As she lays on her bed blankly staring at the ceiling, she fondly recalls the days of she spent being together with Crème.
Flashback:
Cassidy sits around the class aimlessly wondering as they take their lunch break. She has it all from power to wealth and to good looks, she has thousands of adoring fans but sadly there's one thing she doesn't have.
"Oh my god you have to tell me what you used to make your skin glow like that!" Says the girl as she bickers with her friend. Cassidy hears this from the back with her sensitive ears and subtly enjoys the conversation. Even with all the fame and popularity, even with the thrilling rush of enjoying life to the fullest, and even with all the hundreds of people around her, she still felt alone.
Everybody loves and wants to approach her but in the end, after all the fun is over, they leave without turning back. Popularity was poison to Cassidy, it creates a bubble wherein even if everybody was nice and friendly but in reality they weren't genuine.
She stopped coming to class for a while and started aimlessly wondering at the halls of the School of the Mystics looking for anything that can give her life meaning. Empty smiles greet but she just walks and ignore them until she heard "Ms. Perez."
Valehollow appears with the principal beside him, "I have heard you've been having some problems lately and I'm here to offer up my help." Valehollow smiles like a gentleman and Cassidy look at her dad, "You can't just tell anyone about my personal problems especially when they're just hungry and opportunistic people." The old principal sighs at Cassidy's brutal honesty and says "My dear, Sir. Valehollow isn’t like that. Let's just give it a try, you won't have anything to lose."
Cassidy looks at the suspicious Valehollow, "If I may, I believe that this can solve your problem." He enthusiastically takes out a pair of glasses with a normal black frame.
Cassidy POV:
"Ughh he tricked me." I said as I sit around this boring library in the human world, I could be at the beach right now but no, because of Valehollow I have to sit here and finish my shift.
I look at myself in the mirror at the pillars of the library and sure enough I was breath taken, I had glossy silver hair but this pair of glasses turned my hair to black and it also has a spell to makes the popular me unrecognizable. Although I look like a total nerd, for the first time ever no fans or people gather around just to say hi.
I play around with the books and, bored out of my mind, I roam around the library. There was no one here except that one guy, it's like he's possessed by the spirit of book reading. I could be out here by now if it wasn't for him... hmm, yes I could be out here if he's out too.
"Hey, why don't you just borrow the books and read it at home?" I said nonchalantly and without glancing he says "I already burrowed five books so I can't really take this one home." He continues reading and I said "How about you just take it? I'm a librarian here you know so let's just keep it off the records." He closes the book and stands up to put back to the shelf saying "Nah, Sir. Valehollow would kill me."
He browses for books again and damn it he still has three hours until the end of my shift, "Look, I want to go out and you seem like you've lived in the library your whole life, so how about we hang out and have fun?" He turns to me and says "Sure. I’m Crème by the way." with a wide smile on his face, I couldn't help but feel like I've been tricked again as he enthusiastically walks out of the library.
We went back to my car and headed to the club. It was quiet and awkward until he ask “Why do you work as a librarian when you have such an expensive car?” I glanced at him and said “I was tricked to working, I work for the library and I get these pair of glasses.” He still looks at me confused but we’re already here, I wonder what my party people would think of my new look? We were about to walk in and the bouncer said “Sorry no students allowed.” Crème looks around as if it’s his first time here and I said to the bouncer blocking us “Come on, it’s me Cassidy. I’m a VIP here and I don’t even know why I’m talking to you.”
I tried to walk in but he just wouldn’t budge, luckily I saw Jason, a friend of mine, inside the club and shouted “Jason they wouldn’t let me in! Jason!” I got his attention and he grins mischievously as he walks towards us “Hey, what seems to be the problem here?” As he wraps around his arm on the bouncer, he puts money on his shirt pocket. The bouncer looks away and he continues “Oh my, you are here already? I thought you won’t come for another hour.” He comes to me and whispers to my ear “Look baby, I can get you in because you’re my type but let’s ditch the geek.”
I look at him surprised seeing his true attitude for the first time and in my mind I said “The spell on these pair of glasses is so strong that even people from the Mystical world can’t tell the difference.” I was about to leave but Jason holds my hand and smiles saying “Where are you going baby?” I was about to kick him in the balls until Crème spoke, “Hey, this counts as sexual harassment right? I wonder what would happen to one of the top models of Arcanegrove if this spreads out.” Crème holds his phone recording the whole situation and Jason has no choice but to back off while looking irritated.
We quietly head back to my car and drove away. “Look cool girl, I don’t know who you want to impress but I suggest you stay away from places like that. Everybody wants to be popular but that’s also one reason why guys like those get attracted.” I focused on the road and said bitterly, “Thank you for helping but you don’t have to be so rough about it, I know those guys and it just so happens that this was a bad day.” He becomes quiet but after a while he said “Okay then since we tried to have fun your way how about we have fun my way? Of course you’re going to have to let me drive your cool car because I’m the only one who knows the place.”
Based from his smile and gleaming eyes, it was obvious he really wanted to test drive. “Fine, but scratch it and I will kill you.” We drove to the west edge of Arcanegrove and walked into its forests. He holds a map and a compass and I wonder what he was looking for, “Usually people would complain by now for walking in the woods for so long but surprisingly you’re holding up pretty well.” Duh, of course I would I’m from the school of the mystic, and they train us mostly in the woods.
We climb the huge rocks and walked through the river using a log, then we finally arrived at an abandoned house. The house made of stone has plants growing outside its walls, windows and roofs, add to the fact that it’s in the middle of nowhere this brings a whole new level of creepiness. I look at him curious if he’s a mystic too but he just happily goes in opening the worn out door and saying “What are you waiting for? Didn’t you want to have fun?”
We walked inside and sure enough it was dusty and plants we’re everywhere. He lifts the rug in the center of the living room revealing a hidden basement, we walked down into the dark basement and I thought “Is he planning to kill me here or something?” He opens the lights, “Welcome to the hideout.” Unlike the surface, the basement looks futuristic. It has video game consoles, Television, refrigerator, drawers and a metal table with tools and what I could describe as inventions. It was really amazing and unexpected but, “If your idea of fun was playing with consoles then we could’ve just went to my house.”
“Who says we’re here to play consoles?” From the drawers he takes out different types paintball guns and some protective wear. “Choose your weapons.” He says ever so smugly but I loved the idea so I took the two pistols while he took the AK47 with paint bombs. We head on out to the battlefield in the yard at the back of the house, with 30 minutes given to hide, I relax and walk nonchalantly as this is going to be a piece of cake. I can hear his breathing behind the trees, so I swiftly went around the trees and riddled him with paint in front of him. He smiles in surprise and as he takes off his mask, he says “Oh it’s on!”
Another 20 minutes go by for him to hide and my sensitive ears can still his breathing. As I swiftly go around and slowly creep up on him I thought “Game on? Ha! I’m going to cover you in paint today.” Slowly I walked and suddenly I stepped on something soft, I look down and Boom! Crème laughs as I get covered in blue paint, so I shot him with my pistols and both of us laugh out loud. We went on playing and he kept trying different tactics such as hiding on top of the trees or using paint bombs or smoke screens, we played a lot and before I knew it I was smiling and oblivious of the time until the sun went down.
After we returned the paintball equipment back to his lair, we’re drove back to Arcanegrove covered in different colors of paint. “So did you have fun glasses girl?” He says as he tries to wipe the paint of his paint. “It’s Cassidy.” I said with a smile. After today, we’ve gotten close and started hanging out in his hideout or anywhere whenever we meet each other at the library. Other than paintball, we tried all sorts of things such as testing out his weapons or going to the arcades or watching the newly released pirated movies.
I never felt so alive with anybody until now, I wake every day with peace and excitement. I wish I could stay in this cycle forever, but sadly my role as a leader cannot allow it. In the mystic world where it’s kill or be killed, sooner or later they will notice me disappearing and it will lead them to Crème. Cultists, Mystics, or Monsters, they will come from the shadows and they won’t care if he’s a normal human, so long as he’s useful, he’ll be kept alive and treated as a bargaining chip.
One day out of the blue, I stopped working at the library and handed the glasses back to Sir. Valehollow. Crème reads everyday as usual but sometimes he glances and roams the library looking for me, in the first week he looks for me, in the second week he asks Sir. Valehollow if he knows something, and in the third week he still reads while expecting me to come. Tons of people go back and forth inside the library for the past three weeks, and after the fourth week of waiting, tears started to fall down his eyes as he reads in the empty library.
I couldn’t do anything but watch in secrecy, I wanted to tell him the reason, I wanted to say goodbye, but sadly even goodbye isn’t something I can afford to do. I look at him one last time and left for the School of the Mystics, I focused on combat and studies and I never visited the library again.
I held on for so long trying my best to avoid him but I caved in and asked to leave my post when I finally got enough courage, but my dad saw Crème as an opportunity, an opportunity to get stronger using a forgotten magic circle known as “The Trade of Hearts.” He became obsessed at the mention of Crème and I knew then and there that there was nothing else I can do.
Artifacts and Magic tools can give you power, but the true power of the monsters like me lay dormant in their bloodline. "The Trade of Hearts" is a spell that sacrifices the one you love in order to bring forth evolution of your current race. I may considered as one of the most powerful but at what cost? A life without him is no different than living for nothing.