Fairytales Aren't Perfect

Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN:

                Melody's short curls of blond touched her cheeks softly as she crouched behind the stands near the outside field of the school. Her arms, wrapped around her knees, provided little warmth against the agitated wind and the headache that was currently ripping through her head.  It was all too much, she supposed, having all these characters, that were supposed to be in her brain, all out in the open. God knows how many of them that she didn't know about were lurking in the woods!

No, she was scared. Scared out of her mind, which seems like an odd expression since what she did fear was in her mind, or at least it had been. In all honesty, it was all so confusing. One moment being this girl that no one cared two inches about and now, now she had friends. In retrospect, that had been exactly why she had created them, as her friends.

The grim fact was there though, that she knew that somewhere out in the woods that kept her small town away from much else, was something that was bad. Worse probably than she knew. She had already tried consulting with one of her notebooks in her locker which she often wrote little side notes of stories in, new characters, but it was missing, and knowing it was gone did not bid well in the pit of her stomach. Something was lurking out there, something evil, and Melody knew that in her stories, she had yet to vanquish it.

"Mel? What are you doing over here? Are you okay you look kind of pale?" A soft female voice, that she recognized as Jez poked gently at her shoulder.

"I'm fine, just a little headache." Melody managed to answer, though it didn't feel quite right, something didn't feel quite right.

Her friend patted her shoulder with a smooth, olive toned hand, a small white ring on her right index finger.  The sudden flash had caught Melody's blue gaze and the faint tug at her mind she knew that she had made this ring. Or her mind had.

"Jez, where did you get that?" She pointed at the ring and watched as mild surprise and curiosity flashed across her best friends face. Melody was startled, as it appeared Jez was, but then, it washed away and was replaced by a dopey smile. A smile that reminded Melody a lot of when her mother was drunk and had sat in a pile of her father’s old clothes all night before she had found her.

"Mase gave it to me," She said contently, almost an airy sound as she touched the flash surface of the opal. Melody blinked, she swore she had seen something move underneath the smooth surface. The bad feeling was returning.

Levelly, she searched her friends face before she looked directly into those doe grey eyes. Slowly, as if talking to a child, Melody asked, "Jez, who exactly is Mason?"

The look in her eyes returned; the flash of uncertainty. Melody's eyes flashed down to the ring and it spewed a dark red color before it returned beneath the surface of the white gem. At the pace of a turtle, Melody returned her gaze to Jez' and it was as airy as it had been a few moments ago. Something was wrong, and Melody had a feeling her best friend had been tricked into something that had none to pleasant of an end result.

"Mason is the sweetest guy I’ve ever met," Jez said dreamily, staring at the space above Melody's head. "He'd never do what Ian did to you."

The air got caught in her throat as she stared at Jez' dark olive tone skin. Her thick curls were in a ponytail and the wind blew by and stirred them, making Melody shiver unpleasantly.

"Listen to me Jez, whoever this Mason guy is, it isn't good. You have to trust me."

Jez laughed lightly, meeting Melody's anxious gaze with her own empty grey ones. "He told me you'd say that. He also told me you're a liar. A huge fat liar. But that's okay," she patted Melody's hand, "You'll get what's coming for you."