White Roses - ReVamped

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Dancing Dragons

                                                                                            _____

"Matty? Matty!"

Leave me alone, Lowell. I want to sleep for a few more minutes. I tried turning, but his heavy hands shook me hard. Opening my eyes, Lowell still wore a golden ivy crown on his head. My body felt heavy and I thought about telling him to fuck off until I saw the trees above him. Trees?

"I'm alive?" I asked. 

"YEAH! But Jesus Christ, woman! You know how to test the human body sometimes!" Lowell shouted.   

"Don't worry about her, she's been ripped apart before," Aine said, landing on top of Lowell's head.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Forest of the Lost," Aine said as I tried sitting up, but my hand right hand couldn't take any weigh so I fell on my back.

Lowell grabbed me and helped me sit up. I looked down at my hand and saw it had morphed into this hot, red sticky bloody mess. I blinked and looked up at Lowell. Before panic could set in. Orisin grabbed my hand. I shut my eyes. I didn't want to look. In a minute or two, I had feeling in my hand again.

"Anything else hurt?" Orisin asked.

I thought about it. Everything hurt. My ribs hurt. They felt broken. My feet burned. Everything. Every bloody fucking thing hurt.

"Everything?" I said. 

Orisin held out his hands and breathed into it, making a fireball in his hand. I took it when he nodded his head at me. I ate it quickly. I wanted to go home. The idea of drinking numbing whiskey with Rose sounded nice. 

"Why aren't we home?"

"Someone didn't want to go home," Aine said and flew off of Lowell and onto Orisin. She curled herself onto his neck. Looking closely at Orisin, goosebumps grew on his skin and I wondered if this was the first time the two could touch.

"Someone?" I asked.

Aine looked at Lowell. 

"Lowell?" I asked. "Can't I wish us back?" 

"It was the human boy who set Aine free," Orisin said. I looked at him and waited. Lowell ran a hand over his dreadlocks. I thought about strangling him in that moment. What could he want here? I knew the answer, but I wanted to beat him with reason. She's crazy! Look at me! Look at me!

I thought about the way Huli Jing's voice changed when she talked about Erasmus. 

"She doesn't love you-" Lowell winced and I couldn't do it to him. I looked at Aine. "If I make the wish, will it work?"

Aine smirked. "You're too worried about the dragon to want to go home."

"Are you kidding me?" Lowell said and then I glared at him.

Aine giggled.

"You so do not have room to talk right now." I warned him. "I want to go home," I said. My voice sounded solid and strong. I could almost smile at the sound.

Aine tilted her head. "You do want to go home, but something keeps you tethered here," she said.

I didn't really know if I felt comfortable with a faerie being so keyed into my emotions.

"Screw you too," I said.

"I'm sure if you wait till morning," she said in a sing song voice, "you will feel a connection you need to get home."