Charming: Part I - 2. Chapter Two

Once upon a time there lived a prince.

He was viewed with great affection.

So handsome, so charming,

Right down to his very reflection.

He rescued a princess,

Who had bitten a poisoned fruit.

Reviving her with true love’s kiss,

And giving that evil witch the boot.

Then his son rescued another princess.

For a hundred years, was in a cursed sleep.

He kissed her, revived her.

It made the evil witch weep.

His grandson, just as charming,

Met his princess-to-be at a ball.

Then she escaped the evil witch,

With the wedding bell’s call.

On and on,

A new prince came to rescue the day.

To live happily ever after,

Much to the witch’s dismay.

However, in today’s world,

Fairies were squished and mermaids were captured like fish.

Will there ever be a happy ending?

One can only wish.

The fairest of them all,

Judged to their small feet.

And the charming princes at war,

A doom they were sure to meet.

And for one prince,

He only wanted the love of another man.

Was threatened by his father, the king.

Who was greater than.

And with lips as red as blood,

Body as cold as snow,

And soul as dark as ebony.

She once killed his brother and God did he woe.

He felt so alone, so unloved,

He believed there was no hope for him.

But once upon a time,

He will find love that all began with a whim.

***

Lucky sat there in the holding cell with his head bowed down and hands clasped tightly on his lap. Zev, despite arresting him, was generous enough to hand him some dry clothing that he could change into. They were apparently clothes that were from other inmates that did not get them back after changing into their jail uniforms. Regardless, they were dry, looked clean and he was happy to finally get out of that suit that was weighed down by the water it absorbed.

It was already a couple of hours since he called his father several times before giving up. The worst-case scenarios were flooding in his head, like maybe his father already knew what happened and was too enraged to come and bail his youngest son from incarceration. Or maybe he was too busy to even receive his calls and Lucky would most likely have to spend the night in a jail cell before his father started wondering where his son could be. Either scenario was horrible to continue to think about and all Lucky could do was lay down in a fetal position on the cold metal bench until he could call again and have his father come.

A knock on the door caused Lucky to quickly sit back up, not wanting to look so pathetic in that position. “Yes?”

“It has been a couple of hours now, and I was wondering if you were hungry,” Zev said, appearing through the barred door of Lucky’s cell.

His stomach growling in response, Lucky sighed and said, “Yeah…I am.”

Zev inserted a plastic tray of food through the door’s opening and Lucky stood up to accept it. The tray contained what any person would expect a jail would serve to its inmates. Though Lucky was used to dining on meals from five-star restaurants or at home from his father’s world-renowned chef, he was not picky about food in general and would eat anything if he was hungry enough. So, picking up his plastic fork, he began eating from his tray.

As Lucky ate, he could not help but notice Zev still standing by the barred door with his hands casually in his pockets, looking at him. “Um…Can I help you?”

“You’re one of those Prince Charming’s, aren’t you?” Zev asked, more of a statement than a question.

Chewing the last of his overcooked green beans, Lucky swallowed it and said, “Yeah. I’m one of them.”

Zev scoffed. “You do realize that a Prince Charming being arrested for dealing with a witch is quite ironic, don’t you think?”

“And as I said for the hundredth times, that wasn’t drugs in my pocket. It was glass made from mermaids’ tears that you somehow turned into dust,” Lucky exclaimed.

“Well, if that’s true, you should’ve known that anything a mermaid creates disintegrates when removed from water, kind of like how a thing dissolves when put in a liquid, but in the opposite way,” Zev noted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Crap…”

“What were you planning on doing with that glass anyways?” Zev asked, looking curious.

“Like I said, it’s none of your business,” Zev proclaimed, stabbing his fork into a poor excuse for a meatloaf.

“Well, regardless if the station finds out that dust wasn’t a drug, you’re still in trouble for doing an illegal transaction with a witch,” Zev stated.

Groaning, Lucky said, “Don’t remind me… Uh…is there any way that I could—?”

“You’re not going to persuade me to drop those charges by bribing me with your daddy’s money,” Zev stated firmly.

“No, I didn’t mean that!” Lucky said, offended by the assumption. “I just wanted to ask if I could use the restroom.”

“Oh… Of course, you can,” Zev said, taking out a ring of keys and unlocking the door. “Be quick though.”

Lucky, placing the half-eaten tray of food on the bench, stood up and exited his cell. He was then led to the restroom, but not without passing a few other jail cells containing other people who were also waiting for their bail to be paid.

Lucky would not be surprised if some of these others were here for similar reasons since any activities with witches were illegal, which was ridiculous since humans have profited from magic for years like growing your own miniature child with a barleycorn or growing your hair back with chemicals like that of magic beans, and for the men, growing a certain appendage with that product was worth the money.

But apparently there were limits to what was considered legal magic and now Lucky was being punished because of those ridiculous laws placed by politicians who believed that magic was of the Devil to the fullest degree.

Entering the restroom, Lucky walked to the closest urinal and when he unzipped his pants, he looked back at Zev who was standing a short distance away with his hands clasped in front of him.

“Uh…Can I have some privacy, please?” Lucky asked.

“I’m not taking my eyes off you. Now hurry up and take a piss,” Zev ordered.

Lucky sighed and turned to face the wall as he slowly did his business. He felt uncomfortable, more than he should have with Officer Zev’s eyes watching him. He could not explain why, but it felt like he was being watched by a predator, and the vulnerable position that he was currently in made him feel like easy prey to be attacked and eaten. And with that feeling, it took Lucky awhile to completely empty his bladder, the impatient taps of Zev’s laced boot making it worse.

After what felt like a couple of minutes, Lucky finally zipped up pants and allowed the urinal to automatically flush.

“Are you done?” Zev asked impatiently.

“Yeah, just let me wash my hands,” Lucky insisted as he walked to one of the sinks.

Zev grumbled. “Well, make it quick.”

Ignoring Zev’s growing impatience, Lucky took his time to thoroughly wash his hands, looking at the mirror to see Zev’s face that was becoming more creased by the second. And when he tried to activate the motion sensor of the hand dryer to finish the job, it did not respond. He moved his wet hands several times to try to turn the damn thing on, but no air came out.

With a growl, Zev snatched Lucky’s hands and placed them close to his mouth before blowing a big gust of air onto them and drying them in the process. Lucky took his hands back and held them like he was just bitten, surprised by Zev’s action, and more so by his ability to blow that much are out from his lungs like he was made of wind.

“How the hell did you do that?” Lucky asked, looking down at his hands that did not have a droplet of water left on them.

“Does it matter? Your hands are dry and you can go back to the holding cell. Now come on and quit stalling,” Zev said, pushing Lucky forward by the shoulder to the door.

“Okay, jeez.”

Both Lucky and Zev exited the restroom and just as they began walking back to his confinement area, a female police officer approached Zev from behind and said that officers needed an extra hand with an unruly inmate who was shouting at them after pissing through his cell’s door at the west wing of the station.

“Shit. All right, I’m on my way. Just let me take this guy back to his holding cell first,” Zev said.

“They need you now. Don’t worry about him, I’ll take him back.”

“All right, thanks.”

“No problem. Now hurry,” the officer said, grabbing Lucky by the crook of his arm before Zev jogged to where the inmate was causing trouble.

“Did he seriously do that?” Lucky asked the officer as they walked.

“Yes, especially after I told him he’ll be released early if he did so,” the officer said humorously.

Lucky raised an eyebrow to that odd statement and when he looked at the clean-faced woman, his eyes widened when he realized that she was his sister-in-law, Cindi.

“C—Cindi!” Lucky blurted.

“Hey, be quiet,” Cindi shushed. “We’ll talk after I get you out of here.”

Lucky was still confused about how Cindi knew he was at the police station in the first place, but he could not help but smile, grateful for her assistance regardless. And as Cindi and Lucky continued walking, other officers were running past them, the situation that she had created obviously intensifying and required the help of more officers. They soon managed to exit through a discreet door that led to an alleyway which they walked through before approaching Lucky’s car that was parked not far away.

“How did you get my car?” Lucky asked, amazed.

“Just get in,” Cindi said, winking at Lucky in response.

Lucky did as he told and entered his Steed through the passenger’s side while Cindi took the driver’s side. Starting the car, the engine neighed to life and after doing a U turn, Cindi drove through the alleyway and they were soon on the street with the windows down and the music beating through the car speakers.

“I believe that was a mission accomplished,” Cindi said as she stopped at red light.

Lucky turned to her and said, “Thank you, Cindi.”

“No problem. And if you’re worrying, I got your wet clothes from the evidence room and I also managed to expunge any records of you being at the station,” Cindi elaborated, pressing on the gas pedal once the stoplight turned green again.

“You’re a life-saver as always,” Lucky thanked her as he relaxed in his seat. “But I should’ve known you could fool everyone into thinking that you were a police officer like you fooled my brother into thinking you were a princess at that ball.”

“Hey, I didn’t fool him. I’m a princess now, am I not?”

Lucky chuckled. “Yes. Yes, you are.” Shifting in his seat, he then said, “My father would’ve killed me if he knew he had to bail me out… Where are we going now anyways?”

“Right now, I’m driving to Cheri’s place, so we can talk about you got the glass made of mermaids’ tears at that flooded stadium,” Cindi explained.

“Oh...”

“Is there a problem?” Cindi asked, still looking at the road.

“Well…I screwed up again and I wasn’t able to get that piece of glass.” Lucky huffed and continued by saying, “Things like that apparently disintegrate once removed from water and that police officer who you took me from thought it was some drug before arresting because of that.”

“And what about the soap that Cheri and I created for you?” Cindi asked, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“Don’t get me started on that. That mermaid who I gave the soap to was actually a witch with the lower body of an octopus who tried to take my body as his own. That’s when I almost drowned and got saved by Mr. Blowhard,” Lucky said, liking the nickname he just gave to Zev.

“Damn,” Cindi swore as she made a hard turn to an adjacent street. “I’m sorry, Lucky.”

Lucky waved his hand. “Don’t be. It was my own damn fault for being so gullible into thinking that I had everything prepared. And because of that I almost died if it wasn’t for that police officer who was at the stadium as well.”

“Huh?” Taking off her police hat and laying it on the dashboard, Cindi then said, “Why exactly was that police officer there?”

“Apparently he was just sweeping the place to make sure there wasn’t any illegal activities happening. What was strange was that he told me that he could hold his breath for long periods of time, and that was how he could’ve been at the flooded stadium,” Lucky explained.

“Really? He must be part of the police’s new K-9 unit then,” Cindi said as she turned the car to Cheri’s workplace.

“What are you talking about?” Lucky asked, confused.

“I’ll tell you later. Right now, we need to talk to Cheri about what just happened and if she knows any other ways to get what you need.”

“Oh. All right. But I doubt there’s anything else that could be done to get what I need,” Lucky said, feeling defeated.

“Hey, don’t give up hope, Lucky. I never did, even when I lived with that evil witch I called my stepmother,” Cindi assured, squeezing Lucky’s shoulder gently.

Lucky gave a weak smile. “Okay. Let’s go then.”

“You go ahead first. I need to change from this police uniform, so the people there don’t think I’m shaking the place down.”

Lucky nodded and got out of the car. Walking through the small parking lot that was packed with cars, he looked up and saw the bright neon sign that read Sleeping with Beauty which was the name of the brothel. Actually, a brothel was not the right word to describe the place where his other sister-in-law, Cheri, worked at as the head manager. The women there offered many things other than sex, like dancing, singing and sometimes just pleasant conversations and company that many men who go there find completely satisfactory. However, if a man wanted to take things to the bedroom, the women were more than capable of pleasing every desire as soon as the door closed.

Lucky would’ve enjoyed some of that as well if only the place provided company of the…opposite variety. Then again, he was not the person who would sleep with a stranger since being the hopeless romantic that he was, he was saving himself for the time when he met his true love. Yes, it sounded pathetic, but that was the reality that he wanted to live in and nothing was going to change that.

Entering the establishment, Lucky was greeted by a hostess who walked towards him with a bounce to her steps.

“Hello, sir! How may I help you tonight?”

“Um, hi. I’m here to see Cheri… I’m her brother-in-law,” Lucky clarified.

“Oh! You’re Lucky, aren’t you?” the hostess said with enthusiasm.

“Yes, I am.”

“Awesome! Well, I’ll let you go then. She’s in her office if you know the way.”

“I do. And thanks.”

“No problem, Prince Charming,” the hostess flirted, her hand brushing along Lucky’s upper arm.

Lucky simply smiled at the hostess and began walking towards Cheri’s office, passing by other women who looked at him with the same look as the hostess. He could deny what the women saw in him, with blond hair, blue eyes and a tall, muscular build, he was what someone would expect to look like if they were to describe what a Prince Charming appeared to be. However, he remained humble as he walked upstairs to the second floor and approached the office of Cheri.

Giving the office door a couple knocks, Lucky then heard Cheri’s voice telling him to enter. So, opening the door, he walked inside where Cheri was, by her desk and looking at the screen of her double screen computer monitor positioned on one side of the desk.

“Hey, Cheri,” Lucky greeted with a short wave of her hand.

“Hey, Lucky!” Cheri said, standing up from her desk chair and walking to Lucky to give him a hug. “So happy to see that you’re safe.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lucky said, hugging Cheri back.

“Did everything go according to plan?” Cheri asked, releasing him and taking a step back.

“Not really...not at all, actually,” Lucky said before sighing.

“Oh, God. What happened?” Cheri asked, gently taking Lucky’s hand and motioned him to sit down on the nearby chair.

Scratching his head, Lucky said, “It was a total disaster. I got the piece of glass from that mermaid, only to find out he was a witch who wanted to take my body so he could become human by using the soap you and Cindi made for me. I almost drowned because of it, got saved by a police officer who then arrested me, broke out with the help of Cindi disguised as a police officer and…here I am.”

Cheri’s eyes were wide, most likely from what Lucky just confessed to her, and then she said, “You at least got the glass, right?”

Lucky bowed his head and said, “No, it was just a trick by that octopus man to get me to give him what he wanted.”

“Yeah, you can say that he was got suctioned into a dire situation,” Cindi quipped as she entered the office wearing a casual shirt and jeans.

“No time for jokes, Cindi,” Cheri scolded. “This is serious. Our Lucky could’ve died.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Lucky assured. “It’s just that I screwed up again and now there’s no other way I can create what I need.”

A moment silence enveloped the room before Cindi said, “Cheri?”

Lucky looked at his other sister-in-law who looked both troubled and in thought and asked, “Is there anything else that I can do?”

Cheri sighed deeply before walking back to her desk chair and started typing away on her keyboard. “Possibly. Just give me a moment to pull something up.”

“Don’t worry. I’m in no hurry,” Lucky said.

“Are you sure about that?”

Lucky’s heart dropped as turned his head to see Zev. Mr. Blowhard, standing by the door’s threshold with crossed arms and looking at him with predatory eyes that had just spotted its prey.

Oh, shit… Just my luck.