Firenze Black looked up at the bright round moon and allowed the moonlight
to wash over him. The wind ruffled his amber red hair and lit up the
angelic hollow of his face. Dropping the deer and wiping his mouth clean,
he walked towards the waiting group on the top of the mountain.
"That was an excellent hunt, wasn't it, you Highness?" His servant, Connell Reece bowed towards him. Firenze nodded his head and strode towards the towering castle in the valley. In the public, they were master and servant, but in private, they were childhood playmates and now best of friends.
When they were in Firenze's bedroom, Connell immediately leapt onto his bed and started laughing.
"You are too daring," chastised Firenze. "Leaping onto your master's bed and without permission too?!"
"Come on. Don't be so stingy. After all, we are best of friends, no?" Connell's voice came out muffled from the mountain of pillows. "Actually, the hunt was no good at all, wasn't it?" Connell said, voicing Firenze's thoughts. "Heck, the range was too small for a kid, needless to say for the prince. What do those nobles treat you as, a over-sized kid?"
"Yeah. I'm seventeen, the crown prince of the Dark Kingdom and the future king too. Who do they think they were, anyway? My nannies?" Firenze muttered, leaping onto the bed. "And animals too. What are they thinking anyway, giving the prince peasant's fare?"
"Hey do you want others?" Connell suggested, turning over and facing Firenze in the eye. "I could sneak one of the slaves here under the pretext of dusting. Then you can..." he rubbed his hands gleefully.
Firenze shook his finger in a reproaching way. "You wanted to break the law about rationing? They were very strict about that. Even my royal status couldn't even change them. Remember Sir Nicholas, the noble with the carrot top. He was caught biting a slave on the finger. The finger only, and he was sentenced to the traditional execution – staking. You wouldn't want to die so early, would you?"
"Gee, no thanks," Connell gulped loudly. "I guess it's a no go. Then shall we sneak out to the Outside?"
When Firenze stared at him puzzledly, he tsked impatiently. "Remember Samhelin? It's tomorrow. And the witches from Circle Midnight will be coming here to discuss about the upcoming Millennium. The eldest nobles will be there too. So the security will be slack and this will enable us to sneak out."
"But what if I'm needed there?" Firenze protested. "With Father not here and I being the crown prince..."
"No sweat," Connell boasted in a confident voice. "I've checked. Only the nobles will be needed there and your uncle will hold the meeting in place for your father. So you and I were practically free. This is a golden opportunity for us," throwing his arms out dramatically, "To explore the great unknown! The range there is huge and we can party till midnight and then sneak back in."
"Well, I'm not sure..." Firenze hemmed and hawed.
Connell smacked him on the back. "Come on, you're the crown prince. Heck, you can get away scot-free even you are caught. Because..." Connell paused for dramatic effect. "You are the crown prince!"
"Besides," Connell smirked. "You are itching to go, aren't you? The daredevil look I knew and love was surfacing on your face anyway."
Firenze grinned. Dropping the goody-goody attitude, he snarled, showing his canine teeth. "Deal. You're on."
Firenze crept out into the silent night. 'Funny,' he thought to himself. 'The night was never quiet at all. Why people still associate it as silent?'
'Because vermin's' hearing are not as good as us?' Connell's mental voice sounded in his mind suddenly.
Firenze whirled about, with his canine teeth extending to the fullest. Connell was behind him, raising his hands in mock horror, then in dawning fear.
The crown prince spoke easily through the fangs. "Connell, what have I told you about reading my mind?" His voice hissed like water on hot steel.
Connell swallowed. "Hey Firenze, hey man. You were broadcasting your thoughts and I couldn't help eavesdropping. Please," Connell retreated until his back smacked up against the numerous marble pillars in the garden. "Please, Your... Highness... Do not... kill me. I... promise never to read your... mind again. I swear it to Maya! I promise..." His voice trembled in the chirping garden, which was like screaming for his punishment.
Firenze glared at Connell till he shrunk away from view. Firenze then strode down the garden path, thinking to himself. 'Sometimes you gotta have to show whose boss or they'd ride over you head! Heck, what was I thinking anyway? Taking out on Connell because I'm jumpy? There certainly is something wrong with my temper today. Must keep my cool and block my thoughts. Just because I'm not careful doesn't mean I need to frighten my best bud.'
Glancing at Connell, Firenze couldn't help but to stifle a smirk. God, Connell really thought that he was having his royal tantrum and was now trying to stay away from him as far as possible until he cooled down.
Suddenly feeling magnanimous, Firenze slapped Connell on the back and grinned. "Hey old buddy, I didn't scare you out of your wits, right?"
Connell whirled around and heaved a sigh of relief. Then his ever -familiar cocky attitude came back and he grinned back at Firenze. "Firenze man, did you scare the life out of me! I thought that you were really angry and would send me tumbling down the valley."
"Hey, that thought did cross my mind." Pulling Connell by the arm, he spoke. "Come on, we'd better sneak out of the castle before we were spotted by the guards."
Strolling casually down the garden path and nodding to the guards at the gate, Firenze and Connell pretended to be walking to the other side of the valley. But when they were out of the guards' view, they immediately sneaked to a secret tunnel that Connell's grandfather had told him about.
Scraping away the plants that had grown over the wall for decades, a man- sized hole gradually emerged. Firenze went in first while Connell waited a few seconds before squeezing in. The hole was dark and uncomfortable with a musty smell polluting the air.
Firenze continued walking till he saw a faint glimmer of light in front of him. They must be there! Struggling to breathe properly in the suddenly stale air, Firenze continued forward and stumbled into the Outside, gasping. Connell came out after a few minutes later, breathing heavily.
"Phew. I thought we'd never make it to the outside," Connell panted. Firenze ignored him, being too engrossed in the night view of the city. Connell and Firenze stared at the picturesque, communicating mentally. 'Firenze, this is it. Our manhood starts at the beginning of this day. Come on, let's party!" Whooping wildly, the boys ran down the slope in search of easy prey.
Geraldine and her boyfriend were in the middle of a busy street. Instead like any ordinary couple whom would be whispering mushy things to one another, they were hurling verbal abuse to each other.
"Get out of my sight, you bitch!" Jake yelled in pain, pushing away Geraldine and rubbing his bitten arm.
"You heatless jerk! I treated you like gold but you betrayed me and dumped me like any common rubbish on the ground," screamed a teary Geraldine.
"I don't love you anymore and I definitely had a better girlfriend now than a whiny bitch like you. Now, get off me!"
"Never!"
Their struggle had begun to attract a small crowd of passer-bys. Jake struggled violently and threw Geraldine hard on the ground. Geraldine cried out in pain.
"Now, you're gonna pay back what you did to me..." Jake grabbed Geraldine by her shirt collar.
Geraldine flinched, waiting for the blow to come. But the blow never came. She slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to see Jake being held off by a handsome guy.
The guy shoved Jake aside and spoke in a reproaching tone. "Guys should never ever attack a girl. You are a disgrace to us men."
Growling angrily, Jake threw a punch to the guy's face. "You son of a bitch...!"
But the blow never landed on its destination. Instead, the guy ducked under Jake's swinging arm and twisted behind his back. Jake cried out in amazement and pain. The crowd gasped in surprise.
Geraldine dropped open her mouth in amazement. This guy's movements were faster than light and were smooth like liquid unlike Jake who had to pause for a moment to see where his opponent was before he could aim.
The guy continued twisting Jake's arm while his companion questioned him. "Are you going to apologize to that young lady or not?"
Jake shook his head definitely. "Go to hell. There's no way I'm going to apologize to that bitch."
Geraldine bristled. The guy drawled, "Fine, it's your choice then," and continued adding pressure until Jake couldn't take the pain and screamed out in agony.
"Are you going to apologize or not? Your arm's gonna break soon and I can assure that the hospital treatment isn't going to be less painful either."
"I will! I will! Please let go of my arm..."
The guy suddenly let go and Jake immediately dropped to the ground groaning in pain and massaged his black-blue arm.
The guy gave an expectant cough, causing Jake to shift restlessly. Under the expectant stares of the guy and the crowd of passer-bys, Jake hurried towards Geraldine, threw her a dirty look and muttered an inaudible 'Sorry' before taking flight like a frightened hare.
Geraldine blew a raspberry at his departing shadow while the guy strode in front of her and stretched out a hand and smiled. "Would you be needing help, Miss?"
Geraldine flushed a dull red and stuttered. "Oh! Yes... yes, thank you so much..."
Sparks flew immediately at the contact of their hands. Geraldine yelped as a lightning bolt zipped through her fingers right up to her arm, resulting her mind to be in a haze.
The haze whirled about her eyes and clouded, causing her to blacken out. A hand shot out beneath her and steadied her from falling. But nevertheless, Geraldine was already oblivious to the happenings around her.
Firenze stared at the dead weight leaning on his shoulder. Her black hair fanned out on his shoulder and her creamy face was now pale and slumping on his body.
Connell hurried up to him and spoke in a worried tone. "Are you all right? This girl just fainted suddenly. Did you," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "use your Power to knock her out?"
Firenze perked up, seemingly wanting to answer. But he stopped and sank back into the depths of his thoughts.
Firenze thought back to the weird incident when his hand made contact with the girl just now. He ignored Connell's buzzing and pondered deeply.
'Was it... the ancient Magick at work? Was the girl... a soulmate of his...? Impossible!' Firenze shook his head, hard. He couldn't... be soulmates... with this human... a vermin who was only worthy of being hunted and killed. He shook the body once to try waking the senseless girl up. But it failed.
While Firenze was doing his best to wake up Geraldine, Connell had sneaked off with a girl at each shoulder. Their heroic acts had attracted the admiration of the females in the crowd.
Connell winked at Firenze and yelled mentally. 'Woo hoo! I'm gonna party all night. All night... Uh huh, uh huh. Take care of yourself, Firenze. Anyway that girl looked real cute too.'
Being alone, Firenze winced mentally at his bad luck. Of all bad happenings, he had to be stuck with an unconscious one. But Connell's right in a way, the girl was cute. He tilted her back in a fireman's lift and walked towards a nearby park.
Geraldine woke up with a splitting headache. She groaned inwardly to herself. It had been such a nice dream. A prince in shining armor had came to her rescue from the callous beast Jake. And they were twirling about in a shower of flower petals. The prince had then dipped her, leaning closer towards her... And that's when she woke up. To add insult to injury, she was also black and bruised from the fall that Jake had unceremoniously thrown down onto the hard-packed earth.
She sighed and rubbed her aching shoulders. Then she positioned herself into a sitting position, getting ready to leave. That's when she saw her rescuer leaning on a grass patch beside her. His eyes closed and oblivious to the things around him.
Geraldine leaned over him. When her fingers brushed the bare skin of his arm, she tingled and was zapped with a sudden volt of electricity, making her pores all open.
She sucked in her breath. So it had not been a dream. She was indeed rescued by this stranger. She hesitantly touched his angelic face lit up by the round moon up in the sky and her heart skipped a beat.
He was... the handsomest man she'd ever seen in her life. His amber red hair fallen over his face was glowing like the embers in a dying fire. His thick eyelashes covered his amber ruby eyes, which was shining like twin flames... which was now staring right at Geraldine.
Geraldine immediately shifted back to her sitting position while Firenze slowly moved into a slouching position.
"Are you all right?" The voice echoed in the silence between them.
"I'm... I'm fine. Thank you very much for rescuing me from Jake," Geraldine stammered. God, she was getting nervous now. "Umm.. how are you feeling then?"
"Not okay at all." The abrupt reply stunned Geraldine. Perhaps he was hurt during the scuffle. Jake had landed a couple of hard blows on him.
"Are you hurt? Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Come, let me check your injuries." Geraldine's nursing instincts shifted into high gear. She bent down over Firenze and began examining the nearest part of the body.
Firenze breathed in deeply the jasmine scent that Geraldine sprayed around her and allowed his teeth to extend slowly. He bent over her neck and stopped, startled when Geraldine finished binding his bleeding arm with a handkerchief.
"There, all done. You must remember to get that fixed when you get home," Geraldine advised in her bossy tone that she usually used with her patients. Firenze nodded, surprised and intimidated at Geraldine's sudden change in behaviour.
While Geraldine continued in her checkup, Firenze stared at her in amazement. No one, not even his parents had shown showed much love and care . In his world, it was a dog-eat-dog society. The nobles practically kill each other just for food and assurance of survival in the kingdom. But Geraldine had showered him with so much love and care that she would have for her family, even though he was a total stranger.
She was... still able to stare him in the face when... she could have run away from him. When he pretended to be asleep, she didn't move away silently but waited for him to wake up. Her black hair had shimmered in the moonlight while her sorrel eyes shone gently back at him. When she smiled, her gentleness took his breath away.
He couldn't... he could not attack a girl that took such good care of him. He just couldn't do it.
Brushing away a startled Geraldine, he picked up his duster on the ground and shoved his arm into the wrong arm. Chagrined, he twisted and strode down the garden path.
Geraldine sat there, stunned. Then she shook her head and chased after him. Petals flew into the sky when she made her way through the rose bushes. Firenze was walking much faster. Geraldine panicked. The distance between them was getting greater.
"Firenze, wait for me! Stop please! Ouch!"
Geraldine stumbled into a pothole that was invisible in the dark. She tried to stand up but was stopped by a sudden pain in the ankle. Her ankle was twisted. She tried to stand up regardless of the pain. But she gave up when the pain got unbearable.
Firenze had stopped when he heard Geraldine' cry. He started to walk away again when he heard Geraldine's groans of pain. Stopping, he spun around and headed back for Geraldine, berating himself for his lack of will.
Walking faster with every groan Geraldine emitted, he reached Geraldine in few seconds. He bent down and examined Geraldine's injured ankle. Geraldine gasped and bit her tongue with every bolt of pain that shot up her leg as Firenze prodded gently on her swollen ankle.
Firenze glanced at Geraldine's pain-filled face. It was obvious that her ankle was twisted and she probably couldn't walk home in a condition like this.
"You humans sure have a way of injuring yourselves when time calls for it," Firenze muttered under his breath. Geraldine groaned in pain and murmured, "What did you say?"
"Nothing." Squatting down, Firenze stared Geraldine in the face and leaned forward. Geraldine held her breath as he leaned closer and closer.
She was mildly disappointed when he stood up and looked around.
"We need to call for help. Your ankle is turning blue-black. We'd better call an ambulance!"
"No!" Firenze stared down at a struggling Geraldine. She struggled up and leaned against the tree for support. "If the paramedics knew that a nurse twisted her ankle and could do nothing about it, I'll be the laughingstock of the hospital!"
Firenze grinned at Geraldine's pride. He stifled his laughter and stared back at a stubborn Geraldine.
"No can't do, missy. You are going to the hospital whether you like it or not." He moved forward.
"No! You beast! Let me down!" Geraldine screamed as Firenze swung up in a cradle sling. She beat him continuously on his chest as he strode down the road.
"Stop that, it's really annoying," Firenze muttered as Geraldine continued to beat him in a frenzy. "Stop that!" he snarled. Geraldine immediately quieted down.
He glared back down at Geraldine. "How dare you, a vermin, touch me, a prince?! You got a death wish, isn't it?"
"What royalty? You are a... prince?! And... how dare you call me a vermin?! This' the worst insult I ever heard since I entered high school!" Geraldine flared up at Firenze's sudden change in temper.
"You don't really know me, do you?" Firenze snickered. "I'm a," he leaned towards Geraldine who shrank away till she bumped against a tree trunk. "I'm a vampire prince and if you aren't careful," his canine teeth extending to the fullest, "You'd be my dinner tonight!"
Geraldine glanced in horror at the canine teeth. 'This couldn't be real... He... a vampire prince... You got to be kidding me... Oh my god, a real vampire in front of me!' Geraldine thought hysterically.
"Hmm. Looks like you got the real deal. So please get over it and give me the respect that I deserved rightfully," Firenze hissed through his teeth without any difficulty. Geraldine just stared back at him in shock.
Firenze stared at the shaking Geraldine. Mustering a grin on his face, he leaned his head down towards Geraldine who immediately covered her face with her hands.
"Humph! I thought you wanted to eat me up for insulting you? Why are you so quiet? No courage to face me, huh?" Snickering, Firenze faced his back towards Geraldine. "Just as I expected, you are afraid. You are just like all the rest of them, vermin."
The mocking voice echoed around the silent park. The wind rustled the trees, causing leaves to fall to the ground.
Geraldine continued standing under the tree, shaking like a leaf. She didn't register anything, until she had what Firenze had said. Vermin... The word echoed around Geraldine's blank mind and she clenched her fist.
Firenze prepared to walk away. Away from his freedom. Away from his other half... his soulmate... Geraldine. He was walking down the garden path when he heard a furious yell. A yell that stopped him from going any further.
Geraldine rushed towards Firenze. She was so blinded by her rage that she almost bumped into a tree when Firenze leapt onto the tree to avoid her punch.
"You... you insolent brat! How dare you insult a girl? Even though you don't like me, you... you can always tell me that... you don't... like me," Geraldine stammered, blushing furiously.
Firenze stared at her, his mouth open as she continued. "There's no need... to insult me about my... feelings for you... when you obviously knew about it... when you rescued me. But... I... I," Geraldine stuttered as Firenze jumped down from the tree.
"You... have feelings for me...?" Firenze trailed off as Geraldine's face got redder and redder.
"Yes! So what? I know that you are a charmer and probably have many girls chasing after you. But... I feel that... you should know my feelings for you. You... can reject me. I just want you to... know... my... feelings..."
Geraldine stopped when Firenze suddenly bent his head and kissed her. The sparks came back full force and hit Geraldine like a blast of wind. But it's very warm and comforting.
Firenze cradled her face and kissed back with passion. Behind that kiss, Geraldine could feel the loneliness that Firenze himself had suffered during his childhood and the longing that he wanted for freedom. She kissed back with her love, hoping her love would chase away his loneliness.
Firenze was drowning in happiness. He was bubbling with Geraldine's love. He held her in his arms and kissed back with his feelings, hoping that she would understand about his troubles at opening his heart to her.
Giggling, Geraldine pushed Firenze away and leaned back against the tree laughing. Firenze gave her a hurt look and pouted out his lower lip.
"Why the hurt puppy look? I thought that you can only give cool as ice expressions," grinned Geraldine as she leaned against Firenze.
"Well. This is the first time I gave someone a puppy-like expression. I'd like to see how one reacts to it. Besides," stroking Geraldine's hair back, "I had just kissed you. I can't believe I had kissed you though."
"What, can't believe you kissed a vermin, isn't it?" Geraldine shot back with sourness in her voice. She can't believe Firenze still thought her as a vermin. Is he an idiot or what?
"That was an excellent hunt, wasn't it, you Highness?" His servant, Connell Reece bowed towards him. Firenze nodded his head and strode towards the towering castle in the valley. In the public, they were master and servant, but in private, they were childhood playmates and now best of friends.
When they were in Firenze's bedroom, Connell immediately leapt onto his bed and started laughing.
"You are too daring," chastised Firenze. "Leaping onto your master's bed and without permission too?!"
"Come on. Don't be so stingy. After all, we are best of friends, no?" Connell's voice came out muffled from the mountain of pillows. "Actually, the hunt was no good at all, wasn't it?" Connell said, voicing Firenze's thoughts. "Heck, the range was too small for a kid, needless to say for the prince. What do those nobles treat you as, a over-sized kid?"
"Yeah. I'm seventeen, the crown prince of the Dark Kingdom and the future king too. Who do they think they were, anyway? My nannies?" Firenze muttered, leaping onto the bed. "And animals too. What are they thinking anyway, giving the prince peasant's fare?"
"Hey do you want others?" Connell suggested, turning over and facing Firenze in the eye. "I could sneak one of the slaves here under the pretext of dusting. Then you can..." he rubbed his hands gleefully.
Firenze shook his finger in a reproaching way. "You wanted to break the law about rationing? They were very strict about that. Even my royal status couldn't even change them. Remember Sir Nicholas, the noble with the carrot top. He was caught biting a slave on the finger. The finger only, and he was sentenced to the traditional execution – staking. You wouldn't want to die so early, would you?"
"Gee, no thanks," Connell gulped loudly. "I guess it's a no go. Then shall we sneak out to the Outside?"
When Firenze stared at him puzzledly, he tsked impatiently. "Remember Samhelin? It's tomorrow. And the witches from Circle Midnight will be coming here to discuss about the upcoming Millennium. The eldest nobles will be there too. So the security will be slack and this will enable us to sneak out."
"But what if I'm needed there?" Firenze protested. "With Father not here and I being the crown prince..."
"No sweat," Connell boasted in a confident voice. "I've checked. Only the nobles will be needed there and your uncle will hold the meeting in place for your father. So you and I were practically free. This is a golden opportunity for us," throwing his arms out dramatically, "To explore the great unknown! The range there is huge and we can party till midnight and then sneak back in."
"Well, I'm not sure..." Firenze hemmed and hawed.
Connell smacked him on the back. "Come on, you're the crown prince. Heck, you can get away scot-free even you are caught. Because..." Connell paused for dramatic effect. "You are the crown prince!"
"Besides," Connell smirked. "You are itching to go, aren't you? The daredevil look I knew and love was surfacing on your face anyway."
Firenze grinned. Dropping the goody-goody attitude, he snarled, showing his canine teeth. "Deal. You're on."
Firenze crept out into the silent night. 'Funny,' he thought to himself. 'The night was never quiet at all. Why people still associate it as silent?'
'Because vermin's' hearing are not as good as us?' Connell's mental voice sounded in his mind suddenly.
Firenze whirled about, with his canine teeth extending to the fullest. Connell was behind him, raising his hands in mock horror, then in dawning fear.
The crown prince spoke easily through the fangs. "Connell, what have I told you about reading my mind?" His voice hissed like water on hot steel.
Connell swallowed. "Hey Firenze, hey man. You were broadcasting your thoughts and I couldn't help eavesdropping. Please," Connell retreated until his back smacked up against the numerous marble pillars in the garden. "Please, Your... Highness... Do not... kill me. I... promise never to read your... mind again. I swear it to Maya! I promise..." His voice trembled in the chirping garden, which was like screaming for his punishment.
Firenze glared at Connell till he shrunk away from view. Firenze then strode down the garden path, thinking to himself. 'Sometimes you gotta have to show whose boss or they'd ride over you head! Heck, what was I thinking anyway? Taking out on Connell because I'm jumpy? There certainly is something wrong with my temper today. Must keep my cool and block my thoughts. Just because I'm not careful doesn't mean I need to frighten my best bud.'
Glancing at Connell, Firenze couldn't help but to stifle a smirk. God, Connell really thought that he was having his royal tantrum and was now trying to stay away from him as far as possible until he cooled down.
Suddenly feeling magnanimous, Firenze slapped Connell on the back and grinned. "Hey old buddy, I didn't scare you out of your wits, right?"
Connell whirled around and heaved a sigh of relief. Then his ever -familiar cocky attitude came back and he grinned back at Firenze. "Firenze man, did you scare the life out of me! I thought that you were really angry and would send me tumbling down the valley."
"Hey, that thought did cross my mind." Pulling Connell by the arm, he spoke. "Come on, we'd better sneak out of the castle before we were spotted by the guards."
Strolling casually down the garden path and nodding to the guards at the gate, Firenze and Connell pretended to be walking to the other side of the valley. But when they were out of the guards' view, they immediately sneaked to a secret tunnel that Connell's grandfather had told him about.
Scraping away the plants that had grown over the wall for decades, a man- sized hole gradually emerged. Firenze went in first while Connell waited a few seconds before squeezing in. The hole was dark and uncomfortable with a musty smell polluting the air.
Firenze continued walking till he saw a faint glimmer of light in front of him. They must be there! Struggling to breathe properly in the suddenly stale air, Firenze continued forward and stumbled into the Outside, gasping. Connell came out after a few minutes later, breathing heavily.
"Phew. I thought we'd never make it to the outside," Connell panted. Firenze ignored him, being too engrossed in the night view of the city. Connell and Firenze stared at the picturesque, communicating mentally. 'Firenze, this is it. Our manhood starts at the beginning of this day. Come on, let's party!" Whooping wildly, the boys ran down the slope in search of easy prey.
Geraldine and her boyfriend were in the middle of a busy street. Instead like any ordinary couple whom would be whispering mushy things to one another, they were hurling verbal abuse to each other.
"Get out of my sight, you bitch!" Jake yelled in pain, pushing away Geraldine and rubbing his bitten arm.
"You heatless jerk! I treated you like gold but you betrayed me and dumped me like any common rubbish on the ground," screamed a teary Geraldine.
"I don't love you anymore and I definitely had a better girlfriend now than a whiny bitch like you. Now, get off me!"
"Never!"
Their struggle had begun to attract a small crowd of passer-bys. Jake struggled violently and threw Geraldine hard on the ground. Geraldine cried out in pain.
"Now, you're gonna pay back what you did to me..." Jake grabbed Geraldine by her shirt collar.
Geraldine flinched, waiting for the blow to come. But the blow never came. She slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to see Jake being held off by a handsome guy.
The guy shoved Jake aside and spoke in a reproaching tone. "Guys should never ever attack a girl. You are a disgrace to us men."
Growling angrily, Jake threw a punch to the guy's face. "You son of a bitch...!"
But the blow never landed on its destination. Instead, the guy ducked under Jake's swinging arm and twisted behind his back. Jake cried out in amazement and pain. The crowd gasped in surprise.
Geraldine dropped open her mouth in amazement. This guy's movements were faster than light and were smooth like liquid unlike Jake who had to pause for a moment to see where his opponent was before he could aim.
The guy continued twisting Jake's arm while his companion questioned him. "Are you going to apologize to that young lady or not?"
Jake shook his head definitely. "Go to hell. There's no way I'm going to apologize to that bitch."
Geraldine bristled. The guy drawled, "Fine, it's your choice then," and continued adding pressure until Jake couldn't take the pain and screamed out in agony.
"Are you going to apologize or not? Your arm's gonna break soon and I can assure that the hospital treatment isn't going to be less painful either."
"I will! I will! Please let go of my arm..."
The guy suddenly let go and Jake immediately dropped to the ground groaning in pain and massaged his black-blue arm.
The guy gave an expectant cough, causing Jake to shift restlessly. Under the expectant stares of the guy and the crowd of passer-bys, Jake hurried towards Geraldine, threw her a dirty look and muttered an inaudible 'Sorry' before taking flight like a frightened hare.
Geraldine blew a raspberry at his departing shadow while the guy strode in front of her and stretched out a hand and smiled. "Would you be needing help, Miss?"
Geraldine flushed a dull red and stuttered. "Oh! Yes... yes, thank you so much..."
Sparks flew immediately at the contact of their hands. Geraldine yelped as a lightning bolt zipped through her fingers right up to her arm, resulting her mind to be in a haze.
The haze whirled about her eyes and clouded, causing her to blacken out. A hand shot out beneath her and steadied her from falling. But nevertheless, Geraldine was already oblivious to the happenings around her.
Firenze stared at the dead weight leaning on his shoulder. Her black hair fanned out on his shoulder and her creamy face was now pale and slumping on his body.
Connell hurried up to him and spoke in a worried tone. "Are you all right? This girl just fainted suddenly. Did you," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "use your Power to knock her out?"
Firenze perked up, seemingly wanting to answer. But he stopped and sank back into the depths of his thoughts.
Firenze thought back to the weird incident when his hand made contact with the girl just now. He ignored Connell's buzzing and pondered deeply.
'Was it... the ancient Magick at work? Was the girl... a soulmate of his...? Impossible!' Firenze shook his head, hard. He couldn't... be soulmates... with this human... a vermin who was only worthy of being hunted and killed. He shook the body once to try waking the senseless girl up. But it failed.
While Firenze was doing his best to wake up Geraldine, Connell had sneaked off with a girl at each shoulder. Their heroic acts had attracted the admiration of the females in the crowd.
Connell winked at Firenze and yelled mentally. 'Woo hoo! I'm gonna party all night. All night... Uh huh, uh huh. Take care of yourself, Firenze. Anyway that girl looked real cute too.'
Being alone, Firenze winced mentally at his bad luck. Of all bad happenings, he had to be stuck with an unconscious one. But Connell's right in a way, the girl was cute. He tilted her back in a fireman's lift and walked towards a nearby park.
Geraldine woke up with a splitting headache. She groaned inwardly to herself. It had been such a nice dream. A prince in shining armor had came to her rescue from the callous beast Jake. And they were twirling about in a shower of flower petals. The prince had then dipped her, leaning closer towards her... And that's when she woke up. To add insult to injury, she was also black and bruised from the fall that Jake had unceremoniously thrown down onto the hard-packed earth.
She sighed and rubbed her aching shoulders. Then she positioned herself into a sitting position, getting ready to leave. That's when she saw her rescuer leaning on a grass patch beside her. His eyes closed and oblivious to the things around him.
Geraldine leaned over him. When her fingers brushed the bare skin of his arm, she tingled and was zapped with a sudden volt of electricity, making her pores all open.
She sucked in her breath. So it had not been a dream. She was indeed rescued by this stranger. She hesitantly touched his angelic face lit up by the round moon up in the sky and her heart skipped a beat.
He was... the handsomest man she'd ever seen in her life. His amber red hair fallen over his face was glowing like the embers in a dying fire. His thick eyelashes covered his amber ruby eyes, which was shining like twin flames... which was now staring right at Geraldine.
Geraldine immediately shifted back to her sitting position while Firenze slowly moved into a slouching position.
"Are you all right?" The voice echoed in the silence between them.
"I'm... I'm fine. Thank you very much for rescuing me from Jake," Geraldine stammered. God, she was getting nervous now. "Umm.. how are you feeling then?"
"Not okay at all." The abrupt reply stunned Geraldine. Perhaps he was hurt during the scuffle. Jake had landed a couple of hard blows on him.
"Are you hurt? Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Come, let me check your injuries." Geraldine's nursing instincts shifted into high gear. She bent down over Firenze and began examining the nearest part of the body.
Firenze breathed in deeply the jasmine scent that Geraldine sprayed around her and allowed his teeth to extend slowly. He bent over her neck and stopped, startled when Geraldine finished binding his bleeding arm with a handkerchief.
"There, all done. You must remember to get that fixed when you get home," Geraldine advised in her bossy tone that she usually used with her patients. Firenze nodded, surprised and intimidated at Geraldine's sudden change in behaviour.
While Geraldine continued in her checkup, Firenze stared at her in amazement. No one, not even his parents had shown showed much love and care . In his world, it was a dog-eat-dog society. The nobles practically kill each other just for food and assurance of survival in the kingdom. But Geraldine had showered him with so much love and care that she would have for her family, even though he was a total stranger.
She was... still able to stare him in the face when... she could have run away from him. When he pretended to be asleep, she didn't move away silently but waited for him to wake up. Her black hair had shimmered in the moonlight while her sorrel eyes shone gently back at him. When she smiled, her gentleness took his breath away.
He couldn't... he could not attack a girl that took such good care of him. He just couldn't do it.
Brushing away a startled Geraldine, he picked up his duster on the ground and shoved his arm into the wrong arm. Chagrined, he twisted and strode down the garden path.
Geraldine sat there, stunned. Then she shook her head and chased after him. Petals flew into the sky when she made her way through the rose bushes. Firenze was walking much faster. Geraldine panicked. The distance between them was getting greater.
"Firenze, wait for me! Stop please! Ouch!"
Geraldine stumbled into a pothole that was invisible in the dark. She tried to stand up but was stopped by a sudden pain in the ankle. Her ankle was twisted. She tried to stand up regardless of the pain. But she gave up when the pain got unbearable.
Firenze had stopped when he heard Geraldine' cry. He started to walk away again when he heard Geraldine's groans of pain. Stopping, he spun around and headed back for Geraldine, berating himself for his lack of will.
Walking faster with every groan Geraldine emitted, he reached Geraldine in few seconds. He bent down and examined Geraldine's injured ankle. Geraldine gasped and bit her tongue with every bolt of pain that shot up her leg as Firenze prodded gently on her swollen ankle.
Firenze glanced at Geraldine's pain-filled face. It was obvious that her ankle was twisted and she probably couldn't walk home in a condition like this.
"You humans sure have a way of injuring yourselves when time calls for it," Firenze muttered under his breath. Geraldine groaned in pain and murmured, "What did you say?"
"Nothing." Squatting down, Firenze stared Geraldine in the face and leaned forward. Geraldine held her breath as he leaned closer and closer.
She was mildly disappointed when he stood up and looked around.
"We need to call for help. Your ankle is turning blue-black. We'd better call an ambulance!"
"No!" Firenze stared down at a struggling Geraldine. She struggled up and leaned against the tree for support. "If the paramedics knew that a nurse twisted her ankle and could do nothing about it, I'll be the laughingstock of the hospital!"
Firenze grinned at Geraldine's pride. He stifled his laughter and stared back at a stubborn Geraldine.
"No can't do, missy. You are going to the hospital whether you like it or not." He moved forward.
"No! You beast! Let me down!" Geraldine screamed as Firenze swung up in a cradle sling. She beat him continuously on his chest as he strode down the road.
"Stop that, it's really annoying," Firenze muttered as Geraldine continued to beat him in a frenzy. "Stop that!" he snarled. Geraldine immediately quieted down.
He glared back down at Geraldine. "How dare you, a vermin, touch me, a prince?! You got a death wish, isn't it?"
"What royalty? You are a... prince?! And... how dare you call me a vermin?! This' the worst insult I ever heard since I entered high school!" Geraldine flared up at Firenze's sudden change in temper.
"You don't really know me, do you?" Firenze snickered. "I'm a," he leaned towards Geraldine who shrank away till she bumped against a tree trunk. "I'm a vampire prince and if you aren't careful," his canine teeth extending to the fullest, "You'd be my dinner tonight!"
Geraldine glanced in horror at the canine teeth. 'This couldn't be real... He... a vampire prince... You got to be kidding me... Oh my god, a real vampire in front of me!' Geraldine thought hysterically.
"Hmm. Looks like you got the real deal. So please get over it and give me the respect that I deserved rightfully," Firenze hissed through his teeth without any difficulty. Geraldine just stared back at him in shock.
Firenze stared at the shaking Geraldine. Mustering a grin on his face, he leaned his head down towards Geraldine who immediately covered her face with her hands.
"Humph! I thought you wanted to eat me up for insulting you? Why are you so quiet? No courage to face me, huh?" Snickering, Firenze faced his back towards Geraldine. "Just as I expected, you are afraid. You are just like all the rest of them, vermin."
The mocking voice echoed around the silent park. The wind rustled the trees, causing leaves to fall to the ground.
Geraldine continued standing under the tree, shaking like a leaf. She didn't register anything, until she had what Firenze had said. Vermin... The word echoed around Geraldine's blank mind and she clenched her fist.
Firenze prepared to walk away. Away from his freedom. Away from his other half... his soulmate... Geraldine. He was walking down the garden path when he heard a furious yell. A yell that stopped him from going any further.
Geraldine rushed towards Firenze. She was so blinded by her rage that she almost bumped into a tree when Firenze leapt onto the tree to avoid her punch.
"You... you insolent brat! How dare you insult a girl? Even though you don't like me, you... you can always tell me that... you don't... like me," Geraldine stammered, blushing furiously.
Firenze stared at her, his mouth open as she continued. "There's no need... to insult me about my... feelings for you... when you obviously knew about it... when you rescued me. But... I... I," Geraldine stuttered as Firenze jumped down from the tree.
"You... have feelings for me...?" Firenze trailed off as Geraldine's face got redder and redder.
"Yes! So what? I know that you are a charmer and probably have many girls chasing after you. But... I feel that... you should know my feelings for you. You... can reject me. I just want you to... know... my... feelings..."
Geraldine stopped when Firenze suddenly bent his head and kissed her. The sparks came back full force and hit Geraldine like a blast of wind. But it's very warm and comforting.
Firenze cradled her face and kissed back with passion. Behind that kiss, Geraldine could feel the loneliness that Firenze himself had suffered during his childhood and the longing that he wanted for freedom. She kissed back with her love, hoping her love would chase away his loneliness.
Firenze was drowning in happiness. He was bubbling with Geraldine's love. He held her in his arms and kissed back with his feelings, hoping that she would understand about his troubles at opening his heart to her.
Giggling, Geraldine pushed Firenze away and leaned back against the tree laughing. Firenze gave her a hurt look and pouted out his lower lip.
"Why the hurt puppy look? I thought that you can only give cool as ice expressions," grinned Geraldine as she leaned against Firenze.
"Well. This is the first time I gave someone a puppy-like expression. I'd like to see how one reacts to it. Besides," stroking Geraldine's hair back, "I had just kissed you. I can't believe I had kissed you though."
"What, can't believe you kissed a vermin, isn't it?" Geraldine shot back with sourness in her voice. She can't believe Firenze still thought her as a vermin. Is he an idiot or what?