Chapter 2:
"Surprise Revealed"
September 11th, 2014, 6:47am
We had arrived at the airport within plenty of time to spare. Our flight doesn't leave till 8:30am, still I would like to know where were going though, I'm sure Vanessa will tell me once we get inside. We pulled up to International Gate #3 for departures, close to the doors as possible. It was quite busy outside for an early morning, a couple tour buses parked behind us, letting passengers off, some cabbies, taxis and limos parked in front of us as well, probably waiting for some people to arrive so they can give them a ride back home I'm guessing.
We got out once the car was parked, we quickly got our bags and luggages from the trunk. Soon as we got that done, we quickly went to Mrs. Garcia's side of the car where her window was open to say our goodbyes.
"Alright girls, have fun, be safe, both of you email or text me when you get to the
hotel"
"Yes we will" Both of us said
"Oh and happy birthday Kristina, enjoy it best as you can, your going to love what Vanessa planned for you" she said to me smiling.
"Thank you, I will and hopefully it's something I'll love and enjoy" I said smiling back turning my head towards Vanessa.
"Well then you should get going then, don't want you girls to miss your flight now"
"Yes, Mom, love you" Vanessa said, going to give her a kiss. "Love you too baby girl" she said kissing her back.
We stepped back a bit to make sure that we weren't on the road, blocking the oncoming vehicles.
With that, Mrs. Garcia started the car, giving us a quick honk and final wave before heading down back towards the main road. We waved back as we watched her leave.
Vanessa then turned to look me. "You, ready for this?"
I gulped "Ready as I'll ever be" I said still shaking a bit but determined.
"You'll be fine, I was nervous too the first time so try not to be scared about it. Your going to love what I choose for you and trust me by the end of this vacation your gonna thank me"
"Alright, since your my best friend and I love you so damn much, I'll trust you on this one" I said.
She smiled "Good, cause you should know that this is your present from me and that I want you to have the best birthday possible and be happy, that's how I like seeing you" she said reassuring.
"Your right, it's a big one for me so I have to be happy for this one and make it count"
"That's the spirit! she cheerfully said.
I giggled at her comment.
"Well, we should start heading in before it gets busy in there. Shall we go then?"
"Yes, we shall"
With that we headed towards the sliding doors and went inside.
I hope Vanessa's right, because if she isn't then I'm so going to get her for this.
~~~~~
September 11th, 2014, 6:50am
It was cool when we're inside, we both were sweating like hell on our way here, it's still summer after all, so it's still very hot outside.
"Ahh, so cool in here!" I said feeling relieved.
"Yeah, thank god" Vanessa said fanning herself with her right hand.
We looked around to see that it wasn't too bad in here, especially the line ups for the flight check in, some were completely dead/empty, half full or busy.
"Line ups aren't too bad actually, that's a good sign" Vanessa said
"Yeah, your right" I said.
I looked around briefly for a moment, until my eyes found a screen on top in front of me. On it was displaying the information on the flights for today, it was showing other airlines and their times of their departures. I didn't know which one was ours, now would be a good time to find out.
"Well now that were here now, are you going to tell me where your taking me? You promised that you were going to tell me once we were here?"
"Oh, right thanks for reminding, almost forgot…" She was about to say something when we heard voices behind us.
"There you are, about time you both showed up!"
We both turned to see Adeline coming towards us, along with Alice right behind her.
They were my two other best friends who lived close by to Vanessa and I, Adeline was 2 streets down from us except Alice who was about 30 minutes from where we were. A bit of a drive to her place but still close by though without traffic getting in the way.
"Hey girl, yeah we just got here, I was just about to tell Kristina her big birthday surprise!"
"Ok well make it quick, we've been here since after 6:00am and were STARVING!"
Adeline said moving her finger back and forth referring to her and Alice while getting impatient.
"Ok, ok relax, I'm going to right now…" Vanessa turned back to me.
"So wanna know where were going?"
"Yeah, I've been dying to find out ever since you first told me" I said eagerly waiting.
"Ok well, actually I thought about it and thought this would be a better idea. I was thinking instead of me telling you, I want you to find out yourself"
I was confused. "Huh?"
"I'm going to give you a hint and your going to use it to find out where I'm taking you, sound fair?"
"Oh I get it now, sounds fair then, shouldn't be that hard then"
"Ok then, ready?" announced Vanessa
"Yep" I said readying myself.
"AF356"
I quickly thought for a moment, then it hit me, on the flight information display screen, I saw it showing a bunch of numbers beside the airline and dates, I remembered now, those were actually the flight numbers for each of the airlines displayed. If I find that, then I'll find out where Vanessa's taking me.
I looked back at it again and yes, as I said, there were bunch of flight numbers next to their particular airline. I didn't want to waste time, so I quickly looked at the screen to find AF356. It didn't take me long to find it. I spotted it near the top of the display screen. I looked to the left beside it...
Destination: Paris
My eyes widened, I covered my mouth with my left hand to keep it from dropping. I turned to Vanessa.
"For real?" I asked shocked but happily.
"Yes, for real!" Vanessa said nodding her head with a big smile on her face.
"I remember you telling me one time that you wanted to go somewhere in Europe besides where your family came from plus I just went a couple years ago for art school there so I thought why not Paris?"
I squealed then ran to give her a huge hug.
"OMG! I love you so much, I'm speechless right now! Thank you so much!"
"Hey, don't thank me yet, I've got so much more planned not just you but for all of us to enjoy and have fun together!"
Sensing the look I have on my face that I just learned where we're going and that I'm extremely excited about it, happy and relieved, Adeline and Alice decided joined in as well.
But the moment got ruined for a second when...
*gurgle, gurgle* We all looked to our stomachs.
"Well guess that's a sign telling us it's time to go, shall we girls?"
Vanessa asked us.
"We shall" Me and the other girls said in unison.
With that we grab our bags and headed off into the line up to check in for our flight.
~~~~
September 11th, 7:15am
After checking in and going through security screening, we spotted a small restaurant that was serving a breakfast buffet so we decided to go there to eat.
We walked up to the hostess and she looked up to us. She greeted us with a smile.
"Hello there, for 4 I'm assuming?"
"Yes, please" Vanessa simply replied.
"Alright, anywhere you'd like"
"Thank you so much!" Vanessa said back.
We tried to look for a table closest to the restaurant doors, so that when were finished then we can just head straight to the waiting area for our flight, luckily there was a empty table right in front of us, close to the entrance, so we walked up to it and placed our purses down on the chairs.
Vanessa insisted that I'd go first since it's technically my birthday but I let Adeline and Alice go first, they've been here way before us plus after waiting for so long I bet that they'd be starving by now.
While they went up to get their food, a waitress came by and asked what we wanted to drink. Vanessa and I both got coffees with cream and sugar. Then the waitress went away to get them for us.
Then I looked to Vanessa. "So, what kind of stuff have you got planned for us?" I asked her.
"I'll discuss that while were eating, let's go get our food first then will talk."
"Sounds good" I replied
Adeline and Alice came back after a few minutes with their plates of food and just by looking at what they have, I just wanna grab theirs myself.
"Hey guys, you've gotta check out that buffet, everything just looks so good there right now, go now before they're finished" Alice said to us, nodding her head toward where the buffet was.
Vanessa and I then got up from our seats and went to go get our food.
We came back after a few minutes, Alice was right, the food looked absolutely good, I just wanted to grab the whole pans of food for myself, there was tons of breakfast items to choose from so I got one of everything pretty much.
Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, maple glazed ham, potato tots and some toast with a small container of butter to go with it.
Everyone just stopped eating, some with food in their mouth still, and started gawking at me when I came back with my plate of food.
"Well, someone's hungry this morning" Adeline said with a piece of toast in her mouth still.
"I didn't have much for dinner last night, ok!" I said back almost criticizing her.
She chuckled a bit. So did Vanessa and Alice. I gave a sly smile and rolled my eyes 'typical' I said in my head.
Vanessa then spoke up "Alright ladies, now that were all here, let's get down to business, here's what the plan is, I'm only saying this once, so listen carefully…"
We all nodded then leaned in to listen to her.
"The hotel were staying at is called La Reserve Paris, so when we get there, we'll unpack our stuff quickly, since it'll be late by the time we get there, we'll just grab something quick along there The first few days, will be just getting familiar with the area. Next week, I've planned a bunch of activities for us to do: Tuesday's going to be a full day of relaxation at the spa, Wednesday, I've booked us for 2 private tours, a wine and castle tour for the day. Thursday, which is Kris's special day, it's gonna be a surprise and lastly Friday will be Disneyland all day. After that then we have the rest of the trip to do whatever we feel like doing. Everyone got that?" she said, closing her hands together then pointing and looking to everyone at the table.
"Got it!" Alice said.
"Me too!" I said.
"Me three! Just thinking about it is making me excited! This is going to be so much fun!" Adeline said with excitement, clapping to herself.
A thought then occurred to me.
Vanessa turned to me. "What's up?" She looked concerned. "I know it's gonna be a busy week but you'll have so much fun there, trust me".
I snapped out of my thought. I looked at her.
"Oh, I'm fine, really" I said reassuring her. "I was just gonna ask which castle were going to after the wine tour?"
"Oh, well I was actually going to tell you when we get to Paris but since everyone's here already, I'll tell you."
We all leaned in to listen.
"I'll make this quick since we have to get going soon…"
"Avalon Castle, built in 1395, a beautiful and mesmerizing palace that anybody would want to stay at or even live there. It once belonged to King Jules the 1st, a wise and great ruler, who loved his kingdom and everyone around him, especially his son and grandson, who meant the world to him more than anything. In 1415, he fell ill all of sudden and died, just days after visiting his grandson for his 15th birthday."
"Oh my god, that's so tragic. I can't imagine what his family was going through…"
Adeline said looking down but also shocked.
"It got even worse after that…"
"Why, what happened" I said starting to get curious and worried.
"…just days after his grandson turned 15, he moved into his castle after something bad happened to him while being out late one night…
"What happened to him? Do you know?" Adeline asked.
"From what I heard, he got attacked by a creature…"
"What kind of creature" Alice asked
Vanessa closed her eyes for a moment then opened them back up, she got serious for a moment.
…a Vampire"
The three of us all gasped.
"Yes, a vampire. He knew that he was going to become one himself eventually so he simply had no other choice but to leave his kingdom so that he could protect everyone and himself, even the people he loved most."
"Poor thing" I said looking devastated.
"Yes it is, and get this, I've heard rumours that he comes around at nighttime, looking for something specific. I don't know what it is but we'll probably find out more once we get there I guess."
"Maybe" I said.
After a moment of silence came around us, Vanessa spoke up again.
"Well, we should get going, it's getting late and our flight is going to be here soon, I'll get the bill, you guys can start heading out if you want or just wait for me by the front doors"
"Yes, Ma'am" Adeline said.
"Sounds good" Alice said.
"Good enough for me" I said
With that, the three of us got up from our seats, grabbed our bags and purses, and headed out towards the front doors to wait for Vanessa.
~~~~
September 11th, 2014, 7:47am
We had just arrived at the waiting area, there were other people already waiting by the doors to open up to get inside the airplane, some were still sitting in the attached chairs and some were by the big window looking at the big aircraft in front of us. Just outside the big window, I could see a bunch of vehicles by the huge aircraft. One was a truck with a picture of fruits and vegetables on the side that was facing us, for sure that's a delivery truck loading the food and beverages in to the plane, the other vehicle was smaller, carrying all the baggage and luggage to the cargo carrier down beneath.
We turned and huddled up together. Vanessa spoke up.
"Ok, well there's already a line up starting to form so what we'll do is Kris and I will wait in the line up while you two can sit in the chairs and keep an eye out."
We all nodded in agreement. Vanessa and I went to the line up while Adeline and Alice went to go sit in the nearest chairs.
The line up wasn't long really, about a few good amount of people in front of us.
10 minutes later… 7:57am
Even though we've been waiting for about 10 minutes, It felt like forever, I was starting to get more and more anxious as we stood in line, not only that, my whole body was just shaking uncontrollably, my heart was beating so fast that it wouldn't stop, making this even more nerve wrecking for me. But that's not what's making me worry most.
My mind suddenly went back to the story of that young prince that got attacked by a vampire years ago. I can't even imagine what he through, suffering all of that trouble and pain at such a young age. I almost cried at the thought.
How did he react when he found out that his grandfather had passed on?
How did he feel after that? Shocked? Sad? Angry? Depressed maybe? All of the above? Why was he out that one late night?
Was it cause of his grandfather's sudden passing? Did it upset him so much that it made him ran off so suddenly?
Or something else?
After all these years, even as a vampire, I bet he still feels like that, exactly the same as it all started for him.
Vanessa mentioned that he comes out at night, looking for something specific, but what?
What's his purpose? Evil? Hatred? Revenge?…Love?
Are those rumours really true? If they are, then, I don't know what to expect.
I had so many questions right now, I didn't know which one to start with. I guess I'll have to wait until we get there to find out.
I was so distracted right now, that I didn't realize the doors to the airplane were opened up.
Vanessa snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Uh, hello?
I suddenly snapped out of my thoughts. "Huh" I said looking at her.
She pointed me towards something. I looked to see what she was referring too, the doors to the airplane were already open and that the other people in front of us have already gone in.
"Whoops, my bad" I apologized as I was walking toward the female flight attendant in the red uniform to hand her my flight ticket. I then started to head down into the dark tunnel towards to the aircraft. Good thing Vanessa booked first class for us. That I was going to enjoy for sure.
Vanessa then spotted Adeline and Alice not too far from us, she then waved at them to get their attention, they looked up to see her gesturing to them saying that it's time to go and that people were starting to head in, they got the message and started to get their bags and purses, they got up from their seats and quickly walked over to where the flight attendant was standing to hand her their tickets, Vanessa did the same thing as well. They then walked into the dark tunnel ahead of them. As soon as everyone was on board, the young flight attendant then doubled checked to make sure that no one was left behind. When she saw that there was no else left, she then went inside toward the plane and closed the doors behind her.
As soon as everyone was inside, the tunnel for the plane started to come unattached, within minutes it was gone.
As soon as I saw it disappear, I lost all hope.
"This is it" I said smiling nervously toward Vanessa who was sitting next to me. She looked at me, she can obviously tell that I was very shaken up.
She then grabbed my hand.
"It is" She said smiling nervously, her voice also shaken up but with excitement in it.
We looked over beside us, Adeline and Alice were also doing the same thing holding each others hand. We all did.
They then looked at us. "Ready, girls?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah!" Adeline said feeling adrenaline going inside of her.
"I've been ready since the day you first booked this vacation" Alice said next feeling determined.
"Ready as I'll ever be" I said, my voice still sounding shaky but determined as well.
"Same here" Vanessa said lastly.
This was really it. I was finally going to leave my home country to experience something new and exciting, all on my own. The only thing I had to do right now was breathe and pray for this to be all good and that we'll get to Paris safe and
