Key To A Goblin's Heart

Jake's POV

I could feel the effect of the wine blurring my mind slowly, as I started falling into a well known alcoholic stupor. Francis was saying something behind me, but I couldn't really make his words out. He said something about a beach party, then something about a farmhouse that I owned and weaving stitches of words together, I could make out that he wanted to mean a beach party at my Farmhouse this weekend. 

I looked at him, and immediately saw two Francises swinging their arm at me, then coming forward to lay his hand on my shoulders, calling me buddy and several other things. I had never really liked this guy, he was the most despicable opportunist and I hated the way he usually spoke to Mike. Needless to say, he was the class bully. 

"Now, Jaky boy!" He was saying in his over-amplified voice, "You understand what I mean, right? The summer heat is getting intolerable now, don't you think? It would be mighty pleasant if we were to have a beach party, somewhere out of town! Now, I heard that your Father had several farmhouses on the other side of the country, one in Desmond in fact! How great it would be, don't you think!"

He looked at me significantly, twitching his bushy eyebrows as he gave me time to consider the option. There are some people on Earth, whose very face tells you how nasty they are. Francis happened to be one of those sorts, his lanky figure and the perpetual expression of mischief on his face gave him no credit of being anyone's true friend. 

I looked at him coldly, knowing fully well that if I denied his offer now, it would mean some hostility on his part. I was really in no mood to fight, the alcohol had already depressed my senses and I am inevitably thinking of Linda again. Francis' intrusion on my attention is very unwelcome now, so I was considering how to avoid it. 

"Er… don't we have exams next weekend?" I suggested him. 

Francis frowned upon my comment. 

"When did you start caring for them?", He said lazily, "As far as I know, you have money enough to buy the entire University if you will, then why do you care about silly mid-terms? Come on Jake, I am asking nicely now, you should really throw a beach party this weekend."

His tone had slipped from being friendly to threatening now. I wondered why he was so persistent on it.

"Maybe some other time, Francis." I tried ignoring him, "this week isn't really good for me."

I tried to go away, but Francis' strong hands pulled me towards him as he rotated me to face him. He looked definitely menacing, with those huge tattoos running across his neck, and I realised that his biceps were twice the size of my abdomen. 

I gulped, feeling my throat dry as he continued, "You are throwing a beach party, boy. Because I say so, and I don't think you would want to deny me." He leaned closer and whispered threateningly, "My girlfriend's parents are out of time this weekend, and it's our only chance of escape. We can't possibly spend our beautiful weekend stuck in this rat-hole of a town."

So, that was the reason, I sighed. 

"Why don't you take her somewhere yourself? Why depend on me?" I said. 

"Where do you think the money will come from?" He glared, "Not all of us have rich dead parents as you do. Also, just because your own girlfriend is dead, you shouldn't deny others the pleasure of hanging out with theirs." He smirked. 

I felt a hot boiling rage rushing upto my head, and in an instant, the alcoholic stupor was gone. All I wanted to do was kick this guy right now, and even though that might have dire consequences, I couldn't help but feel that I would only be glad if I could kick him. 

Thankfully, my wishes were brought to a rest by the sudden interruption in the form of Mike. He looked positively dishevelled, as he strode towards me with his iPad in hand. Was this guy studying all this while? I sighed, Mike is never gonna change. 

Francis shot me one last meaningful look and said, "Remember my proposal." Then he disappeared among the crowd. 

Mike strode towards me hurriedly, and grabbed my hand. 

"Listen." He was saying breathlessly, "I need to go. I... I don't feel well."

"What happened? Are you alright? You look like you have seen a ghost!" I said, concerned. 

"Something like that." He mumbled, "I wish I could explain to you. But, we really need to leave right now."

"Okay okay! Chill! Even I am not finding this party good enough, so I'll leave too. Let's go." I said. 

Thus, we walked out of the party, our minds wandering off in different directions. We took a cab and reached our apartment in no time. I looked at the clock, it was 11:00 PM and to my dismay, I remember having an appointment with my father's butler the next morning. 

"Shit!" I said to myself, "I had completely forgotten about it."

I thought it best to go to sleep now, because I had a long day ahead tomorrow. 

That night, I had the strange dream again. 

I was standing on an Island, surrounding by a canopy of trees on all sides, such that it obscured the view of the ocean completely. But I could hear the water rushing and beating against the rocks, and the ripples reverberated in my ears, creating a gentle music. I felt like I had been here in this place before, not only in my dreams but also in real life. But, for the life of me, I couldn't remember when. 

Did my father bring me here on some sort of vacation? I couldn't remember. 

I could see that the island was inhabited. It was a small city here, in fact, with full fledged markets and houses that looked traditional but comfortable. I looked around in wonder, the overwhelming feeling of deja vu gripping my senses at each moment. 

"Here you are! You are late for your practice." The Knight said gravely. 

I turned to look at him. His face was nothing extraordinary, he had a crooked nose, bronze skin and curly black hairs. There were numerous scars on his face, and his eyes were fixed upon me in a stony stare. I couldn't help but marvel at his physique, which was as if chiselled out of stone, and it clearly spoke of him being some sort of aerobics trainer. Somehow, his attire gave him the appearance of a knight though. 

My heart jolted at the sight of him. I have visited this particular dream many times in the past, and this same Knight had always greeted me. I had always asked him his name and he looked really angry at that. Something about him made him very familiar, and I don't know why I felt a close kinship to him. 

I knew that I was bisexual, even though I had never admitted it to anyone. Neither did I have many boy crushes in my life. But, something about this Knight made me swoon over him, and I couldn't help but feel a lurch at my stomach, those familiar butterflies that had often greeted my encounter with love. I felt a bit ashamed about betraying Linda's memory though, and the butterflies disappeared. 

Before I could talk to the Knight, however, I was jolted awake by my alarm. It was 6:00 and I had to catch a flight in an hour. I hurried across the room, took a quick bath and left the house to board the flight to my father's property. 

I reached my Father's house at about 10:30 and was greeted by his butler, Mr Sanders. He spoke to me politely, enquiring about any difficulties in my journey and I gave the appropriate answers. 

Then, out of the blue, he asked a very strange question. 

"Where is your friend, the cos-player, Sir? In all the previous occasions of your visit to us, he had always accompanied you." Mr Sanders enquired. 

I frowned, "I don't know what you are talking about. None of my friends are cosplayers."

"The muscular one sir…" Mr Sanders said patiently, "the one with curly black hair and those scars on his face. He always insisted on wearing the attire of a Knight, if I remember correctly."

My frown deepened at his words. But, maintaining my composure I said, "Oh yes! I remember, he's...uh unwell. I actually wanted to ask you, do you have any photo of him or something?"

Mr Sanders looked a bit astonished at this peculiar demand, but soon recovered. After all, it was not his position to question his masters, so he said, "You can check the CCTV footage, Sir. There's ample pictures of him."

Saying so, he guided me to the CCTV room, and instructed the workers to show me the required footage. 

And, there he was, as clear as a day! The Knight, the man of my dreams, walking up the staircase by my side, engrossed in a deep conversation with me. 

However, I had no recollection of this particular event.