Hunting the Fairy Tale

Chapter 94 - Getting Ready

Once five (5) minutes have passed, remove the cauldron from the fire and add the seven (7) grams of powdered moonstone, stirring thirty-two (32) times counterclockwise.

The potion should have a mother-of-pearl sheen and spirals of steam rising from it. Must be stored in a dry place. (https://potionsandingredients.weebly.com/amortentia.html)

How wonderful! Seems simple enough and should only take roughly 30 minutes to make! It will be so easy to feed it to Hunter; I simply have to mix it with ice cream. Lovely! I can hardly wait. There's only one problem with this... where do I find a cauldron? Miss Phoebe's, perhaps?

I laugh, dropping the paper back in my drawer. It's always good to keep mementoes from periods when one has lost their mind.

I do want Hunter to love me back, but I'll settle for it happening naturally, and if it never does, I'll just keep on loving him anyway. I want to at least be his best friend in the whole world. I want to really be there for him, listen to him, comfort him, and play console games with him. I have a lot of competition for that position, though, and when he falls in love with someone else... I'll probably return to the ocean and become seafoam...

"Come on, Piddles," I scoff. "Take me for a walk; my brain is growing mould."

♫

Ryan

Every fibre in my being wanted to jump in my car and rush over to the Davenports' place this morning. I hated leaving the hospital last night and only did so because Jake was right; Tan would be upset if he woke up and discovered Dev and me there. He hates worrying us and was already having a hard time accepting that we got involved in the whole laptop drama.

When I called this morning, Jake advised me not to rush over but to give Tan time to mull it over a bit more. He sent a message later telling me that all his friends were there trying to cheer him up and get him to talk about it. It was doing some good, but Tan was skittish and freaked out. He's right; adding me and Dev to the mix might be too much for the guy to handle. He is already on the verge of running away. 

I understand his point, but that doesn't mean that I like it.

I was happy that Hunter and the other boys were all there (even Galen); they were probably the only people he really needed around him. They are like a pack, converging around their own in times of injury or danger. I figured I would just hound Hunter for feedback, which is what I'm trying to do now, but the guy is being very vague.

It could be that he simply doesn't know much more than what he's already told me. I know how tight-lipped Tanner can be when he is going through hell. Normally, I would take this accident more in my stride and just feel a bit more than the usual level of concern. Tanner often gets hurt. He can be extremely reckless with his safety, but this wasn't just an accident, and it is driving me out of my mind.

I spoke to Job, and he assured me that Tanner is in no imminent danger, but how can he be so sure? We didn't know that he was in danger on Friday, and yet, here we are. Tanner got beaten up by thugs. I've had my hands full with Beth all day; she is climbing the walls, longing to hurry over there. She's told me more than once that men are all idiots, and she doesn't care how skittish Tanner is; if she had to, she would tie him up so she can hold him, comfort him, and nurse him back to health.

She would do it too...

For the record, I agree with her... mostly... If I thought that I could hold it together, I would be over there right now. In my current state of mind, I would probably make it worse.

Last night, before Tan's accident, Job told me that Mason was murdered.

All of this has me on edge. I want the boy to move in here where we can keep him safe, but asking him to do that might just freak him out more. I need to handle this carefully, or he really will just disappear. He's done it before. It took Job and his men over a week to find him, and he was only 14 at the time.