Chapter 29 – Normal Crazy

"I'm not giving them up," she said breathlessly, clutching the sheets to her.

"If I have to take them, I will." He grabbed the front of her shirt, at the same time pulling her good arm away. She looked at him in shock. Was he going to go in after them?

"Don't you dare!"

"Then give me the rolls, Casey. I'm not backing down; you're not stable."

"Would you be stable if you were constantly being called crazy by the only other human being around?" She screamed at him.

"Rolls," he demanded.

Her eyes furtively sought some other solution, but found no other means of keeping the writings. Fuming and muttering, she dislodged her tucked shirt, letting the sheets scatter to the floor. "How would you feel if the only other human being bossed you around, wouldn't let you think for yourself - just kept telling you you were crazy -wouldn't confide in you..."

He was collecting the papers. "It's your own fault. I've given you ample opportunities to tell me what you know."

"I don't know anything, Ivan! I've been here for – I don't even know how many days it's been! But, I've almost been eaten by a big cat, had pixies follow me everywhere and talk about me – not to me; arguing about some dragonfly prince I don't know if I've seen or not - been almost burned to death by a dragon, after I was forced to feed him by you while you used me to get away!" Her eyebrows were pinched into a crumpled line. "I'm tired of being tricked by you, Ivan. I'm tired of feeling like I have to be nice to you, do what you say, follow you around saying, "I'm sorry, Ivan. I know, Ivan. I'll be more reasonable, Ivan." I'm a girl, you idiot! I think with my emotions!!"

"You said it, I didn't."

"Ahhh!" Casey pushed him, knocking the sheets out of his hands. "I hate you!" she screamed. "I hate your calm, irritating smile! I hate your know-it-all attitude! Sometimes you're wrong. Sometimes you're dead wrong. I don't know anything about what's going on here, I just want to know how to get back home! I want to go back to my family, and for everything to be normal again." She hung her head, and her forehead brushed his arm. She just didn't care.

They were both silent with the exception of her sniffles. "Who's the dragonfly prince?" he finally asked.

Casey inhaled bitterly, lifting her face to the low-hanging spindles above. Would he ever stop interrogating her? "The pixies said he was able to destroy their home. That's why they were keeping an eye on me- Oh, let me start over." Casey wiped her nose on the back of her hand, and tried again. "Okay. Someone or something called the dragonfly prince told the pixies to watch me. They didn't want to, but they did because they said he could destroy their home. He did it before."

"Destroyed their home?"

"Destroyed a pixie home. Not theirs. I think he did it to the Treelancers, but I'm not sure."

Ivan encouraged, "Go on."

"Well, this is the part that gets all messed up in my head. And if you say I'm crazy…"

"I won't say you're crazy."

Casey gulped and began. "Well, when I was in the dragon cave I thought I met him. - You know where you found me, where the water was? - That's when I thought – but I'm not sure now. He wasn't there when I woke up."

"Did he say something to you? What made you think it was this dragonfly prince?"

"He told me he was the prince, and let me wash the dirt off in the water and gave me food – gave me meat. Cooked meat. And I fell asleep. When I woke up he wasn't there, and that whole thing with Kapyn happened."

"What happened with Kapyn?"

"Zyri tried to knock me off the ledge and Kapyn was there, but I crawled back up. Zyri told me he was there to catch me – she told me that today. You were right about that, but I never talked to the dragon."

"Maybe you did. Maybe your idea of the dragonfly prince was actually the dragon."

"Whaaat?"

"One of the things that keeps popping up in these stories is the dragons. I think Kapyn has the ability to make you think something is there when it's not."

Casey's mouth dropped open. "So, you think I was dreaming and it was really Kapyn making me think -,"

"Purely hallucination. The dragon preys on the mind of the victim with their most appealing fantasy. You happen to like princes." Casey was silent, contemplating this.

"Was he good-looking?" She nodded mutely. "There you go."

"So I am crazy," whispered Casey after a minute, begging Ivan with her eyes to contradict the statement.

"Not any crazier than any other fifteen-year-old girl. Your fatal attraction's a handsome guy who lets you take a bath and eat. I'd be more concerned if you cut yourself and walked into the dragon's cave, ready to bond with Kapyn." To her shocked expression, he added, "That's what Stormie did."

"She cut herself? With what?"

"I don't know. She was all excited about some plan she had before it happened, but I knew she was out of her mind. Then she didn't show up here one day, and I caught her sitting at the pond. Her back was to me, so I couldn't tell how she did it. But, I watched her walk into his cave, and she left a trail of blood." Ivan began to pick up the sheets she'd knocked out of his hands.

"But that doesn't explain who the pixie's dragonfly prince is," she continued thoughtfully.

"True. You should work on that."

"How?" she queried.

"Well, now that Kapyn has a thing for you, the pixies are more likely to give you anything you want."

"Kapyn has a thing for me? Huh?"

"If he's working on your head, he's after you."

Casey shivered visibly. "I don't want him after me. And how do you know that for sure? Wait a minute!" She lifted her head to look around. "Zyri?" she called out. The familiar hum didn't follow the echo of her words.

"Pixies don't enter this cave," Ivan told her. "They sometimes fly around the gorge outside, though."

"That's strange. Zyri told me she has to follow me everywhere."

"Apparently not in here. Come on." Ivan handed her the vine and paused briefly as she moved from blocking the view of the corner. "Looks like you had good company," he said cryptically.

"What do you mean-," Casey gasped as her eyes traveled to a small pit only a few steps behind her hiding place. There, crumpled at the base of the indentation in the ground, was a rotting cadaver. She turned away quickly, reeling at the sight and loathe to let her eyes linger for details.

"I told you, though I was trying not to be too graphic." They were returning, following the pathway leading out. Suddenly, Casey stopped as she saw something move in a dim recess. Thon snaked toward them. Aware of her reaction, Ivan told Thon, "Thanks for waiting, buddy; but go on ahead. She's not going to want your help." The large reptile slithered through the dark corridor ahead of them, disappearing into the shadows again.

"Did you notice how his arms were twisted up, like he was holding something?" Ivan said, speaking of the dead man. He dumped the load of papers he was holding pell-mell on the floor of the cavern.

"Not really."

"If I'm not mistaken, he was the one holding the dog story." Ivan skirted the glader display, following the creeper. "And you can see how close he was to finding his way out."

"That's so awful. Couldn't he see any light from the opening?" Ivan stopped and waved the lumins away. "I didn't mean you had to try it on us!" she reproached in a whisper; then she spoke normally, feeling foolish for being quiet when the lights went out. "Can you see anything? I just see spots."

"That's something I've been considering. If the ones who were lost in the caves used the lumins, there was a good chance they wouldn't have seen the light from the outside anyway. It's always so dim in the sky to start with."

"Plus, that guy was probably following his invisible dog around."

Ivan gave a short laugh. "Yeah. Lights!"


A/N: What do you think about Ivan's explanation?

Arista Everett June: So, you vote, "continue." Are you guilt-tripping me? It will never work. Seriously, I really cannot make up my mind. "I think the core of this story is about pushing a companionship/friendship to the limits." Very, very insightful. Thanks for running your fingers out of breath. I become practically giddy when I'm in the midst of reading one of your reviews; they just have that effect on me.

Iliana11: Another vote for "continue." Zyri's interesting to me, too! There's a whole storyline that revolves around her, but I question whether that should be told in the midst of this storyline. I'm leaning towards, "nope" at the moment.

Quiet Mindreader: Yes to both. She doesn't want the burden of trailing Casey. No pixie would. Zyri didn't lead her to the trees; the Treelancers didn't allow Zyri into their wood. What Zyri's comment means includes all the things you mentioned along with an allusion to a personal hardship which hasn't been told. And you vote, "continue," too? That really holds a lot of weight with me, but I'm still not certain. "Casey" is short for her full name, "Cassandra."

Lady Thorne: "I guess it's all those fairy tales getting to me." Oh, I know the feeling. Kinda fun, though. Are you saying, "weak ending," then add bonus stories? Cool idea, but it would be harder for a reader to find them that way, wouldn't it? I wish I knew what worked for me. Thanks for understanding.

Smiling Pancake: *laughs at name* Thank Arista Everett June for Eisley. She introduced me to their music. Now I'm hooked. If the invisible dog showed up, nobody would see him anyway, poor thing. :D Thank you!

Hazelcloud: Which is worse: wearing the squeaky shoes or hearing someone else's squeaky shoes? I can't decide. I really appreciate your advice. It's good. Very good. I'm rather pleased with the weak ending, but only because I'd be cool with saving the rest for an attempt to publish.