No matter how much Jade tossed and turned in Zeth's comfortable bed, she simply couldn't sleep.
Half an hour, one hour, one hour and twenty... It was useless!
How did she go from almost falling asleep while standing to staying up all night?
She had no idea, but if something always made her sleep, it was a glass of milk, so she left the room and walked down the hallway until...
"Draco, what are you doing here?" Jade asked, seeing him alone in the middle of the Solar, specifically in the dining room, with a lit candle, writing in the dark. He was sitting with his legs swinging a little, humming and moving his head to the beat of a melody in his brain.
"Oh! Hi Jade!" he waved effusively. "I knew you were awake, I heard you tossing and turning in bed. I hope it's not my fault, I've been trying not to make much noise."
"Did you know I was awake?" She looked around at the darkness and the candle. This was so romantic! "And all this... Wow. The Solar looks bigger in the light of a single candle."
"I am just rewriting a song. It's urgent and I took the opportunity to set the mood." Here in the dark, his Romanian accent was more pronounced.
"Set the mood?"
"I like everything to be classic and romantic, dark but warm, I think it's the best way to express what I feel," he said, patting the chair next to him, "Come! It'll be fun! Just you and me in the dark!"
Wow! Draco was good at the art of romance. This was simple, yet elegant, so sweet of him to do all this for her just because he heard her cursing her insomnia. An impromptu date.
"Wait, where is everyone?" Jade cocked her head.
"Everett is fixing a door he broke, you don't want details."
"Oookay. And Paul and Alex?" she asked, sitting down in a chair next to Draco.
"Paul is with Everett. There was a catfight and he is using his powers to put everything back into place." Draco nodded without taking his eyes off the sheet of paper he was writing on. "And Alex is with BC-13."
"BC-13?" Jade cocked her head.
"A bodyguard. He takes care of this castle when Evie goes on tour with us. He's going to be your new boss technically. He's very square." Draco said, taking a new sheet of paper from a stack. "Alex offered to accompany BC-13 to the dungeons of the Madmen Tower to lock up the Angry Blonde."
"I didn't know there were dungeons here. Sounds sexy," Jade bit her lip. "And where are Zeth and Finn?"
"You don't want to know," Draco laughed a little, pointing back. "I heard moans a while ago. That's all I know."
"Finally!" Jade giggled, "Hey, what about Frank?"
"Frank is with Evie, they will talk about... Stuff."
"I see," Jade got jealous again. Evie and Frank already had a past, and she suspected that it wasn't all water under the bridge. But Frank swore there was nothing more than a close friendship between them.
But still, she got jealous.
"Anyway," Draco changed the subject, "What's keeping you awake? Monster Insomnia?"
"I can't sleep, I have no idea why," Jade shook her head, "I think maybe I'm too stressed out."
"Well then, try to relax," Draco suggested, "It might help."
"Yeah, probably... I had not thought of it," Jade mocked, and Draco looked up at her through half-closed lids. She could tell he was not okay. "You're sad, right?"
"Worried," Draco leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, "It's just that Alex and I are on good terms now but I don't know if I can stay close to him. It hurts not being able to be with the person you love. And his pheromones? I don't want him to relapse and... Forget it."
"Is this about his addiction?" Jade cocked her head.
"It doesn't matter," Draco smiled sadly and went back to writing, "He has not relapsed in years but when he was alone with you in the suite, I thought that he... No, I mean, I saved him from his addiction again, right? Everything is Hey-Okay! I don't want to think about it because I will eventually talk about it." Draco gave her a small smile and then returned to writing.
"Draco, are you okay?" Jade wondered if now was the time to focus on herself or on Alex. Draco sounded deeply affected by everything.
"I've never been well, but I've managed," he replied, running a hand through his scarlet hair and turning to face her. "I'm afraid Alex is going to relapse, that's all."
"But he is okay now, right?"
"The first time Alex tried to address his addiction, he completely stopped but when he relapsed, it was worse than ever. Zeth tried to hide it, cover the sun with a finger, but I know what happened in Las Vegas."
Jade glanced at the stack of papers.
"Well, let's change the subject if it makes you sad. So tell me, what is all of this?" Jade asked, taking a sheet of paper that had things written on it.
"Drafts, verses, stuff. Oh look! This is the first draft of 'I've Seen The Darkness' we wrote," Draco said, showing a sheet of paper to Jade, "I thought it was good but it all got scrapped."
"Oh! Let me read... It says... Give me some grace if I can't play. But don't exclude me from your plans. There's more to me than just my bionic arm or my legs." Jade blinked rapidly, "This doesn't sound as dark or sinister as the song I know."
"Oh! It's because Frank wanted to tell people about what it's like to live with a disability." Draco explained, "He always says that he wants to be treated like anyone else and that there are things he learned in hospital groups that needed to be said. You know, things like asking if they need help before assuming it, or how it's not very nice when people call them 'inspirational' just for living their lives... That kind of stuff."
"And why didn't you guys follow through on that plan?" Jade asked, "You could have given those people a voice."
"Frank asked them if they thought it was a good idea but the people in the group said it was better to leave things as they were and we respected their decision."
"Oh! I see."
"Alex wanted to write about bigorexia when the first draft was discarded," Draco said, pointing with his pen for Jade to turn the paper, "It's this part."
"Oh! Okay, it says... I am not vain or self-obsessed. It's just the mirrors that lie to my face. One day I'm fine and the next I'm feelin' small. Skinny and ashamed."
"Yeah, Alex has a serious problem with his physique," Draco said, biting his lip, "No matter how much muscle he grows, he says he still feels like a wimp. In fact, he took large doses of androgenic-anabolic steroids for a few years, but when he had a heart attack, he stopped."
"Alex had a heart attack?!" Jade gasped and Draco nodded, "Oh god! I didn't know that! Now I understand that part, you know which one, of 'I've Seen The Darkness'! Oh God! Poor Alex!"
"He doesn't talk about it often, and the media never found out because Zeth took care of it, although he thinks I didn't notice. It was when we were on tour the first time," Draco said, "Alex actually wrote that part in hospital but we never used it, God knows why because Alex did mention the incident in the final version, it is the part that I sing and obviously the one he sings, the rest was written by Zeth."
"Did you write it during your first tour? Does that mean this song has been in the works for a while?"
"Yeah. In fact, I already hate it, even now that it is out, because of all the times we rewrote it. In the end I didn't use my part either." Draco said. "You know? We even tried to make a Frankenstein Song out of our parts, about physical disabilities and ADHD and bigorexia and stuff, but it just didn't happen. Maybe it wasn't the right song."
"And this part? The one that goes 'Loud noises overwhelm my brain' was it..."
"That was Everett," Draco said, "Nobody knows but he wears earplugs during concerts and when we go outside because he gets overwhelmed by noise."
"It would have been great to hear this version of the song." Jade said, raising an eyebrow, "Wait. Did Zeth write the rest of the song? He had a heart attack too? Is that why he has a heart of gold in his chest?"
"Oh, no. He died for other reasons but we don't talk about it much, you know? And you better not ask. If you want to get an idea of how it happened, just listen to the song and that's it."
"Ooookay. And what is this?"
"Oh! It's the early draft of 'Boogeyman' that I forgot to throw away," Draco said.
"And who wrote this?"
"What?" Draco asked.
"The 'You slip into my closet when someone's around 'cause you fear the one you love will know about us' thingy? Was it you?"
"Oh! No, that was Zeth. In fact he wrote the whole song. Why?"
"Curiosity," Jade said, "I just really like that song, I guess. It's a swelling ballad full of horns and handclaps. I think it's one of the most underrated songs from 'Stitched Together' in fact." She then frowned, glancing at the sheet of paper Draco was holding in his hands. "And what is that?"
"What? Oh! I am rewriting. I need to finish this song," Draco looked directly into her eyes. "Zeth wants me to have it ready before dawn and I'm running out of time."
"Maybe I can help you," Jade said, taking a sheet of paper from the pile. "Will you teach me how to write songs?"
"I have the melodies on my phone. I put on my headphones, choose one, and start writing. Then I record while I sing a little to remember how it goes. It's the same process for rewriting."
"I'm not a singer, but I'll do my best," Jade smiled slightly. "I actually think I have something to write about. A couple of things Evie said that I don't understand have me upset, it's stupid but I guess I'm inspired."
"Good, because this track has been a pain in the ass. It sounds very sexy, very danceable, but none of us know how to adjust the lyrics to make it sound right. Maybe that melody was made for you to express yourself?" Draco picked up the pen and started writing on a paper. "I have some pens in my room, of many colours! They are in a red Angry Bats case." Jade nodded. As soon as she turned to walk away from the table, Draco called her name again, "Jade?"
"Yes, Draco?" She paused.
"MulÈumesc, for helping," he said softly.
Jade smiled, nodded, and walked away.
She stood in front of his bedroom door, the one that looked like a fancy red cushion with a handle, then opened it.
There were red walls lined with bookshelves and it was all lit by lanterns that hung above Jade's head.
This was a Victorian-looking bedroom, full of furniture from the 19th century. The carpet underneath her feet was red too.
"Is this?" she counted the bookshelves. "A library?! With a bed?" She then turned to look towards the window behind the desk. "A garden of roses? This place is beautiful. Oh! And the case is there."
But then there were noises, voices, a door slam, and then Finn and Zeth ran from the hallway of doors to the entrance of the Solar.
"Where are you going?" Jade heard Draco ask.
"We won't be long!" It was Finn.
"Draco! When Paul gets here, tell him to come to Evie's apartment!" Zeth said.
"But he is there!" Draco replied, and soon, Jade heard the Solar's door slam shut. "Yeah, okay, goodbye!"
"That was weird," Jade eyed Draco as she came back with his Angry Bats case. He was as confused as her.
"Yeah, it was..." Draco turned to see the lyrics on the paper again, "I'm going to text Paul to tell him Zeth and Finn are on their way." And then he took his old, cracked phone out of his pocket. In a flash, he sent the text.
"Anyway, what do you need to do with this..." Jade took the sheet from Draco, barely able to make out the title in his red inked cursive handwriting, "What does it say here? Alien Crap?"
"Yeah... No matter how hard I try, there's no way I can adjust the lyrics to fit the melody," Draco said, scratching his head with the pen.
"What if you add something to the lyrics? Look..." Jade said, "This part, it feels off. Maybe you can add something like 'I don't understand your alien words' or something like that. Maybe you could add something else here, something like 'You're just the worst' or maybe... Draco? Are you listening?"
"What? Oh, no. I got lost in my head. I didn't hear anything you said," Draco said, blinking slowly, "Maybe you could write it down?"
"Sure," Jade replied. Because she oh so wanted to vent the hatred she already felt for Evie. "Okay, sorry if I scratch the sheet a little. Let's see... A little bit of this here... And a little bit of this here... I hope I don't ruin the song but I think a little bit of this would be nice and... Done! Do you think this is okay?" She handed the sheet to Draco.
"Hummm... I think what you've written is pretty good," Draco said, reading by candlelight with his tongue out as if he were solving a difficult algebra problem, "Do you mind if I make adjustments? I swear your name will be on it, and you can earn money for being the writer."
"No problem at all, it's no masterpiece anyway," Jade rubbed her eyes. "My eyes hurt, but you were right, writing in the dark helps to get inspired."
"I'm not Zeth, but I think I'm often always right too," Draco hummed to himself as he adjusted the lyrics in his head. He looked down at the sheet with a satisfied smile and began correcting a couple of things... Fast. Jesus! He scribbled so fast that Jade felt dizzy and it seemed like smoke was coming out of the pen but in the dark it was hard to tell. "Okie-Dokie, I'm done!"
"Really?" the last few lines were added with such speed that Jade only had time to close her eyes for a few seconds.
"Yeah!" He held up the paper as if it were the holy grail, smiling with his tongue out, "Oh yeah, I think it will be a hit! It has that feminine vibe that we lack a bit, just like the melody. I like it!"
"Let me see," Jade couldn't understand any of Draco's cursive handwriting. "Oh... Well I can see... That you prescribed me paracetamol and that's it."
Draco laughed.
"This will be a hit, definitely!" Draco said, and Jade leaned closer again.
"If you say so," she smiled. "Thanks for giving me a chance at song writing, Draco."
"Cu plÄcere. Press record with your phone and play the melody that's on mine, track number three," Draco cleared his throat with his eyes on the lyrics. "Are you sure you don't want to sing your first song ever?" He wiggled his eyebrows playfully and she shook her head.
"I don't want to sing at all!" Jade laughed and hit the record button on one phone, then played the tune on Draco's. "Okay, let's get started."
"Three... Two... One... It's written in the staaars! You're juuust! The wooorst! I'll never let you invade! My peeerfect wooorld!" Draco sang in a shouty-ish voice, effortlessly with his eyes on the paper, letting himself go. Jade could only watch him with her hands on her cheeks. He sounded rebellious and defiant, mocking even. "You can pack your stuuuff! And go! To Mars! I don't like! Your tentacle arms!" It was perfect. She was now getting caught up in the music, snapping her fingers to the beat, trying not to think too much about anything but how amazing he sounded when he sang. He made her feel like everything around them was fading away, like there wasn't anything else except him and the sound of his voice. How many girls could say that a Monster Mash member had sung something written by them in the middle of the night just for them? And in their home? Just Jade, and that made her blush and smile as Draco continued singing, "I don't understaaand! Your aaalien words! I'll never let you invade! My peeerfect wooorld! You can pack your stuuuff! And go! To Mars! I don't like! Your tentacle arms! I don't want! Your weird alien crap!" He clapped once, "Oh yeah! That's a wrap!"
Jade paused the melody and the recording, clapping a little.
"That was amazing. And you didn't overdo it. I love it."
"MulÈumesc! I think Zeth and Frank's voices in unison would be perfect for that part!" Draco beamed at her, a huge grin across his face. Jade had never seen anyone look so happy before. He was even bouncing in his seat, making horns with his fingers, dancing a little. "Yeah! It's a rocking dance hit, and with Frank's angsty vocals we will show that we mean business!"
"I really liked the melody," Jade said, "And those alien laser effects and that classic flying saucer music? They sound amazing together! It's a kind of dance pop that's pretty, well, out of this world."
"Yeah! You are a rock star, Jade! The tentacle part you added was awesome! The Mars part too! I Looooovit! And it's easier to sing it like that than with the 'oohh-oohh's I had put in to fill space!"
Easy?! Well, of course! It was easy for him because he was one of the best male voices of the decade!
"You sang it better than I would have," Jade said, enthralled with Draco's performance. "I don't know how you and the boys can shout so much and still deliver melodious songs."
"Lots of practice. But you wrote it better than anyone else in the band."
"Really? I thought that was your talent."
"Yeah, but you write like an actual songwriter," Draco teased and watched her blush. "What else can you do?" And he began poking her with a finger on the cheek, making her laugh. "Show me your secrets Jade."
"Well, I know how to speak Kardashark. And believe it or not, I used to go to dance classes so I know how to do cartwheels." she laughed, and Draco snapped his fingers.
"You know, I learned parkour long before it was called parkour. We could go try that together someday!" And God! The way Draco blinked his tender little red eyes, so slowly, so cutely, was priceless.
"Didn't you hear that I only know how to do cartwheels? And I don't even do them right!" Jade laughed.
"Oh I understand you! Technique and elegance make things difficult," Draco stuck out his tongue. God! What right did this boy have to be so adorable? The way he blushed and looked down with a cute little laugh, God! It shouldn't be legal! They should send him to Cutie Jail! "I once went to Evie's training room, I wanted to learn some gymnastics and I ended up with cramped feet! Oh. Oh! But, but... Evie and I once went to a Parkour park in Paris and it was epic!"
"Wait... Why is everyone always talking about Evie?!" Jade asked.
"What's wrong with that?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
Draco more than once imagined kissing Evie on their first date and holding each other as they fell asleep curled up against one another, even when he needn't sleep. He had never been able to picture something quite so beautiful in his life.
They would spend the night watching old movies and eating junk food while cuddling, even when he needn't eat. And then, when he woke up the next morning, they would kiss again and start planning their future.
In his dreams, he would hold Evie in his arms as they walked hand in hand on a beach... Oh! Or in Mars! There would definitely be alien butterflies around them, and in his tummy, and the...
"Draco?" Was Jade talking to him? Obviously! Shit!
"Oh wow! Please tell me more," Draco said his default line, "I'd love to keep listening to..."
"You were not listening?" Jade frowned and Draco bit his lip with a fang.
"Ãmi pare rÄu. I have a hard time focusing sometimes."
"I said... Wait. Oh wow! I hadn't noticed how red your eyes are in the dark, they glow like rubies," Jade said, turning Draco with a hand on his chiselled chin. "You're very handsome too. You have the face of a rebellious, playful boy, but there is some mystery in you, in your eyes. Your smile is adorable but your eyes are sad."
"There are many things I hide behind a smile, you know? Like the trauma of my father's death."
"Did you see your father die?" Jade asked but Draco grimaced, let out a long moan and made a 'so-so' face. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about Dimitri Von Stroker?" Draco laughed sarcastically, "Not really."
"Your dad's name was Dimitri?" She asked and he nodded, "I didn't know that. You sure you don't want to talk about it?"
Draco sighed.
"You know? I was always told that when Duke Draco 'the Original' was killed by Zeth 'The Conqueror' during the Massacre of the Bleeding Cathedral, there was a flash of orange light as the sacred wood spear crossed Draco's chest, and then there was nothing, just ashes. I couldn't imagine such a thing, it was too fast for someone so powerful, you know? But when I saw my father die... It was fast, one second he was there and the next he wasn't. Nothing I could have imagined compared to that moment..." He clenched his fists and held back his tears, but they were not tears of sadness, but rather, of hatred. Draco's face was red, but not as tenderly as before, more like a frightening red. And his fangs? Were they actually getting longer? "My father died in the blink of an eye, murdered for his cruelty and his offenses, for his betrayal and his contempt. But the god Uvhash would never leave me alone, and my father still, I am sure, stalks me from the lands beyond life. Dimitri Von Stroker wants to punish me, torture me for always being the biggest shame of House Von Stroker."
"Draco, your nails are getting longer and silver, and your hands are grey," Jade whispered, and he looked away, breathing slowly. His hand was returning to normal with every huff, "Draco?"
"I saw that same explosion of ash a million times, always different faces, the most painful was when that happened to my children though..."
"Wait. You had kids?! I mean, have you ever been a dad?!" Jade was in shock.
"Yes. But I don't want to talk about it. I don't like to talk about karma."
"I'm so sorry to hear that," Jade whispered, not knowing what else to say.
"I was never a man of faith, but when my wives and kids died, I admit that I wanted to go to the Temple of Uvhash in Bloodfort to... That no longer matters. It's not like the god Uvhash will return me my family. But my kids... I would like to show them this era and not the one they knew, full of torches and tridents."
"I never thought someone so happy would have so much pain inside."
"The biggest smiles always hide the most painful memories, Jade," Draco looked her into the eyes, "And sometimes, I just... I just need to forget and..." Then he stood up and without saying a single word, went to his room and slammed the door.
Jade was stunned. What just happened?
Then the Solar door opened.
"Seriously, guys, I've lived here for years and I keep getting lost," Alex said, with a keycard in his hand, "BC-13 told me that it would be easy to get here but it was not!"
"It is easy," Everett growled, "You just had to take northern wall walk, access Lycan Tower, walk down three floors, and then walk through Lyon Mansion's garden, enter Donjon and walk up stairs, exit on third floor, access Heart of Lyonfort and go up one floor to get here."
"It doesn't sound very easy," Paul pulled his map out of his pocket, "Wait, take the Northern wall walk. Oh! Yes! It's actually easy!"
"I would never dare enter the Lycan tower, I simply don't get along with my own species," Alex grunted.
"Look, Alex," Paul showed him the map, "If you wanted to avoid the Lycan Tower, after exiting the dungeons of the Madmen Tower, you just had to go west, cross a wall walk into the Spectral Tower where my mum and Miss Van Shee live and then..."
"Then you walk down another wall walk to west," Everett growled, "Enter Sparkmen Tower and take hallway to north, go through raised corridors of Throne Room until reaching Donjon."
"And wouldn't it be easier to take the next wall walk and enter the Rainbow Tower?" Alex asked, checking the map.
"No because if you turn north you'll end up in the armoury," Paul said pointing at the map, "Although you could have walked out to the Horse Yard to enter the Ball Room. From there you could go to the Main Hall and enter the Infinite Hallway, and take the elevator."
"All hallways look the same here," Alex said after turning on the lights, and they all headed toward the kitchen. Paul went to get some orange juice from the refrigerator while Everett took his phone out of his pocket and started typing, while Alex sat down at the counter.
"Who are you texting, Big Guy?" Alex asked.
"Probably his sister," Paul replied, pouring himself a glass of juice.
"With how reckless Draco was, I think we should schedule makeover earlier." Everett grunted.
"Draco was very happy. It may be difficult but I think it's worth all the effort," Paul said as he put the jug inside the refrigerator and then yawned, taking out his cell phone, "Oh! Draco sent me a text twenty minutes ago! And Finn hasn't stopped asking where I am! Weird. Zeth wants to see me. Only me."
"What did you just say?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"No idea. He and Finn are on their way to Evie's apartment, and it sounds urgent." Paul said, putting his phone away, "We didn't see the boys on the way here. Why?"
"They probably will access Yeti Tower from this floor." Everett said without stopping his slow texting.
"Why would Zeth do that?" Alex asked, "I mean, you just have to get out of the Solar, go down one floor, turn right to enter the Yeti Tower and that's it."
"No." Everett growled, "It's easier to exit Solar, turn right, and go down stairs at end of hallway to literally come out outside Evie's door."
"That's the same distance," Paul scratched his head, "Or is it not?"
"Is no one going to ask why I'm sad or even notice my presence?!" Jade yelled. The three boys turned to look at her standing up from the table, throwing her hands up, "Evie! Evie! It is always about Evie!"
And then they heard Zeth's door slamming shut.
"I didn't see her when we came in," Alex said.
"Me neither," Paul whispered.
"Same." Everett growled.