Purple Roses

DESTINY

Casper's P.O.V

It felt like the world had entered a quiet trance.

The birds have gone quiet, the wild life stopped communicating, the wind stopped blowing, the earth stopped shifting. Everything has stopped.

From the highest trees in the entire area, you can see everything. The air is a little cold but it won't kill. The sky is dark, there are no stars tonight.

"Casper." A voice brings me out of my trance. The birds started chirping, the wildlife started communicating, the earth started shifting and the wind started blowing. I don't make any sudden movements and slowly open my eyes. "It's been a while." He says and laughs casually.

Within a blink of an eye I have the overly confident person who dared to disturb me up against a tree. Making sure to slam him against as many branches as possible on our way down. He groans in pain but doesn't resist as my nails dangerously sunk into his neck.

"Casper, whoa. It's me." he says carefully, swallowing painfully slow. I look at him. "I don't know you." I tell him, my free hand searching him for any stakes or weapons he might have wanted to use on me. You can never be too sure. "I don't befriend any humans." I sneer at him when I find nothing on him. He laughs. "How did you even get up on that tree?" I ask him, squeezing.

"You really don't remember me?" he asks me, his voice sad. I widen my eyes glaring at him. "Chirp, faster birdie, I'm losing my patience." I warn him, my nails drawing blood. He then grabs hold of my hand and a shiver runs through me. "Casper it's me." he says.

~

"You know; you could just jump over that cliff over there if you wanted to die." He says from behind me.

I don't move. I take deep breaths. "Who said anything about me wanting to die?" I ask the stranger. I hear him shift towards me. "Oh? Than what are you doing up such a high tree?" he asks and laughs happily. I sigh and turn to face the stranger. He smiles warmly at me. I don't return the smile and ignore him.

"My name is Presley Sparks." He extends a hand for me to shake it. I glance at it before focusing back to the scenery before me. The sun is rising, and there's a beautiful shade of orange and red mixed in with the pale shade of blue of the sky. I could stay here for ever and still not get tired of this view. A little smile makes its way on my face.

"So is this going to be a thing now? You ignoring me and me trying to start a conversation?" he asks me leaning in quite close, causing the branch I'm sitting on to dip. My heart jumps up to my throat. Panic washes over me. "What the fuck is wrong with you! This branch can't accommodate the both of us! Do YOU want to die?" I glare at the idiotic man. His big eyes search mine and I see that he's not panicked at all. In fact, he doesn't care if the branch breaks or not.

"I won't die from the fall. I'll just merely dislocate a few bones but after a few minutes be back to normal. I don't know about your puny human body though." He gives me a weird smile. A shiver runs through my body. 'Your puny human body' what he says replays in my head. What is he talking about? Does he think he's not human? "You're crazy." I glare at him and slowly start my descend down the tree, making sure to be careful but still fast enough to quickly get away from the creep.

~

I look at Presley with wide eyes. "Presley?" I back up and loosen my grip on his neck. He laughs and starts rubbing his neck, trying to get the circulation back. "Your grip has gotten tighter." He smiles at me. I smile at my old friend. "Yeah." I back up surprised that he's here. "How did you? I thought you went back to the Vernand Isles." I chuckle.

"I did." He gulps painfully. "Sorry about that, it's just that it's been a while." I scratch my elbow, embarrassed. "No it's okay, it'll heal by itself." He waves it off. "So how have you been doing?" he asks me happy. I shrug. It's been so long since we last met. He just left without a warning one day and now, still without a warning, he's back. That's so typical of Presley. "Nothing much. I gave up the throne to Lira and decided to live my last years as a free vampire of some sorts. I still do some requests for her though." I shrug summarizing things for him. He gives me a questioning look.

"I have my reasons." I smirk.

He shakes his head disappointed. "When we fought so hard to make you King, you throw it all away." He sighs and walks past me. He starts pacing up and down. I watch him saying nothing. Something's up. I know Presley enough to not disturb him when he's thinking. He really hates it.

He then stops suddenly and turns to face me. "Did by any chance you receive a red envelope?" he asks me eyes wide. My ears perk up at this. "A red envelope? The one that was to be addressed to the Vampire In White?" I ask him, remembering hearing about it. He nods. "Yes." He takes a step forward. "It was sent 3 years after I stepped down, so I only heard about it. It was a big deal though. Nobody knew where and from whom it came from. No one could trace it." I shift my weight from both my legs and lean to my right. "It was you wasn't it?" I frown.

"Yes." He takes another step forward. "The Vampire In White was you. You're the vampire in white. I knew you would be the one to understand because of the common goal you and I share." His eyes start getting a shade darker. I don't say anything. He groans and runs a hand through his hair frustrated. "So who received the letter in your place? Was it Lira?" he doesn't face me when he asks this. "Yes." I confirm. He sucks in a sharp breath of air. "Damn it." he says lowly.

"What was is in the letter anyway?" I ask him, curiosity getting the better of me. He turns around and shakes his head. "I can't say it out loud." His eyes move around the forest. I took this a sign to make a quick census of the surroundings. I close my eyes and expand the mind as far and wide as possible. Then that's when I felt them. The forest spirits. Faint but there. I immediately decrease the area of which I expanded my mind and open my eyes to look at Presley with a mischievous smile on my face. "Oh." I say.

"Exactly. So I need to watch what I say." He chuckles smiling. "Your so much stronger than I remember." He adds folding his arms over his chest. "You would've nearly had me in a tight spot had I not shielded myself." I chuckle. "Let's just say time is my friend." I shrug.

"Bull. But I'll let it go." He stops smiling and looks at me serious. "Listen. I need you to take me to Lira." he pauses to look me in the eyes. "I have some explaining to do." He says and the look on his face tells me it's something urgent.

I wonder what is it that Presley has in store for us this time.