Youthfulness

Chapter Six

Claire breathed out a sigh of relief. That was close. Their parents almost discovered the existence of the Princess Package. They couldn't know about it, or Alexandra couldn't study in La Salle College.

Alexandra went to a boys' school because their parents was convinced by Claire that she was more masculine than the normal transgender people. If their parents knew about Alexandra's fluctuating gender was uncontrollable ... Claire shuddered at the mere thought of it.

Claire dove straight to her bed when she heard footsteps approaching, the humongous pile of down pillows barely concealing the sound of her impact. She laid on the bed, eyes closed and heart beating rapidly, and grasped a nearby pillow to pretend to have fallen asleep.

"Claire?" Theresa went into the room, speaking loud and clear, "I know you are not sleeping."

That's a trap, thought Claire as she remained still, eyes tightly closed and trying to relax her slightly tensed body.

Sighing, Theresa walked towards her sleeping child, and swept the messy bangs away from the youthful yet peaceful face. She kissed her cheek quickly, and walked away.

"Such a clever girl," Theresa murmured as she went out of the room and closed the door gently behind her, "She's really asleep."

As the sound of footsteps slowly faded out of earshot, Claire breathed out a sigh of relief, and crawled out of her blanket, carefully not to make any voice. She could hardly contain her glee. Her mother was tricked by her again! Swiftly, she crept out of the bed, tidied the messy bed, and really slept.

***

"Claire ... " A whispery and spooky voice reverberate in Claire's mind. She looked up, and saw that she was inside an attic, dark and enclosed. She looked around, and glimpsed a flash of a black cape.

A sense of dread filled her heart as she felt the looming presence of the walls. Gathering her courage, she spoke, "Who are you? Show yourself." She tried to keep her voice as calm as possible, but still a tremble stubbornly remained.

Silently, she crept towards the darker corner, where she believed the mysterious man was standing. She heard yet another amused chuckle, and a swoosh proved that he had escaped from her vision.

"Claire ... look at me ... " the voice spoke again, this time from her back. She whipped her head to the back, and saw the man slowly removing his silver mask. Little by little, the face became more familiar. However, it only increased Claire's fear.

The mystery man's hazel eyes, same as Claire's, were surrounded with smile crinkles, and his blonde hair matted with speckles of greying strands. His mouth curved into a sinister smile as he walked towards the shivering girl.

Claire uttered an involuntary little scream when she registered the man's familiar appearance. It was her father, whom she most feared.

Derek chuckled darkly, and tipped her chin up with the tip of his finger. His voice dripped with dark humour and disappointment as he spoke, "Claire, my daughter, you ... have failed me ... more than your brother ... "

These words spiralled endlessly in her mind until she jolted out of her dream by Yvette's voice calling her.

"Miss, are you alright? You were sweating and shivering all over the place!"

"Yes, I guess," Claire replied, but she still remembered clearly her father's frightening smile. Even though her father usually acted very serene and forgiving, he hid a heart that was more horrible than Lucifer himself. One couldn't deny that he was a devil in angel disguise.

In fact, the reason she was so determined to pursue utmost excellence, was that she knew that Derek would not forgive her if she made even a mere misstep from the planned road she must follow. Claire shivered at the mere thought of the potential punishment.

Punishment ... the experience was not a pleasant one. Even till this day, Claire couldn't erase its presence from her mind.

"Okay ... " Yvette hid her suspicion in her heart, and smiled as cheerfully as possible at the girl, ushering her out of the bed, "Well, if you are alright, get off the bed now!"

Claire nodded absentmindedly, and crawled out of the warm and cozy bed. She shivered unconsciously again, remembering her father's cold and deadbeat stare. She hoped that Yvette would take it as the cold shivering kind.

Yvette narrowed her clear blue eyes, but she averted her eyes from Claire, and said nothing.

***

Claire ran out of the house with Alexander immediately after having breakfast. She didn't want to see her father's face because she knew she would have a panic attack if she saw his smile again, in the reality.

"You alright?" Alexander asked, she nodded her head queasily.

"Nothing, just had a nightmare," muttered Claire. Alexander raised an eyebrow but replied by showing her the colour of his band. It was blue. Good, still Alexander, pronoun of "his".

"Are you really alright?" Alexander asked once more in concern. Claire nodded with a forced confidence.

"Hope you really are, sis," Alexander spoke quietly, because he could see clearly something was wrong.

***

Once the car stopped in front of the house, Claire bounced out of the car immediately, craving for fresh air. She had claustrophobia, and the unstable emotions these days just worsened it.

She flopped on the couch, glad to have a soft surface to lay on. She pulled out her phone and opened Calling of the Stars. She had turned off the sound, hoping not to disturb anyone, but she could almost hear the cheerful music playing in her mind. She smiled at the optimistic tone, it slightly lifted her heart.

She quickly finished the daily missions, and while she was killing off the remaining monsters surrounding her to win the reward Map of the Ancients, someone invited her to a makeshift team.

A makeshift team was like a temporary gathering that allowed players to help each other. With hesitation, Claire pressed "accept". After the targeted monsters died, the system whisked her off to Holy City of Hearts, or either the name known by most players, Central City.

Hopefully the mission is not Reward Mission again. I have done it 30 times today, thought Claire as the system loaded the background and the characters. Before noticing the mission, and player names, she noticed the weird combination of characters. A Wizard, a Archer, who was herself, a Priest, a Swordsman and an Angel, the leader. Wow, so diversified.

With a look towards the spot where the team stood, Claire immediately realised their mission: Search of The Stars. She peered at the leader's grade. Oh god, only 47. Was they crazy or not? This type of mission certainly needed at least level 70!

Search of The Stars was the "Mission Impossible 1.0" of the game. The missions beginning with "Search of" are all dubbed as "Mission Impossible", because besides fighting powerful creatures that usually have unimaginable special skills, they all required ridiculously diversified skills, such as dance patterns and memorising long paragraphs. Search of The Stars is already the easiest. Claire herself never dared to try this type of mission, but lots of players were tempted by the rewards.

But then her eyes were immediately drawn to the name just below the leader. Claire instantly understood why the leader was willing to attempt the mission: Dark_Magician was in the team. The legendary top player of the game.