ROYAL BLOOD

ANGER & LIES

A goldcrest was twittering and flying right above their heads and before it could fly away, a group of kids knocked it down with a slingshot. The bird landed right in front of Lore. Lore looked down at the bleeding bird and glanced at the kids who were laughing. Without thinking he ran towards the kids and grabbed the slingshot from one of them.

"Lore! Lore!" Wisteria and Jackson cried.

The kids stopped laughing and looked at Lore in confusion. Lore picked up a stone and launched it straight on the kid's forehead. The kid cried in pain and touched his forehead which was bleeding. His friends were taken aback and got scared.

"THIS IS EXACTLY HOW THE BIRDS FEEL!" Lore cried and grabbed the kid's arm. "YOUR BRAIN IS FULL OF TRASH. GO AND EDUCATE YOURSELF RATHER THAN KILLING ANIMALS AND BIRDS."

Jackson pulled Lore and said, "Buddy, calm down. We're making a commotion. Let the kids go."

"Lore, Jackson's right." Wisteria said, "I know you're angry right now. This is not the perfect place and time to release it. Look people are staring at us."

Lore looked around him and saw men and women covering their mouths and staring at Lore. He let go of the kid who then ran away with his friends. Rufus pulled Lore and pursed his lips.

He looked at the people around and cried, "What're you looking at? Continue your work."

The people were hesitant and continued what they were doing while still keeping an eye on Lore. Lore on the other hand wasn't satisfied. He wanted to hit a person because he was boiling inside.

--

The cemetery gate was tall and they pushed it open. They ran inside hurriedly checking each and every grave. They were going crazy and reading every tombstone but Urbane's name was nowhere. Lore started smiling until Jackson called them. Wisteria, Lore and Rufus ran towards Jackson who was looking down at the ground. There was a cracked stone standing upright which read "Urbane Wilson. From the other side." It was hand written and the handwriting was exactly like in the letter. Lore dropped down on his knees. Wisteria started sobbing and Jackson placed on of his hand on Lore's shoulder. Tears ran down Jackson's eyes and Lore could feel the cold teardrop on his neck. Lore kept staring at the stone. Memories flooded back. Each and every moment he spent with Urbane started running in his mind. They remained in that position without saying anything.

Rufus broke the silence and said, "We can't change the past. We have to accept the harsh reality; sometimes life brings to us. Let's go back and think with a fresh mind."

Jackson squeezed Lore's shoulder and held him up. They helped each other and walked out. Lore gave a last look to Urbane's grave and said, "Rest in peace, buddy. I miss you."

Jackson was still teary eyed and Wisteria was sobbing all the way back. They were on the way to Rufus's house when Ryan came raging at them. He was followed by the kid whom Lore had hit earlier.

"What did you do to my son?" Ryan cried and pushed Lore.

"Whoa Whoa Whoa!" Jackson stopped Ryan and said, "You have no rights to lay your hands on my friend!"

Ryan looked at Jackson and said, "And your friend has no right to lay his hands ON MY SON!"

"And your son," Jackson continued, "has no rights to lay his hands on nature's creation and destroy it!"

Ryan paused and kept looking at Jackson furiously. Lore couldn't take it anymore and pushed Ryan who fell back on the ground.

"I was planning to take revenge on what you did but looks like fate was on my side and I faced your son." Lore cried. "He deserved it."

Ryan got up angrily and raged towards Lore but Rufus stopped him. "Stop it!" he cried, "They're kids. You would not want your son being hit by an elder guy like you, do you?"

Ryan stopped and breathed heavily. Rufus turned towards Lore and said, "Let's go."

They walked out of there and Ryan watched them go. He smiled and said to himself, "Gary must be so proud of him." And walked away with his son.

On the way, Lore looked at Jackson and said, "Thanks."

Jackson gave him a disgusted look and said, "Did you seriously thank me? You don't have to thank me, buddy. We're a family. Things don't work with thank yous and sorrys. You'll always have my back."

Lore smiled and looked at Wisteria, "Are you fine?" he asked.

"Yeah, Kind of but I just miss him." She replied.

"I know. You have my back if there's anything, okay?"

"I know." She smiled, "I'm lucky to have friends like you."

Jackson put his arm around Lore and said, "Ew Wisteria, stop being so cheesy."

Wisteria hit Jackson on his head. Jackson laughed and hit her back. They were teasing each other and Lore was enjoying it. They left their sorrows on that place and kept laughing. Rufus smiled as well. They didn't realize that they had already reached Rufus's house so quick. But Rufus stopped in front of the door.

"What's wrong?" Wisteria asked him laughing.

Rufus took a step back and signaled them to stop. Wisteria stopped laughing and looked at the boys. Rufus turned to them and said, "Someone's inside."

Jackson, Lore and Wisteria exchanged nervous glances and gulped. Rufus said," Follow me slowly and don't make any noise, alright?'

They nodded and Rufus pushed the door open quietly and walked inside. Jackson, Wisteria and Lore followed him inside. Someone was inside Rufus's room. The door was partially open and Rufus pushed it wide open. They could see a person's back turned towards them who was frantically searching for something. The person looked back and stopped.

Lore was shocked and said," Urbane!"

Urbane looked at Jackson and then looked at Lore. He laughed nervously and stammered, "Uh- hey." And jumped out of the window. Lore didn't think of anything else and ran behind Urbane.

"Wait!" Wisteria cried and ran behind Lore.

"Urbane Stop!" Lore shouted as he ran behind him.

Lore kept running as fast as his legs could but Urbane was faster and Lore couldn't catch up so, he stopped mid-way puffing and panting with his hands on his waist as he watched Urbane disappear run away. Wisteria and Jackson stopped behind him panting and gasping for some air. All of a sudden Lore dropped down. He wanted to shun his tears but couldn't and it came out like a flowing river. He cried his heart out. He poured out his emotions for his parents, for Leo, for Professor Baron and especially for Urbane who broke his trust and left them like that.

Jackson squeezed Lore's shoulder and said, "Let's go back. We can talk about it."

Lore nodded and wiped his tears. Rufus was standing at the window and hadn't followed them. They came back and sat down on the sofa looking disappointed. Rufus rushed towards them and said, "He's your friend?"

"Yeah." Lore replied looking down.

"Urbane Wilson the guy whose grave we just visited?"

"Yes, I know it's absurd but-"

"No" Rufus interrupted, "I used to see that boy here, almost every day."

"What?!" Jackson cried.

Lore and Wisteria looked up at Rufus, surprised.

Rufus continued," Yeah. His name is not Urbane! It's Grivald. He works for Gary."

Hearing that, Lore felt like the ground beneath his feet just shifted. He hadn't expected something like this to pop up.

"Tell us more about him." Wisteria said.

Rufus looked at them for a moment and said, "I don't know much but he works for Gary. Since Gary doesn't come out much, Grivald or let's say, your so called friend, 'Urbane' runs small errands for him. He basically lives with Gary. Doesn't talk much but I've seen him around. What's shocking is that how he managed to jump between the two worlds? I fear that Gary maybe up to something. "