CHAPTER 6
"Please let me go," Cain whispered, walking down the hall behind DG. She stopped short and turned around.
"No. You are not going to chaperone my date. I have to draw the line somewhere Cain. This is why I wanted out of the O.Z." she grabbed her jacket. Cain's brow lifted in question.
"What?" He asked. DG motioned towards him with her hands.
"This," she whispered harshly. "You, standing there, trying to protect me. I'm twenty years old Cain, being asked on a date by a cute guy I used to like in high school. I'm not in a world filled with talking trees, old witches taking over the kingdom or any other danger like that."
"No you're just in a world of crime, war, and poverty." Cain sighed. DG frowned.
"If World War III breaks out while I'm out or I suddenly lose all ability to find food, then I will happily let you say 'I told you so'." DG looked right in his eyes. "Cain just let me have this one night, and I promise you can go back to being the tough, macho protector you always were." She patted him on the shoulder. Cain watched as she walked into the living room, taking Billy by the arm.
"It was nice meeting you all." Billy smiled as they walked to the door. DG waved at everyone and then the door shut behind them. Cain stood in the doorway watching as the car drove off through the window. He took notice of the fact that he fact that he drove a truck and allowed himself a little hope. As if she could read his mind Az looked up from her magazine.
"They could always do it in the bed of the truck if they find some blankets." She looked over at him and shrugged. "Just saying."
"Thank you Azkedillia, I knew I could always count on you for reassurance. You were so helpful these past few years." Cain ran a hand through his hair and walked to the window.
"Do you think it was safe to let her go?" He asked.
"Should we let her go?" Glitch asked, turning to Azkedillia. Azkedillia turned to him.
"I don't know, he may be some crazy psycho that is bent on harming DG in some horrifying, grotesque way." Cain groaned and rubbed his face.
"Do you ever just get tired and want to relax?" Az asked setting her magazine down. She pulled herself up and walked to the window, her socked feet padded towards Cain. Cain looked over at her.
"DG is a big girl. And even though this is a big world, DG know's what is in it and what the dangers are. If anything she should be worried about us. We're the strangers."
"So I've been told." he sighed. He looked over at Azkedillia and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll relax. But you'll have to find someway to distract me." Cain watched as Azkedillia's face instantly brightened. "Anything but that." He said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Go find one of those board games Glitch loves so much. While Az went off to find a game Cain looked outside, hoping the right decision was made.
"Plus, DG said if we screw this up, then she won't take up bowling." Glitch said sitting up. His face was stern and serious. "Don't screw this up Cain, I want to go bowling." Cain shook his head and kept his focus on the yard.
"My, what interesting friends you have. Where in the world did you find them?" Billy looked over at DG from across the . There weren't many places in town to go on a date, either the diner or the burger shack on the outskirt of town. DG and Billy used to frequent there in high school, staying out all night. Even though it wasn't home made soup, it still was nice to walk down memory lane. They drove out to the small, one room building. Billy order the two of them burgers and fries from the tiny take out window and then carried them back to the truck. They crawled up into the bed of the truck, and ate there, looking up at the stars.
She looked over at him, he still had his looks from high school. Soft brown eyes, sandy brown hair. He just looked like many of the men in her town, stuck in a job handed down through the generations, with very little promise of ever leaving. He would probably never leave town and would never get out again.
"Yeah, not in this one, that's for sure." DG swallowed. Billy looked over at her, his head cocked to the side. DG looked at him, wanting to trust him fully. She wanted to share her adventures with someone. Billy had always been her best friend growing up, why couldn't she. She let out a rush of air. "Can we have a dear diary moment?" She asked. Billy smiled at the familiar phrase.
"Of course," he said, setting his plate down. She looked at him.
"So Azkedillia is my sister." DG said. Billy nodded. "And she's a princess." Billy laughed.
"Yeah Burke's wife is a princess too, or so she thinks."
"No, a real one. As am I." She paused. Billy stopped laughing and turned to her. She nodded. "Glitch is a royal advisor to my mother, the queen. He has the zipper on his head because AZ became possessed by a witch and she tried to take over the kingdom. She took out Glitch's brain so that she could use the invention he made." She took a breath, keeping her eyes on Billy.
"And Raw is a viewer. He looks into your heart and see what you're feeling or what has happened to you." She saw Billy swallow.
"And what about Cain," he asked. "Is he like. . .what is he?" He watched as DG's face searched the sky for an answer.
"Cain is," she paused. "Cain is, well, he's um." She stopped, her eyes welling up. "He's just my bodyguard and a friend. Nothing more. He's an ex-Tin Man and they are like cops in the O.Z or the Outer Zone." She turned back to Billy.
"Right," he slowly said. He sighed and looked down at his hands. "And all of this is accessible via what?"
"Traveling storms. In my case they are cyclones." Billy looked over at her, wonderment filling his young face.
"Like in the Wizard of OZ?" he asked. DG squinted, not sure if she should really share the following information. She realized it couldn't be any worse than what she'd already shared.
"Yeah, about that. Dorothy is my ancestor." She looked over at him and attempted to smile. Billy just nodded. "If you really don't believe me, that's fine. I sometimes have a hard time telling myself it's true and I went through it. So if you think I'm crazy, then you have every right to be." She sat there, still as a stone and waited for him to respond.
"DG, I've known you all my life. You used to go around telling everyone that you were destined for better, greater things. We all just laughed because we all thought the same thing, but knew it probably never would happen. I don't doubt you for a second. If you say these things are true, then I will find it somewhere within me to believe you. I don't need proof or anything." He put his hand on hers. She looked up at him, and smiled. "So tell me more about this Outer Zone." He said.
"Well," DG started. "It all started when my house began to pitch," she said smiling.
"I hope I get to see you again." DG smiled as she reached for her seatbelt. It was late and two sat in DG's drive way. Billy's face fell and he sighed. "Or not. Wow. I didn't realize what a bad date I really was." DG heard the click from the belt and she let go, allowing for the seatbelt to slide up out of her lap. Billy shook his head.
"I don't know what the use would be in trying to do something with you again." He turned and looked over at DG, her face filling with confusion. "I wanted this date to go well, I wanted to turn to you at the end of the night, kiss you good night and then ask if you wanted to try it again. But I don't think I can." DG's face fell. She regretted telling him the story.
"So you don't believe me." She sighed and went to grab the door handle. Billy reached out and took her hand.
"No, I don't." DG shook her head and pulled her hand from his. "I don't believe that there is nothing going on between you and that Cain fellow." DG turned to look at him. "I've been in love with you all my life, and now I kick myself for never actually doing anything about it.
"You leave this town and discover new worlds and I'm stuck here, tending fields. I'm an honorable man and I would never steal a heart away from someone who's actually fought for it." he gave DG's hand a tiny squeeze then let go. DG looked over at Billy and knew, deep inside, that she many never see him again. She leaned over and kissed her friend on the cheek, tears running down her own cheek. "Oh DG, I'm happy for you." Billy hugged her. DG hugged him back hard, not wanting to let go. He pulled away from her and looked her in the eyes.
"Don't be a stranger," he whispered. DG just stared at him, she couldn't promise anything. She just pulled on the lever to the door and got out of the car. She shut the door and watched as Billy started the ignition. She waved to him and turned to walk towards the house, carefully trying to stop crying. DG watched as his car drove away, staying out long enough to see the last trace of his car lights fade away into the night. She wiped her face and tried to clean up the tear lines as best she could. DG looked up at the stars and took a deep breath, pulling the screen door open and pushing open the storm door.
"So how did it go?" Az asked when DG came into the living room. The room was quiet. Az was sitting on the couch, book in hand. DG looked around the room. "Raw and Glitch were playing a board game in their room with Cain. They were getting loud in here so I kicked them out. They probably must be asleep by now. So how did it go?" AZ asked setting her book down. She looked up at DG and noticed her red rimmed eyes. "Oh sweetie, come her." Az lifted her blanket and patted the seat. DG sniffled and walked over, sitting next to her sister on the couch. She snuggled under the large blanket and felt the warmth of her sister.
"What happened?" she asked. DG shrugged and tried not to cry. "Did he hurt you?" DG shook her head. "Because if he did, I wouldn't tell Cain." Az frowned. "Not a good idea. So tell me what happened." As DG shared the events surrounding her evening to her sister, Cain walked down the hall towards the living room, happy to hear her voice, safe and sound. He could see the two girls on the couch and he stopped suddenly. He stood there, trying to decide if he should go back or continue into the room, when DG started talking. He didn't want to listen ,but something told him to stay.
"I thought this would be a way to see what my life would be like here and then I realized, I have no life here." She turned and looked at her sister. She laughed. "Even the one person I liked more than anything in THIS world won't even have me. Then I realized that what I want most in the world I can't have and I just sort of stood on the porch for a second or two after he left and just felt stuck. I can't have love here and I can't have love in the O.Z."
"What do you mean you can't have love?" her sister asked. "We have every suitor banging on our door. They all want to see the great DG who saved our kingdom and is a mystery to all. You're like a new mystic man." She smiled. DG sat her head on her sister's shoulder. "But then you don't want just any man. Why can't you have him?" Her sister asked. DG's head shot up.
"He's Cain. Ex- Tin Man, hard as nails, Cain!" she sighed. "I could never be with him in our world and I know that. I don't even think I could be with him in this world." She looked at her sister, confusion filling her face. "Then why do I suddenly seem to be so attracted to him? He's nearly twice my age, not of royal blood, a very tough guy and a member of our staff. Which that technically makes him a servant. Mother would flip, father wouldn't have it and you would be ashamed of me." she sighed. Az smiled.
"First off, I would never be ashamed of you Deeg. Second, who cares what mother and father think. I'm the crowned princess, I'm the one who has to marry the right suitor and create an heir. I'm the one who should be stressing." She laughed. "And everything else, if you love him it shouldn't matter. Age is just a number. I know princesses who marry men twice their age and it isn't out of love.
"So let me guess you went on this date as a way to avoid all attraction between you and the strong ex-tin man. Not as a way to catch up on old times with an ex-flame," Azkedillia said. DG looked over at her sister in pure astonishment. How did she know that? Cain's face changed as well. "Please. I may have been bent on O.Z domination, but I know a thing or two about men. How else do you think I had so many longcoats on my side?"
She laughed and reached over to wipe away a stray tear off her sister's cheek. "I know it's hard. Even as princesses we still don't have everything we want." She pulled her sister in for a hug and listened to her sister cry helplessly onto her shoulder. Cain backed away slowly, becoming one with the shadows. He knew then and there, whether she liked it or not, he'd do anything and everything in his power to protect the one he loved.
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