White Roses

Chapter Eighteen: Goodbyes

“That’s not what you really want though, is it?” 

He frowned in offense. “Yeah it is. Can you get us there or not?” 

“I can see what my masters really want. You really don’t want to go home, so I’ll let you think about it while you rest. Then if you still want it in the morning then I’ll grant it.” 

“What? Are you kidding me? Cooper, what the hell could you possibly want?” I yelled as he looked away, blushing. 

“I don’t know, okay? Maybe we could use some sleep. I did have to carry you from the Nightmare court for a few hours. I’m exhausted.” Cooper explained as he lay on his back. I lay next to him, wondering if we were ever going to get home. I held his hand as I felt Unicorn boy light a fire that warmed my swollen feet.

Did he still think about the Huli Jing? Probably, but how could he? She’s crazy and nuts and possibly evil. With faeries, however, you can never tell if they are truly evil or simply crazy. There’s a thin line, I guess, but the two can also mix together. I wanted to shake Cooper and ask him if his brain broke or if he always this stupid. Was this some stupid hold she had over him or this Cooper’s heart? 

I suddenly thought about Erasmus and Drake and realized I should shut up.  

†¤†

I tossed and turned before I finally gave up and sat up. The moonlight caressed the ground and hugged Cooper and everyone in a loving white light. Daisy curled up beside Cooper while Unicorn boy rested his silver head on my knee. He clutched onto his most prized possession: the feather. I curled my knees to my chest as I wondered how Drake was. I kept thinking about him ever since I left him. Did he know where I was? Did he…I shook my head. 

I looked at Cooper as realization hit me. Was Cooper feeling this kind of panic when it came to the Huli Jing? He did claim to care about her on more than one occasion. No wonder he didn’t want to leave yet. He wanted to make sure if she was okay. I stroked his forehead before my hands clutched onto the necklace around my neck. I pulled away from Cooper and started to crawl to the bushes when I felt something grab my foot. 

“Where are you going?”  

“I’m sorry, Cooper.” I whispered as I turned to stare at him. “I have to go and check on him. Just to make sure he’s okay.” I sighed and turned to him. “I’m sorry that you can’t see the Huli Jing again. I didn’t kill her or anything when we fought.” I didn’t really know what else to say, but Cooper let go of my ankle and I went into the darkness. 

The walk through the forest wasn’t as hard as I remembered it being. It wasn’t difficult to even remember which way to go. The whole trip felt like déjà vu, so when I broke through the bushes of tangling vines, I sort of expected to see a whole crowd of dancing faeries, but I welcomed by a cold unnerving silence. 

Walking through the garden to get to the temple felt like walking in the city of the dead. The temple still had the same sparkle to it and the same enchantment that drew my eyes everywhere at the same time, giving me a sick feeling. The roses no longer remained white, but a deep black that contrasted against the whiteness of the court. They looked ugly. They had ripped petals that also looked rotten like they had been cut off from a water source. The leafs looked brown and withered even in the beautiful vases. 

I wondered where everyone went, but I figured that the queen’s death took its toll on everyone. I recalled from my history class how the whole country had gone into mourning when President Lincoln was murdered. Everyone in the country supposedly cried, but I also recalled the anger that lit the man hunt for John Wilkes Booth. 

This could spark a war and I didn’t want to get involved. 

In the temple also felt empty with only one person in the room. A person draped in shadows, bowing in front of an empty throne.  I leaned against a pillar before I called out, “Drake?” 

The hunched form turned around, tear stained cheeks glistened in the candle light. “Matty? What are you…How?” The look on his face really scared me. It was like staring at a star after it had died and was now becoming nothing, but a black hole. His face looked shallow and pale with deep dark circles on his eyes. He looked like he lost some weight and he looked frail. He got to his feet, but it looked like that his legs gave out on him any moment.

“Told you I didn’t need a protector from the beginning,” I said with I-Told-You grin, feeling even more out of place. I walked over to him and touched his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I heard from the Nightmare court.” I quietly told him as I felt his shoulders tremble under the weight of the anger that name caused. 

His eyes blazed as he gritted his teeth. “Nightmare court? How did you escape if they got to you?” 

I shrugged. “You know me. I came rushing in and I rushed right out.” 

Drake gave me a ghost of a grin on his lips. “Let me guess: you did something incredibly stupid and reckless that depended mostly on luck and chance.” 

“Pretty much,” I agreed. “Cooper was a big help though.”  

His smile fell suddenly as he became serious. “So…do you need me to send you back to human world?” 

I shook my head. “No, we have someone for that. I was wondering if you were coming or…” I really didn’t feel like finishing that sentence. I felt too afraid to get the answer with my heart thudding against my chest and my fists tight anxious balls. 

Drake tilted his head at me as he watched me. His eyes fell on my bruised face then my bleeding leg. Then to my shoulder which still had the thread that Squirt and Sparky used to tie me back together again. 

“I’m staying. Niap needs me here and you’ve done just fine without me.” Drake looked back at the empty throne. His heated gaze turned to me before he leaned down and hugged me. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect you.” His arms engulfed me and I felt like I was being hugged by a tree, but I returned the hug. “I was worried, but I couldn’t leave. I’m sorry.” 

All this time I worried about him and he worried about me. I wanted to laugh, but kept it in as I pulled away from him. Everything felt so wrong and messed up, but when I held onto him so tightly I felt a lot stronger and safe. 

I pulled back from him. I gripped his hands. 

“Goodbye,” I whispered and I let go before running down the stairs to go back into the woods. 

When I got back, I found Cooper waiting for me with a small sad grin on his face. I curled beside him and stared into the dancing flames. Our fingers interlocked with my head against his shoulder. A few hours or a few minutes passed when everyone woke up again. Daisy asked us if we changed our mind about leaving FaerieWorld. We both looked at each other and shook our heads before Cooper said: 

“I want to go home with Matty and Unicorn boy-if you want to come of course.” He looked at Unicorn boy who smiled and nodded. “We want to go home.” 

“Alright,” Daisy asked, “as you wish, my master.” 

Being taken back to school by faerie magic felt about as unnerving and wild as when Drake took me to FaerieWorld. The colors smeared-more like it melted into one- and all my senses heightened as we spun around in a weird bubble of sounds and smells. I saw a thin thread between everyone and feeling of excitement bubbled in my stomach. Then I got a face full of mud.