Darlings (10 page)

“Tina’s family?” Pete asked. 

“Still okay for what we know.” Andrew
answered. “Their getting pretty weak though. Many of their spells
are failing and they won’t be able to keep up communication spells
much longer. The lagoon is completely surrounded day and night.
Dark fairies patrol the air.” 

“We knew that would be the case. Have you
gotten word to the Manticans?” Pete questioned. 

“Yes. They are preparing to fight with their
regals, but it looks….grim.” Andrew answered. “Something unexpected
has come about.” 

“What?” Pete’s tone seemed almost worried.
“Andrew. What is it?” 

“They’re looking for her.”

Pete and Andrew locked eyes, having an
unheard conversation. 

“Guys!” she almost yelled. “Looking for
who?”

Andrew shook his head in obvious
disagreement. Pete took Gwen by the shoulders. “Emma, Gwen.”

Chapter 3

Gwen almost laughed. “Emma. As in my dead
baby sister Emma? Okay you know what? You guys are just plain mean
now. I’m definitely leaving. Is this some sick joke? Because it’s
really not funny.” Gwen shook Pete’s hand off her. 

“No, it’s no joke…” Pete said

“Well what the hell is going on then?”

“Emma died, yes…kind of.” Pete began. “You’re
mother went to Tina, and begged her for Emma’s revival.” 

“Revival? To bring her back to life?” she
asked. 

“Yes. It’s a spell that rarely, almost never
works. You see, Tina’s ancestors are among some of the most
powerful fairies in history. Your mother got word to Tina she
needed help. Tina found Janie and couldn’t stand her heartbreak.
Tina had just lost her baby brother to the dark ones so she
was…vulnerable. She attempted the spell but didn’t have enough
power to complete it. It left Emma still in the other side,
but…able to walk in our world if a portal is opened. The pirates
have been scouring both worlds using whatever kind of evil magic
they can find to get to Emma. Once they have her open the
portal…the evil from the other side can be harnessed by the dark
fairies and pass through, giving the dark ones unimaginable
power.” 

Gwen could hardly breathe. Her sister was
sort of alive? 

“Can she talk? Is she okay? How do we get to
her?” 

Pete and Andrew stared sadly at
Gwen. 

“Why are you just standing there? We have to
find a way to get to her!” 

Pete spoke, “Gwen, we can’t.” 

“Why the hell not! If they can get to her why
can’t we! She’s just a baby!” 

“She’s not a baby anymore. They want her to
open a portal, only a regal half dead can open. A portal between
Middle, Everland, and the dark world. It’d be free reign for anyone
or anything to cross. The pirates want control of all worlds. To do
this they have to swear Emma…to a dark Mantican.”

Gwen felt as if she were going to faint. “A
dark Mantican?” she turned to Andrew. 

He answered, “Yes. A Mantican who was taken
from us. My big brother Rasha. They cast spell after evil spell
forcing him to stay in his Mantican form, turning him evil
torturing him…for years. If he was sworn to the half-dead royal,
Emma, their powers would be almost unstoppable.”

“So everything is lost? We lose? Everland is
going to be destroyed by my….half dead
sister?”   

“Not entirely…” Andrew answered glancing at
Pete.

“No! Andrew listen to me do not go on with
the sentence. I command you to stop.”

“Pete, I’m not sworn to you.” Andrew puffed
out his chest. “You don’t command me.”

“No, but I am your king. I don’t pull that
card on you often Andrew you’re my friend but we have to protect
her she’s our only hope” Pete looked so different. So
regal. 

“You’re telling me we have to protect her? I
live and die for her now! Don’t treat me like I don’t know we have
to protect her, Pete. We also have to keep her alive.” They
finished the conversation in their minds. 

Pete nodded and walked inside, unable to bear
to hear Andrew say what needed to be said. 

“What’s going on Andrew?” she asked. Andrew
ushered her back to the lawn chair, being extra careful not to
touch her. He sat on a brick ledge that surrounded the
garden. 

“There’s only one way to stop her Gwen. A
royal that shares her blood, must…end it.” He stopped. 

“End it? Okay by a royal that shares her
blood you mean me or my brothers right?” 

“You. Your brothers aren’t old enough to be
sworn yet.” 

“Okay, how do I end it then?” Gwen eagerly
asked.  Andrew closed his eyes as he spoke. “We have to…
kill…our siblings, Gwen.”  

Gwen’s heart broke into a million pieces.

Chapter 4

Gwen woke suddenly in a strange bed. It was
huge and plush, larger than king sized for sure. It had four wooden
posts made from actual tree limbs, following suit with the rest of
the natural themed home. She attempted to sit up but the room began
to spin. Her head met the fluffy pillow once more. 

What happened? she wondered to herself. What
time was it? She surveyed the large room for a clock. An ornate
antique wooden clock set on the night stand. It was like no clock
she’d ever seen. It had light wooden hands but kept displaying hazy
scenes behind them. Like movie clips of some foreign dreamland.
9:22 a.m. One stunning evening scene showed a beach with turquoise
water splashing against golden sparkling seashore. Three moons hung
low in the night sky. All three were a medley of pastel swirling
colors that seemed to change before her eyes. Suddenly a creature
that resembled a bird flew across the cloud-like scene and hovered
above the water. It had the body of a bird but the wings of
an…angel? They were shiny and translucent. The flowing wings moved
as if the bird was submerged in water. As fast as it appeared, it
was gone. 

Gwen subconsciously scratched her nose and
was met with a crusty substance. She saw an elaborate mirror across
the luxurious room.  It was cream and looked very…old. Like
something she would have seen in a medieval castle. In fact, that’s
what the entire room reminded her of. Ancient meets modern luxury
plus natural elements thrown here and there. Odd, but it worked
perfectly. 

She slowly forced herself to sit up. Closing
her eyes, she waited for the room to stop whirling. She slid her
feet out from under the silky brown sheets and onto the cherry
wooden floor. Her clothes were replaced with a pastel blue night
gown from her own bedroom. Slowly she made her way across the room
to the mirror. Bracing herself on the dresser she stared into her
reflection. Gwen was horrified. Her face. She had dry blood under
her nose. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles. She looked…sick.
Nausea took over her and she decided she’d better make her way back
to the bed before she really got sick. Just as she turned, she lost
her footing and fell to the floor. She smacked her back against the
large dresser. Sliding her hand down her chest she touched her
mark.
Andrew? Are you there?
she thought.  A few
seconds later, her silent inquiry was met with a knock at the
door. 

“Can I come in?” Pete softly asked from
outside the door. Gwen was expecting Andrew, but wasn’t
disappointed to see Pete. 

“I’m over here,” she muttered from on the
floor. 

“What are you doing? Come on let’s get you
back into bed.” Pete reached down and helped Gwen onto her feet.
Noticing she was still wobbly, he scooped her up and carried her
back to rest. His arms felt strong and smooth beneath her bare
knees. She wanted to wrap her delicate arms around his neck and sob
there forever or at least until all of this was a dream but was too
weak to think about anything but getting back into that bed and
letting her throbbing head fall to the silk covered
pillow. 

Gwen’s hands were trembling as she pulled the
covers back up over her chilly arms. Pete sat on the bed beside
her. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and gray T shirt. His hair
was styled in his usual somewhat tamed yet messy manor. He looked a
Gwen with now sad green eyes. 

“What’s wrong with me? What happened?” she
asked, obviously terrified. 

“I didn’t figure you’d remember. You had what
Ashton thinks was a brain bleed. She healed you, but said it could
take a while for you to fully recover.” 

“A brain bleed. Why?”

“You just got sworn. You’re fragile. Andrew
never should have told you any of that stuff. I shouldn’t have let
him-”

“Oh God, Andrew!” Gwen began to sit up but
Pete took her by the arms and gently pushed her back down. Even in
the midst of all the pain and confusion, Gwen got butterflies from
his touch. 

“He’s fine.” Pete stated sharply. 

“This happened to him too?” 

“Yah. You went down and almost immediately
Tina screamed from the kitchen that Andrew went down
too.” 

Gwen rubbed her aching head. “My
brothers?” 

“They’re with Arthur. He’s really good with
them. Big ol’ teddy bear.  They’ve been really enjoying Koli’s
stories in which he is the almighty hero of course.”

She smiled. “Sounds like them. They loved
mom’s stories too… My nightgown? How did you get it?” 

Pete adjusted himself, “Tina thought it would
be a good idea to get you guys some clothes and things last
night.” 

“Well how sweet of her. I’m surprised I
didn’t get last year’s Halloween costume or a used garbage sack.”
She rolled her eyes. 

“Well…she does have somewhat of a heart; she
brought you your old cheerleading spandex and the sweatshirt shirt
your grandma Darling sent you last year for your birthday…” Pete
cringed. 

“The sweatshirt with the cross stitched
horses!” Gwen huffed. “I’ll be sure to thank her.”

With a cocky smile, Pete added, “I’m sure
there’s no thanks needed.”

“My parents ok?” 

“They’re fine. They were asleep. I left your
mom a note. Hopefully she…gets it.” Pete’s tone lowered. 

A silent understanding lingered between them.
Hopefully Janie wasn’t too high to understand it. 

“I can’t even wrap my mind around Emma. She’s
eighteen and in some other world?” 

“We don’t know much about the other side.
It’s always been a theory that if a half-dead could open the portal
it would bring much evil with it. There’s almost no communication
possible with that side…only the half-deads can be summoned by very
experienced and powerful fairies.  Tina’s ancestors, some
great great great…I don’t know how many greats grandmother once
opened the portal for a half dead. The result was a regal being
taken over by evil becoming a monstrous creature, feeding on the
hearts of his fellow regals-”

“The pirates?” Gwen concluded. 

“Yah. The portal was said to have only been
open seconds and anything in its way, touched by the evil it
expelled, was turned into wickedness.” 

Gwen’s stomached turned. Her precious little
sister was caught in a world full of monsters at her mother’s
grieving hand. 

“Pete, I made scrambled eggs and ham, you
hungry?” Tina appeared in the doorway. She seemed….taller from what
Gwen could see. “Oh the princess is awake.” she stated with a snide
smile. Wrinkling her tiny pointed nose she added, “Isn’t that
wonderful!” Clunk. Tina appeared to have stepped off of something
and landed on the floor. 

“Tina.” Pete scolded. He spoke to Gwen, “Are
you hungry?” 

Gwen nodded in affirmation. 

“We’ll be out in a second.” Pete
said. 

Crossing her arms, Tina pouted. “Fine.” She
appeared again taller. Gwen sat up in the bed just enough to see
air between Tina’s small feet and the floor, as Tina half
floated-half walked into the kitchen. 

“Is she…flying?” Gwen asked. 

Pete appeared confused for a moment and
looked out after Tina. Then he remembered everything was new to
Gwen. “Oh yah, she does that sometimes. She’s used to it from back
home. Took quite a while to get her to start walking only, no
flying in public, when we first got here.” 

“Where are her… wings?”

“Oh they’re there, you just can’t see them.
Like-”

“The garden,” Gwen completed. 

Smiling Pete stated, “Exactly.” 

Familiar awkward silence once again. Gwen
wondered when this was ever going to become more natural. She
figured it was due to his extensive knowledge of her and her
knowing nothing about him. She tried to find a neutral subject and
settled on the clock. 

“Is that a movie clip of Everland?” she
motioned to the clock. 

“No, that is Everland.” Pete said. 

“What do you mean, like a camera?” 

“Yah kind of like a camera. It’s what’s going
on at one of my favorite spots in Everland. It’s the shore just
down from my home.” 

“Like your palace?” 

Pete half-heartedly smiled. Memories from his
home ran through his mind. “Yes. Home to me.” 

“Do you ever see people you know?” Gwen
inquired. Feeling a little better she crawled across the bed to get
a closer look at the clock scene. Pete couldn’t ignore her
beautiful curves from behind. 

“Sometimes,” he stammered. “It’s a small
lagoon, kind of hidden. Not many people go there. There’s a minute
portal hole hidden in a tree that lets me see into Everland. About
the size of a grain of sand. It’s dangerous to leave portal holes
open, no matter the size so this is the only one I talked Tina into
leaving for me. I had to have something from home. Tina linked the
hourglass up there on the dresser to the portal. If someone finds
the portal which is highly unlikely, I can smash the glass and the
portal will disappear.”

Gwen sat back down. “Do you know Emma hasn’t
opened the portal for sure?” She pulled her knees up to her chest
and fiddled with her cotton candy painted toes.

“No. The communication between Tina and the
other fairies is broken up to say the least.”