Where's Casper?

Roses

"I'm very glad you chose to join me tonight, Caspar!"

He said my name wrong again. It's not that hard! C-a-s-p-e-r. Did he skip kindergarten?

"Well, it wasn't my choice. You forced me. I would've much rather stayed in my room all night."

It was true. He knocked on the door. I was changing in the bathroom, so I asked Aric to answer, and when I finished, I got out to find Dante dressed in suit and tie, waiting for me to go on a walk with him.

Not to mention, he could've taken the walk alone like I did a few days ago, but why me? He probably knows I hate him. Yes, I hate him because he keeps calling me "Caspar," and, lately, I've been wondering if he does that to annoy me.

"You know, Caspar, I think you're a nice guy." He says, getting up from the bench. "I want to get to know you better, but this far, you have a high rating from me."

You don't have a high rating from me, I want to say, but I choose to shut it. Silence is better than being honest. I frown. I don't want to go too far from the inn. I'm currently dressed in my pajamas, but, luckily, I still have the bandages wrapped on, and they're pretty tight.

"If this makes you feel better, I think you look amazing, even if you're wearing pajamas." He says, smiling like he can read my thoughts. He suddenly stops. "Caspar, would you like some ice cream? I'll pay!"

Actually, yes, I would like some ice cream, but I can't say it out loud. He'll think he made me a favor or something.

"If you don't," He says, handing a flower vendor a copper coin, "then you can have this." He lends me another rose.

Roses, here and there. Roses up. Roses down. Too many roses. I stole a rose from a boy who sells roses, I realized the clown was the boy who sells roses and received a rose from a man who is clearly obsessed with roses. As I said, too many roses.

__________

Don't ask me why I am at Dante's door, taking my shoes off and getting ready to enter. Just... don't.

I previously said he is obsessed with roses, and this is the moment I realized it. As soon as he opened the door, I noticed the walls, floor, and everything had a rose pattern.

"Come in!" He said, flicking his hand. "Let me know if you'd like some tea!"

I don't want tea. I want to go back to my room, but I sit down on the couch like I don't.

"What do you think about my actors this far?" He asks, stirring some sugar in his cup. This is a question I haven't thought of before.

"They are nice, I guess." I say, biting my lip. Especially Aric, I want to add, but I just smile.

A picture frame is on the table, so I pick it up to look at it. It's a picture of Dante holding a little kid. A boy, I think, and he seems three or four.

"Do you have kids?" I ask, putting the frame down.

"No." He frowns and then laughs.

"Then who is the kid?"

"It kind of sounds funny, but that's Aric. He's not my biological son, but I raised him until now, so I guess you can kinda call me his father."

Aric hasn't told me this before. It would have been an interesting detail about him. Maybe he doesn't trust me with this kind of information.

"Would you like to... you know... tell me more?"

He sighs, and it seems like he is really thinking about his answer. He taps his chin slowly and scrunches his nose.

"His mother had always been a nice woman, but she had an ugly past. She was unmarried when she had him, but perhaps people just assumed he's the son of a man from the town upriver since everyone denied having any contact with her." He smiles, probably thinking about what was a few hundreds of years ago. "But she had a dirty, little secret. Every night, she'd go in the forest near her house to meet her secret lover, a mysterious man who never told her where he comes from, and not even who he actually is."

I thought I couldn't be in love with someone I don't really know, but I realize I've found out more things about him from Dante than I've known before.

"But what does the lover have to do with it? His father is a lion. That's what they told me."

"Let me finish. After she got pregnant, her lover suddenly disappeared. She desperately tried to find him, but she found no trace. Psychics say he most likely was an entity who is known to call young, beautiful women in different places and eat their heart out, but nobody actually knows. Aric is a cursed kid, and that is all they cared about."

Now, I get why he didn't tell me about it. It's sad, and that's coming from a girl who wants to be a boy and doesn't get listed by anyone. I stand up, stretching a little bit.

"Are you leaving already?" He asks. He takes one step closer to me. Two. Three. "I think you should keep me company a little more." He pines me against a commode.

"I do want to -" but I don't get to finish. He shoves his tongue in my mouth, and I try to push him away.

"Are you ready to spend your night with me, Casper?"

My hand reaches for a vase of flowers. I don't remember what happened after. I just remember shattered glass, broken roses, and Dante yelling for forgiveness while I ran away, blood dripping down his forehead and tears pouring from his red, irritated eyes.