Mind full of monsters

Beginning of the end

The clink of glasses and cheers rung through the air. Minutes earlier Dad's rousing speech has won everyone's attention. "You never cease to amaze me," Dad began. "To my darling, beautiful, talented daughter, Kai, congratulations on winning a place in NYC School of Beauty and Fashion, your dream school and most of the money out of my pocket," Mum swatted Dad playfully and everyone cheered.

As the celebration died down, I walked out onto the balcony of the new house. Although it was early, the night sky was filled with twinkling stars, lighting up the hills and valleys as well as the huge glass roof of the school I was to attend in less than nine days. Excitement was the only thing on my mind, nothing could ruin this...

"I'm not old enough!" I protested against Dad's crazy idea. Mum had given up trying to talk him out of it and was now sat on the side line with a cup of coffee in her hand and an amused look on her face. Hayden slung his arm across my shoulders, "I'll be there too, it'll be fine, it'll be fun!" he explained squeezing my shoulders. Vegas, eh? It would take five hours to get there by plane, but Dad insisted and when his mind was set on something, there was no backing down.

It was five in the evening when the flight attendant announced that we would be departing in five minutes from the runway. Hayden was sat beside me, his hand reassuringly resting on my knee. Trinity, Halo and Charlie were sat behind me, occasionally kicking my seat to alert me that they were still in fact there. A drunk group of party-goers came laughing and singing down the aisle, making everyone look up and scowl at their passing. The flight attendant said a dew last words before the plane left the tarmac, as well as any last chances of me escaping with it.

"Wakie wakie," Hayden whispered as the plane came alive with people chatting lively. "What time is it? Where are we?" I asked rubbing my eyes and stretching my legs. Hayden lifted me to my feet and held on until I could successfully stand on my own. "Las Vegas, well, Nevada and it's ten," Hayden replied smirking away, "you slept like a baby through the whole flight," I scowled at him and slapped his arm, his smirk growing into a Cheshire cat-sized grin. As we descended the steps of the plane, Dad waved frantically like a crazy man and both Hayden and I burst into laughter. "Ready to hit the casinos?" Hayden whispered in my ear as we reached the rest of the group. I shrugged. "Caesar Palace. here we come!" Dad cheered, Mum rolled her eyes and I groaned. If I didn't die from worry, then I was going to die from sheer embarrassment!

We hired two cars from the car rental right next to the airport, got changed into out evening attire and soon enough we were on our way into the heart of Las Vegas. My eyes were constantly drawn to the billions of lights framing the city, it would have felt magical if my stomaching wasn't knotting up at the sight of the millions of people roaming about. The scene reminded me of Blackpool's Illuminations when I laid eyes upon the replica Eiffel Tower, originating from Paris, a place I called my second home due to my lengthy trips there to study the latest trends - and shop! "Kaiya?" A voice came from beside me. I turned to see Hayden in deep conversation with my Dad who was driving. I looked out the rear window and saw the car Mum was driving with Halo, Charlie and Trinity. A frown fell across my face, "hey, Kai, what's up?" Hayden asked, shaking my shoulder gently, concern clouding his face. I came back to reality and forced a smile on my face, "nothing, just in a world of my own as always," I replied, trying to convey a jokey tone. Hayden seemed convinced enough to turn back to his conversation about the game last night but not enough to leave his hand on my knee. My mind started wandering off, was I imagining things? With each passing minute, I became more and more anxious and no matter how hard I tried to push it from my mind, the simplest motions just couldn't stick.

We pulled up outside of the grand casino, Caesar Palace, and the only thing on my mind was seeing which was the best direction to run in. The valet took the keys off of Dad and we waited for the car to pull away and Mum to park up. We walked into the huge foyer and I was instantly awe-struck. The lights glowed gold and framed the centrepiece, golden pillars were everywhere you turned and even the ceiling had been spared to no expensive as a mural decorated every inch. It was as if a piece of heaven had been plucked from the sky and injected into the building. My mouth dropped open, hitting the floor as my mind tried to process everything, "you like?" Hayden asked standing beside me and dutifully draping his arm across my shoulders, warding off all the men that stood staring. I nodded, my mind was too blown to produce words. "Woah," Trinity whistled as she strolled in behind me, "someone has some seriously deep pockets to be able to create this". Halo nodded in agreement but was too busy staring at the passing waitresses to notice the interior.