Guys I'm so sorry for the delay! My laptop that had all my writing on it screen went weird so I couldn't use it and i transferred all my stories but this one by accident but now we have it attached to a new monitor so I have access to it again. Yay! So updates will be much quicker now I swear. I also could use someone's help to write a poem/riddle for this that I need for a chapter soon. I'm terrible at them
! So pm if you can help with that, you'll have to know a few things that will happen later so you can write it but it would be a great help unless you guys would like to have a terrible riddle and trust me it would be bad!

Chapter 21

"Where are we going?" She hisses as he leads her down the hall.

"Shh! Somewhere fun. Now be quiet." Somewhere fun? What could he mean by that? She still didn't know if she could trust him and was wary to follow him to an unknown location.

They come to the end of the long hall with one door remaining. Ryan opens it and ushers her inside. Marisia stops right inside confused and suspicious. The room is just four smooth white walls along with dark wooden floors and a white ceiling with a single bare bulb dangling in the middle. As Ryan shuts the door, that disappears too.

"What the hell?" She demands, tensing prepared to fight.

"It's a portal room. And it's only to be used in an emergency. But I think we could both use a break don't you?" He asks quirking his eyebrows.

"So this room can take you anywhere?" She asks amazed, relaxing again but still preparing herself for an attack. He grins.

"Yep, anywhere you like. Got any requests?" She thinks a moment then shakes her head.

"No you decide."

"Okay one second. You umm might want to look away I have to put a glamor on to look normal."

"It's fine." She says curious as to how it works. He looks uncomfortable but shrugs and closes his eyes. Suddenly a light emanates from him and she can't take her eyes off of him, the light is golden, blinding. It lasts only a moment and then he is looking back at her, warm brown eyes uncertain.

"Whoa." Is all she can think of to say. He looks well, he looks human, his face has lost some of its sharpness; his hair is more of a light brown instead of assort of shiny copper and his skin isn't a weird golden color anymore. He doesn't look unnatural or dangerous he just looks like a human boy, a cute human boy if Marisia was honest with herself.

"Yeah." He says giving a small smile with no traces left of sharp pointed teeth.

"Is this how you would have looked…?"

"If I hadn't become a fairy? Yeah." He examines his shoes, avoiding her eyes.

"Is it real or…?" She trails off again not quite sure how to put it into words.

"It's an illusion." She doesn't know what to say after that and they trail into an uncomfortable silence.

"So how does this portal thing work?" Marisia asks eager to get going.

"I say a few words, think of where I want to go and we walk through." He says with a shrug.

"That's it?" She asks surprised, she was sure there was going to be some magic spell or a ritual or well something.

"That's it," He says with a smile. "Are you ready?" Marisia nods, getting a bit nervous.

"Alright here it goes. " Ryan says a jumble of words in a strange ancient sounding language and then it appears. It looks like a large round mirror six feet wide and tall, but when they step in front of it, there are no reflections like they're in front of a one way window.

Marisa reaches a hand out tentatively and it goes right through. The surface feels cool and thick, like she's sticking her hand in pudding. The whole thing ripples and she gasps wrenching her hand free.

"Careful, you don't know where you might end up if you go through alone." He offers her his hand and she takes it. Slowly they take the steps into the mirror.

Marisia shivers as they step through the gelatinous substance. It appears as though they are once again on a trail surrounded by dense woods, and when she looks back, the mirror has disappeared. It's eerily quiet, there's no sound except the soft crunch of gravel beneath their feet.

"Is this another fairy path?" She whispers, feeling the need to be as quiet as her surroundings for no apparent reasons.

"Yes," His voice is just as soft. "The portal is how I reached you before; there aren't that many fairies who can gain entrance to the paths without one."

"Oh." They continue on in silence. Suddenly the trees disappear and they're on a side walk, surrounded by buildings.

"Wow, that's cool." He smiles.

"Yeah, we're almost there."

"Can you at least give me a hint?" She persists.

"Nope, just hope you don't mind the cold." He says rounding a corner as they arrive at an ice skating rink.

"Ice skating?" She squeaks.

"You've never been?"

"No."

"Think it will be too much of a challenge?" He taunts. She glares up at him defiantly.

"Definitely not."

"Alright then, let's go." He pushes her inside.

Marisia wobbles on her feet, clutching the wall, and she hasn't even set foot on the ice yet. "Come on I promise I won't let you fall!" Ryan calls as he zooms effortlessly around the rink.

"You won't, but I might. " He laughs.

"Trust me it's fun!" They were the only ones at the rink, probably due to the fact that it was closed.

"Sure for those who can stay upright!" He laughs again and is suddenly right beside her.

"Come on Marisia!" He pulls her with inhuman strength onto the ice. She shrieks, knowing she is bound to fall, but he steadies her, holding her arms from behind and pushing her forward.

"See it's not so hard." He says softly his warm breath on her ear.

"Just don't drop me." She warns.

"I promised I wouldn't."

"Why do you work for him Ryan?" She asks abruptly. Ryan stumbles and she almost falls

"What?" He asks clearly taken aback. They had stopped in the middle of the rink.

"He treats you like crap, why do you tolerate it?"

"I have no choice." His voice is harsh, bitter and she regrets bringing it up.

"Couldn't you live you know here? Have a normal life?"

"If only it could be so simple."

"And why can't it be?" She asks turning around to face him, holding onto his hands for balance.

"You don't understand my world doesn't work that way, I'm practically property. I can't do whatever I like, go where I want." His eyes are filled rage and she knows that if it weren't for the glamor, they'd be flame red.

"That's not right."

"Doesn't matter, they're too strong for me to resist. If I did they'd kill me and Renee." His whole body seems to tense.

"But why do they care what you do? Wouldn't they rather not have to bother with you?"

"I don't know probably, but they don't like to lose."

"So what your life is a game to them?" She asks outraged. His hard expression softens.

"It is, and I'm the prize. But it's fine really, he's not so bad."

"I'll talk to him. He's a king right he can get you free."

"No don't, he'll only tell the fairy leaders and it will be worse, I'm just on loan to him."

"You're not a freaking book!" She exclaims fuming.

"Hey, hey it's fine okay? Maybe he'll listen to you, but I don't want to go back to the court, working for him is like a trip to Disney World in comparison to that place."

"What would happen if you didn't go back?"

"I honestly don't know," He replies appearing stunned. "They would probably find me and take me back. But I couldn't leave Renee."

"You could try, bring her, go to school find a job, have a real life." She insists. She didn't know why this bothered her so much but it did. People shouldn't be treated like that, it just wasn't right. It doesn't matter how powerful they are, they had no right to do that to someone.

"But we'd have to move a lot, people would notice we're different soon enough." He points out gently. Marisia's shoulders slump for a second and she lets out a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry I freaked, it just really annoys me that people would think they had the right to treat anyone like that."

"I don't like it much either, but it is what it is," He says with a shrug then grins. "Now enough of this seriousness, we're here to have fun remember?" And with that he spins her around lighting quick. She laughs as he catches her and then he races off dragging her along around and around the rink, leaving her breathless.

"Now let's see if you can handle it by yourself." Suddenly she is left standing alone on the side but still far from the wall. She stumbles forward a few steps and then her feet go out from under her as she lands on her back with an 'oomph!'

Ryan's beside her again giving her a hand to help her up. She grabs it and pulls him down and they both lay there laughing. Suddenly he stiffens.

"What?"

"Someone's here." He whispers all traces of humor gone from his face.

"Where?" She asks, preparing herself for a fight.

"Up there." He says looking towards the stands above the rink. She remembers that luckily she still has her special stake and pulls it out, pushing the button so that all three lethal tips come out. Ryan's eyes widen momentarily before he returns his attention above.

"Get ready!" Ryan cries and she struggles to stand. He yanks her up roughly just as a dark shape drops down onto the ice beside them. It appears to only be a shadow, a shadow shaped like a very tall, very large person, it moves fluidly like water its shape constantly wavering. It must be a shape shifter. She thinks an instant before it lashes out towards her.

Ryan jumps in front blocking her and his glamor drops. His eyes are a blue flame and he makes a frightening sound sharp teeth gleaming. Marisa freezes before forcing herself to look away for him and attempting to stab the shadow with her stake, she falls right through it like it is a shadow.

It seems to take forever to be free of the thick, rubbery substance it's made of, and the feeling of it on her skin makes her want to puke. Finally, she falls onto the ice, disoriented. The creature whirls around to face her and she hurries backwards towards the wall.

She quickly yanks her skates off before using the wall to push herself up leaving her standing sock footed on the cold ice. She takes a step and it's a little better, but she shouldn't rush, she has to do it quietly, efficiently.

Ryan and the shadow creature are both attacking each other, but it doesn't look good for Ryan. The shadow can punch and punch hard, but every time Ryan attempts to hit it, his hand goes through it well like it would with a shadow.

She creeps forward behind them, and neither notices her. She has a chance; they're too preoccupied with each other to realize she's inches from being able to stab the shadow creature but she hesitates if the stake just goes through it too, she could stab Ryan plus it would go after her.

She decides to ignore the warning in her head and thrusts the stake in the direction she believes its heart would be. Contact. Just as she thought, it was so busy concentrating to keep its front protected; it hadn't thought to not make its back solid as well. The creature roars in pain and fury and swivels towards her.

Great. She dodges as it attempts to grab her and slips; her stake falls from her hand and rolls across the rink. What else could she use? Her eyes fall on the skates only a few feet behind her.

The thing laughs a dark, soft, deadly laugh as it reaches for her a second time and she scrambles backwards trying to reach the discarded skates which are much closer than her stake.

Ryan tries to hit it again but with seemingly little effort, the beast whirls around before grabbing him and flinging him into the opposite wall where he slumps, unconscious. The beast cackles again as it melts into the shadows.

Marisia whirls all around trying to see it but cannot discern it from the other shadows that are made by the semi darkness in the rink; the bone chilling laugh seems to from all over now. She's about ready to scream but takes a deep breath to calm herself and continues towards the skates.

Focus, get the skates don't pay attention to it. She orders herself. Marisia reaches them after what seems like an eternity and clutches one in her hand.

"Come out! Come and get me!" She cries. Suddenly it's in front of her. She doesn't budge. "You're not so big and scary, you're just a shadow. What do you really look like?"

"Not telling." Its voice is no more than a dark whisper.

"What are you scared of me?" She taunts.

"No." Its voice is unsure now, faltering slightly.

"I mean, come on, a shadow, is that supposed to intimidate me?" She laughs as if that's ridiculous, although she doubts she'll ever trust a supposedly innocent shadow again. Apparently this pisses the shadow off.

"I'll show you just how scary a shadow can be!" It exclaims voice menacing. Uh-oh.

It rushes forward, but she remains in place. It stops just a foot away from her as if confused and then stretches, looming over her, still she doesn't move. Marisia yawns.

"That the best you got?"

"No." It snarls and shifts into a huge green monster, covered in razor sharp spikes and with black pits for eyes. "Better?" Its voice is gravely, guttural. She gives a pleasant smile.

"Much, thanks." She replies expertly throwing the skate with force. It lodges in his chest and it stares down confused a moment before its face goes blank and it collapses shaking the ground as it falls.

As it dies, it shifts back to its original form and for a second she freezes. Calvin. It was Calvin, she had killed Calvin. She rushes over and collapses beside him, completely numb. Tears silently stream down her cheeks but she is unaware of them.

She looks down at his face and stops. It wasn't him, they could almost pass for twins, but it wasn't him, his hair was a bit too light and his eyes a tad too dark. The message was clear enough though; this could happen to Calvin, no one she knew was safe.

"Marisia? Are you alright?" Ryan shouts apparently awake as he hurries over to her, his face is black and blue, swollen but swiftly healing.

"It's dead." Her voice is flat, void of emotion. Ryan looks down at the body and stops.

"It's not a shape shifter is it." She states, already knowing the truth.

"No." His voice is quiet.

"I thought it was Calvin, I thought I'd killed my best friend."

"But it's not?"

"No, what is he?"

"I think he was possessed by a demon and apparently not a very bright one."

"I killed a person." Her mind is numb, not completely understanding.

"No you didn't. You couldn't have known. It would have killed you."

"Doesn't matter, I still did." She feels sick, disgusted. How could she not have known?

"If anything it's my fault, I shouldn't have brought you here."

"You were just trying to be nice."

"Doesn't matter, I still shouldn't have brought you." He counters using her own words.

"Let's just go." She says though she can't take her eyes off of him, he had had friends, family, a life, all that was over and it was all her fault.

"Marisia." His voice is soft as he offers her his hand. She allows him to pull her up, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him, off of—the body.

"What are we going to do with him?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll figure it out."

"Won't you get in trouble?"

"Like I said my fault, I'll figure it out, I'll take the blame. Now come on Marisia there could be others." He gently pulls off the rink away from the body.

"Wait my stake!" She cries irrationally reaching towards it, as he sits down on a bench.

"Okay, okay one second." He closes his eyes and stretches out his hand, the stake flies right into it.

"Thanks." She whispers still too freaked to think how cool that was as he wordlessly hands it to her.

Sitting down he tears at his skates. "Stupid things!" He exclaims swearing as he struggles with the laces. Mechanically she kneels down and unties them. "Marisia." He says softly putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She jerks away and stands up, through with the laces. He slips his shoes on and she turns away. All she could think was, It's my fault, it's all my fault, I killed him, it's all my fault. She was oblivious to the world oblivious to Ryan's worried expression.

Suddenly she's in his embrace as he holds her from behind. She tries to shove him away but his hold is unbreakable and she really doesn't care. She trembles before breaking into sobs and he just holds her. Just holds her till her tears subside.

She turns to face him and his glamor's still off, his eyes are pure shimmering gold. She leans against him her face turned to his shoulder. "Thank you." He pulls away to look at her.

"What for almost getting you killed?" His expression is quizzical.

"No for being there." He leans forward and she knows they're about to kiss, somehow she's sure it's right unlike her uncertainty with Haydn and Calvin. He stops millimeters from they're lips touching.

"We can't," She can feel his hot breath on her face. "You know the other way to become a fairy and I know we both don't want that." How could she have been so stupid to forget that? It was either fairy food, or kissing a fairy. How could she have forgotten something so important?

"I know," She whispers back, she pulls away leaving Ryan looking sad and alone. "We should bury the body." She says forcing herself to become rational. He looks surprised.

"What?"

"Would you rather get in trouble? Are they going to do any different?"

"No, but…"

"I know it's not what's right. But we could always make an anonymous tip to the cops as to where he is. You're not going to have recognizable fingerprints and I didn't touch him. Plus are they honestly going to realize he was killed with an ice skate?" He gives a short laugh.

"No I guess not. So where do you suggest we take him?"

"The fairy paths." Is her automatic answer, maybe they could move him later for the cops to find.