"So, do you think we could tell Aja?"
"Tell her what, exactly?" Krel's vibrant blue blush filled his cheeks as we sat atop of the playground roof.
"That you told me about your secret...? What else would we tell her?" I suddenly got the idea of what might have come to his mind.
"Oh right! Yes, totally!" He chuckled, "definitely not anything else!" He looked away from me as he tried to hide his flustered side.
"Did you think I was talking about the..." I trailed off knowing he would get the idea.
"Maybe, yes? Do you want to tell her?"
"No! No," I let out a nervous laugh, "I really don't want to. I honestly don't know where my head was when it happened, I just looked at you and..." I looked into his black and blue eyes as I trailed off my rant about something that happened a few nights ago.
"You know... It felt right." He admitted under his breath.
I could only agree. I could only get lost by staring at him. The thought that this could be something more rang in my head, dating an ET is something unheard of but the idea of it felt normal. I started to notice myself admiring all of his features and thoughts started to fill my head.
"What are you thinking about?"
I looked into his eyes once again, the undying urge to kiss him appeared again. These feelings were undoubtedly signs of having a crush, but even this felt more than a crush.
"You." I let out, not even realizing.
His face became a darker shade of blue and his eyes went anywhere but me. He sighed and laid his eyes back on me.
"I think this is what the humans call a crush." He placed a hand on the back of his neck and smiled shyly.
"I honestly never thought I'd feel like this. I would always be unbothered by the thought but... You have seemed to change my mind."
I inhaled deeply, unable to believe anything that was happening. Krel did just admit feelings to me right? My mind was clouded with thoughts I could hardly form a sentence.
"So...what does this mean?" I turned my face to the empty night sky.
"I don't know...but I just want us to see where this goes." He hesitated, "I should probably start heading home now... Could I walk you home?"
I nodded, my gaze still to the sky.
Krel had already climbed off the playground before turning his eyes up to me. "You coming?"
I reluctantly took my eyes off the sky and slid off the roof. I misstepped as I landed in front of Krel and I ended up leaning against him as I failed to catch my balance. I felt an arm around me as he asked if I was okay, with a nod I pulled myself off of him and looked at the ground.
Ceilings, plaster
I held onto his hand and we left the old playground, not saying a word as we walked down the road.
Can't you just make it move faster?
I wanted to talk to him, but my mind was corrupted by the thought of kissing him.
Lovely, to be sitting here with you
I looked up to him and thought, what if we happen? Is this what it's like to...be in love?
You're kinda cute but it's raining harder
I couldn't help but be memorized by him, weather if it was in class or right now. There was something about him that just drew me near.
My shoes are now full of water
Lovely to be rained on with you
"You know, holding your hand is nice." Krel smiled.
It's kinda cute but it's so short
I blushed at the statement.
Then you're drivin' me home
I feel like I could stay in this moment forever.
And I don't wanna leave
Under the empty night sky....
But I have to go
With him, holding his hand.
You kiss me in your car
This whole moment was nice. I was calm.
And it feels like the start of a movie I've seen before
It started to feel too good to be true.
Before
I haven't felt this calm in so long.
Bedsheets, no clothes
Whatever dream this is, I don't want it to stop.
Touch me like nobody else does
Lovely to just lay here with you
"I know we might be awkward now, but it doesn't have to be." He said softly.
You're kinda cute and I would say all of this
"It's not." I replied.
But I don't wanna ruin the moment
He felt like a different boy when he was alone with me rather than when his sister was with us.
Lovely to sit between comfort and chaos
Maybe that's the 'crush' talking.
But it's over
It was hard to identify my thoughts and feelings.
Then you're drivin' me home
I've never felt like this before... Just similar feelings.
And it kinda comes out as I get up to go
I looked up to see we were a few feet from my house
You kiss me in your car
And it feels like the start of a movie I've seen before
I took a deep breath as we came to a stop in front of it.
But it's not real
"Thank you for walking me home...almost everyday." I turned to him.
And you don't exist
"It's no problem princess, I find a joy when doing it." He shrugged.
And I can't recall the last time I was kissed
"Princess?"
It hits me
"I- I mean Phoenix!"
in the car
I chuckled, "So...I guess this is goodnight then?"
And it feels like the end
"Yeah.. before I go, I have something for you."
of a movie
"What is it?" I started to expect it to be another one of the brace's he made for me.
I've seen before
"Well, I..." He trailed off as if he was thinking.
Before
He laid a light kiss on my cheek, leaving my thoughts more in a cluster.
"Goodnight, Phoenix. I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled before heading his own way home.
Every nerve in my body was telling me to go after him, but couldn't figure out why. Instead I just slowly made my way inside the house, trying to process every emotion from tonight.
~~*~~*~~
"You actually told her about us little brother?!" Aja squealed.
School had finally let out and it was officially the weekend. I had my skateboard back, I can wear both of my knee-high sneakers, and I can go to the skatepark or do whatever.
"For the eleventh time Aja, yes I did." Krel crossed his arms as he walked between Aja and I.
I smiled at Aja's excitement.
"Sorry, I'm just uh- Phoenix what's that human word for really happy?"
I laughed to myself.
"Excited? Ecstatic? Stoked?"
"Yes, stoked! I am totally stoked! You can go on adventures with us!" She jumped up and down.
"What adventures Aja? We hardly do anything on this mudball." Krel objected.
I unlocked my phone and stayed walking beside them as I looked at the recent messages from Olivia. I could hear Aja still giggling about the whole thing and the chatter from everyone leaving the school. I even could make out the voice of jim who seemed to be rambling about his trollhunters duties.
I went to send a message to Olivia but it failed. I tried again and it still wouldn't send, I checked my connection and it was perfect... It was now I realized I didn't hear anything around me.
I stopped in my tracks as I looked up from my phone. Shocked, all I saw was everyone frozen, I turned around and there were Aja and Krel stuck in mid step, Aja was still cheering with joy and Krel still looked a bit over it. I waved my hand in front of them and nothing happened, it was freaky almost.
I looked around and from what I could tell, everything had been frozen...even the wind. I noticed Jim looking around in what seemed to be shock, if I entered some time trap thing how is he still moving? He turned to me and let a shock filled expression show across his face.
"Jim, what have you done now?" I asked, anxiety filling my voice.
"I uh, I used the kairosect and it worked. Holy guacamole, it actually worked!"
"What's a kairosect?" I tilted my head.
"You know, it stops time for a while and- ohh you haven't been with us recently. Heh, you missed a lot!" He placed a triangular ancient looking gadget into Toby's hands.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I chuckled, completely glossing over the fact he said it stops time.
"Wait, why aren't you frozen? Blinky said only one person could step outside of time."
"Um.. I don't know." I looked around at my clothes and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Okay, we'll figure this out later, blinky said 43 minutes so... We have probably... 42 minutes and...39 seconds. Phoenix, set your timer, I need your help with some things." He ran into the road where Claire had been frozen in front of a moving truck.
I was surprised at how she even got in that situation, I watched him pick up Claire and bring her over to the grass in front of the school, then place her down gently.
"So, what all have I missed out on?" I asked, placing my skateboard next to the frozen Aja and Krel.
"I'll explain everything later, but for now I have to finish some things." He ran over to his vespa and started it up. "We're gonna need to be fast, if you have anything you need to get done, do it now. I'll meet you back here in a few minutes." He clipped his helmet on.
"Wait, where are you going?" My gaze followed his rushed movements.
"I need to find Strickler and get the ring." He rolled his vespa up onto the sidewalk.
"You mean the one that's controlling Angor Rot?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, that one. Okay I'll see you soon!" He sped off into the school and his vespa slammed into the stairs as he raced over them and created a terrible, loud sound.
"Why the hell would you ride your vespa inside the school!?" I called out after him and uncovered my ears from the wretched noise. He was already gone and I was left outside with everything and everyone frozen.
Clearly you could interact with things outside of time due to Jim saving Claire and using his vespa. I walked over to toby and picked up the gadget in his hand. I turned it in my hands as I looked over all the details. Clearly it was trollish, I guess this is the "cryosect" or whatever he called it.
It was very eye catching, it was lined with Copper and was mainly made of what looked like an unpolished, cream colored chalcedony stone. It was that or bone carved from some creature. In the center of the three sides was a diamond shaped emerald, which only one seemed to be glowing while the others were a dull grey.
I placed the gadget back into Toby's hands and made my way down the frozen, seemingly creepy street. I wouldn't dare walk in the street during busy hours but since everything was stuck in place it seemed fitting to observe everything up close.
I looked up at the sky and noticed how the birds were frozen in mid flight, a shame they aren't closer to the ground, I would love to see them up close. I looked back down again and kept my eyes on the shops, I could just see everyone inside the shops, doing their daily things.
As for this "Angor Rot" he's one of the bad trolls we came across a few times when I used to hang with Jim. Blinky says he used to be a warrior of trollkind during a great war in the past. If I'm correct, eventually he became an assassin for a wizard named Morgana.
*Smack!* I ran right into someone as I was in awe of all the frozen objects.
"Ah, sorry about that!" A familiar Irish voice apologized.
I looked up and fixed my crooked glasses only to see a fully-moving, unfrozen Douxie.
"What- Douxie how are you-"
"What I want to know is how everyone is frozen but we aren't." He cut me off. "Glad to see I'm not the only one frozen in place."
"Is anyone else...not frozen other than jim?" I asked, now even more curious about this time massacre.
"Not that I've seen, I mean before I ran into you I didn't even know anyone else was like this." He shrugged. "You said Jim too, yes?"
I nodded, "he used this trollish technology to create a time- thingamajig and for some reason you and I aren't frozen."
"Well, that's certainly something..." He crossed his arms and placed a finger under his chin.
"What's weird is he said only one person could step outside of time, and obviously, we aren't." I leaned against a street light.
"I...might have an idea why we aren't. Frozen." He sighed.
"Why would that be?" I raised an eyebrow.
"It's... A questionable reason, one that I can't exactly tell you at the moment. But I think someone else might be unfrozen as well, I have to check for myself."
"Really? But what's the idea? You can't just say that and leave me with a no." I prodded.
"It's hard to explain, but I promise I will tell you... eventually...when the time is right, but I have to go check if my theory is correct." He held up both his hands.
I sighed, "okay. I'll go help Jim, I'll talk to you later!" I pointed my finger at him as we both slowly turned away.
I made my way back to the school with the thought in my head, what did he mean by he can't tell me now? We've known each other for years and he's told me everything, so why not now?' I wondered to myself.
Little did I know this was the biggest, and only secret Douxie kept from me.
I heard the sound of a vespa making its way over in my direction and I looked up to see Jim pulling up beside me.
"Hop on! Strickler's at the dentist!" He tossed me a helmet. "Why weren't you in front of the school?"
I clipped the helmet on and sat down behind him, "I thought I could find others who weren't frozen." I held onto him.
"Well did you?" He started his vespa again and we raced down the empty road.
"I did! It was douxie surprisingly."
"Douxie? You mean the emo one who runs that cafe?"
"Yeah, he said he had an idea why but he didn't want to tell me."
"I bet he didn't." Jim scowled.
He always had it out for Douxie, hated the man's guts and I never knew why.
"So the dentist, right?" I changed the subject.
"Yeah-" he yelped suddenly and stopped his vespa abruptly. "Gotta save blinky!" He jumped off the vespa and ran across the street into a coffee shop.
I had totally forgotten that blinky had been a human for a week now! I guess this means he's back to being a troll?
I watched as Jim carried his mother outside to an empty table and placed a mug in front of her.
About a week ago on one of the missions I didn't join them on, Jim had said blinky got transformed into a human by an unknown gas. I only got to meet human blinky a few times during this, and Jim had always texted me what went down if I missed it.
"Phoenix I need your help!" Called out Jim, he had just grabbed a tablecloth from one of the tables and waved me over.
I got up from the vespa and followed him into the coffee shop. I winced at the overwhelming scent of coffee everywhere. I watched him go into the men's bathroom with the table cloth and I hesitantly followed him in.
We both gagged at the dreadful smell inside the bathroom and covered our noses.
"Blinky what have you been?!" Jim cocked open a stall door and threw the table cloth over the now stone-skinned troll. "Help me roll him out-" he coughed, "please."
I held my breath as we both hauled blinky out of the bathroom, even with time frozen I guess everything had its weight still, and blinky was definitely as heavy as a boulder. The reason for the cloth is because trolls can't step foot in the sun.
Just like vampires, they will immediately die if exposed to sunlight. The only difference being is trolls will fully turn to stone where as vampires don't.
We exhaustedly carried blinky out into the road where Jim's scooter rested.
"Jim, how are we going to bring him back to trollmarket?"
Jim looked around for a moment before letting go of blinky and running over to a pickup truck.
"Jim!" I snapped, struggling to hold blinky up on my back by myself. My legs gave out and I collapsed onto the ground, being crushed by a very heavy troll. I watched him quickly rush back over with a coiled rope in hand.
"Sorry, I had to see what we could use." He chuckled nervously.
I scowled as he lifted blinky up off of me enough that I could roll out and help again.
We tied blinky to the back of the vespa and he seemed to almost crush it by his weight. He also took up a lot of room and I cringed at the tight fit.
I hopped back on and Jim had to stand in front of me instead of sitting like he usually would.
"Okay, gotta get him out of the sun and get the ring. We have time right?"
I glanced at my phone and nodded.
"Good." He started the vespa again and we raced down the road again.
I was in an awkward situation of being crammed between Jim and a stone being, I could hardly move and it was a bit weird having to hold onto him as he was standing up.
The closest thing to us at the moment was trollmarket so that's where Jim was headed. Trollmarket was actually an underground city that I had visited many times and it was located under one of the bridges over the canals.
I could never remember which one so I always left that part to Jim or the others.
Before I knew it, Jim had started off-roading and sped down the hill into the canal. He rolled the vespa under the bridge and climbed off the vespa to open the door.
Instead of a regular wooden door that you would normally see, this door was enchanted by troll magic. You could only open it with a special key called a horngozel that looked like a giant crystal with a handle.
I watched Jim take one of the bags attached to his scooter and walk over to the canal wall. There he made a half circle, an arch you could say and it opened up to a glowing cave with spiral, sapphire stairs. He ran back over to me and started his vespa back up as he stood in front of me again.
Being reckless and racing against time, he rushed down the flight of stairs and we bounced up and down with every crystal.
~~
Finally into the main part of trollmarket, the ride was much smoother, but it made me think how he was planning to get his vespa up those stairs.
He gasped and stopped his vespa abruptly again.
"Ow! Jim! You need to stop doing that!" I glared.
"Right sorry! I just remembered I need to help bagdwella with the gnomes!" I barely managed to catch any word he said.
"Then I'll do it! You take care of blinky!" I squeezed my way off the vespa and almost tripping in the process.
"Thank you so much Phoenix! I'll pay you back for all this I promise!" He rushed down the market.
I turned around and looked at what I had to deal with.
I've never had to deal with gnomes before, it was always Jim and he always seemed to struggle when it came to those little pests. Their razor sharp teeth would always seem to scratch him up.
Thankfully this time, I didn't have to worry about them attacking me. I walked over to bagdwella who seemed to be in the midst of catching the gnomes, she seemed to be struggling and I could tell she only managed to catch a few before Jim had stopped time.
I took the fabric sack from her hands and counted four already in it then went around her stall and captured every single one I could find.
Before long Jim made his way back to be with two gnomes in his hands and placed them in the sack.
"Alright, time to get that ring." He sighed.
I picked up the last gnome and placed the now full sack back into the trolls hands. I hopped back onto the vespa, comfortably behind Jim again and held on as he made his way back through the market.
3605 words!
I hope you enjoyed this one, part two will hopefully be out soon and I can say it is definitely going to be good! Also the song is ceilings by the lovely Lizzy McAlpine