Strings of Fate

4th String: Thrown Into The Lion's Den

4th String: Thrown Into The Lion's Den

Third Person/ Author's POV

"Uncle JR?!"

Natalie couldn't tell if what she was seeing right now was real. Was her mind playing tricks on her again? Was this another one of her hallucinations? Or was her tutor really standing in front of her? What was he doing here? She mentally smacked herself for that. Of course, John Roie would be here! He was her tutor after all. And it would make sense if he taught here at Mountainville.

"Natalie? What are you doing here? And why are you wearing pajamas in school?" JR said, eyeing her outfit.

Her happy bubble now burst because of what her tutor had said. She scowled. "Seriously? Why's everyone so caught up with this issue? Is running around wearing a pair of nighties that big of a deal?! Give me a break!" But her tutor had none of it. Instead, he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, a silent message indicating that he would not back off. Natalie groaned. "Ugh! Why is it so important?!"

But JR remained still, not bothering to even say something. The two just stared at each other.. And after almost five seconds of the stare off, Natalie sighed, raising her right arm. She pointed at the metal currently snapped around her wrist. "This is why," she said. "This... Handcuff thing here, made it impossible to change. My roommate's a boy after all," she shrugged. "And... Um... As to the reason why I'm here..." She cleared her throat. She was about to say 'that bastard of a dad', but she refrained from doing so, knowing that Leonel would probably ask her out of curiosity. And she didn't want risking whatever friendship that might come between them now. She might have a friend like Julius, but he's a vampire. Leonel was human, and she wanted to know how it feels to have a friend like a human; a normal person, without the possibility of talking about Hunters, Mages, Beasts, the Varvakeions, or even the clans. Even if she knows that it would just be for a little while, she just had to have it. She just had to have a semblance of normalcy in her messed up life. And it was like something about him was pulling at her... Though she didn't know what it was.

"Um..." She leaned closer to her tutor, but not before giving her confused roommate a wary glance. "Father," she began, she tried hard to remove the venom in it but failed miserably as her tongue flicked disapprovingly at hearing herself say the word. She was disgusted by it, but she just brushed it off, continuing what she had began to say. "He kicked me out of the house and he kind of just pushed me into coming to this school." Well, he really had practically just forced her, since she didnt actually have a choice because aside from the fact that she wanted to experience school, she didn't have a place to stay at. And she didn't want to sleep at some random hotel, more because she didn't know anything about the human world aside from the things her mom told her.

She pulled away and saw JR scowling. "Why did he do that?! To his own child!"

She shushed him and looked at Leonel once more, who was looking more confused than ever.

Leonel didn't know a single thing of what they were saying. He looked at how chummy his new roommate and dad act, and felt confusion and another emotion settle down on him. He didn't know what it was, but he felt completely sensitive at that moment when Natalie leaned in to whisper something to his father. Yes, father! JR was his father, and yet he had never known a thing about his father knowing someone as young as Natalie! He was confused. So confused.

When Natalie kept looking at him warily he couldn't help but feel hurt and somewhat zoned out. And here he was thinking that he had found a good friend. He had thought of things ahead, and ended up being shut out. He sighed and ran a hand through his soft blonde hair. He had always wondered where he got it when JR and his wife had black hair.