Chapter Fourteen
"Have you seen Edward?"
Cassie shook her head. "Sorry, Bella," she said.
Bella growled, and the very sound itself was a delicious cacophony of notes. "Peter told me to look outside," she said, with a hint of bitterness to her voice. "I opened the door but it was raining."
She sighed softly and flopped down into the seat beside Cassie. Cassie put it down to the orange tinted lighting in the ballroom, but to her it looked as though Bella had a little more colour to her cheeks than usual.
"I hate the rain," said Bella. "Did you meet the band yet?"
Cassie shook her head again, and Bella, with all the grip of a boa constrictor, grasped Cassie's wrist and dragged her up and to the stage. Cassie allowed herself to be pulled along (for who could ever - or would ever, for that matter - refuse the will of the dear queen?), and was so distracted in her attempts to stay upright in her ridiculously high heels that she did not notice how faintly warm Bella's hand felt upon her skin until they had reached the stage. It was almost human.
Cassie stared down at her arm after Bella had let go. She was saying something, and a boy beside her had held out a reluctant hand to greet Cassie.
"Edward!" Bella cried suddenly, waving at her husband who was currently immersed in the crowd of dancing people, and was 'boogieing down' like it was nobody's business. Bella leapt promptly from the stage, and sweetly gave her husband a sharp slap on the arm for evading her for so long and forcing her to almost have to suffer the indignities of stepping outside to search for him, whereby she could potentially have suffered serious damage to her bone-straight, luscious locks of hair.
"Hey," the boy was saying to Cassie, who was still staring perplexed after Bella.
She blinked and shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was just so... distracted by her beauty. You know how it is, right?"
The boy's gave Cassie a slightly disgusted look, indicating that he did not at all know how it was, which was most unusual an occurence.
The boy seemed rather awkward talking to Cassie. He slung his guitar around his body, and gestured to the band behind him.
"This is Tim," he said. "Ian, Michael and Edward."
"Edward?"
Cassie jumped. She didn't know how Bella had heard it, for only a moment before she had been at the opposite side of the room, and neither Cassie nor the boy had seen her coming.
Edward the drummer nodded. "Yep," he said. "That's me."
Bella snorted. "Two people called Edward?" she said. "You're lucky you're just a minor character."
Cassie squirmed awkwardly, hoping to change the subject. She noted the name printed on the front of the band's drum kit. "Loki's Stones?" she asked. "What does that mean?"
"We're a tribute to the Rolling Stones," the boy said.
"But I don't like the Rolling Stones," Bella said. "So there'll be none of that crap played here. Play me some Miley Cyrus, on the other hand, and you boys will be in my good books forever more."
Bella skipped off the stage again, and Cassie severely wished she would stay away.
"You must be Loki," Cassie said.
The boy frowned. "Uh, no... I'm Seoul."
"Cassie," said she. "Why Loki?"
"You don't like Loki?" The boy's question was both disgusted and accusing, so Cassie lied, choosing not to freely offer up the fact that she did not have the slightest idea who Loki was (and shame on her too!).
"No," she said quickly. "I love him. He's awesome. You have a really shiny guitar. It's impressive. Really."
The boy nodded, grinning a little. "Thanks. It's pretty new. We're not used to playing for a space this big. My old one was pretty knackered. New amps too. More power, you know?"
Cassie nodded, despite not knowing at all. "Cool," she said, despite not finding it in the slightest bit cool.
"You wanna hear a new song?" Seoul asked, already softly strumming his guitar. "It's called Mind over Reality. It's a tribute to the Stones."
He seemed rather proud and incredibly excited to play his song for Cassie, but a sharp cry of "no!" came from somewhere in the middle of the crowd, and he knew that Bella had now distinctly forbidden it. He shrugged, disappointed.
"Miley Cyrus it is," he said, and Cassie vacated the stage post haste, for fear that onlookers may think it had been her who had requested such heinous music to be played.
Cassie found Lucy and Pat sniggering by the punch bowl. She walked over slowly, her eyes narrowed suspiciously, and caught sight of a rather unusually mischievous Lucy about to empty a packet of grey powder into someone's drink!
"Lucy!" Cassie hissed. "What are you doing?"
Lucy and Pat both jumped simultaneously. Pat hung his head in shame but Lucy looked defiant.
"Jacob Black sent us to get him some punch," she said. "He called Pat a degenerate toad. I should say he needs to be shown what for."
Cassie frowned. "Okay, that's unforgivable."
Pat nodded then took a puff of his inhaler.
"What's in the packet?" Cassie asked.
"Laxatives," said Pat with a wicked grin.
Cassie couldn't bring herself to wonder, let alone ask, why the two of them had brought laxatives to the party; instead she pursed her lips together tightly.
"Save it for later," she said, much to the apparent chagrin of Lucy, who sighed quite heavily. "I have a feeling we're going to need it. Wait, what's that?"
Cassie pointed to the large bowl beside the punch. Beside that was a pile of plates, but both the pile and the bowl had remained untouched. it contained what looked to be some sort of stew.
"Chicken Casserole," said Lucy. "Jacob said Bella made it. Apparently it's the only thing she eats, which is most disappointing. Pat and I have decided to become extreme vegans. We are not only prohibited from eating animal by-products, but also we do not wish to interfere with the circle of life by eating the food of the animals either."
Cassie didn't know what to say at all, but luckily she didn't have to say anything, for Pat suddenly gasped. His gaze had wondered to the other side of the room behind both Cassie and Lucy, and not even two long drags on his inhaler could calm his sudden, wheezing palpitations. Lucy turned first, a sudden enormous grin spreading across her tiny face.
"Alright!" she cried. "Cosplay!"
Cassie turned to look. Sure enough, a group of six had just entered the party, dressed in what Cassie, being the uncultured swine she was, could only describe as Renaissance Viking. They were all tall, and stood straight with their chins held high, looking down on the other party guests with a sense of regality, but he who entered first was the most regal of all: tall and muscular, with golden-blonde hair that even from a distance looked lusciously soft. He wore armour, and over that a long red cape. He was the first to be greeted, most enthusiastically, by Queen Bella, who had reapplied her lipstick to do so and now hung giggling from this man's arm.
"I did not get that memo!" said Pat, sounding thoroughly disappointed as he looked down at his rather ordinary suit (the only alteration being the Star Trek emblem on his breast). "Were they here last year?"
Cassie shrugged. "I told you I've never come to one of these before. Bella invites anyone who's anyone. I never was anyone before."
Lucy had begun hyperventilating. "Oh my GOD!" squealed Lucy, flapping her arms in her frantic excitement. "Pat, if that is Cosplay, I shall eat my hat!"
Pat gently tried to prise Lucy's grappling hand from his arm - to no avail. "This is a Halloween party," he reasoned. "Perhaps they didn't know it was a ball?"
"Poppycock!" hissed Lucy. "If the White Witch can find Katniss Everdeen, why would she be excited to see some charlatan dressed as Thor?"
Cassie had no idea what was going on. "What is going on?" she asked, though tried to offer the question more emotion than had been given to it previously by other people who happened to be present in the room.
Lucy rolled her eyes with disgust. "The pretty one with Bella is Thor," said Lucy. "Loki's brother."
"Who's Loki?" asked Cassie, but thought better of it when she saw the dark flash of fire cross Lucy's expression.
Lucy, contemplating serious violence by this point, took several deep breaths before replying, "The God of Mischief? The band is named after him."
"Oh," said Cassie, and nodded in comprehension, though in actual fact she still did not understand.
"Okay, and then there's Lady Sif," Lucy continued, "Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and Heimdall."
"Okay, got it," said Cassie - most surprisingly, she still did not get it. "This is bad, right? If Bella gets Thor on side?"
"It will mean war," said Pat. "A war we can't win."
Cassie bit her lip. This she understood completely. "What do we do?"
"I have an idea," said Lucy. "We send Susan in."
"In where?" asked Cassie.
"Thor thinks very highly of Heimdall's opinion," Lucy explained.
"If Heimdall thinks it's a good idea, then Thor is more likely to do it," said Pat.
"So, what?" said Cassie. "We send Susan in to chat Handle up?"
"Yes," said Lucy. "And it's Heimdall."
"Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to," said Cassie.
"Yeah, if you want me to call you Cassius for the foreseeable."
Cassie rolled her eyes as she searched the crowd for Susan. "Fine," she said. "As long as Susan doesn't do anything that could get us into trouble - being underage and all - this should work okay."
Cassie found Susan and told her the plan, and this was how, only a few minutes later, Heimdall was by Cassie's side. He did not speak much to Cassie but seemed quite comfortable addressing Susan. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three were lurking by the punch bowl, but Thor and Queen Bella were nowhere to be seen.
"I do not trust the White Witch," said Heimdall. "I have watched her from Asgard before, and we came here only to find you, Cassie Bateman. We have come to offer our assistance in this war to come."
"War?" said Cassie. "There's no war to come. We're just going to get Edmund and then we're all going to go straight back home."
Heimdall sad nothing, though he did not look convinced. Cassie could say no more, for all attention had passed to Thor, who was lumbering back to Heimdall with a sheepish look on his face. At first Cassie did not recognise him, for Thor, having left the room dressed in his usual getup of armour and red cape, had returned wearing a dinner suit. Lady Sif stormed over, followed behind by her Warriors, and she wore a thunderous expression.
"I warned you!" she roared, loud enough to be heard clearly over the music by Cassie, but not so loud that anyone outside of the group could distinguish what she was saying. "I warned you about her and still you did not listen!"
Cassie looked to Heimdall. "What's going on?" she asked.
Heimdall looked grave. "Thor has let go of Mjolnir for too long," he said. "He has become human."
"He only has to let go for sixty seconds," said Lady Sif. "It doesn't take a genius to work out what he was doing for that minute. How could you be so stupid, Thor?"
"She said my hair was like golden honey," Thor said quietly, though quickly shut his mouth lest he further envoke the wrath of the greatest female warrior Asgard had ever known.
"And now she has Mjolnir?" Fandral asked. Thor nodded.
Cassie sighed. "Well, thanks so much for the help, guys. Seriously, you've been amazing. Lucy, I'm going to find Peter, then we'll get Edmund and get out of here. No war, okay? No fighting. None at all."
Cassie did not even understand what Mjolnir was, but she knew enough to know that it was now in very wrong hands indeed. She could not bring herself to speak to the Asgardians any longer, and excused herself from their company.
She met Peter in the middle of the dance floor, where, most embarrassingly, he was attempting to 'twerk'. Cassie suspected he had had one raspberry kool aid too many. She let him dance for a little longer - for the simple fact that his efforts at gyrating were far too amusing to pass up - before tapping him on the shoulder.
He whipped around, a bright grin stretching across his face, and crushed Cassie into a slightly sticky hug.
"I missed you," he said into her hair.
"So I see." She laughed and pulled back a little. "Is it time now?"
"No," Peter near cried, a little suspiciously. "No, Voldemort is busy for another five minutes. Dance with me?"
Cassie begrudgingly accepted Peter's offer. It was not that she didn't want to dance with him - far from it, in fact - but that their mission was to rescue Edmund, and they were yet to complete it. The music had changed to a softer, slower pace, and the two swayed in silence, their bodies held tightly together.
"We're not usually alone like this," Peter said softly. Cassie said nothing, only closing her eyes and inhaling deeply with her nose so close to Peter's shoulder, where he smelt of both himself and the soap he had used before leaving the house. It was an oddly hypnotic smell.
"Sometimes I wish we were more often," he said.
Cassie opened her eyes. "You do?"
Peter nodded. "Yes. To talk, and whatnot."
"We can talk now," said Cassie.
Peter let her go to twirl her around, and pulled her back so that now they were face to face as they danced.
"You're right, we are," he said.
"What did you want to talk about?"
Peter seemed to consider her question, and began to answer with a series of mumbled stutters before stopping and swallowing hard. "It's just that I want to say thank you. It can't have been easy for you lending your home to us all in such a way."
"It was no problem," said Cassie. "Really. I've actually enjoyed having you guys here."
Peter smiled an infectious smile that Cassie couldn't help but share in. "We've enjoyed being here. We'll be sad to leave, I'm sure."
Cassie looked away from Peter. It had been only a matter of weeks, but already she felt as though the Pevensies, Harry, Ron, Hermione and even Voldemort were her family, and just to think of them leaving was a painful thought indeed.
"Hey," Peter said softly, as he held her chin and made her look up at him. "Don't be sad, Cassie. Please don't be sad."
They leaned closer. The music seemed to fade to silence as Cassie focused on Peter's lips. They were so close now, their mouths only millimetres apart-
And a voice shrieking Cassie's name broke them straight apart.
"Cassie!" came the voice. "Cassie Bateman!"
Cassie looked around to see where the voice had come from, her cheeks burning as she blushed violently. A girl was rushing towards her, pushing her way through the crowd of swaying bodies. Cassie vaguely recognised her, but could not yet successfully remember why.
"Cassie?" The girl was upon them now - a pretty girl with dark hair, which she wore half up, twisted into intricate braids, and half down, trailing down her back; a face painted to the greatest detail: eyes lined with kohl and smeared with black glitter, manipulated into the shape of a feather; lips painted the deepest purple; cheekbones accentuated with a dark blusher; and finally a dress that completed the look of the bird, embroidered also with feathers and jewels. From the back Cassie was sure she would see that the arms of the dress looked just like wings. Katniss Everdeen looked every bit the Mockingjay.
Cassie didn't know what to say, responding simply with a series of awestruck gapes and stammers.
"You are Cassie, right?" Katniss asked.
Cassie nodded silently.
"Thank God," said Katniss. "I thought I'd just made a fool of myself for nothing!"
"You're so pretty," Cassie blurted out. She mentally slapped herself, and told herself to snap out of the pathetic starstruck state she was currently in, but she had already embarrassed herself.
Katniss laughed hysterically. The noise was shrill and hollow. "Bella told me you were funny," she said. "She talks about you a lot. She thinks you're amazing. Oh, Peeta!"
Katniss smiled brightly, and took the hand of the boy who had just appeared beside her.
"This is Peeta," Katniss said proudly. "My husband."
Cassie held out her hand to shake Peeta's. "It's so nice to meet you," she said. She was about to introduce Peter when Katniss interrupted.
"Why don't you boys go get some punch?" she said. "Cassie and I have some girl talk to discuss."
As the boys were walking away, Cassie heard Peter introduce himself to Peeta, whereby Peeta replied, "Is it spelt with an a?"
"No," said Peter.
"Then it's wrong."
"Oh." Peter stopped also, and looked deeply apologetic. "Sorry."
Peeta let out the same hollow laughter that Katniss had released earlier and clapped Peter on the back. "I'm joking, my friend!" he cried.
Peter shot a horrified look of desperation over his shoulder at Cassie, but she was already being dragged away by Katniss, who led her to a table and sat opposite with a breathless smile. Katniss's grin stretched tightly at her lips, but still she looked as though she was in great pain. The smile itself was forced, almost robotic, but so well practiced that you could hardly tell it wasn't genuine.
"So, Cassie," Katniss said excitedly. Everything she had said so far had had the same excited, breathlessly quick tone to it, as though she wanted everyone to know that she was happy to be there, but wanted to say so many things and do so many things before her time ran out and something happened and she would have to stop. "I want to know what's so special about you. Bella talks about you all the time at our book club."
"You have a book club?" Cassie asked, more than a little surprised at the idea of Bella reading. "Do they have words?"
Katniss let out a sharp bark of laughter that ended as abruptly as it began. "Of course they have words, Cassie! We read each others books. Although, of course, some are much better than others."
Katniss put a hand to her chest, as though to indicate that it was her book which was the most superior, but she left the hand there, and Cassie saw the strain in her fingers as she dug them into her skin.
"Some are much sadder too," Katniss said softly. Her eyes stared forward blankly and her mouth began to move as she muttered silent words. She had become visibly agitated and her eyes brimmed with tears as she began to quietly repeat a single, whispered word: "Prim."
Cassie didn't know what to do. She tried calling her name but Katniss was lost in a horrifying world of her own. She was seeing things that Cassie could not, hearing things that were not there. And all the while the only sounds she could make were to quietly call the name of her sister.
"Katniss?" Peeta's hand appeared on Katniss's shoulder and she immediately snapped out of whatever nightmare she had just been trapped inside. Her lips stretched into the first genuine smile that Cassie had seen from her that night. It was as though all happiness had been absorbed into her through his hand. He was the only thing keeping her happy. He was the only thing keeping her sane.
"Peeta!" Katniss cried, standing up to tightly hug her husband.
"Come on," said Peeta, tugging on her hand. "Let's dance."
Cassie watched them go in stunned silence as Peter took the seat Katniss had just vacated. He wanted to ask what had happened, but, seeing that she was clearly upset about something, left her alone for now.
"We have to go," Cassie said. "We have to finish this now. It ends tonight. We find Edmund and we get out of here, and... and you guys go home."
Cassie stood up to leave but Peter held her arm. "Cassie, what happened? Is it Bella? Has she done something?"
"No," said Cassie. "No, it's not Bella. It's Katniss. Can't you see? Look at her. She's so broken now. I won't have that for us. I don't want a fight. I don't want a war. But the longer we drag this out, the more likely we all are to get hurt."
She slipped her hand into Peter's and smiled reassuringly, though she still could not bring herself to tell him the news of Bella's army. "Come on," she said. "Let's go find your brother."
"Okay," said Peter. "But Voldemort first."
"There," said Cassie, pointing to Voldemort sculking in the shadow of a far corner - as the entire room went into lockdown.
Peter panicked. "What's going on?"
The door beside him slammed shut by its own accord and they heard a click through the sudden silence, followed by more and more and more, as all the doors and all the windows were locked. Cassie felt a tug on her arm and turned to see Hermione, wide-eyed and clearly panicking, holding onto her.
"I can't find Ron, Cassie," she said. "Or Harry. I've lost them both! What's going on? Are they going to kill us?"
"Hermione, calm down!" cried Cassie. "They're just going to announce the Queen of the Ball. The doors are locked so no one can escape. Just relax, okay? I need you to find Lucy. Find her and tell her to do what I told her not to do before. She'll know what you mean."
Hermione still looked utterly terrified but she did exactly as she was told.
Cassie slipped her hand into Peter's and held on tightly. "Don't let go of me," she said. "I can't lose you."
"We're running out of time," said Peter. "Where's Voldemort?"
The answer to which came suddenly from behind, when a sudden hiss of "Boo!" made Peter nearly jump out of his skin.
Cassie rolled her eyes. "Find Jacob Black and keep your eye on him," she said to Peter. "He'll show us the way out."
So the two watched patiently as Jacob stood by the side of the room, his gaze lazily wandering about the room and the back to the stage, drinking as he did the cup of punch Lucy and Pat had just kindly acquired for him. Voldemort sat on an empty chair and waited for something exciting to happen.
Cassie waited. Peter waited. Voldemort waited. And upon the stage Carlisle had arrived, and under the bright lights that were there he looked even more demonic than usual - the gauntness of his cheeks, the darkness beneath his eyes, the sallow, pasty colour of his face all evermore obvious now than before. He cleared his throat, his voice, as was his custom, of a higher-pitch than necessary and trembling as he spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, and was greeted with a cry of "Boo! Get on with it!" from a most mysterious voice (that sounded exactly like the dear queen's) in the audience.
"Uh, yes, of course." Carlisle cleared his throat nervously and loosened his tie.
Meanwhile, Jacob Black had developed an ever increasing sheen of sweat about his face. He looked most uncomfortable. Cassie slipped her hand into Peter's. Voldemort stood, prepared for action. The moment had come.
"Shall we start first with the Halloween King?" asked Carlisle. Cassie saw Bella, already poised by the steps to the stage to accept her prize, roll her eyes. "And the winner is..." Seoul provided a most dramatic drum roll. "Edward Cullen!"
There was a cheer from the audience. Cassie did not believe it to be genuine. Already Bella's foot was on the first step. She was bouncing up and down in excitement. Jacob Black, overcome now with the violent occurrences that were presently occurring in his stomach, had clutched said stomach with a look of horror.
"And now for the Halloween Queen!" cried Carlisle. "But who shall be our winner?"
"I volunteer!" came a cry from the back of the room through the hushed, waiting audience. Everyone turned to see Katniss screaming in Peeta's arms. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"
She was crying now, her thrashing body being held back by Peeta and two of Bella's werewolves. And Queen Bella? Cassie caught sight of her just as Katniss was being taken away, and the queen had the most delighted expression upon her face. She was smiling, thoroughly enjoying the evening's entertainment.
Cassie's face turned to stone. She was, for a moment, shocked, but then it occurred to her that she should expect no less from the White Witch. Her grip on Peter's hand hardened and she, with a steely determination, began to drag him through the crowd towards the door through which first Katniss and now Jacob Black had disappeared.
From the stage, Carlisle was trying to regain the crowd's attention. "And the winner is-!" he cried, but Bella was already on the stage, her hand held out to him to collect her crown - but he would not give it to her.
"The winner is..." he repeated - whether it was for suspense-building purposes or due to the fact that he could not bring himself to say the name was unclear. "Cassie Bateman."
There was a collective gasp around the hall. Cassie's heart stopped for a moment, and her face, previously upon it a look of deepest loathing, began to soften into a smile of genuine happiness. She looked up at the people around, all of whom looked as shocked as she felt. There began a whisper throughout the crowd as she let go of Peter's hand, turned, and made her way to the stage.
Carlisle looked between Cassie and Bella, who, surprisingly, did not attack Cassie the minute she walked onto the stage. She had a fire in her already wild and passionate eyes. She was angry, no doubt about it, but remained calm. When Carlisle made to hand the crown over to Cassie, Bella interceded and took the crown herself.
"I want to give it to her," she said sweetly.
Cassie took her stand beside Edward, that same smug smile present on her face, and looked Bella directly in the eye as she came to face her. Bella placed the crown on Cassie's head with a happy smile, leaning in to kiss her cheek and holding her close in an inescapable grip to whisper into her ear:
"Long live the queen."
Cassie's smile faltered, though she was unsure as to the true meaning of the words. Bella stepped down off the stage and the crowd erupted into applause. Cassie bowed, as did Edward, but she left the stage without further conversation and found Peter.
"Is Bella looking?" she asked him.
Peter, still completely confused, looked back at Bella. "No," he said. "She's... dancing. Should we run now?"
"Oh, yeah," said Cassie, taking his hand. "Now we run."
As the three were leaving the ballroom, from the centre of the stage, the last plan to distract all guests was beginning - and it was indeed an excellent plan, for Harry Potter himself had positioned himself directly in the spotlight and begun his rap, which rendered the majority of souls present mesmerised and entirely speechless. It began, in a rather strange homage to Mean Girls, like so:
Yo yo yo!
All you sucka Death Eaters ain't got nothin' on me.
From D Umbridge to Lord V, you can't touch Harry P.
I'm a Gryffindor, but Chosen One is preferred.
Just forget what you heard, I got a ginger and a nerd,
Even got Lord Voldy scared.
I'm Harry Potter.
They all want me cuz I'm hotter.
Makin' love to Draco Malfoy while he's screamin' like a monster.
I don't play it like Shaggy,
You'll know it was me,
Cuz the next time you see him he's like Ooohh, Harry P!
A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourite and followed!
