My Long Lost Mate

The carriage ride was nice and quiet, though a little shaky when met with a rocky road. I looked outside of the window, staring at the buildings and scenery that we passed. I never had a lot of chances to see how the outside world looked like, and all I know about it was only from what I have seen from the window in my room.

When it was day, the road would be bustling with people mingling around with one another.  The women would wear pompous dresses to catch the attention of their dream man, chattering around while sipping their evening tea. While the men, sometimes were too busy with their works, sometimes were idle enough to respond to the women.

And when the nighttime arrived, it was time for the poor to steal from the riches who lived in the area. On some mornings, people would find the door to their houses already broken and a few valuable items of them missing. This caused them to have several locks on their doors, also hiring more people to guard their houses. This also happened a few times to the house where I lived, though I didn't mind it a bit. In fact, I hoped for them to rob the entire fortune that my dad owned.

At least, that was what happened in the place where I lived.

I lived in a place where people were mostly fortunate enough to live their lives idly by, where they didn't need to suffer to earn something to eat. That was why the most thing that I have seen from behind my window was people laughing around. 

Sometimes, when the night was the coldest, I would dream about the sea. A place where I was free, where the chain on my legs was no more. I dreamed about feeling the calm breezes of the sea, feeling them gentle against my skin. I wanted to know how it feels to have my feet underwater and how it feels to touch the soft golden sand. It was always a dream of mine to visit the sea ever since I saw it on the picture books that I kept hidden under my bed.

I took my eyes off the window, shifting the focus to the man sitting in front of me. He was too, looking outside of the window but his mind seemed to be elsewhere. It took him several minutes before he realized I was staring. 

"Hmm?" he smiled, "Do you need something?" 

"Do you remember that time when we went to your secret place?" I asked. I remembered it was my first time seeing the sea with my own two eyes, thinking that the real deal was ten times more beautiful than what was shown in the picture book.

"Our—secret place," he corrected, "What about it?" 

"I was wondering if we could go to the sea beneath it."

"Why can't we?" he chuckled, "I will take you there sometime later. It's actually not that far from our home." 

His answer immediately brought a smile to my lips, happy to know that I will soon visit the place that I've always dreamed to go. From what I read from my books, there was a creature called mermaids who lived deep under the sea. If creatures like werewolves and vampires are real, what about mermaids? Are they real too?

As I was imagining my visit to the sea, the carriage soon came to a stop. We have finally arrived at our destination, which was the center of the town. When the coachman opened the door for us, Luke was the first to step out of the carriage. He then offered his hand, helping to get off the carriage safely.

Stepping out of the carriage, I could see that the road was bustling with people. On either side of the road, there stood numerous buildings that were open for businesses. All kinds of people swarmed around the road, busy with their own world. Luke's hand didn't leave mine since I stepped out of the carriage, holding me close to him while we walked down the road, side by side. 

"Do you see those two people?" he pointed to the two people who were standing outside of a florist, their bodies adorned with fancy clothing, "They are vampires." 

"How do you know that?" I whispered, scared that those people would hear us talking behind their backs with their heightened hearing abilities. "I thought you said we can't differentiate each dark creature?" 

"We can't, but it's quite obvious with the vampires. Look at the color of their eyes," he said, "If it's in the color of silver or gold, then they are vampires." 

I looked back at the people he was talking about and realized their eyes were gold. Those vampires soon noticed my stare and stared back at me, leaving me bewildered at their sudden attention. I quickly averted my gaze and pulled on Luke's hand, asking him to walk faster. 

Since receiving the newly acquired information, I would always look at the pupils of the people who passed by, curious to know which one of them was a vampire. After meeting several people, I came to know that there certainly were a lot of them here. 

I wondered if the human who lived here know about this fact? I bet they know, right? After all, most of the people here own such colored eyes. But what if they only know it as some kind of hereditary of the people in Gordom? That would be trouble. 

We stopped by a boutique that stood at the end of the road, the place rather empty than all the other shops in the area despite its grand size. A sound of bell ringing was heard when the door was pushed open, causing the employee of the boutique to rush to the door, politely greeting the coming customers. 

"Welcome," she bowed, a smile on her face when she stood up, "Please take your time. Do you need anything that I can help you with?" 

"I need a dress for her," Luke said to the employee, "Find me the best one you have here. I will pay for any price." 

When he said that he was willing to pay any price, I didn't expect it to be this much. All the dresses that were shown to us cost more than five gold, it was an unimaginably high price. No matter how beautiful they were, I wouldn't spend so much money just for one dress! It was no wonder that this place was empty, the prices of the things they sold were insanely high. No sane people would dare to step inside this place if they didn't want to be rob of their fortune. 

The currency that we used was bronze, silver, and gold. A hundred bronze meant one silver, a hundred silver meant one gold. I didn't know much about money, but I certainly know that the most common things were sold mostly in bronze and silver, not gold. With five bronze, I could get a loaf of bread. Imagine how many loaves of bread that I could get with five gold—I could feed a whole village for weeks!

I quickly pulled Luke to a corner, asking him to lower his head so I could whisper, "I think we should go somewhere else. The price doesn't sit right. Don't you think they are fooling us because we are not locals?" 

Hearing my whisper, he laughed heartily, "I doubt so, rabbit."

As if he was fine with spending such a large sum of money, he pulled me back to the dressing room, asking me to try on those expensive dresses without minding the prices.

It was actually really hard for me to do so after knowing the prices of those dresses. I didn't even dare to touch them! What if I accidentally tear one of them while trying them on? I would have to work for years to be able to pay them back! 

Looking at how I was still hesitating even after asking me to not mind the prices, Luke beckoned the employee to help me try on the dresses while he waits outside. I groggily tried on the dresses as the employee helped—forced me to wear them.

The first few dresses were of rich and strong colors that would certainly attract the attention of many people, with many ruffles and elaborated designs on them. When Luke saw me wearing those dresses, he didn't seem to like them—nor did I. I think they were all too extravagant for me to wear. I would look weird wearing them, like a sheep wearing a lion's mane. 

After trying on numerous dresses, I grew tired and decided to just take the next dress that will be shown. It was not like I wanted to impress anyone, so I didn't think I would need to look my best. The last dress I tried on was a light blue one, with a high neckline and a little ruffles on the elbow. It was the simplest one compared to all the previous dresses and didn't show as much skin.

He stood up, walking closer to me while giving me a smile even more charming than Bob's chocolate cake, "Perfect."