Too Late To Save Time

Escape To Another Familiar Face

I had reached the end of school, in tears, and furious, when I finally realized I could get away alone.

So I teleported to that serene little place by the creek where I had rested on the way to the academy.

I broke down right then and there, the angry, silent tears turning into loud sobs that wracked my entire body. From the pain in my face to the pain in my heart it was all, just all too much.

Falling to the floor and curling up, I whimpered until my tears receded and my head throbbed with the pain of such a breakdown. Hesitantly, with shaky fingers, I touched the water in the creek, dipping my fingers into the cold liquid.

"Cry me a river, cry me a river-er." I sang with a small smile, splashing the water away from me. Stealing a quick glance around, I took off my stockings, shoes, skirt, and jacket. Clad in only my boyshorts and a blouse, I stepped into the creek and let the tears run down my face as I spun in circles in the water and laughed, throwing my hands up into the air.

"You were my sun, you were my earth, you didn't know all the ways that I loved you, no." I sang, swinging side to side from the flowing water. I threw back my body and swam against the current on my back, not really moving though.

"So you took a chance, and made other plans, But I bet you didn't think that they would come crashing down, no." I sang loudly. A drop of water splattered against my cheekbone, and I squeezed my eyes against the surprise attack. More rain fell from the sky as I sang the song. I ended up yelling it out to the forest whilst a storm came crashing down on me, the rain blended in with my tears and cooled my face.

"Wow." Came a voice. Solemn, serious. All the details in the forest sharpened as I sought out the owner of the voice. "You won't find me. You never do." The voice said again. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. "You can't scent me, the rain is drowning it out." According to my usually accurate hearing, the person was to the left, behind the tree I had been leaning against.

I dragged myself out of the creek and walked towards the tree, and, sure enough, a boy with reddish chestnut curls was leaning against it, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Who are you?" I asked hesitantly, tucking a strand of wet hair behind my ear.

"Aww, you mean you don't know the person from your dreams?" He cooed, looking up at me with a smile. I shook my head.

"You can't be Devon. Devon died when we were four." I said, but his eyes insisted tha he was, in fact, Alex's twin brother.

"In the flesh, and guess what? Since I'm Alex's twin, I get a connection with you as well, Princess." I rolled my eyes at his nickname. Alex had given me Queen, so Devon used Princess.

"What is with you two and the whole 'I'm royalty' thing." I retorted, rolling my eyes again with a smile.

"Well, for Alex, you're the queen and he's King. But for me, you're the princess and I'm your Prince, which is so much better." Devon stated. I laughed. Even when we were four Devon was flirty. He cracked a grin.

"What are you doing out here, and why do I have some sort of vision of my two favorite boys right before I meet them?" I asked.

"Well, the vision is a Soul thing. I could see it in you. You were always too good at hide and seek. But I was better." He reminded. I pouted.

"You ran back inside and hid away in the food and cleaning cabinets. It was hard to distinguish your scent! Anyway, what are you doing here?!" I pressed, giving him a slight shove.

"Oh, you know, wandering around, staying near Alex but not daring to go too close to a, a, school." Devon gagged. I rolled my eyes....again.

"Stop being a Drama Prince. School isn't that bad, and from what I remember, you couldn't wait when you were four." I said, nudging him.

"Drama Prince...huh..." Devon replied thoughtfully, but then shook his head. "I can't go to the same school as Alex because we're twins and believe it or not, twin all-talent boys matching the description of the same twins who broke from a top prison are very suspicious. I still do love school, but I do independant study." He shrugged.

"What'd you get in for?" I asked.

"You know most people would run away and call the cops as soon as they heard I broke out from prison, but not you. I got in for underage misuse of magic. I put a lot of enchantments on random things. And froze time a lot. Apparantly four year olds aren't even allowed to use magic. So the free-willy overuse was a little frustrating for officials, and they sent me home for discipline. But, upset that I was ripped away from my brother and my Princess, I started burning stuff down and causing hurricanes. That's when I was stuck into juvie. Broke out of there, and in a fit of anger I accidentally used Dark Magic. Well, that was enough for them to put me into magic-repelling -and-draining, heavily guarded prison for Darker Forces Users. Alex used the evil stuff when he was trying to break free and get back to you." Devon said.

"What exactly...." I trailed off. Devon put his hand to my throat and I felt my mind go frozen-time, my heart insides go all electrocuted, my energy sucked away like if Dawn was draining me, my feet sink into the ground as if Miranda was pulling me into the earth, my feelings rise in hopelessness and despair, and my lungs fill with liquid. As soon as he pulled away I dropped to my knees, coughing up water and fighting to keep myself awake.

"All-talents are the only fae who can use Dark Magic. It's a combination of all types to inflict maximum damage to anyone. What I used on you was the lightest I could go, and you still could've died. Imagine me and Alex, fifth and fourth graders, going all-out using the stuff on accident just to get away. The prison had padded cells." Devon said. I spluttered up more water and he crouched down. "Hey, I'm sorry. Just my nature. Here, lie down." He said gently. His voice was like a river, cool and soothing. A soft laugh escaped him. "Thanks. Don't move and don't cough or breathe." Devon steadily worked the water out of my lungs, and I ended up feeling lightheaded from not breathing or coughing.

"Don't ever do that again." I rasped, crawling towards the creek.

"So you're sticking around?" Devon asked, his voice filled with confusion.

"Yeah. Stuff sucks at school. But I'm not explaining now." I replied, taking a drink from the creek. "Maybe later."