Stones

Part 8

“Good morning, beautiful!” he said, enthusiastically.
“Uh, good morning, handsome...” I replied casually. For some reason, I wasn’t nervous about being all cutsie with him. I guess I just felt comfortable around him. “Where’d you get all this food?”
“Fridge.” He pointed across the room to a small, old-looking fridge. “All this stuff was still good... I’d say someone was here pretty recently.”
“We should leave pretty soon, then” I was starting to panic. It’s not like I didn’t have a right to be nervous; I’d just been killed twice and gassed in the Underworld by the two people I never would’ve suspected. I had reasons to be paranoid.
“Uh,” He seemed reluctant, as if he was gonna miss this place. “Yeah I guess you’re right. We don’t want any uninvited guests...”
“Well, WE are the ones intruding.” I reasoned. “And I don’t wanna be arrested for breaking and entering.” He laughed and rolled his eyes at me.
“Yeah... Wouldn’t wanna go to jail... Not like there are vampires and angels of darkness following you trying to bring you to the underworld...!!!” He said sarcastically. We ate our bacon and cleaned up the cabin, being sure not to leave any evidence of our visit. I found a cute pair of shoes that matched my dress, and we left. By noon, we were out of the woods and in a quaint little cafe. We were pigging out on coffee and donuts, waiting for Kai to show up. After the whole Underworld drama, he’d decided to switch teams and help me hide from Gale. When Israel started making rude comments and jokes about Gabe and Victoria, I focused even harder on the strawberry frosting on my donut. I didn’t want to think about THEM. I just wanted to be happy, and enjoy my time with Israel. Who cares if I was just passing the time while I waited for a sorcerer to help save me from being killed in the Underworld for a third time?! I was gonna be happy. The sun was shining through the dirty glass window, and I was exhausted again. I tuned out, and fell into some kind of trance. I was listening to people’s thoughts!
I could hear- er, sense- a teenage waitress thinking, this is soooo not worth $12 an hour... And a large man with an equally large mustache, was thinking, My nose itches. I wonder when my wife will get out of jail... Which store was it that she robbed? Ah well doesn’t matter. Hearing this, I completely cracked up. Still partially in my trance, I thought, Wow dude. You’re a loser! His expression darkened, as if I’d said it out loud. Was it possible that I DID say it out loud?! I looked at him hard. You need a mustache-cut, man. He put his hand up to his bushy mustache. Is it that bad? he thought to himself. A lightbulb went off in my head, as I realized I was telepathic! I snapped out of my trance when Israel snapped his fingers in my face.
“Yo! Alex!” he said, trying to get my attention. “You okay?! Hello! Answer me, please... Alex?”
“What?” I blinked. “Oh. Sorry. Just zoned out for a sec...”
“No kidding...” he mumbled under his breath.
“Did you, um, know that I’m like telepathic?!”
“What?! Seriously?! Awesome!!!” He said excitedly. “I wish I had cool powers like that...”
“What exactly ARE your powers?” I inquired.
“Hmm...” he replied. “Super strength, wolfiness, and, um, a very powerful nose...” He sniffed the air. “I can smell EVERYTHING. What humans don’t know is that everyone, everything, has it’s own unique smell.” He leaned over and sniffed my hair. “And YOUR smell is by far my favorite.” I was sure whether to be flattered, offended, or freaked out by this odd gesture.
“Uh, thanks.” I managed to say. Just then, Kai walked in. He was wearing black dress pants, a light blue button-up shirt, and shiny black shoes. To make the outfit complete (completely ridiculous if you ask me), he had a pink and green striped tie. He looked more like a circus clown than a powerful sorcerer. I decided that later I would have to give him some fashion tips. The second he spotted us, he ran toward us as fast as he could. In the process, he knocked over seven waitresses, getting coffee and sandwiches all over the place. Embarrassed, he snapped his fingers and mumbled something quietly. Instantly, the trays returned to the waitress’ hands, and all the spills had disappeared. Everyone continued as if nothing had happened.
“Sorry about that.” He apologized, as he sat down across from Israel and I. “I was just so excited to see you... Wow, you look good.” I had a feeling he was talking to me.
“Uh, thanks.” I answered nervously. I scooted a little closer to Israel, trying to signal to Kai to back off.
“Um, Alex,” He grinned. “Can I talk to you alone.” He winked at me, and mouthed the words: I love you. Panicking, I focused all of my attention into nothingness, until I knew I was connecting with his brain. I didn’t quite know how, but I could just tell. You don’t need to talk to Alex alone. I thought. Now sit down, shut up, and get down to business. To my surprise, he did.
“So Kai,” Israel offered. “What do we need to do to prepare for the war?”
“What war?” I asked bluntly. Then I remembered what the book had said. There was going to be a rebellion against the Dark Lord and a war would be fought. If the dark side wins, the Earth we return to a state of chaos. If the good side wins, the spell Gale cast upon his most loyal, evil subjects and servants will be broken, and all things good and pure will once again be dominant. “Oh. That war.”
“Well,” Kai paused thoughtfully. Or maybe it was for dramatic effect. “We should start by taking Alex to our headquarters. You’ve been there... Wait, no you haven’t! You used to work for the dark side!” He gave Israel a smug look. I almost punched him.
“Right.” Israel ignored Kai’s vicious glare. “That’s a good place to start.” After a quick lunch and a few minutes of joking around, we hitched a ride to the nearest airport. I was too busy reading people’s thoughts to pay attention to the signs that told me where my plane was heading. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped off the plane in southern California. All of my good and bad childhood memories came flooding back; I nearly collapsed! I was only a few steps out of the airport when I saw a girl I recognized, and I hoped wouldn’t recognize me: Trinity! Somehow, I’d forgotten that the airport was right by the mall. I tried to hide behind the guys, but she saw me anyway.
“ALEX?!?! Is that you?!” She screamed, and ran up to me. “Where have you BEEN?!?! You like, disappeared!”
“Long story...” I said, trying to push her away. “Tell you another time. Right now, I gotta go somewhere...” I looked ahead and saw that Israel and Kai hadn’t even noticed I was missing yet.
“That’s like NOT fair.” Trinity complained. “You disappear for like two months, and you won’t even give me an explanation?!”
“Nope,” I replied, blatantly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to catch up to my boyfriend and, um, other friend, so we can save the world.” Seeing the doubtful, concerned look on her face, I added, “Don’t judge me!” I took off as fast as I could, dragging Israel and Kai along with me. Once I was sure I’d lost Trinity, I stopped to let the boys breathe. I flipped back my hair, and wiped the sweat off my face.
“Where’d you get that scar?” Kai asked.
“Huh?” I asked, very confused. “Oh, that scar... I had a dream where I fought this clan of ninjas, and I woke up with this scar.Then it disappeared... But last night... I had another dream about a war, and here’s the scar again!”
“Impossible!” He gasped. “Unless... Unless you’re... No way.” He shook his head.
“Unless I’m what?!?! TELL ME!!!”
“As you probably know, Danika is a fairy; she rules over good angels, fairies, mermaids, nymphs, and all the other good creatures.  And Gale is a sorcerer. Sorcerers are the only creatures that can be physically altered through their dreams... But we already detected that you’re a fairy... And there’s only ever been one recorded child of a fairy and a sorcerer... About 16 years ago. How old are you, Alex?”
“16...” No way, was he saying what I thought he was saying?!
“I think you may be the child of Danika and Gale.... Thanks to another one of Gale’s love spells. Fortunately, Danika’s strong will eventually broke the spell. But that wasn’t until after, um, YOU were born.”
“Alex,” Israel interrupted. “We need to get out of here.... I smell darkness. Vampire. And a dark angel. Both bloodthirsty.” We followed Israel through dozens of dark allies, and trying to avoid attention from the Press. After all, I was famous. We probably would’ve made it all the way to wherever we were headed by midnight, if we hadn’t run into trouble. In the middle of an abandoned street, were the bloody remains of a 16-year-old girl. I screamed, and then screamed again when I recognized who it was: Trinity. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing... It was worse than what had happened to Amanda. Trinity’s head was on one side of the street, her torso and designer blouse were on the other, and the rest of her was strewn in between. What messed up, sick, creature was capable of doing something this awful?!?! Almost instantly, I thought, Gabe and Victoria. I stared blankly at my old bestie’s corpse, and then took off running. Somehow, I was running at such an incredible speed that I zoomed past cars on the highway. I didn’t know where I was going, I just needed to get away.
I found myself in the beautiful Maine woods a few minutes later. I climbed skillfully into a tree and fell asleep. I’d lost my new shoes running at light-speed, so my feet got cold from the November wind. I had a wonderful dream: I was in a big rose-pink room, with Danika, Israel, and a bunch of other, attractive looking guys. I was wearing a plain pink dress, no shoes, and no makeup. Even in my dreams, I could read minds. Several of the guys, including Israel, were thinking, Oh wow... Doesn’t she just radiate power and beauty?! I smiled shyly at each one and asked Danika what was going on, where I was. She told me I was in her headquarters, and they were getting me ready for battle. She informed me of my OTHER powers: 1) Charmspeak, 2) The ability to turn anything pink--my favorite-- 3) Mind. Freaking. Control!!! How awesome is that?!?! Apparently, it takes a lot of focus and energy to use certain powers. I danced around joyfully while some other fairies put flowers in my hair. I sat on Israel’s lap and told him about how excited I was.
I woke up when something bit my toes. I was worried at first that it might be a vampire or werewolf or something terrible like that, but it was just a hungry bird. Once I was awake enough to see clearly, I noticed I was wearing the pink dress from my dream, and my hair was decorated with flowers. I heard little giggles around me, and I thought maybe I was still dreaming. I closed my eyes and opened them again, but the giggling continued. Confused, I slid out of the tree and onto the forest floor, and looked for anything that could be making that noise. It reminded me of something my private tutor had told me about when we were discussing mythology... Nymphs! Just as I remember that, they appeared. They looked like 7-year-old little girls, all wearing matching green dresses, barefoot. They all giggled more and more when they saw my confuzzled face. But they all stopped and became quiet when the tallest one (most likely the leader) raised her hand into the air and whistled.
“Who are you?!” She inquired.
“Um, uh, Alexandria Blake.” I tried to smile my best movie-star smile.
“What are you?” Squeaked the smallest one.
“I’m not entirely sure...” I answered truthfully. “It’s kinda complicated.”
“Who are your parents?” The tall one asked, starting to seem irritated.
“Gale and Danika. THE Gale and Danika.” Everyone was silent again. Part of me knew that something bad was gonna happen, but the rest of me forced me to ignore it. I fidgeted with my hair, and waited for one of the little creatures to break the silence. None of them did. In fact, they started slowly backing away. Had I scared them? What did my parentage have to do with THEM? It barely affected ME! They were examining me like a piece of meat, or a dangerous science experiment. Suddenly, they turned and ran, their petite little faces filled with shock and horror. I was devastated. I felt like a freak of nature, which, by the way, is NOT a good feeling. I just scared away some of the least responsible, most troublesome creatures in the world. That’s just sad.
Having nothing else to do, I bolted to the place I figured Israel would wait for me: The mall, back in California. You don’t have to know me very well to know I like shopping! Sure enough, I found him sleeping on a bench in front of the Coach store. I took a look at the purses on sale before waking him up. I bought him a coffee and told him about my brief encounter with the Nymphs. He didn’t seem surprised at all. He said that Nymphs are madly in love with nature, so the woods are a perfect hideout for them. But he didn’t say anything about why they ran away when they heard about my biological parents. I mean, I get that they’re the two most powerful creatures on Earth, but what’d that have to do with me?! I wasn’t officially working for either of them. Even if I was, it would be for Danika, and I’m guessing that they worked for Danika, too. When I asked Israel about it, he changed the subject.
“We need to get you to a safe place, Alex.” He insisted. “Hide you from the war.”
“Hide me?” I asked suspiciously. “But I thought I was supposed to fight...”
“Uh, no.”
“Why not? The book said I was supposed to pick a side and fight! I’m supposed to help determine the fate of the planet!”
“NO.” He glared at me. “You’re a GIRL. Girls don’t win battles.”
“Excuse me?” I shrieked. “You’re such a... Pig!” I stormed off again, for a final time. I ran again. I had a feeling that I was headed into a dangerous trap, but once again, I didn’t care. I kept on running as my pedicured little feet could carry me. The next thing I knew, I was in the air, being carried by Gabe’s sharp claws, and screaming. I told him to put me down, but he refused. He was taking me back to the Underworld to be held prisoner, lure Danika into a deathtrap, and be killed a final time.
“Gabe...” I pleaded. “Please don’t do this. You’re better than this. I don’t know why I trusted you or Victoria...” Silence.
“Shut. Up.” He gritted his teeth.
“Is it fun? Betraying your friends. Killing innocent people. Is it worth it, Gabe?” More silence. I thought for a second he was going to strangle me right then and there.
“No.” That was all he said, before we dropped down to the ground. “It’s not worth it. Help me. And help me help Victoria.” We were in another forest. He motioned towards an old oak tree, and I slowly walked over to it. On the other side was a beautiful girl, crying hideous tears. Victoria was a total emotional wreck. I plopped down beside her, and let her cry on my shoulder. I was devastated to see her so upset. I could hear Gabe crying and swearing thirty feet away.
“Victoria,” I whispered. “What’s wrong?” She wiped away tears, and gave me a look. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t hatred. It was sympathy.
“Me.” She answered. “I’m all wrong. And Gabe... He’s seriously messed up, too. We’re both freaks of nature.” I shook my head. “Alex, that’s why we’re perfect for eachother. I hope you understand.”
“Victoria, Victoria, Victoria....” I tried to fake a smile, despite all the pain I was feeling inside. “I’m totally over the fact that you stole my boyfriend.” I lied. “And I understand why you had to betray me. But why do you keep doing this? Can’t you just, like, quit?”
“No, it’s not that easy.”
“I know, I know. You’re doing it for your special little ‘prize’” I rolled my eyes and stood up. “Whatever. I’m sick of this crap.”
“Stop, please! I do it because of the deal I made with Gale, personally.” She looked at the ground, clearly ashamed. “A long, LONG, time ago, when I made my decision of which team to work for, Gale persuaded me. He said I could not only have eternal life, but I could have the one thing I’d wanted since the day I first visited the Underworld: Gabe. He made Gabe love me in exchange for capturing you, Alex.”
“You waited thousands of years for one guy?” I asked, shocked.
“Yes. But now I realize that he only loves me because of the spell... It hurts.”
“Not true.” Gabe said. He’d been standing behind us unnoticed for a while. “Gale tried to put the spell on me, but I told him that I loved you anyway. And you worked hard for it, Victoria.” Finally, Victoria’s sad expression faded into a happy one, and she stood up to hug Gabe, her loyal, loving boyfriend. I crumbled on the inside. I was happy for them... At least that’s what I told myself.
“So, guys,” I purposely interrupted. “What are we gonna do about this MAJOR dilemma? Cause I’m sooo not gonna let you kill me!”
“We turn against Gale,” Offered Gabe. “It takes guts, but I think we can do it. For our friend, Alex.”
“Yeah,” agreed Victoria. “For Alex.” There was a standard group hug, and then we were back in the air. Danika’s palace was beautiful, with white stone columns lining the path to the entrance. It was made up of 3 HUGE domes, purple, green, and pink. My dream home! The door was made completely of solid gold. Amazing. The doors swung open when we reached the top of the steps. Hesitantly, I trudged into the Great Hall. A friendly Nymph recognized me (or my smell... I hadn’t showered in days, and I’d been hanging out with a werewolf and vampire...) and guided me to Danika’s main office. She was sitting a magnificent throne, complete with diamonds and emeralds... Almost as fancy as my dad’s office in San Francisco. She was wearing an elegant gown, made from pure green silk, and her shoulder-length blond hair and mysterious gray eyes almost shone with beauty. I could see the envy in Victoria’s aura... Aura? I was starting to see emotions and colors around everyone’s heads.
“Alex!” Danika greeted me, kindly. “I see you’re starting to get your full powers!” She said this like it was a good thing.
“Yeah,” I answered bravely. “Thanks so much, MOM. Thanks for being there for me, keeping me safe...” I continued with the rude, sarcastic comments. I didn’t stop until the majestic, fearless Princess of Purity burst into tears.
“Sweetheart...” She apologized. “I’m so sorry I was never there for you. But I have a duty to the world, I can’t give that up just for... Even for my only daughter. I hope you at least TRY to understand.”
“Oh, I understand. But couldn’t you have at least told me sooner that I was adopted? Or that I was vampire bait? Or that I was a FAIRY?!?!?!” I screamed with pure anger and frustration.
“Alex!” Shouted Gabe. “Chill!” Just then, a tall, handsome boy who looked to be about my age, walked into the room, and bowed down to Danika. He had short, dark hair, and was wearing plain old jeans and a purple tee shirt. Normally, I would’ve laughed at his lack of fashion in such a regal place. But he was just too cute... It would’ve been unfair to judge him.
“Ah, Colin.” Danika acknowledged him as kindly as ever. “This is Alex.” He took one look at me, and he smiled his totally charming smile.
“Nice to meet you, Alex.” He said nonchalantly. He bowed down to me as if I were royalty. His aura was glowing pink.
“Nice to meet YOU, Colin.” I winked at him. He winked back and then turned his attention back to Danika.
“Your Highness,” he said. “We have only days left until battle. Seriously, you need to assign missions either tonight or tomorrow.”
“Yes, Colin, I’m perfectly aware of our time limit.” Danika insisted, seeming to be slightly irritated. “I’ll see if I can get to it tomorrow. But for now, can you please show Alex and her friends to their rooms?”
“But of course, your majesty.” He bowed a final time and guided us to a ginormous hallway with diamond chandeliers. First stop was Gabe’s room. It was the size of his house back in New York, and king-sized bed, plasma screen T.V., and an Xbox Live with every game you could imagine. To make the room even more perfect, there was a mini-fridge, and a HUGE window overlooking the ocean. Gabe shrugged and smiled, trying not to show how utterly impressed he was. Next was Victoria’s room. It was equally HUGE, if not bigger. There was a king-sized bed, and it was all made up with pink and blue pillows and sheets. Her plasma T.V. came with Netflix. You can’t go wrong with Netflix! Her mini-fridge was filled with bottle of a thick, red liquid... I had an eerie feeling that it was blood. Instead of a great view of the ocean, Victoria’s room had a closet full of goth dresses and accessories. I never really pictured her as a goth, until she tried on one of the outfits: A short black dress, spider-web design tights, clunky motorcycle boots, and a leather jacket with a skull on the back. It looked more goth than it sounds. I could tell Gabe thought it looked good, too.
Finally, we got to my room. The other two were busy entertaining themselves with the cool stuff Danika gave them, so it was just me and Colin. My room was bigger than the others, with a red and purple bed. there were detailed painting of beautiful fairies covering the walls, but no T.V.. Instead, there was a huge bookshelf, filled with books about war and mythology and ancient folklore. But, luckily, it did come with a closet! Some of the dresses were much too medieval-timey for me, but some of them were cute. I plopped down on my bed, exhausted. I motioned for Colin to come sit with me.
“So,” he grinned. “How do you like it here?”
“It’s nice.” I sighed. “But not as cool as the other rooms...”
“Yeah Danika’s so unfair like that.”
“She seems so nice...” Really, she did. She was after all the Princess of Purity.
“Unless you get on her bad side.” He laughed. There was a moment of silence, and we looked into each other’s eyes.
“Wanna make out?!” We said simultaneously. So we did. For like twenty minutes. Then, he announced that his break was over, and Danika would fire him if he didn’t report back to her in time. I sighed, but was sure to ask where his room was, so I could visit him later. Then, I went to talk to Victoria. She was sitting in bed, eating potato chips, drinking the dark red liquid, and watching Storage Wars. I knocked on the door and let myself in.
“Wathup?!” she asked, her mouth full of chips.
“Well,” I tried to hide my guilty smile. “Just made out with Colin. You know, that servant of Danika dude. And I’m meeting him later. We’re going for a walk in the magical garden out back.”  She gave me a jealous look.
“Mind if Gabe and I come, too?”
“Hmm,” I said. “I don’t see why not. Meet me in the hall about 9-ish. Kay?”
“Sounds good.” She got back to eating and watch T.V., so I moved on to the next room. Gabe was sitting on the floor, staring at the wall. I poked him in the back, just to make sure he was awake, and not in some kind of trance. He jumped up, spun around, and skillfully wrapped his arm around my throat, starting to choke me to death. When he realized it was just me, he calmed down and let go.
“Jeez,” he growled. “You scared me!”
“Sorry.” I looked at the ground in mock-shame.
“It’s fine. So, what do you need?” He asked urgently.
“Nothing. I just came to talk to you.” I shrugged and plopped down on his bed.
“Well,” He said grumpily. “Then let’s talk. We’re in a palace in who-knows-where, hiding from the Dark Lord in his arch-enemies’ headquarters. And you escaped ALL his traps and punishments. And Victoria and Israel and Kai and me, we’re all risking our lives for you. So let’s talk.”
“You’re NOT just risking your lives for ME. The fate of the whole world depends on your decision.” I knew that I wasn’t the main reason they were doing this.
“But Alex,” he sighed. “We don’t care about the whole world. We care about each other. We care about you. If Gale would just agree to let you live...”
“NO. I absolutely REFUSE to associate with evil sorcerers.” I clenched my fists.  
“What about Kai?”
“Kai’s not evil anymore.”
“He could be.”
“He’s not.”
“What’s Victoria doing?” He FINALLY changed the subject.
“Getting ready for you guys’ date tonight.” I closed my eyes and held back the jealous glare I very much wanted to give him.
“What date?” He asked. I had forgotten to tell him about it!
“Our double-date. Me and Colin, you and Victoria.”
“Who’s Colin?” Did I sense a hint of jealousy in his tone?
“Cute guard guy. The one that showed us to our rooms.”