Hey guys! Aren't you proud of me for updating? This is a shorter chapter but I HAVE AN EXCUSE!!! While writing this chapter it got REALLY long, like, over 11 pages long and I thought that it was kind of dragging out so I divided one section into another chapter. I DID NOT CUT ANYTHING OUT!!! And the next chapter is half done so I should be updating again really soon! : ) As much as I hate to beg please vote and comment on this story if you like it! PS: A lot of songs are quoted in this chapter from Disney and I OWN NOTHING! ALL COPYRIGHT IS DISNEY FOR THOSE SONGS WHICH I DO SAY ARE DISNEY'S! Sorry, didn't know exactly how to disclaim that part of this chapter :). Any who... Enjoy!
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“Faye?”
“Go away.”
“Get up.”
“Get lost.” I hear P shift, annoyed. I can really get under that guy’s ever-changing skin, can’t I? His own fault for locking me up. I wouldn’t be bothering him if he’d let me go already. Or if he left me to rest in peace. After fifty bajillion nightmares, I’m still itching for a couple more z’s. Z’s are much better than P’s.
“You have five minutes.” I hear P’s angry footsteps leaving. I groan. I hate getting up. I don’t care if I’m in prison, kidnapped or late for school, I hate waking up. I open my eyes and see that I’m in the same cell that I had been singing in yesterday. (It was a full day, right? So hard to tell underground…) I spot a stack of clothes in the corner. Oh yeah, my payment.
I sit up and immediately regret it. You know that feeling you get after exercise? The I-just-got-plowed-down-by-a-tractor-and-then-ran-a-marathon-up-a-mountain feeling. Well, times that by two and throw in ran-over-by-herd-of-obese-cows. That’s how I feel. I’m all bandaged up to stop my bleeding but I know for a fact he could have healed me and he didn’t. That jerk. I sit up again, slower this time, and make my way over to the stack of clothes. I recognize them immediately. A green collar shirt made of super soft material, my favorite pair of jeans and my black combat boots. How did this creep know what my favorite outfit was? Question two: How did he get it? Sadly I have the answer to both. The guy’s a stalker. I sigh. Well, there’s nothing I can do about that. I take off my torturous shoes and glittery costume and settle into the soft material of jeans and thin cotton. My feet send Thank You Card messages to my brain when I change from the heels to the comfy boots. Even though I’m still all beat up, I feel a million times better. I look down at where the stack of clothes had been. He had even left a hairbrush and ponytail. How thoughtful. I pull my hair into a side braid that almost reaches my waist. I really need a haircut.
“Faye?” I hear P call from down the hall. At least he checked before coming in. I’ll give him that credit.
“I’m dressed,” I say, setting fire to my costume and heels. Boy does that feel good! P stalks over in front of my cell. He’s now appearing as Taylor Lautner. He casts one glance one understanding look at my little bonfire but doesn’t say anything about it. I give him an unimpressed look at his appearance. He smiles,
“Don’t you like?” he asks.
“I would if you went around like that in public. It’s just not fun if you just play dress-up at home.”
“And here I was assuming that an hour in the car would have cooled you down a bit,” P says with a sigh. True that I’m dead tired and crazy sore but I can’t let down now. He can’t do anything to me that will stop me from getting out of here. Wizard or not this guy is nothing more than an arrogant stalker. I will not let him keep me locked up.
“What a stupid wizard you are,” I state. His lips purse in a tight line. “Oh! Let me introduce myself. I’m Faye from Roadside Assistance! I heard you got your car broke by an extremely awesome and powerful witch and need help with the repairs…I also see you’ve paid in advance. So! Where is this so cunningly destroyed vehicle?” P scowls at my jokes (which I’m quite proud of by the way; I love my humor even when I’m the only one who does) but opens the bars to let me through. I follow P through the halls (and through the walls) humming I’ve Got a Dream from Disney’s Tangled as loud as I can. His jaw is clenched tightly together and I know I’m annoying him. Score for Faye! We get back to the garage with the now mangled car sitting in the middle of the floor.
“Finally,” P says when we arrive. I smile to myself. Finally is right. Finally I found his weakness! He doesn’t like Disney songs! Who doesn’t like Disney songs? Weirdo. P hands me a toolbox and I carry it over to the car and get to work.
“How long is this going to take?” P inquires. A plan springs up in my mind just like that *snap*. Oh I’m so glad you asked that,
“It’s going to be a few hours. I kinda totaled it, didn’t I? It’s definitely fixable though. It’ll just take a while,” I say, assessing the car. I really did screw it up though. I fight down a smile of pride. P closes his eyes and puts his hand on his forehead like I’m giving him a headache.
“Fine. Just get it done soon.”
“Yes, sir!” I say with a military salute but instead of locking my legs together I jump so I land with my toes facing inward to each other. It’s so much more fun that way. P rolls his eyes and leans back against the wall to watch me work. I rip the hood off the car and see P flinch. What is it with guys and their cars? Relax! I can fix it! Gosh. Have some faith.
I keep humming Disney songs as I start telling the various tools what to do via telepathy. After a dozen of them are busy taking out nuts and bolts and repairing pipes I start singing out loud. “Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete? Wouldn’t you think I’m a girl, a girl who has everything? Look at this trove, treasures unknown! How many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here you think, sure, she’s got everything. I’ve got gadgets and gizmos of plenty. I’ve got oozits and whatz-its galore! Want a thing-a-ma-bob? I’ve got twenty!” I continue singing Disney’s The Little Mermaid at half volume until P glares at me. Then I start belting out the lyrics. “I WANT TO SEE, WANT TO SEE THEM DANCING! WALKING AROUND ON THOSE-WHAT ARE THEY CALLED AGAIN-FEET! FLIPPING YOUR FINNS YOU DON’T GET TOO FAR…” P grinds his teeth together, glaring in utter annoyance. I keep up my off-key, ear-splittingly loud singing until P finally stands up.
“I’m going to get ear plugs. I will be back in one minute. If you try anything, you’ll regret it.” P threatens. I wave him off, still in the middle of singing You’ve Never Had A Friend Like Me from Disney’s Aladdin. I watch him leave. It worked. I smile. Perfect. You stupid, low-patience wizard! Disney will be your downfall! Haha! I pick up one of the extra screws from the toolbox. P may have set the bars against me but he lifted all his control over the tools and screws so I could fix his precious car. He won’t notice one missing screw unless he is hopelessly OCD and from the looks of this garage, I’m safe. Do you want a job? I ask the small metal object in my hand. Really? Me? What kind of job? I hear in reply. A very very important job. The most important job of all. But you can only do it if you trust me and don’t tell the wizard. He doesn’t think you can do the job but I do. I can feel a sense of pride welling up inside the little screw. I’ll show him! I can do it! What do you need? It asks with full confidence. I need you to scout out these tunnels to find the surface. Any road you can find to get this car out of here. Got it? I feel the confidence draining from the small screw. So you don’t want me to help you fix the car? It asks. No! No! You’re a very reliable screw. You’re better than to be used in this heap of scrap metal. I’ll find something super special for you to hold together if you can do this job. I tell it. You promise? The screw asks and I imagine the piece of metal with big puppy dog eyes. I promise. I say and think of all the cool stuff I could make when I get out of here. Yeah, I’ll find something awesome to put this little screw in. Okay! I let the screw drop out of my hand and when it hits the floor it begins to roll. Soon it’s gone with no trace left behind.
P returns. I resume singing Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. He looks satisfied as he leans back with his ear plugs in. The car isn’t that out of place, despite being extensively damaged. It’s just that every single part of it had been imploded. Mostly I just had the tools beat the crap out of the metal until it regained its usual shape and then put it back in. The engine was the hardest part yet repairable. It’s magical components were hard wired to the electrical ones but I realized that the car had been unable to drive before because of a corroded axle rod. What a stupid reason for a car to not be able to drive.
“HEY YOU!” I yell to P, trying to be heard over his ear plugs.
“What?” P asks, taking out the foam cushions.
“Do you have any extra metal?”
“Metal?”
“You know, kind of shiny, kind of hard to break and most of the time solid. Do you have a sheet, an action figure, a couple of pens? Your rods are, like, completely gone.” It takes P a half a moment to process.
“Uh, sure, I guess. How much do you need?” I motion for him to come over and show him the spot I need to fill. He nods as he checks over the spot and I give him an approximated amount. P snaps his fingers and a couple of prison bars shoot through the wall.
“Steel and metal. Learn the difference.” I say. I can’t work with steel. It just won’t work for the axle to be able to roll the wheels of this ancient car. P taps on the bars.
“Steel and metal. Learn the difference,” he says.
“They’re just metal?” I ask, incredulously. P has one of the bars stand up and he throws a punch at it. OUCH!!! I think. The contact does indeed look painful but the bar is visibly dented.
“Held hostage by how hard you thought the bars were,” P says with a smirk. My mouth drops. I am such an idiot! How could I have missed that? P chuckles as he walks away.
“DOE A DEER A FEMALE DEER! RAY A DROP OF GOLDEN SUN! ME A NAME I CALL MYSELF! FAR A LONG LONG WAY TO RUN!” I scream after him, quoting Disney’s Sound of Music. He puts his ear plugs back in.
I turn the metal bars (after P took all his weird charms off them) into proper parts for the car and continue to reassemble under the hood. I also make sure to make an extra key with the leftover part of the bars. I tuck it in my pocket for safe keeping.
“Almost done yet, Faye?” P asks.
“Give me five minutes…not even,” I say. I watch as the tools all wrench in their last pieces of the car and I shut the hood. I go inside the car and check over the interior. I place a hand on the car and can immediately communicate with every piece and sense that it is in perfect working condition. I check over it again, and again, and again and again…CLINK! I look out the windshield and see my endearing little screw sitting on the hood, it’s head pointed to the far east corner of the garage.
“DONE!” I yell. I climb out of the car and am hit with a wave of soreness at standing up again. It’s going to take a while for me to recover from this one. P comes over and I hold out my hand.
“Test drive time. Keys please.” P actually laughs.
“Not in a million years.” He sets his ear plugs aside and climbs into the driver’s seat. I sigh and climb in the passenger side. He takes out his key and turns it into the ignition. The car turns on and so does the radio.
“WELCOME TO 99.FAYE! HER MUSIC HER WAY! ALL. THE. TIME!” The radio begins to play back my three hours of recorded of me singing Disney songs.
“NO!” P yells and shoots me a murderous look.
“You never said I couldn’t make modifications.” I say innocently. He pulls the keys out of the ignition.
“Fix it.” He says in a deadly tone, getting out of the car. I sigh.
“Fine”. I say. “But can you make sure there isn’t something behind the back tire before you put your ear plugs back in? It sounded weird when you started the car.” I slide over into the driver’s seat, careful to avoid the button which trigger the whole swirling windshield deal, while P goes to the back tire. Rule One of Kidnapping: Do not kidnap Faye Lightcaster. I take the key out of my pocket and shove it into the ignition. My foot stomps on the gas and I shift the car into reverse and I hear a shocked wail before a thump. From the view of my mirrors he is neither dead nor unharmed. I then slam the throttle back up to drive. The car screeches forward. I drive into the direction my little friend directs me, swirling like the arrow of a compass I put all my trust in the little screw as I drive through walls and through metal bars.
“FAYE!!!” I hear an enraged voice scream behind me. I keep my foot all the way down on the gas. Let’s hope he doesn’t have enough tricks to catch me now. I urge the ancient Ford through another wall in which it passes smoothly through and I’m hit with a blinding ray of sunlight. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my chest. I’m out.
I can’t help but let out a scream of joy as I fly down the open road. It only hits me a full minute later that I have no idea whatsoever about where I am. My little friend (I think I’m going to name him Simba the Screw) is out of directions at this point so I’m just aimlessly flying down the open road. Crap. There is nothing out here. Nothing! Suddenly I see the speed gage’s arrow going down…and down…and down. What’s going on? I look at my Fuel. Empty. I ran out of gas. Of course I ran out of gas! It couldn’t have just been easy. If you call that easy. The car sputters to a stop. For the love of Disney! Seriously?!?! I let my head fall against the steering wheel in defeat. Except that added to my list of bruises. OUCH! No padding at all?! Honestly!
I sighed and opened the door. I pass by Simba and pick him up, telling him my thanks and he reminds me to keep my end. I assure him I will and put him in my pocket. Then I start to walk. I walk for at least 3 hours and 45 minutes before stopping. Nothing but cornfields and open road and it’s getting dark. I wish there was such thing as a Nightbus like in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I keep walking after a short break.
I can’t give up now. I try to think of something other than my aching body. I wonder if this is how Dominico felt after I through him in a dumpster. I hope not. I’ll have to apologize again when I get home. I wonder how Rowan and Gracie are. They’re such cute dogs. I bet they could enter a dog show or competition together. That would be the funniest thing ever. They could practice at the dog park. Rowan loves the dog park. I’ll have to make sure to show Dominico where it is so he can take Gracie there sometimes. I wonder where my parents think I am. Did Dominico tell them the truth? He must have had to by now. They’re probably looking for me. Probably not somewhere like this deserted road though. I wonder where they are looking. They’re probably way off, wherever they are.
I look up to see the stars start twinkling in the sky. It’s really dark out now. Crap. I guess I just have to keep going forward. I see a light up ahead. My first reaction: IT CAN’T END NOW!!! Then I realize that the light is 100% earthly. In fact, it’s a gas station. I almost cry in joy. I have never liked gas stations very much but I’ve never been so happy to see a building in my life. Despite my numerous injuries and aching feet, I start to run. I run all the way to the gas station.
I walk into the BP station store so relieved that I have to recover a minute before I can answer the old man working there’s ‘hello.’
“Excuse me but can you tell me directions on how to get to Rockyglenn from here?” I ask. The man chuckles.
“You’re not the only one to ask that. Sorry for the laugh but everyone says they seem to be traveling forever to get there but they’re just so close! So all you want to do is keep going a little less than a mile down this road here, see, and then you’re going to go turn left at Brookside Boulevard right up there and just continue down there until you hit Main Street another half mile later. Got it?”
“Yes. Oh my gosh, thank you so much!” I say and give the old man an elated smile. Not even a mile and a half! I’m almost home! I exit the store, sounding off the charms and run through the night on pure adrenaline. At Brookside Boulevard I turn right and I immediately know where I am. I slow down my pace as my mind finally registers the abuse I’ve been putting my body through. By the time I get to my street I’m exhausted. By the time I find my house in the dead of darkness I have to lean against the backdoor for five minutes before I have the strength to turn the doorknob with the key in the Altoid’s box in the dirt of the peony plants. I breath in the familiar smells of home and also pick up the scent of cold pizza. Pizza. My stomach rumbles. I don’t know if my body wants me to eat or sleep first. The backdoor of my house opens into the living room of my house and then there’s the kitchen with the dining room on the other side. I hear voices inside the dining room all talking in serious tones.
“So I’ll go with Mrs. Lightcaster up to this first location in Sparrow’s Wood while Izabella and Mrs. Redwind go out to Greenspring Alley to check out that holding. Got it?” I hear Dominico’s voice instruct. What is Dominico doing in my house? I make my way over to the doorway of the dining room while he’s talking. There are maps with all kinds of marks and symbols on them along with phones, tracking devices and even my truck keys laid out on the table. So this was their rescue attempt. They’re going the wrong way.
“Someone should stay behind in case he leaves a ransom or something,” Izabella says. I raise my hand and try to ignore the pain in my shoulder.
“I’ll do that. I’m not going anywhere in the near future.” I say. Four pairs of eyes, three pairs of silver and my mother’s turn to me in shock. “Oh, hi, by the way.” I say.
“FAYE!!!” Izabella is the first to recover and smothers me with a hug. I stumble at her strength and struggle to keep myself upright.
“Izabella!” I say, miserably failing to sound optimistic.
“ARE YOU OK? HOW DID YOU ESCAPE?! WE WERE GOING TO COME AFTER YOU! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S YOU! WE’VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE! DOMINICO HASN’T SLEPT IN, LIKE, A WEEK! WE’VE ALL BEEN WORRIED SICK!” Izabella screams in my ear. I grasp tightly to the doorframe to keep my balance.
“I actually think I’m going to be sick,” I say honestly. My mom runs to me, crying, and gives a much gentler but very long hug. I really try not to barf. Adrenaline. Gone. Going. Down. Systems. Offline. “Mom,” I say, trying to get her attention. “I think my ribs are broken.” I’m too tired to show the pain I feel. I am literally on the verge of passing out.
“You’re OK! You’re OK!” she keeps crying over and over.
“I’m OK. I’m OK.” I assure her. “Mom, are you OK?” She hugs me even tighter and pain flares in my ribs.
“Anastacia, I think Faye is going to pass out,” Mrs. Redwind says firmly. My mom pulls away and I slump back against the doorframe, going a little cross eyed. Mrs. Redwind comes over to me and after giving me a soft hug of her own helps me back across the kitchen to the living room where she plops me down on a couch. Mrs. Redwind is a healer. She’ll know what to do with me.
“Fayeleia? Can you hear me?” I nod, the world was growing more blurry by the second.
“Do you remember what happened?” she asks. I nod again.
“What did you use to escape?” Mrs. Redwind asks. I pull Simba out of my pocket and place it in her palm.
“This?” She asks incredulously.
“It’s,” I gasp for breath, “a long story.”
“Did he do this to you?” Mrs. Redwind asks, indicating all my wounds.
“It’s a long story,” I repeat.
“What do you mean?” She presses.
“He’s…he’s a wizard.” I whisper. The room goes totally silent.
“Wh-What did he look like?” Mrs. Redwind asks after a second of stunned silence. I shrug and feel a shoot of pain.
“Dominico mostly. Daniel Radcliff. Taylor Lautner. He was annoying about it,” I say. I feel my eyes begin to close.
“Fayeleia. You have to stay awake until you tell us what happens, in case you forget later.” She says. That makes sense but I don’t know if I can talk.
“Mom,” I hear Dominico say, “she needs to sleep. Look at her! She’s falling over.” Come on, I urge myself. One more task. One last thing. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and speed talk faster than I had ever speed talked before for a solid minute. I told them everything. At the end I gasped for breath and had to catch myself before I fell over on the couch. I feel someone sit down next to me but they’re shrouded by the black spots in my vision. In the background I hear people asking me a half a million questions. I don’t focus on them though. I can only hear the person beside me.
“Faye.” Dominico says, his voice pulsing his warlock magic. “Sleep.”