When I wake up, I realize I'm being stared at by Jason. I'm kinda creeped out, and I think he can tell by the way I'm looking at him, so he starts to explain. "I felt bad waking you up after all you've been through these past couple days. I was gonna wake you up if you kept sleeping."
This explanation is acceptable, so I sit up and stretch, yawning. I look out the window and see that it has darkened considerably since I fell asleep. "What time is it?" I ask, yawning again.
"Only about 9:00. It gets completely dark by 9:20."
I process this information then realize something. "Where are we? You never told me where the kingdom was located."
Jason replies. "We are in New Zealand, but on a private island your parents' predecessors bought years ago, In order to keep the kingdom a secret. It's been located here ever since."
I swing my legs over the side of my bed and yawn again, I pull on my shoes and head across the gigantic room to the door with Jason following me, his Guiding hand on my shoulder. I open the door and step out of the doorway, almost running into River. "Did you nap?" I ask my little sis.
She nods, yawning and stretching her arms so that her body is shaped like a y. "Did you?" She counters.
"Yeah. Those beds are so much mote comfortable than the ones at home."
River nods in agreement. Jason interrupts our conversation to say, "time to see your parents. They can't wait to see you again,"
River is still bitter, and just grunts, nodding slowly as Jason tells us which way to go. It seems the hallways are just a big winding maze that will end up nowhere, but in about 5 minutes, the three of us are walking through a huge pair of double doors that lead to a typical fairytale throne room, except this one is real life. Our real life. As soon as I see her, I know she's my mom. She hasn't changed at all. My dad, however, seems to have gotten quite a bit paler, yellow even, as the time passed.
My mom comes running over to River and i, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. She embraces both me and River, burying her face in river's left and my right shoulder. "I missed you two so much," she says, her words vibrating into my skin.
This sets River off. "Really? You missed us? Because if you missed us so much, you wouldn't have left us alone to live in a ratty old shack with almost no money besides our college fund. I guess we're never going to college, because we had to use that money to survive. And while this was happening, where were you guys? Living the high life. King and queen of vampire kingdom, bathed in riches. How can you live with yourselves?"
I set what I hope to be a calming hand on river's shaking shoulder, but she shrugs it off, turning and sprinting out of the room. I don't know where she thinks she's going, but she will be found. I know I will see her later. I turn back to my mom, tears streaming down her face. I can tell river's rant really hit her hard. She sniffs and says, "well, we're so glad to see you," and hugs me again. I hug her back this time, knowing more then River the reality of this situation, and how important it is to follow the Rules around here. River will find that out soon enough.
This explanation is acceptable, so I sit up and stretch, yawning. I look out the window and see that it has darkened considerably since I fell asleep. "What time is it?" I ask, yawning again.
"Only about 9:00. It gets completely dark by 9:20."
I process this information then realize something. "Where are we? You never told me where the kingdom was located."
Jason replies. "We are in New Zealand, but on a private island your parents' predecessors bought years ago, In order to keep the kingdom a secret. It's been located here ever since."
I swing my legs over the side of my bed and yawn again, I pull on my shoes and head across the gigantic room to the door with Jason following me, his Guiding hand on my shoulder. I open the door and step out of the doorway, almost running into River. "Did you nap?" I ask my little sis.
She nods, yawning and stretching her arms so that her body is shaped like a y. "Did you?" She counters.
"Yeah. Those beds are so much mote comfortable than the ones at home."
River nods in agreement. Jason interrupts our conversation to say, "time to see your parents. They can't wait to see you again,"
River is still bitter, and just grunts, nodding slowly as Jason tells us which way to go. It seems the hallways are just a big winding maze that will end up nowhere, but in about 5 minutes, the three of us are walking through a huge pair of double doors that lead to a typical fairytale throne room, except this one is real life. Our real life. As soon as I see her, I know she's my mom. She hasn't changed at all. My dad, however, seems to have gotten quite a bit paler, yellow even, as the time passed.
My mom comes running over to River and i, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. She embraces both me and River, burying her face in river's left and my right shoulder. "I missed you two so much," she says, her words vibrating into my skin.
This sets River off. "Really? You missed us? Because if you missed us so much, you wouldn't have left us alone to live in a ratty old shack with almost no money besides our college fund. I guess we're never going to college, because we had to use that money to survive. And while this was happening, where were you guys? Living the high life. King and queen of vampire kingdom, bathed in riches. How can you live with yourselves?"
I set what I hope to be a calming hand on river's shaking shoulder, but she shrugs it off, turning and sprinting out of the room. I don't know where she thinks she's going, but she will be found. I know I will see her later. I turn back to my mom, tears streaming down her face. I can tell river's rant really hit her hard. She sniffs and says, "well, we're so glad to see you," and hugs me again. I hug her back this time, knowing more then River the reality of this situation, and how important it is to follow the Rules around here. River will find that out soon enough.