Fable: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 3 (10 page)

Sara’s rocking stopped, and with it her
humming. “Yes, dear?”

“
I’m leaving to go out
with my friends. Are you going to be okay?”

Sara began rocking again. “Oh, yes, I’m
thinking of all the rooms in this house that need to be cleaned. I
think I’m going to start with that storage room you found.”

“
No, not that one! It’s
just junk in there. Why don’t you take the closets on the other
side of the house? When I have time, I’ll work in
there.”

“
That would be nice. What
a sweet daughter I have,” she intoned, and stared at the wall. “I
wish I could have had more kids like you.”

Mina stepped away from her mom, tears
starting to build in her eyes.

“
Mom, you did. Don’t you
remember Charlie?” Mina had been unable to tell her mother about
the deal she’d made with Temple, for fear of getting another of the
accusing looks Sara had bestowed upon Mina after the fire. It was
obvious that Sara, even though she didn’t mean to, still blamed her
daughter. What would happen if Mina were unable to save Charlie?
What would her mom think of her then?

Sara stopped rocking once more. “Charlie?
That’s a nice name. If I ever have a boy, I’ll think I’ll name him
Charlie.”

“
Mom, you do have a son
named Charlie. Charlie’s nine years old now. Remember?”

“
Hmm.” Sara closed her
eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Nan grabbed Mina’s arm and pulled her out of
the room. “Mina, give her time. It will be okay.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
Not really, but she’s
been through a lot, and she could be having a memory lapse. I’d say
check on her when we get home, and if you want, I can have Robert
come over and take a look at your mom.”

Mina had momentarily forgotten that Nan’s
mom had gotten married over the summer to Dr. Robert Martin. That
was all the reassurance she needed. She didn’t know what she would
do if Sara went to the hospital and she was left in the house all
alone.

“
I guess a few hours will
be fine. I would hate to take her to the hospital if it’s just a
short spell.” The words hung in the air, and Mina’s mind began to
whirl with possibilities. She didn’t have time to continue the
thought further, because the silver box buzzed.

She ran to the box and hit the green button.
“Hello?”

Static, and then she could hear two voices
arguing in the background. “Why in the world are we pushing the
button?” She recognized Ever’s voice.

“
Because that’s the
way
they
do it,”
Jared’s voice argued back.

“
Well, we are not
like
them
. You’re
a prince. Just wave your hand and—”

Mina quickly pushed the “open” button for
the driveway gate, hoping to cut off Ever and Jared’s Fae magic
conversation before Nan overheard.

A few seconds later, Jared pulled up in an
orange 1969 Ford Boss 429 Mustang, which she knew was really Fae
magic at work. Another car came up the driveway, and Mina was
surprised to see Brody’s new car he’d gotten after the accident, a
black Escalade. The driver’s window rolled down, and Brody leaned
his head out the window. “You ladies ready?”

Nan smiled widely but gripped Mina’s hand
nervously. “You bet.”

Mina tried to crane her neck to see who was
in the car with Brody, but she couldn’t see who the passenger was.
A second later, the other door opened, and someone stepped out. He
was tall and broad-shouldered, with copper-colored hair and warm
hazel eyes. He wore jeans, a white polo shirt, and a jacket. Mina
scanned her memory of her high school yearbook and couldn’t place
him anywhere. He was cute, that was for sure, and her heart did a
small nervous flutter of anticipation. Now it was Mina’s turn to
grip Nan’s hand really hard.

Brody hopped out of the driver’s seat,
walked over to Nan, and put an arm around her shoulders. “Hey,
Mina, this is Reid Stone.”

“
Nice to meet you, Mina,”
Reid announced.

Her head snapped up, and she responded
softly, “Nice to meet you, too. You don’t go to Kennedy, do
you?”

“
No, I actually know Brody
through a mutual friend of ours.”

“
Oh,” she said sadly,
wondering if Brody had been unable to find anyone from their own
school who would actually go on a date with her.

“
Wow, Brody. You forgot to
tell me that she was so cute.” Reid punched his friend in the
shoulder.

Brody frowned, and he was visibly grinding
his teeth. “Didn’t I?”

Jared never got out of the
car, and revved the engine irritably in response to their chitchat.
“Let’s get this over with. Unless you want to hit the nine o’clock
showing of
Death Pledge
, we need to get going.”

Mina hurried over. Reid opened the rear door
for her and she slid into the car, her skin slightly catching on
the leather seats. Reid slid in after her and turned so he could
face her in the seat.

“
So, Mina, tell me about
yourself.”

She felt uncomfortable, nervous, and she
felt like she was going to be sick. She watched Nan jump into the
front seat with Brody, and she looked just as nervous, even more
so. Maybe the two of them were not meant to date…ever. Neither one
of them had any luck so far keeping the guys they really
wanted.

“
Um, let’s see. I’m a
junior at Kennedy High, and I like…” She blanked. Completely
blanked. In that second she realized how utterly boring and plain
she was. Anything even remotely interesting wasn’t something that
she could come right out and say.
I chase
down fairy-tale villains in my spare time and entrap them in my
magic book
. Yeah, she couldn’t say that.
“…I like my family and kids and animals.”

Nan turned around and made a disgusted noise
at her. “You sound like you’re being interviewed for Miss America.
Here, let me help. She’s artistic, one of the best in her advanced
art class. Her pencil sketches, if you can ever get her to show
them to you, are phenomenal, along with her pastels. She likes to
read, but not that smutty stuff—classics, and books that have depth
to them. She remembers everything someone tells her and has a knack
for finding the good in everyone.”

Brody looked back at her through the
rearview mirror. “And she kills at flag football. Don’t let her
fool you. She’s got some fight in her.”

Mina blushed, and Reid laughed. “I’ll
remember that.”

Because Nan was a great icebreaker, the
drive to the movie theater went by fast. She learned that Reid was
the youngest of five brothers. His family was all lawyers, of a
sort, and that he was lined up to work in the family business when
he was done with school. He liked working with metals, welding and
sculpting.

She felt herself smiling and laughing at
Reid. When they arrived at AMC Theaters, she was prepared to buy
her own ticket, but Reid wouldn’t let her. He bought both of their
tickets, two drinks, and a large popcorn. She was secretly relieved
that this date was actually going well.

Jared grudgingly paid for Ever’s ticket and
her box of Sour Patch Kids. Ever flipped out and began to dance
around in excitement when she saw that the theater also sold
packages of Pixie Stix.

Nan ran ahead to the theater, then came back
and announced that the theater was packed and that they would have
to split up. Mina bit the inside of her cheek to keep from making a
terrified face, but they all filed into the darkened room and tried
to find seats that weren’t so close they would have neck aches from
looking straight up.

Brody and Nan found seats a few rows in
front of them and to their left. Jared and Ever ended up in the
very back row. Mina and Reid found seats on the right side of the
theater, next to an overly large man with a beard and glasses who
had enough popcorn and snacks to last for three movies. Most of the
teens had their phones out and were texting or tweeting while they
waited for the movie to start. Reid leaned back and stretched out
his long legs in front of him, and stared at her thoughtfully.

“
So I see you’re not that
fond of texting,” Mina said, after noticing that he hadn’t pulled
out a cell phone, either.

“
Nah, don’t see what the
big deal is about those things.”

It was an odd choice of words, and Mina
meant to ask him about it when the lights dimmed and the previews
started, which ninety percent of them turned out to be commercials
for Toyotas, Coca-Cola, and “please turn off your cell phone”
warnings.

The movie finally began, and Mina had to
squint when the 3D effects started. The red and blue lines made her
dizzy, so she reached over and held out her hand to Reid
expectantly.

He looked at the screen, completely baffled,
and his face was scrunched up in disgust.

“
Uh, the glasses,” Mina
teased him.

“
What?” He looked
irritated.

“
The 3D glasses they gave
you when you bought the tickets.”

“
Oh, those.” He reached
into his jacket pocket and pulled out two pairs of plastic glasses
and handed one of them to Mina. He watched her put them on and
mimicked her. “Ah, that’s better.” He smiled and settled in to
watch the movie.

He sure was an odd one, she thought to
herself, but quickly forgot as the first action scene filled the
screen. A girl was running and being chased by a man through dark
back alleys. The scene was very similar to her own life and made
her feel slightly uncomfortable. Reid leaned forward and jumped
when the action scene intensified. He seemed unprepared for the 3D
effects. She reached forward to take a handful of popcorn, and he
reluctantly moved the bucket closer to her.

Gee, maybe she’d spoken too soon about a
good date. It seemed like as soon as they split from the group, he
dropped the façade. He was acting as if he was more interested in
the movie than her. She should have expected that, and been
prepared. If she were smart, she would have slipped a book in with
her, which she had done in the past, and turned around in her seat
and read by the light of the movie screen when the movie was
something dumb.

Her eyes kept drifting to watch Brody and
Nan. They weren’t holding hands, and neither one of them were
leaning into each other. Oh, wait. Nan just jumped, and Brody put
his arm around her shoulders. She watched as Nan leaned in and
whispered something in his ear. Brody whispered something back, and
when he turned he caught Mina’s stare. His smile faltered, and Mina
felt the need to do something daring. She leaned in and snuggled
into Reid’s shoulder. Reid looked surprised, but then he raised his
arm and put it around her. Brody frowned and turned around.

After a while, she forgot about Reid, Brody,
and even Jared as she became engrossed in the story unfolding
before her. It was intense, about an orphaned young girl whose
brother was kidnapped and held hostage. If she didn’t assassinate
the President, then they would kill her brother.

Mina reached her hand into the almost empty
popcorn tub and realized it was starting to taste odd—like pennies.
She watched as Reid’s hand reached in and pulled out a few
handfuls, and ate them without noticing the taste. She pulled the
bucket out of his hands and looked into it. The popcorn had turned
brown. He reached in for another handful, but she slapped his hand
away.

“
Don’t eat it. There’s
something wrong with it.” She pulled out a piece and noticed that
it had flecks of color swirling around the white. She crumbled the
popcorn in her fingers, and it was filled with something hard. Like
wire.

“
There’s nothing wrong
with it. It’s just how I like it.” Reid grabbed the bucket back
from her and began eating it with a vengeance.

Mina stared at Reid. Really looked at him
for the first time since she’d put on the 3D glasses. He looked
different through the red and blue filter. The glasses made his
copper hair seem to crackle in the light. His eyes even had a
reflective glow in them. Then she saw his fingernails, and her
heart caught in her throat. They were copper-colored. Not painted
with nail polish, but really copper-colored. She’d seen only one
other person with colored nails before…and he hadn’t been there to
help her.

She whipped off the glasses, and he was back
to looking very human again. It was another Fae glamour. A trick.
The Fae had learned long ago to hide their true natures from the
physical plane. Just to be sure, Mina put the glasses back on, and
once again she could see Reid’s true form.

He turned his fiery eyes on her and smiled
while he popped another copper-laced popcorn kernel in his mouth.
She could hear the sound of metal crunching between his teeth.

“
Ah, I see you’ve finally
taken notice of me. Tonight is about to get so much more
interesting.”

He reached toward Mina, and his hand
crackled with electricity. A loud popping sound was heard as the
movie film stopped reeling. The lights went out. As the theater
plunged into total darkness, the screaming began.

Chapter 11

The popcorn bucket flew in the air as Mina
stumbled backward onto the person sitting next to her and half
flipped, half slid over the row into an empty seat in front of her.
It was ultimate chaos. He had somehow killed the electricity. She
was sure of it. But her main worry was getting as far away from him
as she could.

People were screaming and heading toward the
emergency exits, the way lit by safety lights on the floor, but
even those began to flicker and die out. She crawled along the
filthy floor and was able to slide under the bar for the
handicapped seating.