The Kingdom of Guhya

CHAPTER 6

Damon's Standpoint

Chatters of travelers going back and forth, clutching their carry-on bags, fill the airport. Holding our luggage, we pave our way to the nearby seats where we are requested to wait. Since only four seats are available at the front, I opt to take a seat behind Ethan. Ethan, who happens to be sitting next to Beauty, glances at me.

"Do you want to trade seats, bro?" He offers with a meaningful smirk.

"I'm fine," I reply.

"Are you sure?" Ethan teases.

I watch Beauty as she takes out her phone. With a gentle swipe of her delicate finger, she unlocks the device. While she immerses herself in it, I enjoy watching her. Countless times, her expression shifts from delight to curiosity. Humming a soft melody, she runs her fingers through her hair and the aroma of her shampoo reaches my nose, creating a delightful and refreshing scent that instantly perks up my spirit.

After half an hour, I decided to go to the bathroom. I stand up and set my carry-on bag on the seat. Quinn turns his face to me.

"Where are you going?" Quinn asks.

"Bathroom. Could you please watch for my things?" I request.

Quinn nods his head with assurance. I make my way to the men's bathroom and do my toilet routines. As I finish, I instantly set foot out of the bathroom.

A nervous girl with a Polaroid camera in her left hand catches my attention as she leans against the wall, looking around as if waiting for someone. She seems a little surprised when our eyes meet. Even confused as I am, I decide to walk past her, but she swiftly blocks and stops me.

I observe her. Her slender left fingers are expertly holding her Polaroid camera as if it has been her life company. She seems an inch taller than Beauty. Her porcelain complexion is adorned with a soft and gentle blush around her round cheeks. Her beautiful, sweet doe eyes are complemented by her long, dark lashes, thin nose, and naturally rosy lips. Her blonde hair is perfectly styled, giving an impression of her meticulousness. She gave me hesitant gazes making me smile a bit. Her gestures remind me of the first moment I saw Beauty – a little awkward and shy.

"Anything I can help you with, Miss?" I ask with formality.

Instead of answering, she hands me four pieces of Polaroid.

I gaze at her with a perplexed expression but eventually accept it. I browse through it and find myself astounded by how ethereal Beauty looks in those stolen Polaroid snaps. My breathing momentarily stops in the last picture. It shows me staring at Beauty from the side as she glides her fingers through her hair. The shot captivates me with its beauty and terrifies me so bad.

"What are these?" I ask innocently, trying to silence the loud beating of my heart.

She opens her mouth while searching for the right words to say. When she cannot, she opens her purse and explores it.

While rummaging through her things, she says, "I take pictures of people everywhere and give it to them for free."

Finally, she finds her phone and scrolls through it.

"I am not a stalker, I have a YouTube channel," she adds.

When she finds her phone, she shows me her screen. It is a YouTube channel with quite a lot of reels of her taking Polaroid shots of random people. After showing it, she carefully puts her phone back in her purse.

"My name is Xhyee," she introduces herself and offers her hand hesitantly.

"Damon," I respond as I grab to shake her hand.

"You can keep those," she says, referring to the Polaroids.

"I think…you're giving it to the wrong person," I say as I give it back to her.

"I don't think so," she says with an unintentional sound of excitement. Realizing it, a momentary awkward silence reigned between us with my hands still in the air because she refused to accept it back.

"I think you got it wrong, Miss," I hand it closer to her, but her wristwatch unexpectedly beeps, catching her attention.

"I have to go. Thank you for your time, Damon," she gently says and sprints away.

I take a deep breath and gaze at the snapshots. I have no choice but to put it in my pocket and return to the waiting area. I see the boys standing and holding their luggage while Beauty is on the side, looking like she is not in her best mood.

"What took you so long?" Ethan asks as I approach them. I look at him and pick up my carry-on bag and luggage. Hassle as it is, we all think this is better than having assistants who report everything to our parents like spies.

We start navigating our way to the snake-like line of passengers. We go through different security checkpoints and remove our jackets and shoes for inspections. As we wait for Beauty and Quinn who are behind, I try to talk to Ethan.

"She looks like she's going to beat anyone who messes with her today," I say, referring to Beauty. Ethan giggles.

"We saw Kate and her two friends earlier. It turns out we are on the same flight," Ethan explains.

"What an unlucky day," I remark.

After the long process, we finally boarded the plane. Beside me is Beauty, who has been silent since earlier, lost in her thoughts. Meanwhile, Ethan and Quinn settled in the seats behind us, occupied in their conversations while Lorde sat behind them. The aircraft slowly taxis along the runway, gaining speed with each passing moment. The acceleration presses us back into our seats, and with a gentle lift, the plane soars into the sky. Later on, Beauty closes her eyes in relaxation.

For the past few days, she has appeared somewhat agitated. Everything does not make sense to me. Lorde did not attack us that night. He was running away by then, which means putting a box as a trap is complete nonsense. It could be a prank, but Lorde does not do pranks. We never discussed the incident, but everyone, especially Beauty, has been silently bothered. I heard her confront Lorde the following day.