4
I wanted to break my crystal ball into pieces.
“Go away,” I snarled angrily into my crystal ball. “Get away from them! Don’t you dare!” But she was already holding the knife over her head, ready to swing down, ready to kill the three of them, ready to kill our future queens.
I couldn’t bear to see the next part. I slapped the glassy side of my crystal ball, and it hit the floor, smashing into bits. I held my head in my hands, my dark blonde hair falling down my shoulders and spilling onto the desk in front of me. They had to survive. Stupid Faerie’s just didn’t know how to mind their own business.
“
A male voice called from behind me, a voice I knew well. I sucked in my breath. “Charlie,” I said, annoyed. “Go away.” But he didn’t go away. He still stood there, and even though I didn’t turn to face him I still knew he was there. I could sense his presence, feel his breath, and I just didn’t need that now. I was too stressed.
“Leave me alone, for heaven’s sake!!” I shrieked at him, then sighed. He smiled at me, slightly, and then said: “
“They can’t die,” I whispered, and Charlie looked down at me. I wiped away some tears from my eyes, and Charlie sighed. “
I looked up at him, his emerald green eyes staring into mine. “We are forbidden to introduce ourselves to them, Charlie. That’s impossible!!” I said, pulling myself together. He shrugged, and I grunted. Charlie had always been the most carefree of us elders.
“Not if we changed form, Charles,” he said, and I sighed. Why, oh why, does he always pull us into this? I turned away from him, and stared up at the sky, the pink streaks fading into a twilight grey as the sun set beyond the trees.
I hope they’re all right.
AVERY
I opened my eyes. The room I was in was hot, silent, and too dark to see. Soon my eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I found I was staring at the fan, its spinning blades twirling my hair into tangles. I sat up, and stretched. I wonder where Daphne went.
When I yawned and opened my eyes, I shrieked.
Daphne’s body lay beside me, silent, unmoving. The silvery wings on her back glistened in the twilight, and her elf ears were gone. In her pale hand was a sharp knife. My breath hung in my throat, and I couldn’t seem to breathe. I gulped it down, and I looked down at Daphne. She wasn’t an elf after all.
I leaned over her, staring at her. Her green eyes were looking up at me, but they couldn’t see me. Something told me she would never see the light of day again. I sat back down. She was definitely dead, but what happened to her? Was she holding the knife to defend herself against whatever killed her? Or was it something else?
I shuffling noise from the cabin’s kitchen dragged me out of my trance. I pulled the sheets up to my chin, and I took a deep breath. I couldn’t afford to be scared right now. The thing in the kitchen could have been the one who killed Daphne, and if it killed her, it might kill us, as well, and we can’t afford that now.
Untangling my legs from the sheets, I stood up, and gently took the knife from Daphne’s limp hand. I stalked slowly towards the kitchen, holding the knife in front of me. My heart leaped into my throat as I leaped into the kitchen and yelled: “Whose there?”
The girl in front of the open cabinet whirled around, her eyes as big as saucers. She had half a slice of bread in her hand, and she was chewing something, bread crumbs scattered across her face. She had brown eyes and long blonde hair cut neatly in a fringe across her forehead. She had a dainty blue dress and a blue polka-dot ribbon in her hair.
I was at a loss for words. Not because of her, not because of her stealing food, but because of what was splattered across her knee and almost all of her leg:
Blood. Crimson red blood.
She was a little girl, looked no older than seven. She gulped down the mouthful of bread and stared at me, anxious. “I-I’m sorry, sister,” she shuddered, and took another bite of her bread, shivering as she did so. “I was hungry.”
I dropped the knife, which hit the floor with a clatter. The noise startled the little girl, and she dropped her bread, too. “I’m sorry!!” she said, louder this time. She picked the bread up and handed it to me, shyly. “Have this back, if you want to. I’m…I’m sorry.”
I was about to comfort the little girl, that it was alright, and she could eat as much as she wanted. But before I said anything, a voice called from the toilet: “Sam?”
I froze, and so did the little girl, as a young boy, about the same age as her, walked out of the bathroom. He had shaggy blonde hair falling down his forehead and a pair of shimmering emerald eyes. He froze when he saw me, and for the next few minutes we just stared at each other, until the little boy shrieked: “Get away from my sister!! We’re sorry we stole food, but we were starving!! Please don’t hurt her!!”
He rushed towards her, and the little girl cuddled close to him, her eyes never leaving mine. Like the little girl, the boy was half covered in blood. It started at his waist and ended at his knee, and half of his scalp was covered in crimson, as well.
I spotted a loaf of bread at the table and reached out for it. The girl whimpered, and snuggled closer to her brother. But I wasn’t going to hurt them; I just wish they knew that.
I gently took a knife from the cabinet, and the two children froze. I delicately sliced two thick slices and handed them to the kids, which just stared at them woodenly. After what seemed like an eternity, the little sister reached out for it and took a bite, and after awhile the brother did too. They never took their eyes off me as they ate.
I smiled at them, and the little girl smiled back, her pigtails digging into her brother’s chest as she snuggled closer to him. “Hello, there,” I said gently, and the two edged away from the sound of my voice, like it was a snake ready to attack.
I sighed, then continued: “Hello. If you want, you can eat as much as you want. I don’t mind,” I stretched, then looked back down at them, their tow pairs of angelic eyes staring into mine. I tucked my hair behind my ears as I said: “My name is Avery Mellissa. What’s yours?”
The boy edged back, dragging his sister with him. His sister shivered, and the boy swallowed hard as he said: “S-Samuel J-Jackson,” he stammered, and tugged his sister closer to him as she said: “My name is Samantha Jackson.”
I smiled at them, then froze as I heard a sleepy voice echo from the living room: “Avery? Are you in the kitchen?”
The children shrank back in horror. I whirled around, just in time to see Jackie standing at the entry of the kitchen. Her jaw dropped open in surprise as her eyes landed on the two children, half covered in blood, then she looked back at me, her black eyes glittering in the dim light.
“Avery,” she said. “Who are those kids?”
“We’re sorry!!” Sam yelled from across the room, hugging her sister as she cried. “We’re very, very sorry we stole food, but my sister, she was-”
“Whoa, there!!” Jackie said, cutting them off. Sam blinked, and Samantha looked up at her. Jackie smiled one of her common smiles, then said: “What’s wrong with stealing a little bit of food, small people? I don’t mind if you eat the whole kitchen!!”
But to me she whispered: “Avery, why the heck is Daphne dead in the living room and why are these two little ones half covered in blood? Explanation, please?”
I shrugged, and she sighed, then turned and smiled at the two. “So, are you still hungry? Should I get you something more to eat?” Sam shook his head violently, and Samantha huddled close, her cheeks red. “W-we’re sorry,” Sam said again, this time more softly. Jackie laughed, then said: “I said there’s no need to be sorry! I told you-”
“No, sister,” Samantha cried. “We meant, we’re sorry for leaving the dead faerie in your living room, but she was too heavy to move. I bet your living room is going to stink to high heaven, now.”
“Oh,” Jackie said, her smile fading. She tugged at my sleeve and said: “We’ll be right back, ‘kay? I need to talk to this ‘sister’ for a moment. You two feast on anything you want to if your still hungry, okay?”
Before waiting for a response, Jackie tugged me over to the living room, where Daphne, the dead fake-elf faerie lay. Danica was still there snoring her head off. Jackie turned to me. “Okay, first, it’s weird because I think I just noticed that Daphne was just pretending to be an elf so she could do…whatever Faerie’s do.”
Just as I began to speak, Jackie pressed her finger to my mouth, muffling whatever I was going to say. “Second, I think the two ‘angel twins’ in the kitchen just helped us murder this fake elf girl, and they’re not sorry OR guilty of killing her, just sorry about leaving her here to stink up the place,” Jackie sighed, and said: “I think Elves and Faeries have something going on. Like a war, or something. And where did these two little fella’s come from, anyway?”
“We come from Elvaeda, the elf town.”
A voice from behind startled us, and we whirled around to see Sam and Samantha standing behind us, grinning. Jackie’s eyes were as big as saucers when she heard what they said.
“Evaeda?” she repeated, then faced me. “Avery! These two come from the elf town Elvaeda!! They MUST now where to find the Great Spirit! We have SO hit the Jackpot!!!”
I frowned. Even though they were from Elvaeda, I doubted that these two little kids knew the path to (According to Mercedes) the “Strongest being known in the Universe”. We turned back to the kids, seeing that Sam’s smile had faded, replaced by guilt and anxiety. I couldn’t get what was wrong with him.
“Sam?” I said, and Jackie turned to me, confused. I just realized that the two didn’t introduce themselves to her, and just me. I motioned to the two kids. “This is Sam and Sam, Samuel and Samantha Jackson,” I helped the two introduce themselves. I jabbed my thumb towards Jackie and said: “Sam, these are my friends. This is Jaclyn Deforest, also known as Jackie…” They nodded towards Jackie. Samantha said politely: “How do you do?”
Then I pointed to Danica, still fast asleep and snoring softly. “This is Danica Forsythia.” Then I turned my attention back to Sam. “So Sam, what’s wrong? You seem troubled.”
Sam sighed, then gazed up at me and smiled. “I’m fine, sister Avery. I’m just….thinking,” Jackie gave him a light pat on his shoulder, and he smiled up at her. Jackie smiled one of her broadest smiles, and at that moment, Danica woke up.
She stretched and yawned, putting her hand delicately onto her mouth as she did so. The twins froze, and edged back slightly and Danica opened her eyes and gazed around the room. She nodded at the sight of the twins, but when her eyes fell onto the dead faerie (Daphne), never had she screamed so hard.
“Oh my god!!!” she said, panting. Jackie had her palms slapped tightly to her ears, and I felt slightly deaf. Danica sure can scream. The twins looked at her like she was crazy, and Danica tossed the blankets to a side and edged away from the dead faerie, then gazed up at us, her eyes as big and round as flying saucers.
“What happened?” she said, peering over the dead girl. After some time of looking, she said, in an astonished voice: “Is that Daphne?” and Jackie clapped. “Bravo, bravo!! You have solved the world’s TOUGHEST question!!” I elbowed her in the ribs as her voice dripped with sarcasm, and Jackie just laughed. The twins stared at us in curiosity.
“She’s….she’s a Faerie!!” Danica gasped. “I heard that elves and faeries do not really get along,” and Sam snorted.
“Tell me about it,” he grunted, looking down at Daphne’s lifeless body in disgust. “Me and Samantha HATE faeries, plus, when we walked across your cabin we saw her trying to kill you with a knife. This knife, to be exact,” he drew a small but sharp knife from her pocket, then continued. “However, when she swung it down to your throat, something repelled her backwards and she just flew across the room, hitting her head on the opposite wall and knocking herself out. Me and Samantha saw everything, and we decided to kill the annoying faerie before she woke up and caused more trouble.”
Danica gaped at the small pair of twins standing at the corner of the room, then turned to us for an explanation. We explained everything, and the next thing we knew Jackie was frying some omelets for us (she can cook, who knew?) for breakfast. The
Jackie emerged from the kitchen with three plates of steaming omelets. She set them on the table for the twins and Danica, then vanished into the kitchen again to get my plate and hers.
Danica bit into the omelet and according to the look on her face as she chewed must have come from the best chef in heaven. The twins ate like kings and queens and Jackie emerged from the kitchen again and set down the two plates, then washed her hands before seating herself onto her chair to eat.
“Jackie,” Danica said, finishing the last bit of omelet from her plate and was now wiping her mouth with a napkin she had in her rucksack. “I have to say, you could serve your omelet in a five star restaurant and the customers would still say it was awesome, though their mostly high-class old men and women.”
We all laughed at Danica’s little joke, including the kids. I bit into my omelet and was dumbfounded; Jackie’s omelet was good. Jackie saw my face and grinned, satisfied at her work.
“It’s damn good, isn’t it?” she said, grinning even wider when I nodded. Suddenly, the wooden floor below us started to creak, and started shake, like an earthquake.
The twin’s eyes widened, and said: “Oh my god, sisters!! The kraken has come!!!!” The two stumbled to their feet, and we just sat there, looking as confused as ever. Samantha grabbed my wrist and yanked me up, her strength unusually strong for such a frail looking girl.
“Please,” Samantha pleaded, her glittering brown eyes boring into mine. “We have to leave. The kraken is coming, and it has no mercy for elves and faeries alike. We have to go.”
We didn’t really believe that such a thing as the kraken was here, but these kids knew better than we did, and we had no choice but to believe them.
As soon as we left the barn, Samantha still gripping my hand tightly, I heard Jackie ask: “Um, sorry for this question, but don’t Kraken’s live in the sea and not the land?”
“Sister, what are you talking about?” Sam said, his sneakers digging into the soft earth beneath as he ran. “The kraken is in the water! It’s under the whole island!!!”
I gasped. “But then, where can we run to? It’s underneath the WHOLE island, right? How do we outrun that?” Sam shook his head, then said: “We know how, just follow us!!!”
They led us into the dense rubber tree woods, were the little Jasmine insects and Tyca squids were running around franticly, knowing the day of Judgment had come for them at last, and that there was no place to run to.
The kids led us into a small, deserted portion of the woods, were a little pond sat, a small rowing boat floating atop the glistening water. The kids scrambled into it, dragging us with them. Danica was so frightened, her cheeks had turned as pale as snow, and Samantha was crying. Jackie tucked her legs in, and allowed her long, black fringe to cover her face, knowing that we could not escape, and who could blame her? How could a little dainty rowboat save us?
A threatening roar shook us out of our trances. Then, with a grunt, the whole island started to lift, but us, still floating in the small little pond, which I just found out was the sea that was showing from a little hole in the island stayed safe.
We stared in horror as we saw long black tentacles with red suction cups strangle the little island in it’s tightening grasp. Our faces turned as pale as snow as we saw the giant, black creature in the sea. It had no eyes, nor a nose. All it had was a big, gaping mouth with rows of rows of sharp teeth a hundred times bigger than butcher knives. It looked like a giant octopus that rested on the sea floor.
Squeals of horror could be heard from all over the island as the kraken started to tilt the island to the left, and Jasmine bugs, Tyca squids and all types of life that were living in that island were tipped from their habitat and into the monster’s gaping mouth. After it was sure it had eaten all the island’s inhabitants, it set the island back where it belonged and swam away, it’s huge tentacles ripping holes into the ocean floor.
Once the island was shifted back to it’s original position, we found ourselves once again floating in a small pond in the rubber tree forest, not a single soul to be found. No insect cries, no occasional shuffle of the leaves as a tyca squid pried the bushes open and crawled off.
Nope. Not a single living creature. The kraken had devoured them all.
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