10 9

Silver sat up in bed, breathing heavily, recalling the events of the dream he just had. He looked around him, unsure of whether it was dream or reality.

Everything was the same in his room in the castle. The bed, the chairs, the nightstand, the bathroom door, the balcony, everything seemed real.

Suddenly unable to breathe, he took a shaky foot and reached it out into the cold, castle air. The freshness of it energizing him, he decided to throw aside his covers and take a walk.

The first step out of his room was a daunting one. He winced the moment his bare feet made contact with the smooth, cold floor; but after a while, he found it refreshing again and the sweat that had been dripping on his forehead and nose were gone. He walked along the hallways that still had lit chandeliers and candles, making sure not to venture anywhere near the dark.

On his walk, he thought back to the dream he had.

He was sure those were his parents he saw; Silver wasn't a common name and something in his gut told him the two people he saw-- Bridgette and Michael-- were his parents.

The thing that made him unsure about it was that his father looked like a vampire. He had the fangs and the eyes of a vampire. His complexion was fair and he carried himself the same way that Prince Nicholas did.

Except it was clear from the dream that his father hated vampires. And it was obvious that Silver wasn't a vampire. Sure, it's possible that he's not human, but there's no way he's a vampire. He would've realized it by now. Besides, his name is Silver literally because of his father's hatred for vampires. Or so his father said in his dream.

Then again, it was all just a dream. He could've simply imagined it. But Silver had a feeling that was impossible. Living most of his life in the same place doing the same thing every day, he would never have that much of an imagination.

Not to mention everything seemed so real. No matter how rude and coarse his father seemed, he couldn't deny the fact that he desperately wanted to reach out and hug the man. He wanted to hold them both, to talk to them, not just for answers but because he genuinely wanted to be with them. Just smell what they smelled like and feel if their hands were soft or rough. He just had this strong urge to know them, and that's how he knew they were really his parents.

Soon Silver reached a large brown door. It had no engravings and didn't fit very well with the aesthetic of the rest of the castle.

He decided to try his luck and turned the door handle. He was introduced to a lounge-type area. It was a tiny room that Silver guessed was used to be a storage of something similar.

The room was carpeted with a plush purple material. There were a few blue bookshelves lining the walls and a desk sat in the corner with a swivel chair next to it. Two green bean bags were in the other corner and a black armchair sat across the room from the door.

"I thought you might be joining me, Mr. Chase," said a tired voice.

Silver's head whipped to a bookshelf on the left side of the room, where the king himself stood, reading the jacket of a book he had picked up.

He wore a black suit, which was odd since Silver assumed it was probably about 4 o'clock in the morning. The king was barefoot like Silver, however, showing off his perfectly groomed toes. He also wore a simple silver crown on his head that was much smaller than the first Silver had seen him in.

It was then that he realized all of the silver in this castle was probably fake, including the crowns and the silverware, since vampires can't touch pure silver without it burning them.

"Your Majesty," Silver gasped, "I didn't realize you would be up so late,"

"I was waiting for you actually," he answered softly, putting the book back in the shelf and slowly walking over to the swivel chair next to the desk, "As I made my way past your room earlier this night, I sensed a great uneasiness around yourself. I assumed you would be plagued by nightmares and hoped you would go for a midnight walk, ending up here in the process," he cracked a smile, plopping into the wheelchair like a kid might.

"I was correct," he wheeled himself over to the armchair and gestured for Silver to sit. Silver let the door behind him slam before sitting down next to the king.

The king looked at him not blinking once when Silver asked, "How did you know I would end up here?"

"Many a harsh sleeper end up in this room, Mr. Chase," he answered with a slight shrug, "Almost as if this room attracts the wary and the afraid."

"Then were you having nightmares as well, Your Majesty?" Slipped out of Silver's mouth before he could catch it.

"Always," the king answered immediately, "I have a son who I love dearly, but refuses to marry; I have a daughter who is bright and beautiful, but naive and too exposed to the dangers of this world; and finally I have the love of my life, clinging to what's left of her sanity for her dear life. My beautiful wife who has left me sleep alone. Yes, Silver, I have nightmares. However, my nightmares are still present when I open my eyes."

"But- But," again, Silver just let whatever he immediately thought of slip out of him, "Nick-uh- Prince Nicholas said he would marry me."

The king chuckled, "So he did. Nicholas is a confusing boy. I can never predict what he is about to so next. That will either make him a dangerous king or a powerful one," he took a second to think about it a bit longer, "or both."

"I see," Silver nodded, unsure of what to say next, "Is there a particular reason why you wanted me to meet you here?"

"There is actually," he answered, turning slowly to the desk. It was then, at this proximity, Silver could see the king's black roots in his hair.

Silver suddenly remembered Nick telling him of how his father's face looks older, not because of age, but because of stress and sadness. After all, a vampire shouldn't age this quickly.

The king opened one of the drawers of the desk and pulled out a balled-up piece of purple cloth. He handed it to Silver, who took it and, with the king's nod of permission, unwrapped. There he found a small silver bracelet.

It looked extremely large and seemed like it wouldn't fit him, but he tried it on anyway. Immediately, it twisted around his wrist, coiling its way up a few of his knuckles and then sat comfortably on his hand as if it were custom made for him.

He looked at the engravings on it. 'In the case of fallen love, to my Anne Marie,' was carved into the silver around the wrist.

"It was once a gift for my wife," the king said, "She was human, like yourself, when we first fell in love. I was so terrified that she was wary of me being a vampire. I gifted her with this bracelet.

You see, Mr. Chase, this bracelet, if the wearer wills it, can turn into a silver dagger. I told my love that if at any moment she felt that I would turn her or harm her in any way, to immediately kill me with it. Or, if she ever fell out of love with me. For I could not force a woman to be with me if she did not love me; and if I could not be with the woman I loved, I would rather die."

He looked at Silver sternly, "No, I am not giving you permission to murder my son. I am simply saying that I trust that you will know what's best for him and, of course, yourself.

I would rather have a dead son than a son that harms the one he loves. That may be excessively cruel, but I trust you with this responsibility."

"But why?" Silver asked, "You barely even know me. How do you know I won't kill him? How do you know I won't kill you?" he said, not trying to sound threatening, but just truly confused

"If you weren't meant to have my wife's bracelet, you wouldn't have ended up here," he smiled, gesturing around the room, "This is my wife's room actually. She would drag me down here every night, in the days when she could walk.

Yes, this room brings about those who are scared, but that is not its only criteria," he took his crown off slowly and placed it on Silver's head, "It brought you here because you're undeserving of such fear. You are innocent and pure of heart."

He winked, "Hold onto that for me," he said gesturing to the crown. Silver touched it tentatively. "As well as my son, please, you and Donald keep an eye on poor Nicholas. He thinks he is going behind my back in order to save my wife and, though very admirable, is also very dangerous. However, I would like to give the future king of my nation a chance to prove his strengths."

"Are you going somewhere?" Silver asked, tilting the crown back on his head so that he could see the king. By the king's tone, it sounded like he was going off to war.

"Don't look so worried. I am going to another country. Lacigam," he answered, running a hand through his hair so that Silver could properly see his dark roots, "The only way my hair is done is by a special stylist in the Northern Kingdom's palace. I see the roots of my hair are growing back surprisingly fast But if anyone else asks, I am going there on a very important royal mission," he grinned

They both laughed.

***

Klara got a phone call right before she was about to go to the abandoned school and sit on the playground swings.

It was a blocked number, which already gave off red flags in her mind, but she answered it anyway.

"Hello?" she said into the phone, sitting down on her bed, hoping this wouldn't be a long phone call.

"This is Klara, right? Darius's friend?" said a familiar voice.

She suppressed the urge to groan, "Hello, Dwight, yes this is Klara," she said, faking a slightly cheerful tone, "Is there something you needed?"

"Ah, yes, I thought I might give a call to my future Dragon intern," he said before turning into a fit of chuckled and snorts, "My apologies, I didn't mean to say that out loud. Truthfully, I was wanted to know if you were free anytime this week,"

"Is this about the internship that you were talking about?" She asked, hoping it was just that and nothing about his son.

"No, this is actually about my son," Damnit.

"Oh really?" She fought the urge to sigh, "What about him?"

"I was really hoping we could talk about this in person," He answered, "You see, from everything that Darius and his friend Angela have told me, I just feel like you're such a capable girl, Klara."

"I believe I'm a capable woman as well, Dwight," Klara answered, "I don't know why that would interest you, or spark ideas with Darius though."

"Darius needs a capable woman, Klara," He explained, "He won't go very far in life with business, he needs a leg up."

"I think my capabilities are set for greater things than giving your son a leg up, Dwight," she said, tight-lipped.

"Yes, yes, yes, of course," he said backtracked, "I just mean, you and my son would make a successful pair. As a father, I worry about these things. Don't you think so yourself?"

"I haven't given it any thought, to be honest," she said, omitting the part about not even liking his son and only hanging out with him because Angie is friends with him and that he seems like a shady guy and is way too flirty and he clearly hasn't washed his dreadlocks in about two years and-

"What is there to not like about my son, Klara? He's not ugly, is he? He's not rude either. I just don't see the problem."

"No, no you're right," Klara sighed, just wanting to please the man and be done with this conversation, "Darius is attractive, even with those dreads. He's very nice and, I will admit, not as annoying as I first thought he would be. He not terrible company. As a boyfriend though-"

And that was right when Klara heard Angie's heels clicking against the floor. She hadn't even heard the door open. For some reason, she felt uneasy about Angie hearing this conversation.

"Dwight, can I actually call you back? Something just came up," she said as discreetly as she could. Angie didn't seem to pay her any mind, as she bent down to get a blood-pack out of the mini-fridge.

"O-of course, Klara. Have a good day, and please do try to meet with me at some point during the week," he answered and then hung up.

Angie sat on her bed, a packet of blood with a draw through it with one hand and her phone in the other.

Klara took a moment to stare at her, eyes gliding down the exposure of Angie's dark skin through the rips in her distressed white jeans. She watched Angie switch her legs, right over left and then left over right, every few swipes on her phone. The charms on her large, chunky heeled boots clinked along with every movement.

"Angie," Klara said, getting the girl's attention.

Angie held the blank stare for a moment before it broke into her usual smile, "Did I interrupt your phone call?"

"Uh- no, that was just..." Klara tried to explain. Why was she trying to explain?

"So you and Darius are a thing now?" She asked, her eyes crinkling at her word.

Klara's eyes widened, "What? N-"

"I mean, I heard you talk about him on the phone, sorry for listening in," she laughed, "It's no big deal, Darius and I weren't dating or anything. I'm a les, remember?"

"Angie, liste-"

"I mean, it was obvious. Every conversation involves him nowadays doesn't it?" She said with a little laugh that almost sounded bitter, "I mean everywhere we go, he's always there as well."

"That's because-"

Angie's phone pinged and she looked down at it, "My ride's here. I might not be back for the night, so you can just lock the door okay? She stood up.

"Angie-" Klara tried to say but was interrupted again.

"Don't worry, Klara," she giggled, "This is a sober party. I swear, I'll be responsible," she said, giving a little wave before leaving.

Klara sat there, not sure why she had this deep lump in the back of her throat.

***

Silver, Nick, and Donald the butler all sat in the limo. Silver had worn a long sleeve to hide his bracelet, but at the sight of the prince, the bracelet shrunk into a normal silver bangle that wrapped tightly around his wrist, unseen under the sleeve.

He debated telling the prince about it, but he thought the prince would not like that. Nick might force him to take it off, seeing him as a threat. He might get angry at Silver. He might even get angry at his own father, for giving Silver a weapon and permission to literally kill Nick if he tried to turn him into a vampire.

Silver decided against it in the end.

"What's got you so deep in thought?" Nick asked, slipping an arm around him. Silver was so used to this, he didn't even acknowledge it, "Is this about that dream you had?"

Silver had, of course, told him about his dream with his parents. He felt that was something he shouldn't keep to himself.

"N-no, I- uh- ran into your father last night," he said.

"My father?" Nick raised an eyebrow, "What did you talk about?"

"Um," he didn't want to talk about the bracelet, or the room so he just went for something else that had come up in their conversation, "He said he was going to the Northern Kingdom to get his hair done."

Nick laughed, "Did he? Is that why I haven't seen him today?"

"Probably. He told me to look after his crown," Silver laughed too, "And his son."

Nick beamed, "How nice, he gave you his blessing"

In more ways than one, Silver wanted to say. "Kinda... doesn't mean I'm gonna marry. I just think he's a nice man," Silver said, "He said you were a poor, poor boy who Donald and I should keep an eye on."

Donald snorted but said nothing. Nick sucked his teeth defiantly, "I do not need to be babysat by a human."

"Alleged human," Silver reminded him, "After seeing my father, I don't know what I am, to be honest."

"Well, not exactly," Nick said, "I mean, it's possible you could be something supernatural without you knowing. But it's also possible to not inherit any of your father's genes. For example, my mother was human before she was turned. However, since I am a descendant of the firstborn vampire and have that blood running through my veins, so I'm still considered a pureblood vampire by the oracle. Biology works in mysterious ways for those who are supernatural."

Silver giggled, "You sound like your dad."

Nick laughed as well, "Thank you," he smiled, "My father is a wise man, so I must've sounded really cool there."

"Yeah yeah yeah, but I'm in charge for the time being," Silver reminded him, giving a flip of his nonexistent long hair, "Your father gave me the task after all,"

Silver rolled his eyes, "Yeah right if you're in charge, we'll probably just get into a car crash agai-

BAM