If you read last chap, I know it's intense. I promise it's for the purpose of storytelling and not just for shock value.
With her transporter in her lap, Molly's feet dangled coolly over the mountain edge as she observed the rainbow swirls swaying through the magenta sky. A rarity that, according to her godmother, would be present for about another week. Until its next occurrence in a myriad of years, long after her mortal life would end.
Molly didn't see how immortals do it; life was such a drag that even the average span of eighty years seemed like the marathon of living. Waking up just to go through the same stupid shit day in and day out for tens of thousands of years, knowing that unless killed by some external circumstance, it was impossible to find peace in death. Sounds like Hell without the infinite scorch fire.
Floating beside her godchild, Swizzle looked away from the aurora to Molly who had not spoken for hours since their arrival. "How much longer do you plan on staying?" Swizzle asked.
Molly shrugged in response. Her mom could either be passed out snuggled next to a bottle or irate that said bottle was empty, and her enabling boyfriend will more than likely be drunk as a skunk ready to stick himself in anything with a hole. Who'd ever be in a hurry to go back to that?
"…and how long to you plan on wishing you were marked present at school?"
Again, Molly shrugged.
"…Oviously, you haven't been to school in three days."
"Not like I'm missing much." Molly muttered, drab eyes locked on the swaying colors. "Christmas Break is around the corner; teachers don't care, so why should I?"
To this, it was Swizzle's turn to shrug. "Guess you're okay with repeating the fourth grade. Again."
"Tff…don't class me with Francis." Molly scoffed. She wasn't dumb, school's just boring.
"Nee-Nee's bringing Hazel here after they get home from private school." Swizzle returned to admiring the rainbow aurora above, one hand on her hip. "Hazel had a really rough day…"
"When does Hazel not have a rough day at that condescending shithole…" Molly murmured, and Swizzle shot her a disapproving glance.
"Y'know Francis has a point about that mouth of yours."
To which Molly shot her own annoyed glare. "Since when did you start listening to that punk?"
Choosing not to start an unnecessary argument, Swizzle folded her arms with shut lips. Briefly glancing through her lower peripheral to the sudden appearance of a child and fairy on the lower level of the mountains. Swizzle then tapped Molly on her shoulder for her attention, and Molly followed the direction of Swizzle's pointed finger towards the dark-teal clouds that dissipated before the stone path towards the castle's entrance.
"Guess Dwight and Irving showed up." Molly coolly recognized, though part of her wondered why Gary and Alondro weren't with them. "I wish we were back at the castle."
With a spark of her wand, Swizzle poofed them from one of the higher peaks of the mountain to the grand entrance of the castle just as Dwight and Irving approached the ogival arch.
Hunched in posture, Irving didn't even attempt to smile. "I assume the two of you have been here all day."
Irving came off uncannily flat in his greeting, and as his oldest friend from Fairy World High School, Swizzle took this as a sign that something went down. "Where're Gary and Alondro?"
Holding his wand with both hands, Irving downcast his gaze. Molly also noted the fallen features in Dwight, stepping forward towards his diverted eyes as his grip around his backpack straps tightened.
She'd seen that pensive look on his dorky face before. Not just from a shitty day of seizures, but especially whenever Gary was involved. "How bad was it?"
Aware of what Molly referred to, there was almost a visible shadow beneath Dwight's eyes when he lifted them to her "…very bad…"
Janitors rolled out their mops and caddy bags from the closet, coming out to begin their shifts. They dispersed individually through the desolate halls of Dimmsdale Elementary, and one gave a polite greeting to one 5th grade instructor who grumbled a greeting in passing.
Reaching classroom #44, the slender man entered to three of his students seated at their desks. Mr. 'Too Rich for Dimmsdale' with his head down looking out the window, little Miss 'Wannabe Mary Sue' biting her nails over a textbook, and Mr. 'Leave It to Beaver Boy' sulking in his chair. Forced to trudge through an hour of after-school detention throughout the week, Mr. Crocker had spent days mulling over something that ruled over his thoughts. How was it possible for three students to randomly 'disappear' without a trace to just 'magically' return to school right as the bell rang at the end of the day?
An uncommon occurrence indeed, particularly for Chloe Carmichael. As it was unlikely for his number-two student to miss a day of class, it was unlikely for these kids to associate under any other circumstances. As of late, the three of them did spend a suspicious amount of time with that one fourth grader that he had to babysit that one day, and as far as Mr. Crocker cared to know, their social circles were not entirely one in the same.
That is, unless something connected them.
Just like Turner's wristbands, these kids wore similar colorful accessories that no other kids in this school had anything close to. They looked like nothing one can find in a local store or the mall. Even his unsuccessful web searches deemed these accessories virtually nonexistent. Buxaplenty could get a pass with his wealth purchasing something that customized, but what did that say about Turner and Carmichael?
The 5th grade teacher curved a mischievous grin. There can be only one explanation…
The shutting of the door caught all three of their attention as Mr. Crocker strolled with hands behind his back, his devious eye scanning the variety of their equally vigilant stares. Buxaplenty couldn't trust him as far as he could throw him, Carmichael faltered under his educational supremacy…
And then there was Turner.
Stalling purposefully in front of Timmy's desk, Mr. Crocker looked down from the corner of his eye to the crossed arms and blue glare fixed on him. It was no secret that Turner didn't like him. Turner never liked him since the day he'd become his student. The feelings were very much mutual in the pleasure of failing him constantly. Coupled with the conjecturing thoughts about those pink and green wristbands, Turner had good reason for his dislike.
"I have a writing assignment for today's detention!" Mr. Crocker cunningly announced to all the students, though his eye contact remained in Timmy's direction. "On composition paper, I want you all to write one hundred lines. And those one hundred lines must read 'I have-" his body started to spasm "-FAIRY GODPARENTS!'"
As the spasms subsided, Remy silently glared, and Chloe blanched in shallow breaths. Timmy, on the other hand, maintained his defiant face "…yeah, we're not doing that."
"Oh?" Mr. Crocker found this response quite curious, leaning to Timmy subconsciously pressing his back further into his chair. "And why not?"
"Cuz I don't see what that has to do with detention!"
"…T-Timmy's right." Chloe stammered, gripping fists to stop from biting another nail. "I mean…i-it'd be more efficient of our time to work on homework or study. L-Like we have been."
"You mean like you have been…" Remy drably corrected, causing Chloe to turn sharply to dark eyes three desks behind her.
"Hence all of you will complete this writing assignment." Mr. Crocker decided to walk away from Timmy's desk to his own. "And all of you will turn it in by the end of the hour!"
Timmy refused to grab a piece of paper or anything to write with. No way was he falling for such an obvious trap! "Why would we write about having godparents if it's not true?!"
Mr. Crocker curled the side of his lip in response to Timmy's argument, leaning back in his chair with fingertips pressed together. "If it indeed was not true, then there'd be no reason to be so defensive."
Cosmo and Wanda saw Timmy grit his teeth as his fists clenched. Crocker 'assuming' they had fairies couldn't possibly be a violation of the rules! Crocker had no proof, and none of them had said outright that they had fairies. Still, Crocker was disturbingly perceptive. Maybe the fairies should stop using the same disguises.
Without a knock, the door swung open to a heavyset woman standing in the doorway with a tan and ginger curls styled in a bun. Dressed in her signature navy-blue blazer and knee-length skirt. "Mr. Crocker, Timmy Turner's parents are here to pick him up." her Irish-accent announced, and Timmy sighed with untensed shoulders, somewhat relieved.
Once feeling in control, Mr. Crocker felt that control slip away, stomping his foot as he stood from his chair. "What?! What about detention!?"
"The Turners said it was a family emergency." Principal Waxelplax relayed, unfazed by Mr. Crocker's dissatisfaction. "Only Timmy has to leave."
Timmy had been poofing home after detention because his parents couldn't be bothered to come get him, so the fact that they were here for him now must mean that this truly was a family emergency.
He glanced towards Remy whose glare looked away before he then met Chloe's forced smile through her puckered brow. Hearing her whisper "It's okay…" bit his bucktooth hard on his bottom limp. He'd appreciate the rescue from detention if under less troubling circumstances, and he'd be less troubled if he didn't have to leave Remy and Chloe trapped with their fairy-obsessed teacher.
Halfheartedly, Timmy scooted from his chair, grabbing his winter coat to carefully poke his arms through his sleeves. Retrieving the backpack slumped against the leg of his desk before slinging it over his shoulder. His gaze momentarily locked with Mr. Crocker's calculating brow. Dark-blue orbs' conniving intent searing holes through the hopes that Remy and Chloe would survive the rest of the hour unscathed.
When he felt the unsettling shiver in his nerves, Timmy tore himself away to follow Principal Waxelplax out of class. Making his way through the hall towards the school's exit as Principal Waxelplax watched him to ensure that he didn't somehow venture somewhere he wasn't supposed to.
He fretted over what this family emergency could be. Did Pappy Turner finally kick the bucket? Did someone rob Grandpa and Grandma Vladislapov's yak shop?
[…i-it's Gary…]
Hearing the troubled tremble of Sophia's voice in his mind, that same unsettling tingle shivered more through his nerves.
"Now…" Mr. Crocker swung his door closed, shutting him inside with his two remaining prisoners. "You two will still complete the assignment!"
His maniacal cackle roiled dry bile threatening to upheave as Chloe swallowed it down. Gripping onto her indigo necklace with gritted lips trying not to tremor. Writing 'I have fairy godparents' was a death sentence! Being grounded for a month was punishment enough! If she lost Susie too…
"…what if we refuse?"
Chloe turned in her seat to Remy sitting up to fold his arms across his chest before she whirled back to Mr. Crocker's glued gaze on him, lips curling craftily. A grown snake eyeing him like some piece of young meat, his lanky legs slithering closer. Remy tensed his brow, willing himself not to show the fluttering unease in his stomach. Forcing confidence in his tense eye contact when Mr. Crocker stood a foot away from his personal bubble.
"Would refusing not just prove that you have fairies?"
Remy's stone face refused to give him the satisfaction of manipulation to have his way. "…then what if I wish Mr. Crocker forgets ever assuming we had fairies?"
Since this did count as a wish, the purple watch ensured his sparkling wand was out of the teacher's sight.
"Ha! That prov-deeeeh…" bluish sparkles twinkled around his glasses, his brain swished in a pool of confusion. His stance swayed slightly, stumbling to combat unsteady footing "…wait…wha-what was I doing?"
Remy maintained his poker face. "You were about to let us go because you weren't feeling well."
"Oh…yeah, I…" the teacher swayed again, blinking dizziness from blackening his vision "…I don't feel so good…"
Watching from her desk, Chloe couldn't believe it. By wishing to wipe Mr. Crocker's memories, Remy essentially saved them and their godparents!
…why did she think of that?
"Alright…get outta here…" Mr. Crocker dragged himself away, cradling the puzzling pressure in his head. Too befuddled to notice Chloe watching him pass her desk as began to falter, catching himself with hands against his desk "I gotta go home and lay down…see you tomorrow in class."
Chloe gave one more glance towards Remy, mouthing a thank you that was genuine. Digging nails into his arms, Remy averted rigid eyes. Struggling to keep it together.
With clouds overcast in the darkest grey, blumine were fixed firmly on the road ahead as Daran used his turn signal to merge onto the street of his in-law's house. Elm stared somberly out of the passenger window as Susanne held clasped hands to her chest, her mind replaying the despair from her parents' worrisome phone call. Baby-blue barely blinked with Timmy's attention entrapped in his late sister's recount of events, silent in the backseat.
Judging Timmy's stern stare, his godparents assumed that Sophia was speaking to him. He hadn't said a word since he'd entered the car, though the only words the Turners had spoken throughout was to inform that the Vladislapovs needed them at their house. Timmy could be getting the backstory from Sophia, but Cosmo and Wanda were left totally in the dark.
"What's wrong, Timmy?" the green wristband spoke up, shifting Timmy's stare towards him.
After looking to confirm that his parents paid zero attention to him through the rearview mirror, Timmy held his wrists closer to his lips so that he wouldn't have to speak no more than just above a whisper. "…Sophia told me that Gary was cornered by these bullies at school and then…" uneasiness paused "…then he just snapped."
"What does Sophia mean by 'snapped?'" Cosmo whispered back as the pink wristband scrunched her brow in worry. Cosmo was not always as thoughtful and probably wasn't thinking about the context of Gary's case. Wanda, however, was well aware of what 'snapped' meant.
"I dunno." Timmy shrugged, keeping his voice down. "…it was hard for her to say." That in itself chilled him with more worry.
Slowing the car, Daran drove the station wagon behind the gold 1990 Ford Explorer parked on the short driveway of the one-story home. Sided in yellow-painted panels and roofed in brown shingles with a white trim, dark wood trimmed the windows and arched the front door where stone scattered throughout the porch and the foundation adorned with green shrubbery.
Killing the engine, the Turners all exited the car with Timmy leaving his backpack in the backseat, seeing no point in bringing inside. He walked a fair distance behind his parents who traveled the rocky trail towards the front porch paved in stone, and before Susanne could ring the doorbell, the elderly copy of her daughter's paste answered the door.
"Beloved daughter and son-in-law we tolerate!" Gladys drew Susanne in for a hug solely for her daughter. Susanne returned the greeting with tight arms around her mother, and Timmy stood behind his parents as Daran cleared his throat to ease his own awkwardness.
Gladys released her daughter, holding the door for the guests to enter inside. Susanne and Daran stepped into the kitchen as Timmy followed, looking up to see the same scrunched lips that always came from his grandmother whenever he was around her.
"Thank you for coming…" Vlad approached, coming from down the hall. Timmy noted the stress weighing eyes already bagged from old age, unsettled nerves tingling all over again.
"What's going on?" Susanne questioned her parents.
"Timmy." Gladys's rigid tone addressed the boy that was unfortunately her other grandson. "Go to Gary's room."
Puzzled, Timmy turned to face his grandmother "…is Gary there?"
"Yes." Gladys remained terse. "He talk to you."
"Me?" Timmy pointed to himself in slight disbelief. "Why?"
"He won't talk to us." Vlad admitted sadly. "He only want to talk to you."
Considering this, Timmy turned to the stiff lips and creased brows of his parents. If it were not for the fact that they wanted him to do something, then they would've likely left him in detention. So much for family emergency; he was just a means to an end.
Releasing a sigh, Timmy left to venture down the corridor that darkened the further he walked. Approaching the shadows behind the bedroom door left ajar.
"…hey, sport?"
"Yeah?" he looked to pink eyes wrought with worry.
"…don't take what Gary might do or say to heart."
What was Wanda talking about? "…what does that mean?"
Wanda couldn't find the right words to explain "…just don't, okay?"
"Fine…" he reluctantly complied, plagued with more questions than answers.
When he reached the door, he raised a fist to knock and stalled. Deafening silence behind the door shivered his nerves into an unsettling rattle. Intuitive dread hung in his stomach, raising even more questions. What was he so nervous about? Gary just wanted to talk, that's all.
What could possibly go wrong?
Ignoring his doubts, Timmy gave three knocks to the door before he gave the knob a gentle push, creaking the hinges as he entered the woodsy-themed room. Spotting the clenched ball of his cousin on the floor against the replica of a forest tree in one corner of the room.
"…Gary?" Timmy called out to the ball who did not respond. Stepping further into the room, the hinges creaked as he closed the door to where a slither of hall light seeped through. "…you okay?"
Fingernails clawed at jet-black hair, face buried behind tucked knees. Coiled like a stationary rock on the ground.
Timmy spotted the yellow retriever sitting on his hind legs near the foot of the twin bed, searching for answers within icy-blue eyes.
"…peque?" Alondro spoke softly, turning apprehensively from Timmy to his godson. "Timmy está aquí."
Gary still didn't move a finger, and Timmy started to wonder if Gary was sleeping or something. Kinda strange to sleep on the ground like that. "…you…wanted to talk to me, right?" he tried again, inching closer. "Well, I'm here. Let's talk."
Beats of his heart thumped between his ears, rattling through his veins. He blinked his eyes, confused whether he was crazy or if the glowing black around Gary's form was just a really dark shadow. Seconds dragged like minutes before the motionless rock moved, weighed to the floor as he gradually lifted his head from his knees. Met with unblinking blue darkened by ghostly shade.
"…G-Gary?" Timmy's stomach sank further in its troubled pit, unsure of what to think or what else to say. Those eyes looked so…lifeless.
Lifeless as the hoarse in his murmur. "…you killed Sophia…"
Timmy froze, stiff eyes widened.
"…you killed her…like I killed my mom…"
Rattled nerves shook in Timmy's voice. "…w-what're you talking about?"
Eerie eyes held their ghostly stare "…mom's dead…because of me…" his words sounded distant "…Sophia's dead…because of you…"
[That's not true, Gary!] Sophia inserted for her brother's sake. [Not true at all!]
"...it's true..." his eyes drifted emptily "…it's our fault they're dead…"
"Peque…" Alondro called cautiously, standing on all fours in tentative steps. "…do not speak like that."
Cosmo and Wanda quivered thinly with Timmy's arms, seeing the tension tightening his jaw. "No…" Timmy squeaked, shaking his head at the spiritual wounds tearing inside. "…Gary…"
"…they're dead…because of us…"
Timmy's head continued to shake, crushed beneath the weight of guilted shame "…stop it…"
"…they should be alive…not-"
"STOP it!" Timmy charged towards Gary, snatching him off the ground with both hands gripped to his collar. Shame glared in blue eyes, a glare that flipped the switch from distant to distraught in Gary's stare.
[Bubba, watch out!]
Screams rang out as Gary flailed his arms, and Timmy lost his grip when a swift fist smacked him square in the nose. He staggered back, the smell of iron trickling from his nostrils. Gary fell backwards to the ground, scooting away with sheer terror in his scowl.
"Gary, no!" Alondro ran to Gary's side, stopping as Gary began to claw at his hair.
Finding his footing, Timmy touched shaky finger to the warm liquid above his upper lip, seeing red on his fingertips. Heavy breaths flashed glaring eyes to the cousin that he never expected to hurt him. "What the heck is wrong with you-"
"STOOOOOOOOOOP!" Gary screeched, eyes clamped shut. "PLEASE!"
"DUDE-!"
"Timmy, Gary's not in his right mind." He heard Wanda advise, flashing her a glare as well.
"Yeah, thanks for the warning after the fact!"
Feeling more accountable, Cosmo used his wand to heal Timmy's nose. His lack of foresight bearing the brunt of the blame. "Don't be too hard on her, Timmy…"
"…h-he's gonna punish me…"
Timmy and his fairies redirected towards the distress rocking Gary back and forth as he lowered his face into his forearms, squeezing his head as if shielding himself from an ominous threat.
"…d-don't punish me…" his whimpers muffled against his sleeves "…p-please…"
"Gary…" Alondro brought the softest paw to his godson's shoes turned inward. "He is not here."
"H-he is…" Gary didn't dare lift his head "…I…I-I made him mad again…"
"That is not him, peque." Alondro stressed with a gentle tone. "He is too young to be him."
Timmy lowered a hand from his healed now, even less answers to even more questions "…who is 'him?'"
"Peque, look at me…" Alondro tried. Weak whines shook the fear in Gary's head. "…Timmy is not who you believe him to be."
"When is somebody gonna explain what's going on!?" Timmy's frustration yelled out, and then footsteps pattered from down the hall. Followed by knocks on the door before an elderly man creaked the door hinges.
With their daughter and son-in-law behind them, Vlad and Gladys saw their eldest grandson curled into himself in the corner, shaking like a leaf with his yellow retriever sitting next to him.
"Gary?!" Gladys nearly bumped into Timmy as she hurried to her grandson, kneeling to him. "V chem delo!?"
Gary's terrified whimpers continued, fingers growing pale as they gritted strands of disheveled hair. Disturbed by her grandson in such distress, Gladys slit her brow over her shoulder towards Timmy.
"What did you do!?"
"I didn't do anything!" Timmy defended, keeping Gary's sucker punch to himself since the physical evidence had been erased. "I was trying to talk to him and-"
"Timmy, we did not pull you out of detention to make things worse!" Susanne groused, stepping towards the brunette boy curving his fingers to keep from ripping his own hair out.
"Are you listening?! he shrieked. "He was basically already like this when I was told to come in here!"
"Well, you basically didn't make things better, did you!?" Daran retorted, huffing his chest beside his wife. Degradation growled in Timmy's throat. They delt him these crappy cards! The heck were they expecting him to do!?
Turning her attention away, Gladys's glare disappeared the moment she saw her precious grandson still trembling. "…Gary?" she tried again, resentment absent in her maternal tone. Hopeful that she was reaching him when his trembles faintly subsided "…posmotri na menya."
Gradually and dreadfully, her motherly voice drew glass eyes from their hiding place.
"…you know who I am?"
He continued to lift his head, frozen in a petrified stare as his voice could barely speak "…b-babushka?"
"Da, vnuk." Gladys gave a praising smile, carefully not to make sudden movements. Reaching to cup her gentle palm to Gary's cheek. Ghostly blue prickled with tears, and the pang in her heart waned her smile. She dreaded that look in his eyes…her grandson was fading into the past, tricking him into relieving sheer torture.
"…vnuk…" she sighed, fret in her brow "…we must take you to the hospital."
Just hearing the word caught a shaky breath in his throat, one tear dampening his grandmother's palm. 'Hospital' was code word for 'psych ward.' "…n-no…"
"We can't help you when you are like this, vnuk…" there was remorse in Gladys' words "…hospital can help-"
"NO!" Gary shouted, eyes swelled in furious terror. She yelped aghast, retracting her palm.
Timmy and his parents looked on as Gladys attempted to collect herself "…Gary, you must-"
"DON'T LOCK ME AWAY! PLEASE!"
"We don't lock you away!" Gladys affirmed, stress tightening her voice. "This is for your own good!"
"Clearly can't be that good if he doesn't wanna go…"
Gladys shot a glower to the bucktooth boy. "I did not ask for your lip!"
"Get mad all you want!" Timmy barked with his whole chest "But you're dumb if you think sending Gary away to be someone else's problem is gonna help him!"
Embarrassed by his acting out, Susanna gripped two fingers to Timmy's right ear, making him grunt from the force of her yank. "You don't speak to your elders like that!"
"Whatever!" Timmy swatted her hand away. His level of irritated could care less about respect.
"…p-please…"
Everyone returned to the whispered plea, despair flowing freely from glassy eyes. Tight arms squeezed knees to his chest, visibly shaking. "…d-don't lock me away…I-I'll be a good boy…" his chin dropped, shutting his eyes "…please…d-don't punish me…"
Guilt gripped her heart, and Gladys turned to her husband dragging a stress palm down the defeated in his face.
"…we cannot take him like this…" Vlad sighed, his spirits heavy.
"Well what are we supposed to do!?" Gladys probed, seeing no other options.
"You can start by not shipping him off!" Timmy inserted, prompting his father to flick punishment into the back of Timmy's head.
Reaching her boiling point with him, Gladys faced away from her shivering grandson. Igniting the fire in her creased brow as she stood to her feet. "…you…" her low growl did not seem to intimidate him, his own feet planted firmly in his stance "…how fitting that you have his face, because you are just as disrespectful as him!"
She stormed past, purposefully bumping him as her husband stared at Timmy debating in his mind if her insult was supposed to be some kind of personal attack. Silent for a moment, Timmy glanced over at the yellow retriever positioned himself to kneel against Gary's tremoring legs, doing his best to provide comfort. He'd have more empathy if he wasn't so ticked off, and he'd probably be less ticked off if someone would just please answer his freaking question!
"…can someone bother to tell me who him is?"
He faced his mother who hugged herself, frowning her features. Her hardened shell cracked in a rare vulnerability that was hardly shown to her own son. As her husband, Daran rubbed the small of her back, and when Susanne met Timmy's stern expression, her tone harbored the same darkness in her elm eyes.
"Marsden Vladislapov…my twin brother."