Naeva in Secret Unraveled 1

Naeva took slow steps back, trying to find any footprints in the direction L came in. He only found his flowery prints embedded on the sand. A frown latched onto his face, eyes wandering back in the direction L had left in. He couldn't have been seeing things, could he?

 No. Naeva was most certain L had been real. Naeva could still feel the tight grasp of L's arm around his slender waist, and could still remember the sheer amount of boredom in the latter's eyes.

The longer he thought of it, the more unreal L seemed to become, causing cold shivers to run down his spine, goosebumps crawling onto his skin creating disturbing tingles.

"Okay, that's enough pictures taken today." Naeva shook himself, physically trying to shake off the weird feeling. He quickly made his way back to the camper.

If even L was real, he didn't want to stay and find out.

The camper was quiet when Naeva arrived. He opened the door and went in, taking off his shoes to slide his feet into a slipper. He could hear his dad and brother arguing over what Naeva could only guess to be a game of chess.

His dad was the first to notice his presence when he walked in. The slight raise of Mr. Umbrielle asked questions Naeva only shrugged in reply to.

Their father's sudden silence caught Saden's attention and he turned back to see what he was looking at.

"Uh, you're back earlier." Saden said with a slight frown, eyes following Naeva as the younger went to plant himself on the couch opposite the dining table where they sat.

"Something weird happened." Naeva said, leaning into the backrest. He placed hand over his eyes to block out the light.

"Weird? How weird?" Mr. Umbrielle asked, his deep voice laced with concern.

Naeva thought for a moment, wondering if he could tell them about L. How would they react? He wasn't afraid they'd think he was crazy but he didn't want them to lie to him again as well.

Wait. Naeva sat up abruptly. Why does he think they'd lie to him? Sure, that's what they do every time he brings something up but why does he free like they know something about this and will definitely lie to him.

"I saw something weird." Naeva decided to speak, watching both his father and Saden's reaction "No. I didn't see something is a better way to put it"

"What?" Saden asked, brows knitted together and shoulders slightly raised.

"I didn't see footprints." Naeva said "I met this guy at the beach. His name is L and he —"

"Wait" Naeva was suddenly interrupted by his father "Is L his real name? Who name their child L?"

Naeva narrowed his eyes at his father, "It's 2023 dad, people name their children Meatball nowadays. You named your children Nyx, Saden, and Naeva which all translate to night and darkness yet no one is questioning you."

"Fair point." Mr. Umbrielle said with a shrug.

"Anyways, as I was saying, I met L and he didn't have any footprints." Naeva continued

Saden shifted in his seat, a grin forming on his face "You're funny, Nav. A person who didn't have footprints? Really?" He asked with a laugh.

Naeva glared; eyes locked intensely with Saden's. "I know what I saw!" he all but snapped

Saden raised an eyebrow, "You think you saw a boy who walked on sand without leaving any footprints? Do you hear yourself, Naeva?" He asked.

"In all honesty," Mr. Umbrielle piped in, looking at his son "You sound a little ridiculous "

Naeva clenched his fist, tears burning in his eyes as he listened to his brother and father's words. He couldn't believe they'd go as far as calling him ridiculous in order to prove their points.

He watched his father shake his head in disapproval before turning to the board game and asking Saden to make his move on the board. Just like that, they ignored him, as though the whole conversation never happened.

Naeva's shoulders dropped and he leaned back on the couch, his eyelids drooping close without a single tear escaping. He moved his hand to cover his closed eyes, a shaky sigh dropping from his lips.

'What was I expecting?' the question echoed in Neava's head. Perhaps he hoped they'd believe him, or at least want to know more about the incident. Instead, they had shut down the conversation so quickly, Naeva didn't have a chance to explain.

Naeva wouldn't get offended though. This was only just another instance where he wasn't allowed to speak and he usually got over it quickly.

He sat up again, voice low as he spoke "Where are mom and Nyx?"

Saden looked up from the board "They went to see one of Mom's friends. Just couldn't wait till the party, I presume." he replied with a snicker.

Naeva nodded and stood up. "Well, I'm going to take a nap."

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The party was in full swing when the Umbrielle's got there. The Collum were known to start their parties an hour before they arrived and the Umbrielle's didn't bother trying to be early either.

Naeva looked around. The party was held in a large event hall and from the decorations, it seems it was a birthday party. The DJ's voice boomed through the hall as he hyped those who were dancing.

"Okay guys," Mrs. Umbrielle said, her voice managing not to be drowned by the loud music "Go mingle and have fun. We'll gather at the door in four hours"

Mr. and Mrs. Umbrielle left first, and Nyx followed, mixing into the crowd.

Saden turned to Naeva with a grin.

 "Want to hang together?" He asked

Looking around again, Naeva shook his head "No. I'll find something to keep me busy. Have fun with your friends." he replied

"If you need anything just call me, okay?" Saden said, getting a nod from Naeve before walking in as well.

Naeva sighed. He was a fan of all kinds of parties except birthday parties. To be precise, a sixteen-year birthday party. His parents had made a big deal of Nyx and Saden's and they weren't exactly fun.

Naeva made his way to get a drink, avoiding anything that wasn't sealed in a can or bottle. God knows how much those drinks have been spiked. Only idiots would drink punch at a party and expect not to get drunk.

He got a bottle of Pepsi and watched those dancing. He didn't have any friends, and didn't want to associate with the children of his parents' rich friends. They're either rude and arrogant or pampered little shits.

Nodding his head to the song, Neava's eyes continued to move around the room aimlessly. He lifted the bottle to his lip when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a familiar face.

"L?" Naeva asked himself with a frown.

It was L in the crowd. Even from a distance, Naeva could still see him. He stood out, his bored almost expressionless face stood in contrast with every other face. Naeva's hold on the cold bottle tightens, his eyes focused on the boy whose existence he was still questioning.

L moved, walking further away and Naeva quickly went after him. Naeva didn't understand why he was so interested in the boy but he was going to try and find out tonight.

He walked through the crowd, an apology constantly falling from his lips as he tried to not avoid colliding with anyone. It was hard, seeing as there were almost a hundred people here but Naeva kept his eyes on L, determined not to lose him in the crowd.

L stopped when he got to a pair of a man and a woman. Naeva quickly closed the distance between them, forming a grin on his lip.

"L!" Naeva greeted, waving at the other boy when he turned to see who had called his name.

L raised an eyebrow, confusion on his otherwise expressionless face. Naeva finally reached him, letting out a short breath. A grin effortlessly sliding into his face

"You walk fast." Naeva said "You remember me right? At the beach? You helped me at the beach —"

Recognition slowly formed on L's face as he nodded slightly. "Right. Hello." he said after a moment in a monotone voice.

Naeva was about to say something when he was interrupted by the melody-like voice of the lady L had been talking to.

 "L, you didn't tell me you made a friend." she said, eyes trailing over Naeva.

Naeva smiled politely at her, holding out his hand for a shake "Hello, I'm Naeva." he introduced himself.

The lady shook his hand lightly, the man next to her having a tighter yet painless grip compared to her's. They both smiled at him.

"Hello, Naeva. L didn't mention he met someone as gorgeous as you. I'm Meriwether and he —" she pointed at the man next to her "is Lewis We're L's parents by the way. Thank you for attending his birthday party. He doesn't have many friends and —"

"Mom" L quickly cut into his mother's words causing her to giggle.

Naeva took a closer look at Meriwether and Lewis. Except for the black dot on Meriwether's cheek and the dimples of Lewis, they didn't have any resemblance to L. If he wasn't told, he wouldn't have thought they were so closely related.

Naeva turned back to L, remembering the rest of Meriwether's words "It's your birthday party?" He asked

"Of course, it is." Meriwether replied before her son could "It's L awakening birthday, of course we'll throw a party. It's not every day one turns sixteen."

"He'll be off to Ovithan tomorrow. Although The Hallowed Academy doesn't begin admission until the fifth, it's best to get a few days to prepare for the ceremony" Lewis adds in. "I wonder if L will awaken as a Vampire again. He awakened as Wizard on his last sixteenth birthday and an Hybrid one time, you see."

Meriwether grinned, missing the confused expression on Naeva's face as she continued from where her husband had stopped.

"When is your awakening, sweetheart? From the looks of it, it'll be your first awakening, no? What do you wish to awaken as?"

Naeva stood unmoving on his spot, brain working in an attempt to understand what the two adults were going on about.

Wizard?

Vampire?

Awakening?

Naeva's thoughts spiraled when he realized his eyes hadn't twisted because of their words. They were not joking. Their words resounded in his ears, dragging him into an endless maze of questions and confusion.

Lewis and Meriwether didn't notice the conflict going on behind his eyes. They continued chatting about some other absurd things. Naeva, however, did not hear another word of theirs. His brain could not process the things he had already heard, let alone taken in other information.

L, who wasn't in any way paying attention to his parents, turned to Naeva. He was about to say something when he saw the confused expression on Naeva's face.

L frowned, reaching out to touch Naeva's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Firm fingers suddenly wrap around L's wrist, pulling it away from Naeva's shoulder. L turned to the owner of the hand with a glare

"He's fine."

Naeva jolts out of his daze at the sound of Saden's voice. He turned around, looking at Saden with wide eyes.

"Saden?" He asked in a small, questioning voice.

Saden glanced at Naeva before turning back to L and his parents "We're about to leave, please excuse us." he said.

Meriwether frowned, "but the party just begun." she said.

Saden smiled apologizingly. "I apologize but we have to leave now. Oh, and happy birthday L." he said and began leading Naeva away.

Naeva allowed himself to be led away from the party, the music becoming background noise as they walked out of the building.

Saden led him to the spot where the camper was parked. A frown formed on Naeva's face when he said their parents and his older sister were waiting by the camper.

How were they already there? Did Saden call them? Naeva quickly canceled that thought. Saden hadn't taken his phone out since Saden had taken him away from L and L's parents.

"Baby," Mrs. Umbrielle pulled Naeva into her hands as soon as they were close enough. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

Naeva gave them a look of confusion before he spoke, "I'm fine. What's going on? Why's everyone here?"

Mr. Umbrielle pulled the keys out of his pocket. "We're leaving, now." He said and made his way to the driver's seat.

Naeva blinked, his confusion deepening "Why? What's going on? Is this about what Meriwether and Lewis —"

"We'll talk about that when we get home, Naeva?"

Naeva watched as Nyx and their mother got into the camper, Saden looked at him apologizingly before taking Naeva's hand and pulling him into the camper.

Engines roared to live, the head and tail lights coming on as the camper slowly pulled out of the parking lot, the party slowly fading into the distance as they drove away.

The drive was quiet, extremely quiet. Not even Nyx obnoxiously loud music could be heard for the next four hours. They barely passed any other cars and Naeva figured that was because it was currently a few minutes into one. The sky was dark, the street illuminated but the streetlights on both sides of the road. Most people would be asleep by now.

It seemed like forever when the camper slowed down as it drove near the house, the automatic gate sliding open for them to drive in.

Nyx didn't wait for the camper to be parked properly before she jumped out of it, marching towards the front door with Saden at her tail. Naeva slowly made his way in, followed behind by their parents who were whispering something to themselves.

Nyx stormed out of the kitchen when Naeva arrived at the living room. She tossed one of the two cans of alcoholic beverages she had with her before planting herself firmly into a couch.

Mr. and Mrs. Umbrielle walked into the living room seconds later, and to Naeva's surprise, Mrs. Umbrielle had a huge smile on her face. Mr. Umbrielle however, looked unsure as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Okay everyone," Mrs. Umbrielle said merrily, clasping her hands together in front of her "please wash up before you go to bed. God knows how much germs you caught from all that sweety body at the —"

"Mom!"

It was Nyx who interrupted her, a disbelieving look directed to Mrs. Umbrielle on her face. Naeva could only look at his mother in disbelief. Did she just try to act like nothing wrong?

A sigh came from behind Naeva. Saden shifts on the couch, opening the can of drink he had with him.

"Seriously, mother. He'll be leaving in two days. I think it's about time he knows." Saden said.

Naeva didn't have a chance to voice his confusion before Mr. Umbrielle's voice sounded in the room as he returned from the kitchen.

"The kid is right, dear" he said "You can't keep him sheltered for much longer."

Mr. Umbrielle sat down on the couch directly opposite the television. He dropped the canned drinks he had with him, tossing one of the non-alcoholic one to Naeva who caught it clumsily.

"Babe," He called to Mrs. Umbrielle who seemed to be lost in thoughts. "Come, sit."

Hesitantly, Mrs. Umbrielle approached the couch where her husband sat and sat next to him, accepting the drink he held out to her.

Mr. Umbrielle turned to Naeva who still didn't know what to make out of the situation.

 "Take a seat, Naeva. It's going to be a long morning." he said.

Naeva slowly sat on the couch to his father's right, opposite Nyx and Saden. He looked at everyone's face, taking in their expressions.

Naeva had a feeling in his mind that this won't just be a long morning, be a plot twist in his life and somehow, perhaps due to Meriwether and Lewis words repeating in his head, Naeva already had an idea of what it would be.

It was going to be a long morning.