Chapter Ten: That Old Black Magic
"Guys, what's going on?" Timmy asked. Cosmo and Wanda blanched, clutching each other tightly, and he sensed the telepathy between them. It was a light buzz drifting past his mind, and Wanda gulped down air like it was going out of style. Cosmo followed suit and they consulted their wands. Timmy advanced and they recoiled, staring up at him with huge set eyes. Their fear lapped against his mind and his heart quickened in response.
"Sport, we have to go home," Wanda said. "Right now."
((What's the rush?)) The Other said softly. ((There's nothing to worry about.))
He caressed Timmy's mind and sent him images of his parents waiting for him. A breeze pushed away Cosmo and Wanda's concern, and replaced it with tranquility. His body relaxed and he smiled, oblivious to his godparents. The Other wanted him to join him at the manor. There should be no reason why not. After all, Lorenzo only wanted was best for him, and if he didn't, why would he have his parents there? His parents were idiots, but they wouldn't pair up with a homicidal maniac. Timmy started forward and Wanda grabbed him.
((Timmy! Timmy, please!)) Tootie sobbed inside his head and Timmy blinked. The Other pushed her out of his mind too, like she was nothing, and Wanda frowned.
"Timmy, Cal's dead," Wanda said. "You have to come back with us."
"Why?" Timmy said, acting as The Other's mouthpiece. "Can't you transport me without my permission?"
"Not…" Wanda paused. "Anymore."
Cosmo shook his wand. "Yeah, there's something wrong with our wands. It's like they're not putting out enough juice."
The Other laughed harshly in Timmy's mind and renewed the summoning. Timmy put one foot in front of the other and Wanda locked his feet to render him immobile. The Other waved his hand, visible in Timmy's mind's eye, and shoved Wanda aside like she was nothing. He crackled with power, brown faerie power, and Timmy's heart rate quickened again. He'd fed off Cal's death and had his strength now. With a simple shove, he drove Cosmo and Wanda twenty feet away from their godchild.
"Timmy!" Wanda said.
"Then go," he said, his whole body shaking. The Other had abdicated his body to control his, and it felt like he'd zapped it with electricity. Even his eyes jumped, and his teeth chattered. In the back of his mind, he sensed The Other's intentions were less than innocent. Their wings reappeared and fluttered like mad, but they remained mostly human. Timmy's concerns were gone, though he had never seen his godparents this agitated.
"You need to come with us and see this," Wanda said.
((Timmy!)) Tootie shrieked.
"Yeah, in case you thought The Other had gone good without our knowing," Cosmo said.
"He killed Cal," Wanda said. "Nothing natural could have done it."
"Killed…" Dull horror settled in, until The Other resolutely moved it away. Again, calmness replaced it and he found it impossible to be upset. Calente was dead. No big loss. There were other plans in motion, and he had a duty to see The Other's plots through. He started walking again and this time, his godparents and Tootie screamed at him, both in his head and aloud.
"Timmy, wish us back, at least!" Wanda said.
"The Other's locked our powers so we can't move!" Cosmo said. "We can't even change back!"
"Fine, I wish you were with Tootie and you had some of your useless powers back," Timmy said and walked again. The Other laughed in his mind and Timmy smiled, not a care in the world.
Wanda reached for him and The Other slapped her away.
"Not him," Timmy said, acting as puppet for his anti faerie. "Timmy is mine, frach. Back off."
Wanda's eyes narrowed and Timmy could see faerie dust swirling around his godparents. Both advanced, Cosmo glaring at him, and The Other sneered. He mapped out the critical body parts, and how a certain injury in a given location would render them dead or severely injured. Timmy flinched, sensing their distress, and tried to fight his way back to the forefront. This was his body, after all, not The Other's. Except…The Other was stronger than him and his faeries. Panic set in. The Other wasn't going to help him, was he? Perhaps Cosmo and Wanda had been right all along.
"Timmy, you're in here," Wanda said. "I know you are. Listen to me, sport. You have to see what Lorenzo did. You have to listen to us."
I am listening, Wanda…I just can't say anything now, he thought desperately, unable to project it. Tootie's wails reached him distantly.
"Unless you'd rather go be with your 'cool' anti faerie," Cosmo snapped.
"I'm taking what's mine," Lorenzo announced. "Don't follow me."
Wanda raised her wand and, barely lifting a finger, Lorenzo repelled her magic. She snarled, hair briefly turning to flame, and then fizzing out. Her eyes widened and she stared, not at Timmy, but through him to a projection above him. The Other superimposed himself over his sire, and scowled at the faeries. Cosmo jumped, latching onto Wanda, who scowled at the projection.
"And we are taking what's ours," Wanda snarled. "Give us Timmy back."
"Timmy doesn't want you. You stole his parents from him and lied to him. You helped ruin his life. You're worthless to him now."
"But, but, we didn't mean it!" Wanda protested.
"Yeah, we didn't know how the wish would turn out," Cosmo said.
"You knew," The Other intoned. "You always knew. You wanted to see him hurt. You wanted to see him suffer, for all the times he abused him."
"No!" Wanda said. "We understand he's just a child."
"Kids make all sorts of stupid wishes," Cosmo said.
"Stupid wishes that happen to get his parents killed?" Lorenzo mocked. "Stupid wishes that rape his babysitter and destroy his life?"
"We told you before-"Wanda started and Cosmo joined in, "We didn't know!"
The Other infused Timmy with his cold logic and reasoning. It blew over the doubt and anxiety trickling through him and left a tiny flickering flame. Behind Lorenzo's lies, a minute aspect wanted his godparents more than ever. However, it ceased to be important. Timmy stared at his godparents and wanted them to leave him alone. He curled his lip in disdain. The projection vanished with a sneer.
"Come with us," Wanda said.
"No," Timmy said. "He's right. You always let me wish things that backfired, just to teach me a 'lesson'. You always knew. You're supposed to know. You failed me. You let this happen."
"No!" they protested. "Timmy, he's lying to you!"
"Or maybe he's always told the truth, from the beginning," Timmy said in a dull voice.
"Why would someone-"Wanda stopped and stiffened. "Please, just come with us. I don't want to argue."
"We can't drag you by force like we should," Cosmo said.
"If Lorenzo killed Cal, he deserved it," Timmy said in a cold, emotionless voice. "He needed the power to bring back my parents. That's why he's gotten so strong. He needs to be able to revive my parents. And one more burst should do it."
"Two wrongs don't make a right," Wanda said. Timmy looked to Cosmo for the joke, but he kept his mouth shut. He had blanched and his fingers dug into Wanda's arm. Cosmo was no good at the serious stuff. And Wanda was a liar, a fucking frach. Fury filled him and he glared at his godparents.
"Get away from me," he said.
"One more chance, that's all we're asking," she said. She was pleading now, her eyes shimmering with tears and the effort to stay away from Tootie, whose voice now echoed in the empty schoolyard. She had the gift to call them now too. Fine, perhaps they should be her godparents. They deserved each other. Timmy turned and began to walk away; Cosmo and Wanda shifted into cats and followed him.
"You don't have to do anything, or say anything. Come with us," she whispered.
"Unless you're too chicken," Cosmo said.
"I hate you," he spat. "I hate your weakness, I hate how pathetic you are, and I hate how you're always clinging to me. I wish you'd go to Tootie and Cal's dead body, and leave me the hell alone. That's an order."
Cosmo and Wanda gawked. Cosmo's lower lip quivered, but whereas Cosmo had gone to the opposite extreme, no emotions flitted across Wanda's face whatsoever. Timmy, despite his harsh words, stepped back. Big Daddy's cold, monstrous face stared back at him through his daughter. This Wanda could hurt him and think nothing of it, dangerous in a way he'd seldom encountered, and never directed at him. His mouth hung slightly open.
"We've been with you for years, Timmy," she said. "We've spent the last few months listening to you treat us like dirt and think it's acceptable. We know you want your parents back and we've tried to be understanding. We've done our best to stay out of your way and let you be happy, except when we thought you might be in danger. We tried to protect you and love you, no matter how difficult you've made it.
"Now, you've chosen to align yourself with a murderer rather than your godparents, who have never intentionally harmed you. We have never meant for you to suffer and yet, you refuse to believe it," she said and the cold look disappeared. Tears glimmered in her eyes. "We love you, Timmy. But you don't love us. We're going where we're needed since you've made it abundantly clear you can't stand our company."
"You big jerk," Cosmo added.
"Since when," she asked and the façade slipped entirely, a tear sliding down her cheek, "has it ever been us against you? When have we ever done anything but love you?"
They disappeared, scattering faerie dust in their wake. The Other's resentment swirled through him, but the little rebellious flicker set off sparks at Wanda's words. It brought to mind Tootie- "since when has it ever been you against Cosmo and Wanda?" Lorenzo had told him he had to punish Tootie, and then Cal was dead. His heart felt heavy, but The Other had the perfect cure for him. One foot in front of the other, and, in about thirty minutes, he'd be at the manor.
A few minutes earlier…
"Goddamn it!" Vicky snarled, playing tug of war with her little sister. Tootie had grabbed a rather large butcher knife and, beside herself, yearned to stab herself with it. She cried so hard she couldn't see, longing for Timmy and comfort, and hating everything about her life right now. Her parents were dead. She was stuck with Vicky, her only living relative, and Timmy was being manipulated by an evil anti faerie. Cosmo and Wanda weren't hers anyway, and the only light in her life didn't give a damn about her, in fact gave a damn less than usual. Cal had been the only decent thing in her life aside from Timmy, and The Other had killed him to teach her a lesson about meddling with him. Tootie sobbed harder, desperate to retrieve the blade from Vicky.
"Give it to me!" Tootie wailed and Vicky elbowed her in the ribs. Tootie screamed and clawed Vicky's eyes; Vicky kicked her in the stomach. Tootie flew back into the hallway, away from the accursed room, and screeched, ignoring the physical pain to slam her into the wall. The height difference didn't matter. Vicky was in her way. She saw everything, what little she saw through tears, in a red haze. The Other was blocking Timmy from her and she grabbed Vicky's legs with both hands. She wrenched the leg out of its socket and Vicky screamed, punching her in the head.
"Let go of me, you little shit!" Vicky screamed and Tootie saw her opportunity. Vicky collapsed, the leg no longer holding her weight, and Tootie launched herself at the butcher knife. Vicky twisted her arm, putting the knife behind her back, and Tootie punched her in the stomach. Vicky brought both fists down on Tootie's head, forgetting about the knife, and she slashed her hand grabbing the blade. A deep gash developed in her hand and blood gushed down her arm. The pain was a relief, comforting, and, as Timmy would grow to learn, a distraction from the emotional pain threatening to consume her. She reached again, her hand getting slashed to ribbons, and Vicky kicked her in the back. Tootie threw her hands out and blood soaked the carpet. Galvanized, she spun around and tried yet again.
"Give up, damn you!" she screamed. "I'm not losing you to the twerp too!"
Tootie wailed and launched another attack, leaving Vicky to weave and dodge her. She fought like a woman possessed, doing everything within her power to deepen the gash. Blood coated her and Vicky, who was trying to hold her down. Finally, Vicky pile drove her into the rug and there Tootie remained, crying so hard she couldn't breathe and hating Vicky more passionately than she had ever thought possible.
"Let me do it! Give me the knife! Give me the knife!" she sobbed.
"Never," Vicky hissed. "You are all I have left. You are mine."
"I don't want to be yours. I want Timmy…" She hyperventilated, unable to draw enough breath, and Vicky watched, dispassionate. Tootie hoped her leg was killing her.
"Cosmo…Wanda…" Tootie whimpered. "Bring Cal back…"
Vicky stared at her. Tootie rubbed her palm against the rug to open the gash further and thought of Cal's body, torn apart savagely, bones gleaming. His throat had been ripped out, clothes soaked with sparkling blood, and lacerations covering his body. He'd carved his initials into Cal's face and bile rose in her throat. She choked and Vicky whacked her in the back of her head.
"I wish I were dead…" Tootie whimpered.
Vicky sighed and flung the knife down the stairs. Tootie swallowed hard and calmed herself through sheer effort. If she didn't calm down, Vicky wouldn't leave her alone, and Vicky was crushing her. Plus, if she pretended enough, perhaps Vicky would let her retrieve the knife. The knife had become the sheer bright spot in her life.
But Cosmo and Wanda belonged to Timmy. They were the closest thing she had to him now. Without asking, without trying to contact him, she knew they had a lost cause. His faeries were welcome to try again, but Tootie knew better. Timmy had gone over to The Other, and he wouldn't return until he'd achieved his goal. The Other hated Tootie; Timmy would agree with him. She hung her head and moaned.
"Are you done?" Vicky hissed.
"What was that?" Tootie said and straightened, as much as she could, with Vicky sitting on her back. Two white shapes whipped through the house and sent cold air in their wake. "Mr. and Mrs. Turner?"
"Why would they be here?" Vicky scoffed. "Timmy's out with his stupid faeries."
"I don't know…" Tootie said. She wished she could pick up the blade with her mind. The only mental power she had failed, thanks to Lorenzo, and she distantly, as if from another world, received something from another source. It puzzled her – before now, she'd thought only Timmy could share emotions with Cosmo and Wanda. They were his faeries. Perhaps because she was linked to him and they were linked to her through him…
Nothing she felt from them was encouraging, but it gave her pause. It was almost like fine tuning a remote radio channel- she had to guess at the extent, but it felt like Timmy had broken their hearts. She stared at the rug- she knew the feeling. Vicky shifted her weight on Tootie and she moaned, crying again but nowhere near the hysterical tears she'd shed a few minutes ago.
"Your spine is kinda bony," Vicky observed and got up off her, standing on one leg. Tootie rolled over and stared at her hand. The pain hadn't hit her yet, only the thrill of being able to control something outside in a powerless situation, and she spurted toward the knife. Her older sister swore and jumped on her to prevent her from nabbing it. She landed hard, knocking the breath out of her, and the knife fell down the next step. Eyes watering, Tootie craned to grab it…just an inch more…
Her whole hand brushed the knife edge and she sliced her finger open on the blade. Smiling, she concentrated harder and Vicky snatched the knife up before she had a chance.
"You want this so bad, twerp?" she snapped. "You really want to kill yourself?"
Tootie squirmed out from under and Vicky slapped her across the face. Tootie whimpered; Vicky raised the knife higher, just out of reach. Lower lip quivering, Tootie screamed, "Just let me finish what I started!"
"Tootie!" Cosmo and Wanda snapped and she blinked, looking up. Their wings fluttered nonstop, looking more like hummingbird wings than faerie wings, and they collapsed on the stairwell. Vicky sneered and they ignored her. Wanda held her up her wand to heal them and Cosmo started forward, looking at Tootie's room.
"You'd better not, hun," Wanda said. "I have more experience with this than you. Stay with Tootie." In a cloud, Wanda vanished.
"She tried to kill herself," Vicky snapped. "I hope the twerp is pretty fucking happy."
Cosmo flinched. His green eyes were huge. "Are you okay?"
"Of course she's not okay, you fucking idiot," Vicky snarled. "God, why she'd leave me the incompetent one?"
Cosmo looked completely lost, out of his element, and Tootie squirmed out from under. He held up his wand to free her and she hugged him. The tears came again and Cosmo joined in, crying as if his heart had shattered from Timmy's betrayal. Tootie knew the feeling.
"Pathetic," Vicky sneered. Tootie held on tighter, Cosmo clinging to her like he'd die without her. She could only imagine how he'd hold Wanda when she returned.
Lorenzo had Timmy where he wanted him. He'd banished the noisome ghosts and locked Timmy into his bedroom. The child had begun shivering, incapable of stopping, and every time Lorenzo left him to think on his own, he thought of his godparents. Therefore, the answer was simple. He pushed Timmy onto the bed and trailed kisses down his cheeks, along his neck, and on the space between his neck and shoulders.
"I love you," he murmured. He wasn't sure whether or not it was true, but it sent delightful chills through his body. He didn't need Timmy's energy, but the less Timmy had, the less capable he was of defending himself. Little blue mists rose off his sire's body and he exalted in his power. It wasn't directly linked to Timmy's anymore- Timmy losing energy now meant he could siphon it off like a large leech. He grinned.
Timmy's eyes were huge and Lorenzo cast more mist into his mind. Clothing flew into a pile on the floor and Lorenzo grinned, finally getting what he'd wanted ever since the idea had occurred to him a couple weeks ago in the janitor's closet. Now, there'd be no faeries to stop him.
"I love you," he whispered again and rubbed his cheek along Timmy's bare chest. "And you are mine."
And he'd mark him the only way he knew how. He'd take what was rightfully his.
Timmy awoke feeling horribly, painfully alone. The Other's arms were wrapped tightly around him and his mind was fogged, too cloudy to fully process this. In the dim morning light, he saw his parents staring back at him. Their mouths were agape and a terrible truth showed in their translucent eyes.
"Mom? Dad?" he whispered.
"We helped him do this…" his mother said, looking like she was about to burst into tears.
"Be gone," Lorenzo said and ran his hands along Timmy's backside. "So, Timmy, how did you enjoy your first night at your new home? It certainly was magical, wasn't it?"
Timmy screamed.