The night was unbearably quiet. The three moons were the only source of light. There were no clouds, no stars. Only the blue moon was hidden behind the others and the red room eclipsed over the others; making the night sky show a horrifying shade of red. At a pure white sand beach, there was a large group of royals standing apathetic in their matching all white expensive attire. It was hard to determine if everyone was quiet out of respect or just at a loss for words. In the front of the crowd, laid an all white polished closet casket with embroiled jewels along the case opening. In the front of the crowd, stood a woman and her daughter. Both wore the most extravagant white dresses. They were matching but both wore symbolic gold crystals on their cheeks, to mark that they are blood related to the recently deceased. The girl remained in a blank state. All she could do was just stare at the coffin.

“Thank you all for being here,” said the preacher. He was a tall bald man who stood next to the casket facing everyone. “I know these are troubling times but we must all remember all the good our Lord Rauf has done for our kingdom.”

The woman scoffed at the preacher's reply. As the ceremony went on, the girl could overhear so many harsh whispers in the crowd. All saying insensitive things about her father. The girl tried to hold in her anger by remaining quiet, but it was hopeless. Her hands balled up into fists so tight, there was blood dripping out of her palms.

“Levi!” the woman said in a violent whisper. “Don’t ruin your clothes! That dress cost more than that lousy coffin.”

Levi looked up at the woman and wiped her hands on her sleeves, leaving large bloody handprints on her dress -ruining it forever. The crowd gasped and laughed at Levi’s disregard for the fortunate, making the woman embarrassed. She aggressively grabbed her wrist and wanted to lash out at her.

“Go ahead mother,” Levi said in a monotone voice. “Let everyone here see who you are. Are you a grieving widow? Or an abuser that hits her child at her fathers funeral?”

Levi knew her mother cared about her image and reputation more than anything so she stared at her unafraid. Haiba eventually carefully let go of her daughter's wrist and lightly patted her back.

“I know things are hard Levi,” she said loudly. “We will get through this together.”

“Excuse me,” said the preacher. “Can I finish the sermine?”

“Of course, please continue,” said Haiba.

The ceremony continued as it was before. The preacher gave a pretty generic speech. It was as though, no one really cared that their Lord Rauf was laying in that casket. Even Haiba was bored and was seen yawning in the middle of the service. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a handsome middle-aged royal staring at her lustfully, which she enjoyed very much. Levi noticed her mothers behavior and did nothing.

“Mistress Haiba, would you like to say something about your husband?” asked the preacher. Everyone turned to her.

In an uncaring tone, she answered, “I am too upset to speak. I’d rather not say anything at all.”

“Miss Levi?” asked the preacher.

Levi lifted her head up and took a step forward. Already Haiba was feeling tense because she was unsure of what her daughter would say. Levi stood between the preacher and the coffin. Her hand placed on top of the casket, just thinking about who was inside. Every emotion was running through her heart and it felt like it was shutting down and unable to process what was happening. Everyone grew silent, waiting on what she would say.

“My father is dead,” said Levi. She knew what she wanted to say and what she expected them to hear. Both were completely different from the other. Levi glanced back at her fathers casket. It was horribly embroiled with the Baellon family seal on the cover. Everything looked gaudy and overdone. She wished she could give her father a proper burial but this was beyond her control. Instead, she said nothing else and returned to her spot where she stood before.

When the final words were said, carefully the casket was pushed away into the sea by two very large men wearing matching white robes. They walked deeper into the water, where it reached their waists. So, they stopped to push the casket deep into the water. The reason they stopped was because there was a haunting underwater trench a few feet away. It was so deep it was impossible to see the bottom. All Baellon funerals put their caskets in there -making sure they were never to be unseen again.

The crowd looked up at the moon, seeing that it was the haunting red moon that beamed down at him.

“A funeral during the red moon eclipse,” said a voice. “That is a bad omen.”

Haiba heard the whispers and chose to ignore it. “Thank you all for coming. We are having the closing service at my estate if any of you wish to attend.”

Everyone left the beach in a group, leaving Levi behind. She kept staring at the ocean and thinking about good times with her father. Still, dark thoughts appeared in her mind, mainly the violent yelling between her father and mother. Mostly what she remembered was traveling with her father and him teaching her so many things. Levi refused to let herself start crying or be angry.

After a long walk, Levi returned to her estate. It was an incredibly large home perched at the edge of a cliff facing the ocean. Below, was a rocky surface where the waves crashed. The estate was painted gold and white with beautiful blue roses blooming all over. Inside, the home was the same gaudy color of gold and white. There was a large crystal chandelier in the center of the room, two large staircases leading upstairs. They were the guests from the funeral in the main hall. Already the guests were gossiping about her father and mothers marriage and what kind of person her father was. Levi carefully maneuvered her away through the crowd. It was such a thick scent of exotic pungent fragrances all melted together. It was so horrific, she held her breath in for the longest time. Through the crowd, she saw her mother leaving the party with a man and woman wrapped in her arms as she took them to their bedroom. Levi groaned loudly and tried to hurry to her mother. She managed to get through the crowd and found her mother about to enter her bedroom at the end of the hall. The man and woman openly showed display of affection to Haiba, while she was kissing both after every breath.

“Mother!” shouted Levi. Haiba stopped and saw her daughter angrily stomping towards her.

“Why don’t the two of you just wait inside for me,” Haiba whispered as the two started kissing her neck and cheeks. She lustfully waved at them as they entered the room without her. That moment, her mood changed and she stared daggers at her daughter. “What do you want!? Can’t you see that I am grieving!?”

“This is fathers funeral! You cannot even be respectful for one day!?” Levi complained. “Or do you think being respectful is lying on your back?”

Haiba aggressively grabbed her daughter's wrist and squeezed it with all of her might. Her eyes started to tremble in anger. Still, Levi wasn’t afraid of her mother. She stared back at her and quickly grabbed and unlocked her mothers hand from her wrist and slammed her palm against her chest! The force made Haiba bang her back against the stone walls and an incredibly noticeable crack emerged. It stretched to the top of the ceiling and even across the hallway floor. Haiba started coughing and struggling to keep her legs up. She looked at her daughter once again, but was unafraid.

“Listen to me. You don’t have your precious father to protect you anymore. I am his widow and I get everything. You will do what I say and I dare you to defy me.” Haiba scolded. She stood herself up and patted down her dress. “Now, I have to get back to my grieving. Who knows, maybe I will remarry to make sure you don’t get anything even after I die too.”

Haiba walked into her bedroom, giving her daughter a devilish grin. When the door closed, Levi immediately stormed out of the estate.

Outside the large estate, was a charming wooden gazebo that was at the center of a lively blue rose garden. Levi sat alone in the gazebo. In her hands, she held onto a single blue rose and carefully started plucking out the petals one by one. Her mind stayed blank, and her face looked lifeless. When the last petal was pulled, she found herself unable to move. Inside, she was trying to come to terms that her father was in fact dead, but it wasn’t working very well.

Suddenly another single blue rose was in front of her eyes. Holding onto it was an incredibly handsome young man with golden eyes and neatly stylish spikey white hair. His skin was flawless and he had a dazzling smile that was brighter than the full white suit he was wearing. It was with an all white cape with a single gold stone pin.

“You shouldn’t waste a flower like that,” he smiled.

Levi’s face immediately turned sour. “What do you want, Pyke?”

He sat down next to Levi, making her feel more uncomfortable than she already was. She turned away from him, but he didn’t look away from her. His eyes kept scanning her up and down. Quietly he was biting his lip.

“I just wanted to see how you were. You left so suddenly,” he said in a fake sincere voice.

“I want to be alone,” said Levi.

“You shouldn’t be alone in these troubled times. Your mother understands.” he said. Levi still faced away from him, just wishing he would leave. “So, how are you?”

“Fine.”

“You won’t even look at me? That is no way to treat a friend,”

“We are not friends,” Levi grumbled. Pyke heard her and tried to bottle in his anger. Already his face was showing signs of being unhinged but he just tried his best to be polite.

“You don’t have to be so harsh. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. What is wrong with that?” said Pyke.

Levi exhaled loudly and slowly turned her head towards him. He felt his heart fluttering, just getting a glimpse of her gaze.

“That is very nice of you, thank you,” Levi mumbled. She got up from her seat and walked to the other side of the gazebo. Gazing above, at the full red moon. Even though others say it’s a curse, Levi saw it as beautiful how it manages to turn everything red. Pyke got up as well and made it so he was behind Levi.

“So Levi. You shouldn’t ruin these flowers. They are very rare to bloom,” said Pyke as he handed over the same rose once again. Levi turned around and reached out for the flower.

“I guess you’re right,” said Levi. The moment her hand touched Pyke's fingers, his hand went limp as the rose dropped from his hand. He quickly grabbed Levi’s wrist, yanking her forward to him. Before she could step back, both of his hands held either side of her face and he planted his lips against hers! With all her might, she grabbed his forearms, trying to fend him off of her but he was much stronger. With all of his strength, he wouldn’t let go of her. He stepped forward making his body press against hers. He was enjoying every second of it. Desperately he wanted more. His eyes were pulsing as fast as his heartbeat. Pushing hard, he forced her mouth open as he hurried to entwine their tongues. Levi gasped and felt disgust and rage. Her fingernails grew into claws and in one last desperate attempt, she kicked Pyke hard against his thigh, making him let go of her and back away. Still, it wasn’t enough for her. Levi raised her hand up high and in one swift thrust, she slashed her claws against Pyke’s neck!

He fell to his knees as blood poured from his throat, trying so hard to breathe but it wasn’t working. Still, he concentrated hard and his eyes started to glow. A faint gold aura circled around his neck, and quickly his wound began to heal. Still, the claw scars Levi caused were noticeable. Still on his knees, Pyke looked up to her with a devilish smile on his face. He saw Levi looking down on him with so much hate in her eyes.

“You are going to regret doing that,” said Pyke with his now hoarse voice. He stood up with his hand still on his throat. “You should be grateful I am interested in you. I would be the best thing to happen in your life.”

“Do you want to die?” Levi threatened. “You know I can easily kill you, Pyke. You fail to beat me for years. I am always better than you.”

“That is why you are perfect,” he said with a haunting smile. He stepped out of the gazebo with such pride in his heart. “I always get what I want, Miss Levi. With your father gone, you have no say in your future now. What makes you think your mother doesn’t just give you to me? With the right amount of money, you know she will. Just imagine what the highest Baellon family can accomplish together. You will look quite good in my bed every night, giving me as my children as I want.”

He turned to her and saw that her rage only manifested more. Her body was glowing gold and she was staring at him with all intention to kill. “I know you can kill me Levi but you won't. You know I won’t kill you; but know this. If you are not mine, I will make sure no one has you. Your choice is to be mine or die.”

Pkye laid down a single blue rose on the gazebo floor and turned away from Levi to walk back into the estate. “Enjoy your funeral.”

The moment he disappeared, Levi felt her rage bubbling inside of her. She felt herself shaking, losing focus and most of all unable to stop hearing a condescending voice in her head. So badly, she wanted the pain to stop but it wouldn’t stop. She stepped on the blue rose beneath her feet.

As she slept, tears were falling from her eyes. Her body was trembling underneath the thick blanket. Casitas noticed her crying and lightly patted her forehead. He noticed her body was sweating, as though she was overheating. Quickly, he was about to pull the blankets off of her but he stopped when he saw her eyes opening.

“Levi?” he asked. He leaned over and was unsure if she was awake or asleep this time. Her face was puffy and her tears wouldn’t stop. “What’s wrong?”

She saw Casitas looking concerned for her for the first time. Seeing that, she started crying even more out of sadness.

She wept as she said. “I miss my dad…”