The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (43) Blackheart ~

Arisa flipped another page, her concentration drawn in the book. The orange light of the lantern placed on the nightstand offered enough light for her to enjoy her hobby as she lay on her bed.

A brighter light instantly illuminated her room.

Arisa's brows touched. She looked at the window on her left; her gaze caught an orange-red light, shining behind the pink curtains. As soon as she moved the soft fabric, she glared at the flaming words she was seeing.

Roundish characters were burning midair in front of her window, showing a message that said: 'Your goofy face is needed. Come see me now.'

Arisa narrowed her eyes at those burning characters. If he hadn't placed his favorite mocking word in that message, she would have admired his improvement in writing a text using his element. She glanced below the window in search of the dark-haired boy, whom she considered as her best friend.

She didn't see anyone in that deserted street. She sighed, wondering why he wanted to see her at this late hour. As she dropped the curtain, her gaze caught the burning characters again, which were slowly fading.

"Stupid Zen," she said.

She didn't take long to swap her purple pajama to knee-length blue pants and a long marine green shirt. She rushed to the door, slowly opening it in an attempt not to disturb her grandparents. Her single braided hair escaped from her back to her right shoulder as she spied the corridor.

As she didn't find any of her grandparents standing by the dim-lit corridor, she left her room, closing the door slowly.

The soft carpet of the aisle, camouflaged the sound of her sandals as she passed by her grandparents' room and walked downstairs.

She grasped the key placed beside a vase with flowers. As she opened the door, she peeked by it, searching for Zen. The only thing she saw was an empty street, illuminated by weak lights placed on various poles. Arisa carefully left the house, closing the door and looking around.

As she walked a few steps to find him, she exhaled.

He must have forced me to come here on purpose.

Arisa shook her head, annoyed. Knowing how he enjoyed annoying her, Zen must have thought that she was already set comfortably on her bed and decided to pull a prank on her. She walked towards the door, not believing that she fell for his stupid pranks again.

Her heart leaped as she felt a hand grabbing her arm and driving her away from the door.

"So you want to embarrass me and let me freeze here," said a deep voice behind her.

A relief calmed Arisa, recognizing that voice. She turned around and saw the dark-haired boy grinning at her.

"It's not my fault if I thought that you were pulling a prank." Arisa crossed her arms. "Couldn't you stay by the door so I could see you?"

"Nope," replied Zen, shaking his head. "I had to be careful in case I caught the attention of your grandfather."

"Oh," said Arisa, gazing at the ground.

Even though her grandmother had talked to her grandfather about Arisa's friendship with Zen, her grandfather refused to accept him. Despite her grandfather's disapproval of their friendship, Arisa kept seeing him.

"You could've at least showed up once you saw that I was the one that opened the door," said Arisa.

Zen smirked. "I wanted to add a little suspense."

Arisa glared at him; he chuckled. She looked away, knowing that he was laughing at whatever was funny on her face.

"So, why did you want to see me?" Arisa changed the subject. "Did something happen?"