The Protagonists

Chapter Nineteen - Joel

The boy, Joel, and the girl, Stacie, appeared abruptly at the Greengrass Library; they stood inside the Forbidden Section, where the many books were just waiting for them. Joel was bewildered, because he did not understand the "deal" Stacie had made with Oliver; she had told him that if he gave her Joel, she would take her home and give him Sam, yet she left the two boys in Cinderella rather than taking them home like she had promised. Before Joel could question it, however, she pushed him into a wooden chair, causing him to fall back onto it. "Iris's orders," Stacie whispered, waving her hand around like Iris did before. Joel then could not move; he was stuck on the chair, immobile.

"You don't have to do what she says," Joel pleaded, his mind begging him to move-no matter what his mind told him to do, his body just could not do it. "Please, Stacie, you don't have to listen to her."

Joel believed that Stacie, unlike Iris, was a good-hearted, considerate woman; he believed that everything she was doing at that moment was under the influence of Iris. "Please," he repeated, seeing a flash of contrition appear in her eyes, "you don't have to do this, Stacie."

"You don't understand, Joel," Stacie whispered, keeping her voice low. "Iris's orders are law. You have to do what she says or else she'll hurt you. I mean, I would rather die than have to deal with what Maya's dealing with, but-"

"Maya's dead though," Joel interrupted, confused yet again.

Stacie looked around her, as if Iris was nearby. She then leaned close to Joel's ear and whispered, "That is where you are wrong, Joel." Joel raised his eyebrows, not quite understanding; earlier that day, Iris made it clear that she had indeed killed Maya, her cousin. But then, Stacie was explaining to him that Maya was still alive. Before she could go into detail about the supposedly-living girl, Stacie fell to the floor suddenly, gasping for breath. Stacie tried to speak to Joel, badly wanting him to hear the truth about what truly happened to Maya Ella Rhodes, but she couldn't utter out a single world. "Stop it, Iris!" Joel cried, knowing who had caused the event.

"How did you know it was me?" Iris appeared out of nowhere, letting go of Stacie's neck. She fell on her chest, gasping for breath. "It wasn't that obvious, was it?" Iris observed Joel, smiling at his inability to move. "I was invisible, but you could still tell that I, Iris Rhodes, was indeed choking my best friend."

"She is your best friend, Iris!" Joel yelled, looking at the panting Stacie. Iris shrugged, not caring about Joel's yells. "Don't shrug like it doesn't matter!" He continued, finally capturing her attention. "Stacie is your best friend, yet you're over here abusing her! And for no apparent reason, as well!"

"Oh, there was a reason," Iris replied, interrupting Joel's rant. "I am the leader of the Intellectuals, Joel, meaning that I can know everything about the other Intellectuals. Stacie, here," she poked Stacie with her boot, "is an Intellectual, so when she bends down and whispers about my dead cousin, Maya, I can overhear!"

"So is she dead or not?" Joel questioned, very perplexed.

"Not only did you bring up Maya in a conversation that did not originally involve her," Iris turned to face Stacie, her face red with anger, "but you also lied to him, saying that my cousin, who is obviously dead, is alive. Wow, Stacie, that's really low." Stacie hung her head down low, acting ashamed; to Joel, however, she still remained confident about what she had said before.

"Why did you tell her to immobilize me?" Joel asked.

Iris rolled her eyes, annoyed by Joel's constant questioning. "You were getting close to a secret," she replied nonchalantly, "so I told Stacie that she needed to quickly get you out of there. I never told you to immobilize you; that was her decision, not mine. Man, Stacie just keeps lying to you, doesn't she?"