Disclaimer: I don't own this.
Part V
"What the hell is going on?" repeated Cornelia. Will and Caleb jumped away from each other in surprise. Their hearts were beating a mile a minute as they stared at Cornelia.
"Duck and cover!" hollered Irma running down the alley way. Cornelia shrieked and dropped to the ground just as Irma grabbed Caleb and Will by the hands, forcing them to continue running with her.
"What's going on?" demanded Caleb as the trio ran as fast as they could away from Cornelia and the alley way.
"Taranee and Hay-Lin are going to try and calm her down. And I think they're gonna try and explain what's going on," answered Irma refusing to slow their pace.
"Oh," said Will, "so you guys know what kind of spell it is?"
"Nope, not a clue. But with Cornelia on our side, she might want to try and find a cure faster. You know, considering the fact that you guys were trying to undress each other in an alley way. Honestly, you couldn't think to find somewhere a little cleaner to try and have sex in?"
Will stopped short. "Oh my god, we were…we were about…oh my god!"
Caleb and Irma also came to a stop, with Irma keeping a fair amount of distance between her two friends. "Oh man," groaned Caleb shaking his head. "This is starting to get out of hand."
"You're telling me. We had to pull straws to see who was gonna baby-sit you two for the rest of the day. Can you believe I pulled the short straw?" muttered Irma crossing her arms across her chest.
"Irma, this is serious," pouted Will beginning to pace back and forth in her spot. Partly to keep herself warm as her coat was still back in the alley.
"I know it is," replied Irma, her teasing manner vanishing. "But we've got to handle this maturely. This means you two have got to keep your hands off of each other!"
Caleb snorted. "Yeah, because we all know how well that's been working so far."
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger." Irma raised her hands in protest. "I'm not even getting paid for this."
"So what do we do now?" asked Will pausing mid-step. She turned to look at Irma, neatly avoiding Caleb's gaze. She refused to get lost in his eyes again—there was no way in hell she was about to make another spectacle of herself.
Irma shrugged. "There isn't much we can do…unless we get Hay-Lin's grandmother involved…and I don't think we should do that. She gets cranky about teens and sex used in the same sentence."
"Oh, for crying out loud—we didn't even get that far!" exclaimed Caleb throwing his hands in the air.
"Yet," muttered Irma shuddering. "And if by some chance you guys do do the deed, would you keep it to yourselves—oh, and use protection. I'm not gonna baby-sit any little Will's or little Caleb's in the future. You got that?"
"That's it, I say we go to Meridian and find Phobos ourselves." Will was fuming. She wanted control of her bodily urges again. She was getting a little tired of someone else running the show, especially considering the fact that she was supposed to be happy with Matt.
"Will's got a point…we can go and search him out. Elyon would know where to look. We go and ask her for help. Heck, maybe she can break the spell while we're there," agreed Caleb.
"And then we kill Phobos for good—no more exiling…I want blood. Lots and lots of blood," muttered Will darkly.
"Glad to know my parents can trust you with my little brother sometimes," said Irma making a face. Will gave her friend a small smile. It wasn't like she wanted to be so blood thirsty, but someone had to, and it might as well be her since she was the one under the spell.
Caleb cleared his throat, gaining the attention of both girls. "So, you think Cornelia calmed down yet? I'm freezing."
"Me too," added Will as another sharp breeze hit her body. She had goose bumps everywhere.
"You know," started Caleb slyly, "I bet I could fix that for you real quick."
"Ew, gross!" cried out Irma. "Dear God, please don't continue. Some of us would like to stay innocent a while longer!"
"So a trip to Meridian, huh?" repeated Will nodding her head absently.
"Yes! God, you two act like you're in heat. It's disgusting!" Irma pushed Caleb ahead of her and Will, forcing him to lead the way back to the alley.
"It sure felt like it," murmured Caleb under his breath.
"Not listening!" Irma placed her fingers in her ears and began singing to herself as the trio continued walking.
By the time they got back to the alley Cornelia was sitting stock still against a wall. Blunk was waving his hands back and forth in front of her face, but the blonde didn't seem to see him. Standing at her feet were Hay-Lin and Taranee, both with pained expressions on their faces.
"How is she?" whispered Caleb moving to pick his and Will's coats off the ground. He tossed Will her coat as he pulled his own back on.
"Well," started Taranee slowly, "there was a lot of screaming and crying in the beginning—I think she finally lost her voice."
Hay-Lin nodded in agreement. "Basically, she's in total shock. I don't know if she'll ever be the same again."
"But it's just a spell. Once we break it then everything can go back to normal," pointed out Will with a frown.
"Yeah, but we haven't exactly gotten that far yet," replied Taranee.
"What d'ya mean?" demanded Irma with a quizzical look on her face.
"Corny is still recovering from seeing Will and Caleb in make-out mode. Though, we did try to explain about the spell and Phobos when she lost her voice…but I think it went in one ear and right out the other." Hay-Lin glanced over at Will who was leaning against the wall opposite Cornelia.
"I think we should go to Meridian," said Will finally. "That's where this whole mess started. I think we should go there and end it once and for all."
Taranee sighed. "That's the best idea I've heard all day. We can go tomorrow after school—it's a Friday, so it'll be easier to explain why we're out so late again."
"Okay…so we meet in the alley behind the restaurant?" suggested Hay-Lin.
"Sounds good to me," agreed Irma with a yawn. "Hey Corny, need me to make sure you get home safe? I don't think we should leave you by yourself for a while."
Cornelia looked up at Irma with a dark glare. Then she directed her gaze at Will. "I can't believe you!" she hissed. "Tomorrow when we go to Meridian, we don't leave until that curse is broken!"
"It's a done deal," Caleb spoke up in a reassuring manner, hoping to ward off another argument with the blonde. Her bark was definitely ten times worse than her bite. The group sighed in relief as Cornelia simply nodded. Just as they thought things had calmed down, another voice intruded upon their temporary peace.
"Will!" Matt jogged down the alley and gave Will a quick kiss on the lips. "I've been looking all over for you. I thought you wanted to study for history tonight?"
Will took a deep breath to calm her beating heart. For a minute there she had thought Matt had learned about the kisses with Caleb. "Yeah, I do. We can go now if you want; we're done here, aren't we?" Will glanced around at her friends who all nodded in agreement.
"Alright, let's go to the library then." Matt took Will's hand in his own and the pair waved good-bye as they walked out of the alley.
"About time!" exclaimed Cornelia. She turned around to give Caleb a piece of her mind—one part for cheating on her, and the other to scold him for taking advantage of Will—but Caleb was nowhere to be found.
"Hey," she murmured in surprise, "where'd Caleb go?"
"And for that matter, where's Blunk?" added Irma scratching her head.
"Hopefully Blunk is watching Caleb like a hawk," sighed Taranee.
"Oh, he will be. I stuffed some garbage into Caleb's coat pockets. Blunk will follow him around the world if he has to," giggled Hay-Lin.
The Library:
"I'm glad we got to study tonight," murmured Matt wrapping his arms around Will.
"Me too. I miss it just being the two of us," replied Will with a content sigh. It had been a nice evening. Will had managed to get through it without thinking of Caleb once. Alright, she had thought of him a couple of times—but it meant nothing to her…right?
"I can walk you home."
Will smiled at the thought, but politely refused. "Nah, it's out of your way. I'll be fine. Besides, I know you're still under the curfew with your parents. They'd be pissed if you came home late again. Remember what happened last time? You couldn't see me for a week. I don't want to go through that again."
"Alright, alright. Then I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"
"You got yourself a date," stated Will. Matt grinned and gave his girlfriend one last kiss before heading down the sidewalk. Will watched him until he had disappeared before letting out a deep breath.
"Caleb, I know you're there," called out Will after a minute. The air was silent, but after a minute Caleb dropped down from a nearby tree. His coat was missing; he had discovered the garbage in it and decided to abandon it for Blunk to find.
"How long did you know I was there?" he asked shuffling his feet on the ground.
"Since you followed Matt and me to the library."
"Oh, you knew about that?"
Will made a face. "It was kind of hard to miss, considering you weren't really trying to hide yourself very well. I'm surprised Matt didn't notice you."
"Sorry," apologized Caleb with sincerity.
"What's the deal? I thought we agreed to stay away from each other."
Caleb shrugged. "I couldn't help it. I didn't like the idea of you and him alone together."
"Matt's my boyfriend. It'd be abnormal if we weren't alone together," stated Will.
"Yeah…it still bothers me though."
Will shook her head and brushed past Caleb, ignoring the tingling sensation running through her body as she started the long walk home.
"I don't think it's because of the spell though!" shouted Caleb after Will had walked a few feet away. Will paused to turn around and eye her friend apprehensively.
"What are talking about?" she questioned in confusion.
Caleb came to stand a few feet in front of Will, trying to form the correct words in his mind. "I've had all day to think about it, and I don't think a lot of what's happening has to do with the spell. The first kiss wasn't because of the spell, Will. That was because I thought I needed practice in kissing. But the next few were due to the spell. Whenever we get within a certain distance of each other…like now, we lose control. But when we're apart…Will, I can't stop thinking about you. You're in my mind all the time now. That can't be because of a stupid spell. I think there's something between us…something that enhances the spell to make us…lust for one another. Tell me I'm right. Tell me that you feel the same way," breathed Caleb closing the distance between them.
Will felt his breath on her lips as he waited for an answer. "I'd be lying," she whispered, "if I said I didn't feel the same way."
"Then why are fighting it?" hissed Caleb wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Because we aren't in complete control…because you have Cornelia—"
"She's in the past—"
"I have Matt—"
"Forget him," and with that Caleb fastened his lips to Will's once more. Will felt a thrilling sensation run from head to toe as she lost herself in the kiss. Maybe Caleb was right, maybe there really was something between them. But would it be worth it in the end?
The kiss intensified as Will felt her hickey start to burn once more. Caleb's lips nibbled at her ear, causing Will to groan. "We…can't…" she murmured softly.
"Not…here," agreed Caleb.
"Not…no…" Will lost her train of thought as Caleb's hand moved up and down the skin of her back. "My…place…no…one…there…"
Caleb broke away from Will briefly staring down at her with a foggy mind. The spell had finally kicked in, and neither one could think coherently anymore. "You sure?"
Will nodded as she felt the hickey singe her skin. Anything to stop the pain on her neck. Caleb nodded absently and took Will by the hand. They half ran, half jogged down the street and towards Will's apartment complex. Will felt like a crook as she and Caleb snuck up the stairs to her apartment. She unlocked the door and tentatively pushed it opened. The apartment was still dark, meaning her mom hadn't made it home from her date yet.
Of course, there was always the chance her mom wouldn't come home that night. And as Caleb's lips crashed against hers, Will prayed her mom would stay over at her boyfriend's house. Because she wasn't sure she would be able to explain this, whatever it was, to her mom. Then again, Will wasn't sure she would be able to explain it to herself come morning.
Those thoughts were pushed aside as Caleb and Will hungrily tore at each other's clothing on the way to her bedroom. Who needed logic? It was highly overrated anyway.
A/N—Sorry this one took so long, but I hope it was worth the wait. Hope you like it, I'll try and update soon.