Chapter 4

Fairy

Over the next two years, Daniel and Mandy visited each other's houses often. Daniel's house was almost a second home to Mandy, and Madame Versoi welcomed her openly into her house. Mandy felt that Daniel was her best and closest friend.

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Mandy left finishing school, laughing and walking with a group of friends. They were all 17, in the highest grade of finishing school. It was winter, and they were getting a break for a few weeks.

"I'll see you later, then," Mandy said, waving to her friends. They waved back and left her. Mandy stood alone on the road. She always walked home by herself on a separate route, since the other girls were from poorer families than her.

She thought about what the other girls had been talking about. Fairies. Did such things even exist anymore? Everyone knew that they had once lived, but died out. Evaline had been claiming that she saw a fairy couple in the marketplace, but no one believed her. She had said that the woman and man's feet were much too small, and that fairies had extremely small feet. Mandy looked at her own feet for a minute. They were quite small. But she took no note and dismissed the topic. She continued on her way home.

Just as she was nearing her house, she saw someone walking towards her, his handsome face expressionless. It was Daniel.

"Daniel!" she exclaimed gleefuly. She rushed towards him. "What are you doing here?" she asked. Then she saw his expression. "What's wrong?"

"Mandy," he said. "Your parents have disappeared."

She froze. "What? What did you say?"

Daniel looked frightened. "I know this is strange, but your parents are gone."

"No!" she said. Why would this happen. She grabbed Daniel's arm. "Come on!" she said weakly. Together, they rushed to her house. She shoved her key into the door and burst in, expecting to see that everything was normal and that her parents were there. Slowly, she examined her house. All of the roomgs were empty. Even the maids were gone. However, the hosue seemed normal. Everything was in place.

"Where are they?" she whispered, scared. Then, she erupted. "Daniel, where are they?" she screamed.

"I don't know," he whispered.

"How did you find out my parents were gone?"

"Last night, my parents came here. They rang the doorbell, but no one answered. This morning, at six, yor parents weren't here either."

Mandy felt frightened. Her parents never went anywhere at night, and they left so early in the morning. She rushed to her parents' room, with Daniel following behind. Maybe there was an explanation. There was. Kind of. On her parents' bed, there was a plain, brown box. She tried to open it, but Daniel stopped her. "Look," he said, pointing. There was a note underneath it.

Mandy,

We have left because our existence has been threatened. But don't worry, dear. You'll be safe. Trust us. We'll always be watching over you. No harm will come to you. Just remember: Always wear these shoes in this package.

We love you,

Mother and Father

Mandy opened the box. Inside, there were silver slippers. They looked quite expensive and dainty. She them on. They covered her whole foot, and there were small gold bows at the tip. However, they were a little too large for her feet. She took some newspapers and put them into the front of her shoe. There. Now they fit. Instantly, she felt safer. Inside the package, there was a smaller box, about the size of her fist. It was a light pink shade and was decorated with dried, white flowers. There was a another note taped on it.

Do Not Open Until You're 20

Mandy didn't care what the note said. She didn't want to wait three years to open the box. She just wanted to know what was going on. Forcefully, she tried to take the lid off, but it wouldn't budge. She wanted to try again, but Daniel stopped her.

"Don't," he said quietly. "I think it's best to listen to what your parents say."

"He's right," Mandy thought.

Suddenly, the realization sunk in. Her parents were gone. And she was in potential danger if she didn't wear the shoes. A tear escaped from her eye, which turned into a flood of tears. She collapsed into Daniel's arms and cried into his shoulder.

"My parents are gone," she sobbed. "I'm all alone."

Daniel patted her back. "You're not alone. You have me, remember?" he comforted.

But she couldn't stop crying. and Daniel didn't try to stop her.

It was nearing nighttime. Mandy and Daniel sat on her parents' bed. Every time Mandy thought of her parents, her eyes brimmed with tears. But at least she could control them now.

"Mandy," Daniel finally said. "It's nighttime."

She looked up. So much time had passed.

"If you want," Daniel said, "you could come live with my family."

Mandy smiled bleakly.

"It's OK," she said. "I think I'll be able to stay by myself. After all, I'm seventeen."

Daniel smiled comfortingly. "All right," he said. "If you need anything, you can just come over to my house."

Mandy nodded.

With one last reassuring smile, Daniel left.

Mandy got up from the bed. With the box in her hand, she walked across the hall to her own room. Stroking the box, she fell asleep.

"Fairy! Fairy!" someone mocked from a distance. Mandy looked around. She was suddenly surrounded by a crowd, and they were mocking her. Calling her fairy. "I'm not!" she cried out. "You've got the wrong person!"But they didn't stop. "Fairy, fairy, " they said, pointing. Then, they were laughing at her. "Stop!" she screamed out.

Mandy woke up sweating and shivering. Why were they calling her a fairy? Mandy felt something hard under her back. She reached for it. It was the box. She had fallen asleep on it. She tried opening it again, but it wouldn't open.

For the next several nights, Mandy had the same dream. But every night, the crowd got clearer. One night, she saw Evaline. Another night, she saw Mrs. Hendrick, her myths and legends teacher. She even saw a handsome, dark-haired boy standing in the crowd. He never yellled, never laughed. Just stood there staring at her. His presence scared her, but in the dream, she could not keep from staring at him.