Ugh. I don't want to get up. I look at my clock. 8:06 A.M. 8:06?!?!?! It's like second period already!!! I jolt up in bed and throw off my covers before realizing, duh, it's Saturday. I lie back down. No rush. It's been almost two weeks since my fight with Dominico-I mean date with Daniel. Not thinking about Dominico. Nope. Nada.
Yeah, right. I sigh. Honestly, Dominico hasn't been off my mind at all in the past two weeks. He may be a contestant for the most annoying male on earth. And if he's not a contestant, he's the winner. I roll out of bed, almost stepping on Rowan's tail, and get dressed. I have no intention of going anywhere today so I just throw on a pair of stretchy jeans and a blue yarn sweater. I give myself a quick haircut before pulling my shoulder-length hair into a ponytail.
When I hop down the steps to the kitchen I see a note on the counter from my mom,
'Went to see Grandma -should be come around three. Love you. Make breakfast. Do laundry. Talk to people (Humans. Rowan doesn't count). -Mom' Ugh. So much work. I have to talk to people? This is bogus. I pour myself a bowl of generic utterly tasteless cereal while mulling over my own inability to communicate to members of the human race. Rowan comes prancing to my side as if saying, "But you've still got me!" Yes. If all else fails, I'll still have Rowan.
DING DONG! ZAP! Oops. I should probably undo that. I hurry to the door to check on whoever might have been unfortunate enough to ring the Doorbell of Death.
"Are you alri-" I stop when I open the door. Dominico is lying on the front porch, clutching his arm which is lightly shaking.
"No, I'm dying. You killed me. Is death an equal punishment for my stupid stunt?" he asks. I can't help but smile so I bite my lip to keep it from showing. Dominico sighs. "Look, Faye," he says standing up. "I'm not going to tell you I'm sorry because that doesn't even begin to cover it. But I miss you, Faye. I miss you so much. Please, just let me come in," he begs. I freeze. Dominico showing up at my door was probably the last thing I expected today. I mean, a llama with a unicorn horn would probably not have shocked me as much as this... never mind. That would be really awesome and probably blow my mind. So this is the SECOND TO LAST thing I expected to see today.
"Sure," I hear myself say. What? No! He's a jerk! Kick him out, stupid girl! He smiles at me and I can physically feel my mental reserve crumble to ashes. Dominico walks in and Rowan comes to greet him but instead of usually sniffing him, he starts growling. "Rowan, calm down, it's just Dominico." I tell him. Rowan starts barking and baring his teeth in his direction. I pet him to calm him down and let him outside.
"So what have you been up to?" Dominico asks, looking ecstatically happy for some reason. He glances at the note my mom left. I make a grab for it but he holds it above my reach as he reads. "Talk to humans is one of your chores?" he asks. I jump up and snatch the paper from his hand.
"Why do you think I let you in?" I grumble. He laughs and wraps me in a hug. It feels different from all his other playful hugs though...less warm.
"Because you missed me too," he says. I laugh humorlessly.
"As if," I scoff. He smiles at me but something in his eyes causes me to shiver and quickly move away.
"I honestly didn't think my impression of P was that good," Dominico says. Why on earth would he want to go there?
"You could be an actor," I tell him. "Let's forget about it though." Dominico smirks at me and leans over to whisper in my ear.
"You want to forget about me, Fayeleia?" his voice has the cold tone that sends me reeling away from him.
"Seriously," I say. "Stop." Dominico starts laughing hysterically. I frown. Some apology, Redwind. Why would he do it again and then laugh about it? He buries his face in his hands from laughing too hard.
"He made it so easy!" he exclaims. "You can't even tell me from him anymore!" Dominico lifts his hands from his face and I freeze. It's Alec...and then slowly Ryan...then slowly Dominico again. I shoot to my feet and grab the closest thing to me. A spoon. Oh crap.
"What do you want?" I growl at him. He smiles evilly at me.
"Do you remember when I told you I only needed one thing to get everything I wanted? And that that one thing was you? I lied. I need one other person too. He throws me my phone which I have no idea how he got.
"Call him," he says.
"No. Get out. Now." P inches closer to me and I raise my spoon in defense.
"You can't make me, Faye." He says.
"We'll see about that," I say and throw a punch at his face, dropping the spoon because of all the utensils, it's the most useless. P blocks my punch by ducking out of the way and letting my fist slam into the granite countertop. OWW!!! I yelp in pain and cradle my injured wrist. I scowl at P who simply smirks back. Suddenly he sends up a kick that hits my chin and thrusts upwards. I'm knocked backwards and the back of my head is slammed into a cabinet. I taste blood and pain shoots through my head. The world starts spinning uncontrollably and I try to focus my gaze. However, P has other ideas. With a quick kick, my knees buckle under me and I sink to the ground. Suddenly I hear barking outside the back door before I hear the lock click open. I force myself to look up and I see P turn around. Standing in the doorway, with Rowan at his side is Dominico.
"Faye! Did you know that Rowan ran all the way to my house on his-" he stops when he sees us. P smirks at him and I blink to keep the line of blood dripping down my forehead out of my eye.
"Well, well, look who's here," P says. Rowan growls.
"Get away from her," Dominico says in a hard voice, stepping closer.
"Dominico," I warn, my voice wavering slightly from my dizziness. "he doesn't want me." Dominico's eyes flash dangerously in P's direction. P actually looks unsure of himself for once. Then he regains himself with a cool grin.
"All she had to do was call you, you know. Bring you here and I wouldn't have hurt her. Poor girl didn't want you to get hurt," he says gesturing to me. I use the cabinet behind me for support as I force myself to stand up. P pulls a knife out of a kitchen drawer. How did he know where that was?!
"I'm here now," Dominico says, looking scared at the knife. "Don't hurt her anymore. You don't need her, right?"
"Don't hurt her anymore?" P chuckles. "That's rich, coming from you."
"Leave him alone," I growl.
"Do you know how I got in?" P asks Dominico. "She let me in. She can't tell the difference between us anymore." Dominico looks horrified at that thought. I don't know what to say. I can't call him a liar because I did let him in. But telling them apart when they're standing next to each other really isn't that much of a challenge.
"Yeah well that's my fault," Dominico says, his voice shaking. "Don't hurt her because of it. What do you want from me? Why couldn't you just come get me yourself?" P turns around and swings the kitchen knife so it sticks in the cabinet right next to my face. I gasp in surprise and Dominico lunges forward. P wags a finger at him.
"Ah ah ah! Here's your... motivation to do what I want," he says. From his back pocket he pulls out an ancient set of keys that I recognize too well. I look out the window and see the ancient Ford outside of my house.
"Dominico, get out of here," I tell him. "Now!"
"Let's go for a ride," P says with a smirk. Dominico pays me no attention.
"Fine. But she stays here," Dominico says, nodding to me. P debates this for a second. Suddenly all my muscles get cold, a bitter, painful kind of cold. My breathing becomes labored and I feel myself falling over. P pushes me backwards to keep me upright.
"Stop! What are you doing?!" Dominico yells, racing to my other side.
"Making sure she doesn't go anywhere," P says, letting me go so Dominico catches me. I can't move. My muscles are frozen in place.
"Faye! Can you hear me?" Dominico asks, holding me gently. I can't move my mouth to answer. P walks leisurely to the door as Dominico carries me to the couch, his hand gently cradles my head as he sets me down.
"You're going to be Ok," he tells me quietly. "I'm not going to let him near you." Dominico follows P to the car, sending one last look in my direction. I want to yell at him to head for the hills but I doubt he would even if I could yell. Rowan was only trying to get someone to help me so I can't be mad at him, but why did Dominico have to come? He's going to see the same things that I saw before. I can't just lie here! I'm not some damsel in distress! The magic freezing my muscles is like an ice-cold concrete. I try to squirm around as I see Dominico get into the ancient Ford through the front windows of my house. No! What can I do... what can I do... Well first I've got to warm up.
If I had one good shot at that guy, oh man I'd knock that smug smirk of his all the way into next week! I freeze. Even though that little voice inside my head sure sounds a lot like me, it's not. Nala?
You still need to put in the microphones for voice control. Right now I'm still on this whole weird telepathy thing. Simba the screw's little voice is magnified by the complex program I've installed him into. This is perfect! Nala, I need your help. I tell her/he/it...I don't know the pronoun, my plan. I imagine a computer screen getting a smug smirk on its face. That's creepy.
Yes! I'm on it... it might take a little bit though. Please hurry. On it!
I look through the windows and see P and Dominico coming back in. P looks like Alec and Dominico looks terrified. When they come through the door, I feel my muscles loosen 2954567%. I try to stand up but my legs won't move. Thanks P. No legs? Seriously.
"Dominico," I start. He looks up at me and I see the remains of terror in his eyes although I can tell he's trying to hide it. P walks over to me and his fingers skim through my hair.
"Get. Away. From her," Dominico threatens.
"Yeah? Are you going to-" P starts.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Dominico yells, his voice brimming with magic. P stumbles backwards from me, dazed. Dominico steps between me and him. I stare at him wide-eyed. He just used magic on a wizard. And it worked!!! Dominico turns to me.
"Faye are-"
"BEHIND YOU!" I yell. P swings a punch at Dominico that connects with the side of his face. Dominico stumbles backwards, trying to regain his balance. P swings another punch but I push all the air I can in his direction to keep it from doing any harm. Ugh! I so want to get up...the world starts to swirl...actually maybe sitting down is a better option for me right now.
"The two of you are quite impressive," P says, licking his lips. "I've just had a good idea."
"It's always great to experience new things," I tell him.
"You want to know who I am, right?" P asks, ignoring me. Dominico and I share a look before nodding. "Well you're going to have to prove yourselves to find out!"
"If that means kick your butt then we have an understanding," I growl at him.
"Faye," Dominico says in a warning tone. He looks nervous and I notice how he seems to be shielding me even more than before. He looks... scared. But not for himself. Does he honestly think I can't take care of myself? I've beat him twice haven't I? Although, admittedly, my legs are utterly useless at the moment. Oh well. I can still put up a decent fight. I send a pan from the kitchen flying at P's head. He ducks just in time but Dominico sends a kick at his nose. Even from still sitting on the couch I can hear it break. Suddenly my vision goes dark. I gasp in surprise.
"Faye, what's wrong?" Dominico asks, concerned.
"I-I can't see!" I tell him. I start internally freaking out. I hear another punch being thrown before my vision returns. I see P now has a black eye and Dominico is standing over him looking furious. I try to stand up but my legs refuse to work. P kicks Dominico backwards but before he can land another blow on him I throw a couch pillow at his face. Not my best attack but it gave Dominico a second to get up.
"Did you just throw a pillow at me?" P asks, amazed.
"Yep," I say. I throw a chair into the back of his head. He falls forwards with a cry of pain. "Was that better?" I growl. Suddenly I'm flung off the couch and into a wall. I hear a sickening crack of bone. I'm stunned for a second, unable to feel any pain at all. Then my brain catches up. My right arm (No! not the good arm!) explodes in pain. I suck in my breath to hold back screaming in pain. It's bent at an odd angle that makes my stomach do a cartwheel. I grit my teeth together without making a sound. That's going to have to be reset. But not now. I try my legs again and this time I'm able to stand up.
Dominico is holding off P who has started throwing punches at him. I'm surprised at how fast Dominico moves but it's not fast enough. P lands a blow on the side of his cheek that sends him reeling backwards. Then, with a sudden flip, magic throws him onto the burner of the stove which then turns on. Dominico scrambles to get off the stove but I hear him gasp in pain as his hands are burned. P throws a pan at him and he ducks just in time to avoid the blow. I stumble as I stand, tipping over a vase on the coffee table which shatters on the ground. I send the shards of glass hurling at P who only raises his hands to block his face. The glass slices his left hand, his side, his legs and it scrapes past his cheek. P turns his glare to me but before he can make a move, Dominico comes from behind him and punches his already black eye. P falls forward onto the ground. I hold my right arm protectively to my chest as I slowly make my way over. Dominico pins down P and holds up a fist for the final blow. P looks at him, winces but then his features start to morph...into me. I see Dominico falter and for a second his eyes dart to me, as if he was double checking to make sure I wasn't magically put in P's place.
P smiles and morphs into Alec again when Dominico's eyes flick up before kicking Dominico off of him and throwing him backwards. Dominico and I both come at him from opposite angles but P takes a shard of the glass vase and flings it, using magic to aim so it's lodged into my stomach. I gasp and stumble backwards as he turns to Dominico. He catches Dominico's punch and they just stand there, in a contest of strength when I hear the back door open again.
"Faye? Dominico?" Izabella's voice comes. She turns and sees us and her mouth falls open and her eyes go wide. P turns his head toward her and his eyes meet hers.
"Kill her," he tells her, strong magic in his words as he tilts his head toward me. Izabella freezes and I see her eyes take on a glazed-over look.
"NO! Izzy, don't!" Dominico yelps. "Get out of here!" there is magic in Dominico's voice to but his panic takes away effect and is no where near as strong as P's. Izabella walks toward me in a daze. I look around for anything but I'm a little preoccupied with the amount of blood oozing through my shirt.
"Izabella. You don't have to kill me," I try to tell her. She doesn't respond and comes at me faster. P slams his head into Dominico's and they both stumble away from each other, holding their bruised foreheads. Izabella reaches down and picks up a shard of glass from the vase. I pick up the fallen pillow that I threw at P with my left hand. How is this pillow the only thing I can ever find for a weapon? Izabella brings down the shard, aiming for my neck. I hit her with the pillow and she stumbles backwards a step.
NALA! HELP! Almost done! I need one more minute!
Izabella comes at me again and I jump over the back of the couch to avoid her. My toes catch on the edge of the couch's back and I fall forward, face planting into the carpet. I groan in pain but quickly roll to avoid a shard which stabs into the carpet right where my neck had been. Izabella spins around and sends a punch at my face which hits me square in the middle of my forehead. Black spots dot my vision and the room starts to swirl. I see Izabella raise the shard again.
"Faye!" Dominico yelps as he jumps between me and Izabella, pushing his sister backwards and holding her away from me. I start to regain my balance when P sends something flying in Dominico's direction. A coffee table. Dominico is thrown into a wall covered with pictures which crash down on him. Izabella springs toward me at the same time that P dives for Dominico.
"NALA!" I screech in fright. Done!
A bolt of electricity darts from the light and targets P who yells before dropping unconscious. Izabella stumbles back from me, blinking her glazed eyes rapidly. I crawl over to where Dominico is lying. The frames of the pictures had shattered and rained down glass on him, cutting him pretty badly and a puddle of blood was starting to form.
"Dominico! Dominico, can you hear me?" I yell in his face. He's silent for a moment before I hear his choked voice.
"Ye-Yeah." I almost cry in relief.
"Faye? Dominico?" Izabella asks, wide-eyed in fright.
"Izzy..." I say but then my vision blurs drastically. I feel my head fall onto Dominico's chest and see the black spots showing up in my vision start to widen until I'm falling into their abyss.
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I crack my eyes open but when bright light floods into my pupils, I close them again, thinking better of it.
"Faye? Look guys she's waking up!" I hear Alec's voice call. I open my eyes again and see the front room of the Redwinds' house. I'm lying on one of their black/purple colored couches and my arm is in a makeshift sling. Alec is leaning uncomfortably close to me and I see Rosaline at the other end of the room, standing next to Mrs. Redwind.
"Finally!" Mrs. Redwind sings happily, coming over.
"Wh-what happened?" I ask confused.
"We were kind of hoping you could tell us that," Alec explains. I think for a second before it all comes flooding back to me.
"Dominico! Is he alright?!" I burst out. Alec smirks.
"That's more like it! I knew that would be your first reaction. Took you long enough to have it." I look pleadingly at Mrs. Redwind and she calms me down.
"Dominico is fine. He's asleep now, in his room. He was trying to see you but I was still fixing you up then so Izabella used magic to get him to go to sleep," she explained.
"Izabella wasn't hurt, was she?" I ask. Mrs. Redwind shakes her head.
"Not a scratch but she was really upset. She brought you and Dominico here after... whatever went down. You still haven't told us about that part yet."
I tell them what happened with P and they all listen carefully with grim expressions.
"Come on, Rose." Alec says when I'm done. "Time to do our job. We're eyes and ears, right?" She nods stiffly before following him out of the room. I hear a thumping coming from above me.
"Dominico! Come back here! You're not fully healed or awake yet! You're going to hurt yourself on the stairs!" Izabella exclaims. I try to stand up but Mrs. Redwind forces me to stay seated so I don't get dizzy again.
"Faye!" I hear Dominico cry when he comes into view. Despite Mrs. Redwind's warning I jump to a standing position and rush across the room to crush him in a one-armed hug. He's surprised for a second but then he hugs me back tightly. My broken arm hurts like crazy but I couldn't care less.
"You're alright," he whispers over and over into my ear. Suddenly, Mrs. Redwind grabs both of our shirts and throws us onto the couch.
"Sit down. Honestly! You two will never heal if you keep sprinting around like that!" she scolds us. We both apologize and she goes to check on Izabella, muttering about stupid teenagers.
"I'm sorry!" We both blurt out at the same time. Dominico looks at me confused.
"You're sorry? What did you do?" he asks.
"Um, if I recall correctly I sorta kinda challenged a psychopathic wizard to a fight." I explain. Dominico rolls his eyes.
"Oh yeah, because I'm sure that if you'd said 'no thanks' he would have left us alone," Dominico says sarcastically. I think about that for a second. "Faye," Dominico says, stopping my train of thought. "What did he say to you? When you thought he was me?"
"Um basically he said-"
"Exactly."
"Exactly? Um, he got zapped by my doorbell first but then he said, 'I'm not going to tell you I'm sorry because that doesn't even begin to cover it. But I miss you, Faye. I miss you so much. Please, just let me come in.'" Dominico blinks at me blankly.
"And you let him in?"
"I thought he was you!"
"I know! Is that all I had to say? Faye, I miss you like crazy! I could have easily said that! I miss you and I'm sorry? That's practically all I've thought about for the past week! You would have seriously let me in? Why?" I shrug, feeling an annoyingly girlie blush creep up into my cheeks.
"I've missed you too, you know." I tell him. He wraps his arms around me and holds me gently.
"Faye? Please never make me stay away from you again," he requests. I nod and bury my face into his shoulder.
"Dominico? Please don't be that much of an idiot ever again," I request. He laughs.
"Deal. And if I am, you have full permission to knock me out."
"You think I wouldn't have without your permission?" I ask. Dominico laughs and I smile.
"Touché." He says. We stay in that position for another minute before Izabella pops her head into the room.
"Hey, Faye," she says nervously. I smile at her.
"Hey. You alright?" I ask her. She nods and sits down next to us. Dominico and I scoot away from each other.
"Wait, P's not still at my house, right?" I ask her nervously. She shakes her head.
"He was gone after I dragged Dominico into my mom's car," she pulls a note out of her pocket. "I just found this." I accept the note from Izabella and Dominico leans over my shoulder to read it.
'Congratulations. You won. I'm impressed. Faye- I've got to admit your nickname is beginning to grow on me. Four letters like love. Mine's like Tragedy.
-P and without d proceeds the end'
"What on Earth does that mean?" Dominico asks.
"I think that this is our last clue," I say, surveying the note again. Tragedy. Seven letters. That makes sense. But what about the rest of it?
"We'll figure it out," Dominico assures me.
"Not right now you won't!" Mrs. Redwind declares, shoving plates of food in our direction. "Eat. Sleep. Then you can try to figure it out. Not before. Or else." We both smile sheepishly at her before excepting the plates with quiet 'Thank you's. Dominico and I share a look. A I-HATE-psycho-wizards-look. And it was true. No more chances. That's it. I HATE psychopathic wizards. ESPECIALLY when they're out to get me.
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Hey fantastic readers! How goes it? I wasn't planning on updating today but I'm procrastinating and that means I update! Yay! It's really awful. Tell me what you think of this chapter though! I want to know! Glad they made up? Sad? PLEASE TELL!!! Honestly, I read your comments and take your word into consideration when I write! Anyway, thanks for reading my story this far! Updates soon!
Magically yours,
Rosewood7