-Tobias-

Later, as I was walking back to my car, I felt better even in the middle of all those cold stares. Swimming in an actual lake always gave me energy and cleared my head. Once again, I dreamed of my own little house right next to a private lake. I had to spend a lot of time in the water every day just to stay alive, so a private lake would be amazing. And I was so sick and tired of living with my father, but I was far from able to live on my own.

Mainly because of my father. I was barely allowed to leave the house because that old fool was getting ridiculously paranoid over his own safety, and by extension, mine. It wasn’t easy to find a job when I wasn’t allowed to go to the interviews.

Like any of these people would even hire me… I sighed when I sat down behind the wheel and saw the ugly glares again.

There wasn’t much time left as I started driving, so I started heading straight home. Dad would get back from work soon, so I had to be there before him. I would’ve loved to drive around for a bit, but I wasn’t interested in having another shouting match with him. If only he’d let me come and go as I wished… My life was boring enough without his ridiculous rules and paranoia.

After making sure there were no other cars around, I drove through the magical protections that prevented humans from seeing the road that led to the beach – people had the tendency of freaking out if they suddenly saw a big Volvo appearing out of nowhere. Then, I turned right and started following the road that led back to the city.

Our sanctuary. I wasn’t old enough to remember its full glory, but I did remember being able to walk around the city without getting so many nasty glares. It was different now. A successful businessman such as my father did have his enemies, and even I didn’t like a lot of the things he’d done, so I couldn’t really blame those people who hated him, and by extension, me.

And he was a naga, and nagas were hated pretty much by default.

The poor part of the city came to my view, and seeing it always made me silent. There used to be no poor parts or rich parts, but over the years, the difference between the two sides had grown bigger and bigger, and now…

The road led me closer, and soon I passed by two office buildings. Abandoned, crumbling, their life long gone. I could see a glimpse of the slums behind them, the little shacks and tents people used as shelter. I shivered at the thought of having to live like that.

Soon, the rich part appeared, looking even richer and more beautiful than it really was after seeing the poor part. Modern buildings, beautiful parks, safe sidewalks, and flourishing businesses. I was never able to wrap my head around the massive difference between these two sides. And no one seemed to really care. With a naga as the mayor, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Nagas had made their way to the top of the hierarchy, and they only cared about themselves.

The sanctuary vanished from my view, and soon reached the private road that led to our mansion. I stopped by the first gate to give the guard his money, so he’d keep his mouth shut, and after he let me through, I continued down the road, all the way to the second gate.

A naga woman, Alysa, stepped in front of my car with a mean smirk on her old face.

“Your daddy’s home,” she said.

I let out a deep sigh and slouched against the backrest. I should’ve gone for a drive, after all.

Alysa stepped out of the way and I drove to the garage and parked my car next to my father’s expensive Mercedes. I glared at it for a second before grabbing my bags.

I didn’t get far. The head of security, Gnash, was waiting for me just outside the door to our mansion. I sighed in annoyance seeing his balding head and mean, small eyes.

“Mr. Locke would like to see you,” he informed me, taking a strong grip on my arm.

“Not interested,” I said, trying to yank myself free, but he didn’t budge.

“Right this way,” he grunted at me, starting to lead me to my father’s office.

It was safe to say my father was not happy with me. He never was.

“I told you not to leave the house without an escort!” he yelled at my face as soon as we stepped into his luxurious room filled with trophies, expensive decorations and massive furniture.

“I just wanted to go swim!” I yelled back at him. “You’re being ridiculous! I can take care of myself!”

I could see the veins on his forehead growing bigger as his face turned redder. “You are worth millions! I have enemies who are just waiting for the opportunity to kidnap you to either blackmail me or sell you to the highest bidder to fund their little army! There are collectors fighting over a hybrid like you! I’m being generous enough to let you even leave the house! Don’t you understand, you stupid boy!”

“You’re a fucking fool! You’re being paranoid! There are no rebel armies coming after you! Why would they care about a simple businessman!” I yelled back at him.

And the shouting match started. Thankfully, it was a brief one this time.

“THAT’S IT! GO TO YOUR ROOM!” he ended the argument after a few minutes.

“FINE!” I spat at him, turning around to march to the door.

“This ends tomorrow! I’m picking up the android and you mark my words, you will follow my rules from now on!” he yelled after me.

“You know what?” I stopped and turned around. “I wish there really is a rebel army coming after your head,” I said, leaving out the things I really wanted to say as I stormed out.

Sometimes I just really wished he was gone.