15 Obviously Oblivious

Cassadrei's POV

"Linda darling, do you want more of this fried fish? It tastes heavenly!" Jacob said between a mouthful of fish and a placid expression upon his mischievous face. Linda passed and smeared her french fries copiously with the special sauce and savoured them one by one. 

It was the most awkward date. On one hand, there were Jake and Linda who were way too much in love to pay attention to their surroundings, and on the other hand there was me and Michael, avoiding each other deliberately. Michael had shed off any pretense of maintaining a polite conversation with me after the revelation of my apparent crush on him, and now his eyes shot daggers at my direction every time they met mine. 

I recoiled in my seat, pretending to be a cushion, oblivious to the outer world. I had come to this date with the aim of befriending Michael and now it would be a miracle if he ever talks to me again. All of this was Sofosys' fault, his stupid idea and now I am left with his mess.

"Do you want these?" Michael said, clearing his throat.

 I realized that I was surreptitiously eyeing Michael's french fries which were left mostly untouched. 

Turning crimson at the thought, I apologized profusely which Michael seemed to ignore. 

"You can have them all. I don't care much for French Fries, they have too much oil in them. I don't like fried unhealthy food." Michael replied condescendingly. 

Linda choked on her food. I was really irritated at Michael now. 

"How can you not like French Fries??" I snorted, "it is like the tastiest thing I have ever had! You people take everything for granted. You have so much variety in your food choices, a plethora of ingredients and mix of spices to cook with...and yet, you choose to have bland stuff by choice? I fail to understand you people!"

Now Linda squinted at me.

"What do you mean by you people??" She asked. 

Michael looked at me knowingly and I could feel him mocking me. This caused a ripple of anger to rush through my body but I controlled my retort. I should be more careful. 

"I mean, you people from Milton. Where I come from, we are forced to eat bland food and these delicious dishes would be a luxury we can't afford." I said. 

"And where do you come from?" Michael sneered. I grimaced at him. 

"I travelled a lot." I explained, "Originally, I am from a small town near Vermont. We don't get a lot of food there, it's too cold there to have these stuff." I pointed to the plateful of delicious cuisine before me. 

Before we began our Journey on Earth, Sofosys had trained me on several factors including providing me with a legitimate story to tell people, in case we find ourselves in situations such as these. 

I was never a good liar, but one simply can't afford to be honest in such circumstances. 

After managing the situation appropriately (Linda had soon lost interest), I concentrated on the food. 

I had a great dinner, I must admit. Given the fact that Linda's father had paid for the whole thing, I was reluctant at first...but Linda would have none of it. She had ordered a pile of food to indulge in, and how she managed to be so skinny even after having such enormous amounts of food, escapes me. Michael had avoided everything fried and chomped on dried salad without even a dressing! He had refused everything remotely tasty. Jake, on the other hand, ordered almost everything on the menu... trying each item out and wasting more than he ate. I saw Michael glaring at him, muttering about World poverty and hunger and angrily reminding him not to order any more food, as long as he didn't finish what was there on his plate. 

Jake was, obviously, oblivious to his wisdom. 

We finished our dinner, me having accomplished nothing and considering this date as an epic waste of time, Linda being able to "strengthen" her relationship that involved a lot of kissing and Michael being thoroughly convinced that I was a lunatic. I was eagerly waiting for this night to be over when Linda suggested, "Cassie…. let's walk back to our house! For old times sake."

Michael and I shared a collective groan. 

"Come on, Cass!" Linda crooned and Jake joined in. We had to give in, obviously. When did I ever resist her?

Our residence was about six blocks away and easily a walkable distance. We avoided it today because Linda didn't want her perfectly made date-hair to get ruffled while walking. Now, it seems, she couldn't care less….also spending some more time with Jacob seemed to appeal to her greatly. 

As we embarked into the dark road ahead, I couldn't shake off a feeling of deep discomfort. It was only 8:00 O' clock now and yet, the streets were practically empty. This part of the town is devoid of much crowd and consists of a constellation of posh restaurants, there isn't a house or apartment in sight. The restaurants were well lit and melodious songs permeated their surroundings, but as we went farther from their pomp and show, the atmosphere grew eerily silent. 

Jake and Linda were immersed in deep conversation, holding hands and looking like a lovely couple. Michael and I were pointedly avoiding each other, and an awkward silence pervaded between us. I didn't dare to look him in the eyes….his stone cold stare was something I didn't want to receive. 

The darkness was all consuming now. The street-lamps had extinguished somehow, and I fumbled in my pocket to catch hold of my mobile phone and turn on the light. Michael was faster, he switched on his flashlight which he had brought along with him. Why does he carry a flashlight everywhere?

A wave of chill ran down my spine. We were moving through the same alleyway that I had been frequenting in my dreams. The light was put out, there weren't any buildings in sight. The alley hid around a wall, curved away from the main Street and illuminated by nothing but Michael's flashlight now. There's something strange about the entire surroundings. I couldn't put my hand upon it. 

My disquiet grew louder as I took more steps, it seemed to percolate through me and contaminate my surroundings. Michael looked around suspiciously, Jake held Linda closer as they walked as a conjoint figure, even Linda shuddered a little and murmured that it might have been a bad idea to walk the whole way down at such an hour. There was something deeply wrong about the silence and the intense dark, as if something sinister hung around in the air, smudging the very essence of a cool wintry breeze that was blowing. We sped up, trying to reach a well-lit block sooner. 

It happened way too fast for us to comprehend. One minute, we were trudging along silently, and then we were levitating in the air, our feet losing their contact with the hard ground as we groped the misty cool air, frantically searching for something to hold on to and descend. Linda let out a stifled scream of horror and Jake tried to move towards her, but he was powerless against a force much greater than his own. I tried to call out, but I couldn't find my voice. As if we were all hypnotized and held in mid-air with the help of fine threads. Someone was playing puppets with us. 

I tried to move my legs frantically and to my surprise I was able to move. I looked around, searching for a meaningful explanation to all these, but I found none. Michael was floating very close to me, his arms brushed mine and I could feel his gooseflesh and sweat. I could hear him muttering desperate curses under his breath. 

I looked more closely, widening my eyes to get used to the overwhelming darkness and then, without making any effort... I could see it. A tiny creature, with a bluish white tinge emanating from and surrounding his body. It was completely round, and it had  elaborate, white, and thick furs, and in the form of a porcupine's spicules it stood out from his body. It's eyes were blazing red, and even though it was really tiny, it looked strangely ferocious. 

I rummaged my brains and tried to place this creature among all those that I had studied. Mother had always encouraged me to practice my skills with animals, she had appointed special tutors and magis to teach me about all the magical creatures that had ever lived and all their salient features. Only the privileged and highly important members of the Royal Family knew about my special powers as Mother didn't want me to attract unwanted attention. Nevertheless, she made sure that I was well prepared to apply my skills, should I need to. I was thankful to her for that. 

It came to me in flashes. I identified the creature as a Petrywinkler, except that it was too small to be a fully grown one. Petrywinklers are the rarest and the most dangerous beasts in the Magical realm, their powers being more lethal and uncontrollable when they are toddlers. 

A very young Petrywinkler, such as this,  is perhaps the rarest sight, they are usually not allowed out in the open due to their highly volatile powers. I wondered what it was doing in the human world, any magical creature abhorred the Mortal realms because the absence of magic in the Mortal world repelled them. There must be a reason why it was here and why it was attacking unsuspecting Mortals. 

As it growled and approached us menacingly, I could feel in my bones, that it was here because of me.