Fayette led them back to the park bench before telling Benny he could open his eyes.
"Well that was awkward..." Fayette said, sitting down.
Benny planted himself beside her, not sure where to start. "I'm guessing I won't be getting an explanation."
Fayette, biting her lip, looked right into Benny's eyes. "I get the feeling I will have to say something about that back there. Do you want the short version or the vague version?"
"Is that a trick question?" he asked with uncertainty.
"No. Look, I'm sorry..." She sighed, then continued. "There was someone very dangerous back there. He can't harm me under certain circumstances, but if we had walked any further, we would've stepped right into 'certain circumstances'."
Benny could see that even the vague explanation seemed to worry, even scare, Fayette. "You'd be surprised at what I could handle."
She eyed him, as if she wanted to continue. She opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but stood up instead, clutching the daisies Benny had given her. "I should probably go. I'm really sorry, Benny. I didn't think..." She paused. "I was hoping to have a normal night, but I've probably put you in danger. Just promise me something, please?"
"Of course."
"Keep that daisy."
Benny peered down towards the daisy she'd placed in his shirt pocket. He picked it up gently, and looked back up to tell her something. It couldn't have been but a few seconds, but she was already gone.
"Fayette?" Benny shouted, but no one was there to respond.
Benny tried calling Fayette, but each time it'd go right to her voicemail. Finally, he called Ethan. "I'm coming over, now." He gave Ethan no time to say hello or goodbye before he hung up.
Frustrated and worried, he hurried over to Ethan's house. In record time, he arrived where Ethan answered the door, immediately asking, "Aren't you supposed to be on a date right now?"
"Yeah, about that..." Benny said, closing Ethan's front door and going right into explaining the situation.
Afterwards, once they had gone upstairs to Ethan's room, Ethan said nothing, but dialed Sarah's number and put her on speakerphone so Benny could rehash the story.
"Why do you two immediately think everything is supernatural?" Sarah's first response was to the tale. "Maybe he's like, a criminal or something."
"Yes, that puts me at ease," Benny remarked sarcastically. "And you do realize where we live, right? Just take a look at the three of us, for instance. Ethan's a Seer, you're a vampire, and I'm a Spellmaster. The odds are against 'normal' in this town."
"Still, I think maybe you're digging too deep. Have you tried calling her again?" Sarah asked.
"Straight to voicemail each time," Benny sighed, scratching his temple. Everything in his bones told him to worry for Fayette, and that something about this just wasn't...right.
"That park you went to, it's by the woods, correct?" Ethan spoke up.
Benny turned towards his friend, almost hearing the gears turning in Ethan's head. "Yeah. Why?"
Ethan strode over to his computer, typed in something, and said finally, "Look here. It says that forest by the park is called Hercynian Forest, named after the famous one in Southern Germany mentioned in many myths and legends to be an enchanted place full of magical creatures."
The boys looked at each other, and heard an intake of breath from Sarah on the phone. "So, maybe this is something we should look into," she said, sounding pretty convinced.