Fairy Bad Day(66)

“I know,” he agreed in a solemn voice. “Though I’ve started to discover that the more time I spend with you, the more I expect weird things to happen.”

“Thanks . . . I think,” Emma said as she reluctantly stepped away from him and held the pendant up again, still looking for the soul box. It didn’t seem to be there and she was just about to head back out to the kitchen again when she realized that Curtis was heading in the other direction, straight toward the far wall, as if the whole swirling black void of nothingness wasn’t even there.

“Curtis, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” He took another step forward and Emma screamed as the void suddenly burst open and hundreds of tendrils of smoke began to slowly reach out and snake and coil their way around his plaster cast like ivy up a wall. Emma rushed toward him and grabbed his arm.

Whatever the smoky vines were, they were strong, and as she tried to pull him away, they continued to writhe and wind their way up his leg. Emma felt herself straining with the effort of fighting the void. But finally, the resistance disappeared and they went tumbling back onto the freezer’s floor. Emma groaned on impact and rolled to the side to see if Curtis was okay. His face was leached of color, his brown eyes filled with confusion.

“Jeez, are you okay? What just happened?” she demanded.

“I’m not sure.” He rubbed his eyes and pulled himself into a sitting position. “One minute I was just walking, and the next minute, I felt... I felt like I had just stepped into hell.”

“That’s because you did step into hell.” Emma stared at him, still not quite sure what was going on. “You didn’t see it?”

“See what?” His gorgeous face was etched with alarm. “Jones, what are you talking about?”

“The Gate of Linaria. The evil fingers of death that were trying to grab you and pull you in. How could you not see it?” For a moment Emma just stared at him before she felt a stab of panic go racing through her.

Curtis didn’t answer. Instead he pulled the ugly white sunglasses back onto the bridge of his nose and peered over to the far wall. Then, as if he were seeing the gate for the very first time, his face paled and his jaw clenched.

“Seriously, you’re acting very weird.” Emma tried to study his face. “Why did you put your glasses back on? I don’t understand.”

For a moment Curtis was silent; then he pushed the glasses back onto his head and let out a sigh. “You’re so smart. I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out already,” he said, his voice dull and laced with bitterness.

“Figure what out?” she asked, confused.

“That I’m sight-blind.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR





What?” Emma stared at him blankly, waiting for the punch line, but when it didn’t come she folded her arms. “Come on, Curtis, stop messing with me and tell me what’s really going on.”

He didn’t look at her as he stated matter-of-factly, “I’m serious. I’m sight-blind. Plain and simple. Without these glasses I can’t see a thing.”

Emma shook her head in confusion. “No,” she insisted as she scrambled to her feet and watched him awkwardly get up and retrieve his crutches. “Those glasses were only to help you see Unseen dragons. And fairies. You told me yourself.”

He shrugged. “I lied to you. Yes, with them I can see dragons—and fairies. But without them, I can’t see anything.”

“I don’t understand. You go to Burtonwood Academy. It’s sort of required to be able to know when there are paranormal creatures around.”

“Oh, I know when they’re around. I can hear them. Smell them. Feel when they’re in the room. I can even fight them. Only problem is, I can’t see them.” As he spoke, his face was a mask that Emma found impossible to read. There was no easy smile, no chocolate eyes. Just planes and angles and grimness.

“So how did you even get into Burtonwood in the first place?”

Curtis sighed. “I told you that my dad isn’t really a fan. Well, this one time I could feel that there was something at the beach. I mean, something really bad, so I tried to tell him not to let my younger brother go surfing. I begged and begged but my dad thought I was just being obnoxious. So he grounded me and let my brother go with his friends to the beach.”

Emma gasped. “An aquafile?” she asked, since that was the most common kraken that hunted surfers.

“Yeah, I later figured out it must’ve been.” His voice was almost devoid of emotion.

“So what happened?” She felt the color drain from her face while hardly daring to listen to the answer.

“I climbed out my bedroom window and rode my bike there, but by the time I arrived it was too late and my brother and two other kids were being dragged under the waves having the life sucked out of them. I couldn’t see it but I just knew the aquafile was there and so I grabbed the scissors that I’d brought with me and jumped into the water. The thing was so bloated from what it had just done that I guess I got lucky and managed to strike a killing blow because suddenly the sense of evil I could feel was gone. I dragged the bodies onto the beach but it was too late.”

“Curtis,” Emma whispered as she instinctively reached out and gently touched his hand. “I had no idea. So is that when you decided to come to Burtonwood?”