Chapter Eight
(Song in this chapter is "Secret" - with a couple of alterations - by The Pierces.)
I had a terrible nightmare that John Silver had died - murdered by Siren. For a moment I wondered what it had been like for him to see me - not me - glaring at him with soulless eyes before magically crushing him with a part of the ceiling. My heart went out to him, my pirate frenemy. It was just a dream, after all, and I shook my head.
"Aralyne?"
I opened my eyes to see Fenton sitting in a chair beside my bed. "Danny." I smiled sleepily at him. He was watching me intently as if waiting for some reaction. Noticing bags under his eyes, I sat up, my brown furrowing with worry. "Danny, are you okay?" He also looked a little pale.
"I've just been worried about you," he replied, "You were kidnapped for about the billionth time and had been missing for a month. I thought Siren had gotten hold of you, or that you had remembered..." His voice trailed off and it looked like it physically pained him to not say what he wanted to.
"Remembered what?" I pressed, but he shook his head.
"Nothing."
Moving closer towards him, I placed a hand on his forehead. Heat radiated into my palm. "You have a fever! Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should go home and have Sam bring you some herbal tea?"
"No, no. I'm fine," he insisted pushing my hand off him, "I just came to see how you were doing."
"Okay, I guess," I replied with a shrug, "I don't know what I'm going to do about Siren, though."
"You'll figure something out," said Danny.
"Yes, it shouldn't be too difficult," I agreed, "as I did manage to expel her on my own at one point."
"On... your own?" Danny repeated tilting his head, looking confused.
"Yes, don't you remember when I struggled to keep her under control for such a long time? And it was right after I..." My gaze drifted down to his chest and I cringed, recalling that horrible moment when I had nearly killed my best friend. "But of course, you weren't' conscious, so don't remember. Grandpa had banished me until I was able to get my heart back and rid myself of Siren. I was completely alone for a few days with her until I got my heart back from the Queen of Hearts."
"I see," he said looking as if he were in pain again. He suddenly shot to his feet and said, "I have to go, now. 'Bye, Aralyne!" And he left my room.
I stared at his retreating form, having a nagging feeling that there was something he wasn't telling me. I'm going to have to see Sam later and find out what's bothering him. Crawling out of bed, I skipped over to my closet to find it completely empty. Where were all of my clothes? They should be here! I had to change! Even though I washed my outfit every other day while living with the pirates, I never got a chance to wear something new. With a sigh, I left my room and went downstairs to find Mrs. Hawkins and her son serving breakfast to customers.
"I'm sorry for bothering you, Mrs. Hawkins," I said as she gave a platter of pancakes to the Recess gang, "But none of my clothes are up in my room."
"LYNNIE!" B.E.N. appeared out of nowhere and threw an arm around my shoulders. "How are ya this morning?! I got ya breakfast!" he suddenly shoved a plate of eggs and bacon in my hands, as well as a cup of black coffee.
"Thank you, B.E.N.," I said setting the plate and mug down on a vacant table nearby, "I'll eat in a moment."
"Take all the time you need, Lynnie! I'm hear for you! And thanks for bringing me here! I can't tell ya how much this -"
"B.E.N.," I said cutting him off mid-sentence and removing his arm from my shoulders, "Aren't you supposed to be working?"
"Yes, you're right! See you later, Lyne!" The robot scurried away to help the Hawkins' serve food to waiting customers.
"Mrs. Hawkins?" I said to grab her attention.
She avoided looking at me as she said, "I had Rapunzel go out and wash your clothes. Go back up and have yourself a bath, and I'll have them sent right up."
"Thank you," I slowly said eyeing her suspiciously. Mrs. Hawkins wasn't the best liar in the world. She, too, was keeping something from me.
Grabbing my breakfast, I took it up stairs and put it on the vanity table before heading over to the bathroom attached to my room.
As soon as Aralyne was gone, Sarah Hawkins turned to her son and said, "Jim, go over to Tulio's and get all of Aralyne's things."
The teenager nodded, and left the inn, returning about twenty minutes later with a bag that looked like it was ready to burst at the seems.
"Quick! Take it upstairs to her room!" said Mrs. Hawkins, and Jim sprinted up to the second floor where he left the bag on Aralyne's bed and left before she could emerge from the bathroom.
When I had finished with my hot bath, I reentered my bedroom with a towel wrapped around my body, and my hair dripping wet. On my bed was a bag and when I opened it, I found my clothes inside looking as if they had been hastily thrown in there.
Okay, so Mrs. Hawkins was lying! Rapunzel would have taken care to put everything exactly where they belong, or at the very least spread out nicely on my bed. With my suspicion growing, I put on a dress fashioned after Esmeralda's, toweled my hair dry, and brushed out the tangles before eating my breakfast, and taking the dirty dishes downstairs into the kitchen.
"Hello, everyone," I said to my fellow co-workers and they all looked at me with mild surprise.
"Aralyne," said Rapunzel, her hair still short and brown. I actually preferred it this way because we used to constantly trip over her loooooong golden tresses. "You're back! We had been told you were kidnapped, again."
"I'm fine," I said waving away her concern putting the dishes in the sink.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Tiana asked scrutinizing me with worry.
"Really, I'm fine," I insisted, noticing everyone kept staring at me as if I might suddenly break, "All of you are acting like someone died, or something."
"Well we thought you might upset because Tu-" Linguini began, but Colette elbowed him in the gut, and he hunched over gasping. I raised my eyebrows at her.
"Because too many weeks have gone by since you were kidnapped, and we wanted to make sure it didn't affect your work," Remy put in.
"I see," I said slowly, looking at the lot of them. They were keeping something from me as well. "Okay, what is going on?"
"What do you mean?" inquired Colette.
"I mean everyone's been acting strange and lying to me! What is going on?!"
"Nothing," said Rapunzel placing a hand on my arm, "We're just worried about you, that's all. What with Siren running around." The others nodded their agreement.
"You know what," I replied coldly, "I'm not fit to work today." And with that, I stormed out of the kitchen, bypassing Sarah and Jim, and leaving the inn.
Once I was outside, I realized I didn't really know what to do or where to go. Everyone that walked by kept shooting me strange glances just like last time, and I finally wondered if they were all keeping the exact same secret. As of right now, I couldn't trust any of them, and had no one to confide in. Even Danny, my best friend, was keeping something from me!
Angry, I ran off down the streets, ignoring everyone that called out to me.
With her new-found powers, Siren decided to keep a little eye on Aralyne, and all around her through a crystal ball. Just like her counterpart, she had noticed everyone acting strangely and keeping some sort of secret from her. Intrigued, she focused the crystal ball on Danny. He was in his bedroom talking to Sam, and he did look a bit sick.
"I feel terrible keeping this from her," he said hanging his head, "And if she ever finds out about this, she'll hate me!"
"She'll never find out, and she sure won't remember," said Sam, "I talked to Hatori. Erasing her memory of Tulio is permanent. Nothing will trigger it. And if anyone lets anything slip, she'll just think they're crazy."
So that's why she's still little Miss Sunshine!
"Danny, you made yourself sick with worry when she was kidnapped. If you allow your guilt to continue eating away at you, you'll get even worse."
"You're right, Sam," he said with a sigh.
"Now drink this. It'll help you sleep," she said handing him a mug with a steaming amber liquid, "I'll be back in a couple of hours to see if your fever went down." Sam kissed him on the cheek and left his room.
Danny sat on his bed and drank everything in the mug before slipping off into a deep sleep.
Siren watched him for a moment, an evil sneer spreading across her face. If you allow your guilt to continue eating away at you, you'll get even worse. Worse? Why get her hands dirty with another murder when Danny can just kill himself? And when the others realize it was keeping the secret that did it, they'll in turn feel guilty, and even more people will die!
"I'm coming for you, Danny," said Siren waving her hand over the crystal ball so that it became clouded over.
Danny was standing in a white fog, when music began playing, and an eerie female voice sang along to the tune.
"Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said
'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"
He saw a familiar figure skipping about in a pink tutu, her long dark-brown curls bouncing to the tune. "Aralyne?" The figure turned and he saw scarlet eyes instead of warm golden-brown ones. Siren! She winked at him.
"Why do you smile like you've been told a secret?
Now you're telling lies 'cause you have sworn to keep it
But no one keeps a secret
No one keeps a secret
Why when we do our darkest deeds do we tell?
They burn in our brains, become a living hell
Because everybody tells
Everybody tells"
Danny tried to run away, but a myriad of mirrors dropped from the sky and land around the two of them, trapping him with her. As Siren kept dancing to the music, Aralyne suddenly appeared wearing a white silken dress, looking about her in confusion.
"Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said
'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"
Tulio then materialized, grabbing Aralyne's attention. She grinned and threw herself into his arms. "Tulio!"
With an evil smirk, Siren danced over towards the couple, holding a dagger. Danny opened his mouth to shout out a warning to his friends, but Siren placed a finger over her lips to silence him, and no sound came out.
"Look into my eyes, now you're getting sleepy
Are you hypnotized by secrets that you're keeping?
I know what you're keeping
I know what you're keeping
Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said
'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"
Siren stabbed Tulio in the back, and he fell to the ground. Aralyne screamed as she caught him, but fell over as well. When his body suddenly vanished, Siren sat beside Aralyne, the latter's white dress covered in blood.
"Aralyne?"
"Yes, Siren?"
"I have something I want to tell you but you have to promise never to tell anyone."
"I promise."
"Do you swear on your life?"
"I swear on my life."
"Danny helped erase all of your memories of Tulio," said the villainess smirking at the halfa
"You swore you'd never tell
You swore you'd never tell
You swore you'd never tell
You swore you'd never tell"
Aralyne became furious and got to her feet, turning to Danny. "How could you?! I thought you were my friend!"
"I am, I swear!" Danny protested, backing up and slamming into a mirror.
"Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said
'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead
Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said
'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead
Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said
'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"
With a cry of rage, Aralyne stormed back towards Siren. The villainess was silently laughing, swinging the dagger back and forth between her thumb and first finger. "Do it," she said. Danny wondered what she meant by that.
Aralyne took the dagger, and without hesitation, slit her own throat.
"Yes, two can keep a secret if one of them is dead
Yes, two can keep a secret if one of us is dead."
To Danny's horror, his friend, fell lifeless to the floor.
"You see what you did, Danny," Siren mocked, "and it's all because she found out your little secret."