Chapter 4

Lafreya hurried to twist the door knob. She closed her fingers around the knob and pulled at it. When it didn't open, she threw her weight behind the door and rattled it violently this time, but it still didn't open.

That was when she realized that Rademos must've locked the door from inside. Mideora was standing right behind her. They had both been filled with a surge of alarm when they heard Rademos' anguished scream and had fled from the kitchen to down here, abandoning their duties and bewildered guests.

"It's locked," Lafreya lets out. "Rademos? Are you in there? Can you hear me? If you can hear me, please say something."

She placed her ear against the door, trying to listen for any sound, even if it was not Rademos' voice. But she heard nothing save for the drip-drip sound from the shower in the bathroom.  Their dad has meant to fix it but never gotten around to it.

"Okay, I'm going to count to five, and then I'm going to let myself in. One, two, three, four, five."

At the count of five, Lafreya took a step backward. Then she raised her right leg and brought the sole of her boot hard against the door with a grunt.

The door came crashing down in force when Lafreya's boots connected with it. Splinters flew in random directions, and Mideora gave a low scream. She had not expected the door to break down in such a force. Lycan's had extraordinary strength, and she hoped to surpass her mom one day.

They poured themselves into the room instantly but rather a nanosecond too late. The room was devoid of anyone to talk more of Rademos.

The clothes he had been previously wearing before he had gone to bathe were piled in a corner, while the birthday suit that was laid out on his bed for him was still neatly arranged there.

Lafreya and Mideora felt that they arrived too late because they saw no one in the room or caught anybody trying to escape or reenter the room.

But what they didn't know was that it was for the best because had it not been for a timely intervention, then their bodies would have been crisply fried from the emitted sizzling light, which would have certainly barbecued their bodies to black ashes.

Rademos had almost tripped from the trip when they landed on the shores of a beach. A bright white light had obliterated the stars and moonlight for a second. Sands scattered in all directions as a mighty gusty wind blew from the impact of the explosion caused by the white light.

Rademos recognized the all too familiar place in an instant. It was the only beach in town. He was deeply startled. He wondered what had just happened and how he had gone from his bedroom to the beach in the blink of an eye. He had seen movies on time travel and teleportation, but he seriously didn't think that things like that existed. They were just phenomena for sci-fi and fantasy movies to gross more money at the cinemas.

"Um, hi there," a male voice said. "It seems to me that you've not had many experiences. I can tell from the look on your face."

Rademos offered the speaker a long blank stare. He didn't feel scared, and neither did he show any form of it either in his stance or on his face. If there was a yardstick with which the man measured his teleportation travel log, it wasn't by fear.

The man standing in front of him looked terrifying enough, but for some reason, Rademos felt quite at ease with him. The man wore an armless jacket, and scary patterned scales on his arms were visible. His hair was pure white, and there was a mesmerizing quality about his eyes. He was fit and built like the character from an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie or a Johnny Bravo cartoon. He wore fit jeans which clung to his thighs and showed off his strength in them. Around his waist was a sword, though sheathed, which he rested one hand on as he spoke.

"Who are you? And just how did we get here?" Rademos said. There was no trace of panic in his voice. He was more like a child who waited patiently on his parents to explain an act he didn't understand. Curious, yeah, that's the word.

"Questions, questions, questions, I have many of those too. But let us start with the ones I can answer. My name is Zariel, and I am an angel. I just teleported you right from your bedroom to this place. And lest I forget, I stopped you from destroying all those many humans with your angel light."

Rademos chuckled wryly. "Sorry, did you just say I wanted to destroy my family and friends with angel light? I'm not an angel, sir. You must be mistaken."

"Really?" Zariel stepped closer, and before Rademos realized what had happened, he was already holding Rademos's chin in his hand and staring at him closely.

Rademos recoiled. "Don't touch me!"

"I wonder which of my siblings must have fathered or mothered you. Judging from the looks, I think it's one of my brothers. My half brother, to be precise."

Rademos watched Zariel closely as he paced back and forth in front of him before stopping. "It doesn't make any sense. I don't know your siblings. My parents are back home."

"Hmm, perhaps, we should fly over to Larefirus and figure this out together. Cinzel has a lot of explaining to do."

"Hey, hello," Rademos snapped his fingers in front of Zariel. "Haven't you heard a word I said? Okay, fine, I'll repeat myself. I'm not an angel, and I can't fly or teleport or whatever it is angels do. It's my birthday, and everyone is waiting for me. My mom, dad, sister, and friends, though I don't have friends but get the point, everyone is there for me, and it would be rude of me just to go missing."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to Larefirus? It's a much better place than this. Also, you'll get to learn more about your powers before you destroy your so-called Felfili family and friends."

Rademos paused to consider the request and the possibility of him being an angel. Everyone knew angels existed but what was the possibility that he was one? What did this strange fellow mean by being fathered by some estranged half-brother of his?

"I don't know if any of this is true, okay," Rademos said. "At this point, I am uncertain about everything happening today. And if you say that I am what you think I am, then I'm sure my mother has some explaining to do."

Zariel scoffed. "I guess you are right. Come on now, take my hands; let me take you back home."

Rademos eyed his hand suspiciously like it was a trap and Zariel rolled his eyes. "Do you prefer flying instead? I can pop my wings out and fly you home instead."

Rademos shook his head. "That's far too noticeable. I guess you can just teleport me back home, but I swear if you take me to Larefirus-"

"Enough talking," Zariel took Rademos's hands.

"Woah, Zariel, wait, I'm not-"

Whoosh!

Rademos felt himself land again, but this time his feet didn't cause him to stumble, and there was no mighty wind or white light. He opened his eyes and saw himself in his bedroom. His door had been broken, and he could hear his mother and sister calling out his name. He looked around and saw that his window was open. He would have to figure out a lie for now.

"Rademos," Mideora called again, and he sighed.

"Over here," Rademos said, taking a seat on his bed.

"How? Where? How?" Mideora struggled with which question to ask first as she entered the room. Just then, Lafreya walked inside too.

"Hello," Rademos said casually.

"Where did you go?" Lafreya said in a stern voice. "Why did you scream like someone that was about to die?"

"I was sitting by the window sill and toppled over mistakenly, which caused me to scream from shock. Then I climbed back to my bedroom using the backyard tree next to my window as leverage. I should have followed the front door, but I'm not particularly putting on clothes."

Indeed, Rademos was still wrapped around in his white towel. It was a miracle it didn't get loosed from all the whooshing around.

"Have you guys seen Rademos?" Rodney asked, putting his head through the open door. "Oh hey, where were you?"

"Hey, dad," Rademos said.

"He claimed he fell out the window," Lafreya offered. "Get dressed; we shouldn't have to wait for you another second."