6 Cranbrooke Avenue

Chapter 23

Only the royals were supposed to know about the adventures, but they did a horrible job when it came to keeping them a secret.  I wondered how many more residents knew about the adventures, and exactly what those adventures entailed.

"So what kind of adventures did the children go on?" I asked.

"Just some scavenger hunts most of the time."

"Scavenger hunts to find what?"

"Not really to find stuff exactly, but to steal stuff from the Djinns.  It caused them to hate the humans even more than they already did."

The creature sat down in the stream so I sat down in the grass on the bank.

"So what kind of stuff did they steal?" I asked.

"That, I don't know."

Our conversation soon ended and I was again on my way into the great beyond.  Five minutes into walking, the atmosphere felt different and a chill ran down my spine.  The trees where I was, were not colourful like the ones before.  Instead, both the leaves and the trunk were dark blue.  Vines twisted around all the trees, some thicker than some.  The trees were very tall and the branches and leaves formed a thick canopy that managed to block out most of the light from the suns.  That section of the forest was creepy but enticing in a way.  I felt drawn to it.  I took one more step into that part of the forest and a cold breeze rushed by me giving me instant goosebumps, but I still wanted to go further.  So I did.

I walked up to one of the trees and looked up into it.  On one of the lower branches, I saw a weird shaped black fruit hanging.  I wanted to see it closer, so I got a grip on the tree and began to climb it.  The vines on the trunk made it easier to get a firm grip, and I quickly reached the branch with the fruit.  I reached out to grab it when I felt myself slipping down the tree.  The vines had disappeared.  I slid down the tree and ended up on the ground with at least ten scratches in different places on my body.  I needed to get the fruit, so I again tried to climb up the tree, which took a longer time than before, but instead of stopping below the fruit, I decided to go onto a branch above it and stretch down.  It seemed smart, but the closest branch above it was still too far.

"What are you doing up there?" I heard someone call from the ground and I looked in the direction of the voice.

A relatively good-looking boy was standing below the tree.  I couldn't see him clearly so I squinted my eyes a bit.

"If you come down, you would get a better view." He confidently said.

I decided to go back down to the ground and ended up tripping on a root and landed awkwardly on my face.  How great, I thought.

"You need help?" He asked.

I looked up and his hands were outstretched towards me and he smiled showing crocodile teeth.  I shifted back.

"It's my teeth, isn't it?  Why can't anyone accept me for who I am?" He sounded a bit sad.

"What are you?" I asked.

"That's not important honey.  What's important is our feelings for each other."

I tried my best but I couldn't hold in my laugh.  I could tell he felt a bit hurt, but I was totally not expecting that.

"Bruh, what feelings.  I don't even know you." I said trying to hide my laughter.

"But I know you.  From my dreams.  I've been waiting for you for years.  You're as pretty as you were in my dreams."

I knew I wasn't supposed to be entertaining him as I didn't know him and could hurt his feelings, but it was quite interesting, so I allowed him to continue talking.

"You, my love, are the missing piece to complete me.  You are the last puzzle piece to finish my life." He continued.

I wondered where he got his words.  Had he been practicing for years?  It sounded like that.  He got down on one knee in front of me.

"Will you be mine for the rest of my life?" He asked.

What the hell was happening?

"Hold up.  What?" I was genuinely confused.

"What do you mean?  I thought you wanted this?"

"Wanted what?"

"Me.  Us.  Together."

"No thank you."

I got up and began walking back to the castle as I had had way too much social interaction that day.

"Stop!" He screamed and the skies became dark.

Thunder began to roll and lightning brightened up the sky every once in a while.  I froze on the spot.  I soon felt his breath on the side of my face and heard his whispers in the corner of my ear.  I didn't know what he was whispering as it wasn't English.

"You will marry me!" He then screamed.

"I beg to differ." I heard myself say.