"Darkness... I'm standing... in darkness again... This horrid dream won't leave me... Every night it torments me... Is it a sign? Could my whole life be a dream? Has it all been thought up by one twisted sleeping mind? If my nightmare is true... am I still real? Could I still live in 'his' real world?" I see a boy with hair. The one in all my dreams. He looks just as he did when we were children. I just wish I could remember his name... I approach him, and suddenly, I'm a kid again, just like those years ago. He reaches for my hand...
"Young miss? Young miss! Wake up! It's morning already!"
I wake up and see my wonderful French maid, Bella, opening my bedroom curtains. She's always so cheerful, the poor thing. I wonder if she'll ever know about the world outside this mansion? As the curtains opened, the sunlight pierced my eyes. Perhaps eternal dream darkness isn't that bad now... "Morning, Frenchie," I say as I sit up in bed, still half asleep. I've always called her Frenchie because it fits her wonderful bosom so well. Not to mention she was the prettiest maid I ever did see. Her brown hair stops at her perky bosom, and always flows with her. "What's Mr. Cook got for us this awfully bright morning?"
"His famous omelettes, I believe, Miss Aileen," she says as she dusts up my overly fancy room.
Frenchie was born in this mansion. The day she turned 13, she became a servant to the owner of this mansion, Mr. William Davenge. She's 27 now. All this time, she's kept a school girl crush for him. Poor thing...
"Frenchie, haven't I told you to call my Aileen? Not MISS Aileen?"
"Yes, Miss, but haven't I said to call me Bella?"
"Ah... Touche..." I said, and we both chuckled a bit.
"Plus, MISS Aileen, if Master Davenge heard me address you in such a way, OH! I would rather not think about it!" She starts walking out of the room when she balks 3 feet from the door. "Oh! I almost forgot! Miss Aileen, please hurry and get ready! Rumor around the servant quarters is that Master Davenge has a surprise or two for you!" And then she rushes out of the room.
"What is it, another etiquette lesson?" I say to myself. I get out of bed, walk to my bigger-than-life closet, and pick out my favorite outfit: baggy red pants, a long but tight white sleeveless shirt, and a red and black vest. Along with my white and red sneakers, of course.
I decide to go see Cook first before my big surprise. His food is the best I ever had. Not to mention he always makes what I ask. Although, his omelettes are what I want anyways. My lucky day.
As I walk down the sun-filled corridor to the kitchen, I think about why I'm here... with William...
When I was 10, William Davenge, the richest man in all the world, held a contest for the children on the island.. The winner would earn the right to be his heir. No one understood why he held the contest. He was only 29 then...
The child first had to write an essay about why they should be picked. The children with the best essays had to next exhibit all their talents. And finally, they spend a day with him, along with a parent of course.
All children entered, hoping for a chance just to see the man. He had never left his home. "I'll leave when I have someone to share the fresh air with," was his reason.
My money hungry mother made me enter the contest. We weren't poor, we weren't rich. We weren't barely making it, we weren't easily going though life. She just loved money. That contest proved she loved it more than me. She made me enter the contest, against my wishes. I was probably the only kid here on Destiny Islands that was FORCED to enter the contest. But with just my luck, I won the contest.
I've been here for 5 years now... A lonely girl, learning what the richest of the rich learn, with no friends. Well, I always have Frenchie and Cook to talk to...
I opened the big double doors, and saw Cook finishing up my omelette. He stands tall and proud as he presents it to me. "Especially for you, Miss Aileen! Just the way you like it!" He says with a smile.
"Thanks, Cook," I say, as I grab the plate and sit at the counter across from him. I love watching him cook.
Cook is quite an odd fellow. His name is Roiix Cook. His parents wanted him to be a Doctor, just like all the men in his family. But Cook saw his last name as a sign to actually become a master chef. I don't know about master chef, but he is pretty damn good at what he does. "Cook, did you hear anything about a surprise?" I ask. He always knew what was going on if Frenchie didn't.
"Yes I did, Miss," he says with a slick smile. "But I've been told not to tell you what I know. Anyways, I only know of the first surprise. The rest, I have no idea what they are. And don't ask how many there are either, because I don't know." He says, handing me my fork.
"Oh..." I say, grabbing the only utensil I seem to use. I start eating the delicious omelette. I stared at cook for while I ate. For some reason I never noticed how attractive Cook was. He has the traditional tall, dark, and handsome look. He has long black hair, and is built just enough. Is everyone in this mansion beautiful?
Sitting at the desk waiting for William to arrive is terribly boring. He always seems to be fashionably late.
"Aileen!" He exclaims, barging through his doors. "Just the girl I've been wanting to see! So, I presume you've heard there's a few surprises today?"
I nod my head.
"Good, good. Well, do you want to guess the first one?" He says with an eager look.
I stare and ponder for a while. "Uhm, there's a brand new class for me to attend?" I guess.
"No no, of course not! I'm not that dull!" He leans in and smiles. "I'm letting you outside of the mansion for two hours! It's 10:00 now, you should be back by noon."
"What?" I cant believe what I'm hearing. I actually get to breathe fresh air and go outside...! I can see my friends! My family!
"You heard me. Now go on! The clock is ticking!" He says, helping me out of the room. "Oh, and take this, too! You might need it!" He pulls some money out of his pocket. "It's $500. Spend it all, if you wish." I'm pushed out of the room, and I'm staring straight at Cook and Frenchie.
"Didn't I tell you you had a surprise, Miss Aileen?" says Frenchie, with a perky little jump.
"Isn't it a nice surprise too? I wonder what the others are!" Cook says, aside to Frenchie.
I stand there, staring at the money, still figuring out if my nightmare has turned into a dream. "I get to... go outside?" They nod, smiling. "I get to go outside..." I say again to myself. I put the money between my breasts, so that no one will be able to find it. "I'll be back at noon!" I exclaim, and run out the door.
I breathe in the fresh air, and look around the garden in front of me. I can see the gates. I think about everyone I'm going to see, and bolt to the gates. As I run, the gates open, someone activating it from the inside. As I go past the gates, I stop. I stop because so has everyone else.
Everyone's staring at me, as if I've been risen from the dead. I hear the gates close behind me. There's no running away now. I hear whispers in the crowd, but I can't make out what anyones is saying.
"Come out to say hello, have you?" says a voice. A girl comes out of the crowd and shows herself.
"Rayka? Is that you?" I ask her.
"It's been too long, sis..."
"Mom! Look who's come back to say hello!" Rayka shouts as we walk in the house. "Little Aileen is back."
"Aileen?" Mother's voice is filled with joyful greed. She runs up to me and gives me a huge hug. But it seems more like she's looking for something in my pockets. She pushes me back a bit and stares me in the eye. "Where is the money, child, where is the money!"
"I don't have any. He keeps it until he gives it up to me." I say. I could never expect much from my mom...
"Oh dear, then what's the point." She let's go off me and goes back to whatever she was doing before I shattered her money-minded world.
"Nice to see you, too..." I say under my breath. Rayka hears me, and laughs a bit.
"We've got some catching up to do, don't we?" She says to me, and she leads me back outside. "So, how's it over at the big mansion? Get pampered every day?"
"Rayka... You know I didn't want it... "
"But I did, Aileen! You took away my dream! I should have gotten it. I'm born before you! As the older sister, I'm entitled to better things t you!" She shouted, nearly throwing I fit. I just stare at here, waiting to see what happens next. She takes a deep breath, and looks away from me. "I'm sorry, guess... I'm still upset."
"It's alright, I understand..." I say. There's long pause between us. The silence is deafening. "It's not that great anyways... My best friends are a maid and the cook," I say with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.
"Forgotten about us, Aileen?" A voice says from behind me. I look back, and I see my two best friends, along with the girl who we've hated since childhood. My friends run up to me and hug me. I hug them back, but I keep staring at her... At Vivian...
"Look who's back in town, girls. Decided to grace us with your presence, you snobby prick?" Vivian snarled. "You don't belong with us normal people anymore!"
"Vivian, please!" Abby shouted. "Aileen, why'd you come back?"
I didn't know what to tell them. I'd be gone in an hour and a half. Not much time to catch up on 5 years with so many people. "Well, William let me out. I have to be back by noon, though..."
"Well then," started Jenna. "We don't have much time do we? Better start catching up!" She says with a smile bigger than I'd ever seen her smile before.
Suddenly, I feel like a just got hit with a pan across my face. I fall on the floor, and check my mouth. There's a little blood. I look up, ad see Vivian standing over me. "You don't belong here, bitch! You're friends don't need you anymore. They have me!"
I jolted up and tackled her to the ground. I bashed her head into the ground, and kept punching her pretty little face. Rayka finally pulls me off of her, after her face looks like she just got attacked by dogs. Jenna and Abby help her up, and stare at me with piercing eyes. They carry her away, without a word.
"Quite a show you've put on, Aileen..." Rayka says to me. "You know, just between us, I should have finished her off when I was 7." She smiles at me, and I remember that we both hated her from the day we met. I wonder how I could have forgotten that... We used to throw dolls around pretending they were Vivian... "Well, I'm hungry. Wanna go out?"
I pay for our food over at the market place (for someone reason Rayka always knows when I'm hiding money), and we get a place in the middle of everybody to eat, so that we blend in. No one is staring at me this time. It's refreshing to be just like everyone else again. "So Rayka, how's mom been while I'm gone? And how did Abby and Jenna end up hanging out with Vivian?" I ask.
"When you left, Abby and Jenna didn't have anyone to follow anymore. Vivian took advantage of that. She started taking them out, and gained there trust. They just grew from that. They're not the same little girls you used to know. Just forget them." She says to me.
"And mom?"
"Mom is in love with money, as always. But now... She actually needs it..."
"What do you mean?"
"Mom... Mom's sick. Doctors know what it is, but... We don't have the money for the procedure. After Mom heard that, she felt real poor. She had a mental break down. All she does now is sit in the living room and count money while the TV's on..."
My mother, who was always the healthy one, is now the sick one... Sicker than I could possibly imagine... My dream is a nightmare again...
"Don't worry, though. You know Mom is tough! Just let it be! Finish up your food, and we'll go shopping after! You might think you have plenty of clothes, but I could always go for more!" She goes back to eating like a pig. For someone who eats like that, she looks better than a model...
I look over Rayka's shoulder, and I see three people, about our age. 2 boys and a girl. The girl is short, with brown hair. One of the boys is taller than her, with spiky brown hair. And the third boy is the tallest. He has long white hair, and is the cuter of the two. As I admire the white haired boy, a light orange dog with a green collar pounces one me. "Woah!" I start laughing, because the dog is licking me. I give him some of my food. The three kids run over to me.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Pluto, get off of her!" The girl exclaims. She tries pulling the dog away from the food.
"You should be flattered. He only licks good people with strong hearts," the spiky-haired one says to me.
"Oh, it's really okay!" I say to them. "I've never had a dog, so this is kinda nice."
"Aileen," the white-haired boy says.
"What? How do you know my name..?" "You're Aileen, aren't you? The one who won that contest a while back."
The girl gasps. "Oh! Are you really? You mean you've met Mr. Davenge! No, you live with him, don't you? Oh, what's he like?"
"Well, it seems we're in the presence of a celebrity guys!" The spiky-haired one jokes. "I'm Sora, she's Kairi, and he's Riku. You've met Pluto." He says with a laugh and a smile.
"I'm Aileen, and this is Rayka, my older sister."
"Hey there," she says, with a mouth full of food. She's not one for manners. It's perfect. "We're going shopping in a little while,would you three like to join us?"
"Sure, I love shopping!" Kairi exclaims.
Suddenly Riku's watch starts beeping. "Oh, it's noon already," he says.
"It's what!" I exclaim. "Oh, no! I've got to go! It was nice meeting you all!" And I run off to the mansion.
"Sorry I'm late, Master Davenge," I say, panting and gasping for air.
He laughed a bit. "It's alright. I understand you were having fun with friends and family," and he gives me a pat on the back. "Ready for surprise number two?"
I nod, eager to hear it. I don't know what could possibly beat the first one, though.
"It's time you know the truth," he says, and waves his hand. Two doormen open a door behind him, and my mom comes out from those doors, and stands behind William. "The contest I held 5 years ago wasn't about finding an heir. It was about finding a wife," he said with a smile.
"So, you want to marry my mom?" I ask, confused. "Then why did I go through all this? Why didn't she?"
"Because she's not who I want to marry." He takes me by the hand and kneels down. "It's you, my darling. You seemed perfect as a child, and I knew with proper guidance, I could mold you into the perfect wife. Your beauty, brains, and will was absolutely astounding! It could only grow better with time!"
"What? You can't marry me! I'm not of age!" I shout. This is impossible. It's truly a nightmare now...
"I'm afraid I can, darling. You see, your mother has given me consent. We can finally live within each others hearts."
"Mom! How could you do this? Don't you care about what I want!"
"Oh, Aileen," Mom starts. "You know your sister and I need the money. You're better off here anyways. More money for me and your sister to share. And once she moves out, I get it all. It works out." I stand there, holding back tears. My life... is no longer mine.
"The wedding shall be in a week or two. However long you need to invite all your friends. Bella will help you do the planning, and Roiix will of course help with the catering," he says, as if nothing is wrong. I look back at Frenchie and Cook, and they're just as shocked as I am. "Now, go on to your room. Bella will be up soon to assist you with all the arrangements. Just rest up for now from your eventful day."
I sit on the ledge in front of my window, staring at the wonderful view of Destiny Islands. That's all it will ever be from now on. A view. Just a beautiful painting that can only make me cry. As I stare out to the town, to the ocean around it, I can only think. I thnk about Rayka, and new friends... My old ones, my mom, and William. I wish a tidal wave would just sweep me away.
I hear a knock at the door. "Miss Aileen? May I come in?" It's Frenchie's voice.
"Of course, Fre--... Bella. Come in," I say.
"How are you feeling, miss? Would you like anything to drink? Perhaps a snack?" She asks me.
"No, thank you. I'm not hungry right now."
"I understand, miss... Such a... big task for such a young girl... I can safely assume now is not the time to do wedding preparations." She comes and sits down next to me.
"I know this is a hard time, miss, but look on the bright side. You will always have me and Roiix on your side," she said, and I hugged her, crying my heart out.
"Thank you, Bella."
She let's go of me, and just sits, staring with me. Then she jumps. "Miss! I forgot! You have a letter!" She reaches into her pocket, and pulls out an envelope.
Confused, I take the envelope. The front merely says in hand writing, "Aileen." I cautiously open it, wondering who would have sent me a letter.
"Aileen,
We know about what's happened. After you left, Rayka told us about it. She told us everything. Don't worry, she had no part in it. She knew that this is not the life you want, but she could do nothing about it.
We can help you. Meet us where we met, at the market place at the same table. Be there after the sun sets. Pluto and Kairi will wait for you there. We'll meet up later.
Sora"
"Sora..." I say, with a gasp. I look at Bella, and then back down at the letter. "Frenchie, I'm leaving."
"What! But miss, you cannot leave! Master Davenge, who knows what he'll do?"
"I'm leaving at sundown. You don't have to help me, but don't hurt me either. This isn't the life I want." She nods, giving me full support. I nod back at her, and stare back out the window with new determination. "Sora, Kari, Riku... I'm coming."