September 26th, Wednesday - Casey Silpetti
The next morning falls into the same routine as the past two, at least until they get ready to leave. Instead of Fetch bringing the car around, Sandy walks them out to the garage himself. He opens the door for them, and Bianca gives him a curious look.
“Why are you bringing us to school today, dad?”
“Oh, I just have a meeting with the principal. But it is nothing for any of you to worry about.”
Veronica spends the entire ride staring at the photocopied dance routines, going over the routine in her head. Casey watches her out of the corner of her eye, trying to ignore thoughts of the auditions while thinking about what she read last night, and fitting it in with what she knows about Veronica. It makes the lack of baby pictures for her a little more understandable, for one.
They pull into the visitor’s parking lot, and Sandy walks with them to the school. He hugs the girls bye as they head to the Student Center, and he walks towards the Administration building. Inside the SC, Harmony and Cadence are waiting for them at their table.
“Hey girl, ready for tonight? Practice any last night?” Harmony asks. Casey nods, still trying her best to tune out the thought of this afternoon. She looks over at Cadence, who looks tired this morning even though she’s cautiously smiling at Veronica’s chatter. She remembers the crystal Cadence gave her last night, the spells they cast, what she found out about Roni. She wonders if she should tell Cadence about that last bit.
“Hey Aiden, why don’t you come over and sit with us?” Bianca calls out. Casey turns and sees Aiden stopped a little ways away, looking at their table. He has a juice in his hand, obviously what he came in here for.
He walks over, and smiles at everyone, a little more warmly at Casey than the rest of course. “Actually Bianca, I have to jet. Just came in here for a snack, but coach is waiting for me.” He looks at Casey. “But maybe we can all sit together in class later?” He turns back to Bianca, “And lunch if we’re not practicing,” he adds before turning back to see if Casey will answer him. Casey blushes and nods yes, feeling nervous like they’re just starting dating all over again. He beams and grins at them all before heading back out of the Student Center.
Veronica turns her chatter from Cadence to Casey, “So does this mean you guys made up? You know, we may have to rethink the double date arrangements.” She gives Casey a big wink, making her blush again, and even Cadence’s cheeks turn a little pink. Roni sees Bianca start to butt in and cuts her off, “Didn’t you need to talk to Chris about something this morning Binks? He’s right over there.” She points and waves as he smiles at their group from across the room.
Bianca grumbles to herself as she gets up and heads over to Chris’s group, barely mumbling a “See ya’ later” to the four of them as she leaves.
“So,” Veronica says once Bianca is gone, “now that Grumpy is gone, and I need to rearrange my part of the date later without a crowd, and you probably still need to talk to Aiden…are you guys ready for the dance auditions today? I stayed up and practiced and I think I got it down, but I’m worried I’ll forget some of the steps right here.” Roni points at the most complicated part of the routine. She stands up and starts counting as she goes through the moves, “…2…3…4…” She stops after a minute, realizing no one else is going to join her. “Come on…I want to do really good…give me a hand…” Casey and Cadence both look at each other and immediately start clapping, stopping when they start laughing too hard to continue.
Harmony manages to keep a straight face, “Come on Veronica, I’ll help you. Let’s go over here where we have some more room.” They head off to an almost empty corner and work on the dance moves as Casey and Cadence compose themselves.
Casey turns to Cadence and asks quietly, “Were you able to get your um…thing done last night? To make you hidden or whatever…”
“Yeah, thanks,” Cadence answers. She looks like she’s going to continue, but Kale comes over with a donut and juice in his hands.
“Mind if I sit here?” he asks, looking from Casey to Cadence. They both nod and he sits down. “You guys sounded good Monday in the auditions, are you ready for the dance part today?” He takes a bite, waiting for an answer while he chews.
Casey blushes, “Umm, yeah I guess. Roni made me practice more last night, and she’s still going at it,” she points toward Veronica and Harmony. Kale looks toward Cadence waiting for her answer.
“Yeah I’m ready. Hey, I need to talk to my mom about something, so I’ll see you guys later.” She gets up from the table and is gone before Casey can beg her to stay.
Casey looks around, hoping Harmony and Veronica will come back, but she sees that they’re still engrossed in the dance steps. “So ummm,” she says to Kale, “thank you for the flowers the other day. They were really pretty.”
He blushes. “You…you’re welcome.” They sit in awkward silence for a little bit before he continues. “So, umm…what part do you want in the play?”
Casey blurts out a laugh before she can stop herself. “I don’t really want any part. I told Roni I’d audition with her. Maybe I can be a flying monkey or a munchkin or something.”
“But you did really good…why don’t you want a big part?”
“I’m not big on the whole spotlight thing. I’d rather be behind the scenes, preferably looking through a camera lens.”
“Yeah I guess I can see that.” He eats a little more of his donut, the silence more comfortable this time. “So did you figure out what you’re doing for your senior art project?”
Casey gets more excited now, “Yeah, I’m working on a fundraiser project with Father Piccoli for the shelter he runs. I’m going to do portraits of some of the homeless people and the kids and stuff. I talked with him yesterday, and he seems really excited about it. I hope we can raise a decent amount of money for it…” she gets quieter, “it’s a really important place for uh, for people with no place else to go.”
“Cool. Let me know if you need any help with it…and when it is. I can do a story on it for the school paper at least.”
Casey gives him a genuine smile, “I will.” Roni and Harmony come back to the table then and sit down.
Roni beams, “I think I got it figured out. Harmony’s a great teacher!”
Harmony’s cheeks turn a little bit pink, “Yeah, yeah. Thanks V.” The first bell rings and they all grab their things and stand up. “See ya’ll later.”
When Advanced Chemistry rolls around, Casey walks in to find only Cadence sitting there. The other girl is chewing the leg of her glasses, and brushes her bright red streak of hair behind her ear as Casey sits across from her.
“So… thanks again, for last night. I appreciate the help.”
Aiden and Veronica both walk in the class together, laughing about something. They both sit down at the table, Aiden a little awkward with Casey. It doesn’t take long though before they fall back into a natural routine. They follow along with Professor Z for his lecture portion and then easily make their way through the lab portion of class, chatting while they work on the project.
They finish quickly and get their table cleaned up. Aiden asks them all if they’re ready for the dance auditions, and they all give the standard replies they’ve been giving all day. “Well good luck ladies, I’m sure you’ll do great,” he says. “Are you planning on coming to the game tomorrow?”
“I didn’t think it was a home game,” Roni says, confused.
Aiden laughs. “It’s not, but it’s just across town.”
“Oh.” Roni bites her lip, thinking about it. “I think I can go.” She turns to Casey and then Cadence, “You guys have to come with though.”
“We’ll see, tiger,” Cadence answers. “If we get in the play, we’ll have a meeting for that after school.”
“I didn’t think about that.” She’s quiet for a minute before continuing, “It won’t last very long tomorrow though, right? We should still be able to get to the game.”
Cadence smiles softly, “Yes, we should.”
“So, you’re all gonna make it?” Aiden asks again, watching Casey closely. She blushes, but nods yes as Veronica and Cadence also agree. “Cool,” he says, unable to stop from smiling himself.
The bell rings, but before they leave Veronica asks Aiden, “Are you gonna get to sit with us at lunch, or do you have to go to practice?”
“Sorry, Roni, but we have practice at lunch again today. We’re really trying to work out some things before tomorrow. Wish I could hang out…coach has been slamming us with practice,” he smiles at Casey again before they all part ways in the hall to go to their next classes. “See ya’ll later.”
Casey beats everyone else to lunch and she’s working on more descriptions and info for her photos from the carnival on her website. She’s so into it she doesn’t even realize when Harmony comes up and start looking at them over her shoulder until she speaks.
“Those turned out awesome Case!” Casey jumps and almost knocks her pop over onto her computer, but steadies it just in time.
“Harm! You almost gave me a heart attack. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
Harmony sits down, “Girl, I was looking over your shoulder for like 10 minutes. You were way into whatever it is you’re doing.” She looks around for a little bit, “Where’s everybody else?”
Casey finally looks away from her computer long enough to realize the room is crowded, but their usual table full of people is currently just Harmony and her. “Ummm…I don’t know. I know Aiden said he had practice, but I thought everyone else was gonna be here. Maybe Roni conned Cade into practicing the dance routine some more…I really don’t know.” Casey puts her computer away and she and Harmony chat while they eat. It’s a little over halfway through lunchtime when Cadence and Veronica show up.
“Where have you been? We were feeling a little lonely here at this big table all by ourselves,” Harmony states.
Veronica blushes slightly, “We just had some things we needed to talk about.” She looks at the rest of the empty seats, “Where’s Binks, or Kale?”
Casey shrugs, “Don’t know.” They all start talking about the auditions coming up, until lunch is over and they head their separate ways.
Casey finally makes it to her art class and Mr. Boyd lets her sign out again. She puts everything but her camera bag into her locker and hops on a bus. She gets off in a shady area of town, near the warehouse district and heads off to one of her old haunts. It takes some doing, but she finds a couple of the guys she used to hang around with, Cam and Shaun. They catch up for a little bit and she fills them in on her project, asking if she can follow them around for a bit and take some pictures. Even though they’re hesitant, they finally agree once she tells them the photos will also be used for a fundraiser for Father Piccoli’s shelter.
They each round up a few more people that are hanging about and convince them to let Casey take photos of them too. She gets release forms from everyone and starts snapping photos as they goof around with each other. They eventually stop goofing off and start acting more normal and Casey gets what she thinks will be some really good portraits of each of them. They even take Casey to the new tent city that they’re living in and she is able to get some poignant photos of Cam and Shaun there.
She checks her watch and realizes she has to go, that she’s already going to be a little late getting back. Shaun and Cam each give her a hug and she promises to come back and show them the prints. She slips them $32, all the money she has on her except for what she needs to get back to school, and they tell her to come back, they’ll fill everyone in so she shouldn’t have to explain what she’s doing every time she shows up. With one last hug, Casey runs off to catch a bus back to school.
Casey flat out runs from the bus stop to the auditorium, trying to sneak in without being noticed. Unfortunately, as she rounds the corner to the side door, she slams almost full steam into someone.
They both go down, Casey managing to cradle her camera bag in her arms to protect it. The other girl falls backwards onto her butt, her face scrunched in pain.
“OhmygoshI’msosorry!!” Casey blurts out, rising quickly to help her up. The other girl takes her hand and stands, her other hand rubbing her backside for a moment. She smiles at Casey and shakes her head, adding a hand wave in a ‘no problem’ sort of motion.
The other girl clearly doesn’t go to school here. She’s got on the threadbare and clearly worn clothes of someone who’s probably spending a lot of time on the streets. Her only possessions appear to be a handmade leather backpack that seems oddly familiar, and a notebook with a pen tied to it with a measure of string. She’s pretty, with piercing blue eyes that seem guarded, and a shy smile. Her face has those smudges of dirt that are hard to clean up when you’re down to using public sinks to try and bathe yourself.
She hands her notebook over to Casey, she had been writing in it as Casey took her measure. Neat, plain handwriting is written there. Sorry, I heard you coming but didn’t realize you were running. I was hoping you could help me? I’m looking for someone. Do you know this girl?
When Casey looks up, she sees that the girl is holding out a worn photograph. In it, she and Cadence are leaning against Sarah’s mustang, both smiling at the camera.
“Why do you need to find her? How do you know her?”
She writes back: We were old friends. I’ve been looking for her since she left without saying where she was going. I saw her in a video at this school, I was hoping that you might know her?
She looks carefully hopeful as Casey reads her response.
Casey looks at the photo, biting her lip. “I’ve seen her around I think. I’m running late for something, can you stick around for a little bit and I’ll see if I can find her, or someone who knows her, as soon as I can…”
The other girl nods enthusiastically, a bright smile splitting her face as she flashes Casey the “OK” hand signal. She takes the picture and the notebook back from Casey, nods again, and walks off towards some benches in the quad.
Casey watches her walk off for a moment, then rushes to get inside the auditorium. She tries to sneak in the last little bit, but realizes it’s too late when she sees Sarah glaring at the rest of her group, who are looking around for her.
She has no time to tell Cadence anything before Harmony notices her with a relieved sigh. She rushes over and grabs Casey, who barely has time to put down her bags before being swept out onto the floor.
They run through the routine three separate times, Ms. Connor’s eyes following them carefully the entire time. When they finally finish, Casey tries to edge her way towards Cadence, only to be interrupted as Sarah calls everyone into a half-circle in front of her.
“I’ll be going over everything tonight, and the parts will be listed tomorrow at lunch outside my office. If your name is on the list, I’ll need you to show up after school – promptly please – to fill out the paperwork.” Her eyes glance over to Casey on the last bit, and someone on the side snickers quietly. “Thank you all for showing up, and for all of your effort. You all did great.”
The crowd starts to break up, Casey and her little group heading over to the corner where all of their bags are waiting. “Cadence?” she calls out, and the smaller girl stops and turns towards her.
Harmony gets in between them, pulling Casey along with her. “Girl, sorry to interrupt, but I’m late to meet Chris. I’m going to call you tonight, k?”
Casey nods quickly, “Yeah, sure Harm. Tonight.” She cuts around her, and spots Cadence standing over by their bags talking to Roni quietly. She rushes that way, a little out of breath for all this running around.
“Cade, I need to talk to you.”
“What’s up Case?” Both of the other girls face her questioningly.
“Someone is here, looking for you. A girl…” Casey pulls up short as she sees the girl in question walk up behind her two friends. “Eep.”
Cadence turns when she sees Casey’s face, and for what feels like a long moment everything freezes. The other girl stands there with a hopeful look on her face, but she has her hands out away from her body, palms up. In her left hand is her notebook, a message of some sort written on it, but Casey can’t see it from where she stands. It’s the position of someone trying to appear non-threatening.
The moment stretches for an eternity longer, and then like a movie reel stuck and suddenly freed, everything jumps into action. Moving faster than Casey can follow, Cadence strikes.
She slams the other girl into the wall behind her, the impact echoing through the auditorium. The girl opens her mouth in silent pain, her notebook flying out of her hand. The bag that had been on Cadence’s shoulder hits the ground a moment later.
Veronica gasps, and steps a half-step forward. Cadence has the other girl pinned to the wall, the black length of the cold iron dagger in her hand, pressed against the other girl’s neck. “What are you doing here?” She rasps out, her voice cold and hard.
Casey glances around, but the auditorium is empty save for the four of them. She turns back to the tableau in front of her. Veronica is standing in stunned silence, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two.
The other girl stays completely motionless as Cadence holds her against the wall, her feet barely touching the ground below her. Her arms are flat against the wall behind her, afraid to move for fear of the dagger pressed against her throat, its edge glowing as it touches her, a small hint of smoke curling away from it.
She mouths something, tears starting to shine across her eyes. Cadence pulls her away from the wall and slams her back into it. “Why are you here?! Answer me!” The other girl looks over at Casey, her eyes wide as she mouths something else.
“Cadence, she can’t talk.” The words are out of her mouth before Casey realizes she’s saying them.
The smaller girl pauses, but doesn’t look over her shoulder. “What?”
Casey can feel the dangerous aura of power flowing through the other girl; can almost see her true form as the glamour starts to ripple in front of her. She can feel the waves of emotion tumble from her friend, beating against her like the leading edge of a storm.
“Her notebook. She wrote to me, outside. I don’t think she can talk.” Casey walks carefully over to where the notebook lays on the ground, and picks it up. She hesitates, and then walks slowly towards Cadence.
Her friend hasn’t moved, just stands there trembling with barely restrained violence. Casey stands close to her, trying to shield herself from the emotion and energy surrounding the other girl. She holds out the notebook so that Cadence can read the simple statement written there.
I’m sorry.
Suddenly Veronica is standing on Cadence’s other side, her hand reaching out to clasp the smaller girl’s shoulder. Instantly Casey can feel the tumble of emotions and energy calm, and Cadence lets out a short, choked gasp that almost turns into a sob.
She lowers the mute girl down to the ground, but still holds her pressed against the wall, her dagger still posed to strike. “Casey, please look in my bag. There’s a length of chain in there, bring it here please.” Her voice is that cool, passionless voice that Casey remembers the other girl using when she was giving her and Aiden instructions on what to do with her gunshot wound.
Casey rushes over and looks through the various odds and ends in Cadence’s bag, ignoring all the strange stuff until she finds the coil of chain that Cadence must have been talking about. It’s the same odd, black metal her dagger is made out of – faint hints of silver, copper and gold running through it. The slender metal strand has small barbs along its length, just like a length of barbed wire fence.
As she moves back up to Cadence, the smaller girl steps to the side, letting go of her prisoner but keeping the dagger to her throat. “Put your hands in front of you, Jill. Casey, wrap the wire around them tightly.”
The other girl moves her arms slowly, bringing them together in front of Casey. Her deep blue eyes flick over to Casey, and she nods at her, even though it brings a fresh wince of pain as the dagger bites deeper.
Casey starts to wind the wire around her hands and arms; noticing the wire gets uncomfortably warm as it presses against the girl’s pale skin. Once Cadence is satisfied the other girl is bound well, she steps back and lets the dagger fall to her side.
They stand there for a long moment, both girls staring at each other. Cadence’s face could be chiseled from rock for all the emotion it gives away. Jill can barely meet her eyes, a deep sadness so evident in her eyes that it pulls at Casey’s sympathy.
Cadence reaches into her bag and pulls out her gym shirt, and uses that to blindfold Jill, and the four of them walk silently to the empty apartment that they claimed last night as their clubhouse.
On walking through the door, Casey feels a slight tingle rush across her skin. There is a slight pressure that she has to push to step through, and she knows that it’s the spells that they warded the place with. Cadence walks Jill upstairs to one of the empty bedrooms, the one opposite that which Casey had used as her own earlier this year.
She unwraps the strand of wire from the girl’s upper arm, and winds it around the bed frame, where it seems to pull itself tight. The three of them walk back downstairs, dropping their bags on the way. Roni drops Jill’s bags on the ground with theirs, and she and Casey sit while Cadence paces in front of them.
She paces fitfully, her friends letting her decompress without interrupting her. Finally she stops and turns to them. “I owe you an explanation. But to do so, I have to tell you my story. It’ll put you both in danger. If you’d rather leave, I’ll…” She blinks quickly and looks down, “I’ll understand if you leave now.”
Roni leans forward, putting everything she can into a calming, warm smile. “We’re not going anywhere Cadence. Tell us.” Casey nods in agreement.
The smaller girl relaxes as though a great weight dropped from her, and sits across from them on the edge of the table. Her hands fiddle with the dagger as she tells her story, her eyes closed and expression far away.
“My name is Cadence Annabeth Williams. I wasn’t born here, on this world. My mother - when she was my age – caught the attention of my father, the Goblin King. He kidnapped my uncle, thinking it was the way to win my mother’s heart, but of course it wasn’t. She challenged him, went to his very home and in the end, beat him. But once home, she couldn’t forget him, as he couldn’t forget her.”
“She eventually went back to his lands, to become the Goblin Queen of Underground. But my father was no ordinary goblin, either. He was a Faerie prince, of the Autumn Court. He had been given domain over Underground after a long war with the original Goblin Queen, Grandmother Hag.” She shivers when the name leaves her lips in a whisper.
“The ancient prison where she was held kept her for over thirteen hundred years, but somehow she got out. She wanted to take the war back to the Faerie lands, the very enemies who had defeated her so long before. But to do that, she had to win her lands back.”
“My father disappeared in the fighting. No one knows if he is dead, or captured. My mother is only human, though some of his magic had rubbed off on her. Now, I was the next target, for I am the heir to the kingdom of Underground. So we did the only thing we could do, we ran.”
“We came back here, to the real world. Ever since, we’ve been on the run, trying to stay ahead of the assassins that Grandmother Hag has set upon me, so that she can control the armies of Goblins and wage a war that will shake the very pillars of Heaven and Earth.”
She pauses for a long moment, but finally continues. “We were in Las Vegas two years ago. I met Jill there, and I fell in love with her. She was my first… my first everything. I didn’t know she was an assassin sent to kill me. She said she didn’t know that was the job, she was just told to befriend me. She said they later told her to kill me, and that’s when she came to me and told me the truth, that she was an Elvin assassin in the employ of Grandmother Hag.”
“She promised me that she would let us run, that she would not betray us. I… I was heartbroken.” Silent tears fall onto the dagger in her hands, and Casey hears Roni sniffle next to her. “My mom wanted me to kill her, but… but I couldn’t. We barely got out of town alive.”
She looks up, her eyes raw. “I am a Faerie Princess of the Autumn Court, and heir to the lands of Underground. When I turn eighteen, I will become its rightful ruler. I have been on the run almost my entire life, my mother and one other friend the only people who knew who I was, trying to keep me safe. And now, you both know my story.”
They all sit quietly for a moment before Casey pipes in with her questions. “So, um, what’s she doing here now? And why can’t she talk anymore? I mean, I’m assuming she could before because you didn’t know… What do we need to do now?”
Cadence turns to Casey, and she can see in her friend’s eyes a lost look. Cadence shakes her head. “I don’t know. If my mom or Jack found out, they’d probably kill her, and we’d be leaving even though I cast that spell. We might just hide nearby to make sure it worked… I guess she was already in town looking for me when I cast it, it’s limited to outside of town.”
Her eyes focus on Casey. “I don’t know why she’s here, or why she can’t talk. She used to have one of the most beautiful voices, she could sing the birds from the sky. I just… I… I can’t let them kill her. As much as I sometimes wish I could, I can’t do that.”
Veronica fidgets, fighting against an urge to go over to Cadence and hold her, probably. She glances over at Casey too, her upset clear in her eyes.
Cadence’s voice brings Casey’s attention back over to her. “I guess I’ll have to talk to her, question her. I just can’t do it right now, I need to just think for a while or something.”
Casey can still feel the tumult of emotions surrounding her friend as she falls silent.
They’re all quiet for a bit, thinking about the situation. Casey finally speaks up, “Roni, you should call Fetch and head home like nothing’s wrong. Cade, you can go home or wherever and figure out what to do. I have a bunch of pictures I need to upload and work on, so I can stay here and do that. If I finish, I can do homework or something until Cade comes back, and then I’ll call Fetch for a ride. How’s that sound?”
Cadence thinks about it for a minute and slowly nods her agreement. Veronica looks a little nervous, “Um, what am I supposed to tell Fetch, and Dad? They know you had tryouts today after school, so you should be coming home too?”
“Tell them the truth, I’m working on my photography project. They don’t need to know that I don’t have to do it here.”
“OK, I guess that works.” Veronica turns to Cade, “You’ll call me if you need help figuring…whatever out, right?” And to Casey, “You’ll be OK here with her by yourself?”
They both answer, “Yes,” at the same time, tense laughs following. Cadence stands up, “Case, I’ll be right back, Roni, call Fetch and I’ll walk you over to the parking lot.” Casey nods as they quietly talk on their way out the door.
She pulls out her camera and laptop, hooking them together and starting the upload as she paces the room, automatically stretching at various intervals. She sits back down and checks her email while the photos continue uploading. Nothing major in there, so she starts working with the photos she’s already uploaded; naming them, cropping the ones that need it, and rotating the ones that are supposed to be vertical. She looks up as she hears Cadence come back in. “Roni get off OK?”
“Yeah, and Fetch bought the excuse for you, so you should be good here for a little bit. I stopped next door and got you some food. It’s not much, just some cheese and crackers and a water. My mom would notice if anything else went missing. I’m gonna take my stuff home and go for a run. I should be back in an hour, or hour and a half to relieve you. By then I should have figured out what to do with Jill. Do not, and mean do NOT go upstairs except to use the bathroom, and do not go near her when you do.”
“OK, Cade. Thanks for the snack.” Cadence grabs her bag and heads next door. Now that she’s listening for it, Casey can hear her enter the house and a quiet interaction with Sarah. After a few minutes, she hears Cadence leave and her feet picking up the pace into a run. The rest of the photos have uploaded, so Casey unhooks the camera and puts it away, snacking while she works on labeling and editing the rest of them.
She doesn’t realize how long it’s been, but she finally makes it through all the photos she hadn’t posted before tonight. She gets everything up on the site for Mr. Mors to look at, and shoots him an email to inform him as she hears Cadence come in, still breathing a little hard. She puts her computer to sleep and slides it into her bag, wrapping up the power cord as she turns to Cadence, “So, what’re you gonna do?”
“I’m not entirely sure yet, but I have figured out some questions that I need answered, and if she can’t talk, that means I have to loosen one of her hands. Can you stay while I question her? I just want to make sure I’m not here by myself if she tries to do something.”
“Yeah. Let’s get it over with.”
They make their way up the stairs, and walk into the bedroom turned prison. Jill’s face lights up just a bit when Cadence walks in, her lips twitching in a cautious smile. When she sees Casey walk in behind her, her look turns a bit more curious.
Cadence walks into the room just far enough for Casey to be able to make it through the door, as though she’s afraid to get any closer to the girl sitting on the floor. The room is quiet for a long moment, before Cadence breaks the silence.
“I’m going to undo one of your hands, so I can ask you some questions. If you try anything… the chain is enchanted. It will hurt you if I say the words. So don’t… don’t try anything, ok?”
Jill smiles and nods, her hands drawing a cross over her heart.
Cadence slowly steps forward, dropping a tablet and pen on the floor before reaching out for the wire. At her touch it unfolds easily, allowing her to unwrap one of Jill’s hands.
Jill waits for her to step back before reaching for the tablet and pen. She hastily writes something, turning it so that the other two girls can read it.
Laptop in my bag. Make this easier.
Cadence frowns, but walks over to the bag and carefully opens it. She pulls out a beat up laptop, and starts it up. Casey hears the familiar “bong” as it boots, and once it’s up Cadence passes it over to Jill.
It’s a little awkward for the girl to type on the laptop with the chain still wrapped around one arm, but she manages. And she types quick enough that it’s obvious she has lots of practice. It doesn’t take long before a slightly stilted, vaguely artificial female voice starts to speak from the computer.
‘This is easier than passing notes.’ She smiles up at the two girls standing opposite of her.
Cadence doesn’t smile back. “Why are you here, Jill?”
Jill frowns at the question, her eyes hurt. Her fingers start tapping away at the keyboard. ‘You know why I’m here. I love you. I told you I didn’t know what they had planned. I didn’t tell them anything.’
“What happened?”
Jill frowns, and then turns to her computer, her fingers tapping away quickly. ‘When I found out what the job was I went straight to you and told you. When you left, everything happened quickly. Grandmother Hag took me and tried to get information from me. She tortured me until my sisters showed up to collect me. Not even Grandmother Hag would deny them so she let me go. They asked why I broke the contract and I told them. They exiled me, and in penalty for breaking contract they took my voice. Thought it fitting since I wouldn’t tell them where you had gone.’
She looks up at Cadence, perhaps looking for any glimpse of sympathy or caring.
Casey sees nothing of the sort from her friend. “Are you here to do any harm to me, or anyone I consider friend or family?” Cadence’s voice is hard, flat.
Jill shakes her head, and types. ‘No.’
Cadence leans forward, her voice becoming a little more heated. “I ask again, will you endanger me or anyone I care about?”
Jill crosses her heart again. ‘No,” the woman’s voice speaks again from the computer.
A subtle hint of power floats around the room as Cadence steps forward. Casey can feel the tickle of it against her skin. Cadence’s voice is rough, “Thrice I ask, and done. Will I or anyone I care about be in danger because you are here?” She pauses, and adds “We both know how this works, don’t waste my time.”
Jill pauses for a moment, and for some reason Casey finds herself holding her breath. Finally, the other girl shakes her head solemnly, her lips forming the word no even as her fingers type it. ‘No. Thrice you ask, thrice I have answered. Is it enough?’
Casey can feel the faint pop as the energy building dissipates quickly. Something just happened, though she’s not sure what. She cautiously looks over at Cadence, who is standing next to her biting her lip, clearly conflicted.
Casey can tell the moment the decision is made, as most of the tension drains from her friend. The smaller girl steps forward and touches the chain attached to Jill’s arm, muttering a word in that harsh, guttural language Casey has heard her use before – Goblin?
The wire unwraps itself from Jill’s arm, coiling neatly in Cadence’s. “The bathroom is through the door, first door on your right. There are towels and all if you want to take a shower, and I’ll bring you something for the bruises and scratches. I’ll also see if I can find some food for you.”
She turns and walks towards the door, guiding Casey along with her. Before they walk out she stops and turns. “I extend the courtesy and hospitality of this place, and of my word, to you. But please, don’t leave the house. I’ll see if I can find some other place for you to stay, as this isn’t only my place, and I don’t have the support of anyone else yet.”
She turns away from Jill, who had just started to smile brightly. Her smile breaks a little, but Cadence pulls Casey out of the room with her and down the stairs.
“I’m sorry I don’t have time to get permission from everyone to let her stay here, I’ll try to find some other place but for tonight at least she’ll have to stay. I’ll make sure she doesn’t know where the place is, so she can’t find her way back to it once we leave, and I’ll clean up and all afterwards…”
Casey puts her hand on the smaller girl’s shoulder, and finally gets a word in to interrupt her. “Cade, you ok? What was all that about?”
Cadence finally looks up at her, conflict still battling deep in her eyes. “She’s an elf. A fey can’t lie, although they can play around with words and the truth some. But if you ask the same thing three times, and make them answer three times, they have to make it true. It binds them to fulfill the promise of what they said. So now, she’s actually obligated to try and make sure no harm becomes any of us because she’s here.”
“And likewise, by me granting her hospitality, it means I’ll do whatever I can to make sure she is safe here. I’ve taken her into my responsibility, which is why I’ll need to find someplace for her to stay, so I don’t drag all ya’ll into this too.”
She finally stops, which Casey is glad for. Her words had gotten quicker and quicker, reminding her of Veronica on a sugar buzz. She’s trembling, and doesn’t look the steadiest on her feet at the moment. “My mother is going to kill me, if Jack doesn’t first.”
Casey squeezes her hand, willing support and sympathy through her grip. Cadence closes her eyes and puts her hand over Casey’s for a moment, pulling in a deep breath and blinking away tears.
She smiles. “Never a dull moment?” she croaks out. “I think Aiden was still here, when I came back from my run. If you’d rather, I’ll give you a ride home. I need to go get some food, I can take the car if you’d rather not ask him for a ride.”
“Let me text him and see if he’s even still here. Cade, you have to calm down, you look like you’re gonna have a break down. Do you want me to stick around for a little bit?”
Cadence bites her lip and finally shakes her head no, “See if Aiden’s still here. Jill and I have some things to hash out tonight, and I have to try and find her a different place to stay.” She gives Casey a tentative hug and then forces herself to be cheerful, “Get outta’ here. I’m sure you have plenty to do.”
Casey watches Cadence for some clue that she needs to stay, but after a minute texts Aiden to see if he’s still at the school. He quickly texts back that he’s still there and will meet her in the parking lot. She quickly texts Roni and tells her to inform her parents that she’s getting a ride home from Aiden. Casey grabs her camera bag and gives Cadence a hug. “Gotta’ go. I have to get the rest of my stuff out of my locker and meet Aiden. Call me if you need help with anything tonight. Got it?” She waits until Cadence nods in agreement and then gives her another quick hug as she hurries off toward her locker.
Casey makes it out to Aiden’s SUV before he does, her senses switching to high alert as she realizes the parking lot is empty and it’s mostly dark out. She’s so focused, she feels him coming before she can even see him. He waves as soon as he sees her and hurries over to the SUV. “Hey Case.” He gives her a quick hug and leans in to kiss her, but stops himself. After an awkward moment, Casey leans in and gives him a quick kiss, blushing and smiling after.
“How was practice? Ready for your game?”
Aiden opens the door and loads their bags in as he answers, “It was good. I think we are ready. How did your dance audition go? I wasn’t able to sneak out and see it today.”
Casey laughs as he opens the door for her and she gets in, “I was late, so Ms. Connor was pissed. I was kind of distracted, so I guess I don’t really know how I did. We had to do the whole routine like 3 or 4 times in a row. We’ll find out who’s in tomorrow.”
Aiden shuts her door and goes around to the driver’s side and gets in. They chit chat the entire way to the Carlin-Kane house, avoiding anything important and avoiding talking about what’s going on between them. Once there, he helps her get her bags out of the back and sticks around until she’s inside before driving off.
Inside, the house is quiet even though it’s still early. Casey walks through, planning on passing through the kitchen and fixing something to eat before heading out to the pool house.
She stops short in the kitchen doorway when she notices Madison standing at the sink. Madison looks up at her and flashes a polite – and very practiced – smile at Casey, before turning back to where she’s dabbing a wet tablecloth to her sleeve. It looks like she’s trying to wipe off some chalk or something. She looks tired.
“Casey, I hope you’re finding everything well enough.” Her tone is pleasant enough, but there is no real warmth to it. It’s a studied tone that has probably been practiced for a long time during her political career.
“Yes ma’am, thank you.” She sets her book bag down and walks over to the refrigerator.
Madison drops the hand towel next to the sink, watching Casey silently for a moment. She finally picks up a box of matches and heads toward the door, pausing there for a moment. “Veronica was feeling tired, so she went to bed. Bianca is in her room, and Sandy is working in his office. I trust you can find everything you need?”
Not really waiting for a reply, she walks up, leaving Casey in silence. She fixes herself something to eat, and quickly heads out to the pool house – the silence of the big house just a little bit creepy when she’s all alone.
She spends the night fighting with home work and thinking over everything that’s happened the past few days. She wonders for a while if she should call Cadence, but ends up falling asleep before making up her mind.
