Nightmare Monster
It had been a few days since Musa had seen her aunt in Magix and she had almost forgotten about the whole encounter, until Flora delivered a package to Musa's dorm room. Musa had been in class, so she never got to ask who the package was from, it was unmarked except for her address at Alfea. Musa looked over the brown box and wondered what it was. It was the length of her entire desk, but very thin and very light, marked fragile and sitting on her bed waiting for it to be opened.
Musa looked at the package for a second and thought that maybe it wasn't for her, she wasn't expecting anything and it wasn't marked by any specific person, so she wasn't sure what it was. But, with her curiosity getting the best of her, she grabbed a pair of scissors and tore through the tape on the sides of the box. Then she lifted the top to see a smaller, nicer looking box laying inside the first on. It was a dress box and Musa all of a sudden knew exactly who it was from.
She lifted the top and opened the box to see a gorgeous gown lying inside. It was strapless with a tight corset top that was intricately designed with simmering blue and white beads and the bottom of the dress flared outward to look almost like a wedding gown, but it's deep blue color that was paired with white beads made it look like a ball gown. It also had a pair of shoes in a separate box inside the initial box. The shoes matched perfectly and the outfit it made was spectacular. Laying on the dress was a note from Musa's aunt.
I am not saying you have to wear the dress, but it is beautiful and I think you would look lovely in it.
- Aunt Galiena
The note wasn't demanding at all, which was odd since her aunt was the kind of person to hold a gun to your head to get you into a gown and to a ball on time. And she had felt a stab of guilt when she thought back to lunch because it looked like Galiena was making an honest effort to try to make things right, or at least smooth things over. But still, her mind was made up and there was no changing it now
Musa would have stuffed the dress and the shoes in her closet and not given them a second thought, since she had decided going to the ball would be a bad idea. She wasn't ready to see Daniel, although most of her feelings for him had dissolved, the overwhelming urge to kick him in the crotch was still as strong as ever. Also, she didn't want to be set up with some random person that her aunt had found for her, even though it probably would piss Daniel off. And Musa made it half way across the room with the dress in her hand when Stella burst in, near tears, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"I hate boys!" Stella said angrily throwing her phone at the window in a rage. She then plopped herself on Musa's bed and looked at Musa, almost expecting her to say something. Usually, Stella went screaming and hollering to Bloom, since Bloom could actually put up with Stella's crap. But today, Flora and Techna were still working on their big project for a class and Bloom had been a virtual ghost recently. She had something going on about her past and the girls had decided to just let her be until she was ready to talk about it,
"Something bothering you?" Musa asked even though it was obvious that something was by the display that Stella had just put on.
"He was supposed to call me today and he didn't!" Stella exclaimed making no attempt to pick up the phone she had just thrown towards the window. Then, jumping from one category to the next, Stella looked at Musa, who still had the dress in her hand and cocked her head as if she were confused. "Pretty dress,"
"I think Kiko has a longer attention span than you do," Musa pointed out before hanging the dress in the closet and walking back over to Stella. "It's still morning, I'm pretty sure Sky will call you later. You need to calm down, the Stella I know isn't that clingy with a guy,"
"I'm not being clingy, it's just he said he was going to call me in the morning last night and –," Stella began explaining the situation only to stop, stand up from Musa's bed and walk over to the closet Musa was just in. She pulled out the dress that Galiena had just sent for Musa and looked it over once before looking back at Musa. "Is this for that ball, when is it! Oh you'll look so cute in this!"
"Do you have A.D.D or something," Musa said. Stella had just gone from blaring angry to excited in 5 seconds and instead of ranting about Sky she was now fawning over the dress Musa had just put in her closet. "What happened with Sky?" She desperately tried to change the subject back to Sky, but it looked like Stella was too far gone in her newest project.
"I just won't pick up next time he calls," Stella said as she laid the dress on the bed and walked back into the closet and found the shoes that Musa had also hidden in there. She laid those out as well and looked over the dress. "That'll teach him to keep me waiting. Is this from Elizabeth James (1)! God I love her designs!"
"Yes, and can we get back to why you are in here?" Musa demanded. She hadn't told Stella that she wasn't going to the ball and she was hoping she could distract her from the topic using her problem with Sky against her. But, Stella was more fickle than she had excepted.
"No," Stella said curtly. She laid the shoes on the bed with the dress and walked over to Musa's jewelry box and pulled out a diamond tennis bracelet that was set in platinum and matching earrings. It was clear that she was not going to be listening to anything. "You're so lucky, Solaria never hosts balls in Magix, I would have to go home to go to them and that is too long of a trip for just one ball,"
"I wouldn't call it lucky," Musa said, she knew Stella loved getting dressed up and going to these kinds of parties and Musa would too if her friends were all attending, but this was a night that was going to suck so she didn't want to go, or even talk about it for that matter. "I'm actually not going so you can put that stuff away,"
Musa walked over to the bed and began to pick up the clothing off her bed, ignoring the look that Stella gave her when she broke the news to her. As she walked her new dress back to the closet where she had put it before, Stella stopped her with a determined look on her face. "You're going," Stella then took the dress out of Musa's hands and placed it back on the bed, as some type of gesture to prove Musa would go.
"We've been through this,"
"Why won't you go! You said yourself that these things are fun,"
"Yeah I said that they are fun when my friends are around," Musa defended. While debating this exact subject with Stella a few nights ago, Musa had admitted that balls and parties were fun, but she was sure to mention that they were only as good as the guest list. "And I am all alone on this one, I don't even have a date. Not to mention Daniel is going to be there and I just can't,"
"Take someone from Red Fountain!" Stella exclaimed excitedly only to be rewarded with a cross look from Musa. She ignored it, Stella wasn't implying she take Riven, but by the look on Musa's face, Musa must have thought that she was. Which begged the question, why was she still thinking about him. "I didn't mean him,"
"Who?" Musa asked pretending not to know who Stella didn't mean to imply. She knew that Stella knew that she thought Stella was talking about Riven, but she wouldn't acknowledge it. And Stella knew as much so she immediately dropped it.
"Why not take this guy I know," Stella said slightly changing the subject. "He is totally cute and sweet. His name is Jared, he's on the Red Fountain paper he's also a star on the soccer team, I think you'd like him…"
"No thanks Stella," Musa stopped her before she could continue. She knew that Bloom and Stella had been trying to find someone for her at Red Fountain ever since they found out that she and Daniel were over. It was a sweet gesture because they wanted to see her happy again, but she really didn't feel like getting into another relationship.
"Fine, but that means you have to go to the ball,"
"How does that mean I have to go to the ball?"
"Because I said so,"
"No," Musa said standing firm on her decision. "I am not going alone,"
"Fine then, Bloom and I will go with you, I know that we are both free tonight!" Stella proposed. "You said you don't mind going if your friends are there, so we'll be there. I'll ask Techna and Flora if they wanna go. And now you can't no,"
"Fine, but you'll see that these things are no fun," Musa said stubbornly.
"Yeah okay, now you should start getting ready, it's already late in the afternoon!" Stella said excitedly as she walked out of the room to go find her outfit for the night.
"So have fun tonight," Techna said as she packed her laptop in to her bag and got ready to go to her lab partner's dorm room and work on their potions lab. She and Flora were both unable to go to the ball with them since Techna had a lab to finish and Flora had an extra credit assignment in defense against the dark arts class. She was doing alright in the subject, but she needed help in putting up barriers that protected against dark magic.
"I don't even think that's possible," Musa complained as she put the diamond earrings that Stella had picked out for her, on her ears. She then stood in front of the mirror and gave a deep sigh. She looked nice, Stella had curled her hair in loose waves and then pulled some back in an elegant fashion, the dress fit perfectly and the jewelry matched perfectly, but all she could feel was anxiety. She was beginning to realize just how much she had missed Daniel and there was no way she wanted him to see that in her face. "I just want the night to be over with, we'll probably skip out early,"
"Well, if you do, call me," Techna suggested. She was walking around the room picking up a few things that she needed for the paper, textbooks and a calculator, things like that. "Flora said she'll be done in an hour or so, and when I'm finished we could all go to a late movie or something,"
"That actually sounds great," Musa's sad expression had now been replaced with a happier one at the thought of not only leaving the ball early, but having some tonight. The girls hadn't had any real time for fun together. There was so much school work not to mention any free time that Techna, Bloom or Stella had went to flirting with their respective Red Fountain boys, which was always a bit of a sore subject for Musa ever since Darcy and Riven got together. "I'll call you guys and we'll meet at the theater,"
"I suggest you take a change of clothes," Techna said finally as she walked out the door. "I'll see you girls tonight and try to have some fun!"
"Now that sounds like a plan," Stella walked in just as Techna walked out of the dorn room. She was dressed in a light pink satin ball gown. Her hair had been done up in a bun with some random strands of hair falling from the bun that were curled. "You look amazing! This is going to be so fun!"
"Yeah Musa," Bloom said walking in, ready for the ball as well. "Stella told me you weren't looking forward to this! Granted I've never been to one of these things before, but Stella kind of filled me in one some of the manner and stuff like that, but it sounds like a lot of fun! And seeing Daniel again will give him a chance to eat his heart out!"
"I see you've been hanging around Stella too much,"
"I'm just going to take that as a compliment," Stella said as they walked out of the school and out to the quad where there was a limo waiting for them, as expected. Musa knew that there would be one even if she had decided not to go, it was all a part of her aunt's gentle persuasion. "Okay let's go girls," Musa said, the driver came out and took their bags, the ones with their change of clothes, and put them in the trunk and then the girls got into the car.
"Oh look whose calling!" Stella said excitedly as she gazed at the screen of her cell phone. They had finally arrived in Magix, they were in the center of the city were most of the upscale shops and hotels were. As the girls got out of the limo, the took the opportunity to look at the city lit up in the night. "Sky of coarse, I think I'll keep ignoring his calls until we get inside, and then I'll pick up,"
"Stella, you won't be able to hear him inside, everyone will be talking and music is going to be playing. Granted it will probably be the waltz, but still it's kinda loud," Musa pointed out. She knew Stella had been ignoring Sky's phone calls all day because he didn't call in the morning as he promised her would, Musa found it immature, but funny all the same.
"Yeah, so Sky will know that I am out having fun without him," Stella said cheekily as the girls walked in. "And then he'll be the vulnerable one, and I win,"
"I didn't realize a game," Bloom said as she handed her coat off to one of the men dressed in the tuxedo behind the coat room counter. She then took note of the beautiful place that the ball was being held in. "Wow this place is amazing,"
"Oh it's a game and I'm winning!" Stella said, not that Musa was paying attention. She was too busy scanning the lobby for anyone that she knew. Everyone was mingling amongst each other and the fact was that she had seen many of these people before and if she didn't quickly go to the ballroom and take her seat, then she would be pulled into saying hello to everyone she had ever met.
"Hey, let's go to the ballroom and grab our seats," Musa said bypassing everyone in the lobby and going straight to the ballroom as Bloom and Stella followed.
"Yeah okay,"
"Musa!" A rather loud voice shouted right before the trio could make it to their table and take their seats. Usually, when people were standing others felt more open to speak to them. Musa turned to see a random lady that she could vaguely remember coming towards her. "Oh Musa, I haven't seen you in years, how are you?"
"Oh hi," Musa said acting like she knew the person. She was an older woman, probably in her mid to late forties, but had work done to look like she was in her early thirties. She had strawberry blond hair and a squeaky little voice. That was when it hit her, she was Amber Riley, William's mother. "So nice to see you again, these are my friends, Stella and Bloom," Stella and Bloom politely shook her hand as she quickly resumed the cordial meeting.
"Oh lovely to see you, and nice to meet you girls," Duchess Riley said politely. "My son William is here somewhere. You two should talk! Heaven knows how long it's been since you two have seen each other"
"Of course, I will definitely find him later, " Musa said trying to put on her best fake smile. Usually when something like this happened, Annabelle or Isabelle would rush over and say that Musa needed to say hello to someone she hadn't seen in years and they would slip away. Unfortunately, Stella and Bloom didn't know the routine. "Well it was great seeing you, I should go say hello to my aunt, but hopefully I'll see you later,"
"Oh I hope so," Duchess Riley said in a tone that made Musa know that she and Galiena wanted to set her and William up. With a smile Musa quickly ushered the girls away and they took their spots at one of the head tables.
"These boys are so cute," Stella said when they finally sat down. She took a sip of her water and looked around. There were a lot of guys dressed formally with manners and royal pedigrees; in short it was Stella's dream come true. "So which one of these guys is William and why haven't we found out about him?"
"Oh is he the reason you didn't want to be set up with anyone?" Stella asked getting excited once again.
"Trust me, that is definitely not why I didn't want to bring someone," Musa said. "I just don't want to date anyone right now, so let's just drop it,"
"Fine, it's dropped," Bloom said giving Stella a hard look. "So what goes on at these things, I mean it's all so fairy tale like." Bloom was clearly mesmerized by the entire affair. It did look like one of those stereotypical affairs that fairy tale books depicted with sparking lights and soft music.
"It will start with whoever threw this party making a quick speech about how happy they are to see everyone here," Musa began, she had been to enough of these to now the agenda by heart. "Then, the music will start and the honored guests will start to dance along with the guests of honor. Then everyone else joins in. After that, the music keeps going and everyone had dinner and talks and then we all go home,"
Even though Musa described it as blandly as she could, Bloom and Stella still seemed pretty excited about the whole thing. The three talked for a bit and snacked on some of the orderves, which were one of the few redeemers of the party. The food was always really good. They then sat through the speech that the hospital head chair made, encouraging everyone to take part in caring for those less fortunate. It was pretty funny since if they wanted to care for those less fortunate, then they might want to throw them a part with this great food instead of eating themselves and basking in their own wealth.
"Ooh! Look who's calling," Stella said minutes after the hospital chair thanked everyone for coming and took his seat back at the head of the table, where Galiena was seated as well. Musa still hadn't greeted her aunt yet since things got really weird at lunch a few days ago, but she needed to say hello since she had dragged herself here, she was going to get the proper credit for coming her that she deserved. Musa then looked to Stella as she looked at the phone's screen. "It looks like Sky misses me, I think I should tell him that I'm a bit busy at this fabulous ball,"
"You are a child," Bloom teased as Stella stood up and walked away from the table to the lobby so that she could maybe hear Sky, but she made sure to stand close to the ballroom so that he could hear the background noise. "So what can we do to get you that excited?"
"Depends, how much alcohol are you ready to see me consume?" Musa said in a tone matching Bloom's. She had managed to lighten up and even start having fun. She enjoyed hanging out with her friends; even Stella became tolerable after awhile. "I'm looking forward to getting out of this dress and seeing that movie,"
"Yeah, me too," Bloom agreed and then looked over Musa's shoulder to see someone every handsome approaching. "Hey some guy is coming up right behind you, I think he wants to talk to you,"
Musa didn't have much time to think before she heard her name and turned to see William standing above her with that toothpaste commercial smile. "Oh hey William," Musa said with the same faux enthusiasm that she used with his mother. He wasn't bad looking at all, he was tall, strawberry blond and he was pretty well toned. Not to mention a killer smile, Musa had fallen under his spell once, but after talking to him for ten minute she quickly snapped herself back to reality. "How are you," Musa asked standing up and giving him a quick, uncomfortable hug.
"Good, how are you?" He asked politely as he flashed that amazing smile of his.
"Good,"
"So I was wondering, if you would honor me with a Waltz," William said offering his hand to the princess. Musa wanted to say no and walk away, but that would be rude. She was going to find some way out of it, but she then she remembered how much her aunt would love to see her dancing with William. Galiena was sitting at the head table so if Musa did dance with him, she would probably see and that would probably keep her off of Musa's back for the next few months.
"I would love to," Musa said politely, trying to sound as interested as William was. She didn't know if he was genuinely interested in her or if he was just doing this for his parents, but he seemed pretty eager. More than that he seemed eager to do whatever his parents wanted him to do, it was like he was a robot that did whatever he was told and liked it. It was the one thing Musa feared the most, if she ever felt herself loosing the slightest bit of her free will she was very apt to speak up.
William guided her out onto the dance floor to join the other couples as they floated across the shining floor. Musa began to dance without a second thought, it was like second nature to her and even though William was talking to her, she wasn't exactly listening. She picked up on a few things, like when he called her beautiful and she couldn't help but blush. He was rather charming.
Musa paid close attention to the clock hanging in the corner and every time the waltz allowed her to get a good look at the clock, she would estimate how much longer she was obligated to stay. She figured that the waltz would last a few more minutes and she would dance the next dance with William as well and then leave. That way everyone was happy, William, her aunt and Musa could leave. She was actually enjoying herself, the dance with William aside. Bloom and Stella had come up with the game 'Mistress, Daughter or second wife' that focused around guessing who an old guy was escorting to these events. But, the chance of seeing Daniel was still looming and she didn't want to see him right now, or any time soon for that matter.
Every now and then she would do a quick scan of the room looking for him, but she couldn't see him, maybe he wasn't here. She did happen to catch the eyes of her aunt, who seemed to be beaming with excitement as she watched William guide Musa around the dance floor. Musa figured it was what she owed her that since she acted very inappropriately back at the restaurant, besides she knew the best way to deal with her aunt was to indulge her a bit and she would usually be okay for awhile.
"So, that was when I suggested we go yachting," Musa's mind was in a million places, but dancing on the dance floor with William was not one of them. She occasionally drifted back and caught a few things. "I mean it's crazy, nobody had thought of that, in the middle of the summer…" he went on as Musa pretended that hearing about his yachting trip was not mind numbingly boring.
Musa looked around the room once again as William took her into a quick spin and noticed that her friends were not sitting at the table, instead they were dancing along with her. Well not with her, but they had their respective partners and they were dancing around with them. "Hey do you know the guy that is dancing with my friends?"
"Oh yeah, one is a prince and the other is a duke," William asked thinking that he had answered the question. Musa was actually looking for a name, but of coarse, instead she got their rank. Not that she should have been expecting much more.
Once the waltz ended, Musa thanked William for the dance and began to walk off the dance floor only to be stopped by him. He asked if she wanted to hang out later, since his family was invited to some event at Red Fountain Musa had never even heard of. (2) Musa said that she wasn't going to be able to make it and then she had to turn down his offer to 'get outta there' and hang out with him alone in his hotel suite, or hit Kinkel bar (3) for some drinks. She told him that she had to make it back to Alfea before curfew and got away from him as quick as possible.
"What a creeper," Musa mumbled as she walked back up to Stella and Bloom who were waiting for her by the doors that led to the lobby. Stella and Bloom had come back from their dances with the prince and his friend. It was cute that they all managed to find someone here that they didn't want.
"Ready to go?" Stella asked almost regretfully. She was having fun here, but she knew that Musa was ready to leave and she was looking forward to hanging out with her girls since they hadn't had much time in the past couple of weeks to hang out. Bloom, who had never attended an even like this, seemed to be having a lot of fun as well.
"So ready," Musa said. The three began making their way through the lobby when they heard a loud shout from the other end. Standing by the doors to the ballroom was Nate, by himself, looking as if he had just run to catch up to them. At first Musa looked at him in totally surprise, the only person she was expecting to see here was Daniel and she hadn't seen him all night. "Oh my gosh! Nate!"
Musa ran to him and jumped into his arms, as lady like as possible, but it was hard for her to contain her excitement. She hadn't seen him since spring break and talking to him was rare, it was like Daniel got custody of him in their split. But, the weird thing was that she knew that Daniel still got to hang out with the girls, but she didn't get to see Nate as much. It wasn't fair. "I didn't know you were coming!"
"It was kinda last minute, I got roped into it," Nate said his voice muffled by Musa's hair as Musa was still embracing her best friend. "Hey Stella, Bloom it's nice to see you guys again,"
"Hey Nate, how are you," Bloom asked before Stella could say anything, she knew that if Stella got the opportunity to, she would have said something to make everyone uncomfortable. She had a gift for those types of situations.
"Good how about you guys,"
"Good, so when did you get here," Stella asked since she was swiftly stopped last time by Bloom.
"I just got here today, I was gonna come by and visit you guys, but I was a little busy,"
"With?" Musa knew who it was with and she figured Daniel was the one who had roped Nate into coming to the event. But, if they were both here, they both knew not to arrive together and give off the wrong image, so Leslie must have been here too! "Wait is Leslie here!"
"No, she couldn't come so I had to come here alone,"
"Why didn't you call me or come see me!" Musa asked angrily. She had missed them so much and now they were in the same ballroom together. She was admittedly a little jealous that Daniel got to see them all the time while she hardly got to see them. "We could have gone together; it would have saved me the therapy I'm going to need after dancing with William Riley,"
"Well, I don't think that would have been the best idea," Nate looked as if he had just become very uncomfortable and it was because nether of them had broached the subject of Daniel and even though Musa was sure that he was probably here avoiding her, she wasn't sure.
"And why not," Musa asked hoping to get Nate to come out with the truth. But, he didn't say anything, instead he gave her hard look. This wasn't the time or place to be talking about these things, but still Musa wanted to know. "You don't have to cover for him, I figured he was here and it makes sense that he dragged you here."
"He wants to talk to you, but it's only been like two hours and you've managed to keep a low profile," Nate said. It was true that Musa had been hiding out at her table with Stella and bloom for the two short hours that they were here, but if Daniel really needed to talk then he could have asked around to see if Musa was there. "I think you should talk to him,"
"I got in my first cat fight," Musa said somewhat proudly, totally bypassing what he had just said. She didn't want to talk to him right now, which was why she had been hiding out the entire night. Besides, she hadn't told him about it, maybe he had heard it from the twins or Leslie, since she had filled them in on
"And won," Stella added.
"How proud are you?" Musa asked.
"Are you okay?" Nate asked with concern. It was not the reaction Musa wanted "Well obviously you're okay. Was it an actual physical confrontation? Musa that is not –."
"Okay, enough before the lecturing begins," Musa begged. "It was not big deal,"
"Yeah, okay," Nate said in a disappointed tone. Just then a door from the end of the lobby opened loudly.
"Hey bro, that chick from earlier is looking for you, just thought I'd give you a heads up and –," Daniel had just walked through the same doors Nate was standing at earlier, he was busy texting on his phone so he didn't exactly notice Musa until she paused his head to see her standing in front of him. "Hey," Was all he could spit out after a few seconds of him and Musa just looking at each other.
"Wow is that a statue!" Bloom exclaimed looking outside. "We should check that out," It was clear that Bloom was dismissing herself as well as Stella and Nate. But no matter how deliberate it was, all three walked outside to tone down the level of awkwardness that had accumulated in the last thirty seconds. "Come, let's go!"
"You know it is," Nate said sounding very interested in the marble fish fountain. As they all walked out of the hotel.
Musa and Daniel stood looking at each other for a few seconds before Musa finally spoke up. "Hi," Musa said after another few seconds of silence between them.
"So how are you," Daniel asked. It was obvious that he wanted to see her and that he felt bad about everything that happened, but Musa was not going to let him just feel better about everything so quickly. She really didn't feel so bad or angry at him anymore, but for some reason she would not let this go, which was not unreasonable of her since he cheated, but the idea of him with someone else didn't bother her as much anymore.
"Fine," Musa said. They stood there for a few more seconds before Musa looked at him again and realized that nothing had changed. Daniel knew that cheating was wrong and he apologized for it, but it gave Musa no comfort. She wasn't angry about that and until Daniel really understood, she didn't want to be around him. "I have to be somewhere, so I should -,"
"Don't be like that, please," Daniel said stopping her mid- sentence. "You're my best friend; I can't just not speak to you anymore, it's just not right. I know that you're angry and you don't want to speak to me, but just tell me that eventually we'll be okay,"
"I need to go," Musa's face remained as blank as she could keep it, but it was clear that emotions that she never wanted to face were beginning to get stirred up inside of her. But looking at him, she realized the feelings she had for him were gone, there was nothing that attracted her to him anymore and she began to question if there was anything there before. Nothing, it was like he was any one else that she knew, and aside from the anger she still harbored about his betrayal. "Bye Daniel," Musa turned and began walking towards the doors that Stella and Bloom had just exited from, only to be stopped by Daniel's hand taking hold of her wrist.
"I get it Musa, I hurt you and I broke your heart. And I know it still hurts and I –,"
"I don't even have feelings for you anymore!" Musa shot back, for the first time she had finally figured out what exactly was keeping her from seeing Daniel. It was the betrayal itself, it had nothing to do with how it made her feel, it was that he knew he would hurt her and he did it anyway.. "I don't and you can believe me or not, that's up to you. But that is not what this is about; it's not that you hurt me because if you did it by accident it would be another story. But you intentionally betrayed me knowing exactly what you doing and knowing that it was wrong. You knew how much it could ruin things between us and everyone around us! Whether I still have feelings for you or not doesn't matter, you don't get why I'm angry."
"But I –,"
"So you can't fix it," Musa pointed out bluntly. "At least not until you get it,"
Musa wanted to be friends with him again, even though she couldn't really admit to herself just yet. She wanted things to go back to the way they were, but it seemed like it would never happen. She didn't know if she could ever truly fix things or make them as they were, but maybe this was a step. Sure she didn't want to talk to him now, but Daniel was making an effort to rectify the situation and it was a start. "I'm gonna go,"
Musa walked out of the hotel to see Nate, Stella and Bloom all standing next to the limo that had brought them here. "Okay let's change and go," Musa said calmly as she walked up to the three that were deep in conversation, probably about what they thought was going on inside. "I'll see you next time you come to Magix,"
"Definitely," Nate agreed and pulled Musa into a hug. "You okay,"
"I'm fine," Musa nodded and watched her friend walk back into the hotel.
The girls sat in the limo after they had gotten changed. It was silent in the limo after the two had let Musa and Daniel talk, she insisted that she was fine, but they felt like something was still bothering her. And something was, no matter how hard she tried to fight it, she wanted to forgive him and she wanted him back in her life. "So, what's up girls…is there anything anyone wants to say?" Stella broached in a not so subtle hint that she was hoping that Musa would give them a bit more information about what happened other than the fact that she was fine.
"Look nothing interesting happened," Musa admitted as she looked at Magix at night. It was completely different city and even though it looked completely different, she still felt a lot of comfort from the city for some reason. She began to drift off in thought when she realized she hadn't even finished her story. "I just told him that I needed time before we could talk about everything, I still don't think he really gets why I'm angry,"
"How hard is it to get," Stella asked dumbly, it seemed pretty simple, he cheated. "He cheated on you, so obviously you're going to be upset,"
"It's a little more than that, but I think we still need some time before we can get past this," Musa shrugged. She wanted to believe that they could go on like this never happened, but it was hard. "I mean if we ever do, but come on can we just have fun tonight. I mean we're going to see a movie and have fun!"
"Definitely," Bloom agreed. "But we still haven't figured out what movie to watch. I was hoping we could see Mission Improbable 4, (4) this time he has to stop an elite team of assassins from getting the –,"
"Okay no!" Stella complained. "Let's see the movie about that adorable law student that everyone underestimates, but she becomes the best using fashion and other stuff like that!" (5)
The limo pulled up to the movie theater and after telling the driver to drop the dresses back off at Alfea and then leave, since the girls were going to simply walk back to Alfea, they waited for Techna and Flora to arrive. "Hey girls! How was the ball," Flora asked as she caught up to the girls along with Techna.
"It was good," Musa answered. "So what movie are we going to watch," This prompted another long debate, that Musa knew would occur when she asked the question, but she didn't want to answer anymore questions about the ball.
"What a freaky movie," Stella said as the girls made it back to the campus after the movie. Since they couldn't decide on the movie, they decided to watch "The Monster graveyard" which was a cross between creepy and horribly gory. She didn't thinking that anyone would really like the movie, but it was a lot of fun hearing all of her friend scream in fear, while the 10 year olds watching the movie were just fine. (6) "I still have chills,"
"Yeah, but at least it had a happy ending," Techna exclaimed. It did have a happy ending, the main character lived and she managed to save her brother as well.
"Yeah, nothing brings a family back together like fighting monster and zombies," Bloom exclaimed happily. "Escape a time bomb and a tidal wave,"
"That movie scared me," Flora said. She was the one person that had vehemently opposed watching the movie, she even went so far as to side with watching Stella's insipid movie instead of seeing the horror movie. "Can we please stop talking about it,"
Even though Flora begged for them to stop, the girls couldn't help but talk about the movie and that only led to everyone getting on edge about what was going on around them. They all seemed to take notice of every squeak that the door knobs made or the slight rumbles that came from others moving around in towering floors.
Finally, they got to their dorms and managed to get to sleep, only to be awoken once again by a shrill shriek in the night. Musa was shocked away by the sudden scream in the night and having the images of the movie still playing back in her head, she imagined the worst. She and Techna got up immediately and ran to the owner of the scream. Stella, who was sitting on her bed with beads of sweat falling down her face.
"Sounds like you had a nightmare," Bloom said after Stella had explained to the girls what had happened. But Musa was still preoccupied thinking about everything else that was going on that she really didn't ay attention to Stella's assertions that there was something real about her dream. She said that she felt like something was scratching at her and trying to hurt her in reality, but Musa simply shrugged it off and went back to bed.
Laying in the soft satin sheets, Musa fell back to sleep rather quickly and before she knew it she was dreaming about the same thing she had been dreaming about since she had seen Riven in Magix. Except, in her dream Riven wasn't acting like a total and complete ass. The part that kept replaying in her mind was when he pulled her close, except this time it was sweet. As music softly played, Riven began to look at Musa the way he had before, when he was different, when he was the guy Musa liked. He caressed her cheek and pulled her close and just as he was ready to kiss her, everything disappeared. It all faded into the background and Musa found herself in Magix, only it was completely empty.
"Musa, oh Musa," Said a very familiar voice. It was her mother's voice, Musa could remember it perfectly. She could hear her mother calling out to her, but she could not see where she was, the city remained empty and Musa began to feel alone. "Let's sing you a song darling. Let's sing together….wait there's no music. Where is all the music Musa?"
"Are you okay mom?" Musa asked frantically. Suddenly the dream fell silent and Musa could hear nothing. Musa's dreams were rarely ever silent, there was music to accompany everything in her life and when things were quiet, it was never good. "Mom, are you okay!" She asked once again looking around the empty city and seeing nothing. Finally she looked to her right and saw her mother sitting alone on a bench. Musa ran to her as quickly as she could.
"I can't hear the music," Her mother said with a blank stare, she kept asking the same question, it was the question that Musa had asked her father for years after her mother passed away, when her father couldn't bare to even hear a melody. "Where did all the music go? I miss music so much…"
Just as she said that her voice became distant and she vanished, just as Riven had earlier in her dream. "Mom!" Musa cried out, hoping for someone to answer her, but nothing. "Mom where are you! Please don't leave me!" She was left there standing in the city alone. That was when Musa's eye flew open and she could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears and sweat all over her face.
It was her greatest fear, being alone. She had a lot of trouble all her life trying to adjust to new people coming into her life. She always found it easier to stick with those that she knew since she knew they would never leave. Musa hated the idea of being alone, after her mother died she had felt like the world had closed in on her and there was nobody that could save her from it. And then her father became busy, it was his way of dealing with everything, but it left her alone. That was when Musa look solace in her best friend, Daniel. And sitting there, covered in sweat and feeling her heartbeat finally slow back down to it's normal rhythm, Musa knew why she felt like she had to forgive Daniel. She needed him. "It was just a dream," Musa told herself, hoping she would calm down, but now she couldn't.
She sat up in her bed for a few more minutes and felt scratches on her arm. She figured she had gotten them from somewhere at the ball and slipped back under her covers. Even though she was reluctant, she let the seductive pull of sleep win, only to be shaken from her sleep for the third time that night. "Musa…Musa wake up!"
Musa sat up in her bed and saw the rest of the girls walk into her room. "Musa do you by chance feel weak?" Techna asked reaching her trembling arm out to help Musa sit up. "I had a rather unsettling dream and now I feel so much weaker, like I'm drained of all my energy,"
"I had a crazy dream too," Musa said, still able to recall the dream perfectly in all it's horror. The girls began to describe what was happening as they tried to figure out what was going on with them. This was way more than a coincidence, there was something else going on, it was like the dreams actually felt real, like you could feel something happening to you. All of a sudden Flora walked out of the room and over to Mirta.
Mirta had finally been able to make contact with them after being trapped as a pumpkin for so long. She told them that they were attacked by a nightmare monster. It was a type of beast that attacks when someone is sleeping to drain their power and keep it for itself.
The girls finally figured out a plan where they would ambush this monster and get it once and for all. The next night, Flora had decided to act as a decoy while the rest of the girls attacked the monster and it seemed like they were winning until the fatigue from the previous night caught up to them. It was only when Miss. Faragonda stepped in that they could finally get rid of the beast.
After it was over, the girls still had no idea why the witches were so bent on destroying them, but it was clear that the next few weeks would not be easy on anyone.
1. That is the same name as the mother in 'the parent trap' the version with Lindsay Lohan, not the older version. Anyway in the movie, Elizabeth James is a dress designer. So ta-da she popped up here!
2. Could this possibly the day of the royals?! Hmm….
3. This is an actual bar in an actual New York City hotel, special prize to anyone who guesses correctly.
4. hmm sounds a lot like mission impossible.
5. A blonde lawyer that gets no respect, but preserves using her impeccable taste? Legally Blonde!
6. this actually happened to me and my friends when we went to see 'when a stranger calls' even though everyone says it was a horrible movie, we were scared to death.
So the next chapter is, I'm sure you already know but I'll tell you anyway, royal heartbreak! I know a lot of you are looking forward to it, hopefully you'll like it. Remember this is a Musa story so it will revolve mostly around her, not that the other won't be mentioned quite a bit.
xoxo,
princessm