1st floor

2nd floor

3rd floor

The elevator in the hospital kept rising as more people would poor in on each stop. Their grandpa was on the 7th floor. So close yet so far. Harper had her arms folded and was chewing on her ring finger nail and her foot tapped impatiently. Salem was oddly doing the same thing with her foot, but was tapping her thumb against her pinky. It's a nervous twitch she has had for a while.

Grandpa Leo had his eyes shut and wasn't moving when Harper and Salem finally got in his room. He had a sheet covering his nose and mouth, but not his eyes. It must have slipped down from when the doctors covered him up. Salem walked over and covered her mouth because they were too late. Harper walked over beside her grandpa curiously. Her body felt empty that they had missed him before he had passed. Tears began to steam down Salem's face as she went over to touch her grandpa's shoulder.

"RAHHHH!"

The white sheet sat up and fell down onto their grandpa's lap. Salem fainted and Harper stood in the corner wide eyed and confused. Harper then grabbed her forehead, sighed and smiled.

"Why did I have a feeling you would do that…?", she laughed. Grandpa Leo fixed his puffy white and grey beard and snuggled back up in the white sheet.

That was wrong wasn't it?" "Grandpa Leo said with guilt. Harper nodded and leaned down to help her sister, who was lying on the floor in shock, regain consciousness. Salem sat up dizzily and began crying out of anger.

"That wasn't funny, Grandpa! I really thought you had died!" Salem said wiping her face.

"Well, I will be tonight though" he said folding his arms behind his pointy bald head. He acted like he was ready and happy for death. "But you girls won't have to worry about me anymore." He said as Harper and Salem went silent

"Hey, now! I don't want to see my girls sad before I go! You two should be happy." He said smiling. "I'm finally going to be able to see Grandma NumNums again, and you know how much I miss her." They both smiled calmly. His face turned a bit stern, or worried, for a moment.

"I do have something to tell you girls though, only if you want to know." He said swishing his mustache. He looked just like a gnome doing that. "It will change the way you think of each other, most likely."

Harper and Salem looked at each other in a confusing way. They could see it in one another's eyes that they were deeply curious, so they both agreed that they want to know.

"It can't be that bad" said Salem, "nothing is going to change the fact that she is my best sister." Harper smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Well okay then." Grandpa Leo slowly sat up and rubbed his neck, and sighed. "Harper, your parents didn't die by committing suicide." Harper's eyes widened as well as Salem's. Salem stepped forward and brushed her hair back with her hand.

"Then how did our parent's die?" Salem asked curiously.

"No, Salem." he replied, "Your parents died by suicide."

A silence rose in the room. Hospital beeps and humming from the machines could only be heard. Harper looked at Salem in a daze and looked at Salem's face. Salem had dark reddish brown hair that has never been dyed before, her face was long and had small brown eyes and was short and skinny. Harper's hair, before it was dyed purple and blue, was bright blonde, and she had emerald blue eyes, those round eyes she loved, and had a round face and she was tall, wide and curvy.

Harper then realized that she and Salem weren't sisters.

Salem's eyes bulged with fresh tears. She didn't even know what to say, nor did Harper. Grandpa Leo rubbed his head searching for words to cheer them up, or perhaps was worried of the questions that they were about to ask.

"Wait…but..no…huh?" Harper sat on the edge of the hospital bed, avoiding the cold railing on the side. Her grandpa, even if it isn't her biological grandpa, rubbed her back and sighed.

"I know you have many questions to ask," Grandpa Leo said, "but unfortunately, I cannot answer them..." He began to lie back down and wiggled around to get comfy. Harper and Salem both stood up.

"No! You can't just leave us hanging like that!" Harper shouted, "Who are my parents? Are they dead too? Are they alive?"

"Heh..I love you girls", he said chuckling, "but the only thing I can tell you, Harper, is that if you want to see your parents, just close your eyes, and remember that it only takes once upon a faerie and twice upon a believer." He closed his eyes and smiled.

"What does that even mean? Grandpa?" Harper said loudly. Their grandpa just laid there. Salem turned her head and stared at the bed.

"Ha Ha, Grandpa, trying to think you can get your way out of telling me the truth are ya?" Harper said chuckling. They both stared at him, waiting for him to pop up and growl like he did earlier, but nothing happened. Harper turned to Salem with a blank face, and they both knew. He was gone for good this time.

They each gave him a kiss on the cheek and on his bald head. He continued to have a smile on his face as they left the room. For some reason, they felt better than they did about his death than they felt from the drive there. It was true, that he is probably a lot happier up in heaven with his love, Grandma NumNums, but now they are burdened with the curiosity of knowing about Harper's true parents and where she came from, and if he is really telling them the truth. Perhaps it would have been better if they wouldn't have known.

Several weeks had passed, several inquisitive weeks. Harper was talking to Salem about what Grandpa Leo may have meant. Salem kept her eyes shut hard, making an awful scrunched up face, but Harper kept going on and on to what he could have meant. Harper stopped rambling and tapped her on the shoulder playfully.

"Hey! Open your eyes!" Harper said loudly. "Look! I see my car!"

Salem opened one of her eyes and then quickly shut them and started moaning in agony. "Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up…ehhhhhhhhhh" Salem whined. Harper put her hands in the air and Salem opened her eyes and gripped tightly on the bar on her lap.

"Here we GOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Harper and down they went! She and Salem were riding the tallest and fastest roller coaster at the amusement park, WilloWood. They could feel their stomachs rising slowly each time there is a big drop. The wind made Salem's fake bumblebee wings flap frantically.

She seemed scared at first but now it looks like she is enjoying the ride. The ride ended quicker than expected. Harper was a bit disappointed that the ride itself was a total of one minute while the wait in line was about an hour, but it was still fun and worth the wait. They both got of the ride rather wobbly and giggly.

"What do you wanna ride next?" Salem asked bouncing in her yellow and black striped bumblebee dress.

"Hmm…" Harper thought. "I'm kinda wanting a Do-It-Yourself slushy, what do ya say?" Salem licked her lips and let her taste buds agree. As they walked, the sounds of children laughing and shrieking with joy filled WilloWood park along with Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" meshing in with a carousel's carnival music, which sounded quite nice. Harper had to take a second look at the carousel because there was a tall person wearing a long purple and blue cloak that was decorated in Celtic knots, and had a mask on, a very eerie mask that was similar to Bauta Cera Venice mask. Its mask was golden and it had a large nose pointing down while the chin extended outward. It didn't have a mouth, therefore making in even creepier. It turned and tilted its head to the side and caught eye with Harper. She was amused and laughed.

Salem shouted for Harper, "HEY! Hurry up it's freaking 90 degrees out here. I'd like a slush!"

"Oh!" Harper galloped around the crowds of adults and children. She was so distracted by the carousel conductor that she forgot how thirsty she was. The conductor sat upon one of its horses and spun around once, but when that horse came back around, the conductor wasn't on it.

"Aw, man" Harper said while she tied her hair in a ponytail, "It's so damn hot, I call a water ride after we drink our slushies". Salem agreed while she struggled to block the sun's rays from her eyes. Harper looked up and noticed a bunch of dark rain clouds were swarming around the park.

"Uh oh, looks like we may not have to ride a water ride… that sucks." Harper told her. Salem turned around to ask why, but then felt a drop of water on her face and then the sun vanished behind the clouds. They were next in line to make their own slushy. They were quite relieved of the sun's disappearance for a while. Suddenly, lightning struck the ground a few miles away and caused a big roar of thunder which scared lots of children. It even scared Harper and Salem for a moment. They both quickly filled up their plastic wiggly cups full of cherry, lemon-lime slush before the rain decided to pour, but they weren't quick enough. Children and babies started to cry and run with their parents to find something to hide in or under from the storm. It was kind of amusing to watch parents run frantically with strollers and fanny packs.

Harper and Salem decide to make a run for it themselves. The rain was so forceful that it actually hurt, so that made the girls realize that the rain isn't as fun when it really hurts. They needed to find something to hide under quickly. They both ran laughing for a while, until they ended up being separated by the scattering crowd. Harper looked all around for Salem but couldn't see her and her three ponytails or bee dress.

Lightning struck near the roller coaster they had just ridden on. Harper gasped and picked up her pace. She ran near the carousel and there she made eye contact again with the masked conductor. He was standing in front of the spinning horses getting pounded on by ran, but didn't move a centimeter. The carousel music still could be heard even with all the thunder and rain. Without thinking, Harper quickly ran up to the moving carousel next to the masked conductor. The horses and the music began to slow with one quick flick of a body movement from the conductor. Up close, Harper can tell that the masked conductor is a man due to his Adam's apple under the mask.

He knelt down, like Harper was a queen of some sort, and escorted her onto a white porcelain horse. Harper was highly amused. She sat upon the horse and the conductor stood up to help her and position her into place.

"Ohh, classy." Harper said sarcastically "If you were my waiter, I'd tip you extra." Harper began to laugh as the conductor took her right hand and kissed it. Harper stopped laughing instantly, her eyes widened and she couldn't help but blush.

The carousel began to move slowly and the music took Harper by surprise. The conductor hopped off into the middle of the carousel where he stood still. Harper laughed and said,

"Haha, is a flirt like you gonna give me the ride of a life time?" She had a fun yet awkward smile on her face as the conductor still creeped her out. She looked at her horse she was riding on and noticed that it had double horns on its head. She was sitting on the only unicorn that was on the carousel, but was confused to why it had two horns instead of one. The ride barely had a chance to pick up speed until she came back around and it had stopped again. Harper looked around for the conductor but couldn't see him anywhere.

"Cheap!" she yelled out into the park hoping for the conductor to hear. Harper sighed and crossed her arms and waited for the rain and lightning to stop. Salem wasn't picking up her phone and it was pissing Harper off. She sat there waiting and waiting, she thought the storm was never going to end, and she didn't even see anyone else walk or run by.

She sat..

And sat..

And sat..