I saw the last light shut off and hopped on the gray building, the red STARS bag I had snagged from Portugal intact. I scaled the wall easily, and opened the window. It was little girls' room that I had snuck into earlier. If I had chosen one of the girls, I would have named the black-haired one Claire and the dirty-blonde one Marceline. But I wasn't there for them.
I dodged out into the hallway, and followed the hall to Edison's room. I creeped the door open, and slide in soundlessly. There he was, sitting up, squinting to see me in the shadows.
"Alice?" he whispered. I stepped into the thin streams of moonlight so that he might be able to see me better.
"Yes, it's me," I said softly. "We can go as soon as we pack you up, dear." Edison slipped out of bed wearing cotton blue pajamas. I told him to go over to the window while I packed.
I stood up and went over to the dresser. Edison's was the top drawer. I opened that up and picked up all his cloths folded neatly into piles. We would have to go shopping, that much was clear. I jumped back over to the window where I had come in and stuffed the cloths in the STARS bag.
"Lace up your shoes," I said, handing him a pair of socks. He went over to the closet and pulled out a red pair of sneakers. He crawled back to me.
"Will you help me?" he asked, and I giggled. I helped him put on his shoes and socks. "Thank you."
"You are welcome," I replied. I walked over to the closet and yanked a random coat off a hanger. I helped Edison slip into it, and then picked him up. I dipped down and threw the red STARS bag over my shoulder.
"Okay, Edison. Are you ready?" I asked, preparing to jump out of the window.
"Wait!" he cried in his little voice. "What about my name?"
"Oh, we'll work on that later," I told him, because I honestly hadn't even thought of what I was going to name him. None of the boy names I had picked out when I was human seemed to fit him. Hell, maybe I would just stick to Edison. I tucked the little boy into the hollow of my shoulder and jumped gracefully out the window. I landed neatly on the balls of my feet.
"Okay, Edison," I whispered, scared to raise my voice too loud, "we're back on the ground."
Edison looked up, and stared out ahead. He saw the dark trees we were heading for, and tucked his head back into my shoulder. I held him tight and hummed a low, simple tune. The woods at night were the perfect nightmare for a small child, and it was now my job to protect and comfort Edison, and I took that job very seriously. Even though I was pretty damn sure that I was the scariest thing to find in the trees around Martyr's.
Owls hooted and Edison whimpered. I petted his champagne hair and whispered poems to him that I knew. I spoke softly in Spanish, Estonian, and English. Gradually, he gained courage and soon he was able to look on ahead without cringing. He only squeezed his eyes shut when the occasional owl hooted. Then he looked up at me.
"Alice?" he asked.
"Yes?"
"Should I call you 'Alice' or 'Mama'?"
This slipped up on me unexpected. I thought for a moment then decided to let him choose.
"What do want to call me?"
"Well, I think since you are adopting me, kind of, I should call you Mama."
"Then call me Mama, honey. I like it that way."
As we emerged from the thicket of trees, I looked around, and saw an airport in the distance. I smiled widely and ran at a fast, but human pace towards it. It was right on Lake Michigan.
Suddenly, I remembered the silver fairy necklace I had gotten back in Portugal. I shifted Edison in my arms and dug it out of the pocket of my jacket. I held it up, perfect in the moonlight. I gave it one last, funny look, and then chucked it into the cold, black waters of the lake.
I reached the airport, and walked right inside. I had had to get my own tickets before, so I knew the drill of how it went. But as soon as I dug into the red STARS bag, I noticed that a woman nagging at a man that was probably her husband, had nagged him all the way over to a stand. Too bad she forgot the two slips of blue paper under where her hand had been.
I rushed over and looked at the tickets as if I was simply contemplating if I wanted to sit there or not. The tickets were for Paris, France. Ew, but I'll take it.
I snatched up the tickets and went right to the gate on the ticket, Gate 6. The flight was to take off in half an hour. We boarded the plane quickly, and good thing too. As soon as we took our seats in the fluffy, white, first class seats, a tired looking family came wondering on. A woman with dirty-blonde curls and tired blue-green eyes sat down on the seat next to the window. A little boy with hair the color of spun sugar and bright ice-blue eyes sat next to her. He looked maybe six or seven. A little girl with the same color eyes and hair started crying.
"I want to sit by Mommy!" she wailed. She couldn't have been but three or four. She, like her mother and brother, was dressed elegantly. She wore a cream colored dress with a salmon colored cardigan, white tights, and little black shoes. She held a red teddy bear in her arms.
"I'm sitting by Mommy!" the little boy snarled at his sister. The little girl screeched. Her mother leaned over, her face fierce and tired at the same time.
"Kane, sit next to Bobby and be good," she hissed. The little girl, Kane, looked at her mother and her bottom lip jutted out.
"Poor Kane," I heard Edison whisper. He had been watching the action. Kane turned around and looked at us. Her eyes went wide at the sight of my tumbling red waves and vampire looks, holding Edison all the while. She looked at Bobby.
"Fine. You sit by Mommy." She parked her little butt on the white chair next to me. Her mother rolled her eyes and looked at me.
"You don't mind, do you?" she asked. I shook my head.
"Of course not," I said gingerly.
Kane looked up ay me with her bright blue yes.
"My name is Kane," she said, swinging her legs. "I'm four."
"My name is Alice," I told her, grinning. "I'm fourteen. This is Edison."
I bounced him in my lap, and he smiled up at me. Our flight took off, and I was so ready to get home, hug my friends and tell Vick how much I cared about him. Kane and Edison chattered excitedly the first few hours then eventually fell asleep.
As I watched Kane's sleeping face, I suddenly realized why I had wanted a girl. I would have spoiled her rotten.
I had wanted to buy her, big, fluffy dresses much too grand for a child. Nice ones made of satin, and tulle, and lace with bows, sashes, beads, pearls, in all colors. She would have become a nightmare. I clutched Edison tight to me, and Kane laid her blonde curly head on my shoulder. I patted her and put the hood up on my red jacket as the sun rose on the other side of the plane.
We landed a short time after that, and I woke Edison up.
The whole trip I had been thinking up names and so far I really liked Starling, Sinclair, Galaxy, Louis, and Edison had really grown on me. I rushed through France and all the countries separating me from my loved ones. When we arrived in Itali only a day later, I was elated. Edison could sense that, and he felt happy, too.
"Remember what I told you?" I asked him.
"Yes," he nodded. "When I go in the castle I will go into a long nap."
I smiled at him.
"Very good, honey."
"Mama?"
"Yes?"
"Have you decided my name yet?"
I thought about that, but answered him honestly.
"Well, no I haven't, dear," I said calmly. "I have some narrowed down. You see, I hadn't planned on a boy."
He wrinkled his nose.
"You mean you thought I was going to be a girl?"
"In a twisted sort of way, yes."
He laughed and shook his head saying, "No!"
I laughed with him and kissed his cheeks as we arrived at the castle.
I ran through the doors at a very inhuman speed, and ran to the elevator. When I arrived on the second floor, I took off to the ball room. I burst in the door and the first person I saw was Alec. He whirled around, and he saw me.
"Alice!" he yelled, and I was suddenly being almost crushed to his body. I hugged him back tightly. "Alice! Oh, we've have missed you so!"
"I've missed you, too!" I said into his neck. We pulled away from each other, and his face was animated. He laid his topaz eyes on Edison. He smiled softly at him. Edison looked away shyly, into my shoulder.
"Is this your son?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "This is Edison. Where is everyone?"
"I shall call them down," Alec said.
"No, no. Allow me."
I reached out to Israel's mind.
Guess whose home?
I didn't get a reply, but heard a big crash in the hallway. Suddenly, flashes of blonde, blue, black, brown, green, and every other color were choking me. I heard Edison whimper and I threw myself out of the crazed embrace. I still had someone latched onto me. It was Israel.
"Alice!" she said, sounding like she would have been sobbing if she were a human. I held her up with one arm and held my son with the other. Jinx was the next to embrace me, then Skander, then Azure.
Destiny held Faith on her hip, and the blonde child reached out to me. I smiled at her and came up and kissed her cheek.
"Sorry," I said. "But I kind of have my hands full, baby girl."
Faith's honey eyes bugged as wide as her smile when she saw Edison. Destiny and I gave each other a one armed, but tight hug. She looked a bit sad, but why? No one else looked sad. Then a girl with blonde hair put up in a tight bun and blonde boy who looked like Destiny came up. They must have been Jane and Dustin.
"Hello," said Jane. "I am Jane, Alec's…"
"Twin sister," I answered for her. "And this is Dustin, your mate and also Destiny's twin. Hi. The name's Alice. This is my soon-to-be son, Edison."
Edison still kept his pretty face hidden.
"I'm Faith," said Faith, leaning out of her mother's arms towards me. I stepped closer and let her touch Edison's back. He looked around, revealing his slate gray eye and a little bit of his dear smile.
"I wanted Alec to, uh, help me change him," I said, not daring to go louder than a whisper. Alec nodded, his expression noble.
"Of course," he said. "When shall we start this?"
"Right away," I said. "And, I don't want to offend anyone, but I would like to do this with just us."
"We understand, Alice," Jinx said, and kissed my red lips shortly. Okay, that was weird. We said a goodbye to everyone. Though I had asked her to stay, I still heard Destiny coming behind us. She had handed Faith off to Israel, who I could hear cooing her.
We arrived at my old room, and I laid Edison down on my white bed spread.
"Edison, this is the part I told you about," I said slowly, making sure he understood every word I said to him. "The nap part. You may feel a little burning at first, but then it will go away, okay?"
"Okay, Mama," he said, his eyes trusting me.
"I love you."
Quickly, before I lost my nerve, I yanked up his little white arm and bit down into it. Edison yelped with surprise and I yanked myself away, tearing my attention off the taste. Edison was coherent for a few seconds, and then began to scream.
I won't describe to you the hell that made me feel; especially knowing I was the one who did it. But as soon as he started screaming, it vanished and I knew Alec had done his job.
"Thank you," I said to him. "Really. I can never, ever repay you for this."
'Its okay, Alice," Alec said to me. "I'll have to stay with him the whole three days. But it shall be worth it."
"Should I…" Destiny began.
"Yes," Alec cut in sharply. "Now is the best time. It will give her her own time."
I looked at both of them. Destiny pulled me out into the hallway, and shut the door to my room. She smiled sadly at me with her shell-pink lips. I didn't smile back.
"What's gone wrong?" I asked gravely, not wanting to curb any new news. Destiny's smile faded, and she suddenly looked a whole lot older than just fourteen.
"Aren't you wondering something?" she asked, not wanting to meet my eyes. Then, I was wondering something…
"Where is Vick?" Even I could hear the eagerness in my voice, the excitement. Destiny couldn't look at me.
"Please, Alice!" she gasped. "Please don't say his name that way! And please don't hate me!"
I gathered the blonde mess in my arms, more scared than I had ever felt in my life, not even when the death called Skander looked me right in the face.
"Destiny," I said, my voice barley a wisp in the coolness of the stone walls. "What is it, Destiny? Where is he? Where is Vick?"
Destiny let out a sob, and shook like a leaf.
He's dead! I think suddenly to myself. He's dead, and Destiny doesn't want to tell me! But why would she?
My breaths were coming in short plummets, and I was clenched with an icy fear and sadness. No. I had to be strong. I had to be, because Destiny obviously wasn't.
"Destiny," I said, making my voice harsh, almost angry, "you tell me what is the matter right this instant! Do it, Destiny!"
She composed herself the best she could, but still wouldn't look me in my eyes.
"Now, why would I hate you?" I asked her.
"For what I'm going to tell you," she whispered. I sighed.
"Tell me."
"Vick… left."
"Left? Where did he go?"
At least he wasn't dead.
"He went to Southern Iceland."
"Why did he go there?"
"Well, when you weren't back after six months, we started getting scared, and so Vick went out looking for you, and we told him not to. Oh, it's my entire fault, Alice! I was the one who talked Alec into letting him go."
"It's nobody's fault," I told her gently, stroking her curls. "And it certainly isn't your fault, dear. We can just go and get him. Or send someone to go get him. I…"
Something in Destiny's face made me stop talking. She pulled something from her pocket and handed it to me slowly, as if it were a venomous snake. I took it from her just as slowly.
It was an envelope, a white one. I opened it up and revealed a baby blue slip of paper. In silver calligraphy, two full names were written.
Vick Connor Privet
and
Annelynn Marie LeClaire
Invite you to a celebration of Love, Happiness, and Memories.
Date: March 16th 2012
At the Le Theatre de Magnifique
We hope to see you there!
At first, I didn't understand, or rather, I didn't want to understand. But I slowly realized it was a wedding invitation. To my love's wedding. And he sure in the hell wasn't getting married to me.