Once Upon a Midnight: Wanted

Chapter Seven

Casper flashed a smile at Aeryn before opening the door to the room, making a face as he kicked some books out of the way. "Seriously, Claudia, you must clean up once in awhile. It is starting to look worse than father's study."

"What do you want Casper? And what is that horrible smell? If you are going to go out hunting with your friends the least you could do is not bring it home with you."

"Claudia, just turn around." Casper sighed. "I did not bring my dinner home with me. Actually, I did not get a chance to eat much at all."

"What are you talking...about...Casper. What is this?" Claudia finally turned from her spot at her desk, setting down papers when she finally noticed Aeryn standing slightly behind her twin brother. Actually the girl was more hiding behind him than anything. "Casper? Explain. Now."

Casper smiled apologetically at Aeryn before walking over to where his sister was leaning against her desk, arms folded across her chest.

This gave Aeryn a chance to look at the twin better. She looked similar to Casper in terms of hair and eye color. Her skin was just slightly lighter than Casper's. Her hair was pulled into a low bun, a few tendrils framing her face and giving her otherwise mature features a softer look. She was shorter than him, but not by much. With the heels on she was maybe half an inch short than him.

Her clothes were the same color as Casper's. Her dress was black, a corset at the top that had gray lace around the bust. It billowed at her hips into a lolita skirt, also black but accented with gray lace at the bottom. She had on knee high black boots and Aeryn could see gray socks poking from the tops of them.

Once Aeryn tore her eyes away from Claudia she began examining the room they were in. Books littered the floor, and where there weren't books it was paper and notebooks. To her right was a wall sized bookshelf, and directly across from that was a single bed. It didn't look slept in, or that it could be slept in. Books and clothing were piled onto it.

"And so you brought her here?" Claudia's voice brought Aeryn's eyes from the bed to the white-haired woman, who did not look very pleased at her brother. Casper scratched the back of his head and chuckled uneasily.

"I did not know what else to do. I could not leave her alone, she would have been killed."

"Casper." Claudia pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. "Casper if she is found, she will not be the only one in trouble. Have you forgotten who our father is? If he knew we were harboring a human he would have our heads. Literally."

Casper groaned. "I did not think about that."

"No of course not. You never do." Claudia sighed. She looked over at Aeryn, who flinched and immediately looked away. She could hear the clicking of Claudia's boots as she approached Aeryn.

"I suppose she can stay here tonight while everyone is out feeding, but we must be rid of her by morning."

"I knew I could count on you Claudia." Casper said, a bit excitedly. Claudia glared at her twin, turning on her heel and going back to the papers that were on her desk.

"She cannot stay in my room though. She smells like a dog."

"Yes of course. Come Aeryn, I will take you to my room. You will be safe tonight." Casper walked over to her, not giving her a chance to respond as he took her hand and pulled her out of the room. He led her down the hall, opening the door to another room.

His room was considerably cleaner than Claudia's had been. The layout was about the same, no windows, a desk directly across from them and a bed on the left side of the room. It didn't look slept in, but it was made and neat. There was a pile of folded clothes on the edge of his desk.

Casper walked fully into the room, going to sit at his desk and smiling at Aeryn. "You may use the bed to rest, I am sure you need it."

"I thought you guys got rid of things like beds. Why do you guys have one if you don't need sleep?"

"We do not need sleep but beds are still nice to sit on. Can you imagine having to sit in a chair all the time? Besides, sometimes a Rahk might bring home a...friend, and it is kind of hard to...socialize...without a bed." Casper's face was drawn in a frown as he tried to think of an appropriate way to word that. But she didn't seem affected by his description, and he had a feeling she didn't quite understand what it was he was trying to say.

"You should sleep." He said when she looked like she was going to ask what he'd meant. "Go, I promise the bed is comfortable even if I do not use it."

Aeryn nodded, walking over to the bed. She hesitated before sinking onto it, surprised at how soft it was. She bounced a bit, a small smile on her lips.

Casper watched her curiously, tilting his head a bit. This girl was certainly an odd creature. She was looking at the bed as if it were going to eat her. "Have you never seen a bed before?" He asked when she poked the mattress.

Aeryn looked at him, eyes wide. She wasn't expecting that question and it threw her off guard for a moment. "It's kind of hard to own a bed when you live in the middle of the forest."

Casper hmm'd lightly, crossing his arms. "Yes I suppose you are right. I apologize. Sometimes I forget that there are still humans who live. Although I cannot understand why."

"Why?"

"Why humans insist on living when they are hated so much." Casper wasn't looking at Aeryn, his gaze on his shoes, so he didn't notice the shocked look she gave him. "I have to admit I do admire it." He looked at Aeryn then, giving her a soft smile. "Do not get me wrong. I do not think that this hatred against humans is justified. I do not understand why the humans of today are paying for what the humans did years ago."

"What did they do?" Aeryn asked.

"You do not know?" When she shook her head Casper pushed off the desk, walking over to her. "Lay down. It is late." He said, waiting for Aeryn to do as he said before sitting on the edge of the bed. "They were too violent. War after war was slowly killing the earth. They made it so people were afraid to walk out of their front doors." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "The Council, the original Council, came together to try and figure out a way to solve the crisis. They, along with a team of scientists began experimenting on humans, trying to discover the root of human nature, of what made them so violent."

"So they created the species that exist today."

Casper nodded. "We, the Rahktar, were their first creation. Of course it was not without its errors. The children of those experimented on were being born human. The mutated genes of their parents were not being passed on. But eventually they figured out a way to stop that. They managed to isolate human nature, to eliminate the need to destroy."

"But...you guys kill."

"Yes, but we do not destroy. Not like the humans of old. We kill only what is necessary to survive. They...they killed needlessly and mercilessly. Fighting over land, over...people. I do not understand it, but Rahktar do not have the desire to harm like that."

Aeryn shifted onto her side, curling into a slight ball. "How did Shifter's happen?"

"I do believe that they eventually began extracting DNA from animals. At first, Shifters could choose which animals to change into. Shift freely. You can imagine that did not sit well with the Council, who wanted control over everything. They worked until they found a way to isolate it. Nowadays, animal species are family specific. So if your mother and father are Wolf Shifters, any children they may have will be Wolf Shifters. It is a very rare occurrence that a child is born with the ability to shift into an animal different to their parents."

"But there aren't hundreds of different species running around are there?"

"No." Casper laughed softly, leaning back against the wall. "That would be far too chaotic. The Council decided which of the animals would be stronger, and have a higher chance of surviving and used those."

Aeryn started to ask another question but Casper shook his head, standing. "We can discuss more tomorrow. For now you must sleep." He stood, going over to the door. "And I must talk to Claudia about how we will get you back outside the Wall."