Chapter 12
Heard about a place today
Where nothing never hurts again
Daddy, daddy, get me out of here
I, I'm underground
~ Underground by David Bowie
~*/*\*~
Dani sneezed again and moaned miserably. She did not want to be sick! Her head was pounding and she couldn't help but sniffle and cough. With another moan, she sat up and tossed the blankets off her legs. The room swam before her and she did everything she could to avoid collapsing back onto the futon-bed. Taking a few deep breathes helped her regain her orientation and with a cautious push, she stood to her feet.
The girl shuffled about the room and gathered her clothes and shower items. Maybe a shower would help clear her head. Dani left her room and smiled wistfully at the sound of Sarah laughing and talking with David as well as at the smell of breakfast. Her mom used to get up this early to make breakfast before Dani left for school.
After a shower that was longer than Dani was used to - with no competition from her cousins - she exited and quickly dressed for the day. She still felt dizzy, but not as bad as before. Dani tossed her pajamas into the guest bedroom and made her way down the hallway to the living room and kitchen area.
Sarah looked up from the stove, David was no longer there. "Morning, Dani!"
"Morning," Dani rasped and winced internally at the sound of her own voice. "Where's David?"
The older woman gave Dani a concerned glance as she dished out scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and a grape fruit. "He's downstairs in the shop. He already ate and he wanted to shelve some of our new merchandise. You okay? You sound like you've got a cold."
"Probably just allergies," Dani offered as she took a sip of the juice in her cup. Suddenly, the food that smelled so good made her stomach flip-flop uncomfortably. She longingly eyed the eggs, but settled on nibbling the toast while Sarah's back was turned.
"Well, if you need cough drops or allergy medicine, we have some. David gets knocked through a loop when allergy season hits. Coffee?"
"No, thanks," Dani answered as she hesitantly ate the bacon next. Her mouth felt really dry and even though she had brushed her teeth, her mouth tasted funny. She groaned to herself, she was not going to throw-up! The symptoms were there, but she could avoid it - of course she could! She needed to eat, that's all. Picking up the fork with a shaking hand, she stabbed some of the fluffy eggs and lifted the fork to her lips. Sarah was chatting away about the store and some other innocuous things when Dani felt the uncomfortable feeling of something coming back up again.
With a grunt of panic, Dani covered her mouth and made a dash back down the hallway to the bathroom. Before she knew it, she was hunched over the toilet and emptying the little contents in her stomach from dinner the night before and breakfast that morning. When that was gone, she dry heaved for a few moments before sinking down and letting herself relax.
The gentle touch of a hand on her back made her flinch. Dani looked up into the worried gaze of two, kind eyes. Sarah shook her head. "Allergies? Dani, why didn't you tell me you were feeling so bad?"
"Have to go to school," Dani answered wearily.
Sarah reached over to flush the contents of the toilet and helped Dani stand to her feet. "You can't go when you're throwing up."
"It was just a one-time thing!"
Sarah gave the teenage girl a look of skeptic disbelief. "Temperature, sit." Dani grudgingly shut the toilet lid down and sat on it while Sarah hunted for a thermometer. After allowing Dani to swig some water and Listerine around and spit it into the sink, Sarah made the girl tuck the thermometer under her tongue.
After a few silent minutes the thing beeped. Sarah glanced at the number and shook her head. "That settles it, you're not going. Go climb back into bed, and I'll go call the school."
"No!" Dani interjected as she was half-standing. "I'll call. They'll want to know why my aunt isn't the one calling if you do."
"Dani, the school is bound to find out eventually that you're not staying with your relatives -"
"I don't want to be taken away," Dani explained. "I need to stay here - for Eddie."
Sarah searched Dani's face for a moment or two before sighing in defeat. "Fine, go ahead and call. I'm going down to the shop to let David know he won't be seeing you in the shop later today. I have some shopping to do - think you'll be okay by yourself for a few hours?"
Dani nodded her head but only a few shakes since it made her head swim again. Sarah shuffled the teenager back into the guest room and disappeared down to the shop. Dani took out her track phone and stared for several long minutes at it.
Sure she was feeling sick - but she could not miss school! She had never missed a day of school in her life outside of the days after her parents' deaths. Dani bit her lip with indecision. She had promised her dad to finish school and go to college - not drop out like he had. It was so important to him. Education had been important to both of her parents. She couldn't just not go to school. Even a few missed days hurt her when she remembered the promise she had made to her dad. Especially when she was trying to stop skipping classes - she had been convicted about hiding in the library anyway.
Dani took a deep breath and let it out. She would wait until Sarah left, then go to school. If Sarah came back before the school day was over - or if David came to check on her - she'd explain later that she was feeling much better. It wasn't like they could really punish her for going to school.
Dani crawled back under the covers and tugged the blankets up to her chin so no one would see that she hadn't changed out of her school clothes. Sarah came back to the apartment shortly after and stopped in the room to check on the teenager.
"David said he'd come up to check on you at lunch time, but you might not see him if there are customers," Sarah explained. "I hate to leave you while you're sick, but I do have some important errands. You'll be all right?"
"Yeah," Dani promised. "I'll probably sleep most of the time."
"Okay. You called the school?"
Dani nodded instead of verbally responding.
Sarah sighed and turned to leave. "You have my number - and the shop's. Call either David or me if something comes up. Help yourself to food if you feel up to it. Do you want anything before I leave?"
Again, Dani shook her head. Hoping that Sarah would just leave. With a final farewell, the brunette did leave. Dani lay for several minutes, wondering how much time to give Sarah before the coast was clear.
With a glance at the digital clock on the nightstand, Dani decided she had waited long enough. She hastily kicked her legs free of the blankets and snatched up her backpack from where it rested. Ignoring the swimming of her vision and her pounding head, Dani left the bedroom. She wrote a note to David for when he was going to check on her, saying she was feeling much better and had gone to school and not to worry.
Dani hurried down the stairs and exited the building. With a cautious glance into the shop window, she saw that David was not at the front of the shop and had his back to her. Without wasting any more time, she walked quickly on her way to school.
~*/*\*~
Dani all but collapsed in her desk with a minute to spare. She swallowed around the lump in her throat and was resentful for the first time the fact that she was sitting so far away from the door. Even if she needed to bolt for the restroom, she would not be able to get away from the teachers' and their ever judging looks and thoughts. They would assume she was faking her sickness - or something.
She needed to make it through the day. It was - what - a Friday? She could be sick for the rest of the weekend. If she was lucky this would only be the twenty-four hour flu.
Shaking her thoughts clear from the muddiness of her headache, Dani opened her notebook and struggled to write straight and clear, but she could already see that her notes were going to be slanting and illegible at best. Maybe Marcel would be able to give Dani a copy of the notes later.
Dani made it through her morning classes, but most of the classes blurred together into nothingness. She couldn't remember what the teachers had said. Thankfully no one had harassed her - or given her a hard time in the halls or classes. Dani winced at the thought of quizzes she may have had. She couldn't imagine what her grades were going to be on them. The teenager was thankful at least that she didn't have to take a test today.
She shuffled through the lunch line and picked foods she hoped would stay down. The way her stomach was somersaulting didn't encourage her too much that her hope would come true. Dani paid for the meager lunch and walked blindly to an empty table. She didn't care who it "belonged" to. She just needed to rest for a few minutes. If she couldn't eat she would go to the library - maybe that would help.
"Dani?" The girl in question looked up in a state of confusion. Who was speaking to her? Sophie stood with her tray in hand and a look of concern on her face. "Dani, are you okay?"
Dani blinked owlishly and shrugged. "Yeah. Fine."
Sophie glanced around as if searching for someone - or checking to see if it was all right for her to be speaking to the girl branded as an outcast. "You," she said, "look sick. Are you sure you're okay? I heard you're -"
Sophie stopped abruptly and looked self conscious. Dani simply stared, which seemed to unnerve Sophie even more. Dani didn't know what the other girl could possibly be avoiding. People had said so much already that it seemed that nothing could be difficult to outright say.
"Heard what?" Dani finally snapped, irritable and tired. She just wanted to slink back to Sarah and David's.
"That you've been kicked out," Charlotte supplied as she walked up from behind Sophie. The bubbly girl jumped and looked away from her younger friend. Charlotte set down her tray on the table and sat without preamble. "That true?"
Dani watched with growing confusion when Sophie set her own tray down and sat gingerly - as if sitting at the same table as Dani would cause it to explode.
"Yeah," Dani answered slowly.
"And did you really slap Jessica?" Charlotte prodded with a sense of intrigue.
Dani shrugged. "Yeah."
The other two girls gasped and looked back at her with shock. Dani would have laughed had she hadn't felt like she would have started coughing or gagging. Instead, she gave them both a wry smile and sipped at the bottle of water.
"You slapped Jessica Drake?" Dani turned to look over her shoulder at the new speaker. Some guy she didn't know. The whole table he was sitting at was staring at Dani as if she had grown a new head.
"You believe I put my house on fire," Dani accused, "cause Jessica said so. Why is it so hard to believe I sucker punched her?"
"I thought you said you slapped her!" Sophie inserted. No one seemed to be denying the fact that they had believed Jessica's rumors. Oh well, teenagers would believe just about anything.
"Well, I did punch her. Did Jessica say I punched or slapped her?"
"Would make more sense if you had punched her," another person said. "Based on the size of her bruise."
More and more students sitting around her began peppering her with questions about the why and method of her punch. No one seemed concerned about where she was staying. Dani remained firmly mute about the conversation that led to her assault on Jessica's person, but she was oddly amused by the fact that the tide of feelings toward her had changed - simply because she had stood up to her cousin.
The bell for lunch's end rang and brought an end to Dani's sudden popularity. People waved to her and smiled. If she didn't know any better, Dani would say she was starting to be accepted. A little bit too late she felt. It didn't matter how many friends she made now, she had really no place to call home.
Dani felt emotionally drained from the unusual amount of social activity she had participated in, but to her relief, Charlotte seemed to take on a protective bodyguard-like stance. The girl followed Dani to their next class and, since it was open seating, Charlotte sat down and beckoned another student to sit with them. Dani was quickly sequestered in a group of students she barely knew.
Jessica entered the class, glanced in Dani's direction and froze. Dani met her cousin's gaze with one of her own steady glares. Sick or not, Dani wanted to instill that same unease her mismatched gaze always seemed to do. Her cousin lifted her head in a defiant tilt of her chin. With a flick of her hair over her shoulder, Jessica stalked off to her own seat. She sat in a huff and looked around threateningly and irritably.
Dani felt herself sink back into her seat with relief. She could use the reprieve from Jessica's taunts. Class started and Dani couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed a class more.
The end of the day allowed Dani to relax for the first time in a long while. She had made it through the day with little trouble. Her head still throbbed and she still felt a bit shaky, but her food had remained in her stomach. The much awaited weekend made her feel even better. Dani knew she would be in trouble when Sarah got back to the apartment, but at least something good had come from this eventful day.
Shouldering her backpack, Dani stood up from her locker. Looking around, she spotted Drew, Jessica, and the group of people Dani vaguely recognized from the winter dance. They stood a few feet down the hall looking at Dani with open contempt.
She glared back at them. The sounds and sights of everyone else around her seemed to blur into white noise and moving colors. Dani dipped her head a bit, her eyes never leaving Jessica's. With a familiar quirk of her eyebrow, she challenged them. So what if she had been surrounded by people all day? What was it to these idiots?
Jessica's eyes narrowed angrily. She turned to say something to her group, and they nodded and chuckled darkly in return.
Dani didn't care. Her challenge had been issued. Her life had been ruined by this group before. What more could they do? Without so much as a backward glance, she turned on her heels and disappeared into the moving crowd of students getting there things together to leave.
She exited the school building and felt a wave of comfort as the wind rustled through her hair. Dani smiled and walked in the direction of the park.
"Dani!" Eddie's familiar shout caught her attention. Dani turned to look at him. "Dani, I get to walk home today!" He announced cheerfully. "I can walk with you!"
"Eddie! Wait up!" Dani looked over Eddie's head to see Peter jogging after his younger brother.
"Are you sure that'll be okay with Peter and Jessica?" Dani asked cautiously. After her challenge to Jessica, would it be wise for them to walk together? She didn't want to get into another fight - especially in front of Eddie.
"I don't care what they think," Eddie asserted. "You never did. 'Sides, you're my family. Not them." He scowled and scuffed his shoe against the sidewalk. "Everyone ignores me now at home. Peter has been meaner too. He keeps threatening goblins and Mom doesn't even scold him for it anymore. Dad - he - "
The unspoken truth that her uncle had completely withdrawn from the son he had tried so hard to accept but couldn't broke Dani's heart. "Come on," Dani offered her hand. "Let's go see if the ice cream cart has started making rounds through the park yet."
"Eddie! Peter!" Jessica called from behind them, but the group didn't heed her. Peter fell in behind Eddie and Dani with an uneasy silence. Dani glanced over her shoulder briefly at her other cousin. He wouldn't meet her gaze.
"Want ice cream, Peter?"
He remained silent for several minutes before reluctantly saying, "Yeah."
"Okay, then." Dani focused on the sidewalk ahead of her. She knew she wouldn't be able to eat any of the ice cream herself, and even though she desperately wanted to go back to Sarah's and go to bed, Dani knew that the boys needed this more than anything else.
"Just like that?" Peter asked incredulously. "Not gonna scold me for how I've been to Eddie? Not be mean to me like Mom and Jessica have been mean to you?"
"Nope," Dani answered. "You don't need it, do you?"
Peter's gate hurried so he was standing on the other side of Dani. Using her as a human shield, he grumbled, "Sorry, Eddie."
Eddie nodded, but made no verbal answer. Dani sighed inwardly. Well, it was a step in the right direction she guessed.
Dani struck up a conversation with the boys about school and their visit to their aunts. Her throat was grateful for the respite as the boys chatted away about anything and everything that didn't include Veronica, Jessica, or Jason. She still felt a bit queasy and dizzy, but it wasn't so bad.
As they trekked through the park, Peter heard the jingle of the ice cream cart's bell. "I hear it! Race you, Eddie!" Peter lit off in the direction of the ice cream cart.
"No fair!" Eddie protested as he too made to run off.
"Dani!" The girl turned to see Jessica and her group several feet behind - in a car that must have belonged to Drew. Jessica and some of the guys hopped out of the car and strode quickly toward her.
Dani grimaced and turned to face her cousin. Arms dangling by her side, Dani prepared herself for whatever was to come.
Jessica glanced at Eddie, who was standing cautiously behind Dani, and frowned. "Trying to kidnap my brothers?"
"They said they were walking home," Dani answered easily. "I was heading the same way on my way to work. I said I'd buy ice cream."
"Sure you did," Jessica scoffed. "Eddie, go get Peter and get in Drew's car."
"Mom didn't want us riding home with Drew," Eddie countered. "She said walk home."
"Shut up and do as you're told!" Jessica snapped.
"Don't talk to him like that!" Dani shot back.
"He's my brother, and I can talk to him any way I want!"
"You're not my sister!" Eddie yelled at her. "Dani's more my sister than you ever were!"
Jessica thrust a manicured nail in Dani's face. "So you think you can steal my brothers, dad, and friends? You little witch!"
"I'm not stealing anyone, Jessica," Dani retorted. "What's this tirade about?"
"As if you didn't know," Jessica huffed. "You watch yourself, Danica! Don't think that just because you've had your day in the spotlight means anything."
Dani rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't dream of it!" Stepping back, Dani held out her hand for Eddie, "Come on, Eddie. Let's go get that ice cream."
"Eddie! You get in that car this minute!" Jessica ordered.
"No!" Eddie stuck his tongue out at his sister and took Dani's hand.
With a swift step forward, Jessica gripped Eddie's shoulder and jerked him away from the dark haired girl. "Say that one more time and I'll make you regret it!"
Dani reached out to rescue the boy who was now crying in pain at his sister's harsh grip and words. "Leave him alone!"
"Come on, Jessica," one of the guys offered nervously. "He's just a bratty little brother. My brother doesn't listen to me either."
"Shut up," Jessica shot back at him. "Peter! Come on!" She hollered in the direction the boy had left. Her glare caused Dani to pause.
With a jerk, Eddie slipped from Jessica's hands as his shirt ripped at the shoulder. He ran into Dani's outstretched arms and sobbed into her abdomen. Dani's stomach churned now from anger at her cousin's fear and pain. Her eyes turned icy.
"How dare you," Dani hissed as the sun disappeared behind a gray cloud and thunder rumbled.
"Eddie," Jessica warned, "get over here."
"Jessica!" One of the girls from the car shouted, "It's going to rain! Come on, let's go!"
"Now, Eddie!"
"No!"
"Eddie, get over here or I'll send the goblins after you!"
Dani felt Eddie shudder in fear and grip onto her tighter. Thunder rumbled again and the clouds flashed with lightning rippling within the darkening clouds.
"Stop bullying him, Jessica!" Dani snapped. "You know he's afraid of goblins!"
"And you're not?" Jessica scoffed with a cruel twist of her lips. "Don't think I didn't see you reading that book and the look on your face when you read it. You're just as much a baby as he is!"
Dani paled. She knew what part of the book Jessica reference. She couldn't explain it, but every time she read it, she couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear run through her. The goblins chasing the princess as she ran through the Goblin King's labyrinth in search of her doomed brother. The gruesome details of gnashing teeth, snatching claws, and warty skin haunted her dreams. There was always fire too. Fire and smoke and laughing creatures.
"I even read your stupid book to find out what scared you so much about it," Jessica quipped. "You're such a baby. For all your tough-girl crap. So give me back my brother right now, or else I'll say the words."
A gust of wind buffeted them. The tree branches whipped around in a frenzy showing the coward-green bellies of the dark leaves. It sounded like the hum angry bees and wasps.
Dani's mouth felt dry. Her head was pounding. Did everything always look so foggy?
"No," Dani answered. She didn't know what she was saying 'no' to. No, she wouldn't give Eddie over? Or no don't say the words? No, she couldn't believe Jessica would threaten such a thing? No, the words won't work? Why did she fear them if they wouldn't work?
"Eddie," Jessica hissed dangerously, giving him a chance to leave Dani's side.
He merely clutched onto Dani tighter and shook his head once.
Jessica pinned Dani with such a hate-filled glare. "Fine," she spat. "I wish -"
The winds stopped. It got darker, but the thunder stopped. Everything seemed to stop as if the world had been paused. As if the words were pulled from her, as if she couldn't have stopped even if she had wanted to, Jessica said, "I wish the goblins would take you away."
"Look out!" Someone shouted as a bolt of lightning struck a tree, just some feet from where they all stood. A high pitched creaking noise filled the air. As if in slow motion, the tree began tilting forward.
Eddie felt himself propelled away from Dani and he shouted in shock. When he landed, it felt like the ground shook beneath him. With a shake of his head, he looked up to see the tree had fallen and he had been pushed away from the giant collision. Jessica and her group stood or sprawled on the other side of the tree with mouths hanging open in complete shock. Fearfully, Eddie looked to where he had seen Dani. She stood, unharmed, but was swaying on her feet.
Dazed and suddenly delirious with fever, Dani muttered, "No," and began falling as well.
Eddie's eyes widened and he stood to run to her.
Dani felt like she was floating, her eyes half-open. What was happening to her? She heard her name - panic laced the one who called for her. Other shouts were muffled and mingled in with that one call. Tires screeched somewhere. Jessica was shouting too - at least Dani thought so. Was she free falling down a hole? How long would it take for her body to hit the grass?
With a body-jerking halt, Dani felt strong arms wrap around her torso. Her head lolled back and she hung like a ragdoll. She could see the sky and the grass and trees. She would be lying flat if she had landed on the ground - wouldn't she?
Still suspended in the air, she felt one of the arms snake its way away from its hold. A comforting hand cradled the back of her head and lifted it. Everything swam again in a disconcerting manner. Would her world never return from this Impressionist painting version?
"Danica?" A warm, rich voice broke through the muffled sounds. Or had it been silent?
Blinking in an attempt to focus again, Dani felt her eyebrows pucker in confusion. "Jared?" Her eyes centered on the mis-matching gaze looking down at her with all the concern a person could posses.
"You foolish, lonely girl," he sighed.
Tears stung her eyes at his words. Was he disappointed in her? She had tried so hard! It was just too difficult. "I'm sorry!" Dani sobbed and felt her hand rise to grip his shirt. It was nothing like the buttoned-up suit shirts or suit jackets. The material was different - unfamiliar.
"I'm sorry," Dani repeated weakly. "I - I had to go to school! Daddy made me promise! I - I - couldn't disappoint him!"
"Shshsh," Jared soothed as he tucked her head under his chin. "You've not disappointed anyone, rest now. All will be well."
Dani felt him release his gentle hold of her head and she tilted her head away from his neck to look at him once more. An apologetic look crossed his eyes before she noticed his gloved hand was covered in a thin layer of glitter. He blew it into her face, which caused her to sneeze once before she felt her eyelids droop shut, and Dani fell into a comforting slumber.
~*/*\*~
Eddie stared in shock as the man with crazy hair and weird clothes held Dani and spoke with her. When the man gently laid her down on the ground and whispered a word he had never heard before, Dani disappeared into thin air.
"Dani!" Eddie shouted in alarm.
The man stood slowly, but looked up at Eddie with a cool gaze. The boy felt tears sting his eyes and his tiny hands clench into fists. Gritting his teeth, the boy demanded, "Where's Dani?"
"I sent her somewhere safe," the man answered bluntly. "I sent her where she was wished."
Eddie felt his bravado leave him. Staring up at the man that towered over him, the boy asked, "You're a goblin?"
The man grinned toothily. "I am the Goblin King."
"E-Eddie -"
Boy and king turned to focus on Jessica, who was cowering before the man that had turned into a man from an owl, which had attacked her moments before and sent her friends running, and who had also just magicked her cousin away and speaking to her brother.
The man tilted his head up so he could glower down his nose at the girl. "So, you are the one who wished away your dear cousin."
Jessica yelped and took a step back. "I - I didn't think it would work!"
"You should really be more careful about what you wish for," the man scolded mockingly. "You just might get it."
"Bring her back!" Eddie piped up, gaining the attention of both the Goblin King and Jessica. Even though he quaked, he stood as tall as his small stature would allow. "Bring her back now!"
"I cannot," the king answered. "She rightfully belongs to me, now. She was not wanted in this realm, so she must remain in mine. If you want her back," he glanced back at Jessica with such a steely gaze, the teenager felt sure he could kill with it. "If you want her back," he continued, "the one who wished her away must try to win her back."
Eddie looked imploringly at his sister. "Jessica! You have to get Dani back!"
Jessica shook her head disbelievingly. This couldn't possibly be happening!
In a panic, Eddie looked back at the tall man with strange hair, outfit, and accent. "I'll do it! Please!"
"I am sorry," the man refused, "but you did not wish her away. You cannot run the Labyrinth in your sister's stead." He looked once more at Jessica. "After all, why would your sister want to go after Danica? Danica has ruined Jessica's life - hasn't she?"
"No!" Eddie protested.
"Why go after a girl who has done nothing but make your life miserable?" The man asked conversationally. "Forget about your cousin."
"But she hasn't ruined anything!" Eddie countered.
"If I don't do it," Jessica spoke up, "no one will know? No one will know what I did?"
The Goblin King, who had never once looked away from Jessica even when Eddie spoke, shook his head. "No one will know."
"Then take me too!" Eddie shouted, tears running down his face. "If I can't have Dani back, then take me too!"
As if a cold bucket of water had been dumped on her head, Jessica gasped. "No, Eddie!"
"Why not?" The boy challenged. "I'm not wanted here anyway!" He looked up at the man, who was now giving Eddie a strange look. "I want to be with Dani. Please," he whimpered as he looked down at his shoes. "She's all the family I have."
"I cannot simply take people," the Goblin King explained in a firm tone. "They must be wished away."
With a shudder, Eddie said, "Then - then I guess -" taking a deep breath for courage, he said, "I wish the goblins - would take me away too."
"No, Eddie!" Jessica shrieked in horror. Looking up at the man who was now taking Eddie's hand in his gloved one, Jessica asserted, "He doesn't know what he's doing! He didn't mean it!"
"What's said is said," the man replied coldly.
"I'll win him back," Jessica begged. "I'll do whatever you want me to do to get Eddie back!"
"You won't rescue Dani, but you'll do it for me?" Eddie demanded bitterly. "I don't want you to! Do it for Dani and me or not at all!"
"You can't retrieve your brother," the man added, "because you did not wish him away." With a nonchalant air, he said, "Why would you want him back anyway? Was he not a nuisance as much as Danica?"
Jessica worried her lip between her teeth. "No one would know? No one would remember?"
"No," the Goblin King assured.
"Okay," Jessica relented with a defeated air. "As long as no one remembers."
With a flick of his wrist, a glass ball appeared in his hand. Eddie stared at it in wonder, curious how the man had done it. The Goblin King blew on it like it was a soap bubble. It went floating toward Jessica.
The teenager backed away uncertainly.
"It's a gift," the man explained evenly. "Nothing more, nothing less."
Like a moth drawn to the flames, Jessica reached out a shaky hand to touch the ball. It burst and showered her with a sticky substance. With a startled gasp, she shrank away. Eddie watched as her eyes faded to a dull, zombie-like stare. Without so much as another look or word, Jessica turned and ran.
When she was gone from view, the clouds opened up and released the pent up rain.
Eddie stood beside the Goblin King, not getting soaked by the deluge. He looked up at the curious man and asked, "Will she - really not remember? Will no one remember us?"
"I did not say," the man explained, "that no one would remember. I merely agreed to the fact that no one would know. Jessica will. She will remember and know for many many years to come, and I hope it will make her regret the life she has chosen."
Eddie looked somberly after his sister.
"Come," said the man. "We must go to Danica."
"Where are we going?"
The man smiled again. "To the Underground."
