Disclaimer: He who is Michael Buckley is the sole owner of any characters mentioned here that are also mentioned in The Sisters Grimm. Also, the idea of the Liberry belongs to the corporation of the television show "Cory in the House" from Disney Channel.

15. Betrayal

Forgiven ~ Relient K

Daphne's point of view...

PREVIOUSLY: After searching around in the slowly darkening forest—the painted sky full of magical autumn colors, celebrating the sunset; the end of a day—I heard Melanie passing around, telling kids to head back to the cabins and get a good night's rest while she and some other adults would keep searching.

Maybe something would turn up, she said.

Good or bad, no one specified.

~*~*~

I sat on a log, my face flushing from the heat, staring into the fire.

We had all been scheduled to come here as a gathering—to socialize, play games, and enjoy ourselves. But most of our group couldn't because we all had the mystery of Jane's disappearance hanging over our heads.

Where did she go?

Was she okay?

Was there anything we could do?

I looked to my right, at the tennis courts, where Reem, Tess, Teddy, and Edwin were playing against Ania, Kellie, and two guys with the same dark tan and buzz haircuts. Not surprisingly, the guys were only wearing basketball shorts and sneaks since it was starting to get pretty warm that spring. Though, I marveled at how they all could find time to play games while one of their fellow campers was missing. Sure, Jane was quiet and not many people knew her all that well; but she was still one of us—even though we were all from different schools, different backgrounds and cultures, and different places.

"Hey, Daph; mind if I sit here?"

Looking up from my internal ramblings, I saw Devin standing right above me, his hair slightly billowing with the faint evening breeze. He was holding a cup of some funky-smelling stuff. Probably some of the punch someone secretly spiked.

"Uh, no, not at all." Way to go, Daphne. Not at all? Could I have said anything stupider?

"Thanks. So, how've you been holding up? I noticed you and Jane were sorta friends," he commented, taking a sip of the punch.

"Uh, kinda; I guess. I mean, she recommended a few good books to me and I filled in for her at the Liberry Volunteering thing when she was sick a couple days ago. Sure, Nikki kinda made fun of me for it, but hey, she's a b— Oops, sorry, I didn't realize she was your sister. I mean, I did; but I just…"

"No, no, Daph; it's fine." He chuckled. "She is a bit on the mean side at times."

"At times?" I asked, incredulously. He laughed. "Well, yeah, I helped Jane out a bit here and there, and vice versa, but that was about it…before she disappeared…"

"But other than that?" he asked, seemingly curious; his spiked drink seemed to have hardly an effect on him.

"Nothing, I guess. I mean, we're barely even companions, let alone acquaintances," I replied, a bit distant since I was more concentrated on whether his drinking was a habit or just a one-time thing.

"But of course, other people wouldn't know," I heard him mutter as he looked into the fire right in front of us.

"Excuse me?" I asked, curious as always.

"Ah, nothing, nothing," he said, turning to face me. Then took a complete roundabout twist I never saw coming. "Daphne, I have to ask you a serious question." I nodded, willing him on. "Do you believe in magic?" he asked.

I laughed a bit nervously, but I didn't think he could tell the difference. "Of course not," I muttered, trying to keep from wavering but failing to hold his gaze long enough for truth to stand falsly.

After a while of searching my eyes for something of which I wasn't quite sure about, he broke eye-contact and turned back to the fire again, chuckling a little too happily. Or was it just paranoia?

Should I tell him? I thought.

Is he a person I could trust?

I mean, sure he is, but I can I trust him with the truth and be sure that he wouldn't laugh at me?

Or is he too drunk to tell the difference?

"Of course, you're right. I was just wondering. That is to say, some people substitute unknown causes for magic and such. But there are the rare few that actually believe in its might, its power. They claim that fairy tales truly are real—that the things we see and jump to label as miracles and such are actual workings of magic arts…" he trailed off, his eyes to the stars and the heavens.

Listening to him, I thought he sounded like a scholar, talking about knowledge well known. Heck, he kinda reminded me of Uncle Jake. "Although," he said, turning back to face me with a weirdly placed, too-jolly smile on his face, "Who ever really believes such stories nowadays, right, Daph?"

I laughed, nervously again. "Yeah," I agreed half-heartedly.

If only he knew the truth.

But can I trust him?

"Hey, Grimm, lighten up; it's not the end of the world," he said, his soft words bringing me back to reality.

Turning back to him, I saw that his eyes were shining brightly in the light of the bonfire, making me see reflections of the flames flying here and there; the sparks every few minutes erupted, making him look ever so insinuatingly mysterious and beautiful. The way his skin glowed in the heat, those deep turquoise eyes of gold, those lips—full, moist, and slightly parted…

"Mmm," I said, not quite sure what I was replying to.

"Hey, Daph," he said, his face coming closer each moment.

"Hmm?" I hummed, barely even slightly aware of anything else around us.

"Did anyone ever tell you that your hair shines in the faint moonlight—smelling of summer roses?" he asked in a soft tone; his voice was calm and smooth, leaving me completely speechless as I stared hopelessly into his deep now-blue eyes. So beautiful…

Finally, I regained enough conscience to utter a single syllable.

"No…"

"Well, it's true," he whispered before leaning in, closer still. "And your eyes; full of spirit and life, sparkling like stars in the midnight sky…"

"Really," I asked, flabbergasted yet wondering whether the talk was from his heart or the drink.

"Really," he assured me, and suddenly, those soft lips were on mine, pressing gently and guiding mine until our lips were slowly gliding against one another as we took in short breaths here and there. He tasted of strawberries and smelt faintly of woods.

Most people say you're first kiss is magical—filled with excitement and the first sparks of love. Or like. Whatever.

But still, it was heaven.

~*~*~

I twisted, tumbled, and turned, contemplating the week's current events…like Devin's sweet kiss. But concentrating more on the problem at hand.

Where in the world could Jane have disappeared off to?

And what about the necklace I found in the woods? The one so similar to Moth's...

Could there possibly be any tie between the necklace and Jane?

Could Moth have possibly escaped out of the Fae Republic prisons and traveled all the way here, just to kidnap innocent campers?

But why would she even do that? Why here?

Is she following me...?

Why not Sabrina? Or Puck? Not meaning to wish misfortune elsewhere—to my sister and my soon-to-be brother-in-law, no less.

But why me?

After a while, I hear the cabin door open and footsteps on their way to the cots.

"Rise and shine, nerd herd! Melanie's taking attendance down at breakfast and said everyone has to be there, even you, dorks." Ugh, Nikki.

"Whaaa...?" Reem asked, obviously annoyed at being woken up so early.

"Nikki, you have no right to just barge in here—" Tess began.

"Yuh-huh, Tait. As the head counselor said, this is a serious deal. Little Jane's not the only one absent anymore."

"What do you mean?" my curious self asked.

"Oh, havent you heard?"

"Get to the point—" Tess warned.

"Fine, geez. Well, the word's going around that your older brother somehow disappeared last night," Nikki said with a smirk. "So get your lazy dork butts to the Main Caf or else you'll be marked missing which'll tick the officers off a whole ton after finding you just asleep in your cabin. Maybe then you'll be suspended to the isolated cabin and the world will be a happy place again." She giggled.

"You know what, Nikki, go to hell," Reem grumbled from under her pillow.

"Actually, the flight was all booked up and I winded up here instead," Nikki replied in a playful tone. "Way worse, if you ask me. That is, after you got here..."

"Nikki, please; just leave. Thanks for the notice; we'll be down in a minute," Tess mumbled, always the peacemaker—though I noticed how she got a little edgier since hearing about Chris' disappearance.

"Fine, then. And sorry about your beauty sleep, Reem. Not like it's gunna help any..." the blond murmured under her breath with a giggle before exiting. I couldn't help noticing that her eyes had flashed when she saw the necklace I had clumsily put aside on the dresser last night. I'd been thinking about it for days, ever since I found it the day Jane disappeared.

But I wondered what was up with Nikki…

Jealous?

Or does she recognize it, too?

~*~*~

Tess, Reem, and I found a table with Devin, Josh, and the other guys and ate breakfast while discussing where Jane and Chris could've disappeared off to.

Jay thought they were abducted by aliens, Reem thought they were having an affair, and Hoa had the strange graphic impression of death by grizzly.

"But Reem, it can't be considered an affair if their not married or even with other people," interjected Jay. "So obviously, the aliens took them."

"Jay," I started off. "You know there're no such things as—"

"Oh, yes there are," he cut in with a head bob, eyebrows high on his forehead. "If there weren't, then explain the Great Pyramids."

"And the Great Wall of China," Hoa added. "Though, I still definitely say they were eaten by bears."

"Heaven forbid," Tess mumbled. I noticed she hadn't eaten and was sitting at the edge of the table, picking at a waffle Josh had offered her. Every couple minutes or so, she was running off to take a call—no doubt from her parents, worrying about their first-born. "I just hope they find them before something does happen..." she trailed off.

After all our names were checked off by a few adults, we were free to partake in any of the usual activities while staying on the lookout for any clues for the whereabouts of the missing teens. So the gang decided to split up into teams—Tess and Reem, Josh and Jay, Rizzo and Hoa, and Devin and I.

As I followed Devin out the caf, I noticed he seemed a bit edgy throughout the whole morning. A bit like Nikki was when I saw her with the other two blond clones earlier. He also seemed to have no memory of the previous day and our kiss whatsoever. Or maybe he was just avoiding it.

"Hey, Devin," I said between breaths, tying to keep up with his long legs. "...Where…are we…going?"

"We are not going anywhere," he said, without looking back once. "I am going to look around in the forest, while you are going to the Liberry where you'll help Tess and Reem."

The "Liberry", by the way, is the camp's weird idea of a library/juice bar combination. "Library" with "berries", get it? Hardy-har.

"But, Devin," I started. No way was I going there—the Liberrian was a college-age lesbian who kept batting her eye-lashes at me the one time I dared a trip out of interest to help Jane out. Creepy, let me tell ya. No offenses to any homosexuals, but the flirty ones seriously freak me out. "Why can't I—"

"No arguments, Daph," he cut in. "Seriously. This isn't something you'll regret." Wondering what in the world he meant, I decided not to try and change his mind, since I've learned that he's one of those people that don't give in easily. Instead, I had a better idea.

"Well, where are you gonna—"

"Around," he cut in again, looking left and right every couple seconds. Then, so suddenly that I almost missed it, he slipped behind one of the port-a-potties and entered the woods. Finding my surroundings empty, I waited a few seconds then followed suite, quickly and quietly.

Why? I had no idea. Intuition, some call it.

I felt something secretive—something off.

So I followed.

~*~*~

After a while of speed-walking through the forest after Devin, I nearly lost him a couple times due to my stupid idea of trying to keep distance lest I get caught. Finally, he stopped in front of a tree. Though I had no idea why—the tree was exactly the same as all the others we passed about a million times.

Then I saw it.

A smear of blood on one of the lower branches.

As always, the usual thoughts invaded my mind.

Does this have anything to do with Jane or Chris?

But...no. It could just be from a wounded animal.

Right?

Then, suddenly, Devin put his face up to the bloody bark and took a really long sniff. Literally. What, does he have a dog's sense of smell now, too?

"Daphne, I know you're out there," he said, as he turned around and met my eyes.

Caught, red-handed.

"Better come out before those grizzlies get you," he warned before stepping closer to me.

"I didn't mean to follow you," I started, stepping out from behind a tree. "I was just...on my way to the bathroom. Heheh. Do you know where they keep the port-a-potties?" I asked, sheepishly.

"Daph," he began with a sigh. I noticed that his eyes were a different color than they were before. Looking closer I realized they were a glowing caramel blue. Weird. "Why did you follow me?"

"I…I guess I was curious," I admitted.

"And what did you expect to find? Me, escaping on a helicopter from the scene of the crime?" he mocked.

"Crime? What crime?" I asked, flabbergasted. Then I slowly drew a conclusion."You mean…Jane and Chris were killed?"

"At last, she figures it out. Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause!" he shouted into the silence of the trees before letting out a laugh that didn't quite reach his eyes.

A slightly bit hurt at his mocking, I turned away. "So, what? Is it true? Do you admit to being the killer?" Rewarded by silence, I slowly suspected the worst—what he must have been hiding. With a shock, I gasped. "It's true, isn't it? You're the killer—you murdered Jane and Chris. Didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?!"

He frowned then looked down, avoiding eye-contact. Slowly he turned away and laid his head on the tree.

"You know, it's nice to see how much trust you put in me, Daph," he murmured.

"Don't call me that," I said through clenched teeth. "You have no right. I trusted you. And now what? I find out you're a killer. A killer, Devin!" I felt the tears start to rise as the heavens themselves began to trickle with tears. "Have you always been like this? Plotting innocent kids' deaths? Do you enjoy it, you killer? You sicko?!"

"Daphne—" he started.

"No. You don't have the right. I never want to see you again." I laughed coldly, tears running freely down my cheeks as I thought of how naïve I was for trusting him, maybe even starting to fall in love with him.

That was the last thing I said to my first kiss before I ran. How could he ever have betrayed me like this?

And yes, it was the last thing I said to his face.

To this very day.

A/N: So...

Good? Bad?

Comments? Concerns?

Ideas? Advice?

Reviews...?

~Ly