MERRY/HAPPY CHRISTMAS/HANUKKAH/KWANZA/whatever holiday you guys celebrate this time of year! My gift to you: A nice long update! lol so here's chapter 12!
Irma: Are you almost done with this thing? God, you're seriously taking forever.
You know, I could make you die right here & now if I want to.
Irma: Can't you torture Will or someone else?
Not until I finish this story up.
Will: WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN::takes out the Heart of Candracar:
I guess this would be a bad time to ask you to do the disclaimer?
:pink beams of light start to shoot from the Heart:
Guess not. I don't own WITCH, just this plot::runs out of the room:
On with the show!
Chapter 12
That's Not Me
Irma woke up to the sound of bluebirds outside her window. Now, given the fact that Irma is NOT a morning person and got about three hours of sleep due to worrying about her best friend, plus the superpowers and really short temper, you could safely say that it would REALLY have sucked to be one of those bluebirds outside of Irma's window that morning.
But once silence graced her ears again, Irma decided to see just the wonders of the world that came out to play while its people lay asleep. So after throwing on some clothes and sticking some clips in her hair, Irma scribbled a note to her parents, stuck it on the refrigerator door, and stepped outside, savoring the feel of fresh air on her stiff skin.
Apparently, the water princess was the only one curious about the hidden wonders of sleeping Heatherfield, because as she walked the streets, she walked them alone, no one there to pay witness as she found herself standing in front of the ruins of the Silver Dragon. Irma's eyebrows began to knit together in confusion. She could have sworn that she had already been there, already been standing in the exact same place only hours earlier…
No, Irma told herself, shaking her head. I was asleep, it's impossible… But the feeling of déjà vu was unmistakable as it flooded through her like blood through her veins. She was about to snap herself out of her own thoughts before a cry beat her to the punch. She spun around to meet the sound, and her eyes met the face of a man. She recognized him as the manager of the Golden. He was just standing there, his eyes wide with accusation as he beckoned Irma over to where he stood. Shrugging her shoulders, Irma walked over and stood before him.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes," he growled through clenched teeth, curling his hand into a fist. "You can return what you stole!"
"What are you talking about?" Irma questioned, taking a step back from the man's raised fist. "I've never stolen anything!"
"Then how do you explain this?" The man pulled out a camcorder and switched it on. Irma watched incredulously as a figure that resembled her to a hair slunk into the wreckage of the Silver Dragon in the middle of the night, and then emerged with an ornate Chinese vessel tucked into their arms.
"T-t-that's not me," Irma stammered as the man shut off the camcorder. "I-I was asleep, I swear. I didn't steal that…she's…she's my best friend…I would never…"
"But you did," the man spat, but then a vicious grin slid onto his face. "I'll tell you what, pretty girl," he said, shoving the camcorder into a nearby bag. "Maybe I can just forget that the whole thing ever happened…" He trailed off, grabbing Irma's shoulders and shoving her back against the rugged brick wall. "…for a small price." His grip tightened so much a squeal of pain escaped Irma's lips. Apparently, that wasn't what the man wanted to hear because the next thing Irma felt was a hand cracking across her face.
She opened her eyes once recovered from the pain to find the man's lips inches from hers. Letting her disgust and rage take it from there, her knee flew up and nailed the guy where it hurts (A/N: use your imaginations here, people). And that was pretty much all it took to get herself free. Leaving the man keeled over in pain, the water princess ran, and not two steps further on the pavement, rain began to pour, the skies crying angry tears of resentment…but for Irma, or for her attacker?
Irma really couldn't care less who the skies pitied. She simply ran on through the rain, ignoring the insistent burn in her legs that was begging her to stop. She closed her eyes and let the water wash it all away, wash away the whole sordid episode from her memory. She sighed contentedly. Water could always do that for her, could always purify whatever seemed to go wrong. She couldn't imagine what she would ever do without it…or the person she would be…
Throwing open the front door of her house and silently thanking God that her parents weren't home, Irma went upstairs, wrapped a towel around her now shivering form, and sat huddled on her bed, trying to deny the man's words over and over and over again. But they just kept coming back, and with each time they sounded so much more…true.
NO, NO, NO! Irma screamed inside of her head. You were asleep! You couldn't have…you couldn't have…
Clink! Irma's eyes snapped to her closet. Something white had slipped to the floor…something that sounded oddly like the clink of fine china…
Irma's heart began to pound hard. Wrapping the towel tighter around her body, she slid across the bed and let her feet touch the floor. She stood before her closet door, hand outstretched, quivering as if she thought there was a monster inside just waiting to pounce the moment she opened the door. Nervous sweat ran down her face, her eyebrows shot up out of apprehension, heart pounding in her ears, faster, faster, faster, hand on doorknob, twisting around, pulling open…
…and almost fainting from the shock. There, sitting on her barren closet floor, was the vessel from the video. The vessel she had been accused of stealing. Irma had to grab onto the door to steady herself from falling to the floor and going into pure shock. Kneeling down, she cradled it in her hands, and all at once recognized it as the vessel that held the ashes of Chen Lin (A/N: He isn't a real character. In this story, he's Yan Lin's deceased husband NOT Hay Lin's father, and yes, they both have the same name)
Irma almost dropped the vessel. Oh no, she thought. She knew that this was the one treasure that the Lin family held most dear, and that they surely would return to the ruined restaurant to retrieve it. Hay Lin had never met her grandfather, and she had told her Irma that the vessel was the one thing that brought her close to him. But what would they do when it wasn't there…and they found out that she had it? Tears sprung to Irma's eyes as she thought of losing her best friend all over again.
Thunk! The sound of the front door opening caused Irma to stand up straight and at attention faster than you could say Spord Lartsa. She heard her father come in…accompanied by some police officers…and Mr. and Mrs. Lin…
Panic overtook the girl. She spun around in place, looking desperately for a way out before anyone could catch her…and then she saw her open window. She told herself no, just hide in the closet until they go away…but rapid footsteps on the stairs convinced her otherwise. She grabbed the nearest purse; carefully tucked the vessel into it, hurried over to her window and climbed out just the knob of her bedroom door began to turn.
And with the voices of a police force filled her empty room, Irma began the long walk over to Cornelia's house, fear in her mind and hope in her heart…
Okay that probably wasn't that great a chapter sorry if you thought the same way…anyway, expect an update when review numbers hit 57!