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Chapter 41
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2024-10-29 19:42:56I rush into the kitchen, and I'm met with the last thing I expect to find.
My mom and dad are sitting down at our kitchen table with Zee, Grace, and Grace's mom. A pink-haired girl is clutching onto Zee, her face twisted in shock, her mouth hanging open in mid-scream. It takes me a second to recognize Jamie.
That's right. She said she was dying her hair for the Nasty Gal blogger shoot. What's she doing here? What are any of them doing here?
All eyes are on Felix, as he stands glowering near the doorway.
Zee's expression is glazed over and I'm guessing she's in shock from seeing Felix again.
I can see the realization dawning on her, and as if to follow Jamie's cue, she gasps and her eyes widen. I can see the scream before I hear it. I swoop forward and wrap my hand around her mouth just in time.
"Wher
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FABLE Chapter 42
I watch from my bedroom window until I see the taillights of my dad's car disappear into the darkness. It took ages for my parents to leave.They asked Jamie and Zee to go home as soon as Felix left, and then they interrogated me for almost an hour. They probably would have carried on longer if they didn't need to get to Biblio for the late night Sunday supper service.That's one perk of having chefs for parents – it's always just a matter of time before they have to rush back to the kitchen.With my phone on silent and a giant mug of chai tea on my bedside table, I sprawl out on my bed with my laptop in front of me.It's time to clear some things up.First I check the official Fable fansites, then the most popular Tumblrs and Fable Twitter accounts. As expected, everyone thinks the boys are spread out across the globe on vacation during the hiatus between albums.
FABLE Chapter 43
Unfortunately, it's not Felix on the other side of the door.There's a rake-thin woman in a long black dress standing in the doorway. Even though her face is concealed by a red scarf wrapped around her head like a shawl, I can tell immediately that she's really old.She's holding a basket filled to the brim with gleaming red apples. A gnarled hand reaches into the basket and strokes one of the apples, the fingers lazily tracing the plump crimson fruit. The old woman appears to be muttering something over and over again. It sounds like the word fated, or maybe hated.Nope, not happening. It's too early for Halloween.I start closing the door, ready to lock it and run upstairs, possibly even call 911.Just before the door shuts, I hear a voice say my name."Ashling?"She pushes the scarf back, revealing a familiar face.
FABLE Chapter 44
I'm standing beneath a starry sky on the edge of a jagged cliff.Ocean waves crash against a rocky shore far below, churning up swirling sea foam bathed in silvery moonlight.My hair whips around me; the wind stings my eyes.I stand for a long time, looking down at the raging seas.Somewhere in that dark ocean, the bus is sinking, a metal coffin falling forever.I can feel the cold interior slick with blood; I can hear my classmates calling me.There's a tug in my chest, like an invisible string pulling me forward.Somehow I know that if I look too long, I'll float out to sea, and I'll never be able to swim back.So I focus my attention on the pale white ribbon of sand that stretches like a snake out along the base of the cliffs far below, glowing faintly with trapped moonlight.A procession of figures in silver
FABLE Chapter 45
I wake up crying.The image of Mia with a bloody rose blooming from her lips makes my stomach turn, and I realize I'm about to hurl.I make it to the bathroom in the nick of time, and I throw-up up until I taste bile.Afterwards, I take a hot shower, scrubbing away the night's memories and terrors.If only I could forget it all.Forget the nightmare. Forget the accident. Forget Evan and Mia.Once I'm done in the shower, I change into skinny jeans, a white cami, and my red hoodie.The same hoodie that the Alastaire's Angels tore to shreds the night of the concert. I never did ask Felix how he mended it so quickly. Although it's not like he would have mended it personally. Maybe someone at the hotel did it.I run my fingers over the seams, looking for some stitch out of place, a clue, but it's as perfect a
FABLE Chapter 46
By the time I reach the boys’ hideout, it’s already past 9am.Someone’s gonna be sooo pissed.A mental image of Felix impatiently sitting on the steps outside the front door with a scowl plastered on his face pops into my mind, and I find it oddly satisfying.Let him wait. I’m not his slave.But as I leave the forest and walk across the clearing towards the cabin, I can see that the steps are empty. He’s not waiting.Maybe he forgot.I’m glad to finally be finished the long walk – I bought my guitar along in its case today, and it gets surprisingly heavy after almost an hour of carrying it.I pause at the foot of the steps, looking up at the carpet of brilliant red roses clinging to the front of the cabin.As the princess lay slumbering, around the castle the
FABLE Chapter 47
By the time we wrap up and leave the recording studio, I’m feeling on top of the world.Elliot was totally right. As soon as we started jamming, everything just fell into place.The boys had already written most of the music and lyrics for the new album. They’d been practicing the songs for weeks, and the only thing missing was the acoustic guitar.At first they just played through what they had, and I slipped in, adding the sound of my guitar to the music they’d already created.It was clear to see why Felix was so determined to include acoustic guitar on the new album. Without it, the songs had the same old familiar indie rock sound of their previous singles. But with the addition of the extra sound, everything seemed to take on a mystical, romantic, almost eerie quality.After hours of revisions and experimentation, we have the first song ready to record.
FABLE Chapter 48
The rest of the week slips by, and Thursday night arrives way before I'm ready for it.After practicing with the boys for hours on end from sunrise to sunset, plus the long walk to the cabin and back every day, I'm exhausted.The last thing I feel like is having to sit through a long dinner while my mom tries to convince the boys that she's "hip" and "knows how to use the Facebook" – while my dad cross-examines them like a detective in an 80s cop show.Plus, knowing them, they'll have prepared a ridiculous feast of epic proportions for the boys. The last thing I want is to give off the impression that we're trying too hard.To make matters worse, I've barely seen my friends this week, and I know I should ask them if they want to come over tonight. They could show up after dinner, and hang out with the guys a bit.But the memory of Felix blatantly ignoring Zee and Jamie the othe
FABLE Chapter 49
I'm putting the finishing touches on a strawberry cupcake when I hear the doorbell ringing, followed by frantic knocking.I run to the front door, and swing it open.Kitty's standing on the front porch, looking like she just stepped out of The Great Gatsby. She's wearing a chic forest green silk dress, and her bob of dark hair is tied back with a filmy white scarf, which trails down her back. Fluttering in the breeze, the scarf makes it look almost like she has a set of translucent wings. A pair of huge dark glasses – the sort celebs wear when evading the paparazzi – in combination with the scarf wings makes me think of a bug.In fact, Kitty looks a lot like a dragonfly right now – a dragonfly crossed with a gorgeous glamazon heiress.As soon as I open the door, she's visibly relieved.She turns towards the road and gestures behind her, at a black Jeep parked just a
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She sits high up in the branches of an ancient blackthorn tree, draped in a darkness blacker than midnight.They’re still searching for her.She can hear the faraway shouting, the breaking of twigs underfoot, even the beating of their hearts.Now she watches those five blazing hearts dancing through the dark far below, glowing like red embers in the dying fire.Her eyes travel further afield, to the heart of the forest, where a nimbus of brilliant silver blooms in the shadows.She smiles as the cold wind tugs on her hair, and she sends a tune out along the breeze, towards the silvery light.The oldest song she can remember.A lullaby.Soon, she’ll be free.She’ll destroy it. Music made magic, the chain unbroken for a thousand years.
FABLE Chapter 51
This can't be happening.The massive ball of silver light hanging in the air unfurls, opening up like the petals of an incandescent metallic rose.In the circle of luminosity, a wavy ribbon of radiance seems to move in a slow pattern, weaving in and out of itself like a twisting knot of smoke.As my eyes adjust, I make out its real shape.Impossible.A long, coiling body covered in glinting scales like a thousand tiny mirrors, reflecting the light of the full moon. A coffin-shaped head bobbing slowly on an invisible current. Two wide, glittering green eyes shining like emeralds.Even though it must be at least twenty feet above us, I can clearly see a series of markings on the underbelly of the serpent, darker scales or scarring, running down its length like Hieroglyphics or some ancient script.A figure-eight on its side. A cross looped o
FABLE Chapter 50
The forest is bathed in bright silvery moonlight as we make our way along the trail from the car park.Despite Felix and Alastaire's spat, the evening served its purpose.Satisfied now that they'd met – or rather, interrogated – the band, my parents were totally happy to send me off with them at the end of the night with my overnight bag, a flashlight and the remaining strawberry cupcakes in a tupperware.We agreed I'll stay with the guys as long as it takes to get the album recorded – maybe up to a week or longer – and I'll phone my mom to check in every day.It'll be so much better not having to do this long walk twice a day. And staying over at the cabin's gonna be fun. Like a summer camp. Even if I'm feeling sort of nervous about being around Felix after the… thing… that happened in my bedroom.Now, as I pick my way along th
FABLE Chapter 49
I'm putting the finishing touches on a strawberry cupcake when I hear the doorbell ringing, followed by frantic knocking.I run to the front door, and swing it open.Kitty's standing on the front porch, looking like she just stepped out of The Great Gatsby. She's wearing a chic forest green silk dress, and her bob of dark hair is tied back with a filmy white scarf, which trails down her back. Fluttering in the breeze, the scarf makes it look almost like she has a set of translucent wings. A pair of huge dark glasses – the sort celebs wear when evading the paparazzi – in combination with the scarf wings makes me think of a bug.In fact, Kitty looks a lot like a dragonfly right now – a dragonfly crossed with a gorgeous glamazon heiress.As soon as I open the door, she's visibly relieved.She turns towards the road and gestures behind her, at a black Jeep parked just a
FABLE Chapter 48
The rest of the week slips by, and Thursday night arrives way before I'm ready for it.After practicing with the boys for hours on end from sunrise to sunset, plus the long walk to the cabin and back every day, I'm exhausted.The last thing I feel like is having to sit through a long dinner while my mom tries to convince the boys that she's "hip" and "knows how to use the Facebook" – while my dad cross-examines them like a detective in an 80s cop show.Plus, knowing them, they'll have prepared a ridiculous feast of epic proportions for the boys. The last thing I want is to give off the impression that we're trying too hard.To make matters worse, I've barely seen my friends this week, and I know I should ask them if they want to come over tonight. They could show up after dinner, and hang out with the guys a bit.But the memory of Felix blatantly ignoring Zee and Jamie the othe
FABLE Chapter 47
By the time we wrap up and leave the recording studio, I’m feeling on top of the world.Elliot was totally right. As soon as we started jamming, everything just fell into place.The boys had already written most of the music and lyrics for the new album. They’d been practicing the songs for weeks, and the only thing missing was the acoustic guitar.At first they just played through what they had, and I slipped in, adding the sound of my guitar to the music they’d already created.It was clear to see why Felix was so determined to include acoustic guitar on the new album. Without it, the songs had the same old familiar indie rock sound of their previous singles. But with the addition of the extra sound, everything seemed to take on a mystical, romantic, almost eerie quality.After hours of revisions and experimentation, we have the first song ready to record.
FABLE Chapter 46
By the time I reach the boys’ hideout, it’s already past 9am.Someone’s gonna be sooo pissed.A mental image of Felix impatiently sitting on the steps outside the front door with a scowl plastered on his face pops into my mind, and I find it oddly satisfying.Let him wait. I’m not his slave.But as I leave the forest and walk across the clearing towards the cabin, I can see that the steps are empty. He’s not waiting.Maybe he forgot.I’m glad to finally be finished the long walk – I bought my guitar along in its case today, and it gets surprisingly heavy after almost an hour of carrying it.I pause at the foot of the steps, looking up at the carpet of brilliant red roses clinging to the front of the cabin.As the princess lay slumbering, around the castle the
FABLE Chapter 45
I wake up crying.The image of Mia with a bloody rose blooming from her lips makes my stomach turn, and I realize I'm about to hurl.I make it to the bathroom in the nick of time, and I throw-up up until I taste bile.Afterwards, I take a hot shower, scrubbing away the night's memories and terrors.If only I could forget it all.Forget the nightmare. Forget the accident. Forget Evan and Mia.Once I'm done in the shower, I change into skinny jeans, a white cami, and my red hoodie.The same hoodie that the Alastaire's Angels tore to shreds the night of the concert. I never did ask Felix how he mended it so quickly. Although it's not like he would have mended it personally. Maybe someone at the hotel did it.I run my fingers over the seams, looking for some stitch out of place, a clue, but it's as perfect a
FABLE Chapter 44
I'm standing beneath a starry sky on the edge of a jagged cliff.Ocean waves crash against a rocky shore far below, churning up swirling sea foam bathed in silvery moonlight.My hair whips around me; the wind stings my eyes.I stand for a long time, looking down at the raging seas.Somewhere in that dark ocean, the bus is sinking, a metal coffin falling forever.I can feel the cold interior slick with blood; I can hear my classmates calling me.There's a tug in my chest, like an invisible string pulling me forward.Somehow I know that if I look too long, I'll float out to sea, and I'll never be able to swim back.So I focus my attention on the pale white ribbon of sand that stretches like a snake out along the base of the cliffs far below, glowing faintly with trapped moonlight.A procession of figures in silver
