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The early morning air was frigid, but he couldn't feel a thing. A numbing frost attempted to penetrate through his thin cloak, but instead, it mysteriously melted on contact. He pulled the midnight hood tighter over his head, but not for lack of warmth.
He was almost there. He must stay hidden. Just because the sun hadn't come up yet didn't mean there weren't people lurking. Or worse, they weren't humans.
His foot slipped into an unpaved spot on the sidewalk. For such a nice area, shouldn't they have enough money to upkeep the streets?
"Excuse me sir, do you have cell service? I need to call my mom, but my phone died."
A small girl, maybe seven years old, approached him cautiously, holding up her iPhone as proof. He noticed it had a clear case with a Polaroid of a black cat in the back.
He simply glared at her before continuing down the road. He had business to attend to. He couldn't just stop and help everyone, or he would never make it on time.
Finally, just as the sun began to reveal itself to the world, he found himself arriving at the most extravagant castle he'd ever beheld in person.
Despite the fact that the rest of the town was quite pleasant and well-kept (aside from that pothole he'd nearly twisted his ankle in earlier), it was nothing compared to the lavish monument that stood before him.
Made of white and gray material, the castle was the size of at least six regular houses combined. The center was made with two levels of pagoda-style roofs with a turret on each side for what he presumed to be bedrooms. The other two sides were shorter, expansive pieces made of pristine white that shone in the sun, which was just peeking over the horizon. That must be the maids' quarters, kitchens, studies, and even more that he couldn't begin to imagine.
The castle was old money, that he knew for certain.
Despite the urge to search the entire castle and discover all of its secrets, he had but one mission. And in order to complete that mission, he knew he must find a way to the highest spot of the entire building.
Thank god he didn't have to walk to get there.
Taking his cloak and lifting it up into the air a few inches, a breeze began to materialize beneath him. Within moments, a wind current, strong but silent, carried him all the way to the right turret.
He came to land on the windowsill outside the highest bedroom and looked around. He wasn't sure what he was going to see. All he knew was this was where he was supposed to be.
Think, think. He told himself, before honing his senses. His eyes widened, his breath grew deeper, his nostrils flared, and his ears were alert. Anything that could happen, he would notice. Observe, process, analyze, react. That was his way.
Suddenly, a figure walked past the window. Of course, because there was a white lace curtain in the way, he couldn't fully see who it was. But he could tell from the small, lithe silhouette that it was a girl. How old, he couldn't tell for certain, but she was probably in college. He wasn't entirely sure how human ages worked.
He squinted harder, wondering if this was a lost cause. How was he supposed to see anything through a damn barrier without the human girl noticing?
As if answering his thoughts, the figure approached the window and pulled the curtains back, exposing the room to the new day.
He almost fled, fearing that she would see him. But of course, he didn't need to. If he didn't want to be seen by humans, he wouldn't be seen. It was that simple.
Get a grip. He scolded himself. It had been centuries since he'd been to earth. He was clearly losing it.
He watched as the young woman - he had been right, she was around college age - sat down at the stunning cedar desk, which was situated in front of the window. She pulled out a pen and notebook and started writing. As she wrote, her dark hair fell in front of her face, obscuring her looks before he could get a closer look.
He wondered what she was writing about.
Not that it mattered. It shouldn't matter.
Since when had he cared about humans and their activities? Writing was such a silly, flowery thing. All emotions and feelings that would be better smothered.
But as he stared at this young woman, he knew she was going to be important. How, he wasn't sure. But somehow, he knew there would come a time when he would need to use her, for something.
He just needed to find out what that thing was.
laska's note — i'm so excited for this fic! as i mentioned earlier, i have planned so much for this fic, and i hope you guys like it! it's a lot of plot, but it's surrounding all of the characters so hopefully you find it as interesting as i do! leave your thoughts on the prologue! what do you think is going to happen??
