Then again… it is I who’s supposedly met an elven prince, who now wants to take me away to theNocturne Court.
“I thought at this point you’d be sorry you decided to go on a year-long cruise, but I stand corrected,” I say softly, staring at the cracked plaster on the wall across from me.
“Don’t be silly. There’s so many nice people our age, and we get to dress up and dance most evenings. What more could a lady like me want?”
“I met a guy.” I want her to tell me I should be careful. That I should follow my head instead of my heart, but I suppose I’m asking the wrong person.
“Ooh, must be serious if you’re telling me. Go on. Who is he?”
I do tell her. Well, the censored version of it at least, because if I started yapping about elven princes and shadow magic, she would have worried for reasons other than my heart getting broken. In this adjusted version of the story, Tristan is a guy who invites me to his house on an island in the middle of the ocean. And no, I won’t be able to be in touch for a while, and I’ve only met him.
Agreeing to this would be crazy, wouldn’t it?
“I don’t think you’re being crazy at all,” my grandmother says softly. “That’s youth and passion in the works. What’s the worst that could happen?”
I laugh. “He could murder me.”
“If he wanted to murder you, he wouldn’t be so keen to chat with Viola.”
She’s not wrong, but I’ve been burned so many times it’s becoming hard to believe in love. Grandma must sense the hesitation in my silence.
“What do you feel, Nate? Is he kind? Do you get along well?”
He protected me.
He covered me with the cloak when I was cold.
He wasn’t pushy in bed.
Lady likes him. And so does Viola.
“Yes…”
“Then what’s the harm?” Grandma asks. “Everyone thought I was crazy when your grandfather and I got together, but we’ve been happy for so many years now. In the worst case scenario, you will come back, and you will cry. But if you don’t follow your heart today, can you be sure you won’t regret it for the rest of your life?”
My heart trembles, and I rub my face, hating that she’s right.
“I’ll have Viola take photos of us, in case he abducts me.”
“That sounds like a plan to me. And I’ll be on the lookout for those AI voice clones that they keep warning us about. You haveto be careful. But you do know that he’s real, so you’re already doing better than some out there.” I hear my granddad’s voice in the background. “Grandpa says hi, and that he will eat double the gelato in your honor.”
That’s it, I guess. I’m going to the Nightmare Realm, and I will become a Dark Companion at the Nocturne Court. And somehow, instead of terrified, I’m just really,reallyexcited.
Chapter 9
Nate
The visit at the mall was far less eventful than I expected. Tristan insisted on paying for everything in cash, which made me wonder if the Nightmare Realm also uses US Dollars as its official currency. He asked me to help him pick a ‘typical human’ piece of clothing, and since there is a crab in his family crest, I convinced him to get the official hoodie of our local baseball team, which happens to have a crab as their mascot.
Tristan loved it so much he got a tiny one for his nephew as well. We had milkshakes and went to a trampoline park, where he showed me the craziest of stunts, and then kissed me while we were both in the air.
I don’t know what I expected to happen after that, but it wasn’t him donning that red hoodie underneath his fancy cloak and carrying me away toward the sunset. A cop car stopped us right after we left town, but I managed to talk our way out of getting arrested for vagrancy, and we soon left the edge of the asphalt road, heading off into the woods.
Which is when my trust in this experiment starts to dwindle.
Yes, he did show me incredible things.
Yes, my grandparents told me to go for it.
