Beautiful nightmare (Contagious Dreams sequel)

Chapter 5-An unexpected guest

Throughout this week, the whole palace seems to be busy preparing for Blade's birthday party.
Oscar and I are busy trying to stalk Blade, in order to track where he is for the potion.
Saskia is nowhere to be seen, having disappeared after her encounter with Blade.
My phone beeps with a new message from Oscar, a notification flashing on the screen.
"No luck. I have no idea where Blade is and whether or not he is alone." Says the text.

"Damn." I text back. "The party is tonight. You coming?"
My phone vibrates in answer. "I'm coming. Obviously. Wouldn't miss Blade's party for anything."
I smile. Maybe we can give the potion to Blade at the party. "Do we need to bring anything?" I type.
"Bring yourself, your phone to be antisocial, and a birthday gift." Oscar replies with another text bubble.

"K" I type back. "What are you getting him for his birthday?"
"Oh just the usual. A gift card to the mall so that Blade can by whatever he wants. It saves me from having to think what to get him." He says.
I ponder what I am going to get him. Blade got me a Hursane for my birthday, and that must have cost a fortune, seeing as Hursanes are specifically trained to suit their owners.
I decide that I am going to get Blade a present, regardless of whether or not we are still friends.

"Oscar. I have an idea." I type and send, as something comes into mind for Blade's birthday present.
"What?" He replies, almost instantly, a blue text bubble popping up on my screen.
"What if we give him the confessing potion for his birthday present? I mean we can also get him other stuff but the potion could be one of the presents that we give him. I mean, I'm pretty sure Blade hasn't been to the Underworld so he shouldn't know what a confessing potion looks like. We'll just say it's freshly made juice or something." I suggest.

"Genius!!" Oscar texts back. "But we HAVE to be there when he drinks it, otherwise the confessing spell might end up in the wrong hands, and we don't want that to happen."
"True. We'll tell him that we need him to drink it when we're around, so that we can see whether or not be likes it." I answer.
"K. Gtg. See you at the party, and I'll bring the potion." He finishes.
"Ok. Bye." I text back, and close my phone.

Looking at the clock that's hanging on my bedroom wall, I realise that I have less than four hours to come up with a present for Blade, and I have no idea what to get for him.
I'd better get going.

~~~~~~~

The Dawn Kingdom reminds me of the human world, and both are similar in many ways. They both have malls for shopping.
I grab my phone and wallet from my dressing table, and run to my balcony, where my pet Hursane stands, patiently waiting for me. I grab it's reigns and use the foothold to lift myself up onto it.
The Hursane's skin feels smooth and cold against my foot and I hold onto its reigns confidently.

It's my first time flying on my own, without Oscar or Blade to help me, but I think I know what to do.
"Take the me to the mall, of wherever there are shops." I order.
With a sudden flap of its wings, the Hursane lifts itself off my balcony, starting to flap it's wings harder and harder, until I can see the edge of my balcony metres away from us.
I realise that I haven't named my Hursane yet. I decide to name it Stella, a name that I've always wanted to have. "Stella. That's what I'll call you." I whisper to her.

Stella makes a soft noise, as if she's agreeing. "That'll be your name from now on." I confirm.
Shortly after I pull Stella's reigns, a tall building seems to rise up in the distance. It's a spiral shaped building with round windows, big enough for me to see the endless shoppers browsing through the shops in the mall.
It's almost as big as the palace, with a giant sign at the front of it saying 'Dawn shopping Central'.

Stella starts flying downwards at a rapid speed, the wind blowing in my eyes, and I have to hold on in an attempt to not fall off. I have fallen off a Hursane before, and it wasn't pleasant, I think with a shudder.