Chapter Thirty
(Songs in this chapter are "RemEmber" by Ember McLain and "I Turn to You" by Christina Aguilera.)
A few seconds later, a door opened nearby and Ember stepped inside followed by Dash Baxter, his best friend, Kwan, and a few other buff teenagers. She pointed at us. Busted!
"We love you Ember!" Dash and Kwan yelled out.
Ember cringed in annoyance at her cheering security guards. She glared at them. "I heard you the twelfth time. Now bag 'em and gag 'em!"
Her followers frowned and ran after us. We were all caught before we could move. Great!
"If a train moving at 25 miles an hour…." Alyss continued.
We were all dragged to backstage so that we could see Ember's performance.
A control man said, "On the air in five, four -"
Ember leaned in our faces with her guitar and said, "Later, dipsticks. I gotta go rock my world. And when I say my world, I mean my world!" She turned and left.
"Danny, stop her now!" I urged the ghost boy, but he closed his eyes defiantly.
"I won't leave you, Aralyne."
"Forget about me!" I yelled.
"I can't! I won't!" Danny argued back.
The whole stage blacked out for a second to reveal Ember alone in the spotlight. The crowd erupted in cheers.
"Hell-o, Nesidy! Tell me who you love!" Ember shouted.
"Ember McLain! Ember McLain!"
The drummer began Ember's song. We were too late! It was now being broadcasted around the world!
"Yeah! Oh whoa!
It was, it was September
Winds blow, the dead leaves fall
To you, I did surrender
Two weeks, you didn't call..."
What were we going to do?! We had to stop this somehow, but Danny was being so annoyingly stubborn!
"Your life goes on without me
My life, a losing game
But you should, you should not doubt me
You will remember my name"
"This song is catchy," Catherine said nodding her head to the beat.
"Not helping," Tulio said struggling to break free from his guard.
I bit my lip in worry. How was I going to break the spell on Danny?
"Oh, Ember, you will remember
Ember, one thing remains
Oh, Ember, so warm and tender
You will remember my name"
I glanced back and forth between Tulio and Danny and I finally knew what I had to do. I groaned. I couldn't believe I was about to do this! "I hate to do this to you, Danny. But if I can't break Ember's spell I'm going to have to break your heart!"
Breaking free from the guard holding me, I threw my arms around Tulio's neck and planted my lips against his. The kiss startled him.
"Your heart, your heart has mended
You're wrong, now bear the shame
Like dead trees, in cold December
Nothing but ashes remain..."
I pulled away and stared into Tulio's eyes, blushing. The kiss was actually nice. No, much more than nice. It felt magical. He arched an eyebrow at me, with a slight smile. Biting my lip, I turned towards Danny. He stared at me in disbelief.
"Aralyne, how could you?" Danny said, his voice filled with pain, "How? Hey, get away from her!"
He used his powers to shoot at our captors and they all ran off screaming.
"Oh, Ember, you will remember
Ember, one thing remains
Ember, so warm and tender
You will remember my name
Oh woah woah!"
"Danny, I'm so sorry," I said pulling away from Tulio.
The ghost boy sadly said, "You and Tulio? But we were, but… we weren't, were we?"
"No, Ember did that," I replied.
Danny glared at the ghost singer, his eyes blazing angrily as he growled out, "Ember..."
"Ember, you will remember
Ember, one thing remains
Ember, so warm and tender
You will remember my name
Yeah! You will remember my name"
I reached out and placed a hand on Danny's arm. "Danny? Are you okay?" I quietly asked.
"No. I feel like my heart's been ripped out, " he snapped, "But I know who I can take it out on!" He pulled away from me and zoomed towards Ember. He punched the teen idol and she flew through the air, slamming into a giant television with her picture on it, cracking the screen. Sparks erupted around her.
"Hey, No-Hit wonder! Mind if I jam with the band?" Danny inquired.
Now angry, Ember surfed on her guitar back to the stage. "Get this straight, dipstick! I don't do duets!" She stopped to hover on the stage and lifted up her guitar, turning one of the dials. She strummed the strings and a green wave with a fist struck Danny.
Zoom out as she raises her fist, glowing green with energy. She strikes a flaming power chord, panning right as a green wave with a fist at the front surges forward.
We was knocked to the ground, putting his hand on his aching head. Groaning, he turned intangible and phased through the ground. Ember returned to the microphone, but before she could sing again, Danny appeared beside her and swiped the mic away.
"Sorry! No vocals in this number! Have you considered taking up mime?" Danny said.
Furious, Ember jumped into the air, swinging her guitar at Danny to knock him off his feet, but he jumped over it. Danny blocked another attack with the mic stand. They went at it for a while using their items as swords. At one point, they both jumped, clashing their "weapons" together that produced a bright wave of blue light. They held it as long as they could until they were both flung away. They landed on their feet, crouched low. Ember jumped up again, screaming as Danny held up his stand. She clubbed Danny with her guitar, causing him to fall backwards and the floorboards to bust up under the force of the smash. Danny landed on his bottom with the microphone stand broken in his hands. Ember dropped her guitar on the ground. She held her fists over her head, emitting pink energy, and threw her hands forward into two energy beams, screaming her head off. The beams struck Danny and held him trapped in a pink swirling vortex. Danny!
The crowd continued to cheer for their idol. "Ember! Ember! Ember!"
"Hear that?" she sneered at my best friend, "They're chanting my name all over the world!The revolution will be televised!"
"She's too strong," Danny muttered, "If I could just stop the crowd from chanting. Something that will break the spell, like… Aralyne kissing Tulio!" He looked over my way and suddenly smiled. "Aralyne, sing! Take the mic and sing!" He threw it at me and I caught it in surprise.
"Wait, you want me to sing?" I inquired, "Why?"
"Trust me! You rock! You rock out loud!"
I grinned and winked at him, "You got that right!"
I ran out onto the stage taking up the spotlight and began to sing.
"When I'm lost in the rain,
In your eyes I know I'll find the light
To light my way.
And when I'm scared,
And losing ground,
When my world is going crazy,
You can turn it all around.
And when I'm down you're there
Pushing me to the top.
You're always there,
giving me all you've got.
For a shield from the storm,
For a friend, for a love
To keep me safe and warm
I turn to you.
For the strength to be strong,
For the will to carry on
For everything you do,
For everything that's true
I turn to you."
I could see Ember's spell on the crowd was wearing off. They had stopped chanting her name and were now watching me instead in total silence.
"When I lose the will to win,
I just reach for you and
I can reach the sky again.
I can do anything
'Cause your love is so amazing,
'Cause your love inspires me.
And when I need a friend,
You're always on my side
Giving me faith
taking me through the night"
Catherine and Alyss ran forward to sing with me.
"For a shield from the storm,
(For a shield from the storm)
For a friend, for a love
To keep me safe and warm
(For a love to keep me safe and warm)
I turn to you.
(I turn to you)
For the strength to be strong,
(For the strength)
For the will to carry on
For everything you do,
I turn to you
For the arms to be my shelter
through all the rain,
For truth that will never change,
For someone to lean on,
For a heart I can rely on through anything,
For that one who I can run to...
For a shield from the storm,
For a friend, for a love
To keep me safe and warm
(To keep me safe and warm)
I turn to you
(I turn to you)
For the strength to be strong,
(For the strength)
For the will to carry on
For everything you do,
(Everything you do)
For everything that's true
For everything you do,
For everything that's true
I turn to you."
Ember finally realized what had happened. "What? Wait!" Her hair had stopped glowing and her ponytail practically disappeared. "No, stop!"
The vortex around Danny disappeared.
"No!" Ember yelled out to the crowd who stared at her uninterested, "Tell me who you love!Come on, say it! Say my name. Say my name!" She fell to the ground, her eye twitching.
I threw Danny the thermos and he caught it. "The only thing we're saying here is goodbye!" He sucked her into the thermos, and capped it before she could escape.
Ember's backup band suddenly vanished.
"We rock!" said Catherine as I high-fived her and Alyss.
The crowd started cheering and the three of us bowed to them. We quickly joined Tulio and Danny backstage.
"Danny, that was awesome!" I exclaimed giving him a hug.
"Thanks," he said blushing, "And thanks for breaking Ember's spell. I should really go see Sam and apologize to her."
"Go on," I urged him, "We'll be fine here." He flew off, leaving us behind.
"Soooooo, that was an interesting way to break the spell on Danny," said Catherine sidling up to me, her grin wide.
"Uh," I said, blushing. I glanced over at Tulio who was staring at me, looking amused. I stood straight and simply replied, "I was just trying to break Danny's heart. That is all." Turning around, I accidentally slammed into a wall. Ouch! Alyss and Catherine laughed while I rubbed my sore nose. Smooth move, genius! I scolded myself shooting Tulio another glance. He was trying not to laugh. "I'm going back to the Benbow Inn," I declared trying to walk out of the arena with as much dignity as possible. The others followed me until we eventually made it to the woods and we walked back to Nesidy in silence.
I was fully aware of how close Tulio was walking beside me, making my entire right side tingle. His hand brushed against mine, sending an electrical shock up my arm, and I gasped, pulling my hand away.
Catherine smirked my way and said, "Alyss and I have somewhere to be right now."
"What? No we don't," Alyss replied.
"Yeah, we do," Catherine confirmed, "We were going to get you another sandwich."
"Ooh! A sandwich!" Alyss exclaimed, "Let's go!"
The sisters turned into bluebirds and left me alone in the woods with Tulio.
"Traitors," I grumbled under my breath.
"So, about that kiss," said Tulio getting straight to the point.
"What about it?" I said in embarrassed irritation.
"Why did you do it? There were several other men in that room."
"Well, I certainly wasn't going to kiss some stranger," I replied coolly, "What kind of girl do you think I am?"
"One that doesn't admit her feelings to herself," he said, "When you're angry, you act like you're fine. When you're sad or upset, you tend to shut down and hide. When you're afraid, you become defensive. And when you're in love, you act like you don't care."
I came to an abrupt halt, and felt my face turn red. "I do not get defensive!" I snapped, "You don't know a thing about me! Like I said, I only kissed you because I wasn't going to kiss some stranger! And besides, you're breath smelled bad anyways!" Okay, totally lame comeback! Why does he make me feel like an idiot?!
Tulio sighed and mumbled under his breath, "Why do I love you, again?"
"Excuse me?!" I shouted rounding on him, "I am not your true love, and you are certainly not mine! I don't even consider you a friend!"
"Then what am I to you?!" he snapped back at me.
"Nothing! You're nothing to me! I wish more than anything that you would just go away and leave me alone!"
"Dammit, Aralyne! What do I need to do to have you remember who I am?! What you mean to me?!" He suddenly grabbed me beneath the shoulders and kissed me full on the lips. His words rang through my mind, When you're afraid, you become defensive. And when you're in love, you act like you don't care. I managed to squirm out of his grasp and punched him in the jaw.
"You - You - BASTARD!" I screamed before running away from him, tears spilling from my eyes. When you're sad or upset, you tend to shut down and hide.
I got back to Nesidy and sprinted to the Benbow Inn. From there, I raced up into my bedroom, and slammed the door shut behind me. Alyss and Catherine weren't back yet, so I was left alone. Leaning against the door, I slid down and sobbed into my arms. Everything he said about me was true. So, why did I feel so miserable?