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Chapter 33
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2024-10-29 19:42:56It’s too late to hide.
Alix and Zee are standing just a few feet away, their surfboards towering over me as they stare down in disbelief.
“I thought you were visiting your aunt in New York for the summer,” Alix says, his voice barbed. “What’s going on?”
“Ash? You know them?” Kitty asks, dropping her nail polish in the sand as I scramble to my feet.
Zee tries to say something, but Alix cuts her off.
“No, let Ash speak for herself,” he says.
“It’s complicated,” I say. “I can explain.”
“Damn right you’re going to explain,” Alix says.
Before I can speak, I feel a hand on my shoulder, gently pulling me back. Alastaire steps between Alix and I, his sun-dazed champagne stupor gone in a flash.
“And who exactl
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“Ash,” Felix says. “Come to me.”He reaches his hand out, beckoning. His hazel eyes are shadowy and distant; the wan moonlight gleams on his dark hair, strands of silver starlight streaked through blackest night.I stand frozen in place. I can’t tear my eyes from the incandescent serpent twisting through the air behind him, slow and rhythmic as the ocean currents.“What is this?” I manage to choke out, fighting the urge to turn around and sprint in the opposite direction.Now’s not the time to run away. I have to be brave.“Ash, I– ” Felix begins, taking a step towards me.“No!” I yell sharply, bringing him to a sudden halt. “Don’t come near me.”Felix’s expression is veiled, inscrutable.Without warning the giant serpent
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A pair of gleaming yellow eyes. Bristling fur, black as coal.And a row of teeth like little white knives flashing towards my throat.I jump off the bench in a heartbeat, and I hear the sharp snap of the wolf’s jaws closing on thin air, in the exact spot I was a moment before.I land hard on my back, knocking the air from my lungs. For a second everything’s a blur; I see the stars swimming in and out of focus between the swaying tree branches above me.A shadow moves into my vision, blocking out the starlight.I need to move. Now.But before I can spring into action, strong arms are around me, wrapping me up, lifting me onto my feet.“Are you ok?” A familiar voice asks.It takes a moment for my vision to clear.I step back, ready to bolt.The face I see
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They are upon us within seconds.The sound of screaming drowns out my thoughts, and I watch dazed as girls close in from all directions, their arms outstretched as they yell Felix and Alastaire’s names.The ground seems to shift beneath us, and the air all around us shimmers, vibrating with tension.A girl just a few feet away from me hold up her phone and takes a photo, and for a moment the flash blinds me, sending a sharp pain searing through the backs of my eyes.I tremble, the hysterical fangirl shrieks shuddering through my chest like the buzzing of a million bees.And as in any swarm, a queen leads the charge.Beth Donklin, our school’s undisputed Queen Bee, leader of the three B’s, Her Royal Bitchiness, is just a few feet in front of me.
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“Felix,” I say, the sound of his name sweet as honey on my lips.“Took you long enough,” he says, pulling me closer. His crooked smile is wickedly dark, and I can just make out the scent of the forest on him – midnight pine, icy moss, night-blooming flowers.Mystical and arcane – a deep dark mystery that has me firmly in its grasp.“What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to detach myself from him, but finding that somehow, I’m unable to.I have no control of my limbs, and my hand refuses to unclasp his; my feet glide gracefully over the grass in a perfect waltz.“You really thought I’d miss tonight?” He asks.
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The bright golden moon hangs low and heavy in the black sky.Jamie, Grace, Zee and I make our way from the Huntson High car park towards the lawns, where a large, colorful crowd is milling about on the moonlit grass.In the distance, I see turrets, and I recognize the plywood castle backdrop from last year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s been reworked into some sort of makeshift stage, complete with amps and overhead lights.I’ll be on that stage in an hour. In front of all those people. Somehow I’m not even nervous. Just extremely, utterly excited.“Walk faster ladies!” Jamie shrieks, tugging Zee behind her. “We’re gonna miss the chance to see Alix getting kissed by all the moms and grandmas! Maybe even grandpas! C’mon! Hurry!”“E
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Warm. It’s so soft and warm here.I’m curled up on my side, cozy as a caterpillar wrapped up a cocoon of velvet sunshine, sleepily waking up to greet the new day.It’s a new day.I bolt upright in bed, the events before I passed out rushing back to me.I was in a clearing in the forest with Felix. He kissed me. And he changed, or at least he appeared to – he became the figure from my dreams, the dark prince from Gran’s fairy tale.What the hell is happening to me? Was I hallucinating? Having some sort of vision?He called me a name – Odin or Onion or something – and then… nothing.It all went black.And now I’m back in my bedroom at home, far from the forest and the cabin and (hopefully) Felix.He must have carried me here after I f
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Wait.My voice sounds hollow and distant, like it’s coming from far away. Felix hovers over me, a darkness dawning in his eyes as I speak.“Wait, Felix,” I whisper. “This isn’t… I can’t do this.”His dark hair falls in front of his eyes, and he pushes it back as he nods, releasing me as he sits up, leaning his back against the trunk of the tree we lie beneath.I stay on my back for a few moments, trying to catch my breath as I stare up at the canopy of brilliant bright red leaves overhead. As I watch, a single, delicate leaf drifts down, landing on my breast like a drop of blood.Felix reaches for it with a faraway look in his eyes, his fingertips leaving echoes of prickling electricity where they brush my skin.He holds the frail crimson leaf up into the silver moonlig
