Chapter:01:Strange Gift:

“Who are you?  Why can't I see your face? Are you scared that I might hurt you, is that why you're always looking away from me? Don't be scared, I'm a very cool kid, I won't harm you”  Mandy turned around roughly on the soft bed as her eyes remained shut.

 “Why do you want to see me so badly?”  The person asked with his back still turned to her.

“Well... I just want to be your friend.....”

“You'll get hurt if you become my friend”

  “It doesn't matter, I will protect you”

  It seems like she found herself in a dream world once again.

Soon after, a sweet smile flashed across her face, and tried to grab hold of something. However, her adventurous dream was interrupted by a loud knock, followed by a loud outcry of wishes.

  “Mandy, baby. Wake up, baby!”  

Mandy heard her mother's voice interrupting her sweet dreams and she couldn't help but frown at the ugly turnout of the event.

She pretended not to hear her mother as she made attempts to go back to sleep.

    “Happy birthday baby! ”  Her father shouted from the door and waited for her to open the door.

   “Why won't they let me sleep?” She frowned and stood up from the bed groggily. 

She dragged her groggy body on top of her wobbling and reluctantly opened the door. 

 As soon as the door was wide opened, they rushed into the room carrying different gifts and presents for her.

      “Happy birthday Mandy”

  “Happy birthday, honey! You've finally grown to become a beautiful woman”  Her father, Nicholas said with a smile plastered on his face.

It was a smile filled with pride and joy– He couldn't believe how fast his daughter has grown.

“My Mandy is so grown. I'm so proud of you, honey” Her mother, Elizabeth, drew closer to her and left a kiss on her forehead.

“Here, look what I brought you”  Elizabeth, quickly disengaged from the emotional outburst and push forward the gift she had brought for her.

 Mandy took it with her gaze still fixed on her mother. She smiled at her and wanted to leave the gift at the side of the bed to enable her to collect the rest of the gifts.

However, her parents urged her to open it.

“Go on, open it dear. Don't you want to see what it is?”  Her father asked.

  “Sure! I'm excited to see what mom has brought this time!”.

Her mother and father have always brought her different kinds of strange gifts whenever it was her birthday.

  She never understood why they would give her such. But, she always appreciated the gifts. However, she has always left with a turbulent spirit afterward.

On her 18th birthday, her mother gave her a golden image of the supposed devil. 

It was so bright and beautiful that it lit up a room, the moment it came into contact with her. She was confused by this incident and she never found the answer as to why the image of the devil was given to her and why it lit up upon coming in contact with her.

Elizabeth had come up with the explanation that she didn't want her to fear anything including the devil himself, and that was why she gave her the golden image of the devil.

Mandy believe what she said and asked any more questions about this golden image of the devil.

Whenever she looked at the golden of the devil, she was filled with a firm resolve to remain steadfast and never allow fear to overwhelm her no matter what happens.

However, she was even more shocked when she received another round of strange gifts on her 19th birthday.

This time, it was her father, who had given the gift to her.

Her father was away so busy with the empire that he hardly had time to spend with her. However, on this particular day, he cleared all of his schedules and even a meeting with the mayor just to give the gifts to her.

She was so excited about this particular gift that she didn't waste much time before tearing it open.

As soon as she tore open the gift, her hands were left hanging in the air as a shock was soon written on her face.

 She couldn't believe what she was seeing. 

How could anyone cancel such meetings just to hand over a gift like this one?

“Dad? Are you sure this is for me?”  Mandy asked with drooping eyes upon seeing the content of the wrapped package.

“Y- yes, baby. This is for you. Do you like it?” Nicholas asked. Even though, he was well aware of the reason why she was posing questions to him.

He decided to dodge the questions and focus on making her happy. Rather than dwell in fear of the unknown.

Mandy drooped her fragile eyes and looked at the gifts in her hand with uncertainty.

“I like it so much, da da. Thank you”  She finally let out a toothy smile and said.

Nicholas heaved a sigh of relief and drew closer to the obviously shock-stricken girl. He pulled her into his embrace and left a kiss on her forehead.

  “I'm glad you like them. Be sure to keep them safe”  

Those were the last words he said before stepping out of her room that day.

 Mandy was left in awe gazing at the newly received gifts–She couldn't fathom exactly what these gifts meant. But, one thing she was sure of was the fact that they weren't just gifts.

 She took the package to the closet and was about to keep them in her drawer. However, the position and arrangements of the gifts caught her eyes, and stood still gawking at them with curiosity.

In the wrapped box, were several strange and rare apples.

They were three apples in three different colors– The first one was a deep black color; Mandy has never seen such heavenly dark apples in her entire life and she never thought that she would ever see one either.

She tried reaching out her hand to touch them but she felt a sudden wave of strange cold engulfing her, so she retracted her outstretched hand.

In the middle of the box, was a pure white apple. It was so pure that it looked like it was delivered from the heavens– it was totally devoid of every impurity of the world. However, it there was a slight scar on the side of the white apple, which caught her eyes– the scar was visible enough for her to see. 

She wondered why such a beautiful apple would be left with such an ugly scar.

 She even felt bad for the poor little thing.

She was so sad about the scar left on her skin of the white that she wanted to reach out her hand and touch it. However, just as she was to touch it, there was a sudden spark of force, and her hand was forcefully pulled back.

Looking past the white apple, her eyes fell on the third apple, which was standing right behind the white apple.

It was red in color and the bright red colored apple looked so bloody that anyone would actually mistake it for actual blood.

Mandy was even more confused at this point, how could an apple be so red? 

Does it contain blood? Why was it standing right behind the white apple? 

 Mandy had so many questions to ask, but she didn't have the guts to ask her dad any more questions after seeing the smile on his face.

She simply ignored the colors of the apple and kept them in the haven she had created for them– I mean each strange gift she has received in the past couple of years.

Mandy was so lost in thought that she forgot that she was so unwrapped her new birthday present.

  

A loud cough from her father jerked her back to reality.

   

  “Uh! Mandy baby, we are waiting. Open your gifts and have a look already ”  Nicholas urged with a smile on his face, and Mandy quickly tore open the gift with haste.

After that, she brought out the content of the box and she was once again shocked to the marrow by the gift she was presented with.

  She was lost in a daze, and she opened her mouth to say a few words but she couldn't find the voice to say anything. Instead, she remained dumbstruck with her mouth wide open.

“Baby, I know how much you are fond of Geography and all that stuff, so I decided to get you a sand glass timer,” Elizabeth said with a smile. Then, she drew closer to hug Mandy and clean off the dirt on her head as she continues to wear a look of admiration on her face.

  Mandy simply stood still with her eyes transfixed on the sand glass time in her hand. She was more confused at this point.

I mean no parent gets their daughter strange gifts on their birthday but Mandy's parents do.

The thoughts of her previous looped into her mind and she was going to wander off again when the calm, sweet voice of her dad brought her out of her dad at once.

“Princess, don't you want to see what I got for you for your 20th birthday?” He asked rhetorically, while he sneakily hides the gift behind his back.

 “Of course, I want to see it! Just hope you brought something different this time”  She rolled her eyes and waited for him to present his gifts to her.

“Of course. I brought something different and special for my little princess”  He bent over and finally brought out the supposed gift.

“what? The golden catcus flower?” Mandy exclaimed with her eyes wide open in disbelief.

 She covered it with one of her palms and took quick steps to where her father is standing.

She was so amazed at the sight of the rare golden Cactus flower that she forgot her etiquette immediately–She leaped for joy in front of everyone including the servant and her handmaiden.

 She kept jumping around even before she could touch the flowers that she had always longed for.

“Dad! dad, where and how did you get your hands on them? They are so beautiful ”  Mandy said as she struggled to get her breath. She looked at the flowers in her hands with great admiration.

She was so happy that she couldn't even express how happy she was in words–It was beyond explanation.

Everyone in the room wondered why a girl of her status would be so in love with such flowers.

Usually, girls fall in love with the rose, jasmine, lily, and other worthy mention flowers.

Who on earth likes Catcus? I'm sure it's no one other than Madison, right?

Mandy never likes any flowers while growing up, she has always insisted on having golden catcus flowers. But, it was a very rare species of the catcus flower, so she was never opportune to have them, and here they are, finally in her warm embrace.

“Easy princess there are many thorns on it, you might hurt yourself,” Her father said and tried to show the thorn to her, but she won't give in.

She simply closed her eyes and bask in the joy of having golden catcus in her embrace.

After watching her for a while, her parents think it was time to go out and give her some privacy.

“Princess, come down for breakfast after taking a bath. We have a party to plan”  Elizabeth announced and waited for a response.

“Sure mom!”  She exclaimed.

 Elizabeth turned to leave the room. However, she stopped halfway and looked at Alana. Who was about to trail behind them?

“Lana, stay back and get Mandy to get ready ” She instructed and immediately turned to leave with her long gown swaying after her.

  She looked like royalty in her long, blue gown with a silver stripe around the gown.

   

Soon after, only Mandy and Lana were left in the room.

Mandy was still lost in her daze and Lana wasn't having any of it. So, she pulled her to the bed with force, and Mandy was forced to short live her trance.