The Girl With the Dandelion Ring

Chapter 9: Language, Benny

Chapter 9: Language, Benny

Alex enters the room, followed by the secretary, and freezes. Ben yanks me behind him, shielding my body with his and holding my right hand-the one carrying the ring-protectively. "Katherine," he holds a hand out in front of him cautiously. "Go back to the desk." I watch Katherine's eyes flick from their pale blue to an unnatural gold. My hand throbs again.

The pain I feel is only a fraction of its normal intensity, the fear coursing through my body cancels out the flames traveling through my veins and all I want to do is run. I want to turn, jump out the window, and run until my legs are screaming at me, then I want to run more. Run until I cannot breathe; run until I know I am safe from this burden. But the burden rests on my shaking hand and I'm unable to escape Ben's grip. He holds tightly to me as he faces off against Katherine, the evil secretary.

"Benny," she all but hisses out. "Are you hiding something from us?" Her eyes glance to me, they travel down my arm, settling on my covered hand. Her eyes go wide. "She's the one isn't she? I noticed something off about her when she came in. Magic is practically dripping off of her." Past the throbbing of my hand as my ring sends waves of what I am guessing to be magic through me, I find myself wondering what the connections are between her eyes and Rachel's both flicking to gold.

"Kathrine, it's not from her, I used a wish to heal her after she was caught in a car accident." My shaking stops. A wish... does that mean he knows about my wishes, and what I can do? Wait, that means he can make wishes too? My breath hitches in my throat and I look to Alex with fear running strongly through my veins. He stands, paralyzed, staring at Katherine's eyes in horror. His body leans against the arm of the couch that he had retreated to. "The magic reacted strangely to her body," Ben continues. "It sent her into a coma for two weeks instead of just healing her. Her body must have absorbed the magic and is reacting to ours."

"Oh please," she rolls her eyes as she steps forward, her black heels clacking on the wood. "You think you can fool me with that? I let you lie to us enough," my eye twitches as she refers to her mysterious 'us' again. "The Vas' power is much stronger than yours; a simple Imbellis like you could never hope to control that much magic." I have no clue what they are talking about, but Ben tenses even more. "I feel her ring responding to me, the Vas is trying to travel back home, why are you preventing her from achieving her destiny? " I want to speak out but my throat feels tight and I can barely breathe. I squeeze Ben's hand, his head slightly dips.

"She's not the Vas. I would have known. Do you really think that I'd be so disobedient to the Regina?"

"What is the Vas?" I hear myself ask. Every eye turns to me and a tense silence envelops the room. I gulp and Ben squeezes my hand before he starts to explain.

"The Vas is something from another world-or should I say another dimension-that holds the powers of the Regina, otherwise known as the Queen." Alex sinks onto the couch, trying to process everything.

"Wait," he comments. "How does the Queen-"

"The Regina, idiot." Katherine interrupts.

"Right, well, how does the Regina Idiot fit into any of this?" He asks with a small smirk laying on his face.

Katherine clenches her fists at her sides at his idiocy, but explains before Ben can. "She is the ruler of the fae, and you, my dear," her gaze swivels back to me. "Hold the gift of her powers. All you have to do is go to her and she will unlock them all."

My eyes narrow at her words, "And what does she want in return?"

She tsks at me, "I am only one of the Regina's soldiers. I have no right to speak of her desires, but I will assure you that you will be well rewarded if you comply."