the first warning

The first I knew of it was when I was rudely awakened from slumber. Mother stared caringly, fearfully into my face, with the light of the candle she held glowing and lighting up the tears on her face with a myraid of colours.

"Child, we must flee".

It was ridiculous. It wasn't school-time yet, I hadn't hit the snooze button thrice over, my homework still lay undone (that lazy maid!), and yet, mother attempted to drag me out of my blissful sanctuary. I pulled my consciousness out of slumber long enough to give her the vampire-fang face.

But it was unusual. A flurry of activity dominated our mansion, and the servants were running everywhere and collecting everything. It seemed as if we were moving house. Or as if the house was going to move away. After all, I'd resided in this area, this land, for the entirety of my life; the notion of moving away on a permanent basis was utterly alien to me.

Mother succeeded, finally, as I mused to myself (with my vampiric expression still tuned onto her), and we were both sent sprawling to the ground. My head connected with the parquet flooring, and I felt refreshed. And that's when I looked out the window.

Policemen were at the gate of our mansion, and banging it down by the looks of it. The dogs howled themselves reckless. Two servants busted into my room and lifted my entire person, and I was so shocked I could hardly understand the information my senses transmitted to my brain. Of course, high class members with the necessary intellect could make sense of any situation, and I became aware of a few facts:

1. We were leaving our residence, our jewelry, our treasures, our family history. This was a fact I was cognizant of as we entered the secret tunnel which led directly out of the city.
2. It was a planned escape. I saw my double enter my room, with a semi-fatalistic expression splashed upon his too-slim face. Seeing your doppelganger makes you feel weird.
3. We might not be coming back. Items of greatest importance were being taken... ... not inclusive of dearest Bear Bear.

Naturally, this all came as a gargantuan shock to my very high self, and if not for my carefully cultured upbringing, I might have been compelled to react violently. As it was, I kept my cool, and informed those bearing my person that they had to be gentler and were to provide sustenance within the hour.

Whence might we be bound?

-Hassir Barafat, palestinian elite youth