Theia; pronounced (theee.ya )

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Done. Finally!

Packing had never been my forte, in fact, I absolutely detested packing. Maybe it was because the number of books and other things I possess seemed impossible to place in tonnes of boxes.

Slapping duct tape across the box, I picked up a marker and marked it as Theia's Books #3

When the box was pushed aside carefully, I finally let out a sigh of relief as I wiped away a layer of sweat that had accumulated on my forehead only but two minutes ago since I had wiped it last. I lived in the warm state of California, it was summer and so naturally, the heat was killing me.

A single thing one should always know about me—I am not much for heat.

So when my dad came home one afternoon and declared that we were moving from California to a cold city just near the outskirts of Seattle called Peidmond, I was actually very excited.

Well—that was until I realized that I was now going to have to join a new high school in the middle of the year and leave my best friend, Casey, behind. And with this being senior year, with prom and all, well, it sucked.

Had I been in my old school, Stinson High, I would have at least had my best friend to accompany me. The thought of being home, all alone on prom, now, only helped in me sweating more.

My family consisted of my dad, Arthur Anderson, who was a professor of History and Literature, My mom, Maia Anderson, who was a designer and entrepreneur (big word, I know) and I, Theia , currently a senior student in high school, hoping to become a Criminologist or Psychologist—whatever came first. I also had a very strange fascination with history.

I guess dad's genes rubbed off on me that way.

Another soft huff of a sigh left escaped me as I lazily picked myself off of the floor and dragged myself towards the bathroom. I had only 2 hours before we were to load everything and leave, and I knew, in this heat, I would need every minute of it.

Minutes later as I stood under my cool shower and slowly watched my bathroom for the final time, I let a few stray tears flow with the water as I washed the tiny ache in my chest away.

It seemed like a day had passed when I found myself scrubbed and fresh, walking out into my bedroom in a towel.

A loud yelp left my lips when I suddenly found myself on the floor, a heavy weight on me.

"Don't go!" Casey cried, hysterical against me. I would have cried too, but the fact that I was currently sprawled on the floor with a towel on and my hundred something pound best friend was on top of me was a little... suffocating. Especially in my part, I was merely five feet something after all.

"Need... to... breathe, Casey!" I managed to gasp as I writhed under her, trying to escape her deadly grip.

Immediately Casey stilled above me.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She apologised hurriedly, blushing beet red as she got off of me and stood, giving me her hand and helping me stand up.

On my feet, I sighed as I brought her in for a hug, "We will talk every night on Skype or FaceTime. And then there is Messenger! We will always talk, it'll be like I'm not even away, I promise." I assured her as I pulled away and losing my towel pulled on my clothes.

Casey sighed her sigh a little heavy. A little scared. "What if we don't?"

I smiled a small broken smile. My hand found Casey's again and I gave it a comforting squeeze. "No matter what happens, whether we talk every day or not at all for months, when we do talk or meet, we will always be the same. Best friends."

A small tear dropped down Casey's cheeks and she nodded, chuckling against the moisture on her face.

"You better tell me everything when you get there!" she blurted out, smiling a bit as she folded and placed my towel in a plastic before packing it in my suitcase. My room was nearly empty, it was literally stripped bare except for the inbuilt bookshelves and a few boxes and suitcases that were still lying around waiting to be hurled into the moving truck.

Smiling, I nodded and pulled Casey in for a final hug. "We'll visit each other in the breaks, I'll miss you, you know?"

Casey nodded. "I'll miss you too, Thi."

The loud stomping noises alerted us both of someone coming up the stairs, and soon enough there was a knock on the door. "Theia are you done?"

"Yeah dad, come in!" I replied as I picked up my jacket—just in case it got cold—and slipped into my flip-flops. Which seemed like an irrational choice considering the two contrasted each other but I wouldn't need my shoes in the car anyway. I'd probably just tuck them under me throughout the ride.

The door opened instantly and in walked my dad with two bulky men. Smiling at me softly they strode towards the boxes and picked them up, leaving the room quite bare now.

Again, Casey and I stood in my empty room. A room we had had dozens of sleepovers in, a room we played doll in, a room we gossiped, planned and plotted in. A room we did our homework and fangirled in.

I sighed.

"I think we should go now..."

"Umhum,"

Casey and I walked downstairs hand in hand. I took a deep breath as I stood in the living room.

The place had a lot of my memories. I had basically grown up in this area. Well, that was until I turned sixteen and got the television set up in my own room. My eyes closed, I let out a deep breath and whispered. "I'll miss you, home. Goodbye."

"Theia, sweetie!"

My mums voice rang out to me like a fire truck's siren, and I instantly opened my eyes and walked out of the threshold, letting dad lock the door and hand over the keys to our real estate agent, Vanessa, who had managed to sell our home for a very very reasonable amount.

The day outside was bright and happy, vibrant, warm, and yet the heat suddenly didn't bother me anymore. I looked around my neighborhood and smiled, I would be taking all the good memories as I went, but as much as I was sad, truth be spoken I was also secretly excited.

I didn't know what it was, but I felt like something was waiting for me in Peidmond. An adventure waiting to be lived, maybe a mystery waiting to be unraveled. The little knowledge about the new feeling in me was all the more alluring, and somehow... secretly, I couldn't wait to reach Peidmond.

"Bye Cas, I'll call you when I reach there okay!" I muttered, suddenly holding back my tears as I was pulled into a hug.

"Uhuh, we will always talk! And if we can't, we will at least message when we can," Casey assured me as she hugged me back.

Smiling slightly I pulled out of the hug, and with a final wave—climbed into our SUV, watching my best friend stand on my yard, my neighborhood, for the last time as my dad drove off.

It felt like I was leaving a part of me here. But then again I was going whole.

***

"Are you excited, darling?"

Mom suddenly asked me, cutting the silence that had been building up since we left, seven hours ago. The ride was from California to Peidmond was of 15 hours and 13 minutes and already in these seven hours we had stopped twice to fuel up the SUV and buy some snacks for along the way.

"Yeah mom, are you?" I murmured back, knowing full well that both my parents were extremely excited for this 'new chapter' in their life... Dad would not stop talking about the amount of brilliant literature the new university he had managed to attain a job in, had. Not to mention the immense rise in wage and position. He was ecstatic. As for mom, her boutiques and salons around California were still running and although she would have to fly back and forth once in a while, her excitement with opening a new boutique and saloon in Peidmond was especially overwhelming.

"Oh, I am so excited!" She squealed, clapping her hands together, before turning towards dad and placing a loving kiss on his cheek.

It was normal for me to witness their weird romance, so I just rolled my eyes and looked at the passing views.

"The new house is bigger, Theia," Dad chuckled, looked at me from the review mirror.

I knew he was trying to make me feel better about moving, leaving my old friends and life behind, so I just grinned at dad and spoke the first thing I thought would make him worry less. "I get the room with the best view!"

Dad chuckled and nodded making my grin widen. It wasn't hard to notice that I was a papa's girl and with me being the only child, he doted on me. I was his little Fuzzybottom — not that my bottom was fuzzy, but... just because — and well he, he was my hero.

"One of the best things about the house is that it has great views all around the rooms. But you'll receive the one with the best view, we promise. We should be settled by tomorrow, hopefully, the day after, you and I could go shopping!" Mom squealed as she turned to look at me. Not excited at all I somehow managed to produce a fake smile and plaster it across my face.

Nobody messed with mum when it came to shopping. Nobody.

Once her attention was elsewhere, I turned around to see how far off our moving truck was behind us before turning around I brought out a book from my backpack and plugged my earbuds into my iPod before playing 'Davy Jones Music Box and the Rainy Mood'. Somehow the rumbles of thunder together with the soft sound of the tune playing together created a more reading mood for me. Shoving the iPod inside my pant pocket I flipped through the pages of my newest read 'Indiscretions', slumped back into a more comfortable position and began journeying once again. Into a different time. A whole different world.

This time, into the world of Lord Lockwood.

***

"Thi, we are here!"

I mumbled a few incoherent words before turning in my bed.

Need sleep.

"Thi! Wake up!" Dads voice urged before I was being shaken by the shoulder and lightly tapped on my face.

What the heck?

"Alright Alright!" I grumbled as I sat up on my bed and peeped my eye open.

I gasped. My face becoming warmer by the second as finally resized that I was in our SUV and a couple of people were staring at me, smiling like a bunch of weirdos. My folks included.

My cheeks burned as my eyes rested on a blonde haired guy smirking at me, an ax in his hand as he rested it on his shoulder.

What was he? A huntsman? I rolled my eyes in my mind as I pushed any budding crush, away. I was more of a Beauty and the Beast girl anyway.

Finally managing to look away I smiled at the rest of the folks smiling at me, two slightly elder couples.

"Oh, she's so beautiful!" The red-headed one of the two gushed as I shoved my iPod and book into my backpack and got out of the SUV.

"Thanks," I mumbled back, knowing full well that the blonde was still staring, smirking at me.

"Hello dear, welcome to Peidmond! I'm Jane and this here is my son, Alex, and my husband Hugh. We live just there, beside your house. That there is Mary and her husband Grant, they have a son too, Matthew, he is good friends with Alex here." Jane told me excitedly and I smiled back brightly mirroring her excitement.

"It's nice to meet you all, I am really excited to be here," I replied back happily as I extended my hand towards each one of them, shaking their hands softly but waving awkwardly at the smirking blonde, Alex.

That boy seemed as beautiful as he seemed arrogant. Beautiful nonetheless. But then arrogance trumped beauty any day.

My new home stood tall and proud, red bricks and a posh looking French door, it seemed to have at least three floors, taking in the small attic on the third floor. Even the front yard seemed beautifully cultivated. I waited for Jane and Mary to start talking to mom and Hugh and Grant to start helping my dad and the movers place all our stuff into the house before picking up one of my smaller book boxes, I made a run for it.

Making a dash into the house, as quickly as I could, I stopped only to grab dad and drag him away, begging him to show me my room.

He grinned excitedly and exchanging a knowing look with both Hugh and Grant led me upstairs until we came to a stop at the very end of the hallway. He unlocked the room and opened the doors, motioning me to walk in.

I walked in and froze.

There in front of me was the most amazing view of a castle perched on a mountain, surrounded by pine trees and fog. Beyond it, I could see water, maybe a lake? Maybe the sea... It was actually hard to say through the fog.

I turned around, already readying myself to leap on dad but frowned when I noticed that I was now alone in my room, and the blonde Alex was standing on the doorway with the usual smirk on his face. His ax, missing.

I frowned. The urge of just smacking his smirk away seemed quite strong at the moment. And it would be easy too.

BAMN!

and voila, smirk-less!

"That is the castle Dovelore. Owned by His Grace, Alexander Whitlock. His Grace, because some say his grandfather was a Duke and that has now been passed over to him. He is also very rich—if the castle isn't proof enough—but not by heritage, most of it is self-made and all. We are supposed to visit that castle this year you know... Mr. Whitlock is providing one lucky student with a full-time scholarship to any university he or she wishes to attend. And another lucky student a chance to stay in his castle for the breaks, with the full usage of his library and a full tour around the castle, if he or she wanted to, that is." Blonde spoke, his gaze not once shifting from the castle which although looked quite brooding, looked equally inviting, as if charming me into visiting. There definitely was something about that castle.

Suddenly very curious I turned towards Blonde and asked, "What would you like?"

He turned his attention towards me, and for the first time since the 15 minutes that we had known each other, he smiled at me. A real smile.

"Although the most brilliant of literature are available in the castle library and I would love to roam the dungeons and secret pathways where the Pirates were slain and beasts held hostage. I want the scholarship." I nodded and turned back to look at the castle.

What beasts was blonde talking about?

The feeling of my feet pushing itself forward registered slowly before I found myself staring at the castle, my hands, sliding the window open.

Is someone living there right now? How many rooms could there be?

I swept my gaze along the windows of the castle but stilled when I saw someone staring back at me. It seemed he, his bulky built made sure of showing no confusion... Even if he was so so far away. It was quite distinguishable that he was wearing a white shirt, but that was all that could be made sense of... the rest was a blur.

"Hey blonde, come here!" I whispered, motioning Blonde to move forward.

"Blonde?" Blonde whisper yelled, sounding outraged as he made his way to me.

The man was still staring. His stare seemed so intense it made hairs stand on the back of my neck.

I turned towards blonde, wishing he could see the strange man just like I did. Castles were always haunted, but truly, the one I would be seeing day and night... could not possibly be haunted, could it?

"Can you see the man?"

"What man? I see no man?" Blonde whispered back, scrunching his eyes as he looked in the direction of the castle.

I turned towards there castle again.

The man was gone.

"He was just there! I promise!" I whisper yelled, putting my palm on my heart.

Blonde looked at me frowning for a second before his smile came back. The friendly one.

"I can help you decorate your room," he offered, looking as if he really were interested in sorting out my mess.

I smiled as I brushed a stray of brown hair behind my ear. Silently thanking God for Blonde's sudden offer, decorating my bedroom would have taken me all day and night otherwise.

"Let's do this."