The Missing Ace

Chapter 8

"On three. One, two.." A doctor commanded two other nurses as they grabbed Gérard's limbs. "Three." The nurses lifted the vampire prince up from the bed with ease and carefully placed him onto the seat of a wheelchair. "Take care!" One of them waved to Gérard as Angelina wheeled him out of the ward. "So, how was your time in the hospital?" She quizzed, wheeling him past visitors, staffs and various patients. "I had to stay awake most of the time, in case a nurse came to check on me, only to find me floating a feet above the bed." Gérard answered, yawning. "I haven't been able to get some human sleep." He whined.

Angelina chuckled. "Anyways, I have some good news." She announced. "What?" The prince lifted his head up to look at his girlfriend. "The play, we've managed to fill up the eight main casts." Angelina smiled, planting a kiss on Gérard's forehead. The platinum haired youth blushed and looked down at his feet. "Also, there's something you should hear about." Angelina added. "What would that be?" Gérard quizzed, looking around as they approached the lift lobby. "Camille and Ethan are together." She answered.

Gérard's face drained of blood as he felt it turn cold. "Katu and Vas? No way." He protested as Angelina stopped him a safe distance from the lift as she walked over to push the down button. "Please, you should've seen the 'civil war', as Cam would put it." Angelina counted, walking back to him. The lift bell dinged and the metallic doors slid open for the duo to enter. "It's not that bad. They're actually quite cute together." She commented, turning around to look for the button to reach the ground floor.

When she glanced upwards, she saw another visitor running towards her. Instinctively, Angelina jabbed at the open button. The lift doors slid open for the tall male to enter. "Thanks miss." He smiled. Angelina smiled back at him. "No problem." She added. From the mirror, Gérard was given a sense of familiarity to the man he had never seen before. It could not be him. His attacker was a human with dark colored hair, not blonde. His attacker had red eyes, not blue. But their coats; Was it possible for two different individuals to have the same dark blood red coat?

"What happened to your friend?" The man asked Angelina, snapping Gérard out of his thoughts. "He was attacked by Mr. Crux. It was very fortunate of him to survive. I've heard that Mr. Crux makes sure that his victims were dead before he crucify them." Angelina answered. "Sure is a miracle for him." The man turned to Gérard. "Is he traumatized or anything?" He questioned again. "I'm not sure about that." Angelina nervously laughed. Gérard felt his blood curl.

———

"Yo Tavian!" The (new) president of the Drama Club (and formerly vice) Gloria called out to the returning member of the club as he wheeled himself into the theater, with the help of Angelina by opening the door for him. Once inside of the theater, Gérard let the wheelchair roll down the aisle before he leapt out of it and casually walked towards the stage. "Did I miss anything?" He questioned, adjusting his jacket. Gloria curled her fingers in with suspicion. "Yes, I'm afraid so, Mr Tavian." She spoke, as if it was a grave matter. "During your absence, we've lacked the manpower to gather enough actors, props and finance for the play. However, we are very fortunate that Mr Braginski and Miss Volkov have joined us for the play." She explained.

Gérard climbed onto the stage as Angelina briskly made her way closer. "And?" Gérard arched a brow. "Mr Braginski has assured our finance while Miss Volkov has gone around the retrieve actors and actresses for us." She added, lifting up a stack of papers, possibly scripts and application for auditioning forms and tossed them to Gérard. He scanned through the list. Ethan had auditioned for the role of 'Antonio' while Camille had auditioned for the role of 'Jessica'.

Gérard turned towards Angelina with puckered lips. "Max, don't give me that face." She groaned. "Now that's done," Gloria snatched back the stack of documents, "care to join in as Bassanio and Portia? I've been saving those two roles for the two of you." Gloria asked, shaking the papers at Angelina. The redhead took a step back, stunned by the way the President of the Drama Club had asked her. "You can go and look for Miss Volkov and Miss Wolfsbane. They're dealing with the roles for now. They should be at the roof. They're self-rehearsing." Gloria added, shooing them off. "As you go out, do bring along your wheelchair, I find it a pain if I have to bring it out myself." She continued, turning away from the two. Angelina felt a vein bulge, but she held it in. "Max, let's go." She let it out slowly. Gérard hopped off the stage and followed behind Angelina as she walked out, pushing the wheelchair along with him.

———

It was at least five minutes into the lunch period. Every student was either still eating, or fooling around in the corridors of the school. Angelina rested her head on her arms as Sachi sat beside her, eating her own packed lunch. Haruka sat in front of the latter while Yukio sat in front of Angelina, each with their own packed lunches in front of them. "Are you sure that you're not hungry?" Haruka asked for the third time in the said duration as he quietly munched on a steamed quail egg. "No, thanks for asking me again, Haruka." Angelina mumbled, sitting up straight. "I'm more curious of why the two of you don't eat the lunch provided in school. Is it because it tastes bad or anything?" She quizzed. Sachi giggled.

"No, no. It's not like that. It's something that has been taught to us since a very young age back in Japan... and it's quite the cultural shock for us to see the lunch given in American schools." Sachi explained. "I've also kinda of gotten used to making my own bentō since young, so it has become much of a daily routine for me," the girls turned to Haruka, "as for Haru-chan, his younger sister is always making bentō lunches for the whole family, so he feels bad if he doesn't eat it." She added. Haruka seemed to have turned a deaf ear to Sachi as he continued to eat another sushi roll. "What about yourself Yukio?" Angelina turned to the said student, making him look up from his meal and letting a fried shrimp slide out from in between of his pair of chopsticks.

"Um... well..." Yukio stammered, "I'm actually used to well-prepared meals, since I was home tutored.. so I'm actually rather new to all of this." He answered. Angelina smiled at his response. "Then, when you make the lunches, do you have to make them into animals?" The redhead quizzed, pointing out a rice ball shaped of a penguin in Haruka's lunch box. In the next moment, his face flushed a light shade of red. "Not really, but Yuki-chan loves making their onigiri in the shape of animals, doesn't she?" Sachi patted Haruka's head. "Yamete." He jabbed the Japanese girl's hand away from his head. "Are we late?" They heard a voice. The trio turned their heads towards the doorway of their English homeroom only to see Camille and Ethan standing there.

Then, Ethan held up a bag of convenience store goods. "We heard that our red-haired snow white princess is skipping school food today." He teased, glancing at their animals. Sachi's otter was resting beside her feet, gnawing on a shell. Haruka's crane was preening its feathers while Yukio's fox was resting on the table he sat at. Ethan noticed that Angelina's cat was lying on the desk behind herself and looking very lethargic. "Ange," he called out, walking in casually. "Yes?" She answered, curious to why he has called her. "Are you running a fever?" He asked. "Ah." The redhead was surprised.

"Oh my god! Ange!" Sachi shot up from her seat so suddenly, she gave everyone present a fright, even their animals. Haruka and Yukio quickly gabbed their lunches (including Sachi's) before the tables violently shifted. "Sachi?!" Angelina cried as the Japanese girl grabbed her shoulders, before touching her neck. "You are sick! We have to bring you to the nurse's office!" She added, dragging Angelina out from their seats. "Hey! Wait! Sachi! I'm not sick!" Angelina protested, trying to push Sachi away from her. But the Japanese girl was persistent. "Health is a priority for longevity!" She countered. Angelina hesitated at that last sentence, giving the former a chance to get her out of the home room and drag her to the nurse's office. Ethan glanced to the floor where he saw the otter dragging the poor feline by its front paws.

"Sachi! I'm fine!" She shouted, her voice distant. Yukio and Haruka set down their lunches. "Care to have a seat?" The named former invited. "Don't mind if we do!" Ethan grinned, hurrying over to sit down in front of Haruka while Camille sat in front of Yukio. "Anyways... how's the planning for the play?" Haruka quizzed the Russians. "It's going well. We've actually managed to fill up all of the roles already. It's quite sad that Ange and Tav' aren't in it." Camille smiled. "They didn't make it?" Yukio asked. "No, the roles got filled up by someone else." Ethan explained. "And who would they be?" Haruka asked, picking up his penguin rice ball. "Magnolia as Portia, and Myers as Bassanio." The Russians answered in sync.