Written by **EYRAM**
Serena sorted out all the paperwork she had pending and made her way to the house, late at night in a smart race car, that she "temporarily borrowed" from Elaine's garage and made her way home, wondering how she would be received by her family, when she got to the mansion, the whole place had been reinforced, and the car was not authorized to enter the house, obviously because it was Elaine's, so she had to park it out and walk in, since luckily for her, her father gave her access.
Upon entrance, the major improvement she could see was that the whole house was technologically improved. She sat down in the hall and told the house staff to tell everyone she called for a family meeting.
To her shock, Seraphina was a mess, her whole face reddish, with dark circles underneath her eyes; it was obvious she had been crying for a long while. Jack was similarly unruffled, though not as bad as Seraphina. This was the first time she saw him look like that. As soon as everyone was seated, Serena addressed them.
"Hello, I hope you guys missed me." Then Seraphina replied, as though she had been forced,
"What is there to miss?"
"I knew this was going to happen. Fret not, I have good news. I failed my goal. I think I was honestly too ambitious with it, but I managed to rid them of a great amount of research."
"Well, that would be far from enough, but at least it's a work in progress. I wanted to know when you plan to return home. Due to these circumstances, I am sure you are aware that you cannot continue to live alone. We all need to stay together, strong," Jack said
"No," Serena replied. Then Seraphina made her way out of the room, tears streaming down her face. She was not in the best place mentally, and everyone in the room knew it, but did very little to address it, hoping she would get better with time. They seriously did not know how that would affect her as a person.
After their overview meeting, where things on each party's side were talked about briefly, she decided to go to her house, with the race car that garnered so much attention on the quiet road, oblivious to the snakelike existences in the background stalking her.
She settled into her pajamas, the same ones she wore that night she was thrown out of her room. These pajamas were cheaper than anything she wore these days, but some things mattered not due to their statistical value or price tag, but the sentimental value from all the memories that bring nostalgia with a scent touch, or feel, maybe even sight.
Soon she found herself in dreamland, having a vivid nightmare. She was surrounded by multiple large snakes. Diane was laughing at her, somewhere in the background, as those snake-like existences ate through her flesh. She woke up promptly, realizing the whole thing was but a bad dream, but it lingered, like it was hinting at something that was to come.
…
In the alleyways of Ravenswood, which had become quite the "Big City" and now suffered from problems associated with overpopulation, it was obvious that the crime rates had gone up, and in this particular alleyway, the heinous crime of the slave trade was conducted.
Young kids, probably kidnapped from their parents, were being traded in exchange for cash, and a man, a fae in disguise, with hair that was as dark as the night sky and starry night sky-like eyes to go with it, pale but lively skin, and a body that could put wrestling belt winners to shame.
This man was purchasing all the children, not for the purpose of using them or hurting them, but because his kind was at risk, going extinct, as females were born rarely, and if this went on, the damage would be irreparable.
Though it came at the cost of diluting their blood, it was a risk the fae were willing to take if it meant saving their race. After he completed the finer details of the transaction, he made his way to the Cage, what they called their meeting place, and covered it under the premise of being some mafia or cult meet-up place.
But though their cause, saving an endangered species, was not bad, it came at the cost of doing several things, rather uncalled for, amidst this 'Cage' were young girls, forced to be sexual tools, vessels of reproduction for members of a race far superior to them physically to the point where it was practically abuse, considering the age gap alone…
And somewhere, far deeper in this place, lay little boys carrying out all the tasks involved in keeping the place running, taking care of the newborn children under tutelage, of course. In this toxic environment, he brought in another batch of young, unassuming kids.
The man, with a worship-worthy body, went into a special room that had just one seat, and an older-looking man with golden eyes and the same colored hair, holding on to a woman with white eyes and hair who looked at him with nothing but disdain, and the man asked.
"Julien, I hope you managed to gather a sufficient amount today."
"Yes, father," he replied in a formal tone, a bit hushed.
"Then let's get on our way. Gabriel, let's go," he said, the last part of his sentence referring to his only legitimate son, Gabriel, with bright white gold colored hair and eyes. They looked like a family: father, golden featured; mother, white featured; and beloved son, white gold featured.
But for him, on the other hand, the forsaken child, the black sheep, which in his case could be applied literally, followed his parents, a sizeable distance away from them, right behind, never above or next to.
…
Soon, the bunch arrived at a shady place in the midst of the forest that looked easy to overlook or miss, then passed their eye through a hidden scanner next to a tree, then the world seemed to fabricate, turn 2d, and like this was all on a page, there were several pages, dimensions.
They went through one to the faraway land called Aetna, that held nothing but skies as far as one could see, free atmosphere, trees being miles apart, it was perfect for the fae who used flying as their main method of transportation.
Abruptly, out of their backs, spewed majestic feathered wings that matched each fae's eye and hair color to the last detail, as they made their ascent, flying with speed and grace, huge gusts of wind being left in their wake. Horns, large and robust on males, but gracefully shaped on their female counterparts, proudly sit on their heads.
And contrary to expectation, there was not a single fae in their vicinity; all the female fae were either pregnant or barren, as the royals had put up drastic measures to keep the place going, but the males were still at the 'Cage' doing something that was just disgusting.
In the midst of all these events, they were here because of a very important event, the first half fae was to be born on this day, and the human girl was sent to the fae's medical go to place.
She was already having contractions and would be delivering any time soon, so they were there to witness if what they were calling an 'experiment' had failed.
Hours later, it was confirmed she had successfully delivered a baby girl, and they decided to name her Maleficent, after the character in the folklore. What a success this was. She had dark brown, almost black hair, eyes, and horns, as well as wings. Turns out, Fae genes were that much stronger than humans.
While his family celebrated, he was just disgusted, and hated how involved he was in this entire concept, it was only and nothing but uncalled for, while a child had a child and was now dead, all these people saw her as nothing but a breeding vessel. I would elaborate, but that is a story for another day :^)
…
The next day, took center stage really quickly, like usual. Serena was at work, Jack was training, Seraphina was forcefully at home instead of school, and this was usual.
Though the recent events were bound to have some sort of effect upon all persons involved, the family went on with their usual events, despite how unruffled that dream, nightmare left Serena, she was determined at work and really delivered just as fast.
She had decided to keep up with the speed of other companies and had released her version of phones, television, fridges, tablets, and many other things, emphasizing commercial equipment like cameras to make them beat what was noted as cutting-edge technology.
But there was no such thing as free food; these quality products charged their worth, and all professional gear was way too expensive to be used for something that did not generate extra income, just like they were too good to be used so wastefully.
The day strangely passed just like that, everyone trying to overcome the last hurdle and scale the last mountain, the evening sky donning the place in sunset hues, and as Serena made her way home, in the alleyway, Lance was waiting for her once again, the golden hour effect donning him, but this time he was there, with roses for her.