How Strange

Jaden sat in his bedroom which was dark and cold. He had put out the candles that decoratively lined the stone walls and had left all four large windows of the room open. The skies were dark as if the moon was shy and had hidden from prying eyes. The wind blew loudly carrying with it an unforgivable chill.

Jaden's spirit was low as he sat with his head bowed and a glass of strong Gaelic whiskey that he had generously poured for himself. However, he was almost done with the content of his cup but the pain he felt had not dulled – not one bit.

His father was in a bad state that held no hope for recovery at all – at least not in the nearest future, Jaden had noticed. Jaden had stared at his unconscious father, feeling utterly confused and devastated. It was as if he was sinking or falling down a dark bottomless pit. That was how he felt when he couldn't see a possible way out of a problem.

There were issues arising already in Transmere that had not yet been dealt with, only for an assassination attempt to follow.

Jaden knew that this act on the king's life had roots within the palace. It had to have come from someone very close and someone who had plans to rise to power. Now the difficult part would be to flush the traitor out and expose their plans. And if anything was to be done, it had to be done fast before another tragedy occurred.

"Get the leader of the Moon Oasis Coven here at once," Hera had said to Jaden with a dismissive and authoritative tone. It almost sounded as if her anger was towards him.

Jaden and Hera had never seen eye to eye. She hated him because he was a product of an affair that the king had with another woman with whom Damian happened to be in love.

Hera took out all her jealousy, bitterness, and pain on Jaden – whenever she had the chance. Yet, he tried as much as he could to ignore her even though he never forgot what she had done to his mother.

"What has that got to do with anything?" Jaden asked her. "We should be searching for clues that will help with—"

"Be quiet!" Hera spat. "Look at this…"

She handed him something that was wrapped in a thick black cloth, almost flinging it at him. Jaden collected the parcel, looked at her with distrust all over his face, then went ahead to unwrap it.

He revealed a dagger that looked like it had spent eons in this world. "What is this?" Jaden asked.

"That was driven into his chest and the physician said that at the point of entry, a serum seeped into your father's heart," Hera explained. She peeled her gaze off Jaden and looked at Raymond; "Magic."

"How—"

"It is the work of the witches. Vampires don't practice magic… devilish serums and forbidden spells. We do not have the time for that. What clues do you want to search for when the answer is staring at you in the face?"

"Alright," Jaden muttered and hoped that she would stop talking already. He took a step back, "I will have a word with the physician and commune with my siblings. We will handle this."

"Tell Kane that I need to see him as soon as possible," Hera said. "He should be the one handling this. You should report to him and do anything he asks of you."

Jaden let out a croaky chuckle. "I doubt things would go that way. If he wants, he can do what he wants to do separately but as for me, I will follow my guts." He turned around and walked out of the king's private chambers with long strides. He needed to leave there before she would utter any more annoying statements.

Now, in his dark room, Jaden sighed and walked to one of the windows that oversaw a lake. He was about to perch on the windowpane when he heard soft footsteps approaching his door.

Already, he knew who it was before they even knocked.

"It's open, Zuri," he called out.

Gently, the polished mahogany door opened and Zuri entered. She wondered how he knew she was the one before the door opened. Unbeknownst to her, there was a questioning and wondering look on her face.

"Are you wondering how I knew you were the one?" Jaden asked with a small smirk on his face.

"Wha- Um…n-no. I just…" Zuri stuttered then closed her mouth in a bid to stop embarrassing herself. After she was sure that she had gathered her thoughts and speech, she said; "Yes… I forgot about your ability to hear things from a distance."

"Hmm…" Jaden hummed and turned to look out the window again and took another sip of his drink. Before Zuri arrived, he had been taking large gulps but now that she was here, Jaden didn't want to seem like a drunkard to her. Hence, the little sips.

Zuri observed him and could instantly tell that he was low in spirits. She was right to have followed her mind to come to check on him. She took a step forward and stopped.

"I came to— Do you need anything?"

Jaden shook his head.

"Have you been drinking? Too much of that will make you sick later…"

"Are you supposed to be here? This is not your working hour," Jaden spat. The minute those words came out of his mouth and the way he had sounded, he regretted lashing out at her in that manner.

Zuri was taken aback by his outburst. She grabbed her dress in her hands and squeezed it into balled fists. However, she didn't move or attempt to leave his room -- not yet anyway.

Jaden ground his teeth together as he turned to face her squarely. "I— I apologize for… for raising my voice that way. You can have your seat, Zuri."

She shook her head. The look of shock was still evident on her delicate face.

"I will take my le—"

"No! No… Zuri," Jaden pleaded. "Sit with me."

Moments passed as she thought about whether to sit down or not. Then, she decided and walked to the chair that the prince had pointed out to her.

"I know you are hurting… somehow, I just know. But you will figure everything that confuses you right now, out," Zuri assured. "And I'd like you to know that if there is anything I can do to help, I'd be more than happy to do it," Zuri said wondering why she was so willing to help the vampire prince out.

Jaden couldn't explain why Zuri's words encompassed him with comfort. He stared at her and was at a loss for words – the words to respond to her kind and sincere offer. He was blank and just kept gaping at her face -- at her eyes -- at her lips.

"Your father isn't dead. All hope isn't lost yet. We can search for a way… a cure to bring him back. Can't we?" Zuri asked.

"Hmm…" Jaden dropped the glass cup after he'd managed to peel his gaze off her face. He walked to where Zuri was seated and squatted in front of her, looking into her eyes.

"I feel better with you here for some unknown reason," Jaden began with a crease between his brows as if he was trying to make sense of something. "Thank you for coming to check on me."

Zuri nodded feeling a little bit flushed. Her cheeks felt cold and hot at the same time. She took her bottom lip into her mouth in one swift nervous movement. She was holding her breath because of Jaden's close proximity. Zuri was so nervous as it seemed like he was staring into her soul.