwardly when he heard his bedroom door slamming shut, waiting for some few minutes for any sign of activities outside his door and hearing none. He pulled the blanket away from his body and sat upon the bed, looking around the room, it was the same pattern and arrangement. It was only meant for sleeping; he had more than one room as his. If anyone that knew him came into his room, they will be in shock at the enormous size and scanty decorations that were a pain to the eyes.

He, the only son of the business tycoon was being treated like a beggar by his stepmother. All of his expensive decorations and gift had been taken away by his stepmother for safekeeping; he rolled his eyes at that, he was sure she coveted his belongings. He would have told his father but he was hardly around and even if he was, he was always calculating and planning on making another business deal.

Life outside the house was still fair, there were security agents, guards, maids, and not to forget mentioning the media, they were always waiting around the corner for him, sucking him dry every time with their never-ending questions and the fans even his school teachers and trainers licked his shoes just to get favored. But, all these weren't what he wanted. He had accepted the plight of having no mother but can't he live his life by following his heart, he sighed.

He wanted to be in Arts. He loves writing and drawing, singing, acting, but his stepmother was his biggest nemesis, she was able to convince his father that he was the only son and had to take over the business when he was up to age and his father had refused him after thinking about it, he was in commerce class against his will, but something good always come out of misfortunes, right?.

He had arrived in class yesterday and discovered that another desk and chair had been placed beside him. Their class teacher had introduced a new student.

"I better stop there, I aim to write a novel that will get the publishers' attention and I can prove to my father that my choice wasn't wrong," Royce said to the empty air. Standing up from his bed, he pulled out the drawer and packed the newspaper he had stuffed inside it in a rush, bringing them out and straighten them, he arranged them in the order that they were before he had read them. He bends down as he picked up his bag, taking a big brown envelope out from his bag, he put the newspaper inside it. Tomorrow, I will return it to the new girl, she must have another badge for me, Royce thought.

A newspaper page got stuck in the zipper mouth while he was distracted, oh, no, how will I explain this to her? Royce lamented. Carefully, unzipping the bag, the paper was free but a part got torn. Looking at the torn piece all over, his eyes went over an advertisement. His eyeballs were diluted with excitement, yes, this was what he was looking for, a chance to prove himself, challenge his potential, and getting global recognition.

He hungrily absolved the words with his eyes, a story already coming together in his brain. Writing a chapter with no less than five thousand words and must be submitted in two weeks after the work has been selected. He pulled out his blue, small-sized scrapbook. He wrote out what he needed and returned everything to its rightful place and closed the bag carefully not to get another case of a leaflet getting stuck in the zipper mouth, and dropped the bag on the floor.

Opening his system, he looked at the blank screen. Nothing is going to be written if I don't type, he thought. He didn't give the story a title, maybe not yet, he decided.

Heaven has it that the time will come; his hand paused on the keyboard. This won't do, it is too dry not worthy of the publisher's attention, he criticized himself. He hanged his head on his palms, a thought came to him, he was going to write their story, it was a myth that people thought it never existed, it was a bedtime story that his mother had told him when he was small. And the story happened long ago. It all started hundreds of thousands of years ago...

Everywhere was dark and silent, the sky was devoid of stars and the moon was hiding behind the cloud, afraid of peeking out and seeing Earth. It was one hour to midnight, all living creatures were fast asleep, both humans and animals alike. Everyone tired from their daily work, the night was the only time that they could rest, undisturbed. Nobody ever suspected that something was going to happen tonight.

In an isolated place, from the empty air, ripples came from the space as a rift was torn and two figures came out of it, standing side by side, but they seem out of place, dressed in flowing black cloak, their faces hidden behind hideous looking masks. The only thing indicating that they were alive was their hair, shiny black and straight dropping behind their back and rising in continuous motion like waves.

Another blue cloak figure appeared behind them, pushing them to the side in annoyance and speed pass them, not looking at them, as if they didn't exist or they were not of great importance. The speed of the figure was by far faster than theirs. They were all sent on different missions with each level of urgency varying. The two figures continued traversing across the globe at a fast speed, their legs weren't touching the ground and they weren't using a flying aid either. They hovered in the air, the gravity law proven useless and moved undisturbed against the air current; they were soon near the edge of a town. They were quiet, surveying their environment with their eyes, only stopping when they felt the air becoming distorted and a few seconds later an angry figure came barring in their direction with force.

The speedy figure halted few inches away from where they were, but stayed in their front, stopping their movement and blocking their path. The figure was dressed in a red cloak different from the two figures that were dressed in black. It was a standstill, none talking, only momentarily gazing at each other from under their masks. Their eyes were the only thing that spoke albeit non-verbally.

With their super-hearing ability, they could hear as a leaf fell to the ground and breaking the silence but then everything became silent a few seconds later, a squirrel hogging a nut and so on. None of them was making a move to start a conversation; there was a topic that was to be discussed but it was a topic that shouldn't be discussed in such a stiff situation. Tired from the killing silent, one of the figures broke the silence.

"I never expected that we would run into each other tonight," a sarcastic voice said laced with venom, the voice of the figure was smooth and soft, it was an indication that the person hidden behind the mask was a lady. "Your color preference didn't change." The figure commented after some seconds.

"I wish I could say the same about you, but that ..." the red-cloak figure sighed and trail off, it was a heavy sigh, one that bears the pain and memories of the past. Gone were the days that they could talk happily without worries. "Am I to consider this as a surprise or as a part of your revenge?" the red-cloak figure asked, his voice was hoarse and a little bit rugged, it was the voice of a man.

The lady smiled but it was obstructed by the hideous mask on her face. "Both. It is a surprise and revenge. If you hadn't stopped me twenty years ago, I won't be forced to do this today. I might never see you again." Turning her back to him, "but, we see each other now," facing the red cloak man, the other black cloak man remained silent, not interfering in their conversation. "Now, make way if you want me to let go of the past."

"I am not a novice," the red-cloak man answered immediately. "I know what you will do, but that won't happen under my watch."

"Uhm," the lady hardens her stance. "What if what you fear the most has happened?" the lady probed.

"What do you mean?" the red-cloak man asked, his voice rose in volume, agitated. "What have you done?"

"Relax. Don't you think that I might be threatening you?"

"I know you, I know what you are capable of, you won't make an empty threat," the red-cloak man said confidently.

"It seems like your memory is quite good. You must have grafted my personality into your brain – no, it should be your mind." The lady paused. "But then ..."

"Everything that happened was fate," the red-cloak man interrupted her.

"Fate," the black cloak figure finally spoke up, it was a rugged sound, belonging to a man. "You have the mouth to say it. Who was the one that caused all of this in the first place – you, who betrayed us – you, who ask the coordinate God to abolish my existence because I will be ridden by evil due to the fake fortune-telling that was set up by my enemy – you. It was you, you, you."

The red-cloak man dropped his head in shame. "You can't talk right?" the black-cloak man asked. "Oh! You are the marvelous prince, your instincts are always right. You never make a mistake, but do you still feel remorse for what happened?"

"I-I..."

"Should I remind you of everything that happened if you've forgotten about the past?"

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't say it," the red-cloak man squeezed his eye shut.

"Oh, you are ashamed, right?"

"Let him be," the lady interrupted as she cautioned him. "You are weak, if you anger him to the point that his eyes turn red, he might kill you."

"Yes, you are right. I should cherish the life I have now. After all, it would be a tragic death if I end up being killed by him," the black-cloak man said, pointing his finger at him. "I am not fox-like him that has nine lives."

The red-cloak man swelled up in anger, he hated the word 'fox' because they were cunny, "fox, you dare call me a fox," pointing his finger at him in anger. "Even when it was impossible for you to live after I saved your life, didn't you survive? A life-sucking worm that was hard to deal with was the second thing that almost took your life. If I am not mistaken, you still have seven more lives, then why will you call me a fox, when you are the fox."

"Y-you ..." the black cloak man stammered in disbelief.

"Stop," the lady shouted, stopping their batter. "This enemy-friend relationship that we all have is weird. Why are we revisiting the past?" the black-cloak man shifted closer to her, whispering some words to her. Her face hardens when he stopped talking. "We've wasted much of our time talking with you but I have a question, should I?"

"Go on," the red-cloak man replied, wanting to hear it.

"How did you know that we were going to make our move tonight?"

"We've studied together, lived together, played together while we young. By now, won't I know what you are thinking about, your next move, and so on?"

"What if I have changed?"

"You can't teach an old dog a new trick," the red-cloak man spat out the word by reflex without giving it any thought.

"You... Ah! - wait, wait until I show you that I can prove you wrong," the lady's chest heaved heavily in anger, her face turning red behind the mask.

"Even years of heart meditation and cleansing soul didn't teach you to calm down. How old are you, five..." the red-cloak man lifted his fingers as he counted the numbers, "...six, ten – and you still burst into anger at such mere words. If I didn't grow up with you, I wouldn't know that you are one hundred and fifty thousand old this year, but you don't act your age."

The lady's eyes turned from black to blue and back to black, "if I don't kill you today, then I am not worthy of the Kardi's trust."

"Kardi's," the red-cloak man repeated. "What have you done? You dine with the Kardi's now." He asked in disbelief.

"What? I would rather dine with them than with you. They are better than you because they are not two-faced like you."

"You joined the rebels," turning to the black-cloak man. "And you watched with your eyes wide open."

"Why are you blaming it on me, it was the most difficult decision she ever made in her life. For my survival, she joined them. Oh, I forgot, it was because of you that it happened."

"Leave that bullshit of an excuse. Have you ever seen a princess joining the rebels?"

"Yes, she is a valid proof." The black-cloak man walked to his side. "And I owe my life to them as well."

The red-cloak man's hands shot out, hitting the man's chest with force intended to kill. The force propelled the black-cloak man and he flew out, falling and hitting the ground with force, he split out blood, his mask dug deeper into his flesh. The lady ran to him, feeding him a recovery pill and checking his pulse, his body was still weak.

"You've gone too far, brother," the lady screamed and two whips appeared in her hand.

"Set the protection barrier," the black-cloak man squeezed the word out with difficulty. Taking out a shiny, black-shaped crystal, he handed it to the lady. The lady collected it and dropped it on the ground, slamming her leg on the crystal with force, the crystal was crushed. Nothing happened for some seconds, but then, the black star-shaped crystal started glowing in a rainbow color, the area it covers spasm wide and then shook violently and stopped. The light solidified, they were trapped in the protective barrier. The black-cloak man moved to the side with the help of the lady, since he won't be of help.

"You always lose to me in a fight, sister. Won't you consider this, that if you lose, I might kill him when you are weak?"

"I don't know why you are against him and I don't want to hear it either."

"Good, you don't want to hear it then let's fight," the red-cloak man said. His eyes turned to red, his hair turned to red, he became ablaze. He was the prince of fire.

He and his sister were polar opposite. His sister hair elongated and turned to blue, her eyes changed to blue and she was wrapped in blue mist. Forming ice spikes in her hands, she shot it at her brother. Her brother met it head-on with the blazing fire and the sound of sizzle came after, the fire had sucked up the water.

"Still can't make your water spike to be resistant against fire, you actually wasted our master effort," the red-cloak man said, taunting her.

"Just shut up and fight," the lady said in annoyance. Forming tiny threads of ice in her hand, she throws them out so fast that their part of projection couldn't be seen but only a whooshing sound could be heard.

From outside the protective barrier, an undetected figure dropped to the ground. Another figure stopped beside the figure. "Shouldn't you stop their fight?" the figure asked, dressed in a pink cloak.

"If I stop them, they won't be able to let go of their hate. It has eaten so deep into their heart that I don't know what to do," the figure replied, helplessly. He was wearing a white cloak that gave him a holy appearance.

"This mustn't get out, that the Coordinate God can't resolve a long-lasting conflict," said the other figure, teasing him.

"God of naughtiness, do you have a suggestion?" his eyebrow rose as he enquired.

"Yes, but you won't want to hear it anyway," God of naughtiness shrugged her shoulder and folded her arms.

Coordinate God stopped his next words, "it is not like that, but as your name implied I can't follow your advice and act rashly," he apologized.

"Hmm," God of naughtiness huffs as she takes a deep breath, letting go of offense. "If blood king was here, what do you think that he will do?" watching the ongoing fight. "Don't answer that, this fight is one in a thousand, I haven't seen them fight like this ever since they were kids."

Coordinate God looked at her, shaking his head. "You know, if the other Gods didn't get a misconception about you, maybe, you still won't be a spinster."

Angry lines run along her check, as the Coordinate God looked at her, he regretted talking about the sore topic.

"Spinster, who was it that chased away all of my suitors because he was jealous?"

"Ehn, that was when we were young," Coordinate God replied awkwardly, rubbing his neck.

"When we were young that is like ..." she paused, counting her fingers. "THAT IS MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO," she screamed. Coordinate God muffled her scream with his hands on her mouth.

"Don't alert them."

"What?" she bit his hand and was free from him. "You can't control your cousin great-grandchildren, I don't even know which generation they fall into and I can't languish in self-remorse because of you. I am the oldest living spinster in the realm because of you."

"You know it wasn't like that, it is fate," he whizzed far away from her. Mentally face-palming himself, was he stupid? Why was he out of control and losing touch with his manners whenever he was with her?

God of naughtiness fingers digs into her palm, shaking herself out of the anger that almost threatens to consume her. She needed to be calm; they were on Earth because of this fate of a thing. But after this, she promised herself to deal with him mercilessly that he won't run his mouth carelessly beside her again, that unfiltered mouth.

"I am sorry," Coordinate God apologized, seeing that she has calm down he went back to her side, "Let's go to the girl, I don't believe they were the only two sent out tonight." God of naughtiness nodded and they disappeared...

Royce's phone beeped beside him, he pauses the story and checked his phone. It was a message from Kris; she was the new girl that transferred to his class yesterday. Opening his phone and reading the message, he smiled, seeing the pictures.

"There is no need for another batch, Kris. I already got one from those with me," he typed and sent it to her. He waited for a few minutes but there was no response from the other side, he dropped his phone and turn back to his system. Where did I stop? Yes, from the disappearing Gods, another scene needs to be written ...

The blue-cloak figure arrived in a mansion, stopping outside the fence, he scanned the surrounding. A smirk sneaks into his face from under the mask, they seem to be aware that we were up to something and were prepared, the figure thought. But, then I won't be sent here if I wasn't the best, the figure boasted mentally. Well, Aura Queen, I have to break your clean record of nothing going undetected under your nose, because I have no aura, he smiled at himself. Now, it is time for me to do my part.

The blue-cloak figure jumped over the fence, landing softly on the ground and not making a sound. For a moment he was lost, confused. I have to search everywhere for the girl in such a big house, he lamented in his heart.

Moving forward, he jumped into the house through an open window and paused, hmm, canola gas, the Aura Queen is really dangerous, turning cooking oil into gas, he praised in his heart. Shifting back, he checked his hand, they were shaking. Seems this canola gas is my nemesis. I will have to navigate around the mansion from outside, he concluded.

He jumped out of the window breathing a sigh of relief that he found out on time that he might have been caught. He calmed down and decided to check the time; he checked the time by looking at the moon; I have thirty minutes to get to the girl. He looks wildly around, he had no sense of direction that was why he didn't realize that he was directly under her balcony. For an outsider that sees this, they might call it fate because the girl will be saved from whatever was to befall her but if fate could be changed because of a wish there won't be any problem in life, too bad that can't happen.

Royce pause the story; he needed to use the toilet. Saving his document, he left the desk. Coming back when he had relieved himself, he saw his phone screen light up. He picked up his phone, Kris finally responded to his message. He read the message and dropped it on the table. I will talk with her tomorrow, he thought. She is one of the people that I get along with. Opening the system, the story continues, going to another scene.

The fight was draining the lady but she kept on preserving. She had to keep her brother occupied with the fight and her part will be done. The lady took out a blue pill and swallowed it; it was an energy booster pill that will help replenish her energy. Her action became more vigorous as she continued fighting.

The black-cloak man stood up from the side, he had recovered his energy. He took out a pill, this time he threw it towards the red-cloaked figure. The red cloak man slashed the pill on instinct and shifted back but it was too late, he already inhaled the scent.

"Stardust," the red-cloaked figure said in surprise. "I never knew that you would both go to such extend to win a fight against me, even though I am doing this for your good."

"You left us with no choice," the lady said. "It was the only thing that he could resolve to do."

"Hmm..." the man beside the lady said. Looking up at the sky, "just a few seconds to go." the red-cloaked figure crumpled to the ground, his body was suddenly weak; he knew it won't last for long. He watched as they both passed by his side. Grabbing hold of the man ankle he was able to stop him for some seconds, "even if you win against me, do you think I am the only one that was patrolling tonight?"

"Who else is up ahead, if not the aura queen?" the black-cloak man asked.

"Not only her, but I can also say that the person is powerful than I am. Since your resolution is so great."

"Why?" the lady asked.

"The prophecy – messed up, all messed up and entangled," the red-cloaked figure managed to say before he closed his eyes, regulating his breathing.

The lady adjusted her brother until he was lying in a comfortable position on the ground. Kicking out one of the crushed crystals that were scattered on the ground, it flew to her hand and the crystals fused back together, the protection barrier was broken. Another figure came barring towards them, this was bound to be a restless night.

At exactly midnight, when the shorter and the long hand of the clock clicked together, the figure outside the room dropped the parcel and flew off, running back to where he came from. The girl sleeping inside the room was unaware of this fact but the dog eyes flew open looking outside the room and went back to sleep. From the necklace that hung around the neck of the girl, a glaring light shot out and it continued till morning.

The fight had ended and the couple left in the same way that they came; leaving behind the red-cloaked figure and a curvy female that has half of her face covered with a mask.

"Aura ..."

"Shush," the lady said to the man, stopping his attempt of talking. "Let me help you, you are still weak for now, preserve your strength until we get home."

The red-cloaked man nodded and was helped up by the aura queen, the space contracted as they teleport to another location. After they left, two figures came out; it was the couple that fought earlier. They didn't have to wait for long when another figure came towards their direction.

"Was it successful?" the lady asked.

"Hmm," the figure grunted in response. No other word was passed across as they all left in the same direction, this time moving fast as they were all unrestrained.

The aura queen and the man in the red cloak arrived in another location, there was nothing special about the place that they were but suddenly the space wrapped and a figure arrived.

"How is he so weak?" the figure asked.

"It was stardust, someone knew his weakness," the aura queen replied.

"Bring him over," the figure commanded. The aura queen lifted the man and took him over to the figure at the corner. The figure checked his pulse, stopping momentarily to think, he heaved a sigh of relief, "he should be back to normal in the next eight hours."

"We will take our leave," the aura queen said. "I have to go back to my post."

"See to it then, by the way, the tide is changing," the figure said and disappeared. The aura queen stood still for some seconds and took hold of the red cloak man and disappeared.

Another morning came quickly. It was a brightly lit morning, a little bit sunny as it glare on the roof of the newest painted house, the biggest house with an address of No.10, West-Street, Lion gate center(highly profile-personnel house). With a long windy driveway that was immaculately clean and free of debris.

On the top floor, the west wing of the house, a sleeping figure that will be waking up soon is seen with a crease on her forehead and a frown as she turns to her left side. Her necklace was the only thing that seems odd as it was shining but became dim as the girl slowly opens her eyes.

The girl was wearing an expensive silk nightgown that was pink with a shiny luster and has the emblem logo of the famous brand 'Tiles' on it; famous for being the best silk producers and the largest suppliers of such high-quality sleepwear.

The name of the girl is Ashley and today is her birthday, her eighteenth birthday and as far as it can be seen, it was only her and her little dog in the room, there was no present; not from her parents and not even from her friends. The room was as it was before she slept; a big queen bed that has creases on it as a sign that someone has slept in it with a large wine canopy, a dresser and a standing mirror opposite the bed, on the other side of the room was the walk-in wardrobe which contains her clothes, her shoes, and bags. The other side of the room was where the bathroom and the toilet are located.

"Oh!" the girl sighed, "today is no different from my other birthdays," Ashley said to the empty air. "Guess, there was no hope in wishing for something different this time around," she looked at her dog as she said the word, probably asking the dog if what she said was true.

Bark! That was what the dog could do.

The dog looked at her and bounced towards the door, waiting for her to open it. Jasmine was the name of the dog and has been with her after she had rescued her from an abusive dog center.

"I'm coming," Ashley said as she followed the dog but paused for a moment as she opened the door; the door leads to the balcony, the only place she could go to whenever she wanted to do some sightseeing.

"Bark!" the dog run around, jumping up and down and dragging Ashley by the hem of her nightgown as she led her to the package lying on the floor.

"What is this?" Ashley asked as she bent down to pick up the package. "Did you place it here?" she jokingly asked the dog, but her dog stared back at her with her blue eyes. The package felt cold as she touched it, it seems as if it has been placed on the floor for so long and it was a little bit heavy as she lifted it. Carrying the package as she went back inside, she left Jasmine outside. Placing the package on the dresser table, she draws out the chair as she sat down and unwrap the package. Finally removing the wrapping paper, she paused for a moment and opens the lid.

"What a disappointment," Ashley said and sighed, inside the unwrapped package was nothing other than a small globe; it was ordinary looking and has nothing in it. "The other globes that I have, had designs on it, where could such kind of colorless globe come from?" she asked herself wondering who the sender could be.

It wasn't from her sisters that she was sure of; her sisters had gone to the University and won't be here. "That reminds me, Amanda should have called," she said as she stood up from the chair. Jasmine barked outside on the balcony and scratched the door, wanting to get back in. She opened the door and the dog ran in.

A knock resounded on her door continuously, who could it be? She asked herself as she went to the door. As far as she knows, Martha, their housemaid will never disturb her unless she was needed. Her parent was not yet back from their trip as it has been set in stone to always travel a day to her birthday and therefore miss her birthday. Opening the door, she was face to face with the person she met two days ago.

"Hi, Ashley, mind if I come in?" the person asked, standing with an upright posture and a smile was spotted on his face.

There in front of her was Clark standing there in flesh and blood, fully clothed and looking energized, he has something on his other hand as he tried to hide it from her view.

"Clark, what are you doing here?" Ashley asked in surprise as she dragged him in, checking the hallway to see if they have been discovered -- nobody was there, she sighed in relief and closed the door. "Gosh! I can't believe you were allowed in, I mean what did you tell them that made them let you in at the gate?" she asked curious to know.

"This and that..., I told them that you wanted me to come by to get the book that you borrowed from me," Clark replied as he sat down on the edge of the bed, jumping up a moment later as he held his buttock. The dog has beaten him in anger after he had sat down on her tail accidentally.

"Don't scream like that," Ashley said as she ran to him and covered his mouth with her hand, "don't attract unnecessary attention to my room." She removed her hand when Clark quiet down, "sorry, I should have warned you, Jasmine loves to stay on that part of the bed; it is her favorite spot," she apologized, "why don't you sit down on the chair?" she suggested to Clark.

"Thanks, I should have checked but ..." he trailed off as he went to the table, "what is this? A colorless globe, where did you get this from?" he asked as he picked it up, the globe slipped from his hand and fell on the floor with a thud, a cracking sound rings across the room.

They both bend down at the same time to look at the floor, amazingly the globe didn't crack open but the tiles had visible crack lines and a dent where the globe was embedded.

"That came as a surprise," Clark said as he tried to dislodge the globe from in-between the tiles but his action yielded no result, "it seems this globe is of no ordinary origin."

"Here," Ashley said as she stretched forth her hand to try.

"Don't stress yourself, I am far stronger than you and I couldn't pull it out, what can you ..." his mouth was left hanging open as the globe was removed and now rested on Ashley's palm, "how did you do that? It was tightly embedded in the tiles."

Ashley shrugs, "maybe I am stronger than you," moving to the table as she put the globe inside the package. "This is supposed to be a gift but it has no sender address."

"Maybe it came from your secret admirer," Clark said as he finally revealed what he has been hiding, "happy birthday to you, Ashley."

"Thanks, but I am surprised though, I didn't tell you where I live and when my birthday is," Ashley said as she moved toward the present, unwrapping it, it was a small, heart-shaped cake with red and white color and sprinkles on top.

"I did my research. Do you like it? I didn't know what else to get for you at such short notice since we met for the first time two days ago," Clark said.

"I like the cake but the fact that you could find out everything about me, just make you sound like a stalker," Ashley said as she cut the cake, putting a slice in her mouth. "Hmm, nice flavor, vanilla is my favorite, do you want?" she asked as she cut another piece.

"No, I am not a fan of sweet things," Clark declined. "The truth is that you told me everything."

Ashley motion stopped for a moment, dropping the cake that was in her hand, "when did I tell you everything? Aren't we strangers?"

"Yes, we were strangers but not anymore."

"Can you not talk in riddles?" Ashley asked.

"Even if I told you everything that happened and how I saved you, you will still tie the name 'stalker' to my name," Clark said.

"If I listened to everything, then maybe the name 'stalker' won't be added to your name," Ashley retorted.

Clark's phone beeps, checking his phone. He spoke up after a few minutes, "I've got to go, school resume on Monday," he stood up, "by the way, can I have your contact?"

"Sure," they exchanged contact, "Which school did you get admission to?" Ashley asked.

Clark paused, as if thinking, "Shanadra University, Republic of Amazon, I am offered business management and strategy planning. What is your school of choice?" Clark's heart beats wildly in his chest as he lied. Of course, she wouldn't know that I lied, Clark thought.

"Creep Intern University, I put in for psychology," Ashley said as she tied her hair back to a bun, "I don't like the hassle of traveling to another town before I study, anyways, best of luck."

A knock sounded on her door, "quickly hide," she said to Clark, pushing him into her walk-in wardrobe. She went and answered the door but nobody was there. Was she hallucinating? She went back to the walk-in wardrobe and opened the door, peeping in, "you can come out now, Clark."

Clark poked his head out of the wardrobe, a bra hanging on his head and a pant dandling by his left ear. Ashley blushed as she quickly takes them off from him, throwing them inside the wardrobe.

"Geez Ashley, why didn't you check where you were pushing me into?" Clark asked after stepping out of the wardrobe.

"Sorry, sorry ok, I didn't know that you will end up in the undies section," Ashley apologized. "Nobody was at the door, it was a false alarm."

"Has that scenario ever happened before?" Clark asked in concern.

"No, it hasn't, none that I am aware of though," Ashley replied after a minute. "Weren't you planning on leaving?" she reminded him.

"Yes, I was. I will get going then," Clark replied and left after that. Ashley closed the door and went back to sit on the bed, her phone beep and she was notified of an incoming message. It was from Amanda, wishing her happy birthday. I knew she wouldn't forget my birthday, she thought as another knock resounded on her door. Is Clark still here? She asked herself as she went to answer the door or better still not a false alarm.

Opening the door, she came face to face with Martha, the housemaid, "Morning Ms. Ashley, hope you had a wonderful night, your presence is required downstairs."

"By who," Ashley asked surprised, wondering who could summon her out of her room today.

"By your parent, they arrived from the airport not too long ago", Martha replied, "I will get going, please don't keep them waiting for long." Martha excused herself as she left.

'That is surprising; they never break their habit of missing my birthday. Have they remembered that today is my birthday?' she thought. Going downstairs, she met her parent in the lounge.

Before Ashley arrived, the couple were discussing, "It is for her good," the lady said.

"I know, but you insisted that we shouldn't ask her if any strange thing happened," the man replied.

"That will make us sound paranoid and are you insinuating that I did a bad job yesterday?" the lady asked.

"I didn't mean that, but I think something was off. If they wanted to see her, they would have arrived here after winning, and don't you think something was off with it?" the man asked his mind still on the fight that happened yesterday.

"Forget it, sending her to another place will keep them off from her tail for a while," the lady replied. Martha arrived in the room, "Ma, she is on her way coming."

"Good, the earlier she arrives here, the quicker we can get this done and over with. You are dismissed," the lady said to the maid.

"Your voice sounds a bit off," the man commented.

"Yes, I am yet to recover my energy after the fight that we had yesterday," the lady replied. "Just another round of sleep should boost it up." The man nodded.

Ashley arrived at that moment, facing the couple, sometimes, she wondered if they were blood-related as she bears no carnal resemblance to them.

"Good morning, dad and mom," Ashley greeted the couple and cringed at how her voice sounded. The only response was hmmm and the letter that was thrown her way.

Royce stopped, that was chapter one, it was completed. He went over the story, looking for any grammatical errors and correcting them. He cracked his neck as he released the tension. Looking up at the wall clock in his room to check the time, it was one am. He needed to sleep. Shutting down his system, the last thing he did was to check his phone, there was no message.

He sets the alarm and jumped on his bed, curling like a dog and stretching like a cat, he dozed off as soon as his head hit the pillow.