Twinkle's Story: Chapter 52

TAUREL

The big hand on the clock struck twelve. Time to go.

At the door, there is a male fox dressed up in a navy blue suit. Even though I told him to wear something more formal than what he would usually wear, I still let out a chuckle when I saw him. It was very different than his usual clothing attire of old shirts with torn off sleeves and pants with holes in them. Smiling, I nod at him. 

"I see you're ready to go," I say, "Did you remember to set up in the basement?" 

He nods his head vigorously. "Yes sir, yes sir. All the materials are set up ready for use." His eyes are shining. 

"Good, that's very good. I have the other room set up as well. I'll be staying in my room, and you can do your thing in yours. I don't want any part in the things that will be happening down there. I trust you in that I don't have to be your supervisor observing you like a child. Understood?" I say as I adjust the black tie around my neck. 

Again, he repeatedly nods his head. I smile at him and pat him on the back. Suddenly remembering something, I step back. 

Facing away from the door now, I sigh. "Risak, wait in the car. I'm gonna try one more time. Be back in a few." 

"Okay," he replies as I begin to run in the opposite direction of the door. 

CALLIAH

"Come on, it's time to go!" I hear a guy shouting outside the room and down the hallway.

Ignoring him, I turn back to focusing on a panic-stricken boy. Every few seconds I watch him wipe away his tears. His blond hair is ruffled and the majority of it covers his face. 

"I-I've been such a bad friend. I'm nothing better than a traitor."

He's a far better person than I've ever been. He's not the bad one. 

I put my paws on his shoulders. He rubs his eyes again and stares at me with his round blue eyes. 

"Listen here, Finny. You are not a bad person. Repeat it back to me."

Trembling, he stutters. "'I am not a bad per-per...'. No, sorry, I can't." 

"Why can't you?" 

"I'm allowing him to be tortured by them, darn it!" he says with frustration. He clenches his fists, claws digging into the palms. 

"Then why don't you do anything about it?" 

More tears rush down his face. "You know why! I'm a weak coward. They're too strong for me; I thought you knew that by now." 

"Look at me, Finny," I say as I steady my grip on his tense shoulders. "If you believe that what they're planning on doing is wrong, that already makes you an infinite number of times better than they'll ever be." 

"I can't believe I could be fooled so easily. How could I?" 

As I open my mouth about to speak, I hear that same guy shouting. Doors are being forced open and then immediately slammed shut. 

"Where the heck is that gosh darn vixen? Come out here right now or I swear I'll definitely make things more difficult for you!" I hear Taurel say while storming the hallway. 

And just like that, he reaches the door at the opposite end of the hallway. 

He pushes me away from Finny. A wicked grin grows on his thin ugly face as he drags me out of the room and into the hallway. What disturbs me the most is that he gave Finny a thumbs up before he shut the door. 

Leaning against the door with his paw tightly grabbing my wrist, he stares into my eyes. "What do you say, darling? Want to join us on our little adventure? I'm sure we will have a blast!" 

A blast, huh? 

Staring back at him, I only reply with a single word. No.

"What do you mean 'no'? You don't have a right to say no. I thought you knew that already since you gave birth to a son that you can't help but hate. I can only make the best of guesses that the father forced you to keep it."

It.

"Sad how society is. Males having to make decisions for females."

"Shut up, I'm not joining you two."

Taurel looks at me totally intrigued by my words. 

"I thought you hated him, Calliah, detested him with every ounce of your being. You are a bad person, darling. You are nothing more than a child abuser, so I do not understand why there would be any reason for you not to be on board with Risak and I."

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. 

My other paw, though my non-dominant one, is free of his grip. Before I can fully register what I'm doing, I slap my paw across his face. 

His paws go up to his face. With both of my paws free, I pull his shirt collar towards me. Our noses touch. 

Now it's my turn to smile. "I thought I said 'no'. Oh and I have a message you could send to your Risak friend."

I kick him between the legs for good measure. 

TWINKLE

"It's been days, Black Raven. I have to stop being so isolated from everything. I have to find them, yeah, that's what I'll do."

The strange black fox looks at me as if she's disgusted with my words. "You don't have to. Do you remember what you saw them do when you were gone?"

I mutter under my breath. "You're the one making me be gone away." 

"I've been keeping you here because it's for your protection, Twinkle. You're worth far more than the both of them."

I stomp my foot. "I don't care about worth, gosh darn it! I'm worried about them, I miss them, I..."

"But do they miss you?"

Angry at her, I say, "I don't know! I'm not a mind reader."

"I find myself so disgusted that you still want to go back to him even though he clearly cheated on you with her. Why the heck do you want to go back to them again? Forget the prophecy for a minute and think about what you're saying. Twinkle, come on! He was more intimate with her than he ever was to you. You're nothing more than his innocent little girl. Darn it, they were almost naked together!"

I hate how I automatically blush when that topic comes up. Not the cute kind of blush either. "I... I'm not really into that stuff. Me and him both know that. There's no reason for him to treat me like a child."

"How many times do I have to remind you, Twinkle! They spent their first lives together. They've been together since the beginning of Jamaa. Sure, not as a romantic couple, but they sure were close friends. She was Fierdan's love interest and one of the only true reasons to stay alive and not freaking kill himself. They've been through everything together. They have a lifetime more memories than you've ever had with him. You think that's the worse of intimacy? They've been far more intimate than that. Twinkle, you're like an outsider compared to them."

"Outsider, huh? Hearing that sure is a new thing for me." I say flatly, suddenly interested in looking down at my feet. 

Black Raven rests a paw on my shoulder. "I'm being honest with you."

I take her paw off me. "Yeah and it's funny how you think I'm only obsessed with romance and nothing more than that in the prophecy. It never stated that Duke and I have to be lovers for the prophecy to be true. The only thing we can have in common is having a fire-based Elemental Power with aerial powers. That's it. There's no need for romance to be such a huge component in this whole thing." 

Black Raven shakes her head at my words. "You're still in love with him, Twinkle. There's no need to deny it."

I try to restrain myself from punching her and watching her panic as she would morph back into a raven. Something that can't talk back to me.

So I say, "It's called I want us all to remain friends. As friends. Okay?" 

She just replies with a sarcastic 'sure', and turns back into a raven.

I sigh and twirl strands of my hair around my finger.

Perhaps I've been so lonely and emotionally damaged that I have gone to such ridiculous limits in order to have one thing.

A friend.

DUKE

You will die before your next birthday. Your wishes will finally come true. I'll make sure of that. Very soon, my dear. We'll finally be free. I love you. 

Those last words. 

He's basically saying he's going to murder me in an act of love? Him of all people. 

The voice. The comfort.

I couldn't stand it. 

I couldn't stand anything involving me really. 

Me and Fierdan. Fierdan and I. We're nothing more than one of the same. 

I really couldn't stand it. Staying alive. Her staying alive. Him staying alive. Them staying alive. Me. Dawn. Fierdan. Soulless. 

I wanted out. I wanted her out.

What happened was this. Dawn removed the scars from being visible on my body. She gave me another hug that seemed to never end. Like one of those hugs a family member would give you. I love those types of hugs. 

I was very weak. Still am. Whatever. 

I was very sick. I would like to say "I'm recovering" but if you know me, you would know that's nothing more than a lie. 

I never really understood the whole thing. All I know is that Dawn knew I was in immediate danger, and she carried me to, well, to a different place. 

She just flung me across her shoulders. As if my weight didn't even matter to her.

Where am I now? Like I'd tell you. 

As I woke up the next day at some time in the afternoon, that old Fierdan thought overcame me.

I threatened to kill Dawn. 

She didn't even fight me back.

She could have died.

Except I decided to kill myself instead. 

I accepted to take part of Fierdan's plan.

That one day we'll meet together in the real world.

That I'll kill myself.

I'll do anything for Soulless to be defeated.

Soulless has tormented us for too long.

And if I have to die for them to die, then I'm up for it.

I haven't seen Dawn for a few days.

My mind is a mess if you don't know.

I'm in isolation. 

Ha, like that means anything. 

I haven't seen Twinkle for what feels like weeks.

I miss her, you know. 

I'm the true bad person here.

Don't ever be like me.

Promise me that.