STATIC; JR [2]

5.2

Sam and I had made it to Felix's place before any of the others, and we were lucky enough to have had Oscar let us in. We briefly filled him in on what was going on, told him about the spell not working the way Felix thought it was supposed to, and about Saskia being a water element and harbouring magical powers.

Felix arrived a few minutes later and began pacing around the surface of his bedroom floor. His room was dark and... Gothic. Just like I expected. I was surprised to see he had an old couch up against the wall beneath the window, and so Sam and I sat down while we waited for Felix to debrief on the events of today.

"I just don't understand why the water disappeared." He said bluntly, chewing on his thumb nail absentmindedly. I looked to Oscar who sat in his wheelchair beside Felix's messy desk. He pursed his lips when he saw me glance at him and then threw his head back, smiling slightly at me.

"Let's just face it, the spell was a bust." Sam groaned, kicking his feet up onto the small coffee table in front of the brown couch. "Just like Mia and I." He added, sadness taking over his features. He rubbed his forehead, bits of brunet hair peeking out from beneath the yellow cap he was wearing. Then, as if he had sourced an idea, he perked up in his seat. "What if you could cast a spell to make her change her mind about me?" He questioned, excitement filling his eyes.

Felix shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows at the boy's notion. "It doesn't work like that." He spoke, the words tumbling from his lips coarsely.

Sam leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees expectantly. "You owe me!" He said to Felix, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Everything was fine until you made us disappear into the other universe."

Felix only stared at him, seeming to have analysed some sort of double meaning to Sam's words. "Maybe that's it!" He exclaimed, eyes quickly flying to me. "The water was supposed to show us Andy, but maybe there was nothing to show because he's not here."

Sam scoffed, slouching back into the old couch. "Obviously. That's why we're looking for him."

I placed my hand on his knee, essentially quieting him as I caught onto Felix's magical concept. "Andy's in the other universe." I finished for the boy, now causing Sam to understand what was trying to be said.

"Oh, yeah." He said, a smile gracing his pink lips. "That's where Ellen liked him and where he was freakishly popular!"

"He could have used magic to go back there." Felix added, staring off into the distance as Oscar slapped a hand onto the arm of his wheelchair; an idea had sparked.

"You could go back, too!" He shouted, pointing at us all. "With the new element."

Sam scowled at the younger boy and grumbled a reply. "That is the worst thing I have ever heard anyone say. What if the demon is waiting for us?" He demanded, pushing forward in his seat once again.

Oscar didn't back down, throwing his hands in the air as he spoke. "What if the demon has Andy?"

He was met with silence and we were met with the crushing realisation that he might be right. Andy could be in extreme danger, and we couldn't even figure out where he was to even try to get him back.

"We need to find Jake and Saskia." Sam finalised, each boy glancing at me through hooded eyes.