Chapter Two
Puck woke up, yawned and stretched. He smiled to himself, then at his work. Though he shouldn't really call it work. He never even put effort into anything, unless it was involved with a prank. Which this was.
He got up, grabbed his 'work', and exited his room. He noticed the clones in the hallway were snoring. He kicked one down the stairs and watched it wail as it sailed to the bottom step. The others, sensing some sort of commotion, pulled out their wooden swords and 'hi yah-ed!' suddenly alert. One of them was yawning.
Puck frowned. His Puckians weren't even threatening. He hoped Sabrina hadn't done anything while he was sleeping, because these worthless guards wouldn't have noticed.
"You guys can go now," he said, and the little Pucks cheered. They jumped up and flew out the window, laughing and chattering and burping to one another.
Once they were all gone, Puck snuck his way down the hall and into Sabrina's room. The door creaked, and he jumped at the noise. He waited for a few seconds, just to make sure she was still asleep, then fully opened the door.
Sabrina was lying on her side, curled up into a little ball. She had her pillow tucked under her arm, and she was sucking her thumb. Puck stifled a laugh. He should've brought a camera.
He carefully placed his handiwork in the second drawer of Sabrina's dresser, then crept back out of the room.
Once out of Sabrina's hearing range he laughed and flew downstairs. Daphne was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a large, dusty book.
"I did it! I did it, and she didn't even notice!"
Daphne looked up and smiled. "You're so punk rock," she said, giving him thumbs up.
"Did you know she sucks her thumb?"
Daphne's eyes went wide. She decided not to mention the fact that Puck does, too.
"She does? I never noticed. I guess it's was because I always go to sleep before she does. Though I've woken up a few times because her snoring's so loud."
"Uh, Daphne…you're the one who snores," Sabrina said. She was dressed in a long sleeved red t-shirt and green cargo pants. She looked at Puck and seemed to stifle a laugh.
"Well, what'd the old lady leave for breakfast?" Puck said, wondering about Sabrina's reaction when she saw him. He dug around in the refrigerator, looking for something to eat.
"Should say on that note Granny left on the freezer door," Sabrina said, sitting down.
A long, squeaky fart emanated from Sabrina's side of the room.
Puck and Daphne burst out laughing. Sabrina turned red, then checked her seat. There wasn't anything there. Had she really done that?
She sat down again, and another went off. Daphne was laughing so hard that tears were spilling out of her eyes. Puck was hitting the countertop with so much force that Sabrina was sure it was going to break.
"It's not funny!" she yelled as she ran upstairs.
Silence for a while. The two slowly began to calm down from their laughing fits. Daphne was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.
"To my pants!" Sabrina wailed from upstairs. "You sewed the whoopee cushion to my pants!"
Daphne was wheezing. "High five," she panted.
The two hit hands and Puck relaxed against the chair. "Oh, man, that was awesome!" he said, out of breath. "I'm just glad I got to her before she got to me. I'm so punk rock, huh, Daphne?"
Daphne let out an amused chuckle.
"My sister's sneakier than you think, Puck."
He stood up, confused.
"Just check your room. You'll see soon enough."
He walked back to his room and jiggled the door handle a couple of times, making sure she hadn't infiltrated his security. The alarm still went off, and Puck knew she hadn't. He disarmed it and walked around his paradise. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.
He noticed a post-it was stuck to his trampoline. Next to lay a small, green compact mirror. He peeled the note off and read it.
"It came when you least expected it," he read aloud.
"Expected what?" Puck muttered.
He looked at the mirror and gasped.
A basketball was stuck to the top of his head.
"She didn't…she didn't…" he said.
He pulled at it. His hair went with the basketball. Stuck between the two were globs of sticky, dried white glue.
"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, GRIMM!" Puck bellowed.
Several hours (and fights) later, Puck, Sabrina and Daphne were outside. Puck had cut off all the hair on the top of his head, removing the basketball. His new do faintly reminded Sabrina of a toilet seat.
"So, what new evidence do we have?" she asked, ignoring Puck, who was glaring at her.
Daphne pointed at the ground. "See these? Footprints. That means they can't fly."
"Yeah, but then how did they get past my pixies?"
Daphne rubbed her chin. "I'm guessing…maybe it was somebody the pixies knew?"
"But all the other fairies are back in New York," Sabrina commented.
"I don't have time for this," Puck said. "I need to get back to my prank."
"But it burned down another tree last night!" Daphne whined. "Doesn't that matter more than your stupid war?"
"Nothing matters more than this war," Sabrina and Puck said simultaneously. They stared at each other for a second, then stuck their tongues out.
"The world is overheating! And you guys don't care!"
Sabrina stared at the girl. "What does trees burning to the ground have to do with Global Warming?"
"I don't know…but it does!"
Sabrina rolled her eyes, and she and Puck stomped back to the house.
Daphne looked at the footprints, then at the tree, then at the two, who were walking away. How could they be so careless?
She turned to the forest. She hoped the culprit was listening.
"You're killing trees, you know!" she cried. "I hope you get a paper cut!"
"Argh," Sabrina muttered. She sucked on her finger. "Paper cut."
Sabrina had remained locked in her room since she had last been outside with Daphne. She knew Puck couldn't do anything to her as long as she was there. It was like a safe zone.
Her stomach grumbled for the thousandth time. She clutched it, hoping to quiet it down.
She wasn't going to be able to stand it anymore. Hours of waiting with no food did horrible things to a person's digestive system. Her stomach was going to declare mutiny.
Reluctantly, she gave into her stomach's cries and snuck downstairs to the kitchen. Something in the corner of the room stirred, and Sabrina jumped.
The thing whimpered. "Oh, it's just you, Elvis," Sabrina said. She patted the dog on the head.
Reaching into the refrigerator, she grabbed what looked like jello and wolfed it down. Then she gagged.
It tasted like spinach, turkey and cranberries, even though it had a clear blue color.
She glanced at the Tupperware that held the food (if it could be called that) while washing down the taste with a glass of water. It read: Gelatin Form of 1999 Thanksgiving Dinner.
Her upper lip curled in disgust. Ick.
She heard someone thumping down the stairs. Instinct told her it was Puck, and she began looking around wildly, scanning the room, trying to find an appropriate place to hide. She dove behind Elvis just as the person rounded the corner.
Daphne stumbled into the room, holding a large, leather-bound hardback book. She went over to the counter and set the book down, then poured herself a cup of coffee. She drank it all in one gulp, then let out a long, satisfied burp.
"Daphne?" Sabrina said, emerging from behind Elvis.
The little girl jumped. In the light, she could see that her braids were ratty, like she had been running her fingers through them while they were still tied.
"What?" she gurgled. There were giant red bags under her eyes.
Sabrina stared at her. "Are you okay?"
"Does it look like I'm okay?"
Sabrina shook her head. Daphne was still mad at her.
"Then don't ask."
Daphne sat down at the table and collapsed, head resting on her arms. Within a matter of seconds the little girl was snoring.
Sabrina glanced at the book. It was one she hadn't seen before. She flipped to the first page.
In hiding oneself, it said, one must first become unrecognizable. Dark clothing and makeup help with this. Next, one should hide one's scent. The best way to do this is to mask the smell by swimming or soaking in water…
Sabrina's head jerked up. Water! Daphne was a genius!
But…there wasn't a lake nearby the house. It was a dead end.
Had Daphne been up all night, reading from that book, trying to find something? Sabrina realized that neither she nor Puck had been much help. Daphne must've known she'd be doing most of the work alone, because of their declaration of war.
Sabrina walked over and smoothed the little girl's hair.
"I'd like to help, Daphne," Sabrina whispered. "But I have to beat Puck. I just have to."
Daphne stirred, and gave a loud snort.
"Stob…snorin', 'Brina," she mumbled. " You're…too loud."
Sabrina chuckled and headed off to her room.
"Where's my room!" Sabrina cried.
She announced this right after she smacked into the wall. She wondered why it had hurt so much; she realized that it was the twinges of magic that stung, not the impact. She felt around, trying to see if Puck had just used magic paint or something and disguised it, but no, it was gone. Room, door, doorknob, even the 'danger: keep out' sign had disappeared. She stormed over to Puck's room and banged on the door.
"What do you want?" yelled Puck from the other side.
"Where did you put my room, pusbrain?"
A whimper emitted from the door. "Aw. I was hoping you were in it."
"What did you do to my room?"
"Nothing."
"Don't play innocent, you thief! Where is it?"
Puck sighed. "Mirror has it."
"He what?" Sabrina cried.
"Your new, fully compactable room is now in Mirror's glorious Hall of Wonders."
"Puck I swear I'll get you for this!" Sabrina threatened.
"Yawn, Grimm. I've heard that line too many times. Can't you come up with something a little more original? Or at least fulfill your original swear?"
Sabrina kicked the door and stormed down the hall to Mirror's room. She shook the doorknob a couple of times. It was locked.
She lifted her leg up and smashed it against the door with all the strength she had. It came crashing down, smashing flat against the floor.
"WHO DARES TO BREAK DOWN MY DOOR AT…oh, it's you, Sabrina. I should've known by the dramatic entry," Mirror said.
"You're one to talk." Sabrina muttered. "Where's my room?"
Mirror held out his hand for her, and she took it. The glass surface rippled a little as she passed through, like irritated water, then settled.
"Okay, which of these rooms is it?"
"Not any. Here you go, Starfish."
He handed her a little wooden cube no bigger than her fist. She shook it lightly, and heard several boxes inside fall to the 'ground.' A miniature version of her sign fluttered to the ground. She picked it up and examined it, mouth open in shock.
It was her room, all right.
"How…?" she whispered.
"I'm assuming Puck infiltrated my security while I was…occupied…and got a hold of some 'Drink Me' boxes. He misted the room with them and…poof! Here it is."
Sabrina stared at the room, shocked. "Can't you do anything about it?"
"Afraid not. Rooms don't eat cookies," he said.
Sabrina wailed.
"Unless you want to shrink yourself. Then you'd fit."
Sabrina shook her head. "Puck'd probably step on me. Or put me in a cage. He'd forget to feed me."
"Don't worry, dear. Puck said to tell you that if you didn't have a place to stay, he'd gladly…"
"No way I'm surrendering to that no-good fairy boy! He'll have to beg me to submit to him!" she cried, storming out of the room. She turned the corner and—smack!—ran into Puck.
The fairy boy snickered. "Sabrina, I think we need to get your vision checked."
She stomped on his foot. "You destroyed my room, fuzzball!" she shrieked.
Puck flew in the air, holding his foot. "Of course I did. Who else would be so genius?"
Sabrina swung at him. He flew up to avoid it and smacked into the ceiling.
"Ouch!" he cried, rubbing his head. He glared down at Sabrina. "Seriously, Grimm. You've been hiding in there all day. It wasn't a fair battle strategy. I just had to destroy your fort if I ever wanted to win this war."
"You…you cheater!"
Puck smiled. "That's me!"
"I hope you die in a hole!"
He grinned. "Can't."
Sabrina snarled and stomped down the stairs, furious. She could hear Puck's creepy giggle disappear into his room.
Daphne was still sleeping at the table—Sabrina could tell because she heard the girl's snores from halfway up the stairs. She picked up the only spare blanket with a sigh and draped it over her. The girl mumbled something unintelligible and sank into the warmness of the quilt.
Sabrina plopped down on the couch. She stretched for a while, then relaxed, letting herself sink into the scratchy cushions. She sighed. Only two more days to go, and Granny Relda would return, and this chaos would end.
She heard Daphne's snoring only a few seconds more before she was fast asleep herself.