Desired by The Kings

Chapter 2

Tapping my shoes repeatedly against the porch of the person my parents forced us to avoid like the plague. My dad's younger brother, Ethan Ruiz. I flew from our house in Miami to Atlanta to find him. It just so happens that my sister's university is also here. The same school that my Uncle Ethan attended.

I bit my lip in hesitation. The last time I saw the man was when I was ten. When he asked for my dad's help because our grandparents disowned him for choosing his passion of being an artist. I remember how he turned his back on his brother like they didn't share the same blood. Too ashamed of having a brother without a clear goal in life, like what they did to my sister. I saw the look of betrayal and hurt in my uncle's eyes. Why not? His brother just turned his back on him when he should have accepted him for his chosen path.

After that day, our parents taught and warned us to stay away from him. They taught their children to hate him for a while, I did. I grew up thinking that having high grades and being the smartest were everything. Until I grew up, I realized that that isn't how life works. Sometimes, choosing the path that will make us happy will bring us more peace.

I should've known how my parents would react to my sister's death. After all, they are the perfect ones. And I refuse to be like them. To be their puppet. To be someone I don't want to be.

I am eighteen, and I am legal now. For now, I don't have anywhere to go. All I have was savings from being a part-time model. Life would be hard from now on, but I'd rather go through all that hardship than stay with my so-called parents.

The door opened suddenly, making my eyes widen, and I took a step back in surprise. Ethan stared at me from head to toe with his eyebrow raised. He looked so much like my dad and grandma when she was alive.

"Sorry, I don't need a babysitter. I don't even have a baby. They annoy me to no end." He was about to shut the door in my face, but I stopped him by slamming my hand at it.

"I-I, Ethan, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Se--"

"The devil's spawn. I know. You look a lot like the bastard."

I flinched at his tone and choice of words. "I found your address from a letter you sent him two years ago, and I memorized it just in case I needed it. I think it's for your wedding. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks," he said with a small smile and twirled the ring on his finger before stepping aside. "Come in, I guess."

I beamed and didn't hesitate to walk inside. I nodded at the interior of his house. It's an Italian-style decoration. I remember seeing it from my Italian friend before.

"My wife's Italian," Ethan said as if reading my thoughts.

I stopped in front of the large portrait of their wedding day. They are smiling happily at each other with love in their eyes—love that has been missing from my parents' eyes for years.

"She looks... like a nice lady." I turned to smile at him.

His eyes lightened like Christmas lights at that. "She is. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, and I thank God every day that she was the one who found me when my own family turned their backs on me. "

I stepped closer to him, invading his personal space. "I'm sorry, Ethan. What my father did to you was wrong."

He stared at me for some time before shrugging. "If he didn't kick me out, I wouldn't have what I become now. I wouldn't have met Marcia." he motioned for me to sit down, and I did.

"Water? Juice?"

"Water is fine, thank you." I smiled a little at him, watched him disappear, and came back a minute later with a glass of water. I accepted it with a small thank you and drank.

He sat in front of me and leaned back. "Why are you here? I mean, it's nice to meet one of my brother's spawns, but I know you wouldn't be here just to drink some water."

I gulped and carefully placed the glass back on the table. "I left our house." Yes, house. It felt wrong to call it a home when we were barely a family anymore.

"My sister... Majara." I bit my lip and exhaled. "She's not with us anymore."

There was a short pause before he finally said something. "I remember her being so timid and doing what she wants. I recalled giving her a paper boat when she was alone, and I couldn't forget the look on her face. She hugged me so tight and called me uncle for the first time. Before your father kicked me out. I didn't even get to be a proper uncle to you both." I was mildly surprised to see him cry. He never really spent that much time with us whenever there's a gathering. He was always aloof and reserved. "How.. How did she die?"

"Suicide."

He sucked in a huge breath and stood up. He started walking back and forth while biting his finger.

"Let me guess, your parents weren't happy with it?"

I closed my eyes and clenched my fists, remembering what they had said earlier. "They didn't even want to see her body, and they wanted to see her in ashes."

And I can't see my sister like that. I just can't. And I won't stay another day with that kind of parent. I know Majara will understand me.

"Fuckìng hypocrites. And they call themselves human?! Their daughter? They.. Oh, God." Next thing I knew, he was punching the wall, and I flinched. "They're not parents. What they did, parents won't do that. And I'm here to tell you that I'm willing to help you in any way I can. I figured you were not here for a conversation. What do you need?"

I took his hands and squeezed them. "I want to know the truth behind Majara's death by entering Kings University. And I need to know about it."

He frowned and looked hesitant before he sighed and told me to sit down. "I am not encouraging you to do it because Kings University is the most dangerous place one can be, but something tells me even if I stop you, you'll still do it."

I smiled sheepishly, showing him that his hunch was true. He sat before me and took a deep breath before opening his mouth. "Kings University isn't an ordinary University, and you need to know there's a hierarchy. Let's start from the bottom, The Pawns, or to put it nicely, the newbies like you. They have no power against anyone. They do whatever the higher ranks tell them to do. Second to the lowest are the guards; they're the spectator. They watch over the university and report students who go against the rules and are the ones who punish the violators according to their master's orders. Third, the scholars, I personally don't like them. They are the university's smartest groups, and some are manipulators, so be careful. Fourth are the ministers. They are second to the highest, composed of the richest and has the most influence, and lastly, the kings, the founder of the school. They are literally treated as kings, and their words are laws. Even the richest family and police can't touch them."

My heart started beating fast all of a sudden. In fear or anticipation? Maybe both. I opened and closed my mouth like a fish because I couldn't believe there was such a University!

"How would I know it's them? Are they even students?"

"The unfortunate thing is you can't. They don't have a specific uniform or badges, and I only stayed there for a few months before I quit. They like things mysterious." My shoulders dropped at his answer before he leaned forward.

"But my short time there made me discover something, Majiko—their behavior. You will find out what they are based on how they behave. Newbies like you will look confused and afraid. The guards will have their heads up, with their eyes warning you. The scholars will mostly be buried in their books or have their eyes studying you as if contemplating how to manipulate you, and the ministers will look at you like you are dirt stuck under their shoe."

"And the kings?"

"In my three months of studying there, I've never met them, heard about them, or seen them. They are like ghosts; only selected ministers can get close to them." Ethan said and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"How many are even there?"

Marco snorted. "Two. And they are known as Alpha and Venom."

My body suddenly felt strange just hearing their names. Fear, excitement, and curiosity filled my whole body.

"Listen here, precious. That university is not a joke. It's been like that from one generation to another generation. And you asked why to stay there. Why did your f*****g parents send your sister there for? Do you think it's a good school? No."

I flinched at the coldness of his voice. "Parents who want their children to be perfectly disciplined are sent there. Parents who want their child to be their puppets are sent there. Students who want to please their parents stay there not because they don't have a choice but because they are left with no chance to choose. Are you still up against it? Are you afraid now?"

I did not move my gaze away from his eyes. I did not show him weakness or fear that was there but hidden deep inside me. Of course, I'm afraid, I'm nervous, but these emotions remain hidden deep within me and rarely shown. I am not Majara, who's always so brave and ready to fight, but I'm also not a coward, at least not for her.

"I am not afraid of knowing the truth behind my sister's death."