Little Green Stars

Chapter 53-Frying Pans are the Real Deal

When I found out the boy I was haunting was Jaxson's girlfriend's cousin, I figured things couldn't get any worse. When everyone heard Maverick yelling I sent him boob photos, I, again, figured things couldn't get any worse. When I discovered, just minutes ago, that Maeve cursed herself for me, I thought there was no way in hell things couldn't get any worse. But if I've learned anything over the past week, it's that things can always get much, much worse.

"It's time you take a little nap," Malcolm says, his shaking hands grabbing the gold chain and slowly raising it.

I'm cornered. Malcolm's in front of me, there's a shelf to my right, and if I run to my left, I'd just have to loop back around to the stairs, just past Malcolm. There's nothing I can hit him with, besides maybe old, dusty drapes. No hypothesis can save me this time, so as I see his sage stone swaying back and forth before my eyes, I do the only thing I can—I close my eyes.

The darkness of my mind takes over, and I see them—those little green stars. They float around in my mind, just as I remember them, always in the same pattern, precisely as they project from my nightlight. Does this mean it's working? Is Malcolm putting me to sleep? Will I now unwillingly rip my Grandfather's soul away?

"NOW!" A loud voice yells.

My eyes blare open as a giant bang echoes through the garage. Malcolm freezes for a second, surprise moving across his face before his eyes roll back and he drops, slamming into the ground.

"Oh my God, is he dead?!" A shrill voice yells, the sound of none other than Cece freaking Bundt.

Maverick, with a frying pan in hand, bends down to feel Malcolm's chest. "Naw, he's just passed out. I always thought it was unrealistic in the movies, but it turns out, frying pans are the real deal."

"Bundty! Maverick! What the..." I'm speechless.

I've never been happier to see either of them, even though I'm pretty sure I've never been happy to see either. Bundty shrugs a little, flipping her hair back as if trying to say your welcome in the snobbiest way possible.

"What are you doing here?"

"Jin texted me. Said he thought you might be in danger and he couldn't leave. Our Insta video worked. He's grounded." Maverick says, smugly.

I'm still in shock. My eyes keep moving from Malcolm passed out on the floor to Maverick casually, spinning a frying pan around.

"Wow...Thank you," I say, not knowing what else to say.

"Vel, let's get the hell out of here before he wakes up!" Bundty says, her voice filled with worry. "Should I call the police?"

"No..." I say, my mind overwhelmed with the possibilities. "Umm, give me your phone!"

Bundty takes out her phone and hands it to me.

"You have Jin on your Insta?"

"Yes."

"Okay, great..." My shaking hands open her Instagram app to search for Jin. As soon as I find his name, I DM him.

It's Vel. Things took a turn. I need your help!

I watch anxiously, waiting for his response.

"Vel, what should we do?" Bundty says. "This is serious. He's like really passed out!"

Maverick gives Malcolm's face a little nudge with his shoe, confirming that Malcolm is, in fact, out of it.

What would Jin do?! He'd find Maeve. "We need to find my sister. Malcolm's done something to her," I say as the idea hits me.

"He didn't kill her, did he?" Bundty says, her eyes filling with fear.

"Honestly, I don't know. We need to find her."

"Sounds like we need to get the hell out of here before this ass clown wakes up," Maverick says, heading towards the stairs.

Just then, Bundty's phone buzzes. My eyes quickly look to find a new DM from Jin.

Let me sneak out. Where should I meet u?

My house!

R u okay?

No...

"Maverick's right," Bundty says, reaching for my hand. "Was that Jin?"

"Yes! He's going to meet me at my house."

"Is that where you think Maeve is?"

"I don't know, but it's a good place to start," I say, my body shaking as I cautiously allow Bundty to take my hand.

"Hey," Bundty says in a soft voice I don't recognize. "It's going to be okay. We got you."

Although I don't feel like everything is going to be okay, I trust the calmness of her voice enough to nod and refocus my fear. Big Girl Panties. Big Girl Panties.

"Wait," I say as Bundty and I reach the stairs. I rush back to Malcolm and pry open his lifeless hand, grabbing the gold chain containing the sage stone."We definitely don't want him to have this when he wakes up." The stone and I head back to Bundty, and we all rush up the stairs and out of the basement.

"Here," Maverick says, leading the way once outside.

It's still dark, but I can see him leading me over to where the shadow of a car along the edge of the sidewalk.

"We need to go to my house. Jin's going to meet us there. Bundty, can you DM Jaxson and tell him we're coming, and ask if Maeve is there."

"Got it," Bundty asks as we slide into Maverick's car.

"It's just down the road, right?" Maverick says, as his car reves forward.

"Umm, yes, left here at the stop sign, go down Hamilton, then turn on Preston, and it's the last house on the right!"

I never thought I'd say this, but thank God for our small, podunk town where everyone lives within walking distance of everybody and everything. Within minutes, Maverick is pulling up to my house.

"Wait here!" I say, rushing out of his car before it can even stop. Bursting open the front door, I turn the living room light on and search desperately. "MAEVE ARE YOU HERE?! MAEVE!"

No response. I run down the hall, past the kitchen to her bedroom. It looks but her undistributed. Her bed is all tidy the way her anal-retentive ass always makes it. She's not here, and from the looks of it, she hasn't been all night.

"Vel!" Jaxson's voice calls.

I run back to the living room to find him at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as I see his damp little curls, I run to him, collapsing in his arms.

"What's wrong?! What's happening?!" He demands.

"Maeve..." I cry into his shoulders.

"What about Mom?!"

"I think something terrible has happened to her. We need to find her!"

Just then, another voice calls from the open doorway. "Ms. Shamrock, Mr. Shamrock?"

My watery eyes look up from Jaxson's chest to see none other than Mr. Freaking Hundrek standing, deer-eyed in the doorway.

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