I awoke suddenly. As I gathered my wits, I began to take stock of my location. I was in a bed, one larger than I was accustomed to. Above me rose a vaulted ceiling draped in shadows. The room appeared to be a bedroom. Although, knowledge of whos bedroom it was eluded me. Rolling over I gazed towards a sliding glass door on the far side of the room. The curtains were drawn but I could still tell it was dark outside. Finally, it occured to me where I was. This king sized bed in the extravagant master bedroom was my grandfather's, or perhaps I should say mine. In front of me lay my cell phone, illuminating the dark night stand with a faint glow. I picked it up. The clock read 20:45 in white lettering. If I got here around 18:00, that would mean I had been out for almost three hours.
How did I get here? I sat up quickly. My head still felt a little light. Why was I in the bedroom? Where were those boys? Were they the ones who brought me here? This was the master bedroom so it makes sense they would have brought me here, as opposed to any other bedroom in the estate.
I swung my legs over the bed and jumped down. My feet landed on something cold, wet and lumpy. Unfortunately, I had already committed to standing, and as my right ankle twisted awkwardly, I was unable to prevent myself from falling. My hip landed hard on the bedroom floor and my elbow took the rest of the fall. Grunting in pain I rolled over on the ground and rubbed at my elbow. Looking back towards the bed I saw what I had stepped on. My rain soaked luggage was piled up on the side of the bed.
There was a sound outside of the room. Someone was walking down the hall to the master bedroom. The footsteps paused for a moment and the door opened. From my position on the floor I saw an upside down image of a stunning red haired man framed elegantly in the doorway. His eyebrows were knitted together with concern.
"We heard some crashing from down stairs, are you alright?" Damien asked.
"Yeah, I just tripped." I rolled back over to my stomach and pushed myself up. "Are the other's downstairs too?"
"Yes. We decided to make you dinner as an apology for earlier," he said. A friendly smile graced his face.
"Th- thank you." I rubbed my hip hoping to make the pain ebb. "You didn't have to do that."
"Of course we did!" Damien exclaimed, looking a little shocked at my commonplace response. "It was the very least we could do after…."
I nodded, letting him trail off without finishing. He was right, now that I thought about what had transpired. "Should we go downstairs?"
"Ah, yes. Dinner will be set up in the dining hall," Damien responded quickly, smiling brightly.
I took a step forward, feeling my tendons spark with pain and unwillingness to move. Damien reached out a hand to steady me.
"If you would like I could carry you again," he offered.
"Again?"
"Yes, when you passed out I carried you up here."
"Oh…" I paused to take in his words. "I don't think I need help. But thank you." I smiled to reassure him.
Damien didn't look convinced, but he didn't insist on it any further. Instead he turned and led me down the hall towards the stairs.
Every step I took caused a shooting pain to emanate from my hip. I gritted my teeth and bore the pain, not wanting to be a nuisance. Besides, it would dissipate soon. Sure enough, by the time I was halfway down the stairs the pain had reduced to an ignorable twinge. Damien led me through the entrance hall. I noticed that most of the blood had been cleaned up, but the carpet was still badly stained. The rug would just have to be replaced, I'm sure there was nothing else to be done. Soon we arrived in the main dining hall.
Before me stood the magnificent oak table surrounded by eight sturdy chairs. The table had been set with six sets of dining ware. Not fully decked out with the complete set of silverware and glasses like grandma would always set up. She tried to teach me proper etiquette many times but I could never understand why you would need two forks to eat a meal. Or why I needed three different drinking glasses when I could only drink the things that went in one of them. Now the table was set with only one fork, a spoon, a plate and a single cup. Such a display was moderately relaxing. I wouldn't have to worry about the intricacies of fine dining tonight.
Moments after we arrived Mathew and Sam pushed their way through the swinging bar doors that hung between the kitchen and the dining hall. They were laden with platters of food, enough for all of us to have a fine meal. Mathew was smiling, his light blue eyes crinkling at the edges and curly, black hair bouncing as he walked. Sam had a scowl on his face. His short brown hair was a mess and his brow was sweaty.
"It's not that funny Mathew," Sam barked as Mathew began to chuckle.
"Yes it is, you should have seen your face," Mathew replied, winking over his shoulder at Sam.
They both strode over to the table and began to place the food neatly upon the shining oak surface.
"Alright, quit arguing you two!" shouted James, as he too entered the dining hall with trays of food.
I was amazed at the quantity of food they had managed to cook. There were two large bowls of white rice. Set around those bowls were smaller bowls filled with assorted vegetables, all chopped into bite sized pieces. The boys had prepared everything from squash and beans to broccoli and carrots. There were varying sauces and seasonings around the table and several pans filled with meat, also cut into small pieces. The table looked like a make your own stir-fry buffet.
"Wow, I didn't realize there was still so much food here," I said, my mouth agape.
"There wasn't," Mathew chimed in, "We went to the store while you were asleep."
"Oh, that makes sense."
"And then we slaved away in the kitchen to make all this crap," Sam grumbled.
"No, I labored over the cooking, you two just argued and watched," James corrected.
"He splashed me with a mud puddle," Sam whined, looking up at James.
"You deserved it," Mathew laughed.
Mathew and Sam continued to bicker as James approached me with an exasperated look.
"How are you doing Mika? I am truly sorry we troubled you so much. Hopefully this dinner I have prepared will help restore your stamina."
"Thank you very much James. Honestly, I'm surprised you know how to cook. Everything looks wonderful."
"Come, let me take you to the table," James offered me his arm.
Smiling, I placed my hand on his arm. The motion caused me to grimace, but I forced the muscles to relax and waited for the pain to fade.
"You seem troubled. Is there anything you would like to talk about?" James looked concerned as he peered into my eyes.
Yes, was my first thought. I was suddenly reminded of grandpa's death, and the arguments with my mom about moving out. My thoughts drifted to graduation, my peers I would never see again. Following that I began to think of my upcoming college orientation. Then the daunting thought of having to live alone until I went to college, and while I was attending college. I had a lot of stress to work through. So yes, I am troubled, I'm just wasn't sure I could talk about it now.
James seemed to read this on my face and said, "You don't have to tell me, but if you ever need someone to talk to I offer you my listening ears."
"Thank you James. I may take you up on that one day."
He guided me the final few paces to the dining table. Erik stood at the head of the table, his face tilted to one side causing his pink hair to fall over his eyes. As we approached he looked up at us. Smiling, he pulled out the chair for me.
"My lady," he said, gesturing towards the chair with a sweeping motion. "You look ravishing this evening."
"Thank you kind sir," I replied, giving him a slight bow.
Erik bowed in return, chuckling, as I seated myself. Then all the boys gathered around the table and began seating themselves. James sat to my right, earning himself a peeved look from Erik who appeared as if he had wanted to take that particular seat. Damien sat on my left, next to Sam who was sitting across from Mathew and still glaring daggers at the curly haired boy. Erik took a seat on the other side of Mathew. Then they all looked expectantly at James.
"Can we eat yet James," wined Mathew, giving James his best puppy eyes.
"I suppose, if our host is ready," replied James.
"Come on man, I'm starving," griped Sam.
James turned to look at me, as if asking for permission to start.
The situation felt a little odd, so I stuttered, "Of- of course. We wouldn't want this to get cold after all."
The moment I said this, Mathew and Sam reached for the same bowl of rice. Grains of rice flew everywhere as a tug of war ensued. After only a moment of struggling, Sam came out victorious, spraying bits of rice all over Damien.
"Hey, I had that first!" shouted Mathew, glowering at Sam.
"Well I'm more hungry," stated Sam, dishing huge spoonfuls of rice onto this plate.
"It's hungrier," said James, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation, "not 'more hungry.'"
Sam ignored him as he reached for the pork.
"There's no way you are hungrier than I am," Mathew shot back. "You hardly did any work while we were out shopping."
Erik picked up the unattended bowl of rice, clearly trying to suppress a smile.
"You're acting childish," grumbled James.
"Well, we are children," Damien gently reminded him.
I couldn't hold back any longer. A huge smile had broken out on my face. Loudly I let out a torrent of laughter. Mathew and Sam both turned to stare at me. Erik let out a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?" asked Mathew through a mouth full of meat and vegetables.
"You are," I chuckled, "you two are hilarious."
"We're not funny, we're starving," corrected Sam, mouth also full to bursting.
I laughed again, and I could hear Damien and Erik join me.
"I'm sorry about their manners," James apologized, looking embarrassed. "You would think living all this time in the castle would have matured them a little more.
"No, no it's fine," I reassured him. "Thank you," I added as Damien passed me the other bowl of rice. Turning back to James I asked, "So why are you all here? You told me you were attacked, but how do five incubi end up in my backyard? Did you just say you lived in a castle?"
"Well," James hesitated.
"She deserves to know, after all we put her through," Damien told James.
"If you want, I can fill her in," Erik chimed in.
"No Erik, I'll tell her," responded James. He placed down his fork and gave me his full attention. "We are all brothers, princes from a parallel dimension. We lived in a land ravaged by war and ruled by our cruel father. Instead of suffering under the king's wrath we fled our home country. We broke through the dimensional barrier between the Abyss, our realm, and the human realm. However, our father would never accept our withdrawal. He sent agents from the Abyss after us in hopes of capturing my brothers and me and bringing us home."
"So, you're royalty from another dimension trying to escape your family?" I asked astounded.
"That just about sums it up," Sam said flatly.
"And your father sent 'agents' after you? I take it they are demons too," I continued.
"That would be correct," Erik replied in his silky voice.
"Can we go back to the part where you are from another dimension?" I requested.
"I told you she wouldn't believe us," said Sam.
James' story did seemed pretty wild, almost unbelievable. Yet he seemed trustworthy, I had no reason to doubt him. No, that's crazy. Incubi don't exist, there aren't parallel dimensions, daemon kings don't rule anymore. This reminds me a lot of grandpa's stories. He always talked about magic and mythical creatures as if they were real. Dismiss that, his stories were just the ravings of an old man. Still, they did seem to have some sort of influence over you, and they seemed so much better after they had all kissed you. Maybe they were really incubi, and had magical powers, but the rest of the story was too outlandish. Well, maybe not. If incubi were real then there was no reason why there couldn't be parallel universes, or daemons other than themselves.
But princes? Royalty? What were the chances of the five daemons that happened to break through the dimensional barrier were of noble blood? I suppose an evil king being the one to rule over a daemon world wasn't too far of a stretch. If they grew up with him, why weren't they also so vindictive? I guess things aren't always that simple.
"What are we gonna do now James?" Mathew's voice broke through my thoughts.
"That's an… excellent question," James said slowly.
"How long do you think we can keep running from them?" said Sam. "I mean really, why don't we just take them out and send their bodies back to dad?" He punched the palm of his hand.
"After what happened do you really think that's an option?" Damien asked Sam with a somber expression.
"Of course I do. Let me at 'em right now and I'll show you what I'm made of."
"That would be stupid Sam," Erik scolded.
Before Sam could protest James spoke, "I think laying low for a while would be our best option. That would give us time to prepare for the next encounter."
"But where?" Mathew asked.
"They have yet to find this place," commented Erik.
"That's true," said James, hanging a lot of emphasis on the word 'true.'
I could feel an unasked question hang in the air, one that no one dared to pose. Yet, I could still feel a little excited at the proposition. Instead of being so alone, I may have company. The company in question was attractive, supernatural, and royal. Who was I to complain?
"Mika, would it be alright if we stayed here?" asked Damien quietly.
The room fell silent. I could tell the boys were desperately awaiting my answer. Quickly I stuffed soy sauce covered chicken into my mouth to give me time to think. Should I really allow this insanity to stay in my home? For all I knew they were just psychopaths who liked to make up crazy ass stories. Then again, how cool would it be to have such fascinating creatures around all the time? Besides, this big, empty house was lonely. They could help chase away the isolation. What would other people think of you shacking up with a bunch of boys just out of high school? Wouldn't your mom be freaked out? No, she would have called the cops by now.
"Sure, you can stay," I said.
A sigh of relief echoed around the hall. The tension between James' eyebrows relaxed. Sam may have actually smiled.
"I believe there are several guest rooms in the west wing. You are welcome to take one each," I said.
"Thank you very much," Damien said pleased.
"In the meantime it would behoove us to brush up on our fighting skills," James said smiling.
Suddenly a loud buzzing disturbed the relaxing atmosphere. Reaching into my pocket I pulled out my phone. The word 'Mom' flashed across the screen in time to the vibrations. Oh great.
"Pardon me for a moment," I excused myself from the table.
I strode into the entrance hall before answering the phone.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Oh, thank god you answered," Mom sounded like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "I've been calling you since five thirty. What happened to you? Why where you gone when I came home?"
"We agreed that I could move out after I graduated."
"So soon though, you couldn't have waited?"
"No."
"You're poor mother, didn't even get to see her daughter off or congratulate her on her graduation. Here you had me thinking that you had been kidnapped or something, when your car wasn't in the drive and all the things gone from your room. You could have at least answered the phone."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't 'I'm sorry' me. I called at least five times. I was worried. For all I knew you could be half way across the ocean taken by human traffickers by now. Even your father didn't know where you were. Did you really want to put your poor old mother through that?"
"No."
"Well, you're safe, that's all that matters. How was your last day of school? Was the assembly nice?"
"It was fine."
"Am I ever going to get to see you again? The house already feels empty without you here."
"I guess."
"How about I come over for dinner tomorrow? That way you won't have to be all alone in that giant estate. We could have a housewarming party. You could invite your dad and we could all welcome you into your new home. It's your housewarming after all."
"Um…"
"Ok, great. I'll be there around five tomorrow. Do you want me to bring anything? Make sure you tell your dad to come too. He can also bring his wife and her kids too. You know, let's actually make it around six, I don't want to rush you. I have a gift for you, I'll bring it tomorrow."
"Sure," I wasn't even sure what I was agreeing to anymore.
"Is there anything more you want to talk about baby?"
"I'm actually in the middle of dinner," I said sheepishly.
"Oh please, don't use that excuse your father uses just to get off the phone with me. You are just like him sometimes. Besides, you can eat while talking on the phone with me."
"Oh."
"Do you miss being at home? I know you've only been gone one day, but I can still remember when you were little. You could barely spend one night at a friend's house just down the street without coming home crying because you missed me. I'll always be there for you, you know that right?"
"Yeah. Hey mom, I have to go to the bathroom," I lied. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright baby. You know I love you right?"
"Uh-huh. Bye now." Even though I could still hear her talking I hung up the phone.
I felt drained, as if all the energy had been sapped from my being. Pocketing my phone I traipsed back to the dining hall. The boys all looked up as I arrived. Erik looked concerned when he saw my strained expression.
"Are you alright beautiful?" he asked across the table.
"I'm fine," I said falling heavily into the chair I had vacated moments ago. "It was just my mom."
"What did she have to talk with you about?" James asked.
I sighed and rubbed my temples in small, relaxing circles.
"She has to prepare a housewarming party for her family by tomorrow," Damien announced.
"Huh- how did you know?" I exclaimed.
"I can read minds. We were all born with a supernatural ability, mine is mind reading." He looked a little embarrassed.
"Well that sounds like fun. You'll get to see your family. Seeing your mom will be nice!" Mathew said excitedly.
"Sounds like a lot of work to me," Sam complained.
"Family is no frivolous matter," James chastised. "We should respect Mika's plans and assist in preparing the home for the event."
At this point I allowed myself to slip away from the conversation. I ate the rest of my meal in silence, chewing my food more than necessary. When everyone was finally done with dinner I retired to my room.