Alex and Bri

 Chapter One
Let’s Talk About Pancakes!                 
Alexandra

  Hi, I’m Alexandra. I live in a world called Elinder that’s inside of yours, but that’s a story for another day. Everything in my life used to be perfectly happy and normal, until the day I decided to go to a pancake place for lunch. You listening now?
   

I woke up when my crystal ball rang from beside my bed then sighed before picking it up and answering the call.


“Good morning, Alex!” A cheery face with caramel skin greeted me.


I groaned, and pulled myself up into a sitting position before answering, “Yes, amazing morning, especially when I’ve just been woken up by an annoying high pitched noise at like what, four in the morning?”


“It’s the same as an alarm!” The face, who, by the way, is my sister, pouted, her baby blue eyes begging me to just for once be nice.


I ignored what those eyes begged me to do, my frustration at being woken up so early taking over, “I wasn’t talking about the crystal ball ringing. I was talking about your voice.”


“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you didn’t like me,” she said, bowing her head of wavy black hair.


I winced, she was sad, at least, I was pretty sure she was, which meant I should be nicer to her, only when I tried, all I could feel was an angry fire that just made it worse, “I like you Bri, okay? But sometimes, sometimes, when I’ve seen your oh so gorgeous face one too many times… Well, sometimes I wish it were possible to be equally smart and pretty!


“Excuse me? I know five times as many languages as you! Is that not smart enough for you?”


“Darling Bri, language is just memorization, and there are things in the world that require a certain level of critical think that you just don’t have!”


“Well, I’ll have you know that I’m making Bs and As in all my classes!”


“Is that from all those boys trying to win you over by ‘helping’ you?”


“Are you suggesting that I’m cheating?”


“On your boyfriend, or your schoolwork? I’m just going to take a chance and say yes.”


“Why are you being so mean, Alex?”


“I don’t know, why have you always stuck to me like glue?”


“Because… Because you’re my sister! And, and sisters love each other, don’t they?”


“I’m sorry, but you’ve obviously mistaken me for someone who actually cares. Just shut up for once! Every time I’m around you it’s just blah, blah, blah, BLAH! Even with all your supposed language skills, you know what you always seem like to me? A chattering little girl who needs to shut her trapdoor whenever she’s talking.


Silence.


“I’m sorry, should I change the topic? How about fashion? Oh wait, I forgot you don’t have any, do you? Sorry, should I say something different?”


There was nothing for a moment.


After a moment she lifted her head up and spoke up in a thin voice, “I need to go. Mom is calling me.”


Then she hung up. Right before she did, I noticed her eyes. 

They were red.

Alex! All you ever seem to be able to make people do is run away from you! Make them angry at you. Make them hate you. But if I hate them right back, does it really make a difference. This was my sister though. This was different. Or was it?

I angrily slammed my crystal ball down on its little stand.

 

“Ooh, who was it this time? Another prank call?” My part-cat roommate (don’t ask), Katherine purred, batting her eyes innocently.


I groaned and said nothing.


“Oh my gosh, Alex! Why won’t you ever speak? It’s like you’re deaf, or mute, or something! I mean, duh, you’re not actually, but sometimes it totally seems like it.”


I rolled my eyes and climbed out of bed to put my clothes on.


“You’re deranged,” I told her.


She frowned, “Now that’s just plain rude. I’m not crazy, and you know I’m not!”


“Could you just shut up? I can ignore you some other time, but right now I have somewhere to be.”


“Sassing me again, are you now? You’re a danger to the people around you, Alex. You just now hurt your poor little sister’s feelings. And you’ve hurt countless others here at the campus with your sharp tongue.”


“I appreciate the compliment, Miss Katherine, but I’ve got somewhere more important to be than watching you trying to see your nonexistent brain by rolling your eyes.”


She glared at me before going back to examining her claws, “I’ve trying to get you sent to a mental hospital. But I don’t have proof of you being suicidal. That’s one of the only sure ways to get into a mental hospital. I just want them to help you, Alex! To fix your angry issues! To get better.”


I looked at her curiously, “Why is it that you have such a vendetta against me? I haven’t treated you particularly badly, in all honesty, I’ve probably treated you better than I treat most people.”


“Oh trust me, I know Alex! And I am extremely against bullies, which is exactly what you are. A bully. And you have hurt some people seriously. The one girl who tried to show you around the campus on the first day? She was crying later, Alex! Crying! And I bet you didn’t feel remorseful at all, now did you?”


“I made her cry? That’s a pity, she had so much potential to become a therapist! Now I’ve ruined her positive attitude and any hope for her of ever graduating,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.


Like with Brianna earlier, I try to stop and be kinder. But I can’t explain the way I feel, trying to be nicer, and just getting ruder and ruder. It’s a burning, searing pain, one that I can’t push through. It consumes my thoughts, leaving me with no choice but anger. Wow, that sounds super stupid now that I say it. 


“How kind of you to be thinking about how she’ll fare in life. She hates you now, and I expect that if you were to try to talk to her today, she’d treat you the same way you treated her months ago. But that’s not what’s important. I have new evidence that I can use against you!”


“Oh yeah? What is it then?” I did my best to make myself sound nonchalant, but curiosity was prying at me already, wondering what her ‘evidence’ was.


Katherine raised her eyebrow, “You don’t know?”


“Just tell me about your ‘incriminating’ evidence!” I told her, my blood starting to boil already.


“And you know what the funny thing is about all of this? I thought I would have to frame you, but here you’ve already done all the work for me! To think that Miss Sarcasm here was suicidal when she was younger! It’s ironic to me, honestly.”


“Where are my scars from my attempted suicide then?”


She stopped in front of my face, and despite the fact that I was taller than her, I felt like a child about to be lectured by its parents. She smirked and pressed her finger against the base of my neck where I had a scar in the shape of little stars circling my neck’s circumference.


“Oh. But I don’t have any fresh scars, which would mean that I’m no longer suicidal. Anyways, those aren’t from me. When I went through my Magiquatian magic ceremony there was a strange golden glow that surrounded me, and when then glow was gone there was the smell of burning flesh in the air and I had the stars burnt into my flesh. They’ve been there ever since and you can’t put me in a mental hospital for that. My parents and the priest would swear upon it,” I pushed away her finger and turned to put my sweatshirt on.


Her eyes narrowed, “Fine, then I guess I’ll just make sure that you have some new scars ready.”


She grabbed my wrist with one hand, and, using the claws on her other, scraped a horizontal line at the base of my wrist, as if she were trying to cut an artery open.


“That’s too shallow, it’s barely a cut at all. And, if you try to go deeper and do cut my artery, then I'll be able to press charges for attempted murder.”


“Well, aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine?”


I shrugged and twisted my arm out of her grasp, then put my shoes on quickly before she could do anything else, “I’m not scared of you. I’m going for a run.”


“You know it’s possible. I would watch my back if I were you, Galaxias!”


I grabbed my messenger bag on the way out the door and headed for the track, wondering why in the world she thought using my last name would scare me more. At this point though, I was resigned to the fact that she hated me, which was okay because now my sister hated me too, and that meant I wouldn’t be getting any more early morning calls and could slip in and out of the dorm without waking Katherine up. And the mental hospital probably was good with their research, which would mean that I was most likely safe. Who was she to think she could boss me around like that anyway? Rude.


I set my bag down near the track and after a few stretches, started to run. I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved running. It’s kind of a release for me, like my fire, my anger just flew away. I ran so fast I almost felt like I was flying, my feet barely touching the ground as I soared along. I took a deep breath. You know how it feels, to be free, to not be sick anymore after being stuck under piles of blankets and tissues for weeks, to be able to do whatever you want, not coughing, not sneezing, not in pain? That’s what it’s like when I run. I’m finally free of the control of my fire, and I can do whatever I want. That’s why I run.


After my run, I felt much calmer than before and headed off to my parttime job at Panless Cakes, the most fabulous restaurant in existence. At this too-good-to-be-true-restaurant they serve pancakes, but not just any pancakes, no, no, no, they serve the fluffiest, softest, most deliciousest, yummiest, heavenliest, gorgeousest, save-your-life-if-you’re-about-to-die-est, pancakes in the entire existence of everything. I work at flipping pancakes since I can’t be a waitress because I roast people (Story for another time. Maybe Bri will tell you), I can’t cook the pancakes because I can’t crack eggs (Another story. Again, ask Bri), and I can’t arrange the pancakes because no one trusts me to do that. I’m also forbidden from speaking. (Ask Brianna!)



Once my shift ended, I began to head back to my dorm when I noticed something was off. The college was gone. All of it, including the dorms, classrooms, and anything else that makes up a campus was gone. Poof. And that included Katherine. She was gone too. 


Well, what do you think I did? Tell the police? An entire campus was missing. And judging by the group of people surrounding the empty campus, it wasn’t likely that this hadn’t been reported already. Run around like a chicken with its head cut off? Half of the people here were already doing that. I didn’t need to add to the chaos. Look for the campus? What kind of a harebrained idea was that?! In the end, I got a bus ticket down to Casserole, which is where my parents and Bri lived. I didn't know if Bri was going to be sad, or mad when I saw her. Maybe she’d be smad. Or better yet, malcontented. That was definitely a better way to put it. I settled down on the bus for a three-hour sweaty bus ride with random people. I sighed and leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes to wait out the long drive down to the edge of the kingdom, where Casserole was located. 






























 Chapter One
More Fun Arguments With My Sister
Brianna


Hello, my name’s Bri, and it’s finally my turn to write the story! Also, we don’t live in Casserole, it’s Cythera, but I’m guessing Alex wanted to annoy me. It doesn’t really matter though, at this point I’m perfectly happy just to be able to write. I started the day off by, obviously calling Alex and getting yelled at by her. I’ll spare you the details since you’ve already heard about it, but I did NOT cry, no matter what Alex says.


 After a few hours, I was ready, dressed in my white button-up with a green and blue patterned vest over it, my stomach full of the classic cereal, Jeremy S’s Super Scoops. I shouldered my backpack before hugging Mom goodbye since Dad was at their bakery/apothecary working already. Yeah, it’s a little weird, but my mom’s always had a thing for magic and my dad likes baking. It turns out that you can sometimes mix certain magical ingredients into a batter and make it sweeter, or cause it to influence people’s emotions to make them happier and stuff. Anyways, I started walking to the bus stop and waved goodbye to Mom, who was smiling and telling me to have a good day at school.


 A few incredibly dull hours later, I found myself walking back home along the familiar route home, staring straight ahead at where our house should have been, for far too long before realizing something was off. Even then, the first thing I noticed was the figure clad in a lime green hoodie, their platinum blonde hair cropped short enough to show the paper white back of their neck.  My eyes widened, it was Alex! Grinning, I started to run up to give her a hug before stopping, remembering her verbal attack earlier this morning. Knowing her, I knew that she wouldn’t be here to ask for forgiveness, it would only be because she needed something.


“You back here to insult me more? Or just to get something from your Mommy and Daddy?”

 I asked her, hands on my hips, glaring at her.


“Oh no, I didn’t come here for you, I came here to make the house disappear. You see? How have you not see this yet!?” She asked incredulously, gesturing at the hou- where was the house?!?!

My mouth fell open as I noticed what had happened to the missing house.

“What did you do to the house?” I yelled at her, all my previous anger from this morning gushing out at her.


She scoffed, “You seriously think I did this? Jeez, I thought you were having trouble handling my tongue-lashing earlier, but it looks like you can’t even handle a simple joke. Of course I didn’t magic away the house idiot, I can’t even get you to leave me alone with my magic, and believe me, I’ve tried.”


“Oh, so is that how you're going to play it, huh? Dirty? Yeah, go ahead then, rub some salt into my wounds, why don’t you?” I spread my arms wide as I spoke, taunting her.


“Hmm, remind me of the other time I offended you? After all, you did say wounds, plural.”


“Did you not just hurt me now by showing up to obviously not apologize but to get something else from our parents. Speaking of, why are you here in the first place?”


“Well, my school disappeared earlier, so I suppose that you’re right in saying I came here to get something. But I didn’t show up just to yell at you. Actually, I had no intention of doing such a thing until you teased me,” she remarked, leaning against the picket fence that was still there, even after the disappearing of our house.

  
      “That’s annoying. And, to be fair on my part, I had no intention of yelling at you until you showed up” I said, sighing.


“So then, what does Judge Brianna rule in this situation?” Alex asked, the corners of her mouth quirking upwards as she started the so often played game of justice.


        “I rule that the offender is found guilty of insultation in this situation, with the defender found guilty of proking the second time around. The two parties are to apologize to each other as punishment,” I said in my best impression of a courtly voice.


      “But of course. I’m sorry for insulting you and making you cry earlier,” Alex said with a little bow.


“I’m also sorry. I shouldn’t have provoked you, I know how easily you flare up,” I said with a little sigh.


“We should go try and find a place to stay tonight,” as Alex said this she closed her vibrant purple eyes, her eyelids fluttering slightly as she thought.


“Yeah. Who do you think will let us stay at their house tonight?” I asked her, spinning around, “Do you think we should be worried about Mom and Dad?’


“Huh? Oh, naw, they’re probably still at the bakothery working,” she checked her watch, “It’s Twanthday after all, they always stay late today.”


“But what will they think if they come back and the house is gone?” I asked her pointedly.


“Here,” Alex handed me a piece of paper and a pencil from her bag, “Write them a note and stick it on the fence or something.”


I promptly sat down on the ground and began scribbling my message out onto the paper, “Alex and I are at-” 


At this, I stopped and looked up at Alex, “Where are we going, Alex?”


“The Glitches live nearby, don’t they? Let’s go there,” she said bending down to watch me write.


I finished writing on the paper, “-the Glitches house. We came home and the house was gone. It wasn’t Alex’s fault. Her school disappeared too,” I stuck the note in between two of the pickets on the fence, trying to make it seem obvious. 


“Ready?”’ Alex asked me.


I nodded and we headed off towards the Glitches. At least, I hoped it was towards the Glitches since my memory was fuzzy on how to get there. We’d never been the greatest of friends, the Glitches and us, but I loved playing with their daughter Rosemary when we were younger. As we neared their house, the settings became more familiar until I was able to classify one of the houses as theirs.


I tugged on Alex’s hoodie, grinning, “Race you to the house?”


Alex grinned back, “You know I’ll win.”


I took off running before she could say anything else, taking the wobbly front porch stairs three at a time, I practically thrust myself at door, falling against the bright white door at the same time as Alex.


“Cheater,” she said, still grinning.


I batted my eyelashes, “Who, me? A cheater? You must be joking.”


She swatted my arm playfully just as Mrs. Glitch opened the door, surprise etched on her face, “Alexandra, Brianna, what a surprise! Please, come in.”


“Thank you,” Alex and I raced each other to say it, but it ended up coming out at the same time.


 As soon as I was settled down on her couch, she asked us, “So, what brings you two here today?” 


          “Our house is gone. It wasn’t there when I got back after school,” I said, accidentally forgetting about Alex.


  Alex lightly glared at me and I did my best to tell her that I was sorry with my eyes. 


      “Oh dear. How did this happen?” Mrs. Glitch asked, worry in her voice. 


        “I don’t know,” I said.


“My college went away too. That’s why I came here. So that I could have a place to sleep tonight,” Alex put in.


“Speaking of places to sleep, do you possibly think that we could stay here tonight?”


    “Oh, I don’t know. I thought that you had a bedroom in the back of the bakothery you could stay at in case of emergencies?”


“I suppose so. But it’s so far away and we don’t have a way to get there. Plus, it’d be nice to see Rosemary. I haven’t talked to her in a while,” I said, because truth be told, that bedroom is terrible, it’s haunted by a ghost. I’m not kidding, we just never tell anyone because we still want them to come to the bakothery. Plus the ghost gives us supplies for our baking that require a ghost or spirit of some type for it. 


“Oh, but I can have my husband drive you to the bakothery! And Rosemary’s feeling a bit down today, I think she may be catching a cold, so you probably don’t want to stay here,” she said in a very determined way.


“Oh come on, Glitch! You have never once let Brianna have a sleepover with Rosemary despite her insistent begging, and even now for one night, you won’t let us stay over? Not even sleeping on your couch? Most people who are ten-year friends would gladly let them stay over in their time of need, but not you! Your family is inconsiderate and quite frankly, rude! I can’t believe this! Come on Bri, let’s go! I’ll just call up a clab for us and we’ll be on our way to the bakothery,” Alex moved over towards me as she neared the end of her rant, and winked.


“Oh, wait girls! I’m sorry, I was being a bit rude I suppose. I’ll get Rosemary and see what she thinks at the very least,” she dejectedly said as she headed towards the stairs.


Alex looked at me with a proud smile on her face, “I knew it would work. That lady already is frightened half out of her wits most of the time, I just pushed her a little too much. And I really don’t want to have to meet that ghost again.”


I crossed my arms, “That was still rude. You couldn’t have toned it down a little bit?”


Alex shook her head, “No, there’s a certain amount you have to push on each person to make them give in. Think of making a person give in as pushing on boards to break them. Pretend you have two boards, one that’s partly rotted, and one that’s fresh out of being murdered. Now let’s say that you had to break both of them with only one push that was a predetermined value you could not change,  you have to press your hardest on that fresh board, and only half as much on the rotted board, but you’re still not pushing lightly on the rotted board, you’re just pushing less, and you can’t estimate wrong by thinking that you have to push less than you really do, so even if you push harder than strictly necessary, it’s better than pushing too less. That’s why I had to be so harsh to her.”


I just looked blankly at her as she shot finger guns at me and said, “Psychology, baby!”


      A few seconds later, Rosemary walked down the stairs with her mother close behind. She looked exactly like always, her porcelain skin made a statement almost when paired with her black hair, hanging in light rings that framed her heart-shaped face. Her honeyed eyes glimmered in the dim evening light, her sky blue dress swishing around her ankles as she walked downstairs.


“You haven’t changed a bit, Dolly,” I said quietly to her, using my nickname for her inspired by the fact that she always looked perfect, just like the delicate little dolls we used to play with together. 


 A small smile seemed to hover on her lips as she replied, “Hello Brianna. Hello Alexandra. So good to see you both,” she paused, her soft voice flickering through the room like candlelight, “I heard that your house vanished today. I’m so sorry for your loss.”


I shrugged as Alex spoke up, “Terrible news, am I right? Anyways, do you think that we might stay here for tonight?”


Her eyes flickered to Alex, annoyed, “And I heard that your fire is just as strong as ever, Miss Galaxias.”


 Mrs. Glitch cleared her throat loudly, “Yes, Rosemary dear. Well, Alex and Brianna have asked to stay here for the night. Would it be okay if they slept in your room with you for tonight, or are you not in the mood tonight?” Her eyes told me exactly what she hoped that Rosemary would say.


Something lit up inside Rosemary’s eyes, almost like a fire, and she answered almost immediately, “Actually yes, I’d be lovely to have them stay over for once, and I can even get the sleeping pallets for them if you’d like.”


Mrs. Glitch’s eyes narrowed, “Very well Rosemary. Go prep the beds. I will get dinner ready. Oh, and you two? You can just wait in the sitting room.”


We awkwardly sat back down on the couch and waited for something exciting to happen, but seeing as there was obviously nothing exciting that was going to happen, I spoke up, “Hey Alex, did you see how Rosemary’s eyes got all wide and firey when her mom asked her if she was feeling well, enough to let us stay over?”


Alex raised an eyebrow, “Wide and firey? What kind of description is that? She’s acting just like Rosemary, shy, and quiet unless given a choice since we all know her mom’s a little control freak who keeps her locked up in her room with nothing to do all day. That girl doesn’t even go to school, and I doubt she knows how to spell words like ‘perpendicular’ or ‘accessories.’ Heck, she doesn’t even wear accessories and I betcha she’s worn the same style of dress her entire life!”


I crossed my arms, “Rude. You’re always rude. Rude about everything and everyone.”


“Well maybe if people actually took the time to like me instead of just always provoking me then maybe I would have some friends and a sense of humanity! Guess not, because it looks like little miss perfect up and stole all my potential friends, huh? So if you had just kept your pretty face down by that river then maybe, maybe I would have actually had some friends! I guess that pretty and stupid is everyone’s favorite combo, huh?” And with that, she got up and left the room.


I winced and steeled myself not to cry, but it was too late. The tears silently slid down my cheeks, wetting my jeans in the process. It was at that moment that Rosemary finally came down the stairs and into the sitting room.


“Bri! What happened? Why are you crying? Was it Alex?” She hugged me and patted my hair as she spoke, “She can be so mean sometimes. I’m sorry Bri. But I do have to say your hair is really soft! What do you use to wash it? It’s like silk!”


I stopped crying for a moment and tentatively smiled, “My mom makes a special hair solution for me. I could give you some if you’d like.”


“Oh yes, that’d be wonderful! Hold on, I think I hear a clar outside, which means Daddy must be home! I’ll be right back Bri, I’m just going to go say hi,” she stood up and started walking towards the door.


“Wait, I’ll come too,” I said, standing up and wiping off my tears from my face.

Rosemary opened the door a split second before her father could and flung her arms around him, “Daddy! You’re home! Guess what? Alexandra and Brianna are here. Their home vanished and now they’re going to stay here for the night!”


“Wonderful darling,” He stepped inside and tipped his hat to me, “Do you happen to know where your mother is Rosie darling?”


“Oh yes, she’s in the kitchen. And watch out for Alexandra, she’s in a bad mood today.”


He nodded his head in acknowledgment and walked into the kitchen, leaving us behind in the entryway.


Rosemary turned to me, “What are you going to do about Alex, Bri?”


“I’ll probably just ignore her. It’ll make us both happy, she won’t be teased by me, and I won’t be teased by her, it’s a win-win.”


Rosemary sighed, “How do you deal with her Bri? She’s got such a short temper, and, not to be rude, you are a great, big, watering pot that cries at the simplest of things.”


I sighed, “In all honesty, I have no clue how we manage to get along. I like to call it, ‘The Magic Of Siblings.’ But today I’m fed up. That’s the third time we’ve fought today, and I need a break. This is the only way I know how to get one.”


She shook her head, “Let’s go sit back down, dinner will probably be ready soon and my legs hurt from standing up, I went hiking yesterday and now I’m finally feeling the burn.”


 About twenty minutes later Mrs. Glitch called everyone into the dining room for dinner and we all headed into the very plain, very white dining room. There was a window on one side of the wall and a round dining table in the center with five wooden chairs surrounding it. The entire place was lit up by candles, the Glitches had never really been one for modern lighting, preferring the coziness of candles instead 


We sat down and began to pass the dishes around the table, but it was just spaghetti and meatballs, nothing exciting. The meal passed in near silence, with Alex making an occasional remark, but nothing that couldn’t be ignored. It was annoying sitting next to her because she kept elbowing me while she was eating. In the end, I was the one elbowing her because I’m the annoying sister, and I’m also left-handed, which does make it difficult to eat next to right-handed people.
        

Chapter Two
Eureka! I Solved the  Mystery of the Missing
Houses!

Alexandra

After dinner was over, we went upstairs to go to bed. Actually, I was the only one who went upstairs, because Bri had to do her homework because even if your house disappears that doesn’t mean you get to skip out on your homework. I slowly clambered up the stairs and pushed open the door to Rosemary’s room. She was sitting on her bed, arms crossed, waiting.


     “Hey, Rose. What’s the issue here? Because if I’m not mistaken, you look angry to me,” I said to her.


“You are being rude to your sister! You’ve made her cry three times today already, just imagine what you might do tomorrow to her!” She accused me. (Dang, what is up with all these people accusing me? First the mental hospital, now this?)


“Hold up. First off, I only made her cry twice, got it? Twice. Not thrice, twice. Second off, the last two times we fought, she started it! Well, I guess only the second time. But that doesn’t really matter! Point is, she’s just as much to blame as me! Third off, who are you to be accusing me for Bri? If she’s so upset, then tell her to tell it to my face!”


“Bri didn’t ask me to do this. I’m doing it for her. She’s your sister, and she’s sad that you don’t like her. You need to think about the impact of your actions before you doing anything rash, got it Galaxias?” 


I grinned, an idea forming in my mind, “I see. You have a crush on Bri, is that what’s up? No problem. We’ll keep this between us two and I’ll be the best sister I can be. Just remember, emotions are emotions, I flare up without meaning to sometimes, and when that happens I can’t stop myself.”


I smiled in satisfaction as I watched her face color, turning bright red, “Wha-what? Y-you can’t b-be ser-serious!”


I burst out laughing, “It was just a joke! I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings too badly though. But I wasn’t kidding about the other thing I said, I’ll do my best to be nicer to Brianna, but as I said before, I can’t promise that I’ll be nice all the time.”


She glared at me, “Very funny. I’m going to bed now,” and with that, she blew out the few candles lighting up the room.


  Being the nice person that I am, I decided not to bother her anymore and lay down on my cold rubber pallet of sadness. A half-hour later or so, Bri came into the room and sat on her mat (Excuse me, pallet) and started stretching her legs. By this time Rosemary was already fast asleep in her warm bed made of feathers and… Other stuff that’s more comfortable than plastic mat material. 


“Rosemary had a talk with me. I made a joke about her having a crush on you. It was funny. Goodnight,” I turned over and closed my eyes, noticing how Brianna hadn’t reacted in any way. That meant she was purposefully ignoring me. Great.

  
  The next morning I awoke to no sister, no Rosemary, and the sun. My first thought was that I was still dreaming, but my second (and more reasonable) thought was that, hey, I’m awake and my sister is already at school. I figured this one was probably a lot closer to the truth than a dream. I stood up and groped my way downstairs to where Mrs. Glitch was washing dishes. 


  She turned to face me once she heard my footsteps and said sourly, “Good morning, Alexandra. Breakfast?” 


    Blah. My whole first name. I don’t like how many syllables it takes up, which is why I call myself Alex. I noticed her sour tone sounded even sourer than usual as if she didn’t really want me there. How insulting! Somebody not wanting me there! I’m kidding, it happens all the time.


    “Hey listen, I can leave if you want, I don’t need to be here even to eat breakfast. In fact, I think I’ll just leave right now, I only wanted to stay here for the night. You don’t need to worry yourself about me burning your house down for any longer,” I informed her.


      A sigh, “It’s fine Alexandra. But now I will be worried about you burning my house down. I had no idea that you were capable of such a stupid thing as that.”


I rolled my eyes. Of course, she had to make fun of me being a supposed ‘genius’. In my earlier mentioned Magiquatian ceremony I went through as a toddler, I was given brains rather than magic. I became incredibly intelligent, and people called me a ‘genius’ or a ‘child prodigy.’ I sometimes wish that I was just born normal and could think and live like everyone else. Guess fate had other ideas in mind though.


      “I’ll leave as soon as Bri gets back, I promise. I’m also sorry for intruding into your personal life and embarrassing Rosemary,” I told her, backing away towards the door.


I made it safely outside and went for my morning run, considering exactly why all these places were going missing. I came to no conclusions except for the fact that I needed breakfast. That being said, I walked back into the house and made some eggs under the suspicious eyes of Mrs. Glitch. I ate my eggs and then went to using their crystal ball to watch the news and see if there were any other missing places. Not surprisingly, there were. Just a few of them included the primary school, my poor parents’ bakothery (presumably with them in it. Wherever they were, I hoped they were safe) and, gasp, Panless Cakes! It took all my willpower to not cry about this. However, it was the missing pancake place that really got me thinking. 


Why are all these random places going missing? First my campus, then my house, next my childhood school, my parents and their store, and now my favorite restaurant?!?

 
    That was when it clicked. Every single place that had disappeared so far, I had been to. Every. Single. Place. And that was when I began to worry. If every place I’ve been to was disappearing, that probably meant somebody was looking for me. It also indicated that I couldn’t stay anywhere for more than a few days without the possibility of getting abducted. It also meant that I’m a curse upon anyone who takes me in. Yay! 


But why were they not going to the places I’d been to most recently? I suppose that they probably know that I had headed home, but they weren’t sure where I was. Curious now, I started looking up the childhood homes of my friends. Not all of them had been reported as missing, but a good deal had been. This meant that they were slowly hunting me down, house by house and that this house would probably be gone very soon too. With this in mind, I ran around the house until I found Mrs. Glitch sitting at her sewing machine clapping. (I’m kidding of course. She was sewing, what else did you think she would be doing?)


    “Mrs. Glitch, sorry to say, we have to leave the house,” I told her.


    She looked at me like, “Seriously?” before finally saying, “Why?” 


    “Because your house is going to vanish, just like ours did, really soon.”


    “And why is that?”


  “Because somebody’s appears to be tracking me down, at least, I’m pretty sure they are, because every single place that’s disappeared so far I have been to before.”


    “Alexandra, that is a very farfetched idea.”


  I held the crystal ball up, displaying the missing status of one of Bri’s friend’s houses, “Then why did Cassie’s house just disappear?”


  Mrs. Glitch glanced at the ball for a second before saying, “Cassandra dear, Cassie is improper.”


  I groaned, why couldn’t she see I was trying to help her? I decided to leave without trying any more because she obviously didn’t care. 


    “Hey, tell my sis that I’m headed over to Cameron’s when she gets back, will you? I’ve got to go,” I told her as I walked out the door.


    And with that, I will respectfully hand this chapter to my sister. 

And please remember Brianna, I’m doing this out of the goodness in my heart, and totally not because I want to leave the readers on a cliffhanger.




















 Chapter Two
I Shop for Cats

 Brianna

  So umm… I went to school? My sister’s mean? I'm not sure. The day was pretty uneventful. I went to school, I went back to the Glitches’ house, and it was gone. At this point though, I wasn’t really surprised about anything. I was worried about my sister though. Sure, sure, I’m not talking to her, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about her. Just to make sure she didn’t run to, say, the grocery store and leave a note for me beforehand, I checked the surrounding area. Knowing Alex, it would be hidden, partly to annoy me, and partly so nobody would take it.


    I saw nothing but a puddle of water on the sidewalk which I happily splashed through. That gave me an idea. Alex knew I could control water, (because I’m part water nymph) so she probably hid it somewhere only somebody with similar abilities could find it. She might be annoying, but she’s pretty darn smart. I find it kinda funny ‘cause usually the stupid person is the annoying one, but here comes the high and mighty, annoying genius, Alex. Anyway, there was a small, about five-foot deep fishpond in the backyard that was still there after the house disappeared, so I decided to look there first.


  I meant to walk over to the pond and focus my power solely on retrieving the paper, or whatever she had written her note on but became overexcited, and the thing is, when I become overexcited I kind of, well, make a mess. I was still walking towards the pond, butterflies in my stomach when the entire pond blew up. Water sprayed everywhere and soaked me to the bone, but I stood up shivering and began to look for… Something. It doesn’t take long however to find a bright white piece of paper on the bright green grass. I picked up the wet note (how it was still intact, I will never know) and read it:


Dear Bri,

I went to Cameron’s. Meet me there.

Alex

  “That was fairly easy,” I said, stuffing the wet mush into my back pocket. I started to walk away but heard a sort of crying sound. I whipped around to see who was there, but there were only fish flopping around and gasping for air. Satisfied, I started walking again but realized something quickly. There were only fish. That meant that… The fish were crying? No, not crying, they were gasping for air. Whether or not I really heard them speaking, my newfound conscience about the fish dying got the better of me, and I went around collecting fish and putting them back in the waterless pond. I then tried to gather the water into one space and put it back into like I’d seen professors do before. I think I broke the neighbors’ water pipes because there was way too much water when I tried to put it back in. Of course, the fish were happy, but the neighbors certainly wouldn’t be, so I ran out of there as fast as my feet could carry me. 


I had to walk for a while before I found a carriage stop. Not all of the kingdom had bus stations scattered everywhere, but the carriage stops had never been shut down, so I was able to get a carriage to the one bus station we had, about a half-hour away, and from there I took the bus to the city. Carriages can only go so far after all. I soon found myself on Cameron’s doormat, about three hours later. I rang his doorbell while admiring the painting of a toucan painted onto the door. Cameron is rather artistic and is excellent at art. I assumed that the toucan was done by him.


  His cheery voice filled the air as he yelled, “Coming, Coming!”


 
He was there a few seconds later, and as soon as he saw me, he gave me a huge hug and said, “Alex jr! So good to see you! OG’s already here if you want to talk to her,”


  “Can I skip out on the talking to her? For like, forever?”


  “Nope,” he said just as cheerily as before.


  “Ugh, fine.”


I walked into the living room. The first thing I saw was Alex sitting on the couch, and Cam immediately bustled around making preparations for us to stay the night once I stepped in.


  Alex said something that I  blatantly ignored.


  “Write what you want to say on this paper,” I said, handing a paper to her.


She rolled her eyes and quickly scribbled some stuff onto it. I took it back and squinted to figure out what she had written in her messy handwriting.


“Oh, you figured out where the disappearances would strike,” I said finally, looking at her.


She nodded.
  “And, uh, what you’re saying is that someone’s stalking you?”


She held her hand out and opened and closed it. I handed her the paper, and she scribbled something else onto it.


  “Maybe, but after thinking about it, I feel like whoever’s doing it probably would have struck on a smaller scale if they just wanted me,” it said.


  “I guess that makes sense. By the way, how’s Cam doing? He didn’t say much,” I said.


  “Like I of all people would know that! You know how he is, barely listened to what I was saying, too much in a hurry to help out. Not that it’s a bad thing! It’s just not what I would do,” was the written response.


  “Yeah, you would totally do what the average person does. I mean, let’s be real, you would probably just ignore whoever it was and make them repeat themselves a dozen times.”


She rolled her eyes again.


  “Whatever. So, what would you do, little miss know-it-all?” Was thrown at me. 


No, literally. She threw the balled-up paper at me.


  “Um, duh! Sit down and actually listen to what they needed!”


  By this point, both Alex and I were standing up, nose to nose, looking at each other. It was honestly kind of funny considering that Alex wasn’t actually saying anything and the fact that I was practically two feet shorter than her.


  Cam decided to walk into the room at that very moment and immediately backed up when he saw us, “So…. Is this just a friendly argument, or a serious one?” 


  “Sibling,” Both Alex and I said at the same time. 


  I promptly burst out into giggles at our timing, (even though I was supposed to be ignoring her) but Alex remained ever stoic. Cam shook his head, but he was grinning and once I continued laughing he was soon giggling along with me. By the time he was full out laughing Alex was snorting too. It didn’t take long after that for all of us to be doubled over laughing.



When we were finally finished with our gigglefest, I wiped my eyes and apologized, “Listen, Alex, I’m sorta, kinda, sorry that I was ignoring you. It was a rash decision. Now that that’s been settled, we can get back to talking, alright?”


In reply to this, Alex said, “Oh no, you’re not getting away that easily, I want to hear you sa-“


“So OG, wanna finish telling me about everything?” Cam interrupted.


“After all, you did barge into my house, beg for shelter and say it was important and that your house disappeared. The person providing you with shelter should really know the circumstances they’re doing it in,” he remarked. 


Alex rolled her eyes, “You’re the one who didn’t listen to what I was saying! I’ll tell you again, but I’m gonna need some bagels. Preferably with different flavors.”


Both of us looked at her like, ‘what.’
Alex looked up at us from her notebook, “What?”


“I think you can go without eating long enough to explain,” Cam said sternly, crossing his arms.


  I’ll never understand how they can be best friends. Like, seriously? The way they treat each other, you’d think they were siblings too.


“I need them to more easily represent my theory,” Alex said matter-of-factly.


Cam rolled his eyes, “ Fine, but don’t expect much. They’ll be stale. I haven’t been shopping in a while.”


I awkwardly drummed my fingers on my leg until he came back with the bagels. Wow. I couldn’t believe that for once I wasn’t arguing with Alex the second we were left alone. 


Cam set the bagels down on the coffee table, “There. Happy?”


“Very.”


“Okay then, jump right in. I can take it.”


  “You sure ‘bout that? It’s gonna affect your life a whole lot,” Alex said sarcastically, even though what said was probably true.


“Yup. I’m sure. Hit me with your best shot!” Cam said, excitedly leaning forwards.


Alex sniffed the bagels, “Blueberry. Raisin. Plain.”


Alex took one blueberry, one raisin, and two plain. 


“That’s all I need.”


She set the rest on the floor.


“Okay then, you see this blueberry bagel? This is me. I’m delicious,” she paused and bit into the bagel.


“Hey, I thought you said you’d tell me what’s up! Not make me watch you eat!” Cam complained.


Alex attempted to say, ‘sorry,’ but because there was food in her mouth, all that came out was, “Smrrph.”


She swallowed hard, “Sorry. It looked too good. But you’re right, the bagels are stale. Don’t worry, I won’t eat any more of them. So then, as I was saying, the blueberry bagel is me, the raisin is Bri, and the plain is Elodie and all the other normal people.”


“Wow. There certainly is a lot of other normal people! There’s two of them!”


She ignored me, “And Bri and I both leave a certain trace. In this case, I leave blueberry bagel crumbs, and Bri leaves raisin bagel crumbs. Oh yeah, and normal people leave plain bagel crumbs.” 


As she was saying this, Alex moved the bagels around, so they sort of left a trail of crumbs.


“Now, there’s somebody out there that wants to get me or somebody else. Or something I guess. So, as I was saying, somebody out there can trace people with similar crumbs to mine, and they’re picking up every last crumb that's from blueberry bagels. No matter how old the crumbs are. Got it?”


Cam nodded enthusiastically, “Yup. You’re saying that someone out there can find traces of magic left by certain people, even the smallest bit, and is poofing all the buildings that have even the tiniest bit of that particular magic.”


Gosh, Cam and Alex never cease to impress me with their similarities. Trust me on this, if Alex had a chance to, she would use the term poofing. Maybe she already used it today. I dunno.


Alex nodded, impressed, “That’s better than I could say it. And you didn’t even need bagels!”


“They were a nice touch though,” I put in.


“Thank you.”


“So, what are we gonna do about it?” Cam nudged.


“What do you mean?” Alex asked with an incredulous look on her face.


“Well, you learned all this stuff, why not use it? With all the info you have, we should be able 

to figure out whodunit and stop them before anything gets worse,” Cam said, the excitement apparent on his face.


“I’m smart, but even I’m not that smart. Who can trace such faint traces of magic? I can tell the police, but I’m not sure they’ll believe me. They’ll probably just think that I’m playing some stupid prank. Come on, how many jokes about this do you think they’ve heard already? And who would be so determined to track down a stupid teenager? They’ll never believe us. But I guess if you really want to, then you can do some research on who or what can trace magic,” Alex told him with a sigh.


Cam pumped his fist in the air and said, “Yes!”


Alex rolled her eyes, “I’m staying here though, thank you very much.”


“I’ll go to the library for books about creatures who can track magic with Cam!” I say myself.


Cam paused mid-fist pump and shook his head, “If you’re going to go then I should probably stay behind with Alex. I know her, and I don’t trust her, the second we’re gone she’ll probably hop out the window and be a mile away before we know it.”


“Excuse me? I literally have nowhere else to go! Where would I run to? And why?”


“Because you don’t want to get involved with our crazy antics. You would probably monitor us from a distance once you were gone, and steal food from me when I’m gone.”


Alex groaned and rolled her eyes.


I smirked, “Trying to find your brain so you can worm yourself out of this situation? I’ll see you guys soon, it shouldn’t take too long.”



I borrowed Cam’s bike and peddled over to the library. Unfortunately for me, there just so happens to be a pet store on the way there. And, in case you didn’t know, shopping for cats is a favorite hobby of mine. And I was due for a new imaginary cat. My parents won’t buy me one because Alex got a star dragon that lives with us and cats LOVE eating dragon. It’s a very unsettling thought. Anyways, since I found out I couldn’t get a cat I started buying imaginary cats. What this involves doing is choosing my favorite cat at the pet store and naming it. I usually donate to the pet store too, so it’s like I’m really buying a cat. Granted, it’s always a cheap cat, but, oh well. Sooooo, what happened was I saw the store and practically bicycled into the store. In fact, I would have if it was my bike. But it wasn’t. So there. I ‘parked’ the bike on the wall and cartwheeled inside. So what? I was excited. I won’t talk much about the trip because listening to somebody fantasize about cats for hours is boring, so I’ll cut to the chase. 


Long story short, I saw a star dragon, which reminded me of stupid Alex’s dragon, Einstein, that prevented me from buying a cat because cats eat star dragons. That got me thinking about how I’d learned about the deities and all the creatures that each deity created and which ones Sky had created. I remembered that we had talked about sky fairies, which were fairies that took care of the stars and kept them bright. A star fairy had to have immense power so they remained safe while doing it, which meant that they would be powerful enough to make a house disappear. I was so excited that I ran to the library without even adopting a cat!

Once I was at the library, I checked out some books on star fairies. I tried to get ahold of some records that would say names and if they’d ever made trouble or had been connected to crimes before, but because I was a minor (and because they weren’t supposed to let the public view them) I wasn’t able to get them. It hadn’t been that important though, so I decided to head back with the books I’d checked out.


I ran into Alex and Cam halfway back, and Cam asked me, “Who said you could borrow my bike?!”


I replied with, “I did. But you can have it back. How’d you guys get over here?”


“I was bored,” Alex said. 


“So we came to help you out,” Cam added.


“Did you get any good ideas?” He asked. 


“Actually, yeah! I think it’s a star fairy that’s doing it! They’d have enough power to it, but I dunno if they can trace magic. I checked out a bunch of books at the library, but they wouldn’t let me check out the records containing names and if any of them had ever been accused of crimes,” I told them.


“That’s great! Let’s head back home and look at the books you got before we do anything else,” Cam said excitedly. 


“It’s just like when we were little kids and solved mysteries! Remember Mr. Gruber’s chickens? That was hilarious!” Cam reminisced as we headed back home. 


Unfortunately though, we would soon find that someone knew we were onto them and was waiting for us to get back.































Chapter Three

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s an Angry Fairy Trying to Get Revenge!

 Alexandra


We got back in a perfectly uneventful way, thank you very much, and everything seemed fine, the forecast for that day was sunny with a chance of missing houses, so I was in a pleasant mood when we got back to the house. I had for some unknown reason been tasked with the horrific job of holding the books. Still not sure how that happened.   


Anywho, I stopped to catch my breath because, books, so Bri and Cam headed in together. However, as I stood there breathing heavily I heard an odd tinkling noise, one that was faintly annoying in a familiar way, and held my breath so I could make sure I wasn’t crazy, and sure enough, there was a weird voice speaking in another language.


“Do you guys hear that?” I asked the two of them who were currently standing on the porch chatting about Mr. Gruber’s chickens.


“Hear what?” Bri asked, sounding faintly annoyed.


Then again, she always sounds that way.


“I don’t hear anything,” Cam piped in, “Are you sure you’re okay? Those books look heavy. Oh my gosh. Did I just make my best friend have hallucinations by forcing her to carry books too heavy?!? I’m so sorry Alex!”

(He can be a little too caring at times)


“No, no, no! I’m fine. Must just be the wind.”


It wasn’t. I kept listening, trying to remember what the sound was even if nobody else was saying. As I focused, rainbows swam in front of my face like they did whenever I tried to do magic. 

Suddenly, I heard some really weird wispy words that replace the soft tinkling noises, “Telanfrinta ocru canimanstanca . . . hashima korova shakemai . . . dintante lovma.”   

       

CAMERON! BRIANNA! GET AWAY FROM THE HOUSE NOW!” I frantically screamed at them.


Cam turned to me with a confused look, but Brianna saw that this was no boy-who-cried-wolf situation from my eyes. 


“CAM! Do whatever it was that Alex said!” Brianna yelled to Cam while trying to pull both of them away from the house. 


She tripped and fell down the short flight of stairs and Cam rushed down to help her up, but I could see the situation was hopeless unless I did something.  The spell was pouring around the house now, about to envelope them and they couldn’t see it.

 

I dropped my books pointed at the spell, yelling, “Freeze!” but nothing happened.  


The air rippled around them, and then they were gone without a trace, leaving me alone and with no choice but to figure out the mystery.


I paced around the now empty property thinking aloud, “Think Alex, think! What should you do? Your family is gone, your only friend is gone, your entire campus is gone, and, worst of all, the pancake place is gone! What am I going to do?” 


Then, in classic movie fashion, a paper flew into my face.


“A ball? Sorry fairy godmother, but if you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of busy tonight.”


Earlier though, I’d glanced briefly at the books Bri’d checked out and something in the flyer corresponded to what I’d seen in one of them.


“The province of Canimaisto? That’s where one of the star fairy’s palaces is near, I think. And that sounds similar to something whoever saying the spell said. I suppose I’ll be going to a ball after all. Since star fairies can’t resist glittering things, and dresses are pretty glittery it might be a good idea anyway. If I’m lucky and Bri was right, I might find the fairy, mom and dad, and Cameron, and Bri! It’s perfect.”


And that’s how I found myself at a dressmaker’s, a place I never thought I’d have to go to again. Let’s just say that prom and I have a history.


“How can I help you, dear?”


“Um, excuse me, but I’m looking for a dress.”


“What kind of dress? Short and lacey? Long and trailing? Any colors?”


“I don’t actually have anything particular in mind. Do you have any ideas?”  

  

“Well, that depends. What’s the event?”


“A ball.”


“You mean the one in the province of Canimaisto? To celebrate the peace treaty?”


“Yes.”


“You’ve got quite a way to go then, my dear. And, as for dresses, I have a few Canimaiston style dresses, but they’re all very classical I’m afraid. Classical meaning wedding dresses of course. You’ll have better luck in Canimaisto, but I can do my best 

here.”


“That won’t be necessary, I’ll head out today instead of tomorrow so I can look for dresses there. Thank you for your help.”


“Of course. Have a good day.”


“You too.”


I bought a bus ticket for the second time this week and stuffed myself into another hot, sweaty bus ride for the second time this week. Canimaisto came into view only four hours later, and we reached our final destination within the next hour. I got off the bus and stretched my legs, yawning but glad that I was free of random people falling asleep on my shoulder. Let me tell you, it’s absolutely not romantic when you have no idea who this random sweaty person is who is now asleep on your shoulder.


“What do you mean it’s thousands of floras? I don’t even own that type of currency! And you’re selling overpriced dresses anyways! I’m not paying that much, now or ever!”


“Perhaps whoever it is your buying the dress for would like to browse instead, sir?”


I crossed my arms, “I’m a she, thank you very much. And I’m not reconsidering. I understand the fact that the ball has nearly wiped out your stock of dresses, but you’re clearly bluffing me, an out-of-town person who doesn’t know the normal prices for things around here, to get my money from me. That’s not happening. Goodbye, and that’s final!”


I stormed out of the fifteenth dress shop I’d visited that day, and that’s not even counting yesterday’s shops visited. I sighed and shook my head. I knew there were no more dress shops to visit and that they’d all ripped me off. Any normalish person would’ve accepted it and moved on… I shook my head again, trying to wipe the thoughts from my mind, but anger boiled up to replace it. In Hartblount people hadn’t really cared much about wearing the clothes assigned to their gender, but here crossdressing was severely frowned upon. I wrinkled my nose, the anger flaring up in me like a fire, tickling at my insides, daring me to do something, anything. I shoved it down and bottled it away. I didn’t have time for that now, I needed to find my family, and fast, because I didn’t have any idea about what was happening to them, and I wanted them to be safe. 


I exhaled angrily from my mouth and stood up for a walk. It was hard to run in the rocky kingdom, sharp and gray, easy to get impaled on if you trip accidentally while running, so it was simpler to just walk instead. I yawned as I walked, my head pounding. I hadn’t found a place to sleep last night, save a bench. A palace about to host a ball for anyone to attend, for free? Thousands of people would certainly be flocking in by the second, making reservations for places to stay, asking for housing from family members and the like. I had decided against the bench in the end and had stayed awake the entire night, searching for different shops I could potentially buy a dress from.


I walked up to the edge of a cliff that hung over the ocean, and took a deep breath, relishing in the salty smell in my nose. I grinned, it reminded me of the day we went to the beach, Bri, Mom, Dad, and me of course. We were eating lunch when, all of a sudden, a seagull swooped down and stole Bri’s lunch. She was so angry, she caused a huge wave to crash into the beach, which got everyone soaking wet. She was able to get her sopping sandwich back though, which was a benefit. Ever since, Bri has been struggling to control her powers, and hide her gills, which, while hidden behind her ears and on her inner wrists, looked like scars, dangerous to show in public. I shook my head again and began to pace.


 If I couldn’t find a dress, what would I do? Sew one? I only had the rest of today left before the ball officially begun. Come to think of it, what kind of dress would I even wear if I could find one that wasn’t overpriced? I closed my eyes. It would have to cover my neck so nobody could see my scars, so a turtleneck would probably be the best option. I wanted a long, dress, one with short sleeves, more form-fitting near the top and looser below the waist, leaving room for movement. That way it would loosely follow the Canimaiston style since they tended to favor looser gowns, but small waists in general. The turtleneck would be against the norm, but it might bring a curious fairy to me. At this thought, I decided that I would probably need it to be glittery as well, because it would give me an even better chance at having the fairy come to me. 


But that was ridiculous. I’d never be able to find a dress exactly like what I wanted. Resigned to my fate, I opened my eyes. There were those rainbows again! Had I been found already? But there were no odd chants this time. The rainbows finally cleared and I could see again. My heart stopped beating for a second. I was wearing the dress I’d just envisioned. Only it was bright lime green, the same color as my sweatshirt. Wait. It was my sweatshirt! Startled by my own magic, I tripped, stumbling backward, my feet slipping off the cliff. My hands scrabbled desperately for purchase on the steep cliff, but thankfully I was able to grasp a rock ledge. Only now I was hanging about fifty feet in the air with the ocean crashing on painfully sharp rocks below me.


“Well, I guess I’ll just die then. THANKS, UNIVERSE!” I screamed angrily, silently cursing myself for stumbling.


“Did someone just yell ‘thanks, universe’?” A voice above my head said.


It was masculine, deep, and quiet, giving me the impression that this person was one of those tall, shy people who don’t really say anything. Basically, a tall introvert. Just like me. Huh.


“I didn’ hear anything. Did you, Will?”


This voice was definitely feminine, lilting almost, but filled with power. Strangely, it reminded of Bri, of what she might be like if she weren’t so emotional. So a short extrovert. Now I was getting somewhere.


“Maybe… It was probably just the wind though.”


Another masculine voice, but definitely higher than the other one. It gave me the impression of someone who was trying to act like they were cool like they knew what to do, but they were really nervous and unsure of themselves. No height or introversion/extroversion detected here. I felt a little bad for whoever this was, trying to blend in the other voices but not being able to. 


“Okay then, let’s discuss the plan then,” the female voice spoke again.


“Wa-wait! I’m down here! On the cliff edge! Please help me!” I screamed at them, my fingers slipping, and my legs unable to climb because of the dress.


“Wait, I definitely heard it this time. But I don’t know from where…” It was the first voice this time.

“Yes, I’m down here! Save me please!” I continued yelling at them.


“Someone might be watching us. We should go somewhere else,” it was the girl again.


“Nooo! I’m literally on the cliff and about to die if you don’t help me!” I tried yet again to no avail.


“Come on, Chase! We’ve got to go! Stop staring at yourself and get moving!” The girl yelled.


There was a mumbled reply that I couldn’t make out, though I didn’t figure it mattered when I could die at any second.


LOOK DOWN HERE YOU IDIOTS! I’M ABOUT TO FLIPPING DIE AND YOU DON’T CARE!”


I tried to climb the cliff, but my dress got in the way. I kicked at it, the stupid dress wouldn’t stupid go away! Suddenly it shrunk, turning back into a sweatshirt. I was surprised, but quickly began to scale the cliff as fast as I could.


“I heard something that time. Someone saying something about idiots?” It was the second guy, the poor one who didn’t fit in, what was his name? Oh, right. Will.


“It’s coming from the side of the cliff. Someone says they’re stuck down here,” It was the first boy again. I still didn’t have a name for him.


“Yeah, I’m stuck down here! Now stop your stupid chit-chat and pull me up!”


“Well, no need to be so rude,” the girl leaned over the edge, and grabbing my wrists, pulled me over the lip of the cliff.


“You were almost up the cliff yourself,” she said, raising a curious eyebrow.


I shrugged, “Thanks for pulling me up.”


I studied the group. The girl was a little shorter than average, but not by much. She had thick, auburn hair that was woven into a tight braid that nearly brushed the ground. Her large eyes were a brilliant gold color that startled me. She glanced back at a tall boy on her left. He looked similar, with the same auburn hair and gold eyes. The girl’s skin was a shade lighter than his, but they were definitely related.