Darkness was claiming the forest much faster than Brandon would have liked. Evelyn was still unconscious on the ground, a state that Brandon was unable to change regardless of his efforts. No amount of shaking or yelling had so much as stirred her steady breathing for over twenty minutes. Panic was threatening to set in, calmed only by the fact that Evelyn had told him that these kind of spells had happened before. Still, nervous glances at the dying rays of sunlight told him he needed to do more than just shake her and hope for the best.
Reluctantly, Brandon reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He was going to need help with her, the idea of carrying Evelyn all the way to her house in her current state was simply out of the question. The phone's screen came to life at his touch, bright enough in the evening shadows to force his eyes to waste time adjusting to the light. It gave Brandon a final idea. Gently opening one of Evelyn' eyelids with his thumb, he held the screen inches from her face. Predictably, it did nothing.
"Damnit," he mumbled, turning the phone back to himself. It took his eyes few seconds of squinting to adjust once more, but eventually he was able to navigate the menus and click on Evelyn's house number with an unsteady thumb. This was going to be fun to explain. Predictably, Lenny picked up the other line after a single ring.
"Evelyn?" His voice was tense, with more than just a bit of worry breaking through.
"No, no, this is Brandon. Look, something happened while she was practicing her magic and now I can't wake her-"
"Where are you?" Lenny interrupted, sighing with relief.
"Um, just past town, not too far into the national forest preserve."
"What end of town? Main Street or the south end?"
"South end, Evelyn didn't want to risk getting seen."
"OK," Lenny said, "she should be fine, this has happened before. A few times. Carry her close enough to the road to see us but keep her hidden. We'll be there in a couple minutes, just wave us down."
The phone beeped in Brandon's ear as Lenny hung up. He looked down at Evelyn, still unconscious on the ground. "At least I'm not going to have to carry you all the way home," he said, bending down to pick her up. Evelyn didn't weigh all that much, maybe one fifteen, but Brandon had a couple hundred yards of darkened forest to navigate, and he wasn't exactly a body builder.
"You know," Brandon mumbled as he struggled to carry Evelyn through the narrow and uneven path, "it would have been nice if your little buddy had stuck around to help. He could have at least thrown some of his magic fairy dust or grown some enchanted daffodils to make things a little easier on me."
Evelyn only moaned softly in her sleep, still showing no signs of waking. By the time Brandon spotted the opening of the path his arms were burning and protesting his efforts. He made a mental note to get into better shape, no telling when something like this would happen again. He lowered Evelyn down gently beside some low growing bushes and stepped beyond the entrance. A few cars passed by without slowing down, their colors muddied and unidentifiable in the low light of early nightfall.
Brandon kept himself close to the woods, using the shadows to hide from any passing eye that may be tempted to stop and offer help he didn't want. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long. A few minutes after stepping off the path he spotted a car moving slowly half off the road, headlights on high as if looking for something. Brandon stepped out and waved his arms until he was sure he had been spotted. The car sped forward and came to a stop just as Brandon lifted Evelyn off the ground.
"Hurry up and get her in!" Lenny called as he stepped out of the car and opened up the back door. "Last thing we need is someone seeing her like this."
"I know, I know, hold on!" Brandon's arms protested shakily as he made his way up the slight rise to meet the car, causing him to sigh with relief when he finally placed her gently into the back seat. Once he was sure she was comfortably situated Brandon ran around and hopped into the front seat. "You said this happens a lot?"
Lenny grunted as he put the car in drive. "Only when she over exerts herself. The first time she did this under our care she was out for nearly three days, happened when she tried to make the tree in our yard grow apples for a pie. Of course she had only been living with us for a couple weeks at that point so we had no idea what was going on. Took her to the hospital, but they couldn't find a thing wrong. We even had them keep her under observation for a few extra days but nothing similar happened again."
"So when did you realize what was going on?"
Lenny smiled. "When she began growing the flowers. Rebecca liked to try her hand at different things, gardening being one of them. Only problem was she never had much luck with it, until we fostered Evelyn. A few weeks after we brought her home from the hospital Rebecca found her in the garden growing flowers out of nothing but seeds. I was scared enough to want to send her back, but Rebecca didn't let me. I thank God every day that she didn't."
"What did you do after that?"
"Limited her as much as we could, kept her gifts a secret. She wasn't ours, not legally. Rebecca was afraid if the wrong people found out about her that we'd lose her forever."
"Probably about right," Brandon agreed.
Lenny chuckled. "I always knew she'd start this again, try to learn how far her abilities went. Thank you for being there for her, no telling what could happen if she passed out like this alone."
"I won't let anything happen to her, sir. I promise."
"My name's Lenny, not sir. You can call me that."
Brandon smiled. "I will, thank you, sir... I mean, Lenny."
"So, Brandon. I need you to tell me something, and be honest."
"What is it?" Brandon asked hesitantly.
"Is Puck back in her life?"
"What? I'm not sure-"
"I don't know everything," Lenny interrupted, "but I do know he's real. I've never seen him personally, but I've heard the stories and read her files from before we fostered her. Also, Rebecca found wildflowers in the trash. We used to find them outside Evelyn's window at times of the year wildflowers had no business growing. Now all of a sudden she's gone for hours every day after school and all day every weekend. Then you call up and she's passed out from over exertion, something that hasn't happened in years. So I'll ask again, is Puck back?"
Brandon sighed. "Yes, he's back."
"Was he with you two today?"
"Yeah."
"What do you think of him? He dangerous?"
"Honestly," Brandon said, "I don't know. He seems to care about her, heck I think he even loves her. But he's a scary little guy. What Evelyn can do, that's nothing. Comparing Puck to Evelyn would be like comparing guns to bombs."
"That's what I was afraid of," Lenny said thoughtfully. "Has he said what he wants with her?"
"Yeah, he said he wants to take her home to help heal some sort of spell or something."
"Take her home? Where's that?" Lenny asked anxiously.
"Once again I really can't tell you because I have no freaking clue. Evelyn's agreed to it, and she's under the impression that it'll be a quick trip there and back..."
"But?"
Brandon sighed. "But I'm not so sure that's what's going to happen. It's like Puck changes the subject the second Evelyn talks about coming home, and avoids it when he can. I'm really getting scared that she's letting herself take a one way trip to someplace she really doesn't want to go."
Lenny's hands were shaking slightly on the wheel. "Do me a favor and try to find out. Keep close track of her and his intentions. We need to try to find a way to talk her out of this, I can feel it in my gut."
"So can I," Brandon said.
They pulled into the driveway to find Becca waiting by the kitchen door. Brandon carried Evelyn into her room and set her down on the bed gently. She had become more restless in her sleep, meaning it wouldn't be long before she woke up. At least that's what Lenny assured Brandon. He pulled Brandon out of the room and closed the door, leaving Becca to settle Evelyn into bed.
"Do me a favor and keep what we talked about between us," he whispered to Brandon as the door clicked shut. "If things get any worse I'll let Rebecca know, but until then I don't want to worry her."
"I will, but there's one more thing you have to know," Brandon whispered, leading Lenny into the living room.
"Yes?"
"It's something Puck told her today, about her magic. He's pushing her to make the trip before she turns eighteen, he said every day after that she'll start to lose her powers. If she stays long enough, they'll be gone for good."
Lenny's eyes widened. "Are you saying she can be rid of this nonsense for good?"
"Yeah. Keep her around long enough, and eventually she'll be as normal as you and me. When that happens I think Puck will be gone for good."
"Well that's something we better work on. The sooner we can get him out of her life the better. He's been nothing but trouble for her."
"Kind of the impression I have as well," Brandon said.
Becca came out a few minutes later and sat down beside Lenny. Her eyes were red from crying and she was still visibly upset. "It's OK, honey," Lenny assured her, "Evelyn will be fine. We've been through this before."
"It's not that," she said. "I got a call while you were gone, and I'm afraid I have some terrible news."
"What's wrong?" Lenny asked, taking her hand into his own.
"It's Tina..." she said, trailing off to look towards Evelyn's room.
"Who's Tina?" Brandon asked.
"Evelyn's social worker, she and Evelyn were close. It's happened, hasn't it?" he asked Becca, his own face going slightly pale.
She nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. "Evelyn's going to be so upset."
Brandon was confused. "What happened to her? Is she going to be OK?"
"No," Becca said, shaking her head sadly, "She won't. She's been quite sick for a long time, and I'm afraid she's passed away."
"What did she die of?"
Becca looked up to Brandon, her bloodshot eyes filling with tears. "I don't know. Nobody knows. She started to go downhill just after we took Evelyn in, and no matter what they tried it only got worse. She just wasted away. We never told Evelyn because we didn't know what to tell her. There was just, no medical explanation. It was like she died of magic."
...
Puck looked down into the basin and attempted to hide the pity that came welling up in his chest. Whereas previously Hamnet had looked worn out and on the verge of collapse, the man staring out from the swirling illumination seemed to be nearing the edge of death. His skin was an even more sickly shade of grey than before, his cheekbones and sunken eyes had become his most prominent features.
"You look awful..." It was all Puck could think to say.
Hamnet smiled weakly. "It's good to see you as well, Puck."
"Is the spell breaking that quickly?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Each morning finds the binding weaker, and the pace only quickens. Soon we may need to give more of ourselves than just energy and spells. Soon some of us may need to give our lives."
Puck frowned, guilt building up inside. If only he could push Evelyn further and faster. "If so much is required than why summon me? You need to save your strength for the binding."
"I was sent on behalf of the queen herself. She grows more anxious as hours pass, she fears Evelyn's bond to the boy will prevent, or at the very least delay, her emergence into our world. Tell me, has she fallen in love with him yet?"
Puck furrowed his brow. "Not fully, but they are closer than either know." A chill ran down Puck's spine as another memory took hold. "I thought she would force my hand regardless of Evelyn's decision, kill us both if need be."
Hamnet frowned sadly. "That is still the case, but she desires Evelyn alive. Plans have been forged for her purpose here, plans that such a death will prevent."
"What are those plans?" Puck asked suspiciously.
"I do not know, if truth is to be told. Her desires towards Evelyn are a secret of the highest order, not even the servant's ears are privileged to whispers of her thoughts."
Puck was stunned. For servants to be kept in the dark meant the secrets were whispered only amongst the inner elite. Secrets such as that meant death to the wrong people. "So what are her plans to assure Evelyn's willingness to leave all she loves?"
Hamnet smiled. "You never take long to come to proper conclusion. The queen has decided to encourage Evelyn's love, and as such has created a gift for the boy."
The water in the basin grew to a blinding intensity as the calm center of the maelstrom began to boil. Puck's eyes widened as a small, glimmering object slowly floated through the water and breach the surface, floating inches above the moving water. Puck quickly snatched it from the air as the light in the water calmed and the boiling slowed to a stop. He opened his hand to inspect the gift in the remaining green light.
It was a ring, formed from the precious silvered gold created only in the other world. Its band was formed by tiny, intricately woven golden vines, all growing towards the top of the band to create an organic setting for a square-cut green gem. For a single moment the gem vibrated lightly, a tiny glow emanated from within its center and spread across its facets in a beautiful display. "This is for the boy?" Puck asked.
"Created by the queen's own magic. You must be sure Evelyn is the one to present it, and it must be received before their love is fully formed, else its purpose abandoned," Hamnet warned.
"And what is its purpose?" Puck asked, rotating the ring between his fingers.
"To bind his life to her magic. The stone used in the ring's creation is sister to the heartstone Evelyn has carried all her life. The moment their love blooms full, the ring's gem will bind energies not only with its sister stone, but with the life energy of whoever wears it as well. When bound the stone will glow, but only for the boy. Its glow represents Evelyn's life and magic, and so long as she lives he will be able to feel her life force and love flow through his body."
"How does that serve the queen's purpose?"
Hamnet's eyes narrowed. "It is the binding that serves her. The stone creates a connection between them, but that connection must be maintained by Evelyn's magic. So long as Evelyn's magic flows within, the stone will draw its power from her. If she were to ever lose her magic, the stone will draw its power from the life energy of the boy, even if he no longer wears it."
Puck studied the ring. "How much energy will it draw?"
"All of it. If Evelyn chooses to stay, the moment her magic dies, so will the boy."
Tears began to form in Puck's eyes. This was a betrayal far beyond anything he had ever done. Giving Evelyn the ring would assure she would never be with the one she loved. That was something not even Puck was sure he could do. "And if I refuse?"
"You can't," Hamnet said dangerously. "The queen is watching you, closely. If Evelyn doesn't receive the ring, or if she learns of the ring's true purpose before they are bound, then the queen will take matters into her own hands. She wants Evelyn alive, but the moment she thinks Evelyn will refuse to cross over, she'll take possession of your mind and kill you both. The choice is yours, Puck. Use Evelyn's love for the boy to force her to cross into our world, or betray your queen and watch Evelyn die before she kills you as well."