Reign | Dark #1 (18+)

11. CLOSEST TO ANIMALS

Hah! Why would I do that anyway? Never mind that.

We reached Candice's suite, I knocked on the two large doors. It only took a second for Candice to open it wide. She threw her arms around me, and hug me to suffocate me, I guess. "Uh, Candice. Remember that I'm a human, I couldn't for the life of me to survive a tighter and firmer hugs from a Vampire."

She giggled and let go. "I'm so sorry! I've been wanting to find you but Draze didn't allow me to step outside of my suite especially near the Council Room where the Vampires still have their Alliance Meeting. He even had some Knights guarding my suite." She rolled her eyes. "How are you here?" She asked me. Confused. I threw her a question instead of answering, "Why? Am I not allowed to—" I was cut off because of her demeanor, she was looking behind me and then said, "Ooh,"

I turned around to look for the reason of her reasonableness behavior. But found nothing. She ushered me inside. And even she didn't acknowledge Lilli, Lilli followed me inside.

We settled down on the large sofa, while Lilli was standing and her eyes were looking down. I asked Candice, "Can I let her sit?" Candice nodded and pats the couch, I stared at Lilli and she immediately took her seat.

We talked about what happened last night. And my mouth was stuck in a surprised 'o'. "Anyway, I think you just have to ask Draze about your mating sessions with him. I wanted to show you something, Feigh," she tugged me along through the back door of her suite and we silently walked through the well-worn path of unfamiliar hallway and Lilli followed us without a word. "Where are we going, Candice?"

"I want you to meet some of my friends," she giggled.

"You have friends?" I laughed as I said that.

"Of course. Da da daaaaaaan..." Candice threw her hip out and made a comical palms-up gesture as she said that towards the... grass? "Umm, errr.. where are they?"

"Ohh..." she placed her two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Abruptly my attention had narrowed to the large elephants, more than one, they're four of them and tigers, lions and even monkeys. A cow, a goat, a pig, cats, and even a mouse? Wow, I haven't seen a cat and mouse get along together. Just wow! My eyes were huge and so was Lilli.

"Oh my God!!! Candice!!! Oh my God!!! I have no words!!! Are they yours? All of them? Oh, Candice, they all are so cute!!"

She giggled and laughed. "I know right. I'm glad, you like animals as well. Which one do you like? I could give you one as a token of our friendship. I rarely let go and gave away my friends but I know, you'll do good at petting animals," she clapped her hands and let me choose one.

I neared the animals one by one, they were so obedient and loving. I hadn't realized I got moisture from my eyes and immediately Candice hug me. "Hey! You okay?" I nodded and said, "I'm just so happy to see these animals had been taking good care by you, Candice." I sobbed. I was a freaking crybaby.

"Well, I have a particular favorite friend. Would you like to be introduced to them? They are family. So there's five of them."

I curtsied mockingly. "It will be such an honor to meet the Princess favored friend." Hah! I didn't stumble down. This is a great achievement for me. Prior to that. She laughed and nodded solemnly. She leads me to the friends of her and we sit on the grass, "Jamie, Jessica, Johnson, Jackson, and Jerna, please come forward. I would like you to meet my special friend here,"

Shocked was evident in my eyes as it widened. They were rats. Wow! A five rats with red eyes and white fur darted forward and reached Candice's hands.

"rats? Why? I mean, there's nothing wrong about them. I couldn't just believe it. I thought only Cinderella has a mouse friends." she laughed again and explained. "I was found by Draze the night our village was burned. And before the tragic event, I and my family were having our breakfast very early in the morning. My father always tend to save some of our foods for rats. My mother always gets mad about it and my sister asked him why, why would he do that? Why would he save some for the useless and gross rats. My father just smiled at us and said, "because every time your Mother gets pregnant, the child won't survive during the first month of pregnancy. However, you two survive because you were both born in the year of rats. So was I and your mom."

"I didn't know we were a family of rats," she laughed and cried. I immediately wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "My big sister, actually save me from fire. I was supposed to get burned but my father called all his rats friends, it's more than a hundred of them. I was horrified at the moment as my whole body immediately wrapped by them. And so was my sister Anna, however, when she was about to step out from our burning house, she looked back at me and I can't move because I was still filled with horror of the hundred of rats wrapping my body and slowly got burned because of fire. My sister came back for me, grab me and carried me out of the burning house. The moment we finally got out, my sister hit the ground and got my attention into her body, she was burned because the rats around her was already got burned because of coming back for me," she wringer her hands in front of her eyes and sob incoherently.

I didn't know that even a hundred years ago worst nightmare will still haunt you. Of course they are Candice family. Even though I do not know the feeling of missing your family because I never had one, still I can feel her pain.

After a moment of sobbing and hugging Candice, she wiped her tears and laughed at me. "Look at us," she waved her hand in the air. "Anyway have you choose?" I smiled at her and nodded. I stoop and neared the animal and spread my arms in a ta-daaa gesture. She laughed, "A goat? I thought you would choose a puppy or a cat. Tell me, we're you born on the year of goat?" I shook my head. "Nope, I was born on the year of Rabbit. But you do not have any rabbit here, so I chose goat."

"Any particular reason, Feigh?" she asked me. And again, I shook my head. "Nah! I just felt that goat will be just fine to pet."