Chapter Ten: Back Again

Edgar froze. What did Sky say? She loved him?

It was like all of the feeling he had towards Dalia faded. He was no longer under her spell. Realizing how dangerously close he was to Dalia, he pulled back quickly. She stared at him. She had no clue how he had broken through her spell. There was only one way and she didn't think that was possible. She remembered the spell book reading clearly. Only someone who truly loved Edgar could get through to him.

Celia put her hand over Sky's mouth, trying to stop her from talking. But it was too late. Sky's words had already gotten to Edgar and the spell was gone. Dalia's power seem to fade. Edgar stood there, looking at Dalia.

She made a last attempt to drag him back in a trance. She stared into his eyes, using her powers to bring him back to her. He needed to be destroyed! She had promised David!

Nothing happened. Edgar stayed the same, staring at her in pure confusion. What had happened? He tried to remember.

He was in the house. Alan had taken him out of the spell and they had to get away from there. The witches were going to kill them. The started running across the field, but the witches were somehow alive. They walked out of the door...

It all ended there. Like a black cloak had been draped over his memory. But it came back when Sky had said she loved him.

"Edgar, are you ok?" Dalia said softly. She sounded like she actually cared about him. She went to pt her hand on his neck and drag him in for another kiss, but Edgar being Edgar, he landed a punch on her face.

She flinched and put her hand on her cheek. It was instantly bruised but the purple color was fading. Dalia thanked her lucky stars that she was in the middle of a rainstorm because if she was anywhere else, that would've hurt like hell.

Anger flooded through her. He was out of her spell! She looked up at Edgar, her eyes glowing an odd red color.

"You are done for. Dead. Do you hear me? Dead!" Dalia growled. She drained energy from the rain and flew into the air. The other witches followed closely behind her.

Natalie moved her wrists in a circle. They cracked from being so stiff, even if it was for that short time. She glanced at Sky, thinking of what she had said.

"Edgar...I..." Sky stuttered. She had no idea what to say. She had yelled at the top of her lungs, in front of everyone, that she loved Edgar.

She wondered what he thought of her now. Did he like her back? She felt like slapping herself for even thinking that one. Of course he liked her back! He fought with Sam over her! Did he feel the same way still? Had his feelings changed about her?

Edgar had turned to face her. He looked at her, they both had the same awkward look in their eyes. He quickly looked down to his army boots.

"Uh..." He started awkwardly. "Thanks, I guess?"

Sky giggled quietly and looked at her feet, too.

Sam had a pained expression.

"There's other people, you know." Natalie told him.

"I know..." He whispered.

"If he wants a girl, he needs to stop wearing picnic tables." Alan said, referring to Sam's red and white checkered shirt. It did look like a picnic table.

Nat laughed but stopped quickly at the look on his face.

"It does look like a picnic table, Sammy." She muttered and ruffled Sam's hair, trying to cheer him up.

The blonde sighed as she walked away.

Edgar and Sky were talking about something, laughing and getting less awkward around each other. They were closer now, only a few inches or so between them

Edgar knew he had to say something about the whole situation. It just felt right, like the moment was perfect.

"Sky...do you...really...?" Edgar started. He had no way to put his words in a sentence.

Sky nodded, looking at him then the ground then back to him. It was equally awkward for her as it was for him.

"Well...I...I mean..." He stuttered.

"Edgar," She looked him in the eyes. "I know. It was the whole Dalia thing. I get it."

Edgar nodded, smirking slightly.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" Sam asked, stopping the moment.

"We should probably head down to the beach and get settled for the night." Nat replied.

"Yeah. Good idea." Sam said. "Take the bikes?"

"No, they'll follow the tracks and find us. We're going to have to walk. Sky, can we still take the shortcut?"

Sky was distracted by Edgar for a moment but spoke.

"Yeah. Let's go." She told them.

They were now only feet from the old house, bringing back memories from the summer.

"Is it really a good idea to go in there? I mean, nobody lives there and you know what happened and..." Sam whispered to Nat.

"Where else are we supposed to go?" She asked him.

"Well, I was just saying. Because we have those nightmares and I don't really think seeing your claw marks on the stairs and the walls will really help Alan with his," Sam and Natalie both looked at the Frog.

He had an odd worried look in his eyes, like he didn't want to go inside. Now Nat felt bad. What else were they going to do, though?

"Alan?" She asked him. Sky, Edgar, and Sam walked on towards the house.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"You ok?"

Alan nodded.

"Ok..." She knew he wasn't, but she said it anyway.

They walked into the house. There was a slight black trail leading from the steps and into the side room. Alan ignored it his best, knowing that it wasn't going to help his nightmares, only fuel them.

Sky noticed the trail and so many thoughts ran through her head. No one had told her about what had happened over the summer, so she questioned Sam about it.

"What happened here?" She whispered.

Sam glanced at Nat and Alan, who were walking into the kitchen and trying their best to ignore the stains.

"Come upstairs and I'll tell you." He said, not wanting to say anything about it around them.

Sky glanced at Edgar, who was trying his best to barricade the broken window in the other room. It seemed like they knew this place well.

"Edgar'll be fine." Sam told her. Didn't she trust him?

"Ok." She finally said and they started up the stairs.

"Well, over the summer, the Frogs and I were going to watch monster movies. But, there was this...power outage...in the house and some voice talked to us through the TV, or ceiling, or wherever it was. I'm not really sure... But, uh, it said we had to find a girl who could fix something that was going to happen to us."

Sky listened closely as Sam explained how Alan met Nat.

"I remember that," She said. "Nat and I were on the boardwalk and she saw the shop. She said she wanted to go in, but I'm not really a comic book nerd so I let her go in. She met me later at the beach, she had a comic with her. Said she got it for free."

"Vampire Everywhere?" He asked.

Sky nodded.

"Figures. Well, Edgar and I met her the next day. We found out that she was the one we needed. While we were at the shop, vampires attacked. Nat said she knew an old house, this place, and we came here. It got more and more obvious that Nat and Alan were a couple- still is - and Edgar was jealous that Alan had a girl. So, when Alan and I left the next day, Edgar found out that she used to be a half-vampire."

Sky hadn't known that. But it did explain why her best friend would ditch her on the boardwalk at night and go with the biker gang that ran around there.

Sam continued with the rest of the story, recalling everything from the summer. He and Sky were sitting in one of the upstairs rooms, one that didn't have vampire blood splattered everywhere, and kept talking.

When there was a pause, Sam decided to bring up the subject of love. He had been meaning to talk to Sky about it for a while now, and now was his chance.

"You know, Sky, I've been meaning to talk to you about something..." He said.

Sky knew that was coming. She knew he liked her and after admitting her love for Edgar in front of him, it was only a matter of time until the subject came up.

"Yeah?" She asked him, trying to get him to continue so they whole thing could be over with.

"Well...I like you...and I pretty much think that's obvious...but I was wondering...do you...you know...like me...back?" Sam shut his eyes in embarrassment.

What a stupid question! He thought. Of course she doesn't! She likes Edgar!

"Sam, I," Sky tried to find a way to phrase her words. "You're a nice guy. You're funny, and cute, and you have an odd fashion sense that I happen to find amazing, but,"

Welcome aboard the SS Awkward, you have just landed in Friendship Lagoon... Sam thought as she spoke. Typical words for a sentence that plainly meant, 'I don't like you. You're more of a friend.'

"But you're just my friend. That's all we'll ever be." Sky finished.

Sam nodded, understanding.

Downstairs, Nat and Alan had gone outside. They went to the beach and lay down in the sand, staring up at the stars.

"What are we going to do about the witches?" Nat asked Alan.

"Well now we know how to kill them, so I guess we just wait." He replied.

"Wait for them to come? Then defeat them in an epic battle?"

Alan nodded, sand rubbing in his hair. He ran his hand over the back of his head, getting rid of most of the sand.

"Seems like the summer..." Natalie muttered.

"But not as violent." Alan muttered back.

They heard each other say the words, but said nothing about it. The summer had been the best and worst time of their lives. They had met, but were torn apart, only to be brought back together again.

"So...how's your finger?" Nat asked, just thinking of something to say to ease the tension.

"Better. I think all that paralysis I had mended it back together, though." He chuckled.

She laughed with him.

A wave rolled up, hitting the ends of their feet.

"High tide..." Nat muttered. "I don't feel like going back in there."

"Me neither."

"I'm surprised the caffeine hasn't worn off yet."

"It will...eventually." Alan yawned.

"Eventually? More like now." Natalie felt tired also.

"Maybe you should get inside so you don't drown." Sam joked, walking towards them.

"Stalker." Natalie reached up and punched his leg lightly.

"Nope...just..." Sam yawned. "Tired. And depressed."

"Aren't we all?" Nat laughed.

Back at the Emerson house, Dalia had returned. She noticed a slight glow coming from near her sister's bones. She walked over and picked it up. A blue crystal dangled at the end of the ribbon she held and she immediately knew what it was.

Her eyes were read and she wiped a tear from her cheek. Her sister was not going to die without revenge following her.

"Protection charm? Not for long..."