S I X T E E N

"Uh, wow?" I uttered when Max looked at me. I mean, what was I supposed to say about a cave? The floor and walls were dirt, and the only light came from some sort of a glowing blue mushroom on the walls. This was my palace? I'm not to into this whole Princess thing, but seriously...

"Of course, you will be moved to Reh'Hunniet after the throne has been claimed," Valim said hastily, as if he thought my displeasure would result in trouble for him.

"I see," I said, even though I didn't.

Max was looking just as freaked out as I was. "Kyra, I have a cottage in these mountains you could stay in." He turned to Valim. "Kyra is not accustomed to this sort of home. If you would not mind-"

"And I will thank you for your help, either way," I said. "I really would rather staying somewhere more..."

"Human?" Valim finished. "Yes, yes, I suppose so. Go, take her to the cottage."

And so we trek through another eighty tunnels. Bu now, my legs are starting to hurt. "Yeah, guys, is there a reason why we're underground?" I've decided I don't like being underground.

"The Queen," Valim says in a way that tells me not to ask anymore. The Queen, Them... Who are these people? And aren't I supposed to be the Queen?

But Max doesn't explain, so we just carry on in silence.

Well, it's not really silence, because Max and Val keep whispering and water keeps dripping from the-

"AH!" I scream. God, there's something on my foot.. GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!! It has eight legs, and I do not LIKE eight-legged creatures!!

"What?" Max rushes to my side.

"The is a spider," I try to remain calm but am failing miserably, "On. My. Foot."

He laughs. "You're afraid of spiders?" He bends down and pulls a giant hairy beast off my bare foot. It is as big as his hand, which is bigger than my hand, and covered in little fuzzy hairs and billions of big, red eyes. It has little pointy fangs. I think it's gonna eat me.

I huff. "Well, yeah. They're big, and furry... You have a problem with it?"

"No, of course not..." He chuckles.

"Can we just be moving on, please?!" says Val. We comply to his order.

It's lighter down here, and so I'm happy that I can see Max now. Wait, that came out wrong! I'm not happy to be able to see Max, I'm happy to be able to see. Forget I mentioned Max. I don't like Max. I like my boyfriend... crap, what was his name again? Uh, Spike, that's it.

-You like Max. Stop lying to yourself, says my conscience.

Shut up, Conscience.

I run to catch up with Max, and can swear that I'm hearing something that isn't us.

"Do you hear something?" I ask him.

He freezes and turns his head up like a mouse who's heard a cat. Then his eyes go wide like he's the mouse, and the cat has him cornered. "Run," he says, and takes off in a sprint. The panic in his voice makes me run too, and Valim is trying, but I guess his legs are too short. I scoop him up in my arms and run with him, my wings aiding me.

Only, I don't know where Maxwell is.

Max's speed is much greater than mine, so when he took off and I back tracked, I lost him. And Valim fainted.

And I can hear roars and screams, then footsteps that are like little earthquakes.

I don't care where I'm going, I just run.

The next thing I know, I'm standing on my front lawn. It's the middle of the night and the moon is full, casting light on my house behind me, and the street lamps are on, spilling pools of light onto the the sidewalk in front of me.

How'd I get here? I wonder. I couldn't have run... Did I say the spell that Max-

Max.

Oh my god, MAX! Where was Max!?

Max, Max, Max... I run into the house and up the stairs, not caring who I wake up, trying to find my cell phone.

It's on my bed, and I dial Max's number.

"Hey, it's Max."

"Oh Max! Thank God your safe! What happened back ther-"

"You know the drill." Answering machine. He didn't answer. He doesn't have his phone.

He's still in the fairy realm.

And so is that thing that was chasing you, says my inner pessimist.

'That can't be it. I'm overreacting. His phone's just off, thats all," I mumble to myself, stuffing the KRZR into my pocket. But I know what it must mean-He's still back there. I'm hyperventilating, because I like him, I mean really, really like him, and he might be dead, and I'll never see him again, and-

I can feel my cell phone vibrating inside my jacket pocket. I immediately snatch it up and look at the number, hoping it's Max. It's not, and I have never seen the number before, but I pick it up anyway. "Hello?" I ask, "Who is this?"

"Max. Kyra, you need to come get me, I got out okay, but I was transported to 1st Avenue, right by Pike Place Market. You have a car, right?"

"No. I don't even have a license, Max!"

"Oh."

"Look, I'll figure it out. Can't you just teleport or some magical crap over here?"

"People would see. This is Pike Place Market, there is a parade of something."

Right. Despite of living in the Seattle/King Country area for my entire life, I have never grasped the fact that Pike Place Market has festivals 24/7. Then again, I've never been up on the Space Needle either, which is really just weird. "I'll figure it out," I say again, and hang up.

I know five things. One: Max is in Seattle. Two: I'm In Renton. Three: I have to get Max out of Seattle and into Renton. Four: I can't drive. Five: Buses don't run this late.

That leaves one option.

Spike.

My boyfriend, who I REALLY don't want to see right now,(Hey, Spike, Max teleported himself to Pike Place Market and I really like him so can we go get him please?) on account of being confuzzled about the whole Spike/Me/Max thing. But he's the only one who has a car, and he's the only one who wouldn't murder me in twenty different ways that Hitler would find cruel for waking them up this early/late in the morning/night, so I dial his number. It rings twice, then he picks up.

"Kim? What's up?" he says. I can hear music in the background. It sounds live, so I can't help but wonder who's playing tonight.

"I need you to do me a favor..."