Back to Gyneira

"Kathy! Kathy!" I shouted and broke her door to enter her room. She had a habbit of locking her door before going to sleep. She was a girl so how could I blame her for doing that? When I rushed inside, my whole body froze and I stood there, on the spot, without moving an inch. I never felt this kind of a helplessness before. For the first time in my sixteen years old life, I felt I'm the most useless elder brother in the world.

The giant vampire smirked sarcastically when he saw my sorry state. He grabbed my sister by her shoulder and waist. He must be hypnotizing her using his power. He was doing the same thing to me. We could do nothing to stop him. How many times did I wish that I had my superpowers at this moment? If I had them, I would fight with all my might till my last breathe so that I could save my sister from this evil monster. Now all I could do was to stand there like a fool and wait for the vampire to kidnap my sister.

That night I dressed up hurriedly and put any cloth my hand touched, into my suitcase. I didn't bother to check them. The sweat popped on my forehead and flowed down to my cheeks. I was so anxious and afraid that for a moment, I couldn't figure out what to do. Finally I gulped down a whole glass of water to calm down myself. I should believe myself. I have to be strong in order to save my sister. I strengthened my mind, thinking like that.

I stopped a taxi and sat on the back seat with my huge suitcase. The driver gave me a suspicious look. He must be thinking that I was a lad who tried to run away from his family in the middle of the night. But I didn't have the time to explain things to him or care what he thought of me. I simply told him to drop me at the railway station. I had to take the very first train to go to my home town. I sighed heavily and deeply. It was a very long time, since I left that place.

The train took almost four hours to reach Gyneira, my home town. I stopped a taxi there and dragged my exhausted body towards the back seat. This long journey made me spend all my savings I collected since last three months from my temprary job as a waiter in a small café. But compared with my sister, it was worthless to even mention. As soon as I said the address to the taxi driver, he shot me a startled look before nodding his head.

"Little boy, Are you going there to find a job? But aren't you too young to do such heavy work?" After a while, the driver opened his mouth. I didn't want to feed him with gossips so I remained silent. "The old master is so weak now. I bet when his grandson comes, he will be dead by then." I was so irritated when I heard him. "Shut up, grandpa won't die that easily." I blurted out. The driver was so stupefied that he almost stepped on his break.

He turned to me and stammered. "S-sir, what did you mean by that?" He no longer called me a little boy, much to my satisfaction. He secretly sized me up and down. I knew that he was looking at my cheap clothes. He must be amazed that the future owner of the Criteria mansion was a very poor boy. Yep, I was poor but... I liked it because I never wanted to rely on my grandpa's wealth. He was the government mayor of Gyneira for years. If my sister and I were to live in his mansion, we wouldn't have to worry about food or anything for the rest of our lives. It's just that we didn't want to depend on his wealth. We wanted to stand by our own foot. If my sister hadn't been kidnapped, I would have never stepped on this so called mansion until my last day. However, things are different now.

I didn't speak further and just closed my tired eyes to take a short rest. The driver must be scared by me as he didn't try to speak to me after that. Half an hour later, I finally reached my destination. Getting off the cab, I paid his amount. The driver took it with shaking hands before leaving hurriedly. I sighed and looked at the gigantic mansion in front of me. It has been eight years since I left this place.

I rang the door bell.

"Ding dong!"

I heard someone's footsteps before the door opened with a slight crack. Ofcaurse, as the time passed, this mansion grew old as well. The door seemed to be repaired sooner or later. "Gosh! Young master! Is this really you?"The butler's face brightened and he exclaimed in disbelief. I gave him a sincere smile before saying, "Long time no see, Butler Shan." Tears welled up in his eyes when he heard my words. "Young master..." His voice sounded with a deep sorrow.

"Who's that?" I heard a low, hoarse voice inside the mansion. I instantly recognized it. It was my grandpa, Mr. Neithen Criteria. "Master, it's young master. He has finally arrived."The butler turned to him and said in a loud voice filled with excitement. "What?" I heard my grandpa's voice full of doubts. He approached us. His sharp but deep gaze fell upon me.

"Zeiraq Criteria, you are back."