ROYAL BLOOD

DAVID BARON

"Lore, wake up."

Lore rubbed his eyes and tried to adjust the bright light. He saw a girl standing near his bed.

"Wisteria?" Lore grunted and got up. Wisteria smiled at him. He looked around and saw his other two friends; Jackson and Urbane. They were wearing black. Dressed up for the funeral.

"How's it going, mate?" Jackson asked him.

Lore got out of his bed sleepy headed and asked them, "What're you doing here? No school?"

Wisteria replied, "We're having a vacation. You forgot?"

"Oh yes. I just woke up." He paused and continued "I forgot. I'll take a shower and meet you guys downstairs."

"Sure." Urbane said and they moved out.

Lore was hoping his parent's death to be a dream but seeing his friends dress up and visit him made him realize that it is what it is. Leo was still angry with Lore because of what had happened the previous night. So, he was a bit quiet. While on the way to the cemetery, Jackson squeezed Lore's shoulder and said "I'm sorry for your loss, mate. We're there for you. Stay strong."

Wisteria and Urbane nodded and showed their sympathy towards Lore. Everything was happening so quickly. Despite the short time, Patricia had managed to make calls and invite a few of their relatives. The cemetery was the last time Lore would see his parent's resting body. The vehicle came to a halt and everybody got down. Lore and Leo were the first ones to see their parent's body. Lore looked at his mom. She laid down peacefully and looking beautiful. His father's face was crushed in the accident so, the morgue couldn't fix it. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he saw their coffins being lowered into the freshly dug pit. Patricia gave a beautiful farewell speech and invited the brothers to say a few words. Lore wasn't in the perfect state of speaking. He had seen too much to make him feel discouraged so, Leo took over. He talked about how much his parent's had done for him and Lore and how they'll always be proud of being their sons. Back in the house, they had a small feast and everybody left after some time but Lore's friends stayed.

"So," Wisteria turned towards Leo "You haven't been speaking to Lore. What's wrong?"

"Ask that jerk." Leo replied.

Lore was furious and he shouted, "Stop calling me a jerk! Why do you think I would prank you when our parents are dead! Did you think that I would not be mournful? You just don't believe me." He turned towards his friends and continued, "Let's go up. I need to tell you guys something."

Leo stayed quiet. He probably felt guilty of being rude towards Lore. He wanted to apologize but he felt awkward as well. He was never a soft person in front of Lore. He loved him but he never showed that. Leo had always maintained a rude and firm character of himself in front of Lore so, he felt awkward when it came to things like apologizing and being considerate.

Lore kept muttering under his breath till he reached his room. Jackson sat down on his bed and said, "Are you going to tell us?"

"Okay. Just say you'll trust me even though it sounds funny." Lore replied.

"Yes of course." Wisteria stated.

"Yesterday I saw a weird man crossing the front porch of my house. I wouldn't have paid attention but the man looked like he was a robber or something of the kind but I didn't see him after a while and the very night, I saw the same old man coming out of the forest with a knife and looked at my house and saw me and he smiled-" Lore said.

"Didn't you tell your aunt or your brother?" Urbane interrupted.

"That's what. I told them and Leo went out to check and Boom! No one and Leo was angry at me and Patricia thought I'm hallucinating." Lore replied.

"Well…" Wisteria said "Looks like we're talking about a psycho?"

"Let's go into the woods and investigate." Jackson said.

"No way!" Wisteria cried.

"Yeah." Urbane said "What if we encounter that man? If he can bring a knife and climb somebody's backyard then he can do anything."

Lore thought for a while and said, "I think we should go and check. We can call the police if something's fishy. If we don't solve this then the man might come again and try to kill us."

Jackson said," That's exactly my point. The man might return back and do something horrible."

In the end everybody agreed. They kept their pace steady and quick. The forest wasn't quite thick. The tress were tall and lean. Luckily, there was a small path leading straight inside the forest. It was a serene environment. Quiet and peaceful. The path was muddy because of the rain and the trees were wet. They moved slowly paying perfect attention to their environment.

"Keep your eyes sharp. The man might pop up" Lore said looking here and there.

Soon enough they came across a small wooden cabin. They looked and each other and moved towards the cabin slowly.

"What are you doing here?" They heard a voice behind them. They turned back and sighed in relief.

"Professor David!" Wisteria exclaimed "What are you doing here?"

The dark and chubby man smiled, "Oh! I was doing some research on some plants. It's for your new Botany project which I'll be giving after your vacation ends. This forest is rich in plants so, I thought of coming here. What about all of you? It's not safe venturing in this forest alone. You should go back."

Lore replied," We were just looking for a spot to play. You can continue your work."

"No young sir. You better go back home. I won't leave you here alone."

"But professor-"

"You will say no more. Get-"

Professor David Baron stopped speaking all of a sudden. He opened his mouth wide and his body started shaking. His eyes started growing bigger and his head started moving from side to side. They were gripped with terror and didn't know what to do.

Jackson cried,"Pr-Professor what happened?!"

David was shaking vigorously and his mouth turned into a wide smile. Next thing they saw was David lying on the floor with his eyes closed. They exchanged glances and moved towards him

"He's D-dead" Urbane exclaimed.