COVER

THE CRYSTAL

 

By Jones M (@ohmyjones on Bookrix and Wattpad)

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

Hi, everyone! So, this is my book.

Kindly refrain from copying the plot or else you’ll hear from the authorities.

Also, this book may be a bit fanfic since it has Selena Gomez in it.

Also, it is all fiction. I personally do not hate any celebrity in this book. In fact, I love them.

Anyone bearing the names of characters in this book should know that it is all coincidental.

 

Moreover, this book is rated R for mature situations, i.e short descriptions of sexual arousal, few scenes of violence and a couple of cuss words. This book may also cause angst towards the end.

 

Anyway, enjoy!

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 

CHAPTER 01

 

Emery's P.O.V

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be--!

I stretched out my hand, reaching for the damned annoying alarm clock and turning it off. I groaned as I continued to lie on the bed, slowly waking up to gain enough energy to get up. After a while, I got up and sat on the bed.

My eyes blinked as they slowly tried to accommodate the view of my surroundings. I soon found myself staring at one of the plain navy blue walls of my room that was partially filled with sticky notes about school stuff. A yawn escaped my lips as I slowly got up from my bed.

Ruffling my bed hair, I turned to face my bed. With a bored look, I used my telekinesis powers to remake my bed. The sheets lifted themselves as they rearranged and smoothened on the bed. In a few seconds, the bed looked as good as new. I soon walked out of my room and into the bathroom to get ready for the day. 

My name is Emery Davis, and I am a 17-year-old witch. That is not something that I usually share with people around me, especially because the reaction will always be negative. I did so and used my powers once when I was in middle school. 

Let's just say the school had a pizza shower in class and my mom was utterly pissed.

I live in a quaint little home in Louisiana with my mother. She too is a witch. It had always been the two of us ever since my father passed away when I was twelve. We took it pretty hard, but we had each other. In time, we managed to move on. My father's death was caused by a huge threat to all witches. Her name was Eva, and I would rather not talk about the woman who resembles the devil. The good thing is that she ended up in a black hole which leads to probably an endless void of darkness.

After I was done showering and fully dressed for school, I began making my way down the stairs to the kitchen. I heard movement, indicating that my mother was awake.

"Good mor—" I was interrupted when I skipped a stair and felt the world tilt around me. I closed my eyes, awaiting the agony I would experience when I would tumble down the stairs. However, I felt nothing. I slowly opened my eyes, and they widened in shock. My world was slightly tilted, not the way I commonly saw it. I looked down and realized that my face was a few centimeters from colliding with a stair. I immediately felt scared.

"Mom!" I called out. I heard her rushed footsteps as she exited the kitchen and came to me. A sudden sound of glass shattering echoed through the room as her footsteps ceased before she continued her approach towards me.

"Honey, are you okay?" her worried voice carried through the air as she helped me regain my footing.

"I'm okay," I said with a sigh once I safely planted my feet on the ground.

"What happened?" my mom's brown eyes searched mine with her worry lines barely leaving her face.

"I don't know," I replied. "In one moment, I was walking down the stairs. In the next, I tripped and almost fell."

A look of confusion etched on my mother's face. She stretched out her hand to tug at some strands of her blond hair. It was a common thing she did when she tried to understand something.

"You were levitating!" she said with a smile. I looked at her with a look that screamed 'what?'.

"Is this a regular thing for a witch to do?" I inquired. 

"No, it is not. If my memory serves me correct, it was your father who could levitate..." she said with a smile as her eyes fixed on something away from me. Her smile then turned into a frown.

"...and Eva."

Way to bring down the mood, mother.

She shook her head and changed the subject.

"Time for breakfast. Hurry now before you are late for school."

My mother and I proceeded to the dining room. After finishing our breakfast, we walked out of the house. We got in her gray car, and she started our drive to my school. My heart thudded as I suddenly felt anxious. I tried my best to block the feeling.

"Honey, what is that on your hand?" my mother asked. I looked down at my left hand, the one she was currently pointing at, and momentarily froze. There was a small fresh cut on the wrist.

"It's nothing," I said with a fake comforting smile as I tugged at the shirt sleeve to cover the cut. "I accidentally cut myself with my locker yesterday when I was rushing out of school."

She nodded her head, instantly dropping the subject. I was glad she did because I was not looking forward to explaining what had really happened. 

We soon arrived at the school parking lot. Other students like me were either milling around or were walking towards the school entrance. Some looked at me with an emotion I could distinguish as pity, but my mother didn't notice.

"Have a good day, sweetie," she said as I got out of the car.

"You too, mom. Love you," I replied with a smile.

"Love you, too," she said as she drove off. The smile I had worn instantly dropped as if it weighed a ton. My gaze turned towards the horrendous building called 'school'. I started my approach towards the entrance. I tried taking deep breaths to avoid having a nervous breakdown. 

As I got in the school hallway, the atmosphere changed. Everyone began to back off, giving me space to frolic around if I wanted. Unfortunately for me, that was not the case.

My feet stopped suddenly as my eyes zeroed in on my living and breathing nightmares. They went by the names of Harry, Ethan, Liam, Logan and Zane. They were the cause of the fresh cut on my hand. They were the ones who made me dread coming to school in the first place. 

Scratch that; they made me scared of school. 

The five of them had been tormenting me ever since I enrolled. It also didn't help the matter that they were boys, all five of them. I would have liked to think that they all came from problematic families. But all five of them? That was highly unlikely.

People tried to help me, but it was futile. They ended up with beatings that almost killed them. The boys didn't care who they hit, except if they were girls. They would just threaten them and scare them away even though they wouldn't act on their threats. 

It was ironic that they didn't hit a girl and I was a girl! 

To summarize my point, nobody could stop the five from doing what they wanted. Lucky were the rest of the school population, for they were safe. I was the damned bullies' punching bag. Because of them, I never had any friends and was made an outcast.

"Hey bitch!" my mind was instantly brought back to the present. My eyes focused on a figure with dark brown curls and golden-green eyes. Harry was the leader of the group. His posse was right behind him, sending me cocky smirks. It was sad that he and the rest of the boys were handsome and European. From what I heard, their families had moved to America for unknown reasons. I would have been crushing on the boys, but seeing the current circumstances, I did not see that happening anytime soon.

I went to move away from them, but Harry backed me to the locker. He went to deliver a blow to my face, but the bell suddenly rang. I was glad that it had. It saved me from an unwanted early morning beating. Harry stopped the fist from connecting with my face. He looked at me with so much anger, reminding me of the fear I felt around him. My hand itched to form a fireball, but I simmered down the angry witch that wanted to fry the boys in front of everyone. 

I wondered how I would explain that to the police.

"Don't be so smug, bitch," Harry said before delivering a punch to my stomach. I doubled over, my stomach threatening to heave out the breakfast I had not more than an hour ago.

"Consider that a prelude of what would happen today," he said with an evil smirk as he and his gang left me. I grasped my knees, hunching my form as I tried to take in deep breaths to control the urge to puke.  It took a while, and twenty minutes later, I found myself approaching my History class. It was a good thing that the teacher was not in yet. It was also a good thing that I didn't share the class with any of my bullies. 

I, unfortunately, had the displeasure of sharing two classes with them.

I made my way to my usual seat in the class despite the pain in my stomach. I tried to relax my breathing and to hold onto the meal that threatened to leave my system as puke. I closed my eyes in an attempt to soothe the pain that I felt. No sooner had I closed my eyes than the teacher walked into the class.

"Good morning, class. We have a test today," our teacher said. Some people and I groaned in response. Five minutes later, everyone was quiet as they answered the questions on the test pamphlets. I looked over the questions on the paper, and I was confident I could ace the test.

Ever since my father passed away, everything had gone to hell in the financial department. Both my mom and dad used to work to support the family. Since it was currently my mom who provided for the both of us, we had to be cautious about our spending. My mother told me that my dad did not leave anything for us, so my mom had to work a lot of shifts, and she usually came home late. I tried to help wherever I could, but she always told me to focus on my studies. I was planning to go to Princeton after high school so that I could start life afresh with no bullies and I could get a job to help my mom. Apart from studying hard to get A's, I had to maintain a perfect school record. That meant that I had to be a perfect schoolgirl, even if that included going through the hell I persevered with my bullies.

The bell soon rang.

"Time's up!" the teacher yelled as he stood up and began collecting our pamphlets. I got out of the class to head to my next one. I did not share the following class and the others that followed with my bullies, so I was safe.

Hours later, lunch was soon about to end. After eating alone in the back of the school cafeteria, I headed to my locker and took out my English book. The locker suddenly slammed shut, almost cutting my fingers off. I jumped as a reaction, my eyes quickly zeroing on Liam's evil stare. I looked around, noticing he wasn't with his posse.

"Hey, bitch. Missed me?" my eyes turned to focus on the floor. I could feel the students who were getting their books from their lockers stopping to observe. No one could have helped me, not even the teachers. 

I had tried to tell the teachers about what Liam and his gang were doing to me, but I had no proof. No one in the school was confident enough to go against the five and to support me. So that left five people against one. 

Who would have believed me?

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" my head snapped up to face Liam with my eyes widened when he shouted. That got the attention of everyone who was moving about in the hallway. They all stopped to look.

"Please don't hurt me," I said. That was my usual reply. He laughed before punching me in the gut. I dropped to my knees while people around us gasped. My hands clutched my stomach. The lunch I had just ingested escaped my lips and landed on Liam's shoes as vomit.

People around us made disgusted sounds as I continued to hurl loudly on his shoes. When I was done, I felt disgusted by what I had done. 

"You slut! Do you know how much these shoes cost me? Clean them up!" Liam ordered. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I started to get up, but he clutched my hair.

"Where do you think you are going?" he spat. Pain started radiating in my skull. He was using too much force on my hair. If he continued, I was certain some of it would come off. Tears threatened to escape my eyes, but I blinked them away.

"I-I'm g-going to get the mop and water," I stuttered.

"No, you're not. You're going to lick them, like a bitch!"

My eyes widened in disbelief. Time stood still as people waited for my answer.

"No," I said.

It took him some time to process what I said before his eyes widened in shock.

"What did you say?" he asked as if waiting for me to change my answer.

"I said no, Liam!" I shouted. His expression turned into one of anger. He went to say something, but I cut him off. "I will not lick off the vomit just because you said so. You were the one who punched me in the gut! As for your shoes, I could care less about how they look. You can stick them right up your ass!" I shouted before swiftly walking to the girls' bathroom. Some people gasped as they all watched my infuriated form match away from the scene. 

When I got in the bathroom, I washed my face and my mouth to get rid of any signs of vomit. After a while of staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, what I had done suddenly smacked me in the face. 

I stood up to Liam. 

Instead of feeling happy, I felt fear tug at my heart. He was definitely going to tell Harry and the rest. And they would make sure I paid for it.

What have I done?

 

***********************************************************************************************

It was soon the last lesson of the day. As the teacher droned on and on about organic chemistry, my mind was elsewhere. The fear of what Liam would do was still flowing through my veins. After the puking incident, he didn't bother me. I shared afternoon classes with some of his friends, and they did nothing. If I knew anything, it was that Harry and Liam never backed out on exacting revenge. They must have been planning something awful because neither he nor Liam bothered to bully me on my way to my last classes.

The bell rang, indicating that school was over. My head turned sideways, searching for any sign of Harry and his gang. Seeing that they weren't around, I quickly packed the stuff I needed for the night and hightailed it out of school. My mother was too busy to pick me up after school on that day. It was okay because I was not looking forward to waiting for her when Harry and his minions were after me.

I was running away from the school. I saw some curious looks thrown my way, but I paid no attention to them. I wanted to reach home soon before Harry and his goonies found out where I lived.

Unfortunately, I did not reach that far. I soon tripped on something and fell face first onto the ground. My nose had broken on impact, and a pained scream escaped my lips. I heard a group of people laugh as they approached my form. It did not take me long to realize it was the bullies. 

B-but how?

"You didn't think I would let you get away with it, did you?" I heard Liam whisper next to my ear. A hand reached for my hair, making my form tense. I screamed as the person grabbed it and used it to force me to stand. For a moment, I thought I saw some white stars dance across my vision.

"Let me go you sick psychotic bitch!" I yelled out in anger, and as a result, I received a punch on my nose. If possible, my nose broke again. There was a moment of dizziness as pain spread across my face. I soon felt blood ooze down my nostrils.

"Wow! I like this kind of Emery. She puts the excitement in what we're about to do next. What brought this up?" Zane said as he dragged me by the hair towards him and clenched his other hand around my throat. I couldn't speak because his hold was strong. In a matter of seconds, I found it hard to breathe as white stars started dancing across my vision again.

"Zane, you're choking her!" Ethan said. His hands released my throat, and I started coughing on air.

"Maybe it's because I am done being your punchbag." I spat. 

I sometimes did that. I would try to fight, but they would break my resolve. Then I'd fight, and they would break me. It went on and on, until on that day. I decided then to use my powers since I knew what they had in store for me would be awful.

For a moment, I wished I had dealt with the five before it became such a problem.

I tried to use my telekinesis powers, but they didn't work. I tried again, but they still didn't work. I reached out my right hand as I tried to summon a fireball in my palm, but it also didn't work.

"What are you doing?" Logan asked, and I instantly began to panic. My powers were not working! 

What was happening? 

The new power I had discovered—well, it was still new. I had to learn how to control it.

"We are not done with you until we say so!" Liam said before delivering a slap on my face. My head turned to face him, and I sent him a glare. Behind the glare, I was scared. Of all the moments I wanted to use my powers, they chose that day not to work. My mind started running with thoughts.

"What if your families happen to find out?" I threatened them, which happened to be a bad idea. In an instant, a punch was delivered near my head. It throbbed on impact, and I felt a bruise forming. I doubt I would be able to cover that up. Then another hit was delivered, making me pass out.

***********************************************************************************************

By the time I came around, I found myself staring at the sky. It was already night as evidenced by the stars. I looked around, but my eyes were still weary. Sudden pain throbbed at a side of my head.

"Ow," I groaned as I held my head. I felt something wet on it. I retracted my fingers from it. It took me a while, and I was able to make out something red. My eyes widened in disbelief.

What did those idiots use to hit me? Were they insane?

I also felt a painful throb on my right cheek. I could have sworn someone had broken a few teeth. Fear gripped my heart on how I would explain to my mother the current events.

My mother!

"She's awake," I heard Ethan's voice. Fear quickly swarmed around my heart. I heard footsteps approaching, and then the five boys came into view. What really had me frightened were the metal rods they held. The rods were brown and about half their heights, and they were about a water pipe thick. 

I started to back away from them, only to end up with my back against a tree.

"You have been a bad girl, Emery," began Harry. "You puked on Liam's shoes, and he ordered you to lick the mess, but you didn't. You even told him to stick them up in his derriere. Then when school was over, you threatened to tell our families about us. I don't know Emery, but I believe you need to be punished."

My heart thudded in my chest, threatening to explode out of my chest. There was nothing else on my mind apart from the worry mixed with the phobia of what would happen to me. Liam and Ethan suddenly grabbed my arms and dragged me past the tree. I landed on my back with my head still aching. I turned around to show them my back as blood oozed out my nose.

I tried to use my powers, but they didn't work. Nothing mattered then than escaping from the people in front of me. If possible, I could go to a nearby police station and report them for physical abuse.

"This will teach you not to run your mouth off," I swear my heart stopped beating at Ethan's statement, and it resumed pounding at a faster pace. Suddenly, I felt pain spread across my back as something hard hit it.

A scream tore from my lips and echoed into the silent night. I tried crawling away, but hands grasped my feet, dragging me backward. Soon, my bullies continued their beating. The second one came in a flash, possibly breaking my shoulder. I twisted and turned as the hits kept on coming. They landed on my back and the back of my legs. Due to the pain that I felt, I turned to lie on my back. I wanted to alleviate the pain I felt. 

Big mistake.

The hits came directly onto my front.

"STOP! PLEASE!" I cried out, but that intensified the whipping. In the background, I could hear the boys cheering themselves and laughing. The rods hit my arms, my stomach, my thighs, my legs, and unexpectedly, my face. I writhed on the ground in pain, surprised that I was not dead yet. I couldn't decipher how long it took, but I stopped struggling. The pain that I felt stopped, and I felt numb all over. I looked up, seeing the boys still hitting me. I was surprised that I felt nothing. It made me wonder if that was how dying felt like. 

I couldn't say anything as I slowly blinked my eyes. My bullies were standing near each other, and I could spot a frightened Ethan staring at me. Logan shared the same expression as him. That was the last thing I witnessed before my world started to darken.

 

***********************************************************************************************

Beep... Beep... Beep...

My eyes fluttered open, and all I saw was white. I blinked them rapidly, and they slowly adjusted to my surroundings. The white I saw were lights on a ceiling. I looked around, noticing pale-blue walls around me. There was a white panel door a couple of feet in front of me that was closed. On its right was a large area covered with blue curtains. 

I tried to shift, feeling sheets on my fingers. I realized that I was on a bed. I turned my head to my right and saw a wooden chair next to my bed. Then I turned to face my left. The beeping sound was the heart rate monitor. 

It then dawned on me that I was in a hospital.

Chills ran up and down my spine as the memory of what had occurred came to me and brought on a slight headache. I looked at my hands, and I gasped in horror. I observed the damage and was rendered speechless. There was an IV tube stitched inside my right wrist. I had medical gauze wrapped not only from my shoulder to my hand on each arm but also around my torso and my legs. 

That explained why I found it constricting to move. 

I was curious about how awful I looked, and so I cast a mirror spell. Milliseconds later, I found myself staring at my reflection.

Medical gauze was wrapped around the top of my head and the bottom half of my face. A nasogastric tube was placed in my nose. I partially resembled a mummy. I took a moment to take a good look at myself before I broke down in tears. 

My heart was filled with anguish and hatred because of the bullies. I couldn't believe they took it that far. They had the nerve to hit me until I became unrecognizable! Knowing them, they were probably celebrating about showing me who the boss was. I was so angry that I considered becoming an evil witch.

I was a witch!

Why didn't my powers work? Why didn't they, and on a day that I needed them? My heart thudded as anger like I had never felt before filled my heart. The lights began flickering on and off, and my heart rate monitor increased the beeping rate. The wind started to blow in my room like a small tornado had started to form. 

Glad to know my powers were back. Traitors.

That attracted someone's attention. They came inside and I was shocked to see who it was. Immediately, my emotions ceased, stopping the beginning of chaos that could have occurred in the room. 

It was my mother. She approached my form and sat on the space left on my hospital bed, making sure she didn't injure me. I looked horrible, and I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide away from the world. I did not want my own mother to see me the way I currently was, but then what can one do when their body is mostly wrapped in medical gauze?

"I spoke to the doctor," she said as her eyes traveled across my form. She didn't greet me like she usually would, and I was worried. "You surprisingly have a few broken bones but a lot of bruising on your arms and legs. Your nose was broken. They had to operate on it and give you a nose job."

If my mouth wasn't closed around the gauze, I would have gasped.

"Apart from those, you had wounds over your head that gave you a concussion. If it had been worse, you could have died." A gasp had escaped her lips before she started sobbing.

I remained silent. I tried to feel nothing, but my eyes betrayed me by allowing tears to roll down my face.

"Oh, honey," she said before carefully wrapping her arms around me. "Everything is going to be alright." We stayed in that position as I sobbed on her shoulder. The sound was muffled because of the gauze wrapped around my jaw. Some moments later, when I had calmed down, she asked the dreaded question.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" I looked at her, and her eyes bore into mine. My mouth opened as a lie automatically started to form in my head, but then I remembered the gauze. 

"You will have to tell me at some point," she stated as if she was reading my mind. She muttered a spell that instantly made a mental connection between us. I stopped and thought about it. If I were to lie, wouldn't Harry and his goons do something worse that would probably end up with me killed? I felt an immediate satisfaction of that thought because it meant that they would be jailed. But then, I couldn't put my mother through all that. I had no option but to tell her.

"Harry, Ethan, Zane, Liam and Logan did this to me, mom," I confessed through the mind link. Her eyes squinted in confusion at the names I mentally spurted out. I realized she didn't know who they were. Nonetheless, I continued.

"I got to the same school with them. Mom, they have been bullying me for a long time now. It started two years ago."

I watched as her mouth flew open and her eyes widened.

"What?"

"I am sorry for not telling you anything. I just didn't want to bother you. What with the jobs you do, and dad's passing..."

"Emery—" she started, but I cut her off.

"Don't start, mother. I know you have supposedly moved on, but you don't last a day without bringing him up. Like today!"

She kept quiet. She looked away from me for a moment before staring back at me. Through the mind link, I felt her emotions. She was uneasy like she was afraid of telling me something.

"How long have I been here?" I asked. Her eyes soon brimmed with tears.

Oh no, I thought, forgetting that my mother could hear my thoughts.

"A month." I was frozen for a moment as the information sank in, threatening to rip me apart. 

What?

My mother started to rub my back soothingly.

"Everything will be alright," she said in hopes of changing the subject.

"How can it, mom? Look at me! I look like a burn victim! I have been hospitalized for a month! I missed a whole month of school!" I shouted through the mind link.

"No need to yell at me! You should have told me in the first place!" she exploded. "I understand your need to take care of me, Emery, but I am your mother. I am supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around."

Tears started to brim in my eyes. She sighed in exhaustion.

"We could have dealt with it the moment it started! Emery, bullying is not a joke. But in this case, it is downright physical abuse! You should have at least used your powers."

"It couldn't have happened, mom! I was afraid for my school record. Also, if it were only one, then I would have cast a spell to make it stop. But they were five, and I never found a situation where I was alone with any one of them. I could not risk the exposure of our kind!"

She seemed to think about it and realized that I was telling the truth.

"Besides, I tried to use my powers on them, but it didn't work."

My mother's eyes widened in shock.

"Have you forgotten, Emery? There were rumors of an evil presence around the area on that week you were..." my mother decided to point a finger at me, and I understood her. "A spell was cast to take effect in the evenings to avoid the use of magic so that the evil presence was dealt with."

Oh. That. I mentally smacked my face. No wonder my magic didn't work!

"I'm sorry. Look, we can talk about this when we're leaving."
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Leaving?" she nodded her head as a small smile started to form on her face.

"I got a promotion. You know what that means. A raise in payment, and a new beginning. We'll be going to New York. The best part of this is that you won't have to go back to school. I've dealt with the necessary documents for your transfer. And because of your grades, you could start a new school and continue as if nothing happened."

I mentally smiled. My mother hugged me. 

I couldn't believe it! No more bullies. I hoped that would be the last time I ever saw them.

"Emery," she started.

"Yes?" I inquired through the mind link.

"Don't you dare hide something this serious from me ever again. You may be getting older, but I am still your mother. If someone hurts you, you tell me and I will deal with them. Okay?"

I remained silent for a moment.

"Okay."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 02

Two years later

Emery's P.O.V

Many months had passed since I moved to New York with my mother. After being discharged from the hospital, my mom made a skin-healing potion that got rid of all the physical wounds I had obtained from the last incident with my bullies. Despite the potion having worked, I had to endure emotional trauma. 

We moved into a new apartment house in New York, and I felt like something had changed. I recalled waking up a couple of nights screaming for my bullies to stop and my mother would come and check up on me. 

I guess I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms from the bullying I had endured in my first high school. However, that was was not the only thing that happened. I had self-confidence issues ever since I was being abused. But being away from my bullies seemed to increase them up to a point where I started putting myself down in every social situation. My mind always focused on my flaws, and it didn't help when the voices that would point them out were of my bullies. The voices would sometimes come as taunts, and other times they would be shouts. The only relief I could find was cutting myself.

Yes. Cutting.

I tried cutting my wrists at first. It didn't take my mother long to find out what I was doing. She said I needed help, but I begged and promised her that I would stop by myself. She took my word for it and agreed. She stopped bothering me about the issue, believing that I had stopped. She was wrong because I started to cut the inside of my thighs with a razor blade. She didn't know because I made sure she never saw it. The sight of blood flowing against my skin brought a sense of relief that helped me cope up with my mental issues. The nightmares, however, didn't stop. My mother found out that I was still cutting myself a couple of months later and she urged me to seek help. She advised that I needed to move on from the trauma I faced in high school.

At the beginning of senior year, I found myself still seeing the therapist. It took me an unexpectedly long amount of time to feel better about myself. I had been forced to stop cutting myself before I started attending my therapy sessions. In fact, my mother made sure to always keep an eye on me. I even had to share a bedroom with her!

It was humiliating, but I understood why she did it.

On the bright side, I didn't have to drop out of school. I attempted to stop thinking too much in front of other people, and I managed to make a friend. Her name was Selena. We had a lot of things in common. She had just joined the high school I was attending and we immediately became best friends and study buddies. She planned to pursue a career in medicine while I wanted to be a lawyer.

What was weird was that we were cousins. We both came to realize that a month before graduation. Her mother was my father's sister-in-law, married to my uncle on my dad's side. She never talked about her family, and I was curious in knowing the reason. I found out on one particular Friday morning when her mother dropped her off. Her mother insulted her in front of many students. She proceeded to throw Selena's luggage out of her car while yelling "I don't want you around anymore!" before driving out of the school parking lot.

I offered Selena a room at my home. She agreed because she didn't have a place to stay. My mother did not mind. On that same day, she explained that her family was abusive towards her. She happened to mention her mother's full name when she was explaining the events that led to her being homeless. My mom familiarized with the name, and she started stating the names of some people that Selena knew in her family. That was when we realized she was my cousin and my mom's niece. My mother decided to take her in as her own.

Time soon passed. Selena and I had just graduated from high school after receiving our college admittance letters. I had gotten into Princeton while Selena got accepted at Harvard.  We were on summer break, and we were looking for jobs to supply us with cash before we left for college. We managed to find one as Starbucks baristas in the city. It seemed to be a new cafe. It had taken us some time to understand customers' orders and to learn how to use the equipment. On one time, I ended up with a steamed hand. 

Don't ask how.

Selena and I had been working for a month, and the pay was adequate. We were both excited about college, but we were bummed about leaving each other and my mother. She had grown attached to her, and Selena acted like she was also my mother's child. I sometimes found myself wondering what her parents did to her, but then I would discard it. Selena never mentioned the crap she went through, and I understood it as a way of her saying she wanted to put it behind her.

Another day had come, and it did not start well for us.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," Selena muttered as she rushed into the bathroom while I went for the phone. We had woken up an hour late for our jobs. I dialed a person I hoped would help cover for us.

"Where are you guys?" Rachel screeched into the phone, barely giving me time to say 'hi.' Rachel was a co-worker and acquaintance of ours. She got hired a month before us, and she too was working to save up for college.

"Well, hello to you too," I replied with a fake smile.

"I am in no mood to hear any sarcasm, Emery. Do you know what time it is?" she asked in anger.

"I'm sorry. We overslept, but we're on our way now," I replied on the line.

"You better be," she said before hanging up. I placed the phone on the bed and took out my clothes just as Selena exited the bathroom, fully dressed.

"Who was that?" she asked as she started to curl her black hair with a curling iron.

"It was Rachel." She 'mmh-ed' in acknowledgment. I pulled out a yellow T-shirt with a black jacket and a pair of dark denim jeans before proceeding into the bathroom. When I was done, I went on to straighten my curly dyed-red hair. 

"You do know that we have no time for breakfast, right?" Selena asked.

"Right." We were so late. Then I recalled a place we could quickly get something to eat.

"Wait. We could just grab some on our way—"

"Yeah yeah yeah," my cousin said in a rushed manner before pushing me out of the room.

About forty minutes later, we found ourselves in front of our workplace. No sooner had we opened the door than Rachel came at us.

"Guys! You are an hour late! The manager is fuming," she told us with worry in her eyes. Her blonde hair bobbed as she moved side to side to spot the manager while holding a tray with two Starbucks coffee cups.

"What did you tell him?" Selena asked, mirroring Rachel's expression.

"Nothing. He didn't even ask, but I'm sure he'll ask you," Rachel replied.

"Speaking of the boss..." I trailed off, hoping that the girls would catch on what I was insinuating. Our manager was on his way towards us. He was a brunette with barely any muscle tone. His eyes were barely-hidden by the spectacles he had worn. Despite his looks, the manager could be mean.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire you right now," Geoffrey, our manager, started. Selena and Rachel turned to him. Rachel's eyes had widened before she scurried away, leaving us to deal with the boss.

"We are so sorry," Selena apologized as I nodded. "Emery got a case of zipalostycosis."

I was nodding until I realized what she said. I gave her a weird look.

"How come I haven't heard of it?" he asked with his eyebrows furrowed.

"It's a rare disease that lasts for 12 hours. She got it last night and started puking her guts outs, even this morning. Her fever was up, and she could hardly move. I had to take care of her and make sure she was alright."

The manager gave us a suspicious look.

"I only believe you because of the disease's name. Are you sure she's okay? Is the disease communicable?" he asked.

"I'm feeling better. No need to worry," I replied. Selena nudged me with her left elbow.

"Good. Now get to work," Geoffrey said before striding away from us. Selena and I sighed in relief.

"That was a close one," Rachel said as she returned with two trays. A few minutes later, we were in tune with our jobs. The day progressed, and it was soon time for our lunch break. Rachel was willing to cover for us for thirty minutes because people were barely entering the cafe at the time. 

I walked into the workers' stall to look for Selena with her phone. It was where we ate lunch together. On that particular day, Selena was bobbing her head from side to side with earphones dangling from her ears.

I was about to ask her what she was dancing to, but suddenly, a figure started to appear. It was blurry and irregularly black. I was transfixed by the sight that met my eyes. I turned my attention to Selena, realizing she was too busy to notice anything. I quickly approached her and hastily yanked out one of the earphones.

"What?" she asked in anger as I pointed to the figure that had just formed a person. An erwich.

Erwiches were what were referred to as evil witches. They used to serve Eva, but after she had been thrown into a portal with no way out, they dispersed with no evil plan. However, that lasted for a short amount of time. They decided to wreak havoc in witches' premises. It wasn't usually bad because their attacks happened one to three times a year in the last six years, and they always failed.

However, on the current year, their activities increased. It was the fourth attack towards Selena and me that happened in a month. It seemed like there was someone new that was bringing them together; someone who obviously didn't like the both of us. 

The erwich formed a green ball of fire on his hand. He threw it towards us.

Selena and I shrieked as we ducked to avoid the flaming ball. It exploded behind us, ruining some plates and cups.

"Are you kidding me?" Selena shrieked as she formed her own fireball. 

She threw it towards the figure, and it exploded into flames, leaving soot as a residue. 

"This is getting problematic. Is it me or is something weird going on? It is unusual for them to attack us during the day."

Selena was right, but I couldn't pinpoint the source of the attacks. I chanted a spell to fix the mess the erwich left. The broken cups and plates reattached and reorganized themselves. Soon, everything was as good as new.

"I mean come on! They are attacking us at our workplace. I think they're trying to expose witches to the world."

A shudder ran down my spine at the thought. If word got out about witches, everything would never be the same again. My biggest fear is being kidnapped and having tests done, even if that includes cutting a body. 

But then it's just my thoughts. Who knows what would truly happen?

My thoughts ceased when I spotted Selena resume bobbing her head to the song that may have been playing on her phone. I had forgotten that when we ducked, her earphones yanked out of her phone and the song continued to play in loudspeaker mode.

"What are you listening to?" I asked her. She didn't reply, but she mouthed the lyrics of the song as it continued to play.

♪ If only you saw what I can see,
You'd understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh, oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh, oh,
That's what makes you beautiful ♪

"It's catchy," I said while bobbing my head to the music. "Who sang it?"

"The Ordinary Brothers," Selena replied.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Who?"

She replied with a shocked look.

"You don't know? They're an up and coming boy band. You should listen to their music. It's beautiful. It's emotional."

Selena played the song throughout the remainder of our lunch break.

***********************************************************************************************

Hours later, we were back at our home.

When we entered the house, Selena decided to play the same Ordinary Brothers' song; the same song that she played during our lunch break at work. She started screaming out the lyrics while I mumbled some parts that I didn't know, except the chorus. If she noticed, she didn't mention.

"Oh my goodness!" she suddenly screamed.

"What? Are we under attack? Are we being robbed?" I freaked out.

"No. It's my Google Alerts. The Ordinary Brothers will be performing in New York this Saturday!" She started jumping up and down as she stared at me with a grin.

I gave her a bored look. She replied with a fake apologetic look when she stopped jumping.

"I'm sorry, but it's them. It's really them! They are coming to New York!"

She gasped as if she remembered something.

"We could buy tickets online."

Oh crap.

"I don't get it. What is so big about them? They are musicians and ordinary humans. You act as if they're gods."

"No, I don't!" Selena denied, even though it was a lie.

"Yes, you do. You are one of their... what do you call them? Obers?"

She gasped. I gave her a weird look.

"What?"

"You know what they're called. That means you are a fellow Ober!"

I shook my head at her in disbelief.

"I'm not a fan of theirs. I just started listening to one of their songs. Today!" I emphasized as I made a dramatic exit towards the bathroom.

"You lie fellow Ober!"

I just shook my head at her even though she couldn't see me.

Ober... what a strange name.

After the shower, Selena and I ate together. My mom was going to come in late, so we placed her supper in the refrigerator and retired to bed. However, I couldn't sleep, mostly because Selena was up with her laptop. The bright light being emitted from the screen did nothing in helping me doze off. I groaned as I got up to see what she was doing.

"Selena, would you turn that off?" I yelled, but she didn't hear me. I groaned in exhaustion. Sometimes, I swear my cousin drove me nuts. I pulled the sheets off my body and got up in my pajamas, ready to unplug the earphones that blocked her hearing.

Before my hands reached the dreaded earphones, my eyes caught something on her laptop's screen. It made me cease my approach. 

What the...

No...

I wanted what I was witnessing to be a nightmare. I hoped it was a nightmare, but that wasn't the case. 

I even wondered if I was asleep. To verify, I pinched myself and winced in pain. I looked around and noticed that I was not dreaming.

There, on Selena's laptop, were them. 

My freaking ex-bullies were in a band?

My eyes found it hard to focus on anything away from the screen. I had a hard time believing that it was them. How could it be them? I mean, they were mean and horrible towards me. I expected them to be repeating a class, not rock n' rolling in front of my cousin's laptop! 

I never thought they would become successful in life with the attitude that they showed. However, life likes giving people surprises.

My eyes decided to trail across the screen, looking for something other than their faces.

Ordinary Brothers – What Makes You Beautiful

If I needed a confirmation, the music video's title showed it. That and the fact that the people who bullied me were seen on every scene on the video. Selena replayed the video, not even bothered by my presence behind her.

I wanted to puke. The supper I had eaten threatened to escape my mouth like a shower faucet.

I know. Not a very good picture.

The people on the screen didn't look like them, but I knew it was them. Instead of the mean, angry looks that I spotted in high school, I saw boyish smiles and smirks. What made it hurt more was that they looked hotter than they did in high school.

I couldn't believe I was listening to their song! When I was listening to What Makes You Beautiful, I couldn't help but feel like I knew the voices. I couldn't put faces to them until then.

My attention turned to Selena who was bobbing her head and moving her shoulders to the music video of my ex-bullies. I was suddenly angry with her. I was mad that she was enjoying their music. 

But then, I had no reason to be mad at her. I never told her about what they did to me in high school.

Tears threatened to escape my eyes at the unfairness of the situation. I realized that it made me kind of feel immature, but I didn't care. There they were, enjoying life and not paying for the suffering they had caused me. They probably got paid a lot more than Selena and I earned in a month. 

I was jealous. Realizing that, I brushed off the thoughts of anger towards my ex-bullies. They did not deserve my time, and they were not in my life.

Well, they weren't physically in my life. Could I really continue living without the mention of them affecting me like they currently were?

Shrugging my thoughts, I went back to my bed where the nightmares that had stopped a year ago made a reappearance.

***********************************************************************************************

Harry's P.O.V

"I am tired," Ethan said as he landed on the bed beside Liam. The gang and I had just landed in the US after our scheduled plane flight from the UK. We were then led to a hotel in Los Angeles where we would be staying in for a couple of days.

It was our first tour in the US. My friends and I had gained a lot of popularity. I thought it was only in the UK, but the number of tickets purchased for our USA tour seemed to prove it otherwise.

"Get your own bed," Liam mumbled loud enough for me to hear, but Ethan didn't budge. A smile tugged at my lips at the sight of them. 

"Harry!" Logan screamed as he entered the room. Liam groaned out loud.

"Would you keep it down?"

"No," Logan said to Liam before turning to face me. "Isn't this exciting? We are on our first US tour! I can't believe it, mostly because we'll get to be in New York! Do you know that I've always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty up close?"

"Yes, I do Lo—" before the conversation continued, Zane popped into the room.

"I've found her!" Zane yelled as he entered the room. My eyes turned to him as my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Who?" Logan asked, mirroring my facial expression. Liam and Ethan sat up on the bed, realizing that they were not going to sleep at that moment.

"Emery." My form tensed at the mention of the name. The mood that was once good immediately turned awful.

"Why were you looking for her?" Liam asked with an edge to his voice.

"I wanted to find her so that..."

"So that you could what? Beg for her forgiveness? Are you out of your mind?" Logan exploded.

"No —" Zane started.

"It's a miracle she hasn't told the paparazzi about what we did to her. We aren't even sure if it is her! For all we know, she could be dead."

Zane gave Logan a glare as tears threatened to escape his eyes.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I can't go on with the guilt of what I did! What we all did!"

"Well, neither can I, Zane," I replied. "We shouldn't even stir up trouble. Let's leave it at that," I said before heading to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me just as Ethan and the rest resumed arguing about the dreaded subject.

I sat on the toilet seat as I rubbed my head due to a headache brought by the sudden onslaught of emotions.

I was angry with Zane. I didn't want him to look for Emery. In fact, I did not want any one of us to have anything to do with her. It was bad enough we bullied her in high school and almost killed her.

My mind replayed a memory I wished I could forget. I tried to push it away, but it stayed with me.

*****Flashback*****

"Oh no," Ethan gasped as he let the metal rod slip from his fingers. "What have we done?"

Emery's body was still. She wasn't moving an inch. Most of her form had become swollen. I gasped in shock as I kneeled to place a hand on her head.

"Guys, we took it too far this time," Logan said.

Emery's nose remained broken as blood continued to ooze from it. I placed a hand on her wrist and I barely felt her heartbeat.

"Emery?" I whisper-yelled at her, trying to get her to get up. However, she didn't even move a muscle.

"What are we going to do?" Liam asked with his hands behind his head. 

"Hey! Who's there?" someone shouted. We all tensed before we sprang into action.

We all started to run. Suddenly remembering something, I ran back to the scene and grabbed all the rods. Someone was approaching with rushed steps, and so I ran to the others. They had stopped behind a building.

"Why did you go back?" Logan asked. "You could have been caught."

"If I left these, we'd be found out," I replied before we continued to run.

That was not one of my best moments. If I could rewind time, I wouldn't have allowed myself to hit Emery. However, I doubt my teenage self could accept that.

After the incident, the guys and I decided to change. What had happened to Emery spread around the school and the area like wildfire. It was even in the news. The principal had informed the school that Emery was in a hospital and in a coma. He had even visited her, and he saw that most of her form was wrapped in medical gauze.

It made the guys and me feel more horrible than we had felt.

It didn't help that the police were involved. They were determined to catch the assaulters and to imprison them for what they had done. It, however, took them a month to carry out the investigation. Everyone except the teachers and the principal had known what had happened, and they didn't say anything. The police were not able to find the culprits and they decided to drop the case. 

What the guys and I had done to Emery messed us up. It made us hate ourselves, especially since we had heard no word about Emery. Logan had gone to see her, but he was told she was still in a coma. 

It even looked like she wouldn't wake up.

The guys and I couldn't handle it, and so we came up with lies for our parents to have us transferred. My friends and I were separated, but I believed it was for the best at the time. About a year later, we met again on a TV show called the X-Factor. Even though we didn't win, we were able to form a contract with one of the judges and formed a boy band called the Ordinary Brothers. I thought that I could escape the past as soon as I became a musician, but I realized I couldn't. If something about what the guys and me did to Emery were to surface up in the celebrity news articles, the band would be destroyed.

My mind drifted back to the present. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself before I walked back to the others. I opened the bathroom door, spotting them close to each other as they still continued talking about the possibility of Emery being alive.

"Okay. Where is she?" I asked. I received mixed reactions. Zane was smiling. Logan and Ethan were confused whereas Liam was shocked.

"What?"

"Are you crazy Harry?"

"You can't be serious.".

"Guys, I know that it is a lot to ask from you, but it is important to know if she's dead or not. Maybe it will help us move on. If she's alive, we'll continue with our music."

"If she's dead?" Logan asked. I turned to look at him.

"We do the same thing. We can't stir up drama, and if my memory serves me correctly, she hates attention."

"Harry--" Logan started, but I cut him off.

"Look, guys. I know how you all feel about this. But wouldn't it be all better if we were done with it?"

The guys said nothing, but they nodded their heads.

"This is what I found out. She currently lives in New York with her mother and some girl named Selena," Zane informed us.

"The investigator—" Zane resumed, but Logan cut him off.

"Wait. The investigator?"

"Private investigator," Zane emphasised.

"You hired a private investigator? I didn't know you were this obsessed--" Ethan said, but I cut him off.

"Okay, we can discuss that after Zane tells us what he found out."

Zane reached into one of his jeans' pockets and pulled out a squared photo. We all huddled around it, and we stared at it in disbelief.

"What?" Ethan spoke in awe.

"I can't believe this. I seriously can't believe this!" Logan yelled. Zane proceeded to pull out other photos, and he shared them amongst us.

The first photo was of Emery working in a Starbucks cafe. Her blonde hair had been dyed red. She had a smile on her face as she served someone their coffee. The other ones were of her and another brunette girl, probably Selena, talking and laughing. The last one was of her smiling and unconsciously facing the camera.My mind found it hard to process it.

She was actually alive.

But what baffled me was the fact that there were no bruises on her skin. There were no scars or marks on her hands and face. 

Everyone was silent and I was sure they had questions on why she looked like nothing had touched her.

Could she really be a --?

"Maybe she had plastic surgery," Ethan suggested. The thought that I couldn't urge myself to finish quickly disappeared. What Ethan said seemed to make sense.

"I want to see her. When can we go to her?" Logan declared.

"Logan, are you crazy?" I questioned.

"Actually, he's not," Liam countered. "We have to go see her and sort out the mess of our past."

"But Liam--"

"I know, Zane. It will be hard. But we have to do it. We need to make sure our past doesn't reach the paparazzi, or else our careers will be gone within a click of a finger."

The rest of us were silent, but after a while, we nodded our heads in agreement to what Liam said.

***********************************************************************************************

One week later...

Emery's P.O.V

It was another day at work. Selena and I were teetering towards our last work-shift hour. It was a Saturday evening and no one seemed to be entering the cafe anytime soon. If such were to occur, Selena and I would be free to close the shop. Geoffrey was not in, and he trusted us with his business.

I was glad that no one was entering the cafe. I was about to tell Selena that we should close, but five people entered the Starbucks cafe. I visibly frowned. 

They all wore black hoodies and black sunglasses, earning themselves looks of suspicion from me.

"Who do you think they could be?" Rachel asked, and I shrugged in reply.

"I don't know, but I think they may be murderers."

"Who do you think they are?" Selena asked, butting in on our conversation.

"We don't know," Rachel answered, "but what I know is that they look slightly creepy."

"Do you think they're people hiding from the government?" I asked. Selena's eyes widened as another thought escaped her lips.

"Or is it... Ordinary Brothers?" I tensed at the boy band's name. I looked at the five people who sat at a table, waiting for service from any of us.

"Please," replied Rachel with a snort. "I doubt they would dare come out in the open. On the pictures posted online, they always travel with bodyguards."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"They need protection from crazy fangirls like this one," she said while pointing a finger at Selena.

"Hey!" she pouted.

"I'll just deal with this. I don't want Geoffrey to hear of this and scream at us for not doing our jobs," I said as I headed towards the group of five suspicious people seating at a far seat in the cafe.

The first thing I noticed when I was going to them was that they all tensed. I shrugged off the reaction, thinking it was no big deal. Selena's first guess was starting to make a lot more sense.

"Hello. What can I get you guys?" I asked. There was no way that I would give out my name to strangers who were giving me a bad vibe.

"Emery?" one of them asked. Another nudged the one who spoke. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. None of the five people answered. I decided to shrug it off, believing that I wouldn't like the answer.

"So what would you have?" I asked. The same one who said my name gave me their orders. As I went to the station and had their orders prepared, I couldn't help but think that I knew them. I had just gotten the orders placed on my tray when Selena's phone rang.

♪ Baby, you light up my world like nobody else...♪

My breath caught in my chest.

"I'll get that," she said as she took her phone and headed into the kitchen.

I felt as if I was frozen in time. My eyes were widened in shock, and I had no idea of what to do.

That voice... it was the same voice...

Everything began to click. The five suspicious people who entered the cafe, the fact that they wore hoodies and dark sunglasses, and how one of them knew my name.

It was my damn bullies!

CHAPTER 03

Emery's P.O.V

The tray that I was holding teetered towards the side and fell onto the floor, spilling the mugs that were full with the boys' coffee.

"Emery!" Selena scolded me as she came with a mop, a bucket and a tray to clean up my mess, but I was too shocked to reply.

"I know you may be tired and all because it's a Saturday, but please avoid spilling anything. Those boys may be our last customers, and I would really like it if we could go home early," she kept talking, but I tuned her out. The strangers who were huddled close around a table turned to see the commotion. I tensed under their gazes. Then they turned away.

"Don't do that again," Selena warned before going back to the kitchen. I would have been shocked by how fast she cleaned up the mess, but my mind was too busy focusing on something else.

I was still in shock, and I needed time to process the situation. My right hand formed a fist. I soon unclenched the fingers, causing time to freeze. Everything was reduced to pin-drop silence. The clock that was hung above the kitchen door stopped ticking. The figures in disguise, even though I knew them, looked frozen.

That gave me time to think. 

Okay, the Ordinary Brothers were in the cafe. 

They were in the cafe. 

Any other girl would have been screaming, begging for a photo with them or demanding them to kiss her. I think they would have also killed to be in my position. I, however, was not like those girls. The boys' presence reminded me of what they put me through, both physically and mentally. I felt trapped. I wished I had left early before they came.

"You can do this, Emery," I imagined my therapist telling me that. "You are a brave girl. You can do this without trembling. Remember, you cannot run away from your problems because it never solves anything."

Earlier, after I had seen Selena dancing to their music video, I felt relieved because I was sure I would never see them again. With the current status of the boys being in a boy band, the chances of meeting them were slim to none. Unfortunately, the universe decided to prove me wrong. Before I could formulate anything, the pin-drop silence was interrupted by a noise that came from the kitchen. Selena came towards me with a furious expression.

"I was remaking those people's orders when you froze time. I almost poured the coffee beans onto the floor! Next time, warn someone that you--" she yelled, but then she stopped when she saw the look on my face.

"What's wrong?" she asked as her eyebrows furrowed with worry. I sighed as I cursed the day. I never told Selena about the negativity that surrounded my first two years of high school. I never wanted to relive the horrible memories. Seeing that the boys were there, I had no choice but to tell her.

I took a deep breath before spilling what I had discovered.

"That band of yours, Ordinary Brothers, is here," I stated. She blinked, and then she blinked again. Her eyes slowly widened as her jaw dropped to the floor in shock.

Suddenly, she released a loud scream.

"I knew I was right! I mean, it was a long shot, but I can't believe I was right! Where are they?" she asked in joy, and I got angry.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she questioned, a scrutinizing look taking over her face. Ever since I discovered What Makes You Beautiful was sung by my high school bullies, I was angry. Selena was a fan of them the moment she heard that song, and I felt betrayed.

"Because they aren't who you think they are!" I screamed, and I immediately felt bad for doing so. She didn't know anything, and it was not okay for me to scream at her. 

I could not think straight because the causes of my therapy sessions were around.

A look of fear took over her face.

"What are you saying? Are they erwiches?" she asked in shock. "Because if they are erwiches, I am done for."

"No, it's not that," I reassured her. "I know them. They were in my first high school before I came to New York."

"Wait," she said as she raised an index finger. "You knew them and I'm finding out about this now?" she was angry.

Wow. She must be head over heels in love with them.

"It wasn't all good," I said, ignoring her sudden mood.

"But why didn't you tell me, Emery? What was wrong about them? I mean, they are perfect--" having enough of her shit, I cut her off.

"They were my bullies!" I shouted back. The anger on her face dissipated and what was left was pure shock.

"What?" she inquired in disbelief. I sighed as I walked to an empty seat next to the counter with her trailing behind me. As soon as we were both settled, I continued my confession.

"I had just joined a high school in Louisiana. I was the silent girl, the girl who kept to herself. After my dad died, I was sad, and I kept to myself. That was how I got the status of being a loner in school, and that was a decision I still regret."

***** Flashback *****

Four years ago

It was another ordinary day in high school. I was walking along the hallway with a few books, making my way towards the Biology lab when someone approached me.

"Hey!" he said with a smile. The cute boy had brown curly hair, green eyes that could pierce your soul, and a set of pearly white teeth that when exposed could brighten up your day.

"Hello," I replied with my own smile.

"I'm Harry," he said as he outstretched his hand. I moved my own hand and enclosed it around his as I firmly shook it.

"Emery."

"You are pretty," he said, and I blushed in reply.

"Thank you."

"You want to hang out? My friends and I are going to the movies this evening, and I was wondering if you could come along."

I didn't think twice about the reply. I had no one to talk to in the school, and I wanted to make friends. I hoped that would get rid of the invisible loner-tag that had been stamped on my back.

"Sure!"

***** Flashback over *****

"I don't get it," Selena said. "You said you gained the status of being a loner yet he invited you to the movies."

A little smile forced its way onto my face, and it changed into a frown.

"It remained that way. Apparently, an 'invite to the movies' means an invite to something like a birthday party with a piñata, and I was the piñata."

Selena's face paled.

"What did they do?" she asked, and I just shrugged, even though I was angry and sad at the same time. The memories of my first beating brought down my mood. A hard look took over my face to hide the emotions that wanted to take over my form. I stood and walked away from the seat next to the counter.

"Isn't it obvious?" I said as a sarcastic laugh left my lips. "They beat me to a pulp! That movie invite was the beginning of my worst high school years."

Tears began to block my vision.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Selena told me as she hugged me. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

I humphed. "No one believes one person who is lying about five."

"Didn't you have evidence?"

"I made a mistake by going after the wounds were healed. If I had gone immediately after they had bullied me, the abuse would have stopped." 

"Selena, I'd rather not talk about every bullying incident that involved them," I said before a sob escaped my lips. A while had passed of me trying to cease the sobs.

"I had nightmares about them," Selena tensed as the words left my lips. "Ever since I moved away to New York, I had bad dreams of them tormenting me or insulting me and making me feel insecure. Sometimes both in one dream. It was so bad that I had to start seeing a therapist."

Selena hugged me again as sobs wracked my body. She patted my back in a soothing way as some of the tension in my body was released.

"I have to leave, Selena," I said urgently as we retracted the hug. "I don't want to see them. I can't see them. Not now, and if possible, not ever."

Her eyes stared sympathetically before they averted themselves to something behind me. A look of shock appeared on her face.

"Too late," she said, and I instantly tensed.

"What are you talking about? I froze time, thereby freezing them. It wouldn't have worked unless they were..." my eyes widened at the realization. I turned from her and faced what she was staring at.

"...witches," Selena finished for me with the same shocked tone. My eyes widened and stayed glued to the five figures staring right back at us. They pulled off their hoodies to expose their faces, and they were staring right at us.

"Hello, Emery," Liam said with an uneasy smile. I stood unmoving. Wait. So, if they weren't frozen, then...

They heard everything. 

Everything.

My breathing started to increase as my heart's palpitations increased. Everything started to darken and I felt myself losing consciousness.

"Emery!" a collective number of voices shouted before I lost consciousness.

***********************************************************************************************

About two hours ago

Liam's P.O.V  

"So, we are really doing this, aren't we?" Ethan asked. We were all in our shared hotel suite. The sun had set and the night was settling in. Before the tour was to officially begin, we were given a week to do whatever we wanted as long as it didn't attract attention to us.

It was the last day of the said week before we had to start our tour. We explored New York with our bodyguard Trevor and the rest of the crew that would be on tour with us. We met some of our fans and took photos with them. Some shrieked, others fainted, and others... well, let's just say they wanted to be more than friends.

"Yes, we are," Zane replied, returning my mind to the subject at hand. "We'll just go over there and see how she's doing. If possible, we may even talk to her."

It took us a week to plan what we would do when we would go to see Emery, mostly because we were busy with other stuff. It was a good thing we found time to carry out the plans. We were going to see Emery, in disguises of course, to apologize for the pain we caused her. If it was possible, she would forgive us when she would see us because we were in a famous boyband. 

I did not mean for that to come out as cocky. It was just that the guys and I contacted some of our friends in Louisiana and England, and they were all happy to hear from us. They also wanted tickets to our tour which we were more than glad to send to them. I hoped Emery would make it easy for us like they did.

"I doubt she'll accept our apologies," Logan said in all honesty. "This is Emery we are talking about. You know, the girl we sent to the hospital?"

The rest tensed while Zane gave him a blank look.

"There's no harm in trying, right?" he said with a shrug. We were soon dressed up in black coats, black top hats, and black sunglasses. Logan wanted to go with sombreros, but Harry felt it was too flashy.

"Do you think anyone will recognize us?" Logan asked before we exited the suite.

"No," Harry replied. "I doubt anyone will."

"But we will look suspicious," I said. They all shrugged as if it wasn't a problem. Before we even exited the suite, Trevor had stopped us.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. Apart from being our bodyguard, Trevor was also our tour manager. He was an Irish burly man with black hair and alabaster skin. His eyes twinkled with suspicion as he stared at us with his arms crossed.

Harry pushed Zane forward, almost making him fall. Once he regained his footing, Zane narrowed his eyes at Harry. He received an innocent smile in return.

"We're touring the city," Ethan replied, which earned him a shove from Logan. Trevor's eyebrows furrowed at the answer.

"Didn't you do that the past six days?" 

We were doomed. If someone else didn't have a better idea of an answer, we would be sent back into our hotel suite.

"Yes, but we want to take photos this time," Logan replied with a smile. Trevor sighed, shaking his head.

"Fine. But be back here before ten or else I'll tell everyone that you are missing."

"Thank you!" we said in unison as we quickly moved away from him.

After making sure we had put on our disguises well, we walked on the floor hallway and entered an elevator. Harry pressed the button that signified the hotel lobby. The elevator dinged as it closed then proceeded to head downwards. It dinged again just as it opened, revealing a crowd of people that moved around the lobby. Businessmen with their suitcases and the workers of the hotel moved around, minding their own business. The hotel exit was a few meters in front of us.

"This is bad," Ethan stated. I nodded in agreement.

"We can do this," Harry said as he started walking towards the exit. He managed to leave the hotel without bringing attention towards him. Seeing that he had succeeded in exiting the hotel without a problem, we rushed out of the elevator to follow him. We found him waiting outside for us while he was looking around the noisy, busy street. Once he realized we were next to him, he hailed a yellow cab. A couple of seconds passed before one parked next to us.

We were not able to fit in at first. We were too many to fit along one seat, and so we flagged another taxi. Ethan, Zane and I took the first taxi while Harry and Logan boarded the other. As we drove on, I took some time to look at the city at night.

The cab zoomed past other vehicles and buildings that varied in sizes and shapes. Some street lights had been turned on, and the digital advertising boards placed on buildings played a part in illuminating the streets. In about a half an hour, we found ourselves outside the Starbucks café that Emery worked in. Its exterior was mostly made of black tinted glass walls that blocked us from seeing anyone who would be inside. "STARBUCKS" was drawn against the tinted wall. The door was also tinted with the cafe's logo in front of it. We were all tense, waiting for any one of us to make the first move.

It felt a bit ironic. Emery was just one person, and the five of us were scared of going to see her. 

Harry took a deep breath and pushed the door open. A bell rang as we entered. We were greeted by the air conditioning that made the place feel a bit cool. I discovered that the café covered a lot more room than I imagined.

The Starbucks logo met my sight once again. It was placed above a wooden counter a distance similar to the length of a bus. The counter's top was a light brown color with spirals from the wood carved to make it. Behind, the top was painted chrome white. A coffee machine was placed a few feet behind the counter. On top of the counter was a computer monitor, probably used in making receipts. The walls surrounding the counter were painted coffee brown, and music was softly blaring around the café.

Apart from that, we saw Emery. Gone was the blonde-haired girl we used to know. Her hair was the first thing I noticed. It was ruby red and tucked into a bun. She wore a black batiste shirt with black buttons and she had a green apron that had the Starbucks logo in white. She was busy talking to two girls who were smiling and laughing with her. One of them had jet black hair that shined in the room's lighting while the other was a blonde, and they both wore the same uniform as Emery.

"Where do we seat?" Ethan asked. I turned my gaze away from the three and stared at the other side of the area. The café was organized in such a manner: four orange-red chairs with four steel legs on each chair surrounded each high-density plastic table. The table was silver in color and it had a wide steel pole that supported it at the center

"There," Logan said with a motion of his head, showing us a dark secluded corner in the café. We all walked towards the area, grabbed onto the surrounding plastic chairs and soon settled down. Harry, Ethan and Zane sat opposite Logan and me. Ethan went to remove his glasses, but I grasped his arm before he could.

"You can't. We don't want anyone to recognize us," I advised. He heeded my advice, placing his hands on the table.

"Can you believe that's her?" Harry asked in a whisper. As if on cue, we all turned to face Emery. She was still talking to the other girls who kept on glancing at us. I could hardly hear what they were saying, so I believed we didn't need to whisper to each other.

"Guys, I can't hear them. I think it's safe to speak," I announced.

"Do you think they recognize us?" Harry asked with worry in his voice.

"Hey!" someone shouted in a whine and we looked towards the source. Emery was still talking to the two girls, one of whom I recognized as Selena. She was the one with the jet black hair. She was pouting, and I found it adorable.

"No, they don't," Logan replied to Harry's question.

"She's coming!" Zane whispered in a panic. We didn't need to ask Zane who was coming. 

All at once, I found myself rethinking of the ways I could have spent my evening. I could have been watching a movie while lying around the hotel suite.

However, being at Emery's workplace was important. I couldn't go on with a guilty conscience. I needed to make things right and to carry on with my career without my past bringing me down.

"Hello. What can I get you guys?" Emery asked. She seemed a little bit uneasy when she looked at us. I found myself mentally thanking Zane for suggesting we wear sunglasses. The black tint blocked her from seeing my eyes. Could she recognize me from my eyes?

That was how nervous I felt.

"Emery?" Harry said her name with awe. My eyes went wide behind the glasses. Ethan nudged him as Emery's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"How do you know my name?" she asked. None of us dared to answer that. She changed the subject and asked for our orders. When she left, we had a chance to relax.

"What were you thinking, Harry?" Zane asked as he nudged him with his elbow. Harry grabbed the injured rib and glared at Zane.

"What? It was a slip of the tongue," he replied.

"Well, we may need some time to plan how we'll talk to her. We can't go on and say, 'Hi! Remember us? We were the ones who bullied you in high school. Let's call it even and start over as friends!'" he said with fake sarcasm.

Emery was coming to us with our coffee in mugs on a tray. I was glad that she hadn't recognized us. I hoped it would be like that for a little longer. 

Unfortunately for us, someone in the café was a fan, because What Makes You Beautiful blared rather loudly. We all tensed just as Emery did. I faced her, and by the shocked look on her face, I felt she realized who we were. 

She knew because of Harry's dumb slip-up.

The coffee she had been bringing us fell onto the floor with the mugs. I itched to go help her, but then I thought against it. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Emery didn't realize who we were. Maybe it was just the song that freaked her out.

If that was the case, I doubted a simple apology would make up for all the crap we did to her.

Emery turned around and stood, unmoving. That was weird, but what was even weirder was that she clenched one of her fists and unclenched it. 

Selena soon came yelling towards Emery with a mop and a bucket. Emery told Selena she had something to tell her. The rest of us stayed quiet as Emery spent the next minutes informing and explaining to Selena about her high school past.

It hurt to sit there and see her cry over what we did to her. I didn't want to sit at the table any longer pretending that we weren't there, but we were there, listening to every word she spoke.

I went to get up and head towards her form. 

"Liam! What are you doing?" Logan whisper-shouted at me, but I did not listen. Soon, the others were walking behind me.

At the time, Selena was hugging Emery as she sobbed on her shoulder. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Selena asked Emery as she hugged her.

I didn't manage to hear what else Emery told Selena because my heart was beating. I had not thought of what I would say when they would see me.

"I have to leave, Selena. I don't want to see them. I can't see them," Emery said with a hint of fear in her voice as she retracted from the hug.

Selena's eyes stared sympathetically at her before they averted themselves to me. A look of shock appeared on her face when she saw that we were all staring at them.

"Too late," Selena said, and I noticed Emery instantly tense.

"What are you talking about? I froze time, thereby freezing them. It wouldn't have worked unless they were..." she caught herself from finishing the sentence, which was mostly filled with words I didn't understand. Emery turned and stared at us with wide eyes.

"...witches," Selena finished for her with the same shocked tone.

"Hello, Emery," I said with an uneasy smile. Emery continued to stare at me and someone behind me. I turned with a confused expression, but that was cleared up when I spotted the rest of my bandmates. Just as I was turning to face Emery, she was losing her footing. I was quick to catch her before she fell on the ground.

"Emery!" we all yelled just as she passed out.

CHAPTER 04

Emery's P.O.V

My eyes fluttered open as I slowly regained consciousness. Bright lights glared at me, their intensity slowly reducing as I began to regain focus on my surroundings. I looked sideways and realized that I was still in the Starbucks café. A groan escaped my lips as I slowly got up to a seating position and cradled my head on my hand. 

Someone approached me and helped me stand.

"What happened?" I asked no one in particular as I closed my eyes, wincing at the loud voice I used. I opened them again, only to realize that I was facing the people I least expected to be there. It was Ethan, Zane, Liam and Logan. 

Just like that, my headache intensified.

The four of them had removed their sunglasses. They all had uneasy smiles, and they looked like they weren't comfortable being in the same room as me. 

That made five of us. 

Ethan and Logan were soon staring at the floor whereas Zane and Liam looked away from me. My eyes blinked to confirm that what I was seeing was real. I thought it was another nightmare. But seeing that I could spot everything around me unlike in dreams, I realized that I was awake.

"Thank God you're okay!" Selena screamed as she came to me. Her hands held my head as her eyes stared into mine. My eyes widened in shock at the way she was acting.

"I'm fine--" I cut myself off when I spotted a figure moving in my peripheral vision. I turned, coming face to face with Harry. He unexpectedly blushed as he moved to stand next to the others. I on the other hand was shocked.

What the--? They were all here? I was surprised I did not see that coming.

"What happened?" I asked again as I turned to my cousin.

"You fainted," Harry replied, making me visibly tense as I willed myself to move away from him.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said as I stared at him and the rest. They stopped looking uncomfortable, but I could sense they were all tense. Much like I was. I turned to face my cousin.

"What are they doing here?"  

Selena went to answer but I turned to direct the question to the boys.

"What are you doing here? It's bad enough you ruined the first high school for me. And you," I said as I turned back to Selena.

"What were you thinking letting them stay here? You should have chased them out the moment I fainted!"

I blushed as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

Oh, my goodness. Why did I have to go and do that?

"I panicked! I didn't know how to treat a person who fainted. Harry here was willing to help you and recommended that you sleep," Selena replied.

As much as I was grateful for Harry helping me after I had fainted, I couldn't stand being near him or the others. I may have gotten over the emotional trauma, but I hadn't gotten through it enough to forgive them for actually causing it. Also, they overheard the emotional confession that I had with Selena. It made things more awkward than they already were.  

"How long was I out?" I decided to focus on something else.

"About an hour, I think," Selena replied, making my eyes widen as they searched for the clock in the cafe. 

Oh, right. Time was still frozen. I summoned my powers as I clenched and unclenched my right fist. Time began to move again as evidenced by the resumed ticking of the clock.

I turned to face the boys again. Ethan had a confused look because the clock started ticking again. The hatred I had for them was still there. I knew my ex-bullies came to me for a reason, but I wasn't keen on staying to hear it. 

To make things complicated, I had to explain to them that they were witches.

The awful memories replayed in my mind, and it fueled my anger and sadness. There was no way I was going to explain to them about magic. It was not going to be my responsibility, and I was adamant in making sure it stayed that way. If they exposed magic to the world,... Eh. Screw 'em. My mind was set, and there was nothing anyone was going to do about it.

"I may not know why you are here, and I could care less. Harry," his eyes turned to face me, "thank you for taking care of me, and I would like it if you would all leave."

"But--" Logan wanted to disagree, but I cut him off.

"No, seriously. Leave." I was not going to give them a chance to talk to me.

"Emery, we wanted to talk to you about high school--" Liam went to speak, but I cut him off.

"LEAVE!" I yelled, just as a fireball landed and exploded on a wall behind me. We all screamed before ducking to the ground. My eyes narrowed as I looked around me. The boys looked frightened. I would have laughed were it not for the erwich in the cafe. I couldn't believe it was capable of exposing witches to humans-- Oh, right. The Ordinary Brothers was a band of witches, and they didn't even know it.

My mind brought out the possible effects that would occur if they were to find out about their status. Or if they were not to find out about theirs, then they would find out about mine and Selena's. Maybe that would be enough to scare them away and to not see them again. A wicked smile formed on my lips at the thought.

My thoughts were disrupted by a fireball that landed right on my shoulder. The impact was strong enough to throw me to the wall behind me. My shoulder had a red burn that throbbed in pain. Moreover, there was an ache spreading in my head due to hitting it when I was thrown.

"Emery!" a collective number of voices shouted. Unfortunately for the magical being, that was not enough to make me lose consciousness. Selena approached my form and helped me up while the others huddled close to us.

"What is going on?" Harry shouted right next to my ear. I winced as I gave him a look.

"Sorry," he apologized. I turned my attention to the being causing havoc in the café, only to realize that it was a female erwich. She had ginger hair like me. Overall, she looked like an ordinary person with a black top and black denim jeans. 

Her looks could fool anyone.

"They need to get out," I told Selena, motioning towards the five individuals who were probably as good as dead. 

Ethan thrust his hands out and a huge fireball formed on his palms. My eyes and Selena's widened in an effort to discourage him from what he would do next. However, he did not pay attention to us. The fireball left his hands and was soaring through the air, landing on the erwich's stomach. It groaned at the impact before exploding into bits. The impact also sent us flying, and I had the displeasure of hitting my head and back on the wall again.

Well, there goes my plan on scaring them away.

"Good job, Ethan," Zane said with a grin, and the others joined in congratulating the lad. I rolled my eyes, realizing that my plan of scaring the boys away was totally in ruins.

Another erwich appeared. She looked the same as the other one, but she had a crossbow and arrows.

"Twins. How lovely," Selena's voice dripped with sarcasm as we stared at the figure.

"Oh crap," Selena muttered beside me. 

I nodded towards the boys, signaling Selena to start moving them out of the cafe. She nodded and urged them to go out with her. Her plan wasn't going to work because an arrow hit a wall, a few centimeters from actually piercing through Liam's skull.

Ugh.

"I am here to kill you," the being said with a very deep voice that sent vibrations across the room. It's pure black eyes scanned the café and stared right at us.

"It speaks," Selena said, and I wanted to hit her for fueling its anger. It took out another arrow and shot it right towards her. Selena screamed as she raised her hands in defense, causing the flying arrow to stop midair and fall on the ground. The erwich then thrust her left arm out and clenched her left fingers into a fist. Selena suddenly began choking on air. The boys had panicked looks just as my cousin was dragged across the wall behind her and her feet were soon above the ground.

With a deep breath, I levitated a few feet off the ground and flew towards the erwich. It was too busy choking Selena to notice me approaching it. My head collided with its chest, sending her flying into a wall and hitting her back on it. I heard Selena fall before coughs filled the air. The boys surrounded her, checking if she was alright.

The erwich quickly stood up and flipped its wrist, sending me flying across the room and onto the boys. We all groaned at the impact.

"Why are we dragging this?" Selena asked through a sore throat. 

Well, that was easy. I wanted the boys to be scared of approaching me ever again.

I stared at the erwich and used my telekinesis power. The room began to shake violently. Selena and the boys dropped to the ground, trying to find their balance. The lights in the cafe blinked on and off as a gust of wind strong enough to blast away a cardboard box blew around the room. The erwich dropped to the ground as it stared at me.

"Crystal," it said before exploding into flames. I guess I used too much power on it because the force also sent us flying back to the same wall we hit when the first erwich used its powers on us. This time, my body connected with something soft. A groan escaped Harry's lips, instantly telling me I landed on him.

 A satisfied smile took over my face. 

The room stopped shaking, and the lights stopped blinking. We all got up, with the boys totally silent.

Selena stared at me in shock, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What?" I asked. She didn't say anything, but she shook her head sideways.

"Nothing."

"That. Was." Harry started.

"Freaky," Logan finished. I frowned at him.

A black portal began to form in the room, and I instantly knew that something was wrong. Three erwich attacks in one night? Not on my watch. 

I formed a fireball and threw it into the swirling black portal. It exploded into flames that dissipated quickly in the air.

"Something's wrong," Selena said with wide eyes. I had a feeling I wasn't the only one who felt the same way about the attacks. We needed to flee the scene before more trouble came. I didn't want to have to expose magic to the world.

"We need to go," Selena interrupted my thoughts. "I have a feeling more will be coming."

"Where do we go?" Zane asked. "They might even follow us outside if we dare to leave the restaurant." I couldn't believe I was agreeing with what the idiot was saying. The erwiches might have formed an army to get rid of us, and we needed help. 

I sighed, getting another reason to hate the day. Nothing was going my way. There was one place we could go where we would be guaranteed protection against erwiches, and I was angry that Selena and I had to tell the boys about it.

Selena flicked her wrist. Sounds of the café doors and windows closing were heard throughout the room. The guys turned their heads at the sounds, making me realize how little they knew about themselves.

 The lights inside the café were switched off, leaving the outside street lamp to illuminate part of the café.

"We need to leave for Crystalia," Selena said before chanting a portal spell.

"Crys-what?" Ethan asked in confusion. Selena and I didn't bother to answer him. The sooner we got out of the café, the sooner we could avoid other possible incoming erwiches.

Blue stardust appeared and floated midair.

 A lot more was generated as it fell in the form of rain, revealing a reddish-brown wooden door with a golden knob.

"We need to go. Now," Selena said. Her hand reached for the knob and opened it. On the other side of the door was pure darkness.

The boys stood rooted to the ground, unmoving as they stared at the door in shock.

I sighed as I thought about the situation. As much as I did not like it, the boys needed our help. The issues we had would have to be dealt with later. What mattered then was our safety. 

I seriously could not believe the day I was having.

"Guys, save your questions for later. Get in or the next erwich will surely kill us," I stated as a matter of fact. They didn't need much to set them running into the portal.

One by one, they entered the pathway and disappeared into the darkness. Selena and I followed suit, closing the portal behind us. It was totally dark and I couldn't make out the shapes of anyone.

"Is anyone there?" Harry's voice rang through the air. He seemed to be a few feet away from me. The others and Selena shouted "Here!"

"Where is Emery?" Logan asked. I jumped because he was right next to me.

"I'm here," I replied. Suddenly, small amounts of blue stardust appeared in front of me. They shone bright in the darkness as they increased in amount before they spread out to where the rest were and swirled around us. I was finally able to make out the shapes and locations of Selena and the guys. We were all a few feet from each other.

Stardust swirled around everyone, making them disappear one by one. Logan, who was in front of me, was the last one who disappeared. However, I didn't disappear. Crystalia was not in front of me, and I felt scared.

The stardust swirled in the darkness around me as it increased in diameter. There was a mildly strong gust of wind that blew around me. Some of the stardust swirling around me landed onto the dark flat surface of the floor as it formed the image of a woman.

She wore nothing but a white strapless dress. She had blonde hair, and her eyes were pale blue. Her feet were bare, and her body emitted a soft blue glow. She stood at about 5"7 in height.

"Who—who are you?" I managed to make out in a stutter. The woman floated a bit off the ground and approached me until a little space was left between us. I noticed that there was a bit of resemblance between her and someone I couldn't place a finger on.

"I'm Penelope, Emery," she replied. My back tensed in fear.

"How do you know my name?" the woman's expression suddenly turned scared.

"I do not have much time, but there is something you should know. The erwiches are doing something bad. I don't know what it is, but you need to do something about it. It may affect the future of all witches."

Stardust started to swirl around me.

"Wait!" I screamed out as the stardust started the process of teleporting me to Crystalia.

"We will talk again, Emery," Penelope said before she exploded into blue stardust. My vision was blocked by the continuous swirling stardust before everything turned black again.

CHAPTER 05

Emery's P.O.V

Once the stardust disappeared from my view, I was met by the sight of Crystalia. It was an enchanted city that existed in another dimension. It had similar features that related to Earth, but the fact that it was a magical land made it different.

The sky had ever-present stars, not caring whether it was day or night. We also had a sun. At the time, it was evening, and the sun was setting. It sometimes appeared huge in Crystalia in the mornings and evenings, illuminating the scenery's beauty.

"Wow," Ethan commented beside me. I shot up, having momentarily forgotten that I teleported with him and the rest.

Oh, right.

I looked around and saw the backs of Harry, Logan, Liam, and Zane. I believed they were mesmerized by the sight that met them. I mean, who wouldn't be?

Crystalia covered a small area that was circular in shape. Mountains were many miles on one side of the city, and on the opposite side was bare land that led to who knows where. The area near the mountains consisted of green pastures and different hardwood trees that formed small forests at different spots. The tops of the mountains were covered with snow. Also, a couple of rivers flowed from the mountains and past Crystalia.

Recently, Crystalia had begun to form modern buildings. The ancient yellow-brick buildings were gradually being replaced with red ones and such, also creating life opportunities for witches who wouldn't want to go back to earth. Moreover, it kind of helped that there weren't many witches.

When a person would teleport to Crystalia, the first thing they wouldn't notice was the town. There was a large area with a few hardwood trees and green grass. One would walk forwards until they come across a cobblestone road that led to the actual town.

 A castle existed beside the road— a freaking castle which functioned to be Crystalia's point of control. It had six towers, four conjoined at the building's edges and two being in the middle of the structure. Generally, the castle was four stories high with the middle two towers having another two stories. It consisted mostly of gray brick walls and concrete roofs painted light orange. The towers themselves had cone-shaped roofs that were also light orange.

"Would you get a look at this? It's so beautiful," Logan commented, close to tears. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I feel like I'm in a realistic Disney movie," said Liam.

"Come on, guys!" Selena said, interrupting the boys' scanning of the area. "We need to move quickly." She walked on the cobblestone road with the rest of us began following her.

We all turned to head towards the castle. Before we managed to move a couple of feet further, two ironclad guards jumped in front of us with swords in their hands.

"Freeze!" they said, startling all of us. Even though it was the 21st Century, the guards never seemed to change how they dressed. They had worn ironclad clothes, and one of them was sporting a large sword.

"Oh, it's you guys," one of the guards said as he retracted his sword. I immediately recognized the guards. They were Martin and Chris, some of the best guards in Crystalia. Martin had blonde hair and blue eyes whereas Chris had black hair and warm brown eyes. They were both in their mid-twenties.

"Yes, it's us," Selena replied. "We need to talk to the prince." Their eyebrows furrowed in confusion as their gazes landed on the boys behind us.

"Who are they?" Martin asked.

"Hi," Logan said as he waved his left hand with a smile. I watched as the guards' eyes widened in disbelief.

"Oh my g-"

"You're the Ordinary Brothers!"

My eyes narrowed in annoyance as I witnessed what was happening in front of me. Could guards be actual fans of boybands? I didn't know that. And more importantly, was there anywhere those boys weren't famous? 

The day just kept getting worse and worse. I couldn't wait to get away from the boys. 

That quickly had me forming an idea.

"Hey, guys. We just had erwiches attack us some minutes ago. Do you mind if you could help the boys catch up with what they are so that we can go get the Prince?" I asked, noticing the jaws that dropped from the boys and Selena.

"THEY'RE WITCHES?" Chris screamed before clearing his throat once I sent him a look of disbelief.

"That is the best news ever!" Martin said.

"Emery!" Selena said in a reprimanding tone. Martin and Chris resumed talking to the boys. I turned to face my cousin with an impatient look.

"As much as I would like to help the boys catch up with the whole magic and witches stuff," I started sarcastically, "some things need more attention than them," I replied. 

"They know us, Emery. Or at least, they know you. I believe that with you around, they can feel a bit comfortable with accepting who they are," Selena tried to reason with me.

I went to open my mouth, but I realized the words I wanted to say would rather be said in private. I motioned for Selena to follow me. Once we were at a distance I hoped we couldn't be heard by the boys and the guards, I began to question her sanity.

"Are you kidding me? What was that out there?" I asked her with a furious expression. She looked at me as if I was in the wrong.

"I was trying to help them get acquainted with the lifestyle of being a witch," she replied. I squinted my eyebrows at her in confusion and anger.

"Do you remember what I told you about an hour ago? Those boys were my bullies in high school," I yelled at her.

"Look, Emery. It's all in the past. I get it—" she started to say, but no sooner had she said the last three words than I started seeing red.

"No! You don't get it. I just came from pouring out a secret I never wanted to even remember, and you are acting all friendly with them as if there is no tension between us! I will not tell them about what they are. In fact, I would rather be locked up in a tower than be in the same room as them!" 

With that, I marched towards the castle entrance.

"Emery!" Selena called after me, but I was too pissed off to care.

Selena's P.O.V

I rubbed my forehead as I felt a headache coming along while watching Emery walk away. When I first met her and started hanging out with her, we sometimes got into a few disagreements; but when her five ex-bullies came back into her life unexpectedly, I didn't expect it to be a big deal. 

After mentally going through the argument we just had, I realized it was apparently a big deal.

Okay, I'm not saying that I won't be mad if I was bullied for two years. Trust me, I would. I also know it wouldn't last that long with me. 

I mean, what witch would allow herself to go through emotional and physical torture for two years? When Emery told me about that part of her past, I was shocked and sad for her. I knew she expected me to be with her and against her ex-bullies, but I didn't want to take sides.

I was a neutral person.

One could also say that I'm one of those people who like to put the past behind them. During the one hour that Emery had fainted, I talked to the boys and got to know them a little. They told me what Emery had said was true and they explained more about the past they shared with her. I had been angry at first, but I found the anger fizzling when they told me they had come to the café to ask for Emery's forgiveness. They said they were plagued by the memories of what they did to her and they felt that nothing was right in the world for them. 

That was enough to make me believe they had changed.

They even risked being found out by their fans just to ask for Emery's forgiveness!

"What was that about?" Ethan asked me, startling me as he and the rest came towards me, including Martin and Chris.

I shrugged my shoulders, "She's still mad at you guys." Ethan frowned at what I said before turning his gaze to the castle.

"Why is she mad at them?" Martin asked. My eyes widened as I recalled that they didn't know what we were talking about. I was sure Emery didn't want the whole of Crystalia to know her history with the Ordinary Brothers, and so I had to come up with a lie.

"Oh, nothing huge," I lied. "They didn't sign her shirt." The guys' eyes widened in shock, and they all gave me looks, telling me they knew it wasn't the truth. "So guys, what about that magic thing?" I said in hopes of changing the subject. Luck was on my side because it worked.

"Oh, yes!" Logan, who was chatting with Chris, said in excitement.

"We can't show them around," Chris said.

"Why?" Logan asked with a frown. Martin looked at Logan with a weird look.

"We are guards," Martin said with obviousness before he and Chris walked past us. I suddenly felt awkward being left with the five of them.

"Okay, guys. Let's get this tour started," I said as I walked towards the castle. We reached two large brown wooden doors that were opened. Once we stepped inside, a large room greeted us. The floors were composed of ceramic tiles that were checkered white and aquamarine. The walls were painted minty cream. Two gray-bricked staircases each existed at the left and right sides of the room with a chandelier dangling at the center of the ceiling. In front of me was a large expanse that led to other rooms on the floor.

"Whoa!" Harry stared in amazement.

"Come on," I said with a smile, not needing to check if the guys were following me.

***************************************************************************************

An hour later

We spent our time walking around the castle as I explained to the Ordinary Brothers that they were witches. They were still finding it hard to believe it as we continued our tour around the castle.

When did walking around the castle feel like a hike on Mount Everest? I really need to get back in shape. Or maybe, they should just install elevators in the castle!

I showed the boys the rooms that existed underneath the castle where the servants would wash clothes and dishes. I also showed them the view that the two towers of Crystalia offered. I could not show them the other rooms because they were limited to the royal family's use. 

My feet were killing me once we reached a hallway filled with portraits of Crystalia's ancestral rulers. The walls were firebrick red in color. The portraits themselves were large and similar in size with golden frames surrounding them.

"I didn't think this castle would be huge," Harry commented as we walked.

"This brings us to the historical portion of the tour," I said as we walked along the hallway.

"How was Crystalia found?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know," I replied, receiving disbelieving looks from him and the boys. "For now, nobody is certain. I guess you could say someone in the 1400s searched for witches on earth and had them enter Crystalia. That's what everyone would like to believe."

"Who is that?" Ethan asked as he pointed at a portrait of a guy with black hair, piercing blue eyes and an ironclad suit who was holding a sword.

"Crystalia was and still is ruled by kings and queens. That's Josh," I replied. "He was Crystalia's king in the 1700s, and he was a crystal."

The guys' eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I'm sorry. A what?" Zane was the one who asked. He and the guys were the only ones who did not know about the crystal, and I was glad about the reactions I received. I found it funny when I explained to someone who didn't know what the word meant.

"Crystal," I repeated. That, however, did not stop the confused looks I was receiving.

"But isn't a crystal like a shiny object?" Liam asked as he scratched his head.

"Yes, Liam. But in Crystalia, it is recognized as a person. Here's the difference. Crystalia is a name that was brought up from the word crystal. The crystal is a powerful witch that the universe selects every 200 years. They are stronger than the rest of the other witches."

"Why crystal?" Harry asked. "Why not powerful witch, or Crystalia's very own powerful witch?"

"Because those words are a mouthful," I stated simply.

"But what if the crystal turns bad?" Logan asked with uncertainty before turning his gaze to something on his right. "I have a feeling life as a witch is like a TV show."

I laughed at the irony.

"I didn't want to tell you guys this, seeing that you just found out that you yourselves are witches. In case a crystal's soul darkens, there is usually a spell that stops their powers temporarily. Then this gives other witches time to contain the crystal in a magical chamber that prevents them from harming people."

"What is the spell?" Logan asked.

I looked at a portrait away from them as I answered, "I don't know. Only the rulers of Crystalia and those close to the crystal know, and it is better if it stayed that way."

"Who's that?" Zane asked as he pointed a finger at a portrait far across the hallway. Once I turned to face the portrait, I instantly felt uneasy as fear clutched at my heart.

The portrait Zane pointed at was of a woman. She had black hair, pale skin and fiery green eyes. She wore a long black velvet dress which reached past her knees. Her hair was also styled into a bun. She had red lips that formed a thin line and some wrinkles on her face. Her eyes were drawn in a way that they looked and faced her right.

"That's Eva," I replied with no enthusiasm. I looked at the image for a moment before realizing that the boys looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. 

"She was a crystal. She was born in the 1800s, and you could say she was Crystalia's favorite witch," I stated with a smile as if I was there to witness her.

"But that was before her downfall."

"What?" Ethan asked. I turned to face him and the rest.

"An erwich managed to slip a potion that made her evil. With her being a crystal, you can imagine the chaos that ensued."

Logan looked at me with a weird look. I forgot once again they were new to the magic thing.

"She killed thousands of witches in one day. The king at that time had to make a potion that would get rid of the evil in her soul. It worked, and it seemed like she had gone back to her usual self. However, it didn't. Even though the darkness got out, she had a taste of it. She had accepted it, and before long, she killed more witches."

"What happened to her?"

I turned to face Logan as I noticed Liam pulling out his phone from one of his jeans' pockets.

"She was banned from Crystalia. Apparently, she was too evil to be kept near other witches."

Liam gasped as he stared at his phone.

"Guys, we need to leave or Trevor will have our heads."

Oh. I thought it was a reaction from Eva's tale.

The guys mirrored Liam's expression before Liam turned to me.

"Thanks, Selena," he said as he hugged me. I tried not to feel giddy, but I couldn't. I hugged him back and silently inhaled his scent.

I was hugging Liam Gray!

He retracted the hug as the rest came to me and hugged me.

"How weird will it be if you teleport to your hotel room?"

Their eyes widened in disbelief.

"What do you mean by 'teleport'?" Harry asked, and the rest gave him narrowed looks.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Really? How?" Zane chose to speak, ignoring Harry.

"Just close your eyes and picture the room," I said. They closed their eyes. "Then say in your minds that you want to be there. Like, make a wish or something—"

They all disappeared at the same time. Some seconds later, my phone buzzed with a message from Liam.

Thanks.

X Liam

Wait. I don't remember giving him my phone number... 

Oh, wait. I did.

With a shrug, I wandered across the hallway in search of Emery.

Emery's P.O.V

I couldn't believe the nerve of that girl!

I marched past Selena and walked towards the entrance of the castle. I was too angry to notice the garden that existed with a fountain on the other side of the castle.

Once I went past the opened castle doors, someone rushed towards me and hugged me. I was shocked at first, but the perfume that I smelled made me recognize the person.

"Mom!" I shouted in surprise as I retracted the hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at work."

She smiled at me before it turned into a frown.

"I was, and I decided to visit you and your dear cousin at work. I am disappointed in the two of you," she said with a disapproving frown.

I squinted my eyebrows in confusion. My mother remained silent as she waited for me to figure out the reason for her disappointment. I didn't. 

She sighed as she looked down before staring back at me.

"What happened at work?" she asked. I went into my mind and recalled the events of the evening.

"We had an erwich attack," I replied with a grim expression.

"Another?" she asked in shock. My eyes widened at the response.

"They were actually two," saying that didn't help the matter. "We felt it was weird, so we came to Crystalia to ask about it." She sighed in relief once I finished the sentence.

"That was smart of you, Emery. Who knows what could have happened if you didn't come immediately. Anyway, that makes it hard for me to be mad at you. I found Rachel in the kitchen."

My eyes widened in shock.

Crap! I forgot about her! Apparently, I was too busy dealing with a blast from my past to realize that she might have still been at the café. 

What if she discovered what we were?

"Does she—" I asked, intending to ask my thoughtful query, but my mother cut me off.

"No, she doesn't. Rachel was closing the café when I ran into her. She told me she had gone to visit her mother for a while."

A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I was glad to hear she was okay. I just had to worry about the excuse I had to give her.  

"I didn't know that," I told my mother.

"I know," she replied. "She told Selena."

Oh my goodness...

"She apparently told her that she would be gone for an hour before coming back to the cafe to close up with you guys. She is mad that you guys left without her."

I winced in reaction.

"Please, be more cautious next time. It wouldn't be nice if the world found out about witches."

I nodded in agreement.

"Where were you going?" she asked.

"Oh, I was going to see the queen. We need to talk about the erwich attacks." My eyes roamed around my current surroundings, searching for the queen.

"I'll go with you," she replied. I nodded in agreement, and we set foot towards the queen's quarters. We found ourselves walking along a staircase and reaching the floor above. My eyes met a hallway in front of me and another on my right. We turned towards the right one, looking around for the ruler of Crystalia.

The queen's servants shook their heads in denial when we asked them about the whereabouts of the Queen.

"Emery! Miss Davis!" a deep voice shouted through the hallway, causing us to turn to the source. A smile appeared across my face when I spotted the queen's son approaching us.

His name was Prince Erick, short for Erickson. He was about a year older than me and he was set to be Crystalia's next ruler. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and a lightly tanned skin. He had worn a navy blue waistcoat with white buttons and a white dress shirt underneath, just like the queen's servants. His legs were however hidden inside black khaki trousers that completed his formal look.

Once he was a few feet away from us, I hugged him. He returned the hug, then retracted to hug my mother.

"How was your day?" he asked with a smile that revealed his pearly white teeth. We replied with 'fine' and 'great'and then proceeded to bow our heads down. Once we were done, Erick let out a bark of laughter.

"There is no need to do that. You know that you are like my aunt of sorts and you are like my sister," he respectively told my mother and I. I smiled at him, and my mom copied my actions.

"Well, let's go. I am sure my mother is not busy right now," he said as he walked in front of us. We followed him as he led us past a large dining room and into a small conference room.

In the chamber, a large rectangular sepia table with padauk wood chairs surrounding it met my view. The gray walls were slightly illuminated by the bulbs arranged near the top left and right corners of the room. There was a closet arranged at the far left corner that showed us one of its sides and a large window that displayed one of the mountains that surrounded Crystalia.

In the room, Erick's mother, Queen Elizabeth, was busy reading a book. 

Erick looked like his mom. Unlike her son, she had red hair and her skin was a bit lighter. 

"Hello!" she said with a smile once she saw us at the door. She closed the book she was reading and approached us.

"What's wrong?" she said instantly with her eyebrows furrowed.

"Why would anything be wrong?" my mother asked. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her.

"Please, Susan. You know you only come to Crystalia when something's wrong," she stated as a fact. My mom went to oppose, but she found herself opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"Fair enough. But you of all people know why I don't come here at most times," my mom said with an edge to her tone. The room went silent as tension made its presence. It wasn't uncommon for the two to be like that; 

I mean, who would want to come to the place where their husband was killed?

"Selena and I have been having frequent erwich attacks," I said instantly with hopes of changing the subject.

"What? They only attack about thrice a year!" Elizabeth said in shock. I nodded my head in agreement.

"I need your help in finding out what is going on," my mother said. Elizabeth gave us a solemn look.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot help you. You know what the risks are when we try to spy on erwiches. Whatever it is that they're doing—well, it's not like it would work, right?" she said with a shrug.

"If I may," Erick started, "maybe it's because of next Friday."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Emery, have you forgotten? On that day, the universe will pick who the next crystal would be."

I couldn't believe it.

"Selena and I can't be the only ones who have had frequent attacks, right?" I asked, and he nodded.

I sighed in relief.

"I have a feeling they know about the next crystal being selected. I guess that is why they are attacking. Maybe they're afraid of being wiped out of existence."

"Well, that makes sense," my mom commented.

"So, what do we do?" I asked Erick.

"All witches will stay in Crystalia for the following week," Queen Elizabeth answered for him. "We can't expose the witches to erwiches at this time."

"But what about my job?" I complained. I was still saving for college, and I was looking forward to having some cash before I started it.

"What's more important, Emery? Your job or your life?" Erick asked.

Damn it!

Third person's P.O.V

Past the mountains that could be seen from Crystalia lay a dense forest. Further from that was a slightly desolate land with a small eroding castle. The castle was small and had gray brick stones for walls and a wooden roof with rusting red paint. It was composed of a cubic structure three floors high. Four towers supported the corners of the castle with a height of five floors.

In the castle, dark beasts roamed around, searching for food. The beasts had big wings like those of bats, and they resembled baboons. They also had long tails. Sharp claws were present on their limbs. Past the creatures was a group of erwiches. They appeared like ordinary men and women with clothes that were slightly torn.

In the middle of the group was a pot with boiling contents placed over firewood. An erwich appeared in a blink of an eye before approaching the one who was closer to the pot.

"Do you have good news?" the one near the pot asked the approaching erwich. The erwich looks down before meeting his eyes.

"They escaped," she replied. In an instant, she was backhanded. Her cheek turned to the side as the sound of the smack carried through the castle. The erwiches that were around laughed as she turned to face the assaulter with a glare. 

The erwich ignored the look and walked around the pot in his own thoughts. In an instant, his head turned to the female erwich.

"I tried my best," the female erwich spoke.

"You failed, but that doesn't matter. We need one ingredient so that this spell will work."

The erwich continued walking around the pot until he suddenly stopped.

"Do not attack them."

The female erwich looked shocked, but then the one near the pot resumed what he was saying.

"Let them think that this is over. If we let them know what we are planning, they will do everything they can to stop us. We can't have that, especially since we are very close to getting her out. Do you understand?"

The female erwich nodded with a smirk before teleporting away from the scene.

CHAPTER 06

Emery's P.O.V

A week had passed ever since the queen made the decision for all witches to stay in Crystalia. We had a small meeting to make the announcement and to help settle the witches who only had homes on earth. Selena, my mother and I were allowed to stay in the castle since we were close to the royal family. 

To make things better, I got a break from my ex-bullies.

But then, aren't they also witches?

Selena had mentioned to the Queen that the Ordinary Brothers was a boy band of witches, and so they had to stay in Crystalia. I was angry when my cousin said that. 

I knew I was being irrational, but I didn't care. I was still mad at them. They were witches, and so they could protect themselves.

Unfortunately for my cousin, I stated that the boys couldn't leave earth because they were rising in popularity. Their absence would be suspicious and would cause many people, including their fans and the paparazzi, to search for them. That had the queen thinking, and she selected some of her guards to act like their friends on tour so that they could carry out the job of protecting them while teaching them how to fend for themselves.

The guys didn't face any erwich attack. That brought a frown to my face.

I shook my head to focus on my surroundings. I was in one of the castle chambers. It had a small window, and the ancient brick walls were present. It was designed to be a training room, having archery weapons, guns, swords and knives hanging on three walls in the room.

Ever since the incident caused by my ex-bullies that landed me in the hospital, I realized I needed to learn how to protect myself. In case my powers failed to work again, I needed something else for defense. That's when I started fighting and weaponry lessons in Crystalia. I started a few weeks after I was released from the hospital. In a matter of a year, I had mastered most of the lessons. However, if I wanted to keep them in memory, I had to practice.  

There was a white target board with a red dot on the middle. I reached for a knife that I had in one of my pockets before flinging it towards the dot. It hit it, bringing a smile to my face.

My ears perked as I heard footsteps approaching me. I doubted the person wanted me to hear them approaching, and so that was not a good sign. I quickly reached for another knife and turned to face the person while throwing it at them.

The knife missed and delved into the wall, right next to someone's head. It was Zane.

His eyes were wide in horror as he stood still. 

My eyes narrowed in annoyance. 

I stretched my arm, trying to summon the knife back to me. It wiggled on the wall it hit before flying and landing onto my hand.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I stuffed the knife in one of my pockets before turning to the one stuck on the target.

"Hello to you too," Zane said as he began approaching me. I thrust the knife at him with a glare, warning him off. He stopped walking.

I then took a short moment to observe his form. Zane had worn a white cotton shirt with a pair of black denim jeans and black shoes. He looked dressed up for something.  

"Look, Emery. I'm sorry about the way I treated you in the past. Even though you always ended up beaten or injured, is it possible that we could start over? Maybe as friends?"

I was silent as I gave him a blank stare. It didn't take me long to form an answer.

"Nope," I replied as I turned to exit the chamber. Zane's hand reached out and held my arm, stopping me from moving away from him. I flinched as the memories of my bullying flooded my mind. 

"Do not look touch me!" I yelled at him, forcing my arm off his hold. Zane directed his gaze at the floor before looking at me with guilt in his eyes. Anger flooded through my veins like a waterfall.

With a shake of my head, I turned to exit the chamber. 

I was still angry with him and the rest of his friends. Just because they were celebrities didn't mean they could talk to me as if we were friends, and it didn't mean that I was going to accept their apology anytime soon. 

I soon heard footsteps approaching. There was no doubt that it was Zane following me. With an irritated groan, I turned to face him.

"Emery, I wanted to talk to you--"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I cut Zane off. "You come to me, acting as if everything is okay between us. News flash, Zane: it's not. Do you have any idea what you and your friends put me through? You made high school a living hell for me! I had—" I cut myself off. Call it a matter of pride, but I didn't want him to know the effects of their bullying. He and the rest would feel a sick form of pride if they found out.

"I had to go through a lot to feel like myself again. Do you seriously expect me to be like: you are sorry?  You didn't mean to abuse me in high school? Great! Let's be friends, and possibly I may fall for one of you!"

"Why would you fall for one of us?" Zane asked with a confused expression.

"It doesn't matter!" I yelled. Zane sighed.

"Emery--"

"Do you remember what you guys last did to me? I almost died! It proved to me that you and your friends are incapable of feeling any remorse! You just care about yourselves you narcissistic—"

"That isn't true," Zane cut me off. "We care about other people. That's why we looked for you in the first place! The guys and I feel bad about what we did. We can't change the past, but we can learn from it. For goodness sake, Emery! What can we do to prove that we are very sorry for what we did?" he spoke with his eyes filling up with tears.

For a moment, I considered what he said. In that moment, I was shocked by the emotions displayed on Zane's face. He looked emotionally torn. 

Maybe Zane was truly sorry about what he did. But seriously, was an apology ever enough for everyone?

"Will money help? I heard from Selena that you are going to Princeton after summer ends."

I stared at him with a blank emotion. The anger returned, threatening to expose itself on the surface. Instead, I took a deep breath before walking away from him.

"Emery!" Zane called out as he continued chasing after me.

The asshat was being bothersome. I needed to get away from him before I did one of the awful things I was picturing in my mind. 

How could he think that of me? He didn't know me well enough to know that I wasn't a gold digger! Money was not going to solve the rift between us.

"Emery!" Zane called out again. Angry tears clouded my vision, blocking me from seeing the cream walls of the hallway as I heard approaching footsteps. 

At that moment, the anger shifted towards me as I thought of the horrible things I went through. I was a witch for crying out loud! I had the powers and option to stop the bullying at any time. I would have avoided the emotional and physical trauma that I had faced.

But you didn't , my brain taunted me. I pushed the thought away. 

I didn't watch where I was going, and so I bumped into someone.

"Honey, are you okay?" it was my mother. She reached her hands out to hold my shoulders. 

"Why are you crying?" she asked, but I didn't have it in me to answer her.

"Emery!" Zane shouted as he ran towards me. He stopped once he reached us. I felt my mother tense before she let me go and faced him. I didn't need to see her to know that she was angry with him.

After I had told my mother of my bullies, she was angry and she swore to hurt them if she even met them. I think she mentioned killing them or something... I didn't know, but what I knew was Zane needed to get away from me before my mother turned him into a fried chicken.

"What are you doing here?" she seethed. I turned to face Zane. 

"Look. I'm sorry. I was just trying to talk to her." Zane then furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"How does this involve you?" 

"I am her mother," as soon as my mom said those words, Zane's expression contorted into one of fear. 

As much as I would have loved it if my mother stabbed him or burnt him with a fireball— I mean turned him into a toad or a stone statue —I didn't want to deal with the aftermath. I hated my ex-bullies, but I didn't hate them enough to want them dead; it would cause a lot of unnecessary drama. I just wanted them light-years away from me.

"Mom, let's go—" I said in hopes of dropping the conversation, but she was having none of it. Instead, she approached Zane and backhanded him. Hard.

My mouth dropped in the shape of an 'O' as the sound of the slap rang through the hallway. The slap was hard enough to have Zane's head turn to a side. I even thought I heard a snap of a bone. At the moment, I was glad my mother slapped Zane.

"I know who you are. I would have turned you into a turkey and baked you for dinner, but I'm not that kind of person. I don't want you around my daughter ever again. Is that clear?" my mom demanded.

Zane nodded in reply with his eyes widened in fear.

We walked past him as he stood rooted to the spot. I guessed he was recovering from the slap that he received.

"Which one is he?" my mother asked when we stopped a few feet out of earshot. I had told my mother of the situation involving the boys and me. After she found out they too were witches, she was angry. I was glad I wasn't the only one.

"Zane," I replied. Her eyes widened before an angry look appeared on her face again. She went to head back to Zane, and it was my turn to widen my eyes. I reached for one of her arms and stopped her before she could go do something bad to him.

"What is he doing here?" she stopped trying to head towards Zane. She sighed before turning to face me.

"Emery, I am worried. How are you handling all this?" she asked with a concerned look. 

"Don't worry, mom. They don't affect me like they used to in high school," I said with a smile. That didn't ease the worry off her face.

"If they come after me, I will stab them in the heart," that statement made her sigh in relief. Sometimes I was afraid of my own mother. She could be kind and cool, but she could also be dangerous.

"Okay. Now come, Emery," she said as we resumed our walk. "We have a lot to do today."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Like what?" she stopped when I asked her the question. She looked at me in disbelief.

"Have you forgotten that tonight the universe selects the next crystal?" My mouth dropped in shock. 

I completely forgot!

The night would be exactly less than a decade after the previous crystal had passed away. If that were to happen, everyone would have to wait for around five years for another one to be chosen.

It was the second time for such that was happening.

Every witch in Crystalia was looking forward to the event. It was great and all, but unfortunately for me, the crystal had to be in their teenage years to be selected. There was going to be a party planned by the queen and her sons before the actual ceremony began.

"You completely forgot, didn't you?" my mom asked, copying my thoughts. "I mean, come on, Emery! We are in Crystalia, not at work. That's the thing many witches have been talking about this week!" she stated.

"You know how I am; I postpone stuff that involves parties."

She rolled her eyes at me.

"Well, we've got a party to prepare for. Come along."

Zane's P.O.V

So that was the mother...

The slap I received had probably broken my cheekbone. The skin around the area throbbed with pain. I was surprised to even feel it in my teeth! It must have been some potion that she used to make the slap hurt because I didn't believe a woman's slap could cause more than a mark.

Seeing that I wouldn't be able to talk to Emery, I walked towards another room in the castle while holding my cheek. 

I didn't expect the previous events to happen. Okay, what I meant was I did expect Emery to lash out at me, but I didn't anticipate meeting her mother and receiving a slap as her greeting. It made me realize that she knew. She knew what my friends and I did to her daughter. Not only did I have to apologize to Emery, but I also had to apologize to her mother.

I came to an abrupt halt, realizing that I didn't recognize my surroundings. I sighed, digging for my phone and dialing Liam.

"Hello?" he answered within the first ring. As painful as it was to my pride to say, Liam managed to map the whole castle in his head within a week. I mean, we weren't even around during the past week! I would like to think that he either got a map for the castle or he had a really sharp memory and sense of direction.

"Hey, Liam. I'm lost," I said with an annoyed tone.

"Again?" he asked with a surprised tone. I huffed, still annoyed.

"Okay. Where are you?"

"I don't know! That's why I said I'm lost," I said with a groan.

"Do you see anything around you? Anything that jiggles your memory?"

I took my time to look around. The only thing I saw was the lime-green walls of the hallway and the gray concrete ground.

"Nope," I replied.

"Just picture your room and teleport there."

I ended the call and closed my eyes to do what he said. I felt a sudden blast of air surround and leave my form. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at Liam. 

We were in a room with cyan walls. It was designed to be some kind of small library because there were some bookshelves arranged behind Liam. A wooden table with wooden chairs surrounding it were present. There was also a window on my left that viewed Crystalia's other tower and the other buildings in Crystalia.

"What were you doing that got you lost?" Liam asked with his eyebrows furrowed. I shifted on my feet as I thought about the reply.

"I was looking for Emery," I replied, and his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"What? Zane! We were all supposed to do it together," he said.

"I know," I said, "but I thought it was better if we all went one by one. If we went together, wouldn't it mean that we don't mean it?"

"What?" he asked with a confused expression.

"We can sometimes depend on each other for support and confidence. What if we all just went as individuals and apologize to her?"

"Maybe you're right, Zane. Tell me. How did your plan work out?"

I winced as I recalled the argument I had with Emery, which was followed by the slap I received from her mother. I turned to show Liam the abused cheek. He gasped when he saw the bruise forming on the skin.

"Who did this to you?" he questioned with his mouth opened.

"Emery's mother."

"What?"

I relayed the recent events to Liam.

"I should stay away from her. I don't want to be her next slap victim."

I would have found it funny if I wasn't the one who was slapped.

"She knows what we did to her, Liam," I said, frightened about what she could do next. I knew for a fact that mothers could do anything to ensure their children's protection. I was afraid that Emery's mother would curse me, or worse, kill me since she was also a witch.

"What did you expect, Zane? We landed her daughter in a hospital. I believe that someone would know. I'm surprised that it's only her mother that knows."

"How can you be sure, Liam? What if someone else knows? What if every witch in Crystalia knows?" I started to panic. We were surrounded by many witches like us. Maybe they were planning to kill us!

"Zane, you're being paranoid over nothing. The witches are friendly people. The queen herself even sent her best guards to protect us while we were on tour. I believe that we are safe with them. Remember high school and how hard it was to embrace our powers?"

I nodded my head as the memories played in my head. After we had beaten up Emery and landed her in a hospital, and after the police investigated the case and came up with nothing, strange things started happening to my friends and me. It started out small, like a small fire in the Chemistry lab or a flying tube breaking on a wall. It got even weirder when at one time Ethan burned his Math book with his own hands.

**** Flashback ****

Harry, Logan, Liam and I burst into Ethan's bedroom.

"Whoa! Ethan!" Harry said with his mouth wide open.

Ethan refused to face us as he huddled against a corner in his room and hid his head in between his legs. 

"It's okay, dude," Harry said as he tried to approach him.

"It's not okay!" Ethan shouted, raising his head to look at us. Tears were flowing freely down his cheeks.

Ethan had accidentally burnt his Math book in class. Just by touching it. Later in the day, he skived school. The guys and I were worried for him, and so we decided to check on him.

"I'm afraid of what you're thinking of me," he said in a whisper as he looked down at the floor. "You could tell anyone for all I know!"

"Why would we do that?" Liam asked, mirroring the same shocked expression that everyone in the room had.

"We are friends, Ethan. We promise we won't tell anyone if that's what you want."

We all nodded in agreement to Liam's words. Ethan sighed in relief.

"When did this start?" I asked.

"I don't know," he replied. "It started about three months ago." He got up and extended his left arm. A small fireball began to form on the palm. He twirled it around his fingers before clicking them, diminishing the fireball.

"That explains the fire at the Chemistry lab!" Logan exclaimed, making every eye turn to him with a patronizing look.

"What? Oh," he said before shutting up for the entire conversation.

"It's alright, Ethan. To be honest, I have something to share with you guys," Harry said, having everyone turn their attention to him.

He stared at the burnt Math book on the table. He narrowed his eyebrows, making the book move forward. We all exclaimed in shock at what he did. The rest of us came clean and demonstrated our powers. Logan and I had telekinesis like Harry did. Liam and Ethan were the ones who were able to summon fireballs.

"I thought I was alone," Ethan said as we all embraced in a group hug.

"What do we do?" Harry asked as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Should we tell someone?" Logan asked.

"We can't!" Liam stated. "What if we end up being like lab rats? Or a dissected frog ?"

We all shuddered at the thought. We continued talking and we all agreed to keep the powers talk to ourselves. It was easy at first, but we managed to hide our secret without anyone finding out.

The mystery of how we got our powers still remained a mystery. Since we knew of Crystalia, we could go ask around about how a person became a witch.

Seeing Emery after high school was both a good and bad thing. She found out who we were and told us that we were witches, like her and her cousin. We were quite relieved that we weren't alone. It was bad because we shared a bad history with her, and we didn't know how to get on her good side.

My thoughts were interrupted when the ground suddenly shook. There was also a thunderous sound that frightened me. Liam and I instantly lost our footing. We collapsed on the floor, thankfully on our behinds. The shaking continued, making everything in the room vibrate. Some books even fell off the bookshelves. We crawled towards the wooden table where we stayed.

"What's going on?" I questioned as fear clenched around my heart. The shaking persisted for about a minute before it stopped. Liam and I slowly crawled out of the table before standing up.

The damage in the room was huge. Some bookshelves had collapsed onto the walls and onto other bookshelves. Books lay unceremoniously on the floor with some open and some closed. Before we could do anything, we heard many moving feet. We turned to the door to see people move towards one direction.

I did not want to be alone in that room after what had just occurred. Liam and I shared a look before quickly moving towards the crowd. We went along with them, going towards the direction they were heading. I soon came to realize that we were heading outside the castle.

The sight of the weird starry day sky greeted me. I looked around and spotted many people around the garden, waiting for something to happen. Liam and I moved towards them.

"Hello, fellow witches," someone said as they stood in front of us. Everyone faced the person. It was a woman, and with the way she spoke, I thought she was a leader to the people.

"We have heard and witnessed what had just happened. I am happy to report that none of us were killed or injured during the earthquake. However, it has brought my attention to inform you of what has been happening around us. I believe that the erwiches have something to do with the earthquake."

Sounds of shock and disbelief filled the air before people murmured.

"We are certain that they are trying to disrupt tonight's activities. We will let them know that nothing will ruin this night for us!"
Sounds of agreement and shouts rang through the air.

"Your Majesty, what are the erwiches planning?" someone asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "We will not be looking into it because that is what they want. We will carry on with this day like nothing has happened."

Sounds of agreement rang through the air.

I just had one question.

What was happening on that night?

CHAPTER 07

Zane's P.O.V

A party. 

That was what was going to happen during the night. 

A freaking party.

Why would the erwiches try to disrupt peace in Crystalia because of a party? 

Sometimes I felt like I was in a childish fantasy movie. 

Well, better that than being a character in Lord of the Rings, am I right?

"Zane!" Harry shouted my name as he, Logan and Ethan moved through the crowd. Liam and I walked towards them and met in the middle of the dispersing crowd.

"Where were you guys?" Liam asked. Harry, Ethan and Logan looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders.

"We were just looking around. Did you know the Queen has two sons?"

"The Queen?" I asked in confusion. "Wait. Crystalia has a queen?"

"Yes, Zane," Liam responded. "Who do you think that woman telling us about the erwiches' plan was?"

"By the way, what is the deal with erwiches?" Logan asked with a frown. "According to Martin, their attacks have been more progressive in the last few weeks."

"If anything, it isn't good," Ethan added. "Guys, this talk about erwiches is making me uncomfortable. Could we talk about it some other time?"

Just like that, the subject was changed to the tour that we had around the US. Nobody wanted to talk more about the revelation we had been told on the previous week. It would certainly take some time for us to accept that we were witches. Luckily, we could push the subject until then.

Emery's P.O.V

"Stand still, Emery!" my mother scolded me as she helped me get dressed.

We were in one of the rooms in the castle. My eyes kept jumping from the mirror in front of me and the reflected green marble floors. I could even see a window that showed one of Crystalia's castle towers was present on my right, revealing the setting sun. 

I soon noticed my mother taking out a pair of scissors from the mahogany dressing table near her.

The party was an hour away from starting, and everyone in Crystalia was getting ready for it. As it was part of Crystalia's tradition, during important events that determined the future of witches, everyone had to dress formally. For the event, I chose a teal blue dress. It was sleeveless, and it had a white flowery pattern on the collar and the waist. 

"So how are you feeling dear?" my mother asked as she zipped up my dress.

"Nervous, I guess," I replied as my mom ushered me to sit next to the dressing table. She helped me comb my hair and style it.

Ever since I had the argument with Zane that ended with my mother slapping him, I couldn't help but feel anxious. I felt like I was in high school again; that he and his friends would bully me. That was impossible at the current time because we were becoming adults. 

I had to remind myself that and to also remember I wasn't in high school. More importantly, I had to remember I was a witch.

"There is nothing to worry about, Emery. Everything will be okay as soon as the night is over," my mother said, interrupting my train of thoughts.

"Mom, what if I am the next crystal?" I asked with wide eyes. Apart from the whole ex-bullies thing, I was worried about becoming the next crystal. There is the advantage of becoming the most powerful witch, but there is the disadvantage of being a danger magnet.

"Why worry about something that you are not so sure of?" she asked.

I went to say something, but she interrupted me with a gasp.

"I forgot about Selena! Emery, you can deal with the rest on your own, right?" she asked as she frantically filled her black purse with some of her things.

I nodded in reply. She moved her head to give me a kiss on my forehead before leaving the room. My eyes moved to my reflection, and I almost jumped in shock.

My mother styled my hair into a bun! 

I was not surprised by the style; it was just that she took a long time to do it.

Anyway, I could make it work. With a shrug, I proceeded to apply makeup.

About fifty minutes filled with concentration, I was done. The eyeliner and mascara that I had applied sharpened the contrast of my eyes. My lips were a light pink as a result of the lip-gloss I used. I had also applied a bit of foundation and blush to enhance the color of my skin.

"You look beautiful," someone said, making me almost shoot off the seat. I turned to face him with a hand on my chest.

"You scared me, Justin!" he shrugged with a smile on his face.

Apart from Erick, Justin was the Queen's other child. He was two years younger than his brother, and he was hardly ever present in the castle. That was because he was an international pop-star. He was internationally known as Justin Bieber.

Justin was currently sporting a black cotton dress shirt with white buttons. His attire was completed with a pair of black khaki trousers and black shoes. Moreover, his dirty-brown hair was styled into a quiff.

Justin approached me and wrapped his arms around my form. I gave into the hug before we both retracted.

"How's the tour?" I inquired. Justin was on tour around the USA, just like the Ordinary Brothers. He had informed me that he would be done in about two months, around the same time Selena and I would be leaving for college.

"It's okay, come to think of it. There's always a huge turn-up at my live performances. Who knew I had so many fans?"

I rolled my eyes. Justin suddenly looked distraught.

"Are you worried about tonight? Because I'm worried," he said. "I can't be the next crystal when all I want to do is be a musician."

"I know, Justin," I replied. "You said the same thing when it involved who would want to be Crystalia's next king." It was a fact, and that was a month ago. The Queen had a private meeting with her sons and her officials about the next ruler. She didn't want a disagreement between her sons like in the movies. To her surprise, Justin adamantly refused to be Crystalia's next king while Erick wanted the position. 

One could say the problem was solved instantly.

"What about me? I have my future ahead of me! I don't think I could balance being the crystal and working on earth at the same time!"

"Oh, please! You guys make it seem like it's such a bad idea," Selena made her presence known as she entered the room. Justin and I turned to look at her.

Selena walked slowly toward us, making her red sleeveless velvet dress momentarily sway with her movement. Her hair was styled into a long ponytail. She had light blush on her cheeks, and her eyes were brought out by the eyeliner and mascara she had applied.  

"If I remember what is correctly written in the books, being a crystal isn't that tasking. The crystal would only have to show up when they are needed. It's not like they'll be forced to be Crystalia's ruler."

"Hey babe," Justin said as he approached her. Selena smiled as she leaned towards him for a peck. 

Selena and Justin had been a couple for about five months. One could call it young love. However, their relationship had been undergoing problems. In particular, the world didn't know that Justin had a girlfriend. Selena wanted to be showed off as his, but Justin was worried about his fans' reactions. Selena seemed okay with that at first, but as their relationship progressed, she was having second thoughts. What made her especially mad was that Justin's management called a model to act as his fake girlfriend.

"Have you forgotten about the whole evil-magnet part?" I asked, interrupting their lovey-dovey moment. I saw Justin as a brother, and I didn't want to see any PDA action that involved him or Selena.

"So far, there is nothing to worry about. It's not like Eva is with us or something," Selena stated. "Now let's go or else we'll be late."

Selena, Justin and I walked out of the room and headed to the large conference room two floors below us where the party was being held. Once we arrived, the people in the room caught my eyes. They were mostly teenagers. The guys wore suits while the women wore formal dresses of their liking.

Would rather not go into the detail or else I would look like a creep checking them out.

Two chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, emitting a bright golden glow to the room. Wooden tables filled with drinks, food and appetizers were arranged next to the walls. There was music playing with some people dancing in the middle of the room.

"May I have this dance?" Justin asked Selena. She smiled in reply before putting her hand on his and having him take her to the center of the room. With a smile, I turned my head and looked around. Everyone seemed to be having fun. 

I moved around during the party, greeting fellow witches and catching up with their lives. About an hour later, I was bored. I turned to look around for my cousin, only to gasp in surprise. Justin and Selena were shockingly still dancing.

I turned to leave just in time to see Erick approaching me. I sighed in relief, happy to see someone with similar interests as mine. The prince had worn a brown suit with a white dress shirt underneath. On his left arm was his mother, the Queen. She too was smiling as she looked around the room.

The Queen had worn a purple organza dress that reached her feet. It seemed as if she was in a wedding with her as the bride.

Once Erick and the queen reached me, I bowed my head and lowered myself as I formed a curtesy.

"Your Majesties," I said before rising to stand. Erick and his mother gave me bored looks.

"How many times do we have to tell you?" Erick said with a groan. "You are part of our family. You don't have to continue bowing to us."

I grinned.

"Hello, Emery. I hope you are enjoying yourself instead of worrying about being the crystal," the Queen said, making me wince. She shook her head at me in disapproval.

"Go ahead," she said in an instant while pushing her son and me to the dance floor. Erick and I both wanted to object, but she was very adamant. We hobbled to the dance floor where a slow song suddenly started to play.

Erick and I both shared horrified looks. With a shrug, I put my arms around his shoulders. He did the same, except that he placed his hands on my waist.

"Well, this is awkward," I said, and Erick shook with laughter.

"Tell me about it. It's like she's pushing you to me so that we can get married and become rulers of Crystalia or something," he said with a smile.

I didn't want to say anything yet, but what Erick said was true. 

It had started about a year ago. When we would have a conversation with her, the Queen would suddenly up and leave us alone. Then there were the invites to parties like the one we were currently having. She would tell her son to dance with me. That's when I started picking up on his mother's cupid tendencies. I guessed it was because the Queen considered my mom and me as her family. 

And what better way is there to make us a complete family than to have the children wed each other?

"Doesn't she know that I'm in love with someone else?" Erick said with his smile fading as he directed his gaze behind me. I turned my head to see what he was seeing. My mouth dropped open at the sight. Selena was kissing Justin.

It shouldn't have been a shock since I knew they were dating, but to do it so publicly...

I knew that Erick had a crush on my cousin. I didn't blame him—okay, let me stop speaking before I make this awkward. He fell in love with her a year ago, about the same time his mother started playing Cupid, but she was blind to his feelings for her. Even my mom knew that he loved her! Almost everyone who knew the prince and my cousin recognized the love in his eyes for her. I guessed that was another reason why the queen was pushing him to me to help him move on from Selena.

Sadly for Prince Erick, Selena was dating Justin. That disrupted Erick's plans of confessing his love for her. He didn't want to ruin his brother's relationship. But then, there was also the fear of rejection.

"Erick, are you okay?" I asked him with a worried glance. We stopped dancing some seconds ago. He seemed frozen for a moment before he shook his head and focused on his surroundings.

"What? Oh, yes. I'm fine. Don't worry about me," he said with a fake smile. I decided to drop the issue for the moment.

"But I would worry about you," he said as he looked at something behind me. Again? I squinted my eyebrows in confusion before turning to inspect what he saw. When I saw what he meant, I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing is wrong, Erick. They are keeping their distance," I said. The members of Ordinary Brothers were there since they too were witches. 

Erick had found out about the history I shared with them after I was out of the hospital two years ago. He was not happy about the incident, and he was definitely not happy to see the inflictors of my pain in his castle.

As I stared at the group with hate, Zane turned and his eyes suddenly met mine. My heart began to thud faster. The events of the morning were still fresh in my mind, and I was still mad that he thought that money could change what he and his friends did to me in the past.

Before Zane went to approach me, the music was cut off and the Queen spoke.

"May I get everyone's attention?" she asked. About a minute later of people hushing each other, everyone had settled and was quiet, awaiting the Queen's words.

"As you all know, tonight is the night when the next crystal will be selected. Before we begin, I would like us to go through our history of crystals."

The Queen started naming the most powerful witches of every two centuries. I zoned out because I already knew about them.

"I would want everyone to move to the garden outside," the Queen said once she was done with her History speech. Everyone followed her instructions, heading out of the doors of the castle. Some moments later, we were all outside as we waited for our next instructions. Everyone was anxious and curious at the same time to know who the next crystal would be.

"It is time, fellow witches, for the selection of the next crystal to start," the Queen said. Every witch turned to face her as she spoke. Some of the castle workers were with her, and one of them held a grimoire in their hands.

The Queen pulled something out of her sleeve. "In my hand, I hold an ordinary crystal which will be used to appoint the next most powerful witch." She stretched her arm forward so everyone could get a good look at it.

The crystal shone in the low level of light, and people marveled at it.

The worker with the grimoire moved to the Queen and opened the spell book. She then started to chant a couple of ancient spells. We were all anxious as the Queen continued chanting the spell.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Selena asked beside me. I shrugged in reply.

"Look!" someone shouted as they pointed to the sky. We all turned to face upwards.

The starry sky had some stars, one by one, moving about in a circle. The wind suddenly picked up around all of us as we watched the movement of the usually-stagnant stars. In an instant, a rain of white-blue stardust fell upon us. It lit up everything in its path, including our hair, clothes and the ground. 

It seemed like a shower of light.

Sounds of exclamations filled the air. The stardust that had fallen rose off the ground as it was picked up by the wind, forming what one could call a glowing ball. The Queen chanted a spell on the crystal that she held before releasing it. The crystal remained floating in the air before all the stardust entered it. The crystal moved up towards the sky, twirling on its own before throwing the stardust that was contained in it towards a certain direction. Towards a certain person.

Towards me.

My eyes widened in shock. Before I had the chance to complain about why the universe decided to pick me as the next crystal, or possibly run away because I may have been blocking some other witch's fate, the stardust hit me in the chest. The force sent me flying with a loud gasp. Soon, I was falling to the ground, and I instantly passed out.

Selena's P.O.V

"Emery!" I screamed as I rushed towards the figure that lay on the ground. From my peripheral vision, I noticed the Queen, Justin, Emery's mother, Erick and the Ordinary Brothers move towards her form. The people around me were murmuring as they encircled around Emery. Once I was close to her, I knelt down and checked her pulse.

"She's alive!" I said, releasing a sigh of relief. Slowly, Emery moved her head sideways as she started regaining consciousness.

"Seeing the hit she took, she needs rest," the Queen said. "Someone take her to one of the rooms in the castle." Zane went to help, but he was stopped by Erick. He gave Zane a glare before kneeling down to grab Emery. Then he was walking back to the castle with Emery's mother in front.

"The next crystal has been picked! This calls for a celebration!" the Queen shouted. A collective sigh was heard from the people around us before they cheered. 

I guess nobody wanted to be the crystal.

I turned and left the scene, quickly following Emery's mother and Erick.

Zane's P.O.V

I was not in a partying mood. A few minutes ago, we had someone explain to us what the whole party was about. They looked at me like I'd grown two heads before explaining the whole crystal thing. When they were done, I had one thought in my head.

I hope it isn't me.

I mean, I was in a boyband. I believed it would be hard to juggle the responsibilities of a crystal and those of a musician. As luck would have it, neither did my fellow bandmates nor I was chosen. I was glad that the stardust hit someone else. I didn't expect it to be Emery, and when she hit the ground and passed out, I was worried. What surprised me the most was how the people were taking everything. 

They freaking sighed in what couldn't be mistaken as relief! What was wrong with them? She could have probably gotten a concussion!

I turned to leave, only for a hand to grasp my shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked with a frown.

"I'm going to follow Emery." His eyes widened at my answer.

"Cool! I'll come with you so that you don't make a mistake of offering her money again," Harry grounded out, making me wince at the memory and also wonder why Liam had told him that.

A few moments later, Harry and I were following Selena, Emery's mother and the person carrying Emery. We tried to be as silent as we could as we trailed behind them. They turned to a bedroom where they placed Emery's form on a bed.

"What do you want?" the person asked, startling Harry and I. Emery's mother shot daggers at us while Selena gave us sympathetic gazes.

"I knew you guys are around. I could even hear your feet following us," he said as he turned to face us. A look of recognition had crossed his face before it turned into anger.

He went to speak, but he turned to face Emery's sleeping form. He sighed before turning to face us.

"Let's talk outside," he said, ushering us out of the room. Harry and I moved out just as the person was talking to Selena and Emery's mother. Once we were all out, the person closed the door to the room and turned to face us.

"I know who you are, and I know what you did to Emery," he started. I froze in fear.

"Look, man. We accept that we have been major a-holes to her. We just wanted to apologize to her for all the damage we did to her in high school," Harry replied.

"An apology wouldn't be enough," the person said. "You have no idea of what you did to her, especially after landing her in a hospital!"

He sighed as he tried to control his temper.

"I'm destined to be Crystalia's next ruler. If I were a ruler now, I would have you jailed."

My heart stopped at the threat.

"Or even beheaded. But lucky for you, I must lead by example. And if I did keep you here, the world would, unfortunately, notice your absence. So here's what you have to do. Stay away from Emery."

With that, he walked away, leaving Harry and me speechless.

CHAPTER 08

A/N=> Erboon photo above. 

Emery's P.O.V

With a groan, my eyes fluttered open. I noticed I was facing a white ceiling. For a moment, I stared at it. After a while, I realized I was not in my room. 

I slowly got up as I tried to recall what had happened.

My eyes wandered across the room, coming to a stop at a window which showed the sight of a mountain that was familiar. The day sky had stars, and I realized I was still in Crystalia.

The door to the room opened as Erick came in. His attire had changed to his usual formal clothes which consisted of a blue cotton shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

"Good to see that you are up. You took quite the hit last night," he said, making me feel confused about what he was talking about. Then the events of the previous night came crashing towards me like a waterfall. It brought a slight headache, but that was the least of my concerns.

I was the crystal.

I groaned as I closed my eyes and flopped back to the bed.

"Come on, Emery. You can't just go back to bed, especially today," Erick said as I felt his weight settle on the bed. That made me groan even more.

After the selection of the crystal, Crystalia held a party to acknowledge the crystal and to celebrate the oncoming 200 years of peace.

I could not believe my luck. Why did the universe do that to me? I specifically said that I didn't want to be the crystal, and look at where I was then.

Maybe reverse psychology could have helped me.

I had two options; I could stay in bed and mope around all day and curse the universe for picking me to do such a task, or I would get up, prepare for the party and see what the future had in store for the new crystal. 

The former seemed more appealing to me, but I doubted Erick would let me get away with it. Maybe he would let me stay in bed.

***********************************************************************************************

An hour passed. Half of that time was filled with a determined Erick trying to get me out of bed while the other was composed of getting ready for the after-crystal-selection party. When I was done, I moved through the hallways of the castle until I came upon a small dining room. It had green marble floors, brick-red walls and a large chandelier situated above it. There were also brown wooden chairs surrounding a table with the same features. The Queen, my mother, Selena, Erick and Justin had sat around the table. Only one chair was left unoccupied between my mom and Erick.

"Good morning, dear!" Erick's mother smiled at me. I greeted her back and everyone before taking my space at the empty seat. Once I sat, butlers came swarming around the room with our breakfast dishes.

About a minute later, they were gone, leaving the meals that we were about to eat for the morning. There were eggs, bacon and pancakes with glasses of fruit juice for every one of us.

"Isn't this great?" the Queen said. "I had a feeling that Emery would be the next crystal. She definitely takes after her father." 

My mother groaned at the comment.

My father was also a crystal before he died. Me being selected as the next crystal was confusing to many. Apparently, every crystal was chosen after 200 years. Also, witches could live up to 200 years, and so my father was (surprisingly) in his hundreds when he died. 

Since my father had been killed, someone had to be chosen earlier than the expected two-century period. In fact, many thought a crystal would not be chosen until the remainder of my father's 200 years were completed. However, they were wrong because I was chosen.

"That is what I'm afraid of, Elizabeth," my mother confessed, bringing my mind back to the room. "As a parent, I care about my child. Now that she is the crystal, I'm worried about her. She may attract danger towards her."

"Relax, Susan," Elizabeth said. "You seem to have forgotten that Eva is not with us. The only thing Emery will have to deal with is the erwiches, and they wouldn't even think of going after her. She's a crystal! They'll be afraid of her and avoid her altogether."

What the Queen said seemed to work for my mother, because she calmed down and began devouring her meal. She hadn't eaten before the conversation started.

"So have you heard of our new witches? They're in a boy band I believe," the Queen changed the subject as she sighed dreamily. We all turned to look at her with shocked looks.

"What? Just because I'm older than them doesn't mean that I don't fancy them." Erick and Justin momentarily stopped eating, probably disgusted with the imagination of their own mother dating one of the members of the Ordinary Brothers. The thought came to my mind, and I felt like gagging.

"What're they called?" the Queen continued as I took a sip from my glass of passion juice. "The Ordinary A-holes?" I instantly spat the drink I was about to drink and fell into fits of laughter. Erick and Selena laughed too while my mother, the Queen and Justin looked at us with frowns.

"It's not the Ordinary A-holes," Selena said once she stopped laughing. "It's the Ordinary Brothers. You know, the band consisting of the boys that bullied Emery when she was in—" she cut herself off before she finished the sentence. Just like that, the mood in the room turned sour.

There was silence in the room as we all replayed what Selena said. 

No one was shocked by what the words uttered by my cousin. Everyone at the table knew what I went through. Apart from Erick and my mother, the Queen and Justin knew about the bullies. They also knew about the emotional scars I had and the therapy I had to endure to treat them. In fact, all of them helped me in recovering from the marks I obtained from the last bullying incident. My mother told them, and to say they were angry would be an understatement. They earlier wanted their heads on platters, especially when they discovered they were witches.

"How are you dealing with all this, Emery?" the Queen inquired as she took a bite off her scrambled eggs.

"I'm doing well, actually," I replied.

"Are you sure?" my mother asked. "Because two of them followed us as we carried you to the room where you slept last night."

That left me shocked.

"I already slapped one of them. I guess he didn't take what I was saying seriously. Do you need me to hit all of them? Possibly with a huge mallet? I can conjure one right now." My mouth dropped open at my mom's ridiculous yet deadly serious offer.

"I could offer to beat them up for you," Prince Erick said, earning a nod of agreement from Justin.

"Guys, there is no need for violence," I replied, only to receive a look of anger from my mother and the Queen's sons.

"You say that now? If you have forgotten, Emery, they beat you half to dead! Why shouldn't we teach them a lesson about hitting you like a sack of potatoes?" Justin asked as he stood from his chair.

"Because," I said as I stood up from my chair as well, "I know how your lesson will end. They are known worldwide! Their disappearance would cause a global search for them." I nodded my head in agreement of what I was saying. "Also, we are not like them."

"The f—" Justin said, only to be cut off by his mother.

"Language!"

"Emery, what are you saying?" Erick said with a confused look.

"If you are telling us to back off from beating the shit out of them, then to hell with that," Justin took off from his chair and left the room.

The Queen sighed as she placed a hand over her head. The air was tense, making everyone lose their appetite.

"I'll deal with him," I said as I moved from the chair to follow Justin.

"I'll come with you," Erick said.

The both of us wandered around the castle, searching for Justin. We came to a stop once we were in one of the castle's towers. We were on the top floor which consisted of green marble floors, gray brick walls and an open door leading to the castle's roof. My eyes turned, and I spotted Justin staring out the window near him.

We slowly approached Justin's form.

"Leave me alone," he said without turning his head. I approached him either way with Erick trailing behind me. Once I was within Justin's reach, I wrapped my arms around his form, leaning my head on his left shoulder.

"I'm kind of surprised you're acting like this, Justin," I said. My eyes wandered to the view, which was of the mountains. Justin sighed as he turned to face me.

"I just don't want history to repeat itself," he replied. "I don't want to see you hurt again, Emery. You're like a sister to me, you know?"

"I know," I said. I turned to face Erick, ushering him to come towards us. He did.

"I need your opinion on something," I started. "I'm thinking of forgiving them."

There was silence. That was the opposite of what I was expecting.

"I don't think this requires our input," Erick said.

"No, it definitely needs it," Justin opposed. "Don't forgive them!"

"But what good will holding a grudge do for her? She needs to face her fears and to move past them," Erick countered.

So much for not giving me his input.

"Fears?" I asked with a confused expression, purposely ignoring Erick's turn on his decision to not interfere.

"Fears. Are you still plagued by nightmares that have your bullies in your dreams?" I stared into the distance, which seemed to answer Erick's question. Before I was forced to seek psychiatric help, I used to have vivid nightmares of my bullies. Actually, they were memories that haunted me in my dreams.

"And don't forget what your therapist said. If the effects take up most of your life, you need to deal with it. I believe you need to get closure. Don't you now agree with me, Justin?"

Justin remained silent, pondering over what Erick said. With a defeated sigh, he nodded.

"I hate it when you're right," Justin said, earning a smile from his brother as a reply.

"But if you don't want to go through it, I understand," Justin said. "Besides, the only reason they are even allowed in Crystalia is that we need all the help we can get in dealing with the erwiches. They could possibly die when they are attacked."

I laughed out loud at what Justin said. Erick gave us a look, but it soon slipped as he began laughing with me.

 

Harry's P.O.V

My mind had been swarming with the last words Prince Erick muttered to Zane and me on the previous night. 

I felt hatred for myself at that time. The look the guy gave us was enough to have me move to another planet. He knew who we were and what we did. I spotted the anger and instant dislike the guy had for Zane and me. If it were possible, I would have gone back in time and stopped myself from ever bullying Emery. 

However, no one can go back in time.

Zane relayed what we were told to the rest. In the conversation that unfolded, Liam said that the person who talked to us was Prince Erick. He was the son of Crystalia's queen. 

That explained the authority radiating off him.

He had also warned us to stay away from Emery. I didn't know what to feel from the demand. I was angry at first because he didn't get why we wanted to see Emery. He only knew us as her high school bullies. Then that conclusion had me understanding his demand.

He still saw us as her high school bullies.

The guys and I just had to prove to him, and especially Emery, that we were truly sorry and that we had changed.

I shrugged the thoughts away once I teleported to Crystalia. I was with Liam, Ethan, Logan and Zane. Every witch was called back to Crystalia after the crystal was chosen. The day was apparently a celebration for the selection of the crystal, who happened to be Emery.

The sight that met us was decorative. Balloons of different colors were floating around the garden. If one observed well, they would notice the white strings attached to them that were tied around rocks and nearby trees. 

The guys and I walked into the castle where many witches roamed around. Some were in small groups, laughing as they chatted about whatever was going on in their lives.

The event seemed like that of the previous night. The only difference was the change of clothes that people had worn.

I looked around and spotted the Queen and Prince Erick. The two of them were with another individual who looked familiar to the prince. I squinted my eyebrows, trying hard to focus on the figure who had their back turned towards me. Then the person turned.

I blinked. I blinked furiously and rubbed my eyes, momentarily considering to slap some sense into me as I tried to comprehend who I saw. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Was I going crazy? Well, there was one way to find out.

I tapped on Logan's shoulder. He turned to face me with a questioning look. I pointed my finger at the figure that I still couldn't believe was who I thought he was. In an instant, Logan's eyes widened and his mouth dropped in disbelief.

"What's going on, guys?" Liam asked as he stared at us with weird looks. Logan motioned to the person who had our interest. Liam also looked shocked.

"Is that..." Liam started.

"...Justin Bieber?" Logan finished the question.

By then, the rest of the guys were looking at Justin.

"He's a witch too?" Ethan asked, also in shock. At the time, Justin was talking to the Queen and Erick. They were smiling as they talked, looking like they knew one another.

"I knew he looked familiar!" Zane said, which confused us all. "He must be Justin's brother." We all instantly picked up that he was talking about Erick.

"Do you think that Bieber's a prince too?" Ethan asked. We all shrugged, not knowing what to say. As I thought about it, it seemed weird. If it were true, I would have never imagined that Justin Bieber, a famous pop star, was royalty and a witch.

"Where's Emery?" we heard someone shout. I searched the room and spotted who it was. It was Selena. Her outfit was like that of the previous night's, only that she had worn a green velvet dress.

Before I thought of walking towards her and greeting her, Justin approached her. They looked worried as they talked to one another.

Justin pointed behind her and they both sighed. I turned to the direction they pointed at, but I saw no one. Shrugging my shoulders, I walked to the tables where there were appetizers. The guys followed me, seemingly not sure of what to do.

Liam soon took the lead and had us introduced to everyone in the party. There were so many names, I doubted I would remember all of them. Many people in the party didn't know that we were famous or that we were in a boyband. 

It was a huge relief for all of us. We planned to be coming to Crystalia more often.

Thirty minutes later, I felt bored. I looked around, searching for my fellow bandmates. They had dispersed once we were done greeting everyone. I began my search for them, but I didn't spot them. Maybe they were outside. 

I felt awkward just standing there without anyone to talk to, so I advanced towards the exit of the castle. 

Once I was outside, I took a deep breath of air. Being in the castle was a bit overwhelming, especially with people I didn't know. It felt like I was a teenager and it was my first day of high school. 

As I stood and observed my surroundings, I was mentally thankful for the fresh air and a lovely mountain scenery that Crystalia had to offer.

I walked around the garden and let my thoughts wander. I finally came to a stop about a meter away from the castle garden. I was still facing the beautiful mountains that made Crystalia look like a holiday getaway. I moved to walk further, but I found myself bumping into a somewhat hidden object.

Okay?

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as my hands felt around the air, only to stop onto the same unseen object. I was more confused. My hands moved around, trying to trace the distance that the thing covered. I walked as my hands traced around the invisible surface, and I thought my mind was playing tricks. 

It covered a large area! 

I moved some meters away, instantly losing the position of where I found the object. Moreover, It looked like there was nothing stopping anyone from leaving Crystalia. There had to be something I was not seeing well. 

I looked around on the ground, searching for anything to throw. My eyes landed on a rock. I grabbed it and threw it onto the 'object.' The rock hit it, making some kind of electric sound. Then blue stardust appeared before spreading from the point of the rock's impact. I looked at the stardust as it spread upwards and around. It illuminated something that looked like a thin blue glass wall before going back to its invisible self. I turned to look around where it was heading, only for my eyes to land on Emery.

She was slowly approaching the garden while her eyes danced across her surroundings. My first thought was to call out to her, but I instantly silenced the idea. I didn't want us to have a disagreement, not after the talk Zane and I had with the Prince. My eyes searched upwards for the stardust, but it didn't appear.

Maybe it disintegrated in the air.

With that thought, I decided to look for another rock and hit the hidden wall. I looked around, only to stand still at a sight that rendered me speechless. My eyes widened at the creature in front of me.

It was a baboon. 

Well, you could call it a baboon, but with modifications; I didn't know exactly what it was. It was large and it seemed to stand on air; it was supporting itself somewhere on the invisible surface I was feeling around. I could make out the dark fur that covered its form. It had wings like that of a bat, but only bigger. It had black sharpened claws with grits of dirt.

I stood still as my eyes jumped to those of the creature's. It had completely black eyes. It silently breathed while staring at me. I couldn't move as fear gripped my heart.

For a moment, I even thought I was going to faint.

"Don't move, Harry," I heard Emery's voice speak in my mind, bringing me back to the present. I didn't have time to freak out over what was happening since I was still staring at the winged figure. At first, I heard nothing. Then the baboon-like creature extended its wings.

No way. I'm out of here!

I started moving backward in a slow manner.

" Don't move! " Emery repeated in my mind. It shocked me, making me suddenly lose my footing and fall on the earth with a thud, the small sound echoing through the silent air. My eyes widened as I gulped in fear. The creature released a screeching sound before trying to advance towards me.

It backed away from the invisible before charging towards me with great speed. Screaming, I ran towards the castle. My eyes landed on shadows that had the same form of the creature. I stopped and looked up, making me stand in paranoia.

Thousands of the similar creature appeared, flying in the sky like a set of missiles. They screeched, flying around the air before moving in a circular motion around the sun. Miniseconds later, the sun was being blocked by the lot of them. My eyes moved to their source, only to notice that they were coming from the mountains.

How could I have missed that?

"Harry, get back to the castle!" Emery shouted at me. I was still looking at the flying baboons. One by one, they escaped their circling of the sun to come towards me. I ducked to the ground, raising my arms to cover my eyes. When nothing happened, I removed them and saw the erboons trying to enter Crystalia. They were trying, but they kept banging onto something that emitted blue stardust. The many erboons kept trying, and I noticed the whole of Crystalia's sky was covered with the blue stardust. My mind raced as I thought of what it was. Then a thought popped into my head.

A magical dome.

"Move, Harry! Get help!" Emery shouted with an edge to her voice. It didn't take me long to carry out her order. I ran right into the castle where people were still enjoying the party, oblivious to what was happening outside. I searched for anyone who would help me.

The Queen and Prince Erick quickly met my view. I ran towards them, pushing witches off the side to reach them. They noticed me coming towards them, stopping to wait for me. 

I stopped before them, breathing loudly as I tried to catch my breath. They both could tell something was not right.

"What's wrong, Harry?" the Queen asked. I didn't have time to dwell on the shock that she knew my name yet we never spoke to each other.

"Emery... outside..." I stammered as I tried to explain what I saw. My whole being was consumed with worry for Emery, making it hard for me to say the words I wanted to say.

"What?" Prince Erick asked with a confused expression.

"Baboons."

"Baboons?" the Queen and Erick asked in confusion at the same time. I nodded my head in agreement.

"Baboons with wings and claws!" their faces paled once I said that statement.

"Erboons," they said at the same time. In an instant, the Queen and the Prince ran in different directions. Prince Erick ran outside the castle while the Queen ran further into the room.

She stopped in the middle of the room to make the announcement "Everyone! We are being attacked by Eva's minions!"

That stopped the partying mood as everyone, apart from me, began panicking.

 

Emery's P.O.V

If anyone asked me that I would be facing flying evil baboons a day after I was chosen as the new crystal, I wouldn't believe them. 

Okay, I would if it was an erwich, but not the flying animals. They were called Eva's minions, or more specifically, erboons. They were only summoned by one person, and that was Eva herself.

It was impossible for her to control them because she was stuck in a portal and had no way of doing so. 

But then, who was controlling them?

The erboons furiously banged themselves against a point in the sky where Crystalia's protection dome covered. What mattered then was getting them away from Crystalia.

I looked upwards and observed many erboons trying to enter the town. My eyes widened as I saw a crack start to form from where they stood. It was a small one, but even though it was small, it could cause a lot of damage.

"Emery!" I heard Erick call for me. I turned to look at his form approaching me at a fast pace. By then, an irregular shadow had been cast all over Crystalia due to the many erboons. Some guards exited the castle, assembling themselves in the probability of a battle.

Once Erick was near me, he hugged me. He then retracted his arms away from me.

"Are you okay?" he asked with worry. I nodded my head.

I looked up and saw the crack had expanded. My eyes widened. I motioned for Erick to look at the crack by pointing my finger towards it. At first, he didn't see it. But then I kept pointing at it until he spotted it. Once his eyes settled on the crack, they widened.

"What do we do?" I asked no one in particular. I looked around and spotted the Queen coming towards us with some of her guards in tow. Once they were near us, she observed the surroundings.

"There is a crack on the dome, mother," Erick explained to her while pointing his finger towards the damage being created by the erboons.

Freaking erboons.

The Queen sighed.

"I hope I remember the spell well. Emery, I would need your help," she said while cracking her fingers.

I frowned. "Why?" I asked.

She looked at me with a confused look.

"Because you are the crystal. You will also need to remember these words in case of emergencies like these." The former sentence seemed to make sense in my head. Being a crystal meant being the most powerful witch in the universe. I had no option on the latter.

"Say what I will say," the Queen said while she spoke some words in Latin. Once we were done chanting the spell, yellow stardust flew right out of our palms and onto the dome. It surrounded and multiplied on the dome, illuminating it with a golden glow before increasing the light's intensity. For a moment, it was too bright, and that seemed to disturb the erboons. They stopped banging on the dome, screeching as they flew back towards the mountains. The crack that was forming on the dome began to mend itself until there was nothing conspicuous of the dome left.

"Thank you, Emery. Not bad for a first spell as a crystal," the Queen said before we both returned to the castle. We entered the castle, receiving looks of both worry and panic.

"Nothing to worry about! It's all taken care of," she said. They all clapped in gratitude, whistling even, before going back to partying.

Nervousness gripped my heart as the memory of the recent events replayed in my mind. They occurred less than 24 hours after I was declared the crystal. If that was how my life was going to be, I wasn't sure of what I would do.

Before I moved further into the room, I was tackled in a hug by Harry. It was unexpected. I was in shock, my hands still at my sides, as I watched the rest of his friends approaching us.

"I was so worried about you!" he said once he retracted the hug. I blinked at him, confused about why he was acting like that. It was as if we were friends or something, which we were obviously not.

Emery! Remember what Erick said about closure?

I wanted to smack the smart side of my brain. I looked at the boys. They were smiling for a forgettable amount of seconds, and it was beginning to get awkward. I needed to say something to diffuse the situation.

"You ran away!" I blamed him. He looked guilty.

"That's because you told me to, crystal!" I groaned at everything he said.

"Anyway, thank you for listening to me. I'm glad you didn't do something stupid, like taunt the baboon. They would have gotten through the dome and probably killed all of us," I joked. Harry and his friends took it seriously.

"I'm kidding!" I said, and he laughed uneasily. The conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"Bye!" I said. With that conclusion, I turned to walk away, only for Harry to stop me by grabbing my arm. I sighed before turning to face him.

"Emery, we—" he began, but I cut him off.

"I know what you are going to say." Harry and the rest looked at me with confused looks. Harry went to talk again, but I stopped him with a raised hand.

"I've heard the same words ever since you came into the cafe. I know you're sorry about the past. I'm willing to put it behind me."

Honestly, I was not. Not yet anyway. I just needed a way to get them to stop pestering me about the issue. In fact, before the erboons incident, Ethan and Logan came after me to talk about the same thing.

It led me to think that they were only around Crystalia to ask for my forgiveness. Then my mind replayed the conversations I had with them. I analyzed them, realizing that whenever we talked, it was mostly because they wanted to apologize.

I wanted to smack myself when I realized that. So to end the conversations that had the words 'sorry' and 'apologize', I needed to express my feelings to them.

All of them went to speak, but I stopped them before they could.

"But that doesn't mean that I forgive you." They seemed sad at the statement.

"I'm not ready yet. What you did to me in the past was so awful that I had to see a therapist."

I internally winced at my stupidity. Why the hell did I mention the therapist?

"We're sorry, Emery," Logan said. I nodded as tears threatened to leave my eyes as the memories unfolded in my mind. I mentally shook them off.

Wow. It seemed to be working better than I anticipated.

"I know you're sorry. I just need some time to myself. Your presence is like a trigger to the past we shared. Like I said, I'm willing to put it behind us. I can't forgive you just like that. It needs time. I need time to heal, you know?"

The guys remained silent as they thought over what I said. Mentally, I had my fingers crossed.

"We understand," Liam answered for all of them. "To be honest, we've mostly been around here just to ask for your forgiveness or to just talk to you and to see how you're doing."

"What?" I asked, feigning shock. The guys nodded in agreement, actually buying it.

"I'm glad we had this talk, Emery," Logan said. "We may not have gotten your forgiveness, but we know how you're feeling. That's important to us. We don't want to push you, and so we're willing to accept what you've given us."

I squinted my eyebrows at them in confusion.

"What have I given you exactly?"

"The privilege of moving from being your enemies to being acquaintances!" my mind digested what Logan was saying.

What?

"You've also given us a challenge," Harry added. "We'll hang out with you! We'll be here all of the time and we'll come visit you!"

Say what? I did not mean that! Crap! That means they'll be around more frequently! I need to fix this!

"Were you guys listening? I told you I needed time away from you to heal!" I screamed in disbelief.

"But Emery, the past we shared is negative," Logan said. I turned to face him and nodded, waiting for him to continue what he was saying. "If you hang out with us, and we replace those awful memories with good ones, it will improve your healing process, and you'll forgive us in no time."

I went to speak, but I stopped myself to think it over. Logan was imagining things that seemed impossible. 

Would my therapist actually allow me to spend time with the reasons that I was actually seeing her? She knew that they brought out my bad self. I knew she would say that if I was ready, I could hang out with the boys.

I went to say what I had been thinking when Liam gasped.

"Crap! We have a meeting with Simon in an hour!" he said as he observed the time on his watch.

"Bye, Emery!" he and the rest of his bandmates said at once before teleporting away from Crystalia in the form of blue stardust.

What the hell just happened?

I shrugged, deciding to tell the boys what I had been thinking when they would seek me again.

 

Third person's P.O.V

An erwich stood at the top of a mountain peak, staring down at the sight of Crystalia. An erboon flew towards him, landing on the space left on the peak.

"How did it all go?" he asked.

"It went well. They believe someone is controlling us," the erboon said with a deep voice.

"Good," the erwich said. "Let's just wait and see what will happen. It wouldn't be long until someone comes after us. They'll be walking right into our trap."
With that, the erwich grabbed onto one of the erboon's hind legs. The erboon flew high into the sky before taking them to Eva's castle.

CHAPTER 09

Harry's P.O.V

After the talk my bandmates and I had with Emery, my mind was open to other things. It decided to focus on the creatures I had earlier seen. The attack might have been over, but I had trouble in accepting what had occurred. 

It couldn't be real. It just couldn't be real. It was bad enough that I had to face the possibility of an erwich attack. I didn't want to face whatever that creature was.

Ever since the guys and I discovered that we were witches, we were a bit alert. 

Okay, we were highly alert. We were still trying to accept the witch world and whatever else came with it. We worried and we feared the possibility of sudden attacks from erwiches. At times, it got so ridiculous that we could hardly sleep. That was bad for the tour. As a result, we became irritable towards one another and other people, so we decided to shorten the conversations we had with everyone we knew.

It wasn't until four days ago when Martin, one of the witches who was sent to protect us, explained that erwiches also slept.

"It's not like they are forever awake," he had said. He also stated that they couldn't expose themselves to the humans. It was an order from their queen or ruler or whatever.

The guys and I felt stupid for even thinking that we were in danger 24/7. After that, we slowly went back to our regular sleeping schedules, even though there was the flying baboon incident.

 I can't say it was a baboon for sure. Most of the time, I mistook them for other primates. It looked like a baboon, but with its massive size, it definitely took a familiarization to a gorilla.

To make things more surprising, my bandmates and I did not know much about witches and Crystalia. We only knew parts of a story about Eva, the crystals and their histories, the existence of erwiches and then the flying animals. We had chances to ask the guards from Crystalia who were with us during our tour, but we were either too busy with the tour or too tired to ask.

The talk we had with Emery was another chance to ask about the witches. However, we had a meeting in about an hour.

Just my luck.

On the bright side, we had a chance to talk to Emery. We understood her feelings and agreed to give her time. I doubted any of us would try to befriend her, especially because of our history. I just hoped she would find it in her heart to forgive us.

"Harry, come on!" Liam shouted at me, urging me back to the present. We had orbed into an alley outside our hotel in Los Angeles. After Los Angeles, our tour would proceed to Chicago where we would perform for a week.

"I'm right behind you!" I followed him and the rest of the guys to the hotel where we would be having a video chat with our boss.

One week later

Third person's P.O.V

"I can't believe it didn't work!" an erwich said as he looked around Eva's castle. The other erwiches moved away from him, afraid of what he would do in his wrath. He threw a fireball at a wall, almost hitting one of the erwiches. They scurried away from him just when an erboon flew down to the open courtyard where he and the rest of the erwiches were.

"Travinge, what else would we have to do to get those damn witches up here?" the erwich directed the question to the erboon that had just landed. The erboon scratched its furry head with a claw before shrugging.

The erwich sighed as he closed his eyes. His eyes suddenly opened as an idea formed in his head.

"I need you to gather four of your best erboons. I have a plan, and this time, they'll be coming for us."

The erboon nodded before taking off to carry the duty.

Emery's P.O.V

Everything seemed to have gone back to normal. In the past week, the Queen ordered every witch to stay around, just in case the erwiches or the erboons decided to strike. Seeing that Crystalia didn't have any attacks during that time, the witches who resided on earth were allowed to leave. Selena and I, among many, did without any second thought.

We had jobs to do, and we had about a month before we went to college. The Queen had told us time and again that she was willing to pay for our college funds, but Selena and I adamantly refused because we wanted to learn to be independent. We also wanted to learn more about the world around us, seeing that we were once loners in high school. Also, Selena felt weird about receiving money from her boyfriend's mother.

"Emery, please handle that table," Rachel said as she went to the counter, bringing my mind back to my surroundings. It was a busy morning, and the tips were thankfully coming in. We were thirty minutes away from our lunch break, and at least that time, we did not have to close the café when we were on break.

During the fortnight that Selena and I were absent from work, the boss decided to hire more people. I didn't know how to feel about that. I just hoped the salary we earned wouldn't be reduced.

I walked over to a table of four girls. They all had dirty blonde hair and they wore blue Ordinary Brothers T-shirts and black denim jeans. They were laughing, talking and giggling.

"I can't wait to go to the Ordinary Brothers' concert! Maybe the universe will make Ethan notice me, and we would be married and have beautiful blonde babies," one of the girls said. I rolled my eyes at her and felt like gagging. She wouldn't have been saying that if she knew what her precious Ethan put me through.

Also, the universe did not know how to grant wishes. It was why I became the crystal in the first place.

I forced my focus to my surroundings before I introduced myself, "Hello. I'm Emery, and I'll be your waitress for today. What can I get you?"

The girls stated their orders before I began walking to the counter. Once I gave a colleague the order and started waiting, I decided to look around the area to see any unattended customer. There was no one who wasn't serviced, so I got a chance to go back to my thoughts.

The four girls in the café reminded me of the last conversation I had with the boys. I still couldn't believe they took off before I had a say. I relayed to Justin and Erick what had happened. They were both conflicted on what to do, just like I was. Then they did the most shocking thing I had never expected them to do. 

They butted out of it.

I sighed, checking if the girls' orders were ready. They weren't, and so I looked outside through the black tinted glass walls. Something large and grayish-black zoomed past the street. It moved so fast, I couldn't identify what it was.

That was strange. Maybe it was a fly. But that would have been some kind of huge fly.

I walked towards the tinted door, planning to exit the café momentarily to search for the figure that had passed by. On my way to the door, I saw a familiar figure fly past the street. On that time, I got a good look at it. My mouth opened in shock as my eyes widened. My left hand instantly went to cover my mouth. Then two other creatures of the same kind flew past the street.

"Oh no. This is bad. How did they even get here?" I asked no one in particular as worry took over my form. The barista next to me gave me a weird look. I was glad she didn't see what had just flown by. The creatures were supposed to stay in Crystalia! 

My hands reached into one of my pockets for my phone. Once I held it, I instantly dialed Erick's number. It had ringed thrice before he answered.

"Hello?"

"Erick, there are erboons in New York," I replied with a worried tone. The same barista gave me a weird look, making me move to avoid her.

There was silence on the other end. I understood that Erick was surprised by the words I spoke, but the situation needed to be controlled immediately.

"Erick!"

"I'm sorry, Emery. I can't come at the moment. I have duties to attend to. I'll tell my mother what is going on. Also, Justin is free. I can send him in." With that, Erick hung up. I stared at my phone in shock. 

He hung up on me!

I was mad at Erick. What duties were too important to deal with when freaking erboons were in New York? Didn't he understand the dire of the situation? If one person saw, or worse, recorded the erboons, magic could be exposed.

I didn't have time for such a reaction! I shrugged my thoughts away before heading to Selena. She was in the kitchen.

"Justin already told me," she said once we met eyes. I nodded in surprise, going out of the kitchen with her. We changed out of our work uniforms. Then we went towards Rachel. She had observed us and our facial expressions before she groaned.

"You need me to cover your shifts, don't you?" she asked, taking the question right out of our mouths. We nodded our heads in agreement.

"Fine! But you owe me one. No, two," she said before letting us go. The boss wasn't around, and so it was easy to leave without being noticed. Once we were outside, we started looking around for any signs of erboons.

"I hate this. It wasn't the way I expected my first day back to work to be," Selena said.

"Me too," I replied. "But you have to agree. This is kind of fun." Selena sent me death glares. A screeching sound pierced through the clear day sky, abruptly ending our conversation. We both turned to face upwards to see two erboons. They were flying in a circle around a building like vultures flying over a dying animal in the desert. The only difference was the erboons were bigger and more noticeable.

I panicked, looking around for anyone who noticed them. Apparently, the streets of New York were too busy to notice the flying creatures. However, I doubted it would take people long before they saw the flying animals.

"Hey!" Justin said as he approached us. He had worn a red and black checkered shirt with a pair of black denim jeans. Justin also wore a pair of dark sunglasses. I gave him a look that asked, 'Are you kidding me?' If he thought that would have worked as a disguise, he thought wrong.

"Are you crazy?" Selena asked with a flail of her arms, mirroring the expression I had. "Anyone can notice you with this outfit!" She scratched her head before taking out a gray marker from her jeans' pocket.

"Do you always carry that with you?" Justin questioned, receiving no reply as Selena started drawing on his face with the marker.

"Done," she said once she was completed with her masterpiece. I looked at Justin and nodded in agreement. The marker made it look like he had black heads spread around his face. No one was going to notice him. If anyone did, they were going to back away from him like cockroaches to insecticides.

"So, how can we know where the erboons are?" Justin asked.

"Emery can fly," Selena said. " When we were coming out of work, I thought of a plan. The erboons are visible. If they are exposed, people won't directly link them to witches. We'll cast an invisibility spell on Emery so that she can fly without being noticed. If you see any erboon, you'll tell us through the mind-link. You could also try to vanquish them while you're up there."

"That could work," Justin said with a smile as he looked at Selena.

"Oh please," I said with a doubtful look. "You guys just want to be alone so that you can do your lovey-dovey stuff." They nodded in agreement, not bothering to deny it.

"Are you serious? Do you know that if people notice the erboons, the world of witches will be exposed?"

"Look around, Emery. No one notices them," Justin countered.

"I do not agree with your plan, Selena. Have you seen the size of those animals? They're like gorillas, but with wings!" I countered with a look of fear.

A scream pierced the air, interrupting whatever it was the couple planned to answer. I hoped it proved Justin wrong.

"What are those?" a woman shouted as she pointed at four erboons flying around a skyscraper, earning the attention of people walking on the city sidewalks. One by one, they noticed the flying figures.

I gave Justin a smug smile, clearly right about the erboons being noticed. He responded with a bored look.

"Let's go," he said, beginning to turn. Selena's eyes widened in shock at something behind me.

"Emery, look out!" she said as she tried to push me away, but she failed. I was suddenly lifted up in the air. Something had grasped both of my arms and was flying me high into the sky. I moved my legs, accidentally kicking Justin on the face. I didn't get a chance to apologize because the erboon flew us high into air.

My mouth opened, attempting to scream, but no words came out. The ground below me was becoming smaller and less visible as the erboon flew with me in its hold.

I seemed frozen for a while as the erboon continued flying with me as its hostage. I was frightened because I had never fought an erboon in my life. I always dealt with erwiches. At least they didn't have claws or abilities to fly.

I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I looked around and noticed that hardly anything that met the ground was in my sight. I only saw the sky, which was mostly covered with clouds. My eyes widened as I saw a lightning rod on top of a building. It meant that I was in a city, very high in a city.

Alright, Emery! No need to panic! You're just taking an air tour with an erboon as the host and the plane.

That did not sit well with me. I could be able to fly, but I was scared of heights. I needed to do something fast before the erboon decided to kill me with its claws. It screeched, seeming to confirm what I was thinking. I looked down, and it wasn't a good idea.

We flew past a clearing of the clouds, giving me enough to imagine how high we were. Below me were city buildings, both tall and short, and roads which, at the current height, could have a measurement similar to the size of a stick's width. I looked sideways and noticed tall scattered buildings.

Tired of the 'tour' I was getting, I began struggling against the erboons hold, which became futile. Its hold on me was firm. I sighed as I thought of some other way of getting it to detach itself from me. The idea came to me, and I was uneasy about it. 

I had to use my levitation powers to free myself from the erboon. I looked up, coming face to face with the erboon's grayish-black fur. I was also met with a pungent smell that had me turning my head to face the ground below me. It didn't seem that the erboon was going to fight and kill me. It was taking me somewhere, and I didn't know. Neither was I even planning to find out.

Using my levitation powers with a deep breath, I tilted my form with my head facing the ground before delivering a kick to the erboon's underside. Its hold on my arms disappeared. I levitated and swiftly turned to stabilize myself on the air. I managed to see an angry erboon flying towards me! I swiftly flew a couple of inches high, escaping the erboon that was just a finger away from hitting me. My shoes barely grazed its back.

A screech sounded through the air. I turned to face the source, only to see another erboon charging towards me. 

I groaned in boredom.

I thrust my hands out, aiming to throw a fireball, but instead got another thing. Flames of fire began to lick my hands before they rocketed towards the incoming erboon. I looked behind to see the former erboon coming after me. I decided to turn, spreading the fire in a circle. The erboons were engulfed in flames, screeching as they got burnt and diminished into soot.

Two down, two to go.

My phone suddenly rang. I reached for it in my pocket and answered the call once I saw the caller ID.

"Hello."

"Emery, where are you? And are you okay?" Justin asked in a shout through the phone. I nodded my phone, only to recall that he couldn't see me.

"It took you long enough to call! And I'm fine. I just scared off two erboons. The other two might be around."

"We dealt with one of them. Actually, Selena threw a fireball towards it and killed it. It's just one remaining. We had it, but it escaped. Can you see it from up there?"

"No, but I'll look around," I said. No sooner had I ended the call than the said escaped erboon hit me in the back.

I flew forwards, my world spinning around as I tried to still myself. I heard it screech as it flew in circles around me. In an instant, it flew towards me.

I turned to face it just as its claws dug into the area above my stomach, making me scream out in pain. I faced its menacing look. It's black eyes pierced my soul, and its mouth was oozing saliva. It opened its mouth, revealing its sharp glistening predator-like teeth, making me realize what it was trying to do.

It wanted to eat me!

I kicked my foot on its torso, making it growl but not releasing its hold on me. If possible, the claws sunk deeper into my skin, almost reaching my bone. No way was I going to be killed by an erboon.

I kept kicking at it, only urging it to sink its claws deeper into my form. I grasped some of its fur and summoned fireballs onto my hands. It shrieked as it backed away from me. I felt something slip from my pocket, only to notice that it was my phone. Oh crap.

But that was the least of my worries. Blood was instantly soaking up my shirt, and the erboon was far from being dead.

Logan's P.O.V

The day seemed to be getting brighter. The afternoon sun was hot, and it increased the temperature around me. My bandmates and I were in a huge stadium in Chicago that was filled with our fans, eagerly awaiting our performances.

Behind the stage was a thick black curtain, preventing any of my fans from seeing me. I was there, preparing myself for the concert while silently complaining about the heat. The boys were in the tour bus, either getting dressed or on their way; I had no idea. Anyway, I was already dreading the live performance we were about to do in ten minutes.

Something suddenly hit me on the head before falling to the ground. I muttered an 'Ow' as I reached my head to scratch it before diverting my eyes to the concrete surface, searching for the object. Once my eyes found it, I furrowed my eyebrows as I reached for it. It was a phone.

I switched it on, noticing that the owner didn't put a screen lock on it. I unlocked it before going through its call log. There was a person named Justin who had called the owner about five minutes ago.

I had a feeling that the phone belonged to someone I knew. I don't mean that the phone looked familiar; it was the caller's ID that gave me a sense of déjà vu. I went through the phone's contacts and noticed other familiar names on it. Something told me that it was Emery's phone. I shook my head, thinking that I was crazy. But then, everything seemed incapable of being weird until I discovered I was a witch.

With a shrug, thinking that I was wrong, I dialed Justin's number. The phone rang before someone answered.

"Hello." I knew that voice. It sounded similar to Prince Erick's.

"Hi!" I replied with a smile. There was silence on the other line before the person responded.

"Who is this?"

"It's Logan, from the Ordinary Brothers." I wanted to beat myself for making that mistake. What if it was one of my fans? In the past week, some of them had gotten my number. I instantly moved the phone away from my ear, expecting screams. What I got was baffling.

The line went silent for a moment. What if the person fainted? That had me worrying. I would not have been able to help them since I was on the other line. I prayed that my imagination was right.

"How did you get Emery's phone?" I managed to hear. I sighed in relief, bringing the phone back to my ear. So the phone was Emery's.

"It fell on me. I don't know how it even got here," I said, making me confused.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in Chicago," I said.

"What?" he screamed through the phone. The next minute was filled with me giving him the directions to my location. In a nanosecond, two people teleported in front of me. My eyes widened in shock.

It was Selena and Justin Bieber. 

Initiate fan boy mode.

"Where is Emery?" he asked, stopping me from freaking out.

"I don't know."

"I think I know," Selena said as she pointed up towards the sky. A very visible and flying Emery was fighting a flying black baboon.

Wait. She can fly?

"Damn it! The erboon got to her! We need to get the Queen. Maybe she could help."

Screams sounded behind the stage wall. Justin and Selena instantly tensed as an emotion took over their faces.

"Are we in a concert?" they asked slowly. I nodded my head. They cursed under their breaths before directing their attention towards me.

"This is bad. Wait. What if we throw a fireball to it so that it explodes?" Justin asked. My eyes widened in shock.

"You can't!" I opposed. "It will attract attention from my fans. You could also miss the erboon and hit Emery. The only thing we can do is deal with the problem ourselves."

A low scream pierced the air, gaining our attention.

"Emery!" we all screamed at once, but it was silenced by the many people on the other side of the stage.

Emery's P.O.V

The erboon had successfully managed to tear through my skin, leaving noticeable claw marks. Blood oozed from the cuts and bruises, and I was beginning to feel tired from the blood loss and pain. I needed to get away from the erboon before it managed to kill me. I refused to be killed by a minion of Eva, especially after what she did to my father.

Recalling the memory, anger took over and gave me a boost of energy. For a moment, I thought I heard people scream my name. I looked down, but I couldn't see anyone. The only thing I saw was a stadium filled with people— oh no.

My heart thudded faster as fear of being seen made its appearance. I needed to deal with the erboon quickly before anyone saw me. I closed my eyes while summoning knives onto the palms of my hands. Within seconds, I felt my empty hands being filled with the knives.

Without wasting time, I started stabbing the erboon. It screeched as I worked my revenge on it. My fear of it being heard was eased by the noise the people made below me. The erboon's blood oozed onto the knives and jumped onto my skin and clothes like a small fountain. After some more furious stabbing, the erboon stopped fighting. Its body gave up as it succumbed to death. Then the worst began to occur. 

It started falling.

I flew down with it, trying to hold it in air, but to no avail.

"We see you and we're underneath you! Chant an invisibility spell on yourself, but make sure that we can see you," Justin spoke in my mind. I didn't waste any time in chanting the spell.

Then I could see that I was about to fall onto something, or someone.

I noticed Logan, Selena and Justin back off.

"Let it go!" Selena screamed. I did as she said, finally gaining control of my levitation powers. In three seconds, the erboon hit the ground with a loud thud. I slowly flew back onto the ground to stare at its form. Then I reversed the inconspicuous spell.

I nudged it with my shoe, checking if it was dead. I got no response from it, proving so. My eyes widened as blood kept oozing from its form.

"What the hell?" Logan asked as he stared back and forth at the erboon and me with a look of shock.

I suddenly collapsed onto the concrete floor, clenching my sides that had been injured.

"Emery!" the three people shouted before kneeling next to me. Selena rose my shirt up to inspect the damage. Her hands covered her mouth, proving that the injury was worse than I thought.

Logan moved his hands onto my wounds. I flinched at first, not sure of what he was doing. Then I felt it. The pain was subsiding until it was no more. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I looked at the spot where Logan was touching. He removed his hands, showing no claw marks on my form.

My eyes widened in astonishment. Logan could heal?

"Emery, we need to go," Justin said. "Logan has a concert to perform in five minutes." I swiftly stood up from the floor before holding onto the erboon's dead body. My eyes widened at the sight of blood on the ground. I chanted a spell to collect all of it, and it was weirdly floating around the air.

"Thank you for being around," Justin told Logan with a smile. He grabbed onto my hand and Selena’s. I got a glimpse of Logan’s bandmates approaching before we teleported to Crystalia.

CHAPTER 10

Emery’s P.O.V

Selena, Justin and I teleported to the outside of Crystalia’s castle. We were heading inside just as the Queen and Prince Erick were heading towards us.

“Are you okay?” they asked me at the same time, observing my form for any injuries.

“An erboon stabbed me with its claws, but Logan healed me before any damage got worse. I’m okay,” I replied. They gave me confused looks before sighing in relief.

“Let’s go to my study room,” the Queen said. “We can talk more about the incident when we’re in there. I don’t want wandering ears when we have this talk.”

We followed the Queen until we reached a room that resembled a library. It had navy blue walls with several book shelves and a window with a view of the afternoon sun and the mountains. It was past midday, and the sun was on its course to set.

We all settled down around a table in the middle of the room.

“We need to find out who has been controlling the erboons,” Erick started the conversation. “Not only did they try to barge their way into Crystalia, but they also risked our exposure to the whole world!”

“Risked? It is too late! Almost everyone in New York already saw the erboons,” Selena stated as a fact. “Let’s just hope it does not reach the news.”

The Queen sighed as she thought silently.

“I have no idea of what we can do to reverse the damage that has already been done.”

“We could wipe their memories of the erboons,” Justin suggested.

“To do that, we’ll have to wipe out their memories of the day. The possible outcomes would be that people will believe their times and dates are wrong. Or they’ll catch up to what had occurred. But then, the chances of the latter happening are very small.” Erick said, taking a moment to think through his brother’s suggestion. “That could work, bro!”

“At least that would be dealt with,” Erick’s mother said. “But what would be done about the erboons and whoever is controlling them?”

“To deal with that, I believe we’ll have to go to Eva’s castle,” I said, receiving no response for a moment.

“No, we can’t,” Justin said, refusing adamantly with a fearful expression. “That’s basically the erwiches’ hideout! We’ll be walking towards our own death like a cow going to a slaughterhouse!”

“There has to be some other way of dealing with this,” Selena said as she stared at all of us with worry.

“There isn’t. The erboons are always around Eva’s castle. We don’t know how it looks like in there, so we basically can’t teleport there,” I stated.

“If there is one thing I know, it’s that witches are afraid of erwiches and erboons,” Justin’s mother said. She rose up from her seat and walked around the room in thought.

“I know what we can do,” she said. “Emery will have to go to the castle.”

“What?”

“NO!”

“Are you crazy? She’ll be killed in there!”

Sounds of protest danced around the air as I processed what the Queen said. My heart thudded as fear grasped my heart with a firm clutch. I did not know what propelled her to say something like that. If there was something I was sure of, it was that the Queen was smart in making decisions. The one she had just made seemed unexpected. But then, I was the one who came up with the suggestion in the first place.

“I didn’t say that she has to go alone,” the Queen shouted, silencing everyone.

“I’ll send her with some of my guards.”

“You’re crazy, mother,” Erick said, earning a surprised gasp from me. I didn’t expect that from him. His mother gave him a look of disapproval before focusing on the conversation at hand.

“She can’t go there!”

“It’s out of my hands, Erick!” the Queen replied. “Think about it. She is the crystal. She has more powers than any of us combined. I have faith that Emery will eradicate the cause of the problem and we’ll have little to no dead witches.”

“She just discovered that she was a crystal two weeks ago!” Justin countered, joining his brother in the argument. “You have to give her some time to get used to that fact. She needs to practice her powers and to identify what they are, including their strengths and weaknesses. What if she dies, mother? I can’t lose her like we lost Dad.”

Tears clouded my vision as the terrible memory played through my mind. I shook it off before I could recall the pain that I felt on that day.

“I know, Darling. I consider Emery as a daughter. But even if she doesn’t go, we might lose all of our guards if we send them by themselves. With her, we have an advantage.”

The Queen let out a stressed breath before she patted her hands on her sons’ shoulders.

“I’ll leave you four to talk about this among yourselves,” she said before walking out of the room.

Logan's P.O.V

“Where were you guys?” I asked once I saw Liam, Harry, Ethan and Zane join me on the stage. Our fans screamed once they saw the other four emerge. Selena, Justin and Emery had teleported about a minute ago, and my mind was currently fighting on whether to tell my mates the incident that involved the erboon.

“We were busy getting dressed. Why, did something happen?” Harry asked with raised eyebrows. I looked at our fans before I faced him. I decided it was a bad idea to tell him and the rest about the erboons then. I would have to inform them later.

I blinked at him before shaking my head in disagreement. He smiled at me before facing our audience. Then the concert commenced.

***********************************************************************************************

“Thank you, everyone!” Liam shouted, struggling to close the bus door. I was with him—well, behind him. The fans were a screaming mess, some even crying.

“I love you, Liam!”

“I want to have your kids Logan!”

“Come in my mouth, Harry!”

Trevor suddenly appeared in the crowd, struggling to pass through the horde of screaming people.

“Let me through!” he said, pushing past some girls who were trying to enter the tour bus. Liam and I backed away as he jumped into the bus. In an instant, he had the door closed. Liam and I looked at each other before giving our bodyguard a look of disbelief. I couldn’t believe he closed it in less than a minute whereas Liam and I struggled for five minutes. It did not help that we were exhausted from the tour.

Our bodyguard ignored the look, proceeding towards the front of the bus.

Liam and I walked to a black sofa on our right. We collapsed on it, sighing in exhaustion.

“That was exhausting,” Liam said.

“I know, right?” Ethan said in exasperation. “I never knew I could sing for an extra hour than usual.”

The concert took about six hours on that day.

“Sing?” Zane said in disbelief. “Try handling the fans. I love them, but they can sometimes be a bit crazy,” he said as he motioned to his ripped shirt. Apart from that, his styled hair was ruffled so much it looked disfigured. The boys and I shook with laughter as we pointed at him.

Just as we were leaving the stage, one of our fans jumped on Zane and started attacking him with kisses. She had dug her fingers in his hair and almost had sex with him in front of everyone!

“They do love us,” Harry said with a smile, earning a nudge from Zane’s elbow. Harry grunted as he clenched his side.

“Sorry, Zane,” I said with a smile, earning a shrugging wave of a hand from him.

“So what was it that you wanted to tell us before the concert, Logan?” Harry asked through a few grunts of pain, shocking the hell out of me.

“What? Didn't you think I would remember? It must be something for you to not tell us before we perform because we know you say anything before we perform.”

It was true. I could say and do the silliest things on tour. Sometimes I wouldn’t have a censor on my mouth.

I shifted in my seat as I felt uneasy with the information I held.

“Okay. I didn’t want to tell you guys before we started performing, but Emery was in the concert with Justin and Selena.” Everyone jumped towards me and looked at me as if I were some large screen TV.

“What was she doing there?” Liam asked.

“There were erboons in New York. She was fighting one right above the stage.” I proceeded to tell them the injuries she had and the fact that I healed her.

“Is she okay?” Ethan asked, earning a bored look from me. I couldn’t believe they skipped the part where I healed her.

“She’s okay,” I replied. “She teleported with Justin and Selena after they dealt with them.”

“We need to find out what’s going on.”

“Wait. The erboons were in New York. How did they come to Chicago?” Ethan asked with furrowed eyebrows. Thinking about it, it was quite strange. It wasn’t like they could fly super fast and be anywhere on earth within minutes. Right?

Right?

“Guys!” Trevor called out, interrupting Ethan and making us still for a moment. Ever since Martin, Chris and some guards from Crystalia joined the tour for one week to protect us from erwiches, Trevor had been suspicious. We had told him that they were our friends from New York, but he did not believe us. So we had to be extra careful on the conversations we had about witches and magic. At that moment, we panicked because we thought he heard what we were saying.

“Have you seen the news?” I mentally sighed in relief as my bandmates relaxed.

“Does it concern us?” Liam asked. Trevor gave us a confused look.

“No, but you may find it interesting,” he said as he motioned to the flat screen TV in our tour bus that was turned on. There was a woman saying something about a weird flying creature that resembled a large baboon. The boys and I moved closer to the TV, only for our mouths to drop in shock.

That’s what Harry saw up close? That’s what Emery was fighting?

“What do you think they are?” Trevor asked.

“I don’t know,” I lied. Then there was another video of a flying woman in the air, fighting the erboon.

“A woman was reportedly seen with the creature, right here in Chicago. Witnesses say it had grabbed her off a street in New York. The woman and the creature’s whereabouts are unknown, but the police are investigating on the matter. Back to you, Rob,” the reporter on the TV said. The video of the erboon swapping Emery away was a bit unclear. We could only see the erboon but not Emery. That was a good thing.

The boys and I shared curious and worried looks. We silently agreed on what we had to do.

Emery’s P.O.V

“I heard what Elizabeth said,” my mom spoke as she entered the room. It was the same room I woke up in after I was chosen the crystal. I was sitting on the bed as I stared at the open window. The sky was clear, and the moon on that night appeared large, illuminating objects in its path.

After the Queen had left Justin, Erick, Selena and I alone, a heated conversation took place. Selena and I agreed with what the Queen said. Her sons, however, did not. They were concerned about my security. I had to repeatedly state that I was a crystal and that I could take care of myself. I expected to fight with my mother on the issue.

“I don’t want to argue,” I said.

“Me too,” she replied. “That’s why I agree with the Queen that you should deal with the problem.”

I turned to face her with a shocked look. She looked unsatisfied with the decision, and that removed any doubts about her lying. I could not believe her. My mother had been overprotective ever since she knew I was bullied. She took out time out of work to escort me to school and back home. Moreover, she attended the school meetings and regularly asked the teachers to look after me. It was embarrassing. That was why I was shocked when my mom muttered her words.

The shocked look I gave her forced her to explain, “Before I came here, I had a talk with the Queen. In fact, she was the one who looked for me. She explained to me what had happened in Chicago and the small discussion you had with her and your friends. As you may know, I complained to her about you going to Eva’s castle. It went on and on. In the end, she reminded me that you are growing up and that you are a crystal, which means that I have to back off. Also, the witches might get mad and might force you themselves to figure out what it is.”

I did not like the sound of the last sentence.

“But they don’t know what happened,” I said, earning a hopeful look from my mother. Before any of us said anything, Erick suddenly came into the room.

“There is a problem,” he said. My mother followed him out of the chamber and to the study room. The room had been darkened, and a projected screen was placed with some news being shown. On the video being shown, two erboons were circling around a skyscraper. Below the screen was the title ‘MYSTERIOUS CREATURES FLYING AROUND NEW YORK.’

My eyes widened as the newscaster voiced that the animals were seen in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago among other cities. They must have been in those other cities before they zoomed past my workplace.

“So the wiping out people’s memories spell won’t work,” Selena said. “There goes the hope of this mess not reaching the media.”

“On the bright side, they don’t know about witches,” someone said, shocking me. I turned to find the source of the voice, only to find the members of the Ordinary Brothers in the room. I hoped they were not there because of the conversation we had.

Why the hell were they there?

Before I spoke, the Queen said to them, “Thank you for showing this to us. We were planning to wipe people’s memories of this incident, but having video footage of this would make it impossible.”

I almost breathed out a sigh of relief. The boys were in Crystalia for a whole different reason!

“There’s more,” Ethan said, pointing at the screen. We turned to the projected screen, only to be astonished by what we saw. I was in the recorded footage, being grabbed from the ground by one of the erboons. Below the screen was the title, ‘WOMAN KIDNAPPED BY CREATURE IS STILL BEING SEARCHED.'

“Oh crap,” I muttered.

“So, what are we going to do?” my mother asked. I looked towards the boys.

“Before we continue, I would like to ask you guys to leave,” the Queen said as she pointed at my ex-bullies. The boys looked hesitant at first, but they left the room, closing the door behind them. Once they were out, the discussion resumed.

“The only thing we can do is go to Eva’s domain and get rid of what’s causing the problem,” the Queen said before facing me. Then the conversation continued with plans of going to Eva’s castle. The day was first discussed. I was to go after the following day. Before then, the Queen would announce the plan to her guards, and they would decide on who would accompany the crystal to Eva’s castle.

Once the conversation ended, everyone decided to retire to bed. I stayed in the room for a while, switching off the projector. Once I was done, I exited the chamber, closing the door behind me.

My mind went through the plans, and I realized that there would be erboons. I was so not looking forward to that, especially when the last erboon I killed had tried to claw me to death.

“Emery!” Zane shouted as a couple of feet ran after me. I stopped walking in the hallway as I turned to face him. He wasn’t alone.

“What is it?” I asked with a bored look and a tilt of the head. Once Zane and his friends were a foot away from me, they started getting nervous. Zane scratched the back of his head as he considered what he wanted to say. It was not helping my mood. It was night, I was tired and irritable. 

They just had to speak with me before I went to sleep...

“We wanted to know how you’re doing, you know, after the whole erboon attack thing,” Zane said. I blinked at him, feeling anger threatening to cloud my vision.

That was it?

I told myself to cool my anger. It wouldn’t help my pride to have to apologize to them just because they were asking about my well-being.

“There were more than one,” I said, earning a look of shock from him and the rest. “One of them was dealt with by Justin and Selena. I burned the other two with fireballs, and the last one was quite ruthless. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go to bed. I’ll have to skip work again for the next two days.” I said, actually remembering that Selena and I owed Rachel.

I smacked my head with the palm, earning weird looks from the boys. An idea came to mind. I could get Rachel an autograph or something signed by the boys. At least I would know she would owe me for a year. I smiled at the thought.

“I need a favor,” I said, being answered by eager looks.

“What do you need?” Harry said. Before I spoke, Logan pushed his hand towards me.

“We can do whatever it is as long as it does not involve dealing with an erwich or an erboon.”

“It doesn’t include that,” I assured him.

“If it’s a photo with a fan, then okay,” Liam said, taking the words right off my head. I smiled, answering his question.

“Sure! But first, we need information from you.”

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I’m listening.”

“Look. We were introduced to the concept of magic about three weeks ago. In that time, we have been too busy to ask about it and Crystalia.”

“So what you want to know is something that may as well be written in a book called ‘Guide in Being a Witch’ .” 

They nodded their heads in reply.

“We’ve already talked to Selena. She said you had a friend you owed, and so I gave her three tickets to come to our signing.”

“Signing?” I gave them a confused look.

“It will be outside a hotel in New York. Our fans will be coming with their stuff to be signed by us,” Liam explained.

“I know what a signing is, but why the tickets?” that confused me even more. It was a signing.

“We have a large fanbase,” Logan stated. “If we were to sign for all of them, it might take a week.”

I nodded my head in understanding.

“Okay. Bye Emery!” Ethan said as they teleported out of Crystalia.

I couldn’t believe I was considering going to that signing just to pay back Rachel for covering my shift. I thought more about it, and I decided it could be fun to go. It wasn’t like it could take a whole day, could it?

CHAPTER 11

Six years ago

Third person's P.O.V

The evening was approaching. Michael, Susan's husband, was playing scrabble with their twelve-year-old daughter, Emery. They were in the living room of their house in Massachusettes. It was where Susan and Mike began their lives as a wedding couple.

They had just finished eating dinner. At the moment, Emery was laughing at something her father said.

"You cheated!" her father repeated with a smile, finding it hard to make a straight face. Emery just laughed at him because she won the game and he would not accept defeat.

With a smile, Emery's mother walked towards her unsuspecting daughter. Emery was too busy laughing to notice her approach. Susan smirked as she got near her and tickled her sides. Taken by surprise, Emery laughed louder. Michael stared at his wife in surprise.

"Daddy, help!" Emery screamed in between laughs. Emery's father pretended not to have heard her. He walked around the two in a slow manner, pretending to be in thought. Then quickly, he wrapped his arms around Susan's waist before carrying her in the air. That forced Susan to let go of her daughter.

Michael walked towards the couch in the room with his daughter behind him. He dropped his wife on the sofa and started to tickle her. She tried hard not to laugh but failed. Her husband knew the spots to hit, so she busted into fits of laughter.

"Stop!" Susan barely said due to the tickling sensation.

"No," her husband protested with a smirk. "Not until you promise not to tickle our daughter without her permission." Susan gave Michael a look of disbelief. With a noncaring shrug, he resumed torturing her. His wife screamed with laughter, struggling to stop her husband's assault.

"Do you promise?" he stopped for a moment to ask with a smirk on his face.

"I promise!" she said and he let go of her sides. Susan wiped the tears that had absently escaped from her eyes.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Emery called out. Susan and Michael both turned to face their daughter. She gave them a serious expression which had the two instantly concerned.

"Yes, darling?"

"Do you promise to never leave me?"

Susan and Michael were startled by the question. It seemed unnatural for her to ask them that. The couple did not answer, pondering on what to tell their daughter.

"Now Emery, you know that I can't respond to such a question," Michael replied in hopes of changing the subject.

"But why?" Emery asked with a pout on her face. It made her look cute, making it impossible for her father to avoid answering her question.

Michael knelt down to his daughter's height while his wife looked anywhere else but at their child. He grabbed Emery's shoulders and stared deep into her eyes.

"There are some things that people are uncertain of, like the future. You are a smart girl, Emery."

"I also know you're trying to change the subject which, by the way, you are failing," his daughter responded with a frown. Mike bowed his head as he silently laughed. He remembered an incident where she asked where babies come from. He told her a story about storks bringing babies, but she was told otherwise by her friends. She was mad that her daddy lied to her, and she cried.

"I can't lie to you about serious stuff," he said. "Not after what happened with the babies thing," he whispered to himself, but Emery heard that. She said nothing in reply.

"To answer your question, I am not sure." Emery began crying. Her dad looked concerned before wrapping his arms around her.

"You know that your mother and I love you. We will always be here for you for as long as the fates allow it. And if something were to happen to us, you should know that it is part of life. We will still love you. We are here now, and that is all that matters," Mike said as he kissed her forehead.

Emery's parents stayed with her until it was time for her to sleep. Michael carried her to her bedroom and placed her in her bed. He exited the room and closed the door behind him. He thought of why Emery sprung the subject of the future on their parents. He was determined to find out on the following day.

"How touching," a voice said. Michael spun his head from the door to see Eva. Her black hair was tied into a bun with a few strands sticking on her forehead. Her pale skin made her distinguishable in the hallway, and her lips were red. She had worn a black velvet dress that seemed to float in the air. For a woman who lived for more than two hundred years, she did not look like she aged at all. Despite her good looks, she was evil.

"What do you want?" Michael asked in annoyance. Behind the annoyed face he wore, he was afraid for both his daughter and his wife. In his life, he had a few encounters with the erwich crystal. They were mostly about having him join her side. 

He always refused.

"You know what I want," she said as she slowly walked towards him. He sighed, thinking that she was going to ask him to join his side. What she said next shocked him.

"I want your child," she whispered once she was close to him. He did not know she wanted Emery. His heart thudded in fear for what Eva had in store for his daughter. He was aware of what the villain was capable of, and he knew he had to protect his child from her.

"No. You can't have her," Mike protested. "Why do you even want her? She's just a little girl who poses no threat to you!"

Eva rolled her eyes, seeing that he was making a lame attempt at defending his child.

"I want her for my own gain, Michael. I don't have to explain myself to you. I will take her, even if it is by force," she said the last sentence with the color of her irises glowing green.

Mike opened Emery's room, planning to rush to her and teleport out of the house, but was stopped by Eva. With her telekinesis powers, Eva pushed Mike away from the door. He held him against the opposite wall, slowly raising him up to the ceiling.

Footsteps sounded through the hallway. Susan had heard the commotion and went to inspect it. Once she saw what was happening, she stood still for a moment. Eva turned to face her with a malicious smile.

"Susan! How nice it is for you to join us." Mike choked a sound, directing her attention to him.

"What do you want from us, Eva?" Susan asked with anger in her voice. Eva rolled her eyes at her. Michael looked worried. He tried to budge away from Eva's powers, but she was too strong. Even he, as a crystal, was outmatched by her.

Susan teleported a sword in her hand. She used her own powers of telekinesis to send it flying towards Eva. Eva gave her a bored look. With a flick of her wrist, the sword turned and went towards Susan.

With wide eyes, Susan ducked to the floor. The sword flew past her and stabbed the wall behind her. Susan turned to face it and directed her attention back to Eva.

"Now now Susan, we both know that you shouldn't toy with me," she said. She then used her powers to throw Susan back against the wall. She crashed into it, momentarily glad that she didn't collide with the sword next to her.

With a groan, she moved her hands. She summoned all the energy she had and used her hands to blow the villain. Eva burst into dust, releasing the hold she had on Mike. He fell to the floor, groaning at the impact while choking on air. He quickly moved up from the floor while caressing his neck.

"Let's get Emery. I don't want her anywhere near Eva," Michael said.

"But where will we go?" Susan asked. She was frightened that Eva would come after her once she regenerated from her sandy form.

"Where else, my love? We have to go to Crystalia," Michael answered. With wide eyes, Susan went to protest.

"But—"

"We have no other option, Susan. We can't hide here on earth. She will find us in seconds."

"But Crystalia is not under protection from Eva! Have you also forgotten the presence of erwiches?  I can't even risk the possibility of Eva killing most of our kind again!" she spoke with a concerned look.

"I know about that, my love! But when we're there, we'll have more witches to help keep us safe from Eva. She wants our child, Susan! We have to protect her."

In an instant, she nodded her head. Mike and Susan walked into their daughter's bedroom and Mike scooped Emery into his arms. Without wasting time, whereby Eva's sandy form would swirl and form herself, they teleported to Crystalia.

The sun in Crystalia was setting, making way for the moon to illuminate the city and the landscapes. Once a sleeping Emery and her parents reached the castle gates, they approached the guards to seek help from the king. They did not need to say much since they were commonly seen around the castle. 

They soon rushed into the castle. They approached the King, Andrew, and his Queen, Elizabeth, once they reached the throne. The two were talking to some officials.

"Your Majesties," the couple said at the same time, bowing to the royal family. The conversation momentarily stopped as the royal couple looked at their good friends.

"Michael, Susan. Good evening," Andrew greeted them.

"Good evening, your Majesties," Michael and Susan said. The officials looked at each other, having no idea of what to do at that point.

"What brings you here?" Andrew asked as he got up from his seat.

"We have a problem," Susan said with a worried look. The Queen noticed, turning to her children.

"Justin, Erick. Please leave the room and play outside," she said. The children obeyed, exiting while playing tag.

"I'll go put Emery to sleep in a room," Michael said too.

"Your Majesties, may we continue the discussion at another time?" one of the officials asked. Andrew nodded his head. In return, the officials bowed before proceeding to leave the room. The door to the large throne room closed with Mike as the last person to exit.

"What is the issue, Susan?" Elizabeth asked once the children were out of earshot.

"It's Eva, my Queen," she answered her. The Queen's eyes widened in shock. King Andrew and Queen Elizabeth knew the lengths that the villain would go through to get what she wanted. In fact, they had a history with her. Eva had almost killed Andrew in the past, but she failed.

"You have to stay here for a while, Susan. While you'll be here, we will think of some other place where you could stay," Elizabeth urged.

"Lucas!" King Andrew mentally called for one of the guards. One of them was seen opening the throne room and running towards the King with a sword hanging on the edge of his pants. Once he was in front of the King, he adjusted his sword.

"Your Majesty," he said as he bowed, "how may I serve you?"

"We may be expecting a visit from Eva. I need you to lock all the doors of the castle and send a warning to all the people," Andrew ordered. The guard's eyes momentarily widened before he placed a calm facade.

"Yes, your Majesty," the guard replied before he left the room to carry out the task. Michael was approaching them just when the guard was going out.

"The two of you, follow us," the King said. Mike and Susan followed the royal couple as they walked past the royal throne and through the castle hallways.

"Let me show you something," the King said just as they came to a black door. He said an enchantment that made the door's outline glow blue. In a nanosecond, the door opened. They all entered the room. It was mostly dark, and they could hardly see anything.

Andrew felt his way to a light switch. He pressed onto it, illuminating the room with white light. The room was empty, except for a wooden box in the center of the chamber that was supported by a small wooden table. The rest stopped while the King went to open the box. He took out a small white crumpled piece of paper with black inscriptions on it.

"What is it?" Michael asked, curious to know what the piece of paper had.

"You all know that we have no idea of how to kill Eva," the King spoke, earning nods from everyone in the room.

"I found a spell in one of the grimoires in the castle study room. It's a portal spell, whereby the witch will be stuck in a portal to never return," he explained further.

"Why didn't we use this before?" Mike asked with a confused expression.

"Because Eva never posed a serious threat that could lead to war before Emery was born. Now I fear that she will bring her minions to our gates just to get your child."

"Is there any other way, Andrew?" the Queen asked with worry in her eyes.

"No. There is no other way. Eva will bring a war to our gates, and this is the only option we have. We just have to be ready for her," he said as he stuffed the paper in his robe.

The four got out of the room and headed back to the throne.

"You are welcomed to stay here for the night," the King said.

"Thank you," Susan and Mike replied.

"I will just call one of my servants to escort you to your room."

Andrew did so, and the servant led the couple to a room that was spacious enough for three people to stay in. Emery was brought into the chamber and was lain on a bed, still sound asleep. Then they walked out of the room and to the throne where they would make their plans.

***********************************************************************************************

The following day

It was around ten in the morning, and everyone in Crystalia was woken up by the alarming sound of the bell hidden in one of the castle towers. Some kilometers before the city, the guards stationed on the towers could see Eva and her minions, both erboons and erwiches, coming towards them. At first, everyone questioned what was going on. Once they found out, they became fearful while they prepared themselves for the worst.

Susan and Michael ran to the main study room once the Queen called them. In the room, a table had been placed where they lay the plans they sought out early in the morning. The Queen and the King surrounded it.

"I hope you remember what we planned," Andrew said, making Emery's parents nod their heads in confirmation. They all had memorized the portal spell in their minds until they were sure they got the words right. They couldn't say it out loud because their magic would have activated it.

Before they could say anything else, a guard came busting into the room. That spiked concerned reactions.

"Your Majesties! Eva is attacking!" the guard announced, fully panicking.

"Assemble the guards! I will be right outside with Michael after a minute or so," Andrew said. The guard nodded, leaving the room. Andrew turned to face his wife.

"Elizabeth, Sarah, I need you to stay in the castle."

"But—" the Queen protested, but he cut her off with a caress of her cheek. Andrew leaned in and pecked her lips.

"I love you, Elizabeth. I love you so much that I can't risk you being killed. I need you here where I know you'll be safe so that I can focus on defeating Eva," he said.

"Please, be safe," the Queen pleaded. Andrew nodded while hugging her.

"Susan," Emery's mother turned to face her husband, "if anything happens to me, know that I love you. I will always love you and our child."

Susan leaned in and hugged him. Mike petted her hair as he wrapped his arms around her waist, returning the hug.

"Promise me that you'll be okay," Susan whispered to him. Her husband kissed her for a moment.

"You know that I can't make such promises," he said as he retracted the hug. He pecked her cheek before he and Andrew left the room.

Susan and Elizabeth had equal thoughts running through their minds. They were worried for their husbands. Would they be safe? Would they survive from Eva's attack? Susan shook her head, remembering her children.

"Your Majesty, the children!" she spoke. The Queen's eyes shot up, having momentarily forgotten about them.

The both of them ran out of the study room and into the hallways. Witches and guards were moving about, shouting and making demands here and there. She also noticed other witches with their children heading towards the building.

In the castle, there were two floors underneath the ground floor. The lowest served as a large safe room during battles. It was where witches could hide their children and those who seemed unfit for battle.Necessities such as stored food and water were present. There were also underground tunnels that led to doors to the human world if things got worse. 

Susan spotted Emery, Justin and Erick running towards her. They were all crying. Her heart clenched with worry and regret for not getting them before the war started. In fact, she hated herself at the moment for not having them speak to their fathers before they went to war.

"Mum, what's going on?" Emery asked in tears. Her mother hugged her and the two boys.

"It is nothing," her mother lied. "There is a problem that adults have to take care of. You and all the children in Crystalia will be underneath the castle with some other people where you will be safe."

"Will you and Daddy be okay?" Emery asked. Susan was rendered speechless for a moment, trying to think of what to tell her.

"Get the kids in here!" one of the guards shouted, saving Susan from making possibly-unattainable promises.

Susan hugged the three children.

"Go!" she told them. The three nodded, following the guard who was leading the children to the lowest room in the castle.

Susan rushed to the throne where she thought Elizabeth was. The Queen's presence confirmed her thoughts.

"Have you seen my children?" she asked with a concerned look.

"Yes," Susan replied. "They're with the other kids underneath the castle."

The Queen released a sigh of relief.

"We need to join the others," Erick's mother said despite her husband's request. Susan nodded, following her out of the throne. However, before they could get any further, Eva busted into the castle, dragging the bodies of their husbands with two glowing magical ropes.

Time seemed to have stopped for a moment. Susan and Elizabeth seemed to not digest what they were seeing. When it dawned on their heads, they looked horrified. Once Eva reached the center of the room, she diffused the rope into stardust. The two rushed to their husbands. 

Elizabeth rushed to her husband. The King's eyes stared into the distance. He was still, unmoving.

"Honey? Honey?" the Queen said, tapping the King's face in a manner of trying to wake him up. He did not respond. Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock. The awful conclusion was in her mind, just waiting to be confirmed. She refused to accept it.

She tried feeling for his pulse. She felt nothing. She shook her head, not wanting to accept the possibility of her husband being... she couldn't even say it. Then she placed her head on his chest, hoping to hear a heartbeat.

Nothing.

On the other side of the room, Susan was paralyzed with shock. It did not take her long to realize hHer husband was dead.

She couldn't believe it. She found it hard to believe it! It was about a minute ago when they were talking. What? How? Why?

It seemed unreal. Susan hoped it was a freaking nightmare. She wanted to wake up and be back at her home in Massachusettes with her loving husband and their beautiful daughter. 

Why wasn't she waking up?

"It was quite easy if you ask me," Eva said, answering the silent questions the widows had of their husbands' deaths. "They came out of your castle, ordering me to get out. Idiots. They thought they could kill me."

Eva released a chuckle, angering the others in the room.

"I just flicked my wrists, and they were dead. Just. Like. That."

The words and the sight of her dead husband fully sunk into Susan's head. Anger like no other coursed through her veins.

"NO!" she screamed, throwing fireballs towards Eva. The enemy evaded them as she flew in the air. It angered Susan even more, making her throw more fireballs towards Eva. She missed again with the fireballs hitting the wall behind Eva.

Eva contacted her powers of telekinesis. In an instant, Susan was brought up midair with a strong force on her neck.

"I told you what I wanted, Susan," she said as she flew closer to her. "You could have given me your child, and you could have avoided all this mess that we made."

"NO!" Elizabeth, who was still in shock that her husband was dead, screamed, slapping her husband in an effort to prove her wrong.

"Please, wake up! Please!" she said as tears flowed from her eyes, clouding her vision.

Susan's eyes welled up with tears, grieving for the Queen's loss and her own. At the moment, her sadness numbed her from the pain of Eva holding her midair with her powers.

"He's dead you idiot," Eva said calmly with a smirk. Elizabeth stood still before turning to face her. Her eyes widened when she saw the predicament Susan was in.

"You monster!" Elizabeth shouted with a tear-streaked face. "You killed him! You killed my husband!"

The Queen summoned a sword onto the palm of her right hand. Before she could reach Eva, she was sent flying backwards. She hit a wall, instantly getting knocked out.

"I wonder why she was Queen when you weren't," Eva told Susan with a bored expression. "Now it's just you and me left to talk," Eva said with a fake surprised look.

"I will not ask again, Susan. You know what I want. Give me your daughter."

When the demand was made, Susan's mind diverted from mourning her husband's death to doing anything to protect Emery.

"You already know the answer to that, Eva," she said.

Eva gave her a look of disbelief before laughing.

"Do you understand your position right now? Every witch who is outside is captured. My minions are waiting for my order to kill all of them. I suggest you pick wisely, Susan. Give me your daughter, or else I kill every witch in Crystalia!"

During the conversation that was going on, Susan silently summoned the sword that Elizabeth planned to use. In an instant, she sent it flying towards Eva's arms with brutal force. The villain did not see it coming.

It took a second, and Eva screamed as her arms were both cut off. The hold that was on Susan disappeared, sending her falling to the ground. Susan groaned as she collided with the ground. It was not time to tend to wounds. She had bigger problems than that.

"You bitch!" Eva screamed. The hands that were still on Susan momentarily spooked her. However, they disintegrated into dust that was floating towards Eva.

Susan seemed worried on what to do, but then she recalled the spell. Eva was too busy writhing in pain. However, she was Eva. Her screams of pain wouldn't last long since she was reforming herself. 

Susan knew that Eva would go after her without another though, so she had to chant the spell. The light that illuminated the room dimmed as the clouds covered the sky. Lightning flashed outside, directing Eva's attention away from her healing hands. She did not understand what was happening.

"Stupid Susan," Eva said as she looked at her fully-healed hands. "You aren't powerful enough to defeat me. Now, I get the pleasure of getting rid of you," Eva went flying towards Susan, but unfortunately for her, a circular portal instantly appeared, increasing in size within seconds. The portal was white, and it looked like clouds swirling around each other.

Eva was being sucked into the portal while Susan stared. Eva tried to move away, but the force being emitted from the portal was too strong for her. She turned and gave Susan a murderous look.

"I will get you for this! Once I get out, you will pay for doing this to me!" Those were the last words Eva spoke before she fully entered the portal. The portal soon closed.

Susan collapsed onto the floor into a heap of sobs. Elizabeth, who had been knocked out, woke up to see her crying. She looked around and noticed the absence of their cause of problems. She walked towards Susan's position on the floor and sat with her. They stayed like that for forty minutes as they grieved.

In that time, some guards entered the castle to see what was happening. When they noticed that Eva was absent, they walked outside to deal with Eva's minions. They seemed to fully depend on Eva, and with her absence, it made it easier to kill them. 

They soon retreated after their population was reduced by a half.

An hour later, the children who had been kept safely underneath the castle were allowed back into the city.

"How are we going to tell our children that their fathers are dead?" Elizabeth asked as she stared into the distance. Susan remained silent, not knowing what to do.

Emery, Justin and Erick came into the throne room, expecting to see happy faces. They met the exact opposite. They saw their mothers crying next to each other, and they saw the bodies of their fathers on the floor.

"Mom?" Emery asked, startling the crying parents. Susan and Elizabeth had not seen them, and they worried about their children seeing their dead fathers. They soon rushed the children out of the room, but they had already discovered that their fathers were dead.

Two weeks later, Crystalia held the funeral ceremonies for those who had passed away. Michael and Andrew were not the only ones killed by Eva. 

Elizabeth, Susan and their children were a crying mess. The Queen had to give power to the officials to take care of Crystalia's duties as she grieved.

There was no attack from Eva's minions during the time it took the Queen to get her bearings right. She knew she had to do something to prevent something like Eva's previous attack from ever happening again in the future, and soon, she delved into the grimoires. 

Elizabeth soon discovered spells that she could alter to make the invisible protective dome. She at first did some tests on a small piece of land, and it worked. Elizabeth had the spell recorded in the grimoires after she cast it around Crystalia to prevent anything evil from entering it.

She had lost her husband, and she would be damned if she also lost her children.

CHAPTER 12

A/N It was hard to write the other chapter. This chapter mostly contains song lyrics, just to fill this up. They will have this mark (♫) and this writing style (song lyric). Feel free to skip them if you want. Enjoy!

Emery's P.O.V

"We're fired?" I shouted through the phone. Shocked was the least that I was feeling. 

How could we be fired?

"I'm sorry, Emery," Rachel replied. "Ever since you and Selena missed two weeks of work, the boss felt like you were inadequate for the job, especially since summer is ending. Then you left work again; then the manager informed me to tell you that your services are no longer needed."

I sighed, rubbing my forehead as I began thinking about what to do.

"I can't believe this is happening," I said as I looked around my surroundings. "Is there anything we can do to get our jobs back?" I asked with a hopeful tone.

"No, I don't think so," Rachel replied. My shoulders slumped as I frowned.

"Okay. Fine. I'll talk to you later."

"Sure, Emery. Talk to you later." Then the call ended.

I walked around the room. It was still the same room I woke up in after I was chosen the crystal, and so it was made to be my bedroom in Crystalia. The day was going to be a busy day, and I already had a lot of stress planning my journey to Eva's castle and what to do from there.

The Queen said that some guards would go with me. It was bad enough that no one knew the design of Eva's castle. It was worse because everyone didn't know what to expect. Nobody knew the chambers and the gates around the castle, and so it would seem like the moment we step foot there, we would be captured. 

It highly looked like a suicide mission.

I landed on the bed, staring at the ceiling above me as I thought again of my current situation. Selena and I lost our jobs. We had three weeks before summer ended, and we just had to be fired. I could not believe my luck.

It was not like we needed the money for college fees. Our scholarships covered those. We just needed the cash for emergencies and spending.

I had a feeling my cousin had not heard the news. I got up from the bed, dreading to have to tell her of our current work status. I walked into the hallway only to see her approaching me. Once she was near me, she hugged me and started heaving with sobs.

Okay?

"Rachel told me that we were fired," she said as she retracted the hug. She was taking the news worse than I was.

"Why are you crying?" I asked with a furrow of my eyebrows. "It's not the end of the world. We can get another job."

"I know that. It's just that it reflects us and our behavior. It was our first job, Emery. Our first job and we got fired within two months."

I just blinked as I stared at her.

"Girl, chill!" I said while shaking her shoulders. "It will not reflect on our resume or some important document. It was a job that we took as freaking teenagers!"

"We're adults," she countered.

"We are not yet 21 years old or whatever age it will take us to figure the world out." Selena thought of my reply, and then she nodded while wiping the tears off her face.

"Okay. We'll just look for another job," I was going to agree with her statement, but my mind went elsewhere. 

We had three weeks before we went to college. Finding the job as baristas took us about two weeks before we graduated. Who knew when we would find new jobs? And if we were to get jobs, wouldn't it seem like a waste of time?

Selena walked past me, heading towards another room in the castle. I went towards the opposite direction. I needed to do something I had not done in a long while.

Fight training was one of my stress relievers. It engaged the whole body, but there was also another reliever for me.

I got out of the castle through the back entrance. A couple of minutes later, I found myself in the city. Crystalia looked majestic. Tall buildings that resembled those on earth were being constructed at a fast pace. Roads were also being built using magic.

I recalled the last change that occurred in the city. It was about twelve years ago when Erick, Justin and I lost important parental figures in our lives. The Queen had the throne demolished to form the halls. She didn't want the place that reminded her of her husband's death. Instead of rebuilding the throne, she ordered the construction of a large hall.

I walked past the castle, enjoying the view of my surroundings. The morning sun shone brighter than the ever-present stars in the sky. There were a few scattered clouds, providing shades to those who were outside. It was about ten in the morning, which meant I had two hours before I would meet up with Rachel and Selena.

During the last conversation I had with the Ordinary Brothers, we had made a deal. I got tickets to go to their meet-and-greet whereas they expected me to show them around the castle ( even though Selena did that) and explain to them about everything related to witchcraft. Then another thought came to mind.

Why did I accept the tickets when I could ask the boys to sign some stuff to take them to Rachel?

Well, I was doing it for Rachel. At first, I thought of having Rachel meet the boys through me. She was a big fan of them, and so she would scream and ask how I knew them. 

That would be awkward. Also, if I took something signed to her, she would ask where I met the boys and why I didn't take her to meet them. I had no option but to escort her to the meet-and-greet. That way, I would avoid questions about the horrible past I shared with the OBs.

I came to a stop once I reached my destination. It was a two-storey building with brown walls. The doors were wooden and locked. It was a building designated to Justin and the rest of the royal family. Selena, my mother and I could also get in if we wanted. It was where Justin would sometimes come to work on his new songs.

With a flick of a wrist, the door unlocked, creaking slowly as it opened. I pushed it open to enable me to pass through. Once I was in the room, I was met by darkness. I closed and locked the door behind me before clapping my hands. The room was soon illuminated.

It was a large area. The walls were painted olive green with a white ceiling above me. Two white ceiling fans were off. Moreover, the room was filled with musical instruments. 

Further into the room was another wooden door centered in the middle of the wall opposite to the door. It served as a creativity room for songs, but I used it for my privacy.

My other stress reliever was singing, or in my case, karaoke, but without people seeing me. It was a secret hobby of mine. I got to sing and act like I was one of those major musicians without facing judgmental comments from other people. Unfortunately for me, someone found out. One day at work, Rachel heard me sing. She said I was talented, but I didn't believe her. Even though the suggestion of singing in front of the people I knew came to mind, I refused because of fear of embarrassment. Also, I didn't want my talent to be for profit.

 It was a good thing that the area was sound-proof. I cast a magic spell over the instruments while thinking of a song.

♫ Don't try to explain your mind

I know what's happening here

One minute it's love and suddenly

It's like a battlefield

One word turns into war

Why is it the smallest things that tear us down

My world's nothing when you're gone

I'm out here without a shield

Can't go back now

Both hands tied behind my back for nothing

Oh, no

These times when we climb so fast to fall again

Why we gotta fall for it now

I never meant to start a war

You know I never wanna hurt you

Don't even know what we're fighting for

Why does love always feel like ...

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

Why does love always feel like ...

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

Why does love always feel like

Can't swallow our pride,

Neither of us wanna raise that flag

(mmhm)

If we can't surrender then we both gonna lose what we had

Oh no

Both hands tied behind my back for nothing

(nothing)

Oh no,

These times when we climb so fast to fall again

I don't wanna fall for it now

I never meant to start a war

You know I never wanna hurt you

Don't even know what we're fighting for

Why does love always feel like ...

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

Why does love always feel like ...

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

I guess you better go and get your armor
(get your armor)

Get your armor (get your armor)
I guess you better go and get your armor
(get your armor)
Get your armor (get your armor)
I guess you better go and get your

We could pretend that we are friends tonight

And in the morning we'll wake up and we'll be alright

Cause baby we don't have to fight

And I don't want this love to feel like

A battlefield (oh), a battlefield (oh), a battlefield,

Why does love always feel like a battlefield (oh),

A battlefield (oh), a battlefield

I guess you better go and get your armor

I never meant to start a war

(Start a war)

You know I never wanna hurt you

Don't even know what we're fighting for

(fighting, fighting for)

Why does love always feel like ...

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

Why does love always feel like ...

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

a battlefield (oh, oh)

I guess you better go and get your armor
(get your armor)
Get your armor (get your armor)
I guess you better go and get your armor
(get your armor)
Get your armor (get your armor)

Why does love always feel like
(whoa ooow)
Why does love always feel like
(whoa ooow)
A battlefield, a battlefield..

I never meant, to start a war

Don't even know, what we're fighting for

I never meant, to start a war

Don't even know, what we're fighting for
(whoa ooow) ♫

My mind seemed to have been cleared once the music stopped. That was until I remembered I had to get ready for the meet-and-greet with Selena and Rachel in the afternoon.

***********************************************************************************************

Ethan's P.O.V

"Guys! We have to get ready soon. We have a meet-and-greet with our fans today, remember?" Liam announced as a way of waking all of us up. Sometimes I envied how he was able to wake up all energetic as if we did not have five hours of sleep. Nonetheless, he was like a father figure to the boys and me. He was responsible, and he knew what to do when something went wrong.

I groaned, bringing the sheets over my head. The guys and I were on our tour bus and on our way to New York where the meet-and-greet would be held. It seemed a bit unfair to other cities because we had been performing in New York weeks ago and then we were going back there.

"Come on, guys! Get up!" Liam shouted, making all of us groan in our beds.

"It's 4 in the morning, Liam," Zane said with his voice muffled by his pillow.

"It's 8 o'clock," Liam deadpanned. My eyes quickly opened. In an instant, the rest of us got up and started preparing ourselves.

"Trevor said we'll be stopping at a hotel. We'll properly get ready for the meet-and-greet and do it there," Liam informed us.

"Where's my toothbrush?" Logan asked, his eyes half open and his eyebrows furrowed. He still looked sleepy.

Harry passed by him and handed him his toothbrush.

"Did you guys hear of the plans that the witches—"

"Ssh!" four of us shouted at Harry. Harry's eyes widened in shock as he clasped a hand over his mouth.

"Do you think anyone heard?" I whispered to them. We remained silent for about ten seconds before we all sighed in relief.

"Thank God," Logan said. Liam gave Harry a disapproving look, and the latter winced.

"Sorry, guys," Harry apologized. "I forgot we were on a tour bus and not at a hotel."

"As I was asking, did you hear the plans?" Harry continued.

"Yes, we did," Logan replied. "They'll be going to Eva's castle or something to deal with the erboons."

"Guys, have you forgotten something?" Harry asked. We stared at him, answering his question with puzzled looks. Harry sighed.

"You all know that Emery is a crystal. Do you understand where I'm going with this?"

It all clicked immediately. Emery was a powerful witch, and there was no doubt she would be sent to deal with the erboons. What if she was going alone? What if she died there?

"The Queen said that she would be going with some guards tomorrow. There is nothing to worry about," Liam eased our concerns.

"What Queen?" Trevor asked as he entered our view, making all of us stand still in hidden shock. The boys and I shared looks.

"We were talking about the Queen of England and how we would like to visit her someday," Logan said, earning a nudge from Harry. Trevor stared at us weirdly.

"Okay," he stretched the word, finding it hard to believe what Logan said.

"We're twenty minutes from the hotel. I hope you are all ready for this. I also got word that your fans are outside the hotel, waiting for your arrival."

Oh crap.

"We're currently making plans with management on how you'll enter the hotel without being spotted," Trevor said as he exited the small compartment in the bus. He probably went to the bus driver to sit beside him.

The boys and I went to get ready for the day. We could only brush our teeth and change our clothes because the bus did not have a shower.

We arrived five minutes earlier than expected, but we had already gotten dressed.

Trevor was in front of us, holding onto the door's handle.

"Remember, stick close to me. We'll be moving quickly so that your fans don't notice you."

We all nodded our heads before he opened the door. We were staring at the back entrance of the hotel. Our dedicated fans were at the front, waiting for our arrival.

"Go! Go! Go!" Trevor shouted at us in a whisper. We took off like cars in a race. Once we entered the hotel, a butler closed the door behind us. The boys and I sighed in relief, glad that our fans forgot to check the back entrance.

"Hello. I'm Pete, and I'll direct you to your room," the butler said. He proceeded to walk towards an elevator with us following him.

Emery's P.O.V

"I can't believe I agreed to do this," I said with a bored look. That did not affect Selena and Rachel. They shrieked, ignoring my statement.

"Cheer up, Emery," Rachel said. "This is by far the best thing you've ever done for me."

I looked up at the sky.

Why me?

Remember the erboon incident? And the debt I owed Rachel for trying to cover my shift at my last job? Well, Selena received the three tickets to go to the Ordinary Brothers' meet-and-greet. I was hoping they had forgotten, but they hadn't. It turned out that they had given the tickets to Selena. She had Rachel and me join her. 

In short, the meet-and-greet was how we were paying Rachel for covering for our shifts at our first job.

We were in New York, standing in line with other fans of the Ordinary Brothers. Most of them were girls. The environment was filled with screaming sounds and chatters all around. At certain intervals, there would be girls that would scream "I SEE THEM!" Everyone, including me, would turn to search for them with our eyes. Then it would turn out that it was not them. It had already happened five times, and it was starting to get on my nerves.

"I SEE THEM!" a girl happened to scream, sending others into fits of screams.

If it was another false announcement...

I placed my hands over my ears, trying to block out the noise. Selena and Rachel looked at me before sharing knowing looks, and they too started to scream. I narrowed my eyes at them, giving them the best glare I could form.

"Hello everyone!" Logan shouted, eliciting more screams from his fans. Covering my ears was becoming tasking. My arms hurt for staying in that position. I shrugged my shoulders with an 'eh' and joined the crowd of screaming fans.

Then it became annoying within seconds.

Everyone turned their heads, searching for the source of his voice. He was at the front of the hotel with his buddies. I also noticed four bodyguards beside them.

"Everyone, please form a line. The meet-and-greet is about to begin soon," one of the bodyguards said through a microphone. I was at the back with Selena and Rachel. We all groaned, but for different reasons. Selena and our ex-colleague couldn't wait to see the boys whereas I couldn't wait to be done with it.

"That's it. I'm out," I said, intending to go out of the line. Once I turned, I noticed another horde of OBers behind me. That's what the Ordinary Brothers' fans were called, right? 

I had two options: stay with the girls or struggle through the many people stationed next to the hotel. I had a feeling the options would both take a lot of time. I couldn't teleport because there were ordinary human beings beside me.

This is totally not my day.

"I can't wait to meet Logan Webb!" I heard a girl shout beside me. I winced, slightly moving away from her. "It will be like a fairytale. He will see me; we'll get married and live happily ever after."

Of course, because that's how real life works.

I received an unexpected shove from Selena. She gave me a look while shaking her head. It took me a moment to figure out why she did that. 

I couldn't believe she heard my sarcastic thought!

"This line is taking forever," another girl said in a whine. "I can't wait to plant my lips over Harry. He is so hot."

I facepalmed. Then I rolled my eyes while I mentally worried about the future of girls like her.

I did not know what to think. Maybe the girl was just saying stuff for the sake of bragging, but if she were truly planning on doing what she wanted to do, then good luck to her.

Ah! Entertainment! I get to see people make fools of themselves.

After about ten minutes, the line was in order. Selena was behind Rachel and I was behind them. She and Selena were the ones with stuff that needed to be signed. I decided to go through my phone and play games.

An hour later, the line had barely moved. I had to give it to the Ordinary Brothers. The band had many dedicated fans. I also worried about the energy and patience the five had to muster to deal with all of them.

I got bored with the game I was playing. I needed to do something while the line was still moving. Sometimes I wished I was in two places at once.

No sooner had I thought of the last sentence than I found myself outside the castle in Crystalia.

What? Oh no.

I looked around, feeling a pit of dread form in my stomach. 

I did not just teleport in front of many people, did I?

What had I done?

CHAPTER 13

Emery’s P.O.V

I spent the next five minutes pacing in front of the castle. I was worried about Selena and how every fan of the Ordinary Brothers would react after seeing me teleport. My first thought was to go back to the hotel. But then, I was afraid of being spotted again, so that was not a good idea.

Maybe my cousin was saying that she either didn’t know me or that she didn’t know that I could do that. Maybe she too had teleported to safety. Speaking of which, why wasn’t she calling me? Was she kidnapped? Was she taken by the police or something and they decided to take her phone? Were she and Rachel being experimented like lab rats?

Okay, that couldn’t have happened in five minutes.

I could not have messed up as badly as I did then. I took out my phone and dialed Selena’s number.

Selena’s P.O.V

I was excited as I stood in line with Rachel and Emery, waiting for the Ordinary Brothers to sign my stuff. On the previous night, the band came to me and told me what Emery had told them. She wanted the tickets in exchange for helping them come to terms with being witches. 

Was I that bad of a tour guide? Did neither I nor the guards who were with them on tour explain the whole concept of being witches? It took some time, but I soon understood Emery wanted the tickets specifically for Rachel. I also understood that the boys wanted to spend time with Emery.

I planned to go with Emery and Rachel to the meet-and-greet whether my cousin liked it or not. I believed Emery still saw the boys as the bullies they were to her in high school. I planned to help her get over the past, even though it would be hard. If she planned to stay away from them, she wouldn’t move on from it. She needed to see her ex-bullies as they currently were: caring, loveable people and not mean, abusive jerks.

Suddenly, my phone rang. The only people who had my cell number were my ex-boss, Emery’s mother, the Queen, Justin, Emery, Rachel and Erick. I was with Rachel, so it left anyone from Crystalia. Justin was on tour on that day, so the call was important.

I took my phone out of my pocket to inspect the caller ID.

Emery.

My eyes shot up. Then I felt confused. I looked behind me. Emery stood still, blinking, and not even holding her phone. I swiftly turned from her and inspected the caller. It still showed Emery. I looked at Emery again. She was still there, and she was not even holding her phone. Maybe she was using her powers to prank-call me?

With a knowing smirk, I answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Selena? Oh, thank God! You’re still alive. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where are you?”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” I inquired. “I’m still at the meet-and-greet with Rachel and you,” I emphasized. “How are you doing this? Are you using your powers to prank-call me?”

“What? No! I’m in Crystalia, and what do you mean ‘I’m with you?’”

I took a deep breath. My head had begun to ache. It was bad enough I had to deal with the presence of OBers around me. It would have been easier if I was at a concert. But a freaking meet-and-greet? It was taking longer than Emery took in cleaning our house in New York.

“You can’t be in Crystalia,” I opposed. “You’re here with Rachel and me. How can you be there?”

“I don’t know,” Emery replied, “but I know I’m here.”

It had to be a prank.

“Emery, if this is payback for making you come to the meet-and-greet, then I’m sorry. I will tell you first before forcing you to come along to these events.”

A shout of frustration was heard on the other line.

“I. Am. In. Crystalia,” Emery punctuated the sentence, talking to me as if I was a toddler.

“No. You’re. Not,” I said back.

“Hold on,” she said before ending the call. It was confusing. How could Emery be at two places at once? Then a minute later, the phone rang. I took it out of my pocket and answered “Hello?”

“It’s called astral projection,” the Queen replied, taking me by surprise. “It’s one of the powers that a crystal can have. Only a few are lucky to even get it.”

Then she decided to greet me, “Hello, Selena.”

I was silent for a moment. By then, I knew it was not a prank. For Emery to have to call the Queen, it had to be true.

“Hello,” I said before looking around. I was surrounded by people. “Your Majesty,” I whispered.

“Could you teleport with the version of Emery that is with you?” she asked through the phone.

“Emery didn’t tell you where we were when she astral projected?” I asked, feeling confused.

I heard people talking on the other line.

“Now she has,” the Queen replied. “Give me a moment. I know how the powers work.” With that, the call ended.

“Hey! Move your asses!” some girls shouted at me. I looked at the front to notice that Rachel had moved a couple of feet in front of me. I turned behind to face Emery. She was behind me, still as a statue, and holding up the line.

Crap. What to do, what to do…

I stretched my left hand behind and grasped onto Emery’s. I hoped whatever I planned would work. I closed my eyelids, channeling my power of telekinesis.

Slowly, I felt Emery’s form lift a bit high off the ground. I looked back to make sure she wasn’t too high. I released a sigh of relief, seeing that she was centimeters above the ground, unnoticeably floating like an inflated balloon. Holding her hand, I walked towards the front where Rachel was standing.

Come on, Emery! I can’t stay like those for a long time.

“Whoa!” I heard Emery shout as she lost her footing, collapsing on my back. As a reaction, I fell onto Rachel. Luckily, she stood still, but we both winced when we collided.

“Emery!” Rachel said as she turned to give my cousin a glare. Emery seemed confused at first. I nudged my elbow to her stomach. She winced, but it looked like she was sorry for causing the problem.

“Sorry,” she apologized. Rachel nodded before turning to face the front of the line.

“What happened?” I asked her.

“It was scary,” Emery said. “I just found myself wishing that I was anywhere but here, and I found myself in…” Emery trailed off, waiting for me to confirm that I knew what she was saying. I nodded. She couldn’t particularly say Crystalia because she was afraid of secret government agencies knowing about witches and hunting them.

“Then I spent some time talking with Erick’s mom before I came here. I don’t know how I will be able to control this power,” Emery said with an uncertain shake of her head.

“You’ll figure it out,” I said before directing my attention to my surroundings. The line was still long with people walking towards the front of the hotel.

“Why is this taking so long?” Rachel complained in front of me. I did not reply, not knowing what to say.

The minutes seemed to pass slowly as the line kept moving. I kept looking around my surroundings. I felt so bored, and the sun was merciless towards everyone in the line. It seemed like we were in a sauna, and the presence of people around me was not helping.

“Attention everyone!” one of the bodyguards announced. “The boys are taking a lunch break.” Everyone groaned, including Emery.

“They’ll be back in thirty minutes.”

That brought a problem. Everyone was hungry. If possible, they could go and take a few bites to eat then return. However, everyone was afraid of losing their spots on the line. Like stubborn ducks, we all remained.

“I want to go home,” Emery whined behind me, earning a look from Rachel.

“You can’t go!” she said. “We’re close to getting to them, Emery. It will take something like,” she paused to look at the people in front of her, “fifty people to make it to them.”

I facepalmed, starting to regret ever taking those damn tickets to the meet-and-greet. Why did I even attend this? I could have just asked them to sign my stuff when we were in Crystalia. 

Oh yes! I made the mistake of telling Rachel that I had them and she insisted on seeing them before they went back to Europe.

I mentally slapped myself.

I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned to face my cousin.

“Seeing that we’ll be here longer than expected, we should revisit the plans of going to Eva’s castle.”

My eyes widened, looking around if anyone else was heard what we were saying.

“Oh relax,” Emery told me. “They will think we’re talking about a game or something.”

“Why are we talking about it? Shouldn’t you be having this conversation with the Queen, Erick and the guards in Crystalia?”

She thought about it, and she shrugged.

“I don’t care. I’m bored, tired, hungry, and I’m starting to regret ever coming here. Why did I let you drag me to this?”

“Because you know I love you?” I saidd teasingly, leaning towards her dropping the subject.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Anyway, back to the topic. So I’ll walk out of the castle and head towards the mountains.”

“Or you could just fly,” I offered.

“I’ll be going with the guards.”

Oh. I forgot about that.

“We’ll head into the forest then we’ll go through a clearing in the mountains. We might rest there and continue towards Eva’s castle.”

“How about driving towards the mountains? It’s the 21st Century, not 456 AD.”

We continued with the conversation until the line resumed. 

Wow. Thirty minutes happened to have passed by quick.

“Guys, I have an idea,” Emery said. “We could ask the girl behind me to hold the line for us while we go eat.”

Rachel and I had thought about it, and after minutes of talking about it, we agreed.

Rule number one of standing in line while waiting for coveted things: never leave the line. Before the three of us went to eat, Rachel asked one of the girls to hold our spot. She agreed way too eagerly for my liking.

We returned an hour later. We planned to go to our position in the line, but the security guards around the area said “No cutting!” Rachel, Emery and I showed the guards the tickets we had and even explained that we had someone at the front holding our spot for us. They confirmed our tickets, but they didn't let us move to our positions in the line. That left us standing behind the line. We were at the very back, the last of the last.

Then Rachel complained and blamed Emery for what had happened.

“Excuse me?” Emery said with a glare. “If we hadn’t gone to eat, I could have died or something!”

Rachel and I remained silent, ignoring Emery for the next couple of hours.

***********************************************************************************************

Three hours later

“That’s it!” Emery said, turning to exit the line. I did not blame her. In fact, I wanted to join her. I didn’t even care that she made us stay behind the line. We had been standing for ages, and I wanted relief for my aching legs. 

“No!” Rachel countered, holding onto Emery’s arm. “First of all, I’m sorry we yelled at you.” I nodded with her. “We have ten people left, and then it’s us.”

“Rachel—"

“Shut up!” Rachel shouted, making Emery zip her mouth with her eyes widened.

“I have been standing here for a long time just to meet the Ordinary Brothers and possibly have them sign my stuff! We are almost there, Emery! We’ll be done soon. Just be patient.”

Emery gave Rachel and me the stink eye while thinking over the proposition. She sighed, giving in to Rachel’s demands.

The line kept moving until Rachel was in front of the Ordinary Brothers.

Finally!

If I hadn’t met them, I would have been ecstatic. It seemed like a dream come true, but I had already met them in Crystalia. 

At the moment, it appeared to be a waste of time. I could have spent the day watching movies or something!

The boys looked forward, not acknowledging Rachel, Emery and me. I thought that I had the worst day of my life. Seeing the boys’ state proved me otherwise.

They were tired. As in, too tired to even move a finger. Right then, I found myself admiring their dedication to their fans. They stayed a whole day just to meet them and to sign their things.

“Hello? Anyone there?” I asked as I waved my hands in front of the boys.

That had them snapping their attention towards Rachel. They showed her a smile, a perfect fake smile. Rachel smiled back, not seeing the tiredness in the boys’ eyes.

Rachel was smiling when everything seemed to stop.

“Guys, hi!” Emery said. The boys looked shocked to see that everything was frozen. They looked around before facing us.

“I know you are tired, but please make this meet-and-greet seem genuine to our friend.”

“I know, Emery. It’s just that we are all tired. We’ve been sitting here for most of the day, and we just had a thirty-minute break before we returned.” Zane said.

"It's true," Ethan added. "By the way, who knew that sitting could actually make people tired?"

“Also, do not forget the fans who tried to kiss us by force,” Logan grumbled under his tone. Emery and I blinked before falling into fits of laughter. The boys didn’t find it amusing.

“If you’re too tired, don’t worry. I have a spell that can act like cocaine,” I said.

"It better not get us hooked--" Liam went to speak, but I had already chanted the spell. Any remnants of tiredness were immediately wiped off their faces, and they looked energetic as ever.

“You have got to teach us that,” Liam said, earning acknowledging nods from the rest.

“I will, and like what Emery said, please make this meeting good for our friend,” I said before Emery unfroze time.

Rachel got her fantasy meet-and-greet. She got a couple of photos with the band, and she also got a kiss on the cheek from Harry. Emery and I had a hard time keeping her from fainting on the spot, and we both shot the curly-haired boy a bored look. In return, he just smirked.

The boys' meet-and-greet ended with us. We waved them bye as we went our own ways. 

“You know what I just realized?” Emery asked as we walked towards the castle’s entrance in Crystalia. I shook my head in a way of saying ‘no’.

“We could have frozen time and relaxed before we got back in line. We could have also teleported some food and ate while still in line.”

Emery’s realization had me gobsmacked.

“I also realized we could have used the spell we cast on the boys to give us energy for the day!”

Emery shared the same gobsmacked look I had.

Son of a bitch!

CHAPTER 14

Harry's P.O.V

"I am glad to be back home," I said as I walked towards the exit of the first class private plane. The boys and I had just finished our tour in the US. After that, we were to receive a three-month break where we could do whatever we wanted. All of us had one thing that we looked forward to: our families.

Yes, we kept in touch with them. We only spoke through the phones when we were busy with our tour, but it did not compare to being in the same room with them. I couldn't wait to go meet my mum and dad.

"Me too," Logan said, agreeing with my earlier statement. "Three months of doing nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. We have to deliver some songs to finish our album."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"You forgot or something, Harry?" Logan asked, giving me a confused look. "We have to come up with songs during this period. Didn't you hear what Simon said on the phone?"

My eyes went wide as the memory dawned on me. As the boys and I were boarding the plane, Simon called Liam. At that time, he couldn't reach for his phone because we were all busy struggling through a horde of crazy fans waving us goodbye. It was both crazy and adorable.

When we entered the plane, Liam called Simon back. Then we were told that we had to drop some songs in the break period. I couldn't be able to comprehend that because I was tired from the meet-and-greet. After that, I slept and woke up when we arrived in London. 

That explained the temporary memory loss I had when I woke up.

"So this won't be a break?" I asked, even though the answer seemed a bit obvious. I was still groggy from sleep, and my emotions were uncontrollable.

"No, it would be a break. Just with work and less involvement with our fans," Logan stated.

I huffed in annoyance before I went to move out of the plane with Logan. I was feeling sad about the news, but at least we could have day breaks in between.

When we were alighting, I noticed many people in the airport. Sure, there could be many people in the airport, but in this case, they weren't just any people.

They were our fans and the paparazzi.

They weren't that close. Just something like more than six meters far from us.

"Damn," I heard Ethan curse under his breath behind me. I nodded my head, saying with my body that I felt the same as he did. When we did, it made passing through them involving.

It looked like we would have a hard time moving away from our fans and the paparazzi.

"Well, at least Trevor is here," Ethan added. Our management required some of our bodyguards to be with us during the flight to London, and that thankfully included Trevor. He was the lead bodyguard, and he was a genius when it came to dealing with our fans.

The bodyguards that were with us on the plane were the first to alight. They were soon ushering us to hurry out of the plane to evade the curious crowd.

Ethan, Logan, Zane, Liam and I quickly alighted and moved to stay close to our bodyguards. When we were close to them, they formed a protective circle around us as we moved to leave the airport. On our way out, some reporters and our fans were trying to reach us.

Excited screams and shouts soon reached my ears.

"Who are you dating, Logan?"

"Is it true that you slept with Emma Watson, Harry?"

My eyes widened at the second question. Who came up with such a rumor? It wasn't true, that's for sure. But that didn't mean I would mind if the opportunity ever came.

I went to answer with that thought when Liam put a hand on my chest, preventing me from doing so.

"You need to remain quiet, Harry," he advised through the deafening noise around us. "If you give them something, they'll turn it around. That's what they all do." I thought of what he said and realized he was right.

He let go as walked through the horde of people. After some minutes, I could see the morning sky without the sight of ceilings above me, indicating that we were outside the airport building. Like vultures circling their prey, the paparazzi kept following us, asking us more ridiculous questions.

We came to a stop. I wondered why, but my mental question was answered by the presence of a limousine. Paul told us to get in with haste. He did not need to tell us twice.

A minute later, we were leaving the airport with, dare I say it, reporters running after us. They tried, but they failed.

The things people would do for gossip.

"So what's the plan, guys?" Liam asked us, trying to come up with light conversation. We all sat in the limousine with three of us facing the other two. I sat between Logan and Liam on one side of the limo.

"We'll visit each other. That's for sure," Zane replied as he moved his head towards Ethan's shoulder.

"Hey!" Ethan said in protest, but Zane wouldn't budge. Most of the people in the limo were exhausted from the meet-and-greet we did in New York. It was the first one we ever did. I was hoping it would take less time and that nothing crazy would happen, but apparently, I was wrong.

I love my fans. I do, but sometimes...

Flashback

"Hello!" I said with a grin as a girl came towards the desk. She was a brunette with long straight hair and a pale face. She had worn a yellow sleeveless shirt and a pair of cropped blue jeans that revealed too much of her legs. Apart from that, she had nothing that needed to be signed.

The other guys greeted her, but she ignored them. She was just staring at me.

"Hi, I'm Miranda," she said, finally looking towards the boys. However, her eyes came towards me in a second. She was still smiling.

"Hi, Miranda," I replied, feeling a bit cautious of her behavior.

"I'm a big fan of yours, Harry," she replied. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I was flattered, but I thought she was a big fan of our band. Why just me?

I was worried about her mental state. I hope she wasn't going to ask me to sign her tits like a couple of girls before her.

"What can I do you for?" I asked with a smile, even though I was worried in the back of my head. The girl grinned, and all hell broke loose.

I found myself vowing to never participate in any event that involved meeting my fans ever again. 

Ever! 

But how can I be so sure that what the girl did would not happen again? In fact, I guessed it was bound to happen to all of us. I just couldn't believe it happened to me first.

The memory that replayed in my mind still shocked me.

The girl kissed me!

Most guys would feel okay with the kiss. I didn't like it because of the way the girl initiated it.

She had jumped onto me and practically stabbed her lips onto mine. The girl, having been on the other side of the table, decided to jump onto me. The girl was fit, I had to give her that. The force of the jump was strong enough to send me and my chair to the ground. My head hit the gravel, causing pain to radiate throughout my head. I barely even feel the onslaught of the girl's lips on mine. It took a couple of seconds before the security team pried the girl off my form and took her out. All the while, she was smirking, seeing she accomplished something that no one ever did.

The head injury, apart from a much-needed lunch break, was another reason that enforced the thirty-minute break in the afternoon. I had not bled, thank heavens, but I got an inconspicuous bump on my head.

On the bright side, I realized that girls fancied me.

I returned my focus to my surroundings, staring at the view of the city through the tinted windows.

Emery's P.O.V

It was around ten in the morning. I had just gotten ready for the task ahead of me: the journey to Eva's castle. I stuffed two bags: one with food for two days and one with weapons and clothes. I even stuffed a couple of small arms in my shoes, just in case.

To be honest, I did not know what to expect. It was the first time that I was doing something related to going to war, but with a few people or so. It seemed like I was on a quest like the Lord of the Rings, but with no loss on the heroes' part.

I trotted around the castle, searching for the Queen. It seemed so unprofessional that she wasn't able to be found. In fact, where were the guards I was supposed to go to Eva's castle with?

It took me ten minutes to find her in the study room. That should have been my first guess. She was staring out of a window. When she heard footsteps, she turned and saw me.

"Good morning, Emery!" the Queen said with a smile. I gave her a confused expression. It seemed like she did not know what was planned for the day. She observed my form, and she looked suspicious.

"You aren't going to Eva's castle. Well, today, that is," the Queen went straight to the point, making me shocked. Her look of suspicion eased away with astonishment. I was surprised that she knew what I was thinking, but that went away the moment I understood her words.

"What?" I asked in bafflement.

"Your mother didn't tell you?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows. "We had a problem coming up with two volunteers yesterday. Apparently, most of the guards are afraid of even going to a place with the name 'Eva'."

Damn it!

"Why are they even working for you?" I asked, astonished by the irony. The Queen shrugged her shoulders. I dropped the bags I had on the floor. 

I couldn't believe I walked around with them for ten freaking minutes!

"Look on the bright side! You get an extra day break away from the responsibilities of a crystal. By the way, shouldn't you be planning for college?"

"I had," I said. "I've gone through registration forms, and I've dealt with the scholarships. Now I just have to wait until the end of the month before I leave."

There was silence in the room.

"You're growing up so fast, Emery," the Queen suddenly said.

The words she said quickly dawned on me. She was right. Selena and I had been talking about college, but the both of us never took time to fully comprehend what college meant to us. We were growing up, and soon, we would be out in the world. I felt a bit scared of what the future had in store for me.

"It seems like you were just a little girl yesterday. And now, you're all grown up," Elizabeth said as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Don't cry, Aunty. If you cry then I'll cry," I said with my vision blurring. I rarely referred to the Queen as my aunt even though we were not related. In a way, she was my mother's sister. She usually insisted I call her the Queen or Elizabeth because she didn't want to feel like she was getting old.

Even though she apparently was.

She sniffed as she tried to control her tears. I brought my hands to my eyes to wipe the tears that threatened to come out.

"Okay," she said before extending her arms. I ran towards her and hugged her. She hugged me back before releasing herself from me.

"Wow! That was quite emotional for a morning talk," she said as she wiped the tears that had left her eyes. "Well, I have some duties to attend to. Enjoy the day, Emery," she said before turning to leave. I went towards the opposite direction to my room after grabbing the bags I dropped on the floor.

Once I was in it, I placed the luggage on the bed. I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair, walking back and forth in the room.

I had nothing to do. The plans for going to Eva's castle were already done. I could go practice my fighting skills, but that seemed boring and tiring. It was important to save my strength when I would face the erwiches and the dreaded erboons.

I looked towards the window and faced the mountains. They made our surroundings look more beautiful with their tops covered in snow. However, what worried me was behind the raised rocky grounds.

Then an idea popped into my head. I could fly past the mountains and to Eva's castle to see what it had. Despite the possibility of being seen, captured, or worse, killed, it was important to know what I was up against.

I stared at the window and noticed that I couldn't even fit through it. Then I remembered the balconies. They were located on the top floor of every tower. Some were used by the guards, especially those of the front, while others were used by people in the castle and Crystalia.

I exited the room and rushed through the hallways, looking for a route to the castle top. The bad thing about the structure of the building was that it was easy for anyone to get lost. One had to get used to it in order to have the rooms mapped in their mind.

I soon found myself on the open upper floor of the castle. There were no guards around, which made me wonder what they were doing. That thought quickly went away when I turned towards the view of the mountains. 

I backed away a few feet, silently breathing. It was important for me to be in control before I unleashed my levitation powers. In an instant, I was running towards the balcony.

"Emery, no!" someone shouted mid-run. It took me off guard as I ran towards the edge of the bricked banister. Fear gripped my heart as the possibility of falling to my death appeared to my conscience. Before I could jump, someone's arms wrapped around my form. Then the person started backing off with me caged in their hold.

Once we were away from the balcony, the person let me go. I turned to face them, only to be surprised.

"Ethan?" I asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

He was currently staring at me with a concerned look, and he was not alone. Behind him were his bandmates. They too had similar expressions like Ethan but with looks of anger.

"What were you doing?" Zane asked as he approached me with an angry look. I went to say something, but he cut me off.

"I can't believe you were going to jump! What is it that will make you—" he blew up in front of me, making me lean a bit back from him.

"Zane?" Liam asked with a calm expression, cutting the angry bandmate off.

"Yes?"

"Let me handle this."

Zane had maintained his look of fury before Liam came to me. Once he was close, he gave me a worried expression.

"Hello, Emery. Is there something wrong?" he asked.

I was confused ever since Ethan saved me from my possible death. The events that were following were not helping the situation.

"What?" I asked. Liam sighed.

"Look. I'm sorry about what we did to you in the past. Maybe it's our presence that still reminds you about our former selves. We are changed, Emery. We plan to prove it to you. What we did shouldn't make you want to throw your life away," he said, leaving me more confused than ever.

Then I replayed the events in my head.

I tried to jump off the balcony and fly. Ethan stopped me, Zane got in my face, and now Liam is speaking about the past and advising me not to throw my life away because of it.

Then it instantly clicked. I was left speechless. That was until what was happening fully reached my brain. I was furious.

"Excuse me?" I asked with an edge to my voice. Liam's eyes widened with an unexpectant look on his face.

"It's okay, Emery. Know that we want to help in any way we can," Liam continued, adding fuel to my fury.

I went to speak, but an idea came to my mind. With a roll of my eyes, I levitated off the ground.

The guys looked at me with a mixture of amazement and shock.

"You can fly?" Harry asked. I rolled my eyes again and I landed on the floor.

"Yes, I can fly," I said. Then my eyebrows furrowed.

"You didn't know?"

"No," Logan replied. I gave him a look of disbelief.

"I was at your last concert! I was literally in the air fighting with an erboon, above your concert."

Logan had blinked before his mouth formed an 'o' shape. He turned to look somewhere else, probably feeling how the conversation turned awkward.

"So you weren't going to kill yourself?" Zane asked with a look of unease.

I narrowed my eyelids before I moved my head in acceptance of his words.

"I mean, seriously Liam?" I asked as I turned to the bandmate. "Even if I were going to commit suicide, it wouldn't be because of the past we shared."

"Emery, we're—" Logan said, but I cut him off.

"Yeah, save it," I said as I stomped around them, looking for the route I used to reach the top floor. I was so mad at them, I couldn't even remember why I planned to fly.

Then I stopped in the middle of another hallway. Was I being irrational?

No, Emery. You have the right to be angry. I mean, suicide?

I was still seething over what had happened. I needed to focus on something else. Maybe reading a book would help.

Selena's P.O.V

I was walking through one of the hallways in the castle. I had just come from my bedroom where I talked to Justin through the phone. We were catching up with our lives. He was on tour in the US, and I was in Crystalia, preparing to go to college.

I wasn't sure of what I wanted. I agreed to go to Harvard because I was sure of what I wanted to pursue career-wise, but I had been thinking about it and went against it.

I was screwed, wasn't I? I mean, what kind of person waits about four months after making a decision on courses while in high school then decides to change them three weeks before joining said college?

However, I told myself to try the course I chose. Maybe I would end up liking it. Medicine can't be hard, can it?

I momentarily forgot where I was going when I spotted Emery walking towards the opposite direction. She seemed unapproachable.

"Hi, Em--" I cut myself off once I saw her expression. She was angry, and she passed me by without even a 'hi!' 

Strange, I thought.

I continued walking, only to come across the members of the Ordinary Brothers. They all looked like they were in a marathon. 

Sometimes the castle did that to people.

"Hey, guys!" I greeted them with a smile.

"Hey, Selena! Have you seen Emery?" Liam asked with a look of unease. My eyes jumped across all of them, and I noticed they were avoiding my gaze.

"What did you do?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

He relayed to me what happened about a minute ago.

"WHAT?" I exploded, making the boys flinch.

"We're sorry. We didn't notice that she could fly," Ethan apologized.

"Guys, do you remember your first erwich incident you encountered? In the Starbucks café in New York?" they nodded their heads.

"When she flew towards one of the erwiches..." I trailed off, waiting for them to catch what I was saying. When it dawned on them, they felt displeased with themselves.

"So, not only have you managed to forget she is a crystal, but you also managed to piss her off as well?" I asked with a sarcastic smile.

"We wanted to apologize," Liam said, making me squint my eyebrows.

"Seriously? If there is one thing I had learned when I was around Emery, it's that you should not be quick to make assumptions. Small ones don't matter, but this is a big one. Why would you tell her that she wanted to commit suicide because of you?"

"We wanted to help her face her problems," Ethan said. I sighed.

"I swear most of what you talk about with her includes your past and apologies," I muttered to myself.

"Next time, do not assume. Ask her first. Always ask her first. In the mean time, give her time to cool down. She might come around. Just don't go after her now. You'll regret it. Trust me, Justin did," I advised them.

The boys gave me a look of confusion.

"You do not want to know."

They nodded their heads with uncertainty on accepting what I just said.

"So, what are you doing in Crystalia?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"Well, we came up with a new song. We wanted Emery and you to hear it."

"You did?" I said, feeling giddy. Then that was replaced by guilt. There I was, immediately planning to go listen to their new song when Emery was mad at them. But then, she was angry with them. That didn't mean I should have been angry with her famous ex-bullies, right?

"Okay," I agreed without a second thought.

Four minutes later, we had teleported to a building Justin had shown me. He always went there to come up with songs and to play those he liked.

"We have the instrumental version of the song ready," Logan informed me. "Do you have a speaker to plug this in?" he asked, motioning to his phone. I nodded, directing him to the devices he required.

"Okay, you ready for this?" Liam asked. I nodded my head, excited that I would be the first person to hear their song. Or among the first people. Eh, who cares? I was among the first!

Logan pressed play on his phone. The background music began to play. Then the boys began to sing the lyrics of their new song.

♫

[Liam:]
I've tried playing it cool
But when I'm looking at you
I can't ever be brave
'Cause you make my heart race

[Harry:]
Shot me out of the sky
You're my kryptonite
You keep making me weak
Yeah, frozen and can't breathe

[Zane:]
Something's gotta give now
'Cause I'm dying just to make you see
That I need you here with me now
'Cause you've got that one thing

[Chorus:]
So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
And you've got that one thing

[Ethan:]
Now I'm climbing the walls
But you don't notice at all
That I'm going out of my mind
All day and all night

[Logan:]
Something's gotta give now
'Cause I'm dying just to know your name
And I need you here with me now
'Cause you've got that one thing

[Chorus:]
So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing

So get out, get out, get out of my mind
And come on, come into my life
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
And you've got that one thing

Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh
Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh
Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh

[Harry:]
You've got that one thing

[Liam:]
Get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead

[Chorus:]
So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing

So get out, get out, get out of my mind
And come on, come into my life
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
Yeah, you've got that one thing

♫

"Wow, guys! That was great," I commented as I applauded. The boys gave me happy grins as they bowed their heads.

"Really? It wasn't that bad?" Harry asked.

"No, trust me. It was great!"

CHAPTER 15

Emery’s P.O.V

Time passed, and it was afternoon. I was still mad at the guys for thinking I would commit suicide just because they thought I was still hung up on what they did to me. After we argued, I went to my room and locked myself there, consumed with anger for a total of two hours.

I had taken a peek through my window to admire the scenery of the mountains. However, I was shocked a few minutes later by what I soon witnessed. I spotted Selena with the boys, talking and laughing as they strolled around the castle garden.

When would they even leave? It seemed like the boys were getting fond of being around the castle. That meant I had to see them more often than usual, and I didn't like it one bit. 

I was soon on my laptop, browsing online for any news relating to the Ordinary Brothers. Apparently, they were supposed to be on a break from the tour they did in the United States. If they were on a break from work, then why were they even in Crystalia? 

I mean, after all the crap they had witnessed, I expected them to stay away from Crystalia.

I swear it seemed I could never get away from them.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Emery?” called out Justin. I heard the sounds of a door knob being moved. When he realized he couldn’t get in, he knocked again.

“Why is it locked?” he asked.

I sighed, getting up from my bed and heading towards the door. Once I opened it, I got a confused look from him.

The pop star had currently worn a navy blue shirt with white buttons and a pair of black khaki trousers. I squinted my eyebrows at him, seeing that it was not the kind of attire he usually wore.

“Hi, Justin,” I greeted him as I checked his outfit. “What is, this?” I asked, motioning a hand over his form, but not actually touching him. Justin rolled his eyes at me.

“My mother called every witch in the kingdom to make the announcement,” he said. I narrowed my eyebrows at him.

Why do people always assume I know what they are talking about?

“What announcement?” I asked.

“The one about you going to Eva’s castle. Also, they found some guards who volunteered to go with you.”

My face contorted into a look of surprise. It seemed like hours since I talked to the Queen about volunteers joining me in my search for the erboon incident perpetrator. I wondered what brought out volunteers that quickly.

“For a moment there, I thought I was going alone,” I stated. Justin gave me a small smile.

“My mother wouldn’t allow that to happen. Now come on. The announcement is about to begin,” he said while exiting the room. I walked out and closed the door behind me before following him.

Once we were in the conference room, I noticed many people scattered around the large area. They were talking amongst themselves while others just looked around, waiting for the Queen to get on with it. I went to walk towards the crowd only for Justin to stop me by grasping my arm.

“No, Emery,” he said. “You’ll be with the Queen for this announcement.” We walked towards a set of stairs, stopping on the indoor balcony where we were a floor above the many witches situated in the room.

Everyone suddenly hushed. They went silent, expecting something. Then I got nervous.

What if it was me who was to make the announcement?

Every witch was quiet. For a moment, they gave each other looks of confusion. Even I did not know what was going on. Then a thought led me to believe that I was meant to speak. I opened my mouth, ready to speak when—

“Good afternoon, fellow witches,” the Queen greeted in a loud voice as she walked towards Justin and me. The breath I did not know I was holding was released, bringing relief to my whole body. My cheeks blushed as I realized I almost made myself an object of embarrassment.

“…and I’m glad to report we haven’t had any attacks from erwiches in the past week. Emery, was there something you wanted to say?” the Queen asked, forcing my focus back to my surroundings. For a second, I was quiet as I tried to process her words.

My eyes widened in unexpectedness as I shook my head in denial. 

“Okay,” the Queen said. “Now, let me explain the main reason for calling this meeting. You all know the erboon attacks we had here and the one in the US. Most of you, I’m sure, are concerned about what this all meant. To answer your question, we don’t know.”

Everyone knew what the Queen had said, and many people huffed. 

“We have planned for our crystal, Emery, to go deal with the problem. A couple of our guards will join her. Today, they will make preparations for the journey ahead of them. So I would like us all to wish them safety and luck with dealing with the problem,” the Queen said.

“What?” someone asked in the room. There was a short moment of silence as people looked around for the individual who asked the question. They spotted no one.

“Anyway,” the Queen continued, “let’s wish for our crystal and those who will be going with her a safe journey and applaud them for taking on this task.”

People did what the Queen requested, some even whistling with smiles. My cheeks turned crimson red from the attention I was getting. They were happy for me.

Although, a part of me believed they were applauding for another reason. They were glad they weren’t involved in the mission.

Soon, everyone dispersed from the room. Erick soon approached the Queen, Justin and me. 

“Wow. Everyone adores your bravery, Emery,” Erick said while hugging me.

“Huh. Are you sure?” I asked as we retracted from the hug. “Maybe it’s because they’re glad they won’t be dealing with any erwich or erboon.”

Erick laughed at my statement. I narrowed my eyes at him, making him try to cover his laugh with a fake cough.

“Please tell me I heard something that was not true,” Zane said as he approached me with his friends. They had looks of confusion etched on their faces.

Oh no. They were still around?

“Do you have any plans for tonight, Erick?” I asked the Queen’s son, purposefully ignoring the boyband behind me. I was still mad at the comment they had made earlier in the morning.

“We’re sorry, Emery,” I heard Logan say, but I continued ignoring him and his friends. Erick squinted his eyebrows as he faced me.

“What’s going on? What did they do?”

“We did nothing wrong,” Liam lied, apparently trying to avoid bringing up the subject. I was confused for a moment. I turned to face them. They kept straight faces, but beneath the looks, I could sense fear.

A smirk formed on my face as I turned back to Erick.

“I was about to fly today…”

“Emery—“ Ethan started, but I cut him off.

“The blonde thought I was going to kill myself when I jumped off the roof.”

“I’m confused,” Erick said. “Why would you want to kill yourself? Why do they think you would want to kill yourself? Also, why are you mad at them? They are new to the concept of magic, so there is no reason to get angry.”

“New shmew,” I countered. “They were here for more than three weeks, and it's not even about that. I'm angry for a completely different reason.”

“We thought she was going to kill herself because of what we did to her in high school,” Logan answered for me. I heard patronizing mumblings given to him.

“What? He was going to find out anyway,” he continued.

“I could hardly understand why they thought you wanted to end your life so abruptly. I mean, you went through therapy and cut yourself, but—“

“Erick!” I chastised him, but it was too late. The cat was out of the bag. His eyes went wide as he realized what he had done. My eyes narrowed into slits as I glared at Erick. In return, he cringed.

I never told the boys about my self-harming. It was embarrassing since I let myself sink so low because of my ex-bullies. I did not want them to know about it because it felt like I was giving them power over me.

Also, they were trying to make up for what they had done to me by being around more. I was afraid that after they found out about my awful habit, they would try to be around me more than they currently were. And I did not like that at all.

“You cut yourself?” Harry shrieked in a loud voice, earning the attention of witches who were leaving the castle.

Kill. Me. Now.

I shushed him as I turned to face him.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

I gave him a look of disbelief.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Would you have liked it when I came to you and said ‘Hi! You ruined my teenage years. Did you know that as a result, I started cutting myself and having suicidal thoughts?’ ”

I wanted to dig myself into the earth the moment I said the last sentence.

“Suicidal thoughts?” Harry shrieked again. I rolled my eyes before I looked down at the floor.

Why? Just why?

“The last part wasn’t true by the way.”

“Are you sure?” Liam asked with a raised eyebrow. “Because cutting yourself is a sign of self-hate, and it always associates itself with suicidal thoughts.”

“Shut up, Liam!” I screamed at him, making him zip his lips. I hated that he was right about that. “You don’t get to be so smug about this, especially when you are one of the people who brought that onto me.”

“I wasn’t acting smug about it—“ he said with a hurt tone before I cut him off again.

“Yes. I cut myself and had suicidal thoughts. There. Are you happy?”

I said, turning abruptly to leave the room. A hand grasped my wrist, stopping me from making any more movements. Then I felt arms wrap around my form.

“Let go of me!” I had shouted before the person turned me to have my head placed on their chest. For a moment, I thought it was Erick.

“Ssh. Don’t cry,” Zane said while petting my hair. I froze for a moment with my eyes wide in shock.

“I am not crying,” I said through his shirt, but it sounded muffled. I accidentally sniffed on him, momentarily turning my attention away from what we were talking about.

What is that smell? It’s so addictive.

I came to realize that I was sniffing on his shirt for some time. I worried, thinking that he knew what I did.

“There, there. Let it all out,” Zane said, making me feel confused. Maybe the sniffing on his shirt meant that I was crying on his shoulder.

I allowed myself to retract from the hug. Zane stared at me with his brown orbs, momentarily capturing my attention.

Snap out of it, Emery!

“Look, Emery. We don’t know how it feels like going through what we put you through. We accept that we were major assholes to you, maybe even the biggest on earth. If I could, I would have gone to the past and stop our past selves from ever inflicting harm on you. Emery, all we know to do is to keep apologizing for the shit we did. We also know that our apologies will not make up for what we did. I just want to ask you to please have faith in us. The guys and I are not who we were in high school. At least get to know the current us: the real us.”

I stood there momentarily dazed by his words. I found myself slowly nodding my head in agreement. Zane gave me a lot to think about. Also, I just wanted the progression of an awkward moment after awkward moment to end. 

It was so not my afternoon.

“Okay,” I replied, earning a small smile from him.

Erick, my ex-bullies and I stared at each other awkwardly.

Liam cleared his throat before saying "So... um, we have a meeting with our manager in a few minutes. Do you mind--"

"It's okay, Liam," I cut him off. "You can leave."

"Bye, Emery," he and his friends said before quickly teleporting from the room.

“I can’t believe you didn’t do anything. Some kind of friend you are,” I complained to Erick as I made my way towards my room. Erick sighed, quickly walking to catch up with me.

“I’m sorry, Emery,” Erick apologized. “I didn’t know I was supposed to yell at them when they were apologizing to you.”

Oh, no. Just like Selena, I was losing him to the boys. They had some charm around them. What was it? Their ‘changed’ personalities, their music or their British accents?

Was Erick becoming gay?

My eyes widened for a moment, worried that the prince had heard my thoughts. He did not do anything, and he showed no sign that he heard what I thought. I relaxed under his gaze, earning a questioning look from him.

“Have you been listening to their music?” I asked. Just like that, the curious look disappeared.

“Yes,” he replied before squinting his eyebrows. “I love it. Why?”

“No reason,” I replied with a shrug, even though my thoughts were the exact opposite. 

I was definitely losing him to the boys.

“Emery, I want to go with you,” he said suddenly, making me wonder what he was talking about. I had no plans of going anywhere except to Eva’s castle. 

My mind instantly clicked on what he meant. Then I shook my head in disapproval.

“No, Erick. The quest is dangerous enough as it is.”

“That’s why I have to go with you,” he persisted. “Also, I’m the future ruler of the city. It wouldn’t help if I looked fearful. If I did this with you, the witches would feel safe with me as their next king.”

I rolled my eyes at his ridiculous notion.

“No one thinks of you as a coward. See, in things related to fiction and also history, the ruler always sends spies or assassins to deal with the problem. The king is always involved in a war,” I countered, emphasizing on the war. “Besides, I wouldn’t want your mother to worry.”

The Queen, just like my mom, was a worrier. It had something to do with Erick’s first encounter with an erwich. He was ten at that time, and the evil erwiches were targeting him and Justin. They wanted the city vulnerable and without a new ruler. Luckily, the both of them survived the attacks and taught the erwiches not to mess with them. However, that did not ease their mother’s worry.

“What are you saying, Emery?” he asked as we turned to enter my room. “She is already worried about your safety.”

“She is, but I wouldn’t want to make her worry more about yours,” I tried to reason with him.

“Even though you’re right, I want to go.”

“Erick—"

“No, Emery,” he interrupted me. “I will go whether you like it or not.”

“Go where?” my mother asked as she entered the room. She was still in her work attire with her red-orange dress reaching past her knees. Her face looked tired, and her hair was a mess.

“I want to join her in finding whoever brought the erboons to Crystalia,” Erick announced to my mother. She remained quiet as she thought about it.

“Okay,” my mother said, much to my shock.

“What?”

“Emery, you should know that he is the Queen’s son. He’ll be the future ruler of this kingdom in a few years’ time. He is also an adult, and you must respect his decision.”

I grumbled under my breath as the Prince smirked at me in victory. I rolled my eyes at him.

“I’m coming, too,” my mother added. “I’ll just ask for a three-day leave, and we can be done with this.” My eyes went wide as fear gripped my heart.

“No, mother. No, no, no. It’s bad enough I’ll have to look after him,” I said, motioning a finger at Erick who frowned in reply. “I don’t want to worry about you too.”

“I am an adult, Emery. And I’m your mother. I’m going with you, and you cannot change my mind.”

“But—“ I went to protest, but she cut me off.

“I love you, Emery. I worry about you all the time. I worry about your safety, especially now that you are a crystal. I want to be there to protect you.”

“You do know that I can protect myself, don’t you? Besides, I’m a crystal! I am more powerful than, no offense, you and the erwiches.”

“It is that kind of mentality that may lead you to your doom. You’re a crystal, but that does not mean you cannot be killed,” my mother stated. “You’ll need people to watch your back. I’m going with you, Emery.”

With that, she left the room, leaving no room for any further discussion.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“Your mother decided to go with you and me to Eva’s castle,” Erick replied. I went to speak, ready for another conversation against him joining me on the journey to Eva’s castle.

“No, Emery. It has already been decided,” he said with a raise of a hand, interrupting me from saying what I wanted to say.

“I want to join too,” a voice with a British accent sounded through the room. We all turned to face the source, only to realize that it was Ethan and Liam, with Ethan being the one who spoke.

“No. You are not going with us,” I announced, making the two frown.

"By the way, didn't you say you had a meeting with your manager?" I asked Liam, and he soon looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“This should be interesting,” Erick said as he moved from the door to let the two enter. I eyed him with a bored look. He just shrugged with nonchalance.

“The manager will be arriving a few hours late. Anyway, why don't you want us to join you on your quest?” Liam asked.

“It’s dangerous, that’s why!” I stated with a tone that meant to say my answer was obvious.

“Danger is my middle name,” Ethan joked, but I did not laugh.

“Guys, it’s nice that you want to help, but this is not a Disney movie where the good guys enjoy an adventure and face a villain who, most of the times, is humorous. This is real life. You do know that where we’re going is infested with erboons and erwiches, right?”

“Yes. We still want to help,” Ethan answered.

“You may also die and never return,” I countered.

“We’re still going,” Liam persisted.

Why was everyone so stubborn?

“Alright, fine! But you all need to be here by 5:50 in the morning. We’ll be leaving at six, okay?” I said. They nodded with smiles before leaving the room.

“If it helps, I could aid in looking after the two,” Erick suggested with a sideways smile. I rolled my eyes at him with a smile.

“Let’s go eat. I’m hungry, and I might get a headache from dealing with anyone else who will say they want to join us in our journey,” Erick chuckled as we both exited the room.

CHAPTER 16

Emery's P.O.V

 

Dream

There was nothing but darkness in front of me. It lasted for a while, and then suddenly, the scene changed. I found myself facing the castle entrance in Crystalia. The day seemed to be calm, and the sky was a weird mixture of day and night. There was no one around. I was met by an eery silence that did nothing to calm my nerves.

"Emery," a voice whispered. It was loud, and it seemed to come from every corner. I turned around, looking for whoever called me.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously.

A figure began to form as golden stardust collected itself, revealing a woman. It was the same woman who interrupted the teleporting process when Selena and I brought the Ordinary Brothers to Crystalia.

"Do you remember me?" she asked with the same voice that echoed all around. I nodded my head.

"Penelope?" she nodded in confirmation. She levitated from the ground as she approached me. My eyes widened, afraid of what she was going to do.

"No need to be scared. I am a regular witch, and I have been sent here to inform you about something."

"I'm sorry," I began, "but I don't trust you. I also don't know much about you."

"I understand. To answer your statement, I was born around the same time that Eva was born. We were cousins," she said, completely blowing my mind. 

Eva had relatives?

"What happened to you?"

"She stabbed me in the back. That's what happened," she said with an angry expression.

"Anyway, let's not dwell on the woes of the past. Today is a big day for you and the rest of the witches," she said, making me frown as I tried to understand what she said. I soon recalled I was to go with some witches to Eva's castle.

Penelope looked sad at first, but she shook her head to dismiss the emotion. 

I wondered what that was about.

"I need you to listen to me. Now that you're a crystal, your life will be in danger from this point," she said.

I already knew that. It did not seem like news to me at all.

"Wait. What do you mean 'from this point'?"

"Your future will have tests and difficulties ahead, but please trust me. Things will be better afterward."

Then just like that, she disappeared.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you talking about? What mess? What do you mean by my life will get harder?"

I was met by silence just as darkness encroached from all corners of the land.

"Penelope!"

I gasped as I rose up into a sitting position on my bed. The alarm clock next to my bed decided a second later to ring with its annoying beep. The memory of the dream replayed in my mind with some of it slowly disintegrating. 

I hated it when that happened. 

I snoozed the alarm off then observed the time, finding out that it was five in the morning. I took a look outside, and I noticed that the sun had not yet risen up. The stars were slowly losing their intensity as the day sky started to make its appearance. There were clouds, but at the time, they appeared gray.

I started getting ready for the day. On the previous night, the ones who would go to the erwich lair with me were told to be ready by six in the morning. That was the time that we were set to leave Crystalia. Apart from the fear of being defeated by the erwiches, there was the curiosity of what lay behind the mountains. 

Okay, people knew what was behind the mountains. They just forgot what it looked like.

While in the shower, my mind drifted back to the dream I had. Who was Penelope and what was she doing in my dreams? More importantly, what was her background? Who else apart from Eva was related to her, and why wasn't she ever mentioned in the history books?

I got out of the shower, drying myself while looking for clothes to wear. Digging for information on Penelope would have to wait. I had about forty minutes to get ready, and I needed to focus on that as my priority.

Thirty minutes later, I was dressed and ready to leave. I was glad that I was done ten minutes before we left. During that time, I didn't even bother to brush my hair and to apply makeup. I was going to deal with erwiches and erboons, not on some formal party.

I rushed past my bedroom, entered the hallway and went into one of the dining rooms in the castle. Some of the people I knew were already seated. Three seats were left vacant, and one person decided to join us. It was Selena. 

I did not recall arguing with her not to go with the rest of us. I wanted to complain to her about going with us to Eva's castle, but then I realized I would have to go through a back-and-forth conversation that would lead to her winning. So I kept quiet.

Selena, Erick, my mother, the Queen and two guards stared at me before continuing with whatever conversation they were having as they dug in their meals. 

"When did you all wake up?" I asked in disbelief. I expected to be the earliest one, but apparently, I wasn't.

"Good morning to you too, Emery," the Queen said, ignoring my question at first. "Most of us woke up at four."

I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment. There they were: the Queen, the Prince and some of the castle guards. They were all there, having woken up an hour earlier whereas I, the crystal, woke up after them. I wanted to slap myself on the face.

"Why are you standing there, Emery? Join us for breakfast," Erick said with a mouthful of pancakes. I frowned with my lower teeth exposed, disgusted at the action.

Then I smiled at everyone before moving towards one of the empty seats. Once I sat down, a butler came towards my direction with a covered tray. He placed it on the table and uncovered it. I was hit by the wonderful aroma of pancakes.

"You need to eat, Emery. We have miles to walk to reach Eva's castle," Erick said in the middle of his breakfast. My face contorted into a look of confusion.

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" he asked. "There's a possibility that erboons are patrolling around the mountains. Part of our journey will involve going by foot, especially before we reach the exterior of the rocky surfaces. They may be able to smell our magic if we use it."

I wanted to groan. I did not sign up for an additional unwanted foot trip to Eva's castle. But what can one do when they're a crystal? Responsibility apparently comes before luxury.

Dragging my attention from the information I was given, I poured chocolate syrup and sprayed whipped cream over my pancakes, getting ready to devour the meal.

Everyone was quiet for the moment as they ingested the food served on the table. My eyes traveled around every face in the dining room. I couldn't help but notice that some faces were missing. There were two empty chairs around the table. Who were they reserved for?

"Hey guys," Liam said as he and Ethan entered the room. At first, I was confused by their presence. Then my eyes widened in comprehension as the memories of the previous day replayed in my mind. 

At the time, both Ethan and Liam wore black jackets. While Liam had a lime-green undershirt, Ethan had worn a blue one. They had also worn a dark blue pair of jeans and a black pair of jeans respectively.

"Your Majesties," Liam said as he bowed, making Ethan feel clueless. Then Ethan shot up and copied his friend as they both bowed before standing to face us.

"Ethan, Liam! How good it is that you decided to join Emery on her first mission. Come, sit. Eat with us," the Queen beckoned the two, leaving me shocked.

I couldn't believe I allowed them to join the rest of us.

"Oh come now, Emery. It doesn't hurt to be hospitable once in a while," the Queen stated, leaving me gobsmacked. I forgot she could read my feelings and my mind.

"It's okay, your Majesty. We ate before coming here."

Damn it! Even they got up earlier before me. But then, they are boys. They could have gotten up like I did and rushed with their morning routines before eating.

Once the rest and I were done with breakfast, apart from the two members of the Ordinary Brothers, some of us went to get our bags. I got into my room and took mine before going back downstairs and heading outside the castle.

Once I was outside the building, I looked upwards towards the sky. It seemed to have brightened. Then I looked down at my wrist watch. It read 6:10, which meant we had to hurry if we wanted to be done with what we planned.

"Emery!" Erick called out to me. I turned to face him, seeing that he was with the others. Selena was talking to Liam and Ethan while the two guards joining us conversed amongst themselves.

"What do you think about all this?" he asked, motioning his hands over the people who were coming with us.

"This seems like an alternative version of an African safari," I commented, making him laugh.

"No, seriously. While we will be guaranteed safety in the former, this one looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Not only will I have to worry about my safety, but I would also have to worry about yours, Selena's, my mom's, and unexpectedly, the boys'."

"What about the guards?" he asked. I shrugged with nonchalance, making him laugh again.

"They are guards. They are trained in the field of weaponry and protection."

"And you think the rest of us aren't?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I can agree if you mention Liam and Ethan, but the rest of us? You should not have to worry about us. We are all witches, and we have our powers. Okay?"

I pondered over his point in my mind. Even if he was a witch, he should have known that he was not immortal. Anything could happen to him. However, I didn't want to argue in the morning and jinx things up. So I nodded.

"Good."

The Queen walked towards us with a couple of her servants. Her expression was serious, and it did not help the nerves I had about the journey.

"Hello, fellow Crystalians. You all have witnessed the erboons' peculiar behavior, and you know what you have agreed to do. We do not know what you will see in the journey before you. I just want you to be careful. Keep an eye on your surroundings and on everyone around you," she told us, the rest of us nodding in acceptance.

My mother made her appearance as she approached.

"Mom!" I greeted her. We smiled as we hugged in greeting.

"Are you sure you want to come along?" I asked her once we retracted the hug. She smiled at me.

"Don't worry about me, Emery. What you should worry about is the task ahead of us."

"Mom—"

"I'll be okay. Don't worry," she cut me off before going to the Queen.

"We'll be going by carpet," one of the guards announced. My eyebrows furrowed.

"But wouldn't that make us noticed?" I inquired.

"It will if we are very near the mountains. We'll stop a mile away from them."

One of the servants that came with the Queen teleported two carpets to us. They landed on the ground, and I noticed they were both lime-green. They even resembled grass.

What were they going to do? It's not like they could fly like in the movie Aladdin.

Then, within a second, they levitated a few feet off the ground. 

"I have to ask," Liam said. "Why carpets?"

"They are fast and they can take us to the mountains without us wasting our energy to the walk there. Besides, we may be able to use them again once we reach the other side of the raised rocky grounds," the other guard stated.

"Not a bad idea," Ethan commented. "But how do we drive these things?"

One minute later, we were all aboard on the carpets. The guards were the ones who knew how to operate the damn things, and so they sat at the front.

I sat with the boys while Erick sat with my mother and Selena.

"Are you all ready?" the Queen asked. "Okay. You all have to be invisible. You will only be able to see each other and your things, that's for sure," the Queen said as she threw stardust over every one of us. "The effects will wear off once you reach the mountains. We wouldn't want the erboons to spot you."

Everyone adjusted their luggage on the carpet. Unexpectedly, the carpets rose another foot off the ground.

"Alright. Have a safe journey, and good luck in the task ahead all of you," the Queen said. 

In an instant, the carpet rose high in the air with Erick's mother staring at us. Then the carpet moved towards our destination.

 

Ethan's P.O.V

Liam and I had told the rest of our bandmates that we wanted to join Emery in her adventure to Eva's castle. Recalling the events that led us to discover Crystalia, they decided against it. They had plans to visit their families. So that left Liam and me among the other six people who were going with Emery.

The carpets were moving at a quick pace. I felt like I was in a car but without the actual car body. I could have enjoyed the scenery around us if I was not clinging onto the guard flying the magic carpet for dear life like a parasitic host. I was afraid of falling because there were no handles on the enchanted object.

"Ethan," Emery tried to calm me down. "You won't fall. Now, be a good person and let go of the guard."

I did not listen at first. I unlatched my hands from the man's torso and slowly retracted them. The carpet suddenly lowered, making me hold onto the person again.

"Relax, Ethan," Liam joined Emery in trying to calm me down. "We aren't that high up. We are all safe," with that, I began to slowly retract my hold from the guard. We seemed to have gone a bit high again when I held onto the driver again.

"To be honest, I would think that you were gay," Emery said, making me sputter in shock. That comment was enough to have me let go of the guard.

"Don't stop on my watch. I get it. You fancy Brian," Emery said, fueling my embarrassment. I heard the guard driving the carpet rumble with laughter, making me blush.

"I am not gay!" I responded.

"How are you holding up there?" Prince Erick shouted, directing our attention to him. He was on the other carpet that was beside us.

"We're fine!" Emery shouted back.

"Hey, weren't you supposed to be quiet on this trip?" I asked Emery.

"Oh, please," she stated with a roll of her eyes. "We are far from the mountains. I doubt the erboons can hear us from here."

Other conversations started before they ended minutes later. I turned my attention to the ground below. It turned out that Emery was right. We weren't that far high. In fact, we were low enough to touch the tall grass below us.

The grass species below us were of a different variety. They were shades of green and yellow. My hands reached out, caressing the tops of the grass-field as my eyes moved around my surroundings. 

We were far from Crystalia. The only thing that met my view was the presence of scattered trees and grass all around. My eyes turned to face the sky.

The sun had already risen up. The starry day sky was clear with a few scattered clouds spread around. My eyes moved towards our destination. It seemed closer, and to be honest, bigger. 

No, larger.

"Look!" Selena shouted on the other carpet. I looked at the front, and my eyes caught a beautiful sight. It was a river. On it, there were some birds. The birds were white and they resembled ducks. We flew past them, making them flap their wings as they flew away from the disturbance.

An hour later, we came to a stop at the edge where the grassland met the mountain grounds. Also, one thing was for sure.

It was freaking freezing.

I had forgotten to get my coat. It seemed dumb of me to do that since the mountain had snow spread around its peaks.

Crystalia was considerately warm. I mean, I thought because it was warm, the mountain had to be warm. Turned out I was completely wrong.

"Guys..." Selena trailed off as she pointed at three erboons flying above us. They couldn't see us since we still had the invisibility spell over us.

"I'll deal with this," Emery said while closing her eyes. I stood, staring at her for a minute. My eyes blinked in confusion at her.

"Okay, what is she doing?" I asked.

"Don't just stand there!" Emery whisper-shouted, startling me. "Look for the damn passage through the mountains! This damned erboon is fast, and it's looking forward to cutting through me."

"I found it!" my mother yelled. I cringed in fear of being heard while the rest shushed her.

"Sorry," she apologized. "It's over there," she whispered while motioning a thumb to something behind her.

Erick walked towards Emery and carried her. In a rush, we followed Emery's mother towards the passageway. My eyes widened at the view. The route was a space as wide as one car in between two mountains. There were a few protruding grey-black rocks on the sides and also on the ground. In front of us, there was a long route that I had no idea where it led to.

I looked up, and I gulped. The space between the two mountains remained the same for a couple of feet. I felt like I was in a tight space. 

We all rushed to the route, making sure to avoid the rocks that were on the ground. Once we were a distance inside that felt safe, Erick turned to Emery.

"We're here," the Prince whispered into Emery's ear. She suddenly gasped, clutching onto Erick's shirt.

"I hate those animals. They were freaking close to tearing my stomach!" she shouted. A screeching sound was heard, making everyone halt. Then, as slowly as we could, we hunched up on one side. The large mountain protrusions above us made it easy for us to be hidden.

It took a moment that felt like thirty minutes for the screeching sounds to fade away before we resumed our journey. However, the screeches did not stop. They would be heard at intervals, making us pause for a moment before we continued towards the route. It took us an extra ten minutes to determine if it was safe to move. It was annoying and terrifying at the same time.

As we walked through the mountains, the air seemed to get colder. I watched the others, even Liam, put on snow coats and other cold weather gear. 

Why did I assume I did not need those?

Emery glanced at me. She sighed, opening her bag and taking out a large leather coat and some undershirts, a pair of snow gloves and some boots. I stared at her in shock.

"These were my emergency clothes. I knew someone was bound to forget that the weather would get cold on our way. I assumed it would be Erick..."

"Hey!" the Prince said with a frown.

"...but I did not expect it to be you. Anyway, wear these."

I looked at the pieces of clothing and shook a little. The coat was red, the gloves were a rose color, and the boots were pink with Barbie doll patterns.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. She gave a smug smile before shrugging her shoulders.

It was either wear the girly clothes or suffer from cold. I picked the one that made sense.

I declined the clothes.

 

Kidding.

 

We continued walking while I was made fun of for wearing girly clothes.

"You look pretty."

"Pink looks good on you!"

"You should wear that ALL the time."

I grumbled under my breath while the rest laughed at me. A side of me wanted to get rid of the clothes, but I had to keep them or else I would die from hypothermia.

On our way, when the mocking had ceased, we came to a stop at a beautiful sight. At that point, the route was wider than the entrance, and there was a river on our right. It was wide, and it was flowing slowly. The river showed the reflection of the sky, which showed nothing but white.

"Is that—" I went to ask, but Emery's mother cut me off.

"The river that subdivides into two streams and flows past Crystalia. I always wondered where its pinpointed source was."

I looked on, searching for its point of origin. Sadly, the river turned to the right some meters from us.

"I wish we had time for that, mum. However, we have to deal with the erboon situation," Emery said in a bored tone.

"It's so beautiful," Selena commented as she looked around, amazed by the scenery that met her eyes.

"It is. Too bad it's next to Eva's minions," Emery said.

"We should take a drink of water," Brian said. "I doubt we'll have a source of water far ahead." It was a good idea.

We all dropped to our knees to collect the water and drink from the river.

"Is this safe?" Liam asked. "Are there any water-borne diseases in these waters?"

"It is safe, Liam," Selena answered, drinking water she collected on the palms of her hands. Liam shrugged, following the rest of us in drinking water from our palms.

"How much longer is the trip?" I asked.

"We don't know," the guards said, making me shocked.

"What?"

"No one knows where Eva resided. We are aware that it's along this way, but we don't know how far. The ones who know are either dead, or she killed them," Erick informed me with a frown.

"So they're just dead?" his eyes gazed at something on his right before he nodded.

After we had finished drinking our water, we continued walking.

It took a whole day to move past the mountains. The sun was in its last stages of setting, and the sky had taken a dark color. There was no moon that night, and it made it hard to see what was in front of us. A few minutes ago, we all turned on our torches because the route was hard to see.

By the time we were out of the route between the mountains, my feet were killing me. What met my eyes scared me to the roots of my bone. I thought passing through the mountains was the worst that could happen. 

Apparently, I was wrong.

There was a forest in front of me. It was a vast forest, enough to look like a jungle. The trees looked thick, and they were tall. They had large roots protruding from the ground.

You know at night when you leave a couple of things piled up together or place something somewhere and they look like a freaking demon or some other creepy thing staring at you? Well, that was what was occurring, except worse. The forest looked like it had eyes. I felt like I was in the freaking Disney's Snow White movie where the eyes were actually cute animals hiding from Snow White, with the difference that the eyes could belong to creepy animals.

"Is it too late to turn back to the mountains? I will feel a lot safe there instead of sleeping around here," I stated, shivering as a cold breeze drifted through the night.

"We'll stay here for the night," Erick announced, ignoring my question. "The forest trees will provide a perfect cover for all of us from the erboons."

An hour later, we had settled down and formed a campfire. Brian, one of the guards, said he would patrol the night while we all slept. It was very kind of him, even though the Queen's son mentioned the trees thing.

I just hoped nothing awful would happen to us in the night.

 

 

CHAPTER 17

Emery's P.O.V

"I have never felt so tired in my life," my mother said with a sigh as she took out a pan, plastic plates and food stuffed in her bag. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"You carried that in your bag?" Ethan asked in shock, earning an amused smile from Selena. The others who came with us were busy perusing their bags for their stuff.

"I did. Why? Is it wrong?"

"No, it's just that I didn't expect you to carry that."

My mother rolled her eyes at us.

"You guys are forgetful sometimes. We have no cooking devices around us. We only have nature to provide food for us. What were you going to eat?"

"Umm," Liam started while taking something out of his bag, "soda?" he said while revealing the liquid incased in a plastic bottle.

"Chips?" Erick piped in.

"Chocolate, biscuits--" Selena mentioned, but my mother cut her off.

"My goodness! That's not food. Those sound like desserts! You should all know better than to eat them," my mother chastised us.

"Miss Davis, what did you do when you had expeditions like this in the past?" Liam asked with interest.

"We never did this when I was your age. Our lives were quite simple. Well, except for the fact that Eva was around, but she was not that big of a problem after killing many of our kind."

"What?" Liam asked in shock. "Why wasn't anyone--"

"Trying to kill her?" she interrupted him. "She was a crystal, Liam. She was powerful than any witch, even powerful than Emery's father. And he too was a crystal. Basically, going after her was signing our own deaths."

There was a silence as my mother stared into the distance, mentally reliving the memories in her life. Liam and Ethan looked at her weirdly, probably hardly believing that my mother and other witches lived in such conditions.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to Mr. Davis?"

The air around became tense when Liam asked the dreaded question. I had a feeling that it was coming, but I thought Liam was smart enough to avoid the subject. But apparently, he wasn't  

 "It's okay if you don't tell me," he added once he read the sudden change in atmosphere.

"He passed away," my mother answered.

Way to put a damper on the mood, Liam.

He turned to face me, showing me a look of pity. I narrowed my eyes at him, urging him to promptly face the other way.

"I'm sorry about your loss," he told us. I looked down and shook my shoulders in a shrug.

"Life happens. Now, can we please change the subject to a lighter one?" I asked in hopes of avoiding the subject.

"Justin's management is asking him to get a girlfriend for publicity," Erick said. Selena spat out the drink she was sipping and turned to face him with a glare.

"What?" everyone asked. The talk we had was thrown out of the window.

"Ooh, gossip!" my mother said while clapping her hands in a silly manner.

"You all know that the world doesn't know I'm Justin's girlfriend, right?" Selena stated. Liam and Ethan denied her words while the rest of us did the opposite. The two gave us a 'what?' look, but we all ignored them.

"I thought he already had a fake girlfriend," I said with a frown.

"Oh, he did. But they broke up. Now his management is pressuring him once again to have a fake girlfriend. Justin and I had a fight about it last night, and it did not end well."

"So, what are you going to do?" Erick asked with a concerned look. 

I suspected it. I knew he was in love with Selena, so the look must have been a façade. I took a quick glance into his mind and shook my head in disappointment at him. 

He was happy. The dude was glad that his brother's relationship could be ending.

"If he agrees to it, then I'll have no choice but to break up with him."

"Yes!" I heard Erick scream in his mind. My mother, the guards, Ethan and I turned to look at him.

"What?" he asked, pretending not to know what we heard.

The other guard placed rocks beside the fire, and my mother placed the non-stick pan on top of them. She proceeded to put some pre-cooked food onto it, warming it up. Thirty minutes later, we were all enjoying a meal while we talked about other not-so-serious subjects.

For instance, Liam and Ethan talked about their adventures in a boy band. They told us a story about Logan being cartwheeled by their bodyguard Trevor into one of their tour buses after getting a sugar rush and wanting to explore the city they were to perform in. But the most interesting one was the one about Harry being forcefully kissed by a girl when I went with Selena and Rachel to their meet-and-greet.

"She seemed crazy! For a moment there, I thought she was going to ravish him in front of us," Ethan said, making the rest of us guffaw with laughter.

"Don't tell him we ratted him out to you," Liam warned us.

"It's okay, Liam," Selena said. "Your secret is safe with me."

***********************************************************************************************

Selena's P.O.V

"I hate the forest," I said to no one in particular as I jumped to avoid a large protruding root on the ground.

We had spent the night sleeping under the trees. We woke up later than arranged because the leaves of the trees around us were many enough to create the illusion that it was still night. It was also cold, and that barely helped with getting us up. After a while, we got up, ate a quick breakfast and resumed our walk towards our destination.

"It can't be that bad," Erick commented just as a mosquito flew right into his mouth. He started coughing it out, making me laugh. Soon enough, he started making horrible sounds in his throat that made me want to puke.

"I can't believe you laughed! I could have died!" Erick said in a serious tone after the mosquito (probably) got out, making me laugh more. He frowned, making him look cute.

Wait. What?

"Are we almost there yet?" Liam asked as we walked in between trees in the forest, taking my mind off the weird moment.

"No. A few more miles ahead, and we'll reach our destination," Brian stated as we continued our walk.

"This is exhausting," Emery said. "I guess I could fly up and see how far we are from the castle."

I understood her. I mean, Brian had told us that we could have used the flying carpets to fly towards our destination. But seeing that there were many trees, that option was out of the way.

"NO!" Emery had just started to levitate when we all screamed at her. I jumped at her form, taking her down with me. She groaned under my weight, but we were all hyper-aware of our surroundings. Just then, we heard a loud screeching sound. Everyone remained silent as they looked up at the sky.

The leaves of the trees around us covered the view, but we were able to make out the shape of a flying erboon's shadow. It flew directly above us, coming to a stop on top of the top branch above us. I looked up, observing its shape. Also, I saw its unbelievably-pink butt.

"MOVE HERE SLOWLY," Erick mouthed to me while he stood under the branch of a thick tree. It was even a wonder I understood him. 

I slowly got up from Emery and carefully walked towards him. Emery crawled slowly towards her mother who was hiding underneath another tree. My eyes were wide at the time, fearing the possibility of being spotted. I made it towards Erick, and we stood there, staring at the shadow the erboon made on the ground.

It was tilting its head sideways, looking for something. Then it released its hold on the branch, flying away from us and screeching while doing so. A couple of leaves fell with a rustling sound. Once the creature was far out of sight, we all sighed in relief.

"Hey!" Emery said to her mother. She frowned while she rubbed a spot on her shoulder. I guessed her mother pinched her.

"Remind me not to willingly accept to go on a quest like this," Liam told Ethan.

"Duly noted," Emery said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"I wasn't the one who used magic and almost got us spotted by the erboon," Liam stated, earning a nonchalant wave of a hand from my cousin.

"We need to keep going," Brian, the guard, reminded us. Then we continued the walk towards Eva's castle.

Liam's P.O.V

"I think I see something," one of the guards announced. Every one of us turned our heads to him in interest before looking around our surroundings. What met my sight was the hardwood trees that formed the forest.

Then I turned to face forward, and I saw it.

It was the castle.

It seemed to be about thirty feet away from us. It was situated in an empty field that had short scattered golden grass. I could only point out its similarity to Crystalia's castle, except that the roof was red and rusting, and there were no tall middle towers.

"Is it me or does it look like an alternate version of the castle in Crystalia?" Ethan asked, earning nods from Emery, her mother, Erick, Selena and the guards.

"That is the original castle," Emery's mother commented. I turned to her in disbelief.

"Really? What happened?" I asked in shock.

"Judging from the fact that we are in Crystalia and not here, you could say that Eva ran us out of 'her' property."

"Whoa. Could you paint me a picture of what this area looked like in the past?"

I got my answer in the form of a mental image. The castle looked beautiful in my mind. There were also small settlements outside the structure. Just like that, the image was gone.

"You have got to teach me that," I demanded from her. She gave me a weird look before smiling at me.

"So, what is the plan?" Emery asked.

"Some of you will have to wait here," Erick said. "In this case, I would like the guards to stay." I turned to face him, giving him a look of disbelief.

"Their job is to protect us. We need some people here, just in case the plan fails," he explained.

I heard the sound of camera shots. I directed my attention to Selena. She was holding a camera and pressing a button, taking shots of the area.

"What are the pictures for?" I asked.

"I wouldn't like it if we were to walk back here again. No one has time for that."

I nodded my head, agreeing with her point.

"Ethan, Liam. You stay here," Erick ordered. Ethan and I looked at each other before turning to face the Prince with a look that said 'Why?'

"We need you to stay here for a while. If we aren't back in six hours..."

"Six hours?" I interrupted.

"...six hours," Erick repeated, "you and the guards will have to come get us. You may use magic if you have to, okay?"

I stood there, thinking about what he said before agreeing.

"Good. Selena, Emery, Miss Davis and I would sneak up into the castle and have a look around."

"Mom, I want you to stay," Emery told her mother.

"Emery, I get that you are worried about me, but I am a grown woman. It's okay, we'll get through this," Miss Davis countered. Emery reluctantly agreed with her decision.

"Okay. Six hours. Got it?" Erick asked again, and we all nodded. I even took out my phone, switched it on, and kept a silent timer of the said duration. I would have to look at it every now and then to see how much time we would be left with. Come to think of it, hiding behind the trees seemed better than to risk my life over erboons and erwiches.

Emery's P.O.V

Some minutes later, my mother, Erick, Selena and I were outside Eva's castle. We were hiding behind a thick bush, listening for any movement coming towards us. Up close, I could see that it was a mess. Even though it had gray brick walls, four towers, a height of four floors and a red roof, the whole building was old.

"Let's go in there," Erick said. The rest of us turned to give him a look of disbelief.

"Are you crazy?" my mother whispered to him. "That is not only stupid, but we also might as well be walking towards death with open arms."

"I know it sounds crazy, but we have one thing they don't: the crystal. We might as well go in there and threaten to blow up the building and kill them in the process to get answers."

"They can teleport, remember?" Selena countered in a whisper.

"So can we. If it gets out of hand, we will teleport back to where we left the guards then teleport back to Crystalia. We could teleport here on another time because now we know how this area looks like."

"Are we seriously going to do this?" I asked. Everyone remained silent for a while.

"We have no other idea especially since we have no knowledge of the castle's internal design."

"I could take photos of it," Selena said, taking out her camera and proceeding to do so.

"Are we ready to do this?" Erick asked. We all nodded our heads,

"Okay." We got up from our spot behind the big bush and walked towards the entrance of the castle. It had a thick wooden door that was painted pine green, even though the color itself was dirty.

"What do we do? Knock?" Selena asked, getting looks of disbelief from us. She shrugged her shoulders in reply.

Without thinking twice about it, I pushed the door open. My eyes widened when I noticed the presence of many erwiches and a couple of flying erboons in the air.

"Witches! We have been expecting you. How nice it is for you to join our invitation to the castle," a booming male voice sounded through the air. With that, the erwiches and erboons stopped what they were doing and turned to face us. 

None of them seemed to come at us. That was weird.

I looked around, searching for the source of the voice. My eyes met the sight of a man walking down a set of concrete stairs that were threatening to give out. He soon walked towards us and gave us a smug smile.

He had brown eyes. He was a blonde with unusually-pale skin. The guy looked to be in his 30s or 40s. He had on a black coat with sleeves that reached his wrists and a pair of black worn-out trousers. Most surprisingly, he was barefoot.

He really needed to deal with his long nails.

"Who are you?" Erick asked with a sense of authority in his voice.

"I am Tevix, Eva's second in command," he told us with a smile. My eyes narrowed at him.

"Are you the one who brought the erboons to Crystalia and earth?" Selena asked.

"I didn't bring them, silly girl. I sent them to do my work," he answered.

"Why? What would you get from exposing your kind and our kind to the world?" Erick asked in confusion. Tevix looked at him, then at us, and smiled.

"You know we're of the same kind, but we are much better than you," he said, earning hoots from the erwiches around us. For a moment, I forgot that they were around and that they had surrounded us.

"You'll find your answers soon, your Majesty," he mocked before quickly pulling out his hand from his back and puffing some kind of white smoke onto us. I closed my trachea, but I needed oxygen so badly. Then I made a mistake of inhaling the air around us. Everything seemed to get woozy, and just like that, I passed out.

***********************************************************************************************

"Emery?"

"Emery!"

"Emery, wake up!"

"Emery!"

I heard the persistent whispers of someone calling out to me. My eyes slowly fluttered open, adjusting to my surroundings.

First off, I noticed I wasn't in Crystalia. I was in a large chamber with one small empty window located to my far left. The room had gray brick walls with streaks of black around some sides. Then I noticed a black pot underneath a fire with a boiling black mixture in it.

My heart thudded when I noticed I was a bit high off the ground. I turned to my sides and noticed I wasn't the only one in the room. Selena, my mother and Erick, in that order, were also hanging off the ground as I was. Their hands were up, enclosed in chains that supported their weight. I also noticed a man and a woman in the same predicament as ours.

"Emery? Are you okay?" my mother asked as she faced me with a concerned expression. It was her voice that was whisper-shouting at me.

"I'm fine! How are you holding up?" I asked her as I tried to release my hands from the chains with no success.

"I'm okay!" she whispered back.

I turned my head to look at Selena and Erick, noticing that they too were groggy and were regaining their consciousness.

My mind instantly replayed the memories before I got knocked out. Tevix had us inhale some kind of sleeping drug. I closed my eyes, summoning my powers of telekinesis. It didn't work.

Then I summoned a fireball. It didn't work too. I even tried levitating, but it also didn't work.

"What's going on?" Erick asked once he inspected our surroundings.

"The erwich got to us, and now he has bewitched the place so that we can't use our powers to escape," my mother informed him.

"Mum! Dad!" Selena shouted as she faced the two other people we didn't recognize. My mother inspected the people, and she had a look of shock.

"Evelyn? Mark?" she called out their names in disbelief. The two were dangling from the ceiling like we were and they were either unconscious or worse, dead. Their eyes were closed, and it looked like they hadn't been in a shower for days. What happened to them?

"Good to see that you have all woken up," Tevix said as he emerged into the room. He had a stupid smirk that made me want to hit him. He faced me with that same smirk, as if knowing what I was thinking and rubbing it in my face, before going to the pot in the middle of the room. 

By the way, why was it there?

"Now we can proceed with the party," he said.

"What party?" Erick asked. "If I remember correctly, you trapped us here!"

"Please, let go of my parents," Selena said as she started crying. "Take me instead. Just don't take them!"

Tevix rolled his eyes at my cousin.

"Oh, please. I have nothing to do with you," he said before taking out a knife from his pocket. My eyes widened in fear for the life of my cousin. Tevix gave us an evil smile before proceeding to take out a small bowl from his other pocket.

Wait, what?

"What do you want from us?" my mother asked. I could hear the phobia in her voice, which also made me scared. We were trapped with an erwich and that person could do anything to us.

He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"You really want me to spell it out to you?" he asked. No one answered.

"Well, in the past six years, we have been attacking witches with little to no effort in our part. We wanted you all dead so that we could take over the world, but then it wasn't a good decision," he started, shrugging at the end of the sentence.

"So I had an idea. If we kept on doing that, you would all relax and expect little to nothing life-threatening from us," he said while walking towards Selena's mother, holding a knife.

"No!" Selena screamed out, but he ignored her. Once he reached the woman, he unexpectedly turned towards the father and swiftly cut his neck. The man gave out a weak cough as blood oozed, filling the bowl that Tevix positioned under his neck.

"NO!" Selena screamed as tears flowed out of her eyes. We all started struggling under the hold of the chains, but we all failed in escaping them.

"Why are you doing this?" my mother yelled at Tevix.

"See, the past five years was a plan in motion. We wanted all of you to think we were...what's the word? Oh yes, stupid. Then we would look for the ingredients of this potion," he said while tilting the bowl, enabling the blood to flow into the pot.

My eyes widened in disbelief once I remembered something.

"The earthquake," I stated. Tevix faced me with a smile.

"Yes, stupid girl. That was part of our plan when we were still mixing the ingredients for the potion. You see, we got all the things we needed," as he spoke, the contents in the bowl furiously began to boil. He turned to face us all with an evil smile.

"We sent the erboons to Crystalia. That failed, seeing that you casted a protection spell over your city. Then we sent the erboons to earth. I knew that would cast an immediate response from the witches. We knew that your kind would send the crystal to solve the problem we caused, but this? This is a lovely surprise. She will love that you are here."

"Who are you talking about?" my mother asked. Tevix turned to face her with an evil smirk.

"You know who she is." 

My mother was confused at first, but then I noticed her eyes widen in fear. I did not understand what spiked that reaction from her. Before I could say anything else, the pot in the middle of the room emitted green light towards the ceiling. Outside, the ground shook for a moment before dark clouds were scattered around the area, making it look like it was about to rain heavily.

The black contents of the pot continued their green glow. Then suddenly, a hand protruded from it. It was coated with a black dripping substance that slowly flowed back to the pot, and there were long nails on the fingers. It looked like the creature had sharp claws.

The erwich in the room grasped the hand in his own before pulling the form out of the pot. The only thing I could make out was the hand. The other was a disfigured form.

However, once the figure got out, it started taking shape. The figure's blackness was quickly disappearing to reveal a person. 

It was a woman.

Her skin was roughened due to old age. She had a few white hairs. She had worn a black dress, her form was hunched, and she was stinking up the room. Who was she?

The woman groaned something unintelligent before turning to face us. I flinched at the sight of her, stunned by her appearance. Her gray eyes traveled across every one of us. Her mouth opened and revealed a mouth that lacked teeth. Then her lips formed a smile.

Seriously, who was she?

The old woman turned to walk towards Selena's mother. My cousin struggled against the chains constricting her, but her movements were unsure. Even I didn't know what she was doing. I turned to face my mother. Instead of a look of curiosity, she had a look of fear.

Once the woman was near my aunt, she caressed her skin. 

Then the next events happened so quickly.

Her mouth opened and her eyes glowed white. My aunt began screaming, but that ended quickly. Her skin was eroding, turning into sand that the old woman was sucking into her mouth. Then there was nothing left but bones of Selena's mother.

"NO!" Selena screamed, but her shout was turned to deaf ears. We were looking at the woman whose form was slowly contorting into that of a young woman.

Sand swirled around her, and the sagged skin was gaining smoothness. The woman's features seemed to be improved.

She was facing something on her side before turning to look at everyone in the room.

My eyes widened once I noticed who the woman was.

Eva.

CHAPTER 18

Liam's P.O.V

"What do you think is going on? It's been five hours and they aren't back yet," Ethan said. He and I were with the guards, hiding among the dense trees of the forest near Eva's castle. We had been there for quite a long time. Honestly, I expected Emery and her friends to be done with whatever they planned to do four hours ago.

"Prince Erick told us to wait, and that is what we shall do," Brian, one of the guards, said. He could not have been serious, but he was.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I faced him.

"Aren't you worried about what's happening in there? Maybe they have been captured."

"Please," he said with a snort, "they have a crystal with them. Maybe they are fighting Eva's minions."

"For five hours?" I asked in disbelief. "How many are they?"

"The erboons are about one hundred. The erwiches, however, are more than a thousand."

I gulped, scared of the thought of fighting against 1000 erwiches.

"And you think they can defeat 1000 erwiches?" I asked with an incredulous look. Brian remained silent, thinking over my point. I was glad that he showed loyalty to Prince Erick, but there was a difference between being loyal and being stupid.

Suddenly, the wind picked up. It felt normal at first, but then the speed of its movement increased.

Looking up, I saw a couple of clouds gather across the sky. They joined and swirled against each other at an unusually fast pace, covering every inch of the sky. Then they blackened, making it seem like there was a solar eclipse. The ground shook for a moment before everything went still.

"Something's not right," Ethan said as he looked up towards the sky. "Is that supposed to happen?" he pointed at the black clouds.

"No. This means we have to go to Eva's castle," Brian said, shocking me. "I have a bad feeling that the erwiches are using dark magic for something awful. We need to be ready to face them."

"No!" the other guard, who had been mostly silent throughout the quest, shouted. "We don't need to fight them. We just have to go save the King and his followers from being killed. It won't help if we too were dead."

We sat in silence, thinking over the guard's words. I found out that he was right, and so we all agreed to do what he said.

"We will have to place our luggage here," Brian advised us. Then we proceeded to do what he said before he handed us some weapons. They consisted of swords, both long and short. I gave him a stare of disbelief. Were we in the fifteenth century or something?

"Whoa! Do we need these?" Ethan asked as he stared at a dagger that was given to him.

"No, but it is important to have something in case our powers don't work."

I blinked, discarding a thought of asking him how our powers might not work.

"Why not use guns?" I asked.

"They're loud. They will bring attention towards us. We will need to be silent when we sneak in. If your friends are alive, we'll get them and teleport back to Crystalia."

The explanation about the gun made sense.

The others have started walking towards the castle. With a sigh, I decided to follow them.

We were walking at a slow pace that did nothing but freak me out. Just then, a booming sound echoed around the area. We looked at each other then turned towards the source of the sound. 

It came from the castle.

In an instant, we were running towards the building.

Zane's P.O.V

"Have you heard from Liam or Ethan?" I asked one of the guards in the castle. 

"No," the guard replied. However, I doubted he knew who I was talking about. 

I was with Harry and Logan in Crystalia. Our management team required that we created a music video for our new song Unbelievable. It had been a day since we had last seen or talked to Liam and Ethan, and the rest of us needed them in the music video that was to be shot in two hours.  

"I don't think they have returned yet," Logan stated with a bored look.

Suddenly, there was an earthquake. It slightly shook the ground for a moment, making me lose my footing.

Before I hit the ground, Harry and Logan grabbed onto my arms. Then they helped me stand up.

"Thanks," I told them. However, their attention was on something behind me. I turned to face what it was, only to be shocked by what I saw.

Clouds were stretching across the sky at an unorderly fast pace. They seemed to cover every inch of the sky before turning a grayish-black color.

"Is this normal?" I asked the guard. He had a look of shock that quickly turned to fear.

"It isn't," he replied. I began to worry about the safety of my friends.

"Something is not right!" the Queen shouted behind us. We turned to face her, only to see her approaching the exit of the castle. We made way for her and bowed our heads in respect.

Once we stood up, I saw that she was looking around our surroundings.

"Someone is using black magic, and I'm sure of the source's location," she said. Then she turned to face the guard at the door.

"Get the rest of the guards ready. We may have to go to Eva's castle this very instant," she ordered.

"Yes, your Majesty," the guard replied before quickly scurrying off to carry out the errand.

"Your Majesty, what is going on?" Logan asked. She turned to face him.

"Your friends may be in danger," she answered. Worry pierced through my heart, making me fear for the safety of everyone who went past the mountains.

"I knew I shouldn't have sent them alone on this errand," she stated with a pissed look. "I should have sent guards as spies to deal with this."

"Why do you need many guards to get them?" I asked.

"That's because a thousand or more erwiches reside around Eva's castle," she replied.

Oh crap.

Emery's P.O.V

My eyes were wide as they stared at the woman in front of me in disbelief.

Eva. It was freaking Eva!

My mind replayed the memories that involved her. I had seen her a few times when I was a little child, and that was seconds before my parents grabbed me and took me to Crystalia. She was the woman who killed my father and Erick's. My heart thudded at an unusual pace as a mixture of negative emotions took over my form. 

Knowing what the evil crystal was capable of, I feared for the safety of everyone chained in the chamber.

"Thank you, Tevix," Eva said with a smirk. Tevix replied with the same smirk. "It has been years since I used my powers."

Eva turned to look at everyone around us. I felt the hairs on my skin rise as my form tensed in fear. I felt the erwich's eyes dance across every one of us before quickly focusing on me.

 "Let me test them," she said before stretching out her hand, curling the fingers into a fist. A strong squeezing force surrounded my throat, making it hard for me to breathe. I began choking on empty air, struggling to breathe.

"Leave her alone!" my vision was starting to darken when mother shouted. The hold around my throat instantly disappeared, and I loudly breathed in a gust of air.

Eva turned to face my mom in a quick manner. Then a sinister smile took over.

"I see you've brought me gifts."

"Yes, your Majesty," Tevix answered. "We also brought Prince Erick, and a girl we think you may enjoy killing." Selena's breath hitched when she heard the statement. "But I bet you would be happier when I tell you that the crystal is one of the prisoners."

A happy look overcame Eva's features.

"Now who would that be?" she asked with a look of interest. "No, let me guess," she said while raising a hand to stop Tevix from answering her question. She looked around the room, observing every one of us. Then she came to a stop at me. Her lips turned into an evil smile.

"It's her, isn't it?" Eva asked, earning a nod of confirmation from her minion.

"Emery. That is your name, isn't it?" the evil crystal asked. My lips parted in shock, creeped out that she knew my name.

"Don't open your mouth like that. It is so unladylike," Eva said as an invisible force took hold of my lips before slamming them shut. That did not ease the fear in my gut.

"By the look on your face, I know you are wondering how I know you. You see, I knew who you were immediately after you were born. I tried to take you away, but your damned parents always got in my way," she explained just before a sick smile took over her features.

She glanced at something on her side before quickly focusing on me.

"Did your mother explain to you that your father's death is all your fault?"  

My eyes narrowed at her, angered by the fact that she dared to pin my dad's death on me.

"It couldn't have been my fault. I didn't even know when it was happening!"

"Of course you didn't," Eva snorted. Then an evil smile took over her features again. "But have you ever wondered why I killed your father?"

"Yes. He protected me from you because you wanted to get rid of me!" I replied in a shout.

"Honestly, I did," she replied. "You see, your father was a crystal, and I was sure that getting rid of him would be a piece of cake. But then, you were born. Your father's death meant that you would be chosen as the next crystal, and I did not want that."

I was shocked that Eva knew all of that about me when I was so young.

"Seeing you now, I realize that it was all a waste of time. I mean, you are a crystal, and you're stuck here like a freaking animal! You aren't even strong enough to break those chains!"

Eva walked towards where Selena's mother's body had been, grabbing onto the chains. "And this," she tapped on the chains, making it glow a pale green, "this cannot even hold me!"

Eva let out an evil chuckle.

"But then, I may be wrong. I need to be sure that I can defeat you before I kill everyone else who is in here."

Eva tilted her head to the side, still staring at me.

"I am going to enjoy torturing you, Emery," she said, sending goosebumps all over my skin. "Hmm... what should I do first?" she said while tapping her head with an index finger.

Whatever she was thinking was obviously not good. I closed my eyes, trying to channel my powers, but nothing happened!

"Oh, yes!" Eva suddenly said. With that, the chains that were binding me got loose and I fell down onto the rough ground. I staggered for a moment as my feet stung. I was in the process of turning to face Eva when I was unexpectedly thrown back.

"Emery!" my mother shouted. My back loudly collided with the wall behind me, bruising the skin and probably breaking some bones. My head also hit the wall, causing a mild headache to occur. I even heard an annoying high-pitched ringing in my ears.

I tried to summon a fireball, but it still did not work. Apparently, Eva's powers and Tevix's were the only ones that weren't held back.

Eva did that telekinesis thing that had me choking on air. I clawed at my throat as I desperately looked at my surroundings. Meanwhile, Erick and Selena were struggling against the chains that were holding them back to no avail.

"Leave her alone!" my mother screamed. Somehow, she got herself off the chains that held her, and she was running towards me. The invisible grip on my throat had instantly vanished. 

I was confused at first, but then I noticed Eva smirking at me. It did not take a lot of time for what had happened to click.

She had done it on purpose.

Given the situation that we could not access our powers, it was a bad idea. I wanted to warn her, to stop her from coming near me, but it was too late.

Before she could even make it to me, Eva stretched out a hand and placed it on her chest, stopping my mom from approaching me. My mother gasped at the force that held her, staring with wide eyes at Eva.

"Oh, Susan," Eva said, "I haven't forgotten what you did to me. You put me in that portal for a long time, and I am looking forward to returning the favor."

My breath caught, worried about what she planned to do. I began to quickly move towards Eva, but she used her powers to throw me back to the wall behind me. A half a second later, the invisible hold on my neck appeared. I was too worried about my mother's safety to even consider the pain that was spreading through my back.

"However, that won't make me happy," Eva said, making me relax a bit. My mother turned to look at me, and I felt my world instantly stop with the look that she gave me.

"This will." With that, Eva somehow pierced a hand through my mom's chest. My mom gasped at the unexpected intrusion. Her eyes widened in shock. Eva began turning her hand in her chest, making her scream out in pain. 

"NO! STOP!" I begged as tears began to form in my eyes. I fought through the hold on my body with all the force I could muster, but again, I was unsuccessful.

Then I watched in horror as Eva pulled out my mother's heart. It had been beating quickly, but then it stopped seconds later. From there, things seemed to go in slow motion for me.

I stared with wide eyes at my mother. She stared back at me.

Then I watched in horror as she collapsed onto the ground. My eyes stayed focus at her form. She lay on her front with her head turned to face my side, her eyes wide and her mouth open as she stared into the distance. I watched in horror as life slowly drained from her eyes.

For a moment, the only thing I heard was the pounding of my heart. There was even some kind of muffled scream in the background. I looked onwards at my dead mother, shocked by the events that had escalated quickly.

The world began shaking, and it took me a while to notice I was trembling.

What? How?

"Sorry, Susan. Wait, I'm actually not sorry. Now--" Eva was cut off when a booming sound echoed through the room. The room shook a little. I also noticed white stardust quickly flowing towards her before disappearing within seconds.

In an instant, an invisible force threw Eva towards the wall on her right. She tried to escape it, but then she was unsuccessful.

Her eyes widened as she turned to look at me.

"Impossible," she said, but I did not give a damn.

I had snapped.

I had no idea how. One moment, I was bound. In the next, the chains around me were released.

I flew towards Eva and drove my fist into her stomach. She loudly coughed as a result. I turned to the minion himself. Tevix's eyes widened as he looked at me in fear.

However, before I got my hands on him, he teleported from the scene. 

But then, he was not my primary concern at the moment.

Eva pushed me back. I was flying backward until I activated my levitation powers to stop me from colliding with the wall behind me. Without movement from my hands, I forced her into a statue-like position.

"You killed her," I stated, staring at her while using my telekinesis powers to hold her in place. She gasped at the strength I had on her.

"YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!" with that, I applied enough force to send her flying back. Eva went through the wall, destroying it in the process.

My attention turned towards the rest. With a blink of my eyes, literally, I unsnapped the chains that had bound them. Then I ran towards the mess of the wall in front of me and levitated in the air, exiting the castle. I looked at the ground, searching for her form. It seemed she had disappeared.

"Emery, look out!" Erick warned me. I instinctively moved to a side, escaping the wrath of an incoming fireball. It passed me, hitting the exterior wall of the castle behind me. I turned to face Eva.

She too was flying, and she was angrily glaring at me.

"You stupid girl! You can't defeat me! I will get rid of you just like I did your mother," she said with a smirk. 

My mom. 

That made me furious.

I flew high in the air, summoning the wind. It swirled around me, whipping my hair and my shirt around. My fingers felt the movement, expanding the circling distance around me. I summoned a fireball and placed it in the wind. In an instant, orange-yellow flames of fire roared through the wind's path. They partially blocked my surroundings.

I was able to spot Eva, and in an instant, I sent the swarming fire towards her. The fire moved at a quick speed. Eva screeched, trying to avoid the damage that the flames were capable of doing to her. She flew back but escaped with a few burns, and the fire went towards a few trees that were around. The trees began to crackle as the flames began to lick around them.

With anger, I flew towards the enemy. I collided with her, pushing her forward and aiming to stab her with a protruded branch on a tree behind her. She pushed back, but I regained control quickly.

I pulled back my hand, clutched it in a fist before I repeatedly smashed my knuckles on her face.

"You. Killed. My. Mother!" I yelled as I hit her before pushing her back. She hit a tree, groaning in pain before falling to the ground.

I was nowhere near done. I levitated down to Eva's form, seeing her struggle to rise up slowly from the ground.

I summoned the trees behind her to wrap their tendrils and branches around her, not caring how much Eva would be hurt. They moved quickly, swirling around her form before wrapping themselves around her body.

She struggled against their hold, but I tightened them around her. With a motion of a finger, the tendrils brought her up into a standing position. She smiled at me, adding fuel to the anger I had.

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" she mocked.

I placed a hand on one of the tendrils, summoning a fireball. I moved back from her and stared at her, fixed in place, as the fire started to consume her.

She looked scared.

Good.

"Please, Emery. Don't do this. I can do whatever you want," Eva pleaded.

"Can you bring my mother back?" I asked her. She shook her head sideways with a shocked and frightened expression.

"Then we both can't get what we want, now can we?"

She stared at me in disbelief before I made the fire surround her form. She screamed as the fire burnt away at her flesh.

After a while, the screams died down, and her burning form was left.

I walked away from the scene, feeling satisfaction for exacting my revenge. 

As I walked, the events that had recently occurred replayed in my mind. I found it hard to keep moving, and a few seconds later, I collapsed onto the ground. 

I was immediately heaving with sobs with what had happened.

She was dead. My mother was actually dead.

"NO!" I screamed out as tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I did not anticipate the events that had occurred in the past ten minutes. There were things left unsaid, things left to do. I didn't remember the last time I told her I loved her. I had hardly spent time with her in the past month, and that fact alone made me feel guilty and sad.

"Emery!" I heard someone call out for me as they quickly approached me. The footsteps became loud as they approached, quickly ceasing when the person was in front of me. I didn't care to find out who they were as I felt arms wrap around my form. They patted my head as I continued to cry. 

I found myself thinking: how the hell am I going to continue living without my mom?

CHAPTER 19

Ethan's P.O.V

Liam, the guards and I were heading towards Eva's castle. Midway, we heard a loud scream sound through the area. That urged us to quicken our pace.

"What do you think happened?" I asked Brian as we ran towards the building.

"I don't know," he replied. We were just about to reach the entrance of the castle when we heard a loud cracking sound. We turned to the source just in time to see a couple of bricks fall off the castle's side and a woman bust through.

The woman was pale-skinned and she had worn a long black dress. Before she even hit the ground, she levitated high in the air. Then Emery appeared, her head turning to her sides as she showed a look that frightened me.

I had never seen her look so furious, and I had bullied her in high school.

She was livid.

The doors to the castle suddenly opened with Selena and Erick coming towards us. Selena and Erick both looked distraught, and I noticed some tear stains on Selena's face. My eyes turned to something behind them and they soon widened at what I saw.

Erick was levitating three dead bodies in the air, and one of them was a skeleton.

"I can't hold on much longer. I need your help," he told us. Brian and the other guard proceeded to help him lower the bodies to the ground. I flinched at what I first saw. 

There was a man whose throat was cut. The other had no flesh but bones, and then there was the one I least expected.

It was Emery's mother.

Her eyes were closed, but there was a patch that was dampening her blue blouse with a red color.

"We need to be quick," Erick said. "The erwiches and erboons are behind us."

I heard that, but I was busy staring at the dead bodies in front of me.

"Ethan, look away!" Liam told me in surprise as he forcefully turned me to face another direction. I had not realized that tremors had taken hold of my body. I was shocked and frightened by what I had seen. It was my first time seeing a live dead body, let alone three, and I hoped it would be the last.

"He needs to snap out of it!" Erick yelled. "We'll be dead if we don't get out of here quickly."

While Emery was fighting the woman dressed in black, the guards were placing the dead bodies on one of the magic carpets.

"Ethan, look out!" Selena warned me as she jumped onto me. We ducked, landing on the ground and escaping the clutches of a shrieking erboon. I looked around, noticing that there were five trying to get to us.

Selena quickly got off me and helped me stand up. Then with a quick movement, she threw a fireball towards one of the erboons. It missed the animal, sending it flying towards the sky.

The erboon turned to face her. It screeched before flapping its wings and approaching her.

Okay, Ethan. Be calm. You can deal with this.

I summoned my own fireball and threw it towards the erboon. The fireball reached the erboon, sending it into a screeching fit as the fire consumed it before the animal perished and left soot as the residue. 

"Thanks, Ethan," Selena said before taking off towards another erboon. My gaze turned to the castle. A couple of erwiches were coming towards us. I turned to see if either Erick or Liam was free, but I was momentarily distracted by a fire that had begun to form on a tree.

I looked at the burning tree and the approaching erwiches. An idea soon came to mind, but I was uncertain if it would work. 

Without wasting time, I approached the tree. I narrowed my eyes at it as I tried to visualize the idea that had formed in my mind. I felt something stirring in me, and seconds later, the wind picked up its pace.

I directed my hands to the direction of the fire, making the wind increase the height of the flames. It was soon about four times my height.

I turned away from the burning tree, searching for the erwiches. I spotted one getting close to Selena who was fighting an erboon. With a determined expression, I motioned with a finger towards the erwich. I heard roaring flames before I saw the fire quickly reach for the erwich.  In an instant, the evil witch screamed as the fire consumed it before it turned into dust.

Everyone, except Emery and the woman dressed in black, momentarily stopped to see what had happened. Selena gave me a look of shock. I too was surprised. Then we all continued fighting the erboons and erwiches.

A few moments later, a series of screams pierced the air. I turned to the source, shocked by what I was seeing.

Emery was standing in front of the woman dressed in black, watching as she burned before her. I tried to direct my eyes away from the sight, but I couldn't. I never thought that seeing a live burning of a person would affect me as much as it was at the moment.

Behind me, I heard a couple of rushed footsteps. I turned in time to see the erboons and erwiches retreat to the castle. A couple of seconds later, they closed the castle doors.

My gaze turned to Emery, dancing between her and the burning woman.

I believed I had enough of death for a day.

Harry's P.O.V

Zane, Logan and I were inside the castle in the main study room. The Queen had requested us to stay there while she busied herself in arranging the rushed battle towards Eva's castle.

"So, what do we do now? It looks like Ethan and Liam won't be able to shoot the music video with us today," I spoke.

"We'll have to tell management to postpone it," Logan said. 

They would not be happy about that.

"But what reason shall we give them for their absence?" Zane asked. My attention turned to a window nearby. I noticed that the sky had quickly cleared up, bringing light back to the area.

Before I could answer Zane's question, a scream pierced the air. That voice sounded familiar.

"Emery," we said at once, staring at each other with wide eyes. It meant that Liam and Ethan too had returned. But why did Emery scream?

We all rushed towards the exit of the castle, curious to know what was going on. We joined a couple of servants running towards the source of the scream. 

We soon bust into the castle's garden. With rushed footsteps, we made our way towards the people who had returned. However, I was met by an unexpected sight.

In front of us was a sobbing Emery held in Erick's arms. He and Selena too were crying. I looked around, seeing Ethan and Liam standing a few feet behind them. Liam was holding onto Ethan's shoulder, and I had no idea why. Ethan looked like he had seen a ghost as he seemed to stare at nothing.

Then my gaze moved past them. I gasped, understanding the cause of the mood.

There was a carpet in front of them. On it lay three bodies. I did not care for all but one that stood out. 

It was Emery's mother.

I clasped a hand over my mouth, shocked by the sight. My attention was hardly interrupted by the sound of rushing heels behind me. I soon felt someone push me to a side. I stumbled for a moment and turned to see the Queen.

I looked at her, seeing her eyes widen in the same shock that we all felt. She held onto Liam as she stared at the dead bodies.

"NO!" the Queen screamed before kneeling on the ground. She grasped Miss Davis' head and placed it on her lap, not caring about the sight of the other two dead people beside her. She held onto Susan's head as she cried.

"Susan! Susan!" she screamed out Miss Davis' name. However, she got no reply. Then her shoulders were hunched as her body was racked with sobs.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable being there, witnessing the people who knew Susan Davis crumble down in tears. But then, I guessed my presence would somehow show support for her family. 

My gaze turned to Emery, and seeing her cry made me want to cry with her. It felt weird for a moment, but I decided to not think too much of the feeling. I just wished nobody had died on that day.

Ethan's P.O.V

More people went to the garden to see what had happened. Liam and I decided to go into the castle. I was certain that the details of the dead bodies would remain in my mind. I looked back for a moment then quickly turned to face forward, cussing at my own stupidity of doing that. The image of the dead bodies resurfaced in my mind, making it hard for me to focus on what I was doing. 

I was afraid I was scarred for life.

"Ethan! Liam!" our bandmates called out as they came towards us. Liam and I turned to see them. Once they were near us, we hugged each other.

Then we noticed Selena walking towards us. At first, her head was bowed as she stared at the floor. Then she looked up, facing us. She was sad with tear marks left on her face.

"Selena, what happened?" Harry asked. 

It was certain that Emery's mother had died, but no one was certain about the details of her death and of the others. In fact, some of us didn't know the others.

She heaved in sobs, urging us to get near her. Harry grabbed her and hugged her.

"My...my...my parents are dead!" she said through the sobs she heaved.

"Were those bodies on the carpet—" I went to ask, and she nodded in reply. My heart was filled with sadness for Selena. She and Emery had lost their parents and they were currently both orphans. It was sadder for Selena because she lost both of them at the same time.

We stayed in silence as we comforted Selena for a while before escorting her to her room. Erick happened to enter the room seconds later, and we left him with her. We wandered around the hallways, not knowing what to do next.

"Liam, what happened?" Zane asked as we came to a stop. Liam turned to face him, and then all of us.

"On our way back, Prince Erick filled me in on the events that occurred when they entered Eva's castle," he paused for a moment. 

"He did?" I asked him, surprised he hadn't told me anything.

"It was a trap," Liam continued, ignoring my question. I didn't mind, seeing he was filling us in on what had occurred.

"What?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yes. In fact, the past six years were a front. They were hiding that they were searching for ingredients."

"For what?" I questioned. 

"They wanted to bring Eva back," he answered. There was a momentary silence from all of us.

"WHAT?" the rest of us said in shock.

"I'm not done yet," Liam told us. "So they mixed the ingredients to make a potion, and Eva did come back. Eva killed Emery's mother and Selena's parents while they all watched."

"I don't get it. Why would she kill them?"

"Selena's parents were killed to complete the potion and to revive Eva's youthful looks. Susan was murdered just to torture Emery. The erwiches wanted Emery there because she is the crystal. The only person who could kill her was, according to their guesses, Eva. But then, it went the other way around and Eva was killed."

What the hell?

We all walked towards the main study room as we continued talking about the sudden and awful events of the day. I worried about Emery and Selena, especially on how they were going to move on.

***********************************************************************************************

Emery's P.O.V

"You all know about the erboon attacks that occurred here and on earth," the Queen spoke before pausing for a moment. She looked down towards the ground before raising her head back to face the crowd.

We were in the castle's large conference room. The group that I was a part of was forced to stay for a conference meeting as part of Crystalia's customs. The Queen also found it necessary to inform the people of what had occurred instead of having rumors of the events spread around Crystalia.

"Emery Davis, Susan Davis, together with two noble guards, my son Erick, Liam Gray and Ethan Green portrayed bravery in taking part of the quest to find out who brought the erboons to us. Let us congratulate them for that."

Applause sounded through the area. However, it did not seem to make the current matter better. My mother was dead, and there was no way of changing that whatsoever. No amount of gratitude or applause would make things better.

"They found out who was doing this. His name is Tevix, Eva's loyal subject."

People began talking amongst each other.

"The past five years were a distraction. The erwiches sacrificed themselves and pretended to be stupid to hide what they were actually planning, all lead by Tevix. They were trying to bring Eva out of the portal, and they succeeded."

People talked amongst each other with looks of fear etched onto their faces.

"Lucky for us, Emery killed Eva before she could get to us."

Sounds of relief and applause echoed through the room.

"However, there were some losses," the Queen said and remained quiet for a long time.

"My good friend, Susan Davis, and Selena's parents, Evelyn and Mark Trentstone, passed away this afternoon."

Sounds of shock echoed through the room. I had a feeling some of those who gasped didn't know or recall who they were.

"I would want us all to give them a moment of silence."

Everyone did as the Queen requested. She soon continued speaking, a signal for the moment of silence ending.

"Now that Eva had been revived and been killed, we may expect attacks from the erwiches themselves or even war."

People protested, making me frown.

"We may expect the erwiches' attacks to increase in frequency. They wouldn't be holding back now. They know we know what they did, and we should be ready when they come for us."

People continued to protest. The Queen, however, walked away from them.

I did so too but in a quick manner, eager to escape to my room where I would succumb to my misery. 

***********************************************************************************************

Third person's P.O.V

The forest trees that were near Eva's castle swayed. The point where Eva was burnt remained dark with no evidence of a burnt body. The sand on the ground began to pick up, swirling in the air as the grains formed a woman.

Eva groaned and stretched her arms out. She looked around, seeing that no witch was around. She smirked. That was instantly brought down when she heard a commotion coming from her castle.

She took off from the ground, levitating towards the top of one of the roofs of the castle towers. She landed on the roof and observed her surroundings. Many erwiches and erboons, although not the whole population, stood and crouched in alert as they faced someone loudly speaking.

"They killed our Queen, and they shall pay for it!" Sounds of uproar and cheers echoed through the castle. Her eyes focused on the person who spoke those words. It was Tevix.

He had a look of anger. His eyes danced around the crowd, and he sensed a presence on his left. He turned and spotted Eva with a furious look. He had formed his own fireball when he saw his evil queen, and he gasped before distinguishing it.

"Your Majesty!" he shouted. The evil minions stopped what they were doing and turned to face where Tevix was staring. Once they spotted Eva, they bowed in respect.

Eva flew towards Tevix. His eyes widened and a smile came onto his features.

"I thought you were truly dead," Tevix said once the evil woman was standing close to him.

"Oh, please," Eva snorted. "No one can kill me. No one knows how, and no one will ever know."

Then she turned her attention towards the erwiches and erboons who looked ready for war.

"What is this?" Eva asked.

"Oh!" Tevix gasped. "We were preparing to go to war. We were not going to let the miserable witches get away with killing you."

"That's wonderful!" Eva said with a smile.

"What do we do my Queen?" Tevix asked. "Your minions and I are ready to attack Crystalia."

"There is no need for that," the Queen replied. "I have an idea that will blow the witches' minds."

Tevix frowned, but he quickly erased that look.

"What do you have in mind, your Majesty?" Tevix inquired.

Eva looked around before turning to face her minion.

"The crystal is the main focal point for all the witches even though Crystalia is ruled by other people. What we need to do is to get rid of her. Then, we'll rule over the witches and the world without interferences."

"What do you plan to do, my Queen? Are you going to kill her?"

Eva took her time to reply.

"No," she finally said, earning a look of confusion from Tevix.

"I'm going to make her regret burning me. I won't get rid of her quickly. I will make her death slow and painful that even she would want to kill herself just to end the pain."

Then Eva released a cackle. The erboons shrieked in agreement with their wings flapping as the erwiches laughed along Eva.

CHAPTER 20

Logan' P.O.V

My mind was in a state of shock, still trying to process Emery's mother's death. It felt so unreal and unexpected at the time.

How could such a good woman die, and so unexpectedly? I didn't know her that much but I knew enough to know she was a good person. 

I felt bad for Emery. Her father had died, and she had just lost her mother too. I wanted to go check on her and to see if she was alright, but I doubted my presence would do any good to her emotional state.

After the Queen's announcement and everyone's dispersal from the conference room, the five of us headed to the main study room. We had things to talk about, especially things related to our music career. However, there was also the discussion of what happened when they were at Eva's castle.

Liam had filled us in on what had occurred in the castle. The rest of us were curious about what happened after.

"She burned her," Ethan said with his eyes widened. "Emery lit her on fire and watched her burn."

Ethan had just told us about Emery's revenge towards Eva. The rest of us were shaken by what he said. We all had the same thoughts in our minds. 

Was she capable of doing that to us?

"Remind me to never get on Emery's bad side," I said, trying to bring humor to the mood. However, that didn't work.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked, taking glances at Ethan. He was slightly shaking, and I guessed it had something to do with the weather. 

"We can't just stand back and let her drown herself in sorrow," Harry continued.

"There is nothing we can do," Zane replied, earning shocked looks from the rest of us.

"What?" he asked with a furrow of his eyebrows. "We were her ex-bullies! As far as we know, she was slowly forgiving and befriending us. Then we made her angry at us because we thought she was going to kill herself. Considering Ethan's story of how she burnt Eva, it would be best to give her space to mourn."

The rest of us thought of what he said, started bickering about it until we later found ourselves nodding to his words.

***********************************************************************************************

Emery's P.O.V

It had been a week ever since I witnessed my mother's passing. My world seemed to crumble around me. I could neither eat nor sleep. My mind was mostly filled with the memories I shared with her. My first day at school, my first birthday that I could recall, my first day at middle school, spending time with her and my dad... all the memories I recalled seemed to bring me sorrow.

She was gone, and there was no way of bringing her back.

Anger rose when the memory of Eva murdering my mother replayed in my mind. At least the evil bitch died in a painful way. I would have so loved to torture her slowly and make her pay for killing my mom.

But then, I backpedaled. There was something I didn't pay any attention to ever since I came back to Crystalia.

I burned her. I freaking burned her!

My heart began to thud quickly. How could I have forgotten about that? I worried that Eva's evilness was airborne. Still, the woman deserved it. It was probably the only way to kill her since she always seemed to regenerate and she hadn't at that moment. Just like that, the anxious thoughts made way to the thoughts of my mother. My sadness returned.

A soft knock sounded on my door. I was in my bedroom in the castle, lying down with my head on a pillow and my eyes staring at the ceiling.

I heard the door creak, signaling someone's entry into the room.

"Emery?" Justin called out to me. "My mother told me to get you. It is almost time for the funeral." He stayed there for a while, expecting a reply, but I did not give him any. With that, he closed the door, leaving the room.

It was the day of my mother's funeral. Tears formed in my eyes, saddened by the reminder that she was dead. I slowly got out of bed and leisurely walked towards the bathroom to prepare for the day.

My whole body was on autopilot, doing things without having them registered in my mind. I was not looking forward to the service. I did not feel prepared to see my mom's body, especially for the last time. Every time I woke up, I kept praying it was a nightmare. However, it was a reality I couldn't alter. Going to see her form lay in a coffin would be a harsh reminder that she was truly gone.

It took me a while to realize I was ready. I had worn a long cotton black dress to show what I felt inside. I didn't even bother to apply makeup because they were bound to be washed away by the tears I would cry.

I got out of my room and slowly descended towards the ground floor of the castle. I met some witches who greeted me and gave me their condolences. I just nodded and gave each a small smile before I was back to my stoic mode.

Once I reached my destination, I looked around. I noticed Selena, Erick, Justin and the Queen standing, seemingly waiting for me. They all had worn black clothing for the funeral. I slowly walked towards them. They heard my footsteps, turning around to face me.

My gaze turned towards each and every one of them. They were all sad, and I noticed tear streaks on the Queen's face. Once I was close to them, I was enveloped into one hug after another.

"How are you holding up, Emery?" Erick asked me while holding my hands. He was the last one to embrace me in a hug. I faced him and gave him a small smile, even though that was not what I was feeling inside.

"Emery..." he trailed off as he stared at me, seeing through my façade. I dropped it, showing my true sorrow-filled emotion.

"I can't do this," I whispered to him. He nodded his head in understanding.

"I know, Emery," he said, "but you have to do this. I--" he cut himself off. 

"I don't know what to say. She was your mother, and she was like an aunt to me. It is painful to watch the people you love leave, I get that Emery. But you need to say goodbye to her."

"I don't want to!" I said with a hick in my voice, tears threatening to clog up my vision once again.

"But you have to! She's dead, Emery!" Erick shouted, shocking me on the spot. He instantly regretted having said those words. His eyes widened as he covered his mouth with a hand.

"I'm sor--" he started to say, but I didn't listen to the rest of it. I decided to take off from the room.

"Emery!" Selena screamed at me, and I heard footsteps approaching my form. I stopped suddenly and turned to face her.

"How do you do it?" I asked with a look of disbelief. "How are you coping with the death of your parents? How do you go out and smile even though you lost important people in your life?" I asked as I slowly slid myself down on the floor. I placed my hands on my face as I cried silently.

Selena's parents were buried immediately through their daughter's orders. They were however buried on earth because Selena lived there for most of her life. I didn't attend the funeral because I was busy crying for my mother, and I suddenly felt like a major a-hole.

"Emery, I am finding it hard to accept they are gone," Selena said as she slowly slid against a wall and sat down next to me. "They were awful parents. That made it easier to say goodbye to them. But even though they were bad, they were still my mother and father. Telling them goodbye will give you closure."

"But I don't want to--"

"Emery," she cut me off, "you aren't the only one hurting here. I loved your mother. In fact, she was a better mother than mine! She took care of me like I was her daughter, and I am grateful about that. I know she would want us to live on and succeed in our lives. She wouldn't want us to mope around and cry for her. She would want us to move on for our sakes."

I wiped off the tears that escaped my eyes, thinking over what she said. She was right.

"Okay," I said. Even though she had said that, I knew it would be hard for me to move on.

She slightly smiled before standing to her full height. Then she extended a hand to me. I grabbed onto it as she helped me stand. She embraced me in a hug, patting my back. Then she retracted.

"Let's go," she said, and I followed her.

***********************************************************************************************

"Fellow witches and friends, we are gathered here today to mourn the loss of our fellow witch, Susan Davis," a priest said as an introduction to the funeral ceremony. It was being held in Crystalia at a graveyard located three miles away from the castle.

The funeral looked like any other. Many people in Crystalia had come to attend the service. Everyone was situated on white plastic chairs with me and the royal family sitting at the front. The day was cloudy and unexpectedly warm. My mother's corpse lay in a coffin at the front, situated a couple of feet from where I sat.

I zoned out in my sad memories as the ceremony progressed. The priest continued saying the introductory sentences while I looked around. My eyes zeroed in on a group that I barely expected to attend.

The Ordinary Brothers had attended the funeral.

My eyes trailed on each member. They didn't look sad, but they didn't look happy either. I guessed they too were affected by her unexpected passing. Or maybe they were there to show support.

I shrugged the thoughts off before turning my attention back to the ceremony. I still found it hard to digest the fact that I won't be seeing my mother again. At the moment, I realized I had not only lost my mother, but I also lost my father. 

I was a complete orphan.

Then people came and started giving their eulogies. The speeches were short, and they were positive, like how my mom helped some of the people defeat erwiches, and how she assisted in the castle and in the lives of fellow witches. 

Soon my turn came.

Nobody applauded as I got up from my seat and slowly made my way towards the front. My fingers were clammy, and my heartbeat increased, but not because of nervousness. I was dreading having to go see my mother in front of me. I was the last one who had something to say about her, and after that, we would talk to her form before she was to be buried.

Once I reached the podium, I took deep breaths. Someone handed me a microphone, but I didn't bother thanking them. I wanted to say most of my eulogy before I surely started to bawl my eyes out.

"Hello. I'm Emery Davis, Susan Davis' only child," I silently sniffled before I continued. For a moment, I felt unsure of what to say.

"The first time I met my mother. I don't remember much because I was a baby, but as I grew up, I found her beautiful. She was a kind and wonderful woman. She was wise and trustworthy.

Call it childish, but I hated school. I remember this one time when I was eight years old. I was told to go to school, but then I didn't want to. I would have rather spent time with her at home because I would miss her. I told her that, and do you know what she told me?"

No reply.

"She told me that it was important I went to school. She told me it was necessary I gain knowledge or else I would have been a stupid head. Then I started crying because I thought she called me a stupid head. Then she told me she hadn't, but I would have been had I not gone to school."

People laughed at the end of the statement. I had given a sad smile before I continued, "There was also another instance when Selena walked into our lives. I'd rather not go into the details that brought her to us, but from what I could gather, it was a great moment for me. My mother showed kindness towards her. She even gave her space to stay at our home in New York, and from that day, I got someone who I could consider my sister.

Those are just some of the precious memories I hold dear to my heart that involve her. It's sad to think I wouldn't have them again. At a time like this, I wonder what would have happened if she was alive. She would still be going to work. She would be coming home to see me. She would even be worrying about me going to college next month.

Overall, I would miss her. I would miss her presence, her pestering questions, her involvement in my life... I would miss her and the wonderful qualities that make her a loveable and important person in my life. She was the best mother I ever had."

There was applause for a short moment as I went back to my seat. Then it was time to give her our last words. Otherwise, the part I dreaded.

It was finally my turn. My last moment with her before she was buried under the earth. I approached her form, feeling something hard grasp my heart and making me find it hard to let go.

I finally reached her coffin and took my time to memorize her features before I said goodbye. My eyes danced across my mother's form. She had worn a white wedding dress, and she held a bouquet of yellow flowers in her hands. Her skin had significantly paled, and so had her blonde hair.

I stood rooted to the spot, trying to process that it was finally happening. I was going to say my last goodbye, and I would never see her again in my lifetime. Tears threatened to escape my eyes again, but I forced them back in.

I stared down at my mother, not knowing how to begin telling her how much I would miss her.

"Hi, mom," I found myself starting. Then I momentarily paused as a knot formed in my throat. I didn't want to cry until I was finished with telling her my goodbye.

"Just wanted you to know that Eva is dead. I made her pay for doing this to you, and I saved the witches from her."

My hands reached out to caress her face. The skin was cold, and I instantly flinched a bit.

"Remember that time you and dad got me a bike for my sixth birthday? I was happy then, and I loved you for doing that.

I'm not sure of what I'm supposed to do. You're gone, mum. You're gone, and I feel all alone in this world. How am I supposed to continue my life without you?"

My head dropped to the hands that were clutching the bouquet. I wished I could feel her hands caress my head, but that was impossible. She was gone.

Then I exploded in tears. My back shook as I heaved in sobs. Then I continued telling her about the memories we shared. From when I was an infant, my first day at school, my first day at high school, my graduation, acceptance into Princeton, getting a job...

Then I fell into an unexpected moment of sleep.

"Emery?" a voice called out. I gasped, shocked by the call. I knew the person. It was my mother.

"Mom?" I called out, searching for her form around me. I was only met by whiteness all around. But then, I saw her form approaching me. She had worn a white dress, and a smile graced her features.

Currently, her arms were stretched out. Without a second thought, I ran towards her. She enveloped me in a hug as I heaved in sobs. I felt her hand caress my head, urging me to be calm.

When we retracted from the hug, she stared at me. She frowned and then wiped the tears off my face.

"Don't cry, Emery," she said. "Everything is going to be okay."

"How will it?" I yelled. "You're dead! I can't believe this happened to you. I wish I didn't--"

"Emery!" she cut me off in a shout. I kept quiet, waiting for her to continue.

"I know that I'm dead. But that does not mean that you have to wallow in sadness when you remember me."

"But--" I went to say, but she cut me off again.

"Emery, life is a journey. I've lived mine, and it's time to live yours. I don't want you to spend most of it missing me. I want you to be strong and to have courage. I want you to be happy, not to drag yourself down."

"But I have so much to say."

"I know, Emery. But the most important thing to know is that it doesn't matter. If it's something bad you did to me, know that I forgive you. It doesn't even matter. Do not regret not doing anything in the past, my child. All that matters is that I love you, and so does your father."

I was quiet for a while in amazement.

"You met dad?" I asked. My mom showed me a smile.

"Yes. He says he misses you."

Tears started to form in my eyes again.

"Tell him I miss him too." Then my mother's hands wrapped around my form as I heaved in sobs again.

"This must be hard for you," she said. "But it is also hard for me. I'll miss you and always love you, Emery."

We retracted from the hug. I stared into my mother's eyes.

"I will miss you too, and I love you, mum."

She smiled a sad smile. Her form began to disappear before me, and the world around me slowly darken. 

I was back at the funeral ceremony. My head was bowed, and I found myself staring at my mother's face. It seemed like time had hardly passed since I slept. 

I then realized the dream was not a dream. If it were, I would have found myself on a bed. 

It was my mother coming to talk to me before she went to the other side. I smiled a sad smile before standing up.

"Goodbye, mum," I said as I faced her. Then the ceremony proceeded. I couldn't stay for the rest of it, and so I ran to the castle and locked myself in my room.

CHAPTER 21

Three months later

Emery’s P.O.V

“Get your ass out of bed!” Selena shouted at me, pulling off the sheets that had covered my form. I groaned in protest, trying to pull them back over my head.

I failed.

I squinted my eyes to see another set of hands join Selena. The sheets were soon completely off me, and I shivered due to the cold morning air.

It was winter in New York. I was in my bedroom in the house I once shared with my mom. The memory of her had quickly shifted my mood.

“Emery, it’s time to get up,” the statement came from Erick. I groaned again. What was he doing in my home? Didn’t he know the policy of not disturbing a person who is mourning the loss of a loved one?

“I don’t want to,” I mumbled, searching for the duvet that I had covered myself with.

“Too bad!” Selena shouted, her loud voice echoing through the room and making me flinch at its volume. “You have been alone for a whole three months, Emery! I can’t let you stay like this. In fact, I’m worried about you. We are all worried about you, and we want to help you move past this.”

After the funeral, I had decided to stay at home because there were things to handle. For instance, there was my mother’s life insurance that was deposited in my bank account, and there was a note from her advising me to use it wisely. Everything that involved her reminded me of her, and so, I had been a crying mess for three good months.

“I don’t know how,” I told Selena and Erick. “She was my mother, guys. How can I move past not seeing her?”

It was bad enough my father died without saying goodbye. Losing my mother left me feeling lonesome.

“Emery, I know what you are going through,” Erick said. I wanted to complain that at least he had his mother, but I thought better of it and kept my mouth shut. “I know it’s hard to lose someone you love, but you need help, Emery. I know you miss your mother, but I know she wouldn’t want you to stop your life just because she’s dead.”

I flinched at the truth that the Prince said. He was right. Even in the dream I had during her funeral, my mother urged me to move past her death.

“What about talking to a therapist?” Selena asked. Erick and I turned to face her with questioning looks.

“My mum is dead. I don’t have a mental problem.”

“But you seem like you do, Emery,” she said. “You need to talk to someone about this. It will help you bring closure to your life.”

I remained silent, thinking it over. I wasn’t sure about therapists offering support to someone who lost their parents, and I was not about to go figure it out.

“I don’t need a therapist,” I deadpanned.

“I know what she needs,” Erick suddenly said. “She needs a distraction, and she needs to be away from this house for a while. Maybe it will help her heal a little.”

“I’m not sure about that,” I stated. I was worried that if I stayed away, something bad would happen to the house. It was one of the things I shared with my mum. I would find it hard to depart from it.

“It’s not a matter of being certain. You should at least try it.”

After a moment of quietness filled with thinking about his point, I found myself nodding to the idea.

“Okay. But what do you have in mind?”

Selena and Erick looked at each other with looks of unease before looking back at me.

“Well, the Ordinary Brothers offered to take you on their tour,” Erick said. I blinked. Then I blinked again.

“I’m sorry. What?” I asked with a hint of disbelief in my tone.

“That was just an offer,” Selena said. “Think about it. We’ll be going to new cities with them, Emery!”

I thought about it. It didn’t take long to figure out my reply.

“No,” I said before getting off my bed and starting to head towards the bathroom.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Selena asked with a tone of disbelief. I grabbed my toothbrush before turning to face her.

“Umm, maybe this will help jiggle your memory. Have you forgotten that they were my bullies in high school?” I stated, making Erick and Selena groan. I ignored them. “Also, what would I be doing with them? They are musicians on tour, doing their jobs! It would be awkward to just be around them, doing nothing but going wherever they go.”

“They said it does not matter!” Selena said. I blinked at her in disbelief, ready to argue with her over what she had just stated.

“It doesn’t matter?” I repeated her statement. “Selena, they are on a freaking tour! They are famous! And might I remind you the problem with paparazzi?” I stated as a fact. “Would you love to hear ‘Ethan is dating Selena’ or ‘Emery slapped Zane Marsh at the VMAs’ ?”

“Why would you slap Zane at the VMAs?” Erick asked with a frown.

“Not important. It was an example!”

“What if you’re wrong, Emery?” Selena asked. “What if what you said doesn’t matter?”

“Oh, it matters,” I replied. “You and I both know how I feel about many people knowing me and trying to get into my business. I would love a life where I’m not chased by celebrity reporters.”

“I do not disagree with you,” Selena said. “It would happen, but we have nothing to give them. They will surely leave us alone. Please, Emery! It's not just for your sake but also for mine. Can we go?”

I pondered her words in my head.

“If you want to go, then go. I am not stopping you,” those were the last words I told her as I headed towards the bathroom with a change of clothes. Once I returned, freshly dressed and ready for the day, I was surprised that she and Erick were still there.

“You’re still here?” I asked, voicing out my thoughts.

“We are not leaving until we give you a distraction!” my cousin shouted. “Okay, maybe you aren’t on board with the tour thing with the Ordinary Brothers…”

“I’m not on board,” I momentarily cut her off.

“…So what else can we do?”

“I could, I don’t know, get a job!” I stated with a sarcastic look of amazement. Selena and Erick rolled their eyes at me.

“Or I could learn computer basics before I enroll in college.”

I walked outside the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen. The duo was following me, not giving up.

“Oh my goodness, guys! Won’t you let it go already?” I spat, turning to face them. They flinched at the tone in my voice.

“Look, I’m sorry,” I apologized, “but I don’t think that going on tour with my ex-bullies is a good idea.”

“But Emery, weren’t you the one who wanted to put the past behind you?” Erick stated, making an excellent point.

“Yes, I did. But that did not mean I wanted to face them everywhere I turn. It’s bad enough they know about Crystalia and are welcomed in the castle. It would be weirder being around them as they do what musicians do while I do nothing.”

“You still hate them, don’t you?” Selena asked with a serious expression.

“I don’t hate them. It’s just that I don’t trust them,” I said, opening the fridge to explore the contents in it. I was looking forward to finding a plate or dish with uncooked food, but I found none. My eyes narrowed in disbelief, turning towards the kitchen cabinets.

“Well, you could learn to trust them,” Selena said. I sighed, getting tired of the conversation we were having.

“You are not going to give up, are you?” I asked with a sigh.

“Nope,” she and Erick said.

“Give me a day. I would think about it,” I said. Selena went to counter my proposition, but Erick grasped her hand to stop her.

“Let’s just do what she said. It won’t help if we argue for a long time,” he reasoned. My cousin thought about his words, and she found herself nodding in agreement.

Then they teleported away from the room, leaving me alone in the kitchen with nothing to eat. 

Geez!

The least they could have done was bringing me food.

***********************************************************************************************

Liam’s P.O.V

A scream tore through the hotel room, abruptly waking me up. In an instant, I got off the bed and went towards the door in my room. Turning the knob to open it, I exited the room, rushing to find out where the noise came from.

Logan, Harry and Zane exited their bedrooms. They all looked groggy from sleep, but they were also worried.

“What’s going on?” Zane asked with a look of concern.

“I don’t know,” Logan replied.

“Wait. Where’s Ethan?” I asked. We all glanced at each other before rushing towards the bandmate’s room. We didn’t even bother to knock. Once we were close to the door, we barged through it, worried about Ethan.

He looked shaken up. His knees were brought to his chest as he lay sideways on the bed with tremors racking his body.

The rest of us walked towards him and huddled around him.

“Ethan? What’s wrong?” I asked him. My hand went to touch his shoulder. Once I made grasped it, he flinched from my touch. I frowned at him.

“Ethan?” Logan called out from the door. “Are you alright?”

He kept shaking, and the rest of us were worried about him.

“WHAT’S GOING ON?” Trevor, our bodyguard, yelled as he entered the hotel room. He looked weirdly awake at the time of the night, and he had come into the room with nothing but his black pajamas.

“It’s Ethan,” I replied. “He’s shaken up, probably from a nightmare.”

“Really?” Trevor asked. “Damn! Well, I called the hotel security to come figure out the cause of the issue. I thought it was another fan of yours trying to sleep with one of you. But, I was wrong.”

Trevor was right about the fan thing. There was a time, not even a month ago, where one of our fans managed to sneak into a hotel room we were staying in. She somehow got into Logan's room and started kissing him. By the time he woke up, which wasn’t long, Logan started screaming. After that, there were a series of kicks and grabs (from the girl) before the hotel security took the girl away.

Our bodyguard left the room, probably going to tell the security team it was a false alarm. My attention turned back to Ethan. He was still shaken up. At the moment, Logan had embraced him in a hug from the back, trying to soothe him.

A moment later, Ethan had calmed down and was falling asleep. The rest of us stayed with him for a while, making sure he was deep in slumber. We then quietly got out and headed towards the hallway.

“Guys, I read his mind,” Harry said. “He kept seeing erboons, erwiches, and the bodies of Emery’s mother and Selena’s parents.”

My eyes went wide at the statement. Unlike me, Ethan was traumatized from seeing the dead bodies. I thought it would last for a short while, but I was wrong. Weeks after Emery’s mother had been buried, Ethan had begun having nightmares. They would come every three consecutive days in a week. Despite Ethan’s reassurances about him being okay, it had been two months, and the dreams were not stopping. Neither did my bandmates nor I realize what Harry said was the cause of the nightmares. 

“I don’t know what we are going to do,” Harry continued. “I’m afraid that if this keeps up, it will affect his performance on stage.”

“Wait. Is there a way to reverse the effects?” Logan asked. “Maybe there’s a spell to wipe that memory off him.”

“We’ll have to go to Crystalia tomorrow,” I said.

“Tomorrow?” Harry asked. “We have to be in the studio by tomorrow! We have an album to make, Liam.”

My eyes widened in shock that I forgot about that.

“We could call Selena and see if she can help us with Ethan.”

“That’s a good idea, Zane. So, tomorrow?” I asked in confirmation.

They all nodded in agreement, and we went back to our rooms.

***********************************************************************************************

Emery’s P.O.V

“Hurry up, would you?” Selena shouted through the house.

“Coming!” I shouted back while zipping my suitcase.

Two words: Selena won. 

After thinking over the tour offer for a whole day, I found myself agreeing to it. When Selena heard the decision I made, she shrieked in disbelief before forcing me to get ready to leave for the tour with my ex-bullies.

I mean, I was all for taking a small course on computer classes. But then I figured I could take it months later. There was also the thought of going to new places that had me agreeing to what Selena had proposed.

Anyway, there I was, struggling to close my one suitcase whereas Selena was all packed and ready with two of hers. In frustration, I pushed myself away from the damned thing and used telekinesis to forcefully close it. Once I was done, I walked towards the exit of the house with my small luggage in hand.

Selena was staring at me while tapping her foot on the floor in an impatient manner. She had two red suitcases standing next to her at the door. I rolled my eyes at her.

“It’s about time!” she yelled, her voice echoing through the apartment. I was momentarily worried that one of our neighbors would come to yell at us. 

Once I was near my cousin, I dropped the suitcase on the floor.

“So how is this going to work?” I asked her.

“Well, the boys said that they would send a car to get us.”

A horn blared around the area.

“Speaking of which…” she trailed off, picking up her two suitcases and dragging them with her to the parking lot. I groaned, dreading about carrying my own suitcase to wherever the car was parked. 

It was a good thing it had wheels. With a shrug, I held the handle, dragging my luggage as I followed Selena.

“Hurry up!” she screamed at me. We were in the hallway where our apartment was located.

“I’m trying!” I yelled back. Even though she had two suitcases, the girl could walk fast. I, on the other hand, was struggling with my only one. 

We soon reached and boarded the elevator. Two minutes later, we were at the building’s parking lot.

My surroundings were filled with white due to snow everywhere. The sky was covered with white clouds, and I found myself thinking about the bed in my apartment. 

A short distance from me was a black limousine. There was a driver who had worn a black suit and a black chauffeur hat, waiting patiently for us. By the time I reached him, Selena had her luggage placed in the trunk and herself in the car. 

The girl was undoubtedly very excited to go on the tour.

The driver helped in loading my luggage into the car's trunk. Then he escorted me to the back seat of the car. Once I had settled in, the driver went to his side. I turned my head to face my home for the last two years.

It was in a tall seven-storey, red-bricked apartment building, luckily with two working elevators. I lived with my mother and Selena on the fourth floor. Currently, snow had covered parts of the side I was facing.

“Are you ready to do this?” Selena asked with a giddy expression. 

I was not willing to do it. In fact, I did not want to do it. However, seeing Selena and Erick’s expressions the previous day made me glad that I had people who cared for me. They were trying to help me. I didn't want to disappoint them, and so I agreed to the tour thing.

“Sure!” I lied through my teeth. The driver started the engine, and we were on our way to wherever we were going. Looking back at the moment, I knew my life would change from then. 

That was, unfortunately, going to be the last time I saw my home.

CHAPTER 22

Emery’s P.O.V

The limousine Selena and I had boarded drove us through the city. We passed by familiar sights and buildings like the Starbucks café we used to work in. 

I sighed when I saw it. Even though I was fired from the job, the place held good memories, mostly considered of the salary payments.

“Isn’t this great? We are going to see the Ordinary Brothers!” Selena said, interrupting my train of thoughts. I had been facing the tinted windows, looking at the buildings we passed through when I turned to face her.

“I swear, only you are excited to go see them.”

“You aren't?” she asked with a frown, earning a shrug of indifference from me. “You get to see them perform on stage, and if possible, go to celebrity parties and meet your favorite celebrities!”

Her statement had me perking up. I had a few people I was interested in meeting. If possible, I would love to see them. That thought alone brought some excitement to my heart. 

It was just that I had to be with my ex-bullies just to go see other celebrities.

My eyebrows furrowed at the sudden thought of our destination.

“Where are we going?” I asked Selena. She looked at me with a look of interest before turning to face the tinted window on her side.

“I don’t know.” 

I blinked at her for a couple of seconds.

“Um, what?” I said, trying so hard to control my cool. “You mean we boarded an unknown vehicle, and we have no idea where we’re going?”

“It’s not a strange vehicle. I know the driver; Liam told me about him and even showed me a picture. It’s just that when he offered to have us join him and his bandmates on their tour, I was so excited that I didn’t even bother to ask where we’re going.”

My eye twitched at her explanation. Before I said anything else, the vehicle suddenly stopped. I heard the driver get out of his side, walk towards us and approach my side of the vehicle.

The door opened, revealing him. Behind him was a highway stretching towards the north with cars moving at a fast pace. If the dude was trying to pull off something, I would not hesitate to use my powers to knock him out.

“We have arrived,” he said, waiting for us to exit the limo.

“You heard the man. We have arrived!” Selena said with a grin as she began pushing me towards the opened car exit.

I sighed, getting out of the vehicle. Selena promptly followed with a giddy smile. I was met with a cold feeling on my face, a reminder that it was still winter in the US.

“Follow me,” the driver had said after taking out our luggage from the trunk. I felt bad for him because he was about to drag three suitcases. That was enough to get rid of any negative thoughts I had of him.

“Let me help,” I offered. His eyes shot up in surprise, and a smile graced his features.

“No, it’s okay. I'm fine,” he said, then Selena and I followed him. I hadn’t taken another glance at our surroundings, and so I took that moment to do so.

On the opposite of the highway was an airport. The driver had stopped the limo in a parking lot, and he was leading us towards the entrance of the building.

The airport uncharacteristically had a few people at the time. Maybe it was because of the winter season or something. If we were about to board a plane, it would make the boarding process easier. 

Unless a snowstorm decided to make an unexpected appearance.

“Are we boarding a plane?” I asked no one in particular but received no answer. I frowned.

“Wait here,” the driver told us after leading us to a set of metallic seats, leaving our luggage with us before heading forwards. Selena and I made ourselves comfortable before launching into a conversation.

“What do you think he has gone to do?” Selena asked, and I shrugged in reply. We continued talking about other stuff. A few minutes later, we spotted the limo driver heading towards us.

Selena and I stood up once he was a few feet from us.

“Okay. I talked to the boys’ bodyguard. He told me to tell you to follow me.” With that, we were following the driver, at the time carrying our own luggage.

I thought he was leading us towards the airport line where most people were. However, he was taking us on another route which had few people. I got concerned, but that was blown away when I found myself staring at a beautiful plane.

  

It was a small white plane. Its exterior seemed to glimmer in the day lighting, and my lower jaw dropped at the beauty. Were we going to board the plane? Why would we not use the normal commercial airlines?

My eyes widened in surprise when I realized something.

It was a private plane.

It could have well been a first class plane.

“Let’s go!” Selena said as she clapped her hands in excitement. I followed her, still amazed by what the boys had done for us.

They got us a freaking private plane!

I didn’t get it. Why go through all the trouble just to get a highly expensive flight?

Selena walked on the plane steps while urging me to hurry up. I couldn’t because we were boarding it with our luggage. I rolled my eyes at her.

“Miss, you’re requested to leave your luggage behind. Our crew will have it delivered once you reach your destination,” an air hostess spoke with a British accent just before Selena and I had fully entered the plane.

My cousin turned towards me with an embarrassed smile, motioning for me to climb down. I sighed, turning to go back to the ground. I was the first to drop my luggage, and Selena dropped hers too. Then we climbed back up to the plane.

Once we were in, my mouth opened in shock. The inside of the plane looked just as beautiful as the outside.

“Oh. My. Goodness,” I said, staring at everything around me.

I felt like I stepped into another world. 

One thing was for sure; the plane was expensive. 

There were tan leather seats around the plane. Every two of them were positioned in a way that they faced each other, and each of every fine dark-brown mahogany table with a glass top was placed in between. Moreover, there was a larger table on the side with a 55 inch TV placed on top of it.

  

“I can’t believe we’re traveling by jet!” Selena gushed in front of me. My eyes widened in shock.

Jet? We were in a jet? We were not on a plane but in a jet? Oh, crap.

“Attention, passengers! Please take your seats. The journey to London will start in five minutes. Also, you are required to switch off your electronic devices before we take off. Thank you and have a great day!” a person announced through an intercom.

Selena and I maneuvered ourselves until we sat a few feet away from the jet’s entrance. We took out our phones and turned them off.

“We’re going to London! Isn’t this exciting?” Selena’s non-stop gushing continued. I soon found myself infected by her cheery mood, and so I found myself gushing about our destination with her.

We then talked about stuff that we might be able to do once we arrived. Then almost abruptly, I found myself missing home, and more importantly, missing my mother.

“Emery!” Selena shouted in my face. I had placed an elbow on the table with my chin on my hand when my cousin's loud voice shocked me. I forgot about the hand under my chin, and so I slipped and hit the table with my chin.

"Ow!" I winced in pain as I began rubbing my injured chin. It just made the ache worse, and so I decided to leave it alone.

“Sorry,” Selena apologized with an uneasy smile. I just glowered at her.

"What I meant to ask was, why the look?"

"What look?" I questioned.

"The one you just had. It looked like you were thinking hard about something."

I remained quiet for a few seconds before sighing.

“I miss home.”

Selena stared at me with a frown.

“Look, Emery. The point of all this is to distract you and for us to have fun. What better distraction is there rather than exploring the world?”

“I will still miss my mother,” I pointed out.

“We all will, but at least you won’t be crying a lot, and I would get a break from worrying about your well-being,” she stated as a fact. I turned my head towards the window, expecting to see that we were still on the ground. However, what met my sight shocked me.

We were on air.

“When did we take off?” I found myself asking.

“I don’t know,” my cousin replied. “I guess we were too busy talking to each other to even notice.”

I blinked as I faced my surroundings again.

“I still can’t believe we are in a jet.”

“Me too! The boys must love us,” Selena said, making me shake my head with a smile on my lips.

“I mean. We are on a freaking jet! By the way, how long will the flight take?”

Selena smiled before turning to ask the air hostess that had received us at the entrance of the plane—I mean jet.

“Six hours,” she replied. My jaw dropped.

Six hours?

I might as well have teleported. But then I didn't know England so well, so...

 What would I do in six hours?

Six hours later

“Attention passengers! We have reached our destination. We are about to land. Please switch off your electronic devices, and thank you for choosing Private Jet Charter.”

I was woken up by the intercom that sounded through the plane. My eyelids fluttered open. At first, I wondered where I was. Then I recalled the events that led me to be on a private jet with Selena.

My cousin and I talked to each other, got bored and then moved seats to get a better view of the TV. We proceeded to watch a movie while we got a wonderful lasagna meal in between. Then we went to our seats, talked and then fell asleep.

I looked towards the outside of the plane. It was dark. I got confused for a moment. Why was it dark? Wasn’t it around ten in the morning when we left New York?

My thoughts were temporarily interrupted by a waking Selena.

“What time is it?” she asked. I turned my attention to an analog clock in the jet. The time read 9:15.

What?

“It’s nine in the evening,” I replied with a look of disbelief. Selena shot up so fast, it was enough to act like a Halloween scare.

“What?” she was scared at first, but then a look of understanding took over her features. Then she relaxed. I, on the other hand, looked worried. She noticed it and gave me a frown.

“Why are you like that?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s nine, Selena,” I answered. “We left at around eleven, and now it’s nine in the evening.”

“Uh huh,” she said while she gave me a weird look.

“Wasn’t the flight supposed to be six hours?”

“Emery,” she said calmly, “it has been six hours. Have you forgotten that New York and London have different time zones?”

I wanted to repeatedly hit myself on the head when she said that. 

I couldn’t believe I forgot time zones! So that had to mean that London was five hours in front of New York’s time. That made so much sense.

I felt the plane suddenly tilt forwards. In an instant, I found myself clutching the seat.

“Relax, Emery. We’re landing.” That had me calm down.

Minutes later, once the plane had landed, Selena and I rose up from our seats and proceeded to head towards the exit of the jet. Before we could, a burly man entered the plane. He had worn a black shirt with yellow words ‘SECURITY’ printed on it, and also wore a pair of black denim jeans. He also wore a pair of dark glasses, and I felt his eyes land on my cousin and me.

“Emery Davis and Selena Trentstone?” he asked for our names, and we nodded in confirmation. “The Ordinary Brothers have sent a couple of bodyguards and me to get you. Your luggage is currently being loaded into a car. You are to follow me, and I would take you to them,” Selena clapped her hands in excitement with an excited squeal once the guard finished talking. 

I couldn’t tell if he gave my cousin a weird look. 

Anyway, we proceeded to follow him towards the jet’s exit.

I took a momentary peek through one of the windows. It was dark outside with the moon and the city lights as the only sources of light to illuminate the area. 

It would have been great if we had arrived earlier in the day so that I could get a clear picture of my surroundings.

Once I stepped foot out of the plane, I was immediately hit by the cold London air. New York at the time was colder, but the cold in London could still do a number on me.

“Why is it s-so c-cold?” Selena said in a stutter while she struggled to find heat by rubbing her arms. The burly man didn’t reply. We nonetheless continued to him. 

The only things that I could see were the distant buildings, the light poles illuminating the area around us and a tarmacked road lighted by fast-moving vehicles.

The three of us continued walking, and we came to a stop at a limo. He opened a door for us, and with haste, Selena and I entered the vehicle. Once we were all in, the air around us significantly warmed.

“Finally! I don’t think I would have made it through the cold for a minute longer,” Selena said as we pulled off from the spot the car was parked. 

We were in London. At the time, the thought barely affected me. I was still tired from the jet ride. The only thing I wanted to do when we reached wherever we were going was to bath, have a meal and sleep.

CHAPTER 23

Liam's P.O.V

It was a cold night in London, and my bandmates and I were exhausted after a busy day. We were in the dining room area of the large hotel suite we were sharing, waiting for our bodyguard to enter. He said he had something important to tell us.

"Hey, guys! So this is the news about your schedule for next week," Trevor said as he entered the suite. 

The words that Trevor said made us groan. The lads and I had a week-long break that began on that day before we continued with our European tour.  I mean, couldn't Trevor have waited for the next day to remind us about the tour? We were exhausted after a busy day, and we couldn't wait to eat before going to bed.

"You're going to listen to me anyway," Trevor ignored our groans as he checked the papers on a clipboard that he came with.

"To begin with, I've been chosen to be the tour manager. The last one had to quit because his wife gave birth recently. Yay for me," he faced us with a bored look before turning to his clipboard. "Management is in the process of hiring more security personnel for this tour. You know how your fans can get. Also, we have people joining us."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Who will be joining us?" I inquired.

Trevor stared at me as if I had grown two heads. Then he checked his clipboard again.

"I momentarily forgot their names. Okay! These girls, Selena Trentstone and Emery Davis... they are coming with you on tour."

The boys and I stayed in shocked silence as we processed his words. He couldn't have said it right. For a moment, I thought he mentioned Emery and Selena.

"They're coming?" Logan asked in surprise. He wasn't the only one with that feeling. Trevor gave him a weird look in reply.

"Yes--" Trevor began to speak, but he was cut off by the ringing of his phone. "Hold on," he said before taking out his phone. He answered it with a 'hello' while moving further into the room for privacy.

"Wow. Emery and her cousin are coming?" Zane asked with wide eyes.

"According to Trevor, they are. I did not expect this to happen," Ethan said. "I mean, I thought Emery would flat out refuse to join us on our tour."

I thought so too.

Apart from the fact that we bullied her in high school, there was the thing with her mother having passed away three months ago. We had been concerned about Emery's well-being, and so the guys and I had been calling Selena to check on her and Emery. She seemed fine, unlike Emery who was mostly at her home in New York.

Selena had suggested that Emery required a distraction. She thought of maybe helping her enroll in a small class, but then she assumed she would fail because of her current emotional state. Then I suggested that she could come with us, her and Selena of course. Selena had remained silent before she started shrieking on the other line. She said she would ask Emery if she wanted to come. I believed Emery wouldn't want to come, but three days later, she was unexpectedly on her way to us.

"Okay. Have a good night, Jared," Trevor said, ending the call as he moved towards my bandmates and me.

"That was Jared from security. He wanted to tell me that the girls are downstairs and are on their way up."

I was excited, but then suddenly anxious. Why was I nervous? It was Emery, a person I knew.

Yes, a girl you bullied in high school.

If anything, the last thought made me think I would make things worse between Emery and me. 

The door to the hotel suite was opened as a couple of silhouettes appearing in my field of view. In came a jumping Selena with her teeth exposed in an excited grin.

"Selena!" Ethan said as he went to hug her. The others followed and hugged her as well. Behind her were a few of the hotel staff. They came into the suite and placed the suitcases in the room before leaving.

Then our attention turned to Emery. She nervously looked at the guys and me.

"Hey guys," she said with an awkward wave of the hand. Nonetheless, we all went to hug her.

Unexpectedly, Emery blushed.

We all proceeded to embrace her in hugs.

"Oh! Hi, Trevor. I'm Selena, and this is my cousin Emery," Selena said with a smile as she turned to face our tour manager with an extended hand. He was shocked that she knew his name. Nonetheless, he shook her hand. Emery even extended hers and greeted Trevor.

"Nice to meet you," Emery said.

"Likewise," our new tour manager replied.

"So, not to be bothersome, but where do we put the suitcases? Also, where are we staying?" Emery asked as she ruffled her hair.

"You'll be sharing the suite with the boys," Trevor said. Emery looked perplexed, but before she could say anything else, our tour manager interjected, "We'll talk about the tour on another time. Have a good night."

He then walked out of the suite.

"We're sharing a hotel room?" Emery asked with raised eyebrows.

"It's like that, but it's not like that," Ethan tried to reassure her, getting a confused look in reply. "It's like one big room that is made up of smaller rooms. We each have a room. Yours and Selena's are near the wall over there," he pointed the direction towards their intended rooms.

Emery sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Ethan," she said before proceeding to drag one suitcase towards one of the rooms. I was confused. Didn't she have two suitcases?

"Hey!" Selena shouted with a pout while motioning to the other luggage that was brought in.

"I've walked a long way with one of your suitcases. Drag the heavy things yourself," Emery said as she opened the door to an empty room.

"But my room is in the same hallway as yours," Selena frowned.

"Exactly!" her cousin replied as she entered the room before closing the door. 

What? That did not make sense.

Seconds later, Emery came out of the room and went to the other unoccupied one. The door opened, and I saw Emery's eyes light up before she moved towards the room. She closed the door behind her.

We waited for a couple of seconds, and we realized Emery liked the room she had entered.

"Here. I'll help," Ethan said, directing my attention to him as he took Selena's luggage.

"Thank you," she said with a smile, following him to the vacant room.

Emery's P.O.V

I had never been in a hotel room. It was my first time, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The size of the area was big enough to fit a small house!

With amazement, I glanced at everything in my hotel room. There was a large queen-sized bed located on my left that was next to the wall. There was also a reading lamp on the right of the bed. In front of me was a brown mahogany door. I walked towards it, opened it and gasped.

Despite there being a toilet in the same area as the shower, I found it beautiful. The room was large with tiles ranging from white to sky-blue placed on the wall. The floors were composed of slightly-roughened ceramic tiles, making the place look more marvelous.

I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

I walked out and started undressing. Seeing that I had spent six hours in a jet, I felt like I needed a shower. 

Once I was in a towel, I went back into the bathroom. I gasped again, noticing something that had not captured my eye.

There was a bathtub!

I ditched the idea of a quick shower and with a grin, I proceeded to prepare the tub. 

I looked around for a bottle of liquid soap. I found a full one, opening the cap and pouring out some of its contents in the tub. It was then that I remembered to check the water's temperature. I placed my fingers beneath the tap, feeling a moderately-hot sensation.

I assumed there was indoor water heating. If there wasn't, I could have just used a fireball to make the water warm. 

Once the tub was full, I dunked myself and sank into the water.

I felt calm and relaxed as I lay in the tub. After a while, I was getting bored of the silence in the area. Remembering something to do, I looked around for my phone. Seconds of turning in the tub had passed before I realized I left the phone outside the bathroom. 

With a groan, I slowly got out of the tub. Water dripped on the floors, and I sighed. I thought about going to the other side of my designated hotel suite and I felt worried that someone would see me.

But then, I had locked myself in.

With a shrug, I walked out of the bathroom. I looked around the room, searching for my phone.

Minutes passed, and I was getting frustrated. Most of my body had been dried, and the cold temperature in the room was not helping. I thought about forgetting the damned device, but then I spotted it on top of my suitcase.

I groaned in annoyance as I reached for it. Just as I was doing so, my door was opened.

Crap!

"Emery?" a voice said as I heard their footsteps approaching. 

Double crap! 

I had no idea why. Maybe it was instincts or a reflex action, but I turned to face whoever had entered my room.

It was a huge mistake.

Zane was staring at me with his eyes threatening to pop out of his sockets.

I shrieked before quickly ducking to the floor. The bed was between Zane and me, and I hoped it would provide a sort of shield for my exposed form.

"Sorry! I am so sorry!" Zane apologized. "I just wanted to tell you that dinner will be brought in thirty minutes." 

I heard his quickened steps as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.

In fear of someone else entering the room, I teleported to the door.

That was when I recalled I could have just teleported the phone to me when I was in the bathtub.

I wanted to smack myself for forgetting I had powers. If I were to blame something, I would blame the jet trip to England.

I had indeed not locked myself in the room.

I wanted to groan with a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.

Zane had seen me naked. How the hell would I be able to be around him, knowing he saw what he saw?

Zane's P.O.V

I still felt blood in my cheeks as I quickly exited Emery's hotel room. I didn't know she was in the process of going to take a shower, and that made things awkward between us.

More awkward than they already were.

I thought I could have forgotten about what had happened minutes later, but my mind couldn't stop thinking about it. I couldn't stop thinking about her. 

I never paid much attention to her body, but after seeing her without any clothes on, I realized she was hot. Like, water-boiling hot. Her beautiful face, her slightly-tanned skin, and unexpectedly, her breasts. 

The image stuck in my mind, and I felt a desire to touch them. I itched to grasp them and torture the erected pink nipples, sucking and biting them in delight as I pounded into Emery, listening to her moan as she came. Her eyes would be darker, filled with desire. And I would not hesitate to give it to her. I could even picture it, picture her moaning my name out loud as I gave her a toe-curling orgasm after a toe-curling orgasm.

Blood rushed to my groin, and I felt shocked about it.

What are you doing, dude? You can't think about her like that!

My conscience was right. Emery was hands-off. I couldn't just go over and start touching her in naughty ways that would—

Yep. I was doing it again.

Emery was strictly hands-off because it would be awkward. I didn't need that and the fact that I was her ex-bully to complicate things between us. I wasn't even sure she had gotten over what I did to her. The only thing we could be was just friends. 

Besides, my girlfriend would not be pleased about it.

Selena's P.O.V

I had showered before I went to have dinner with my cousin and the boys. It was great. We had a nice time talking mostly about the sites in England. We even talked about going there. 

At some points between conversations, I felt as if there was some kind of tension between Emery and Zane. I decided to blame it on my exhaustion. I mean, how could there be tension between the two of them when we had just landed in England on the same night?

An indecipherable amount of time later, we had all fallen asleep in our beds. The night seemed peaceful; that was until a blood-curdling scream echoed through the suite. 

I was up like a fully-charged phone and ran towards the door. Opening it, I went to the suite's hallway. It was dark, and I found it hard to spot where the scream came from.

Maybe it was an erboon. Maybe it was an erwich. Maybe it was even a thief or murderer! Whoever it was, they needed to be dealt with.

The scream came again. I realized it was in one of the hotel rooms. With quickened steps, I ran and barged in, a fireball flaming on one of my hands. I quickly diminished it, seeing that there was no one but a screaming Ethan thrashing around the bed.

I ran towards him. I began struggling to get him up.

"Wake up, Ethan!" I insisted, but he did not do so. He was just screaming, and because I was close to him, it felt louder and harsher to my ears. 

I soon heard footsteps come towards me.

"What's going on?" Emery asked with a yawn as she walked to the other side of the bed.

"I don't know," I replied. It took a short while for my cousin to be alert. In a quick manner, her hands were over Ethan's head. Her eyes were closed, and I picked up that she was reading his mind. Her eyes suddenly flashed open.

"Guys, it's best if you back away from him," Harry said as he entered the room. He was quickly followed by the rest of the boys.

"I don't get it," Emery said. "He's seeing the dead bodies of Selena's parents and... my mom."

Emery turned to look down at the ground. I felt bad that the subject of her mother was brought up. 

"How long has this been going on?" she asked after she shook her head.

"The last two months," Liam said as he looked at the floor.

The hell?

"AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING?" Emery and I shouted at them. They flinched, feeling bad for themselves. However, arguing was not going to help. Ethan needed to be cured of the repeated nightmare.

"I don't know a spell for this," Emery said as she looked around frantically.

"What if we use the memory erasing spell?" I suggested. Emery thought about it.

"Yeah! I believe that would work."

Then Emery and I had conversed for a short while about the spell before closing our eyes and chanting it. The spell was hard to perform since it required us to form a mental picture of a control room for the memories. It was a good thing that Emery and I had talked and decided to picture some kind of futuristic computer in a dark environment.

It had taken us a while to find the memories that plagued Ethan's mind. Soon, we used the 'computer' to delete the memories.

Emery and I gasped as we found ourselves in Ethan's room once again. Ethan's form had stopped thrashing on the bed, and he was peacefully sleeping.

"The spell has worked," I told the guys as Emery and I turned to face them. "Ethan will no longer be screaming in his sleep. Now, can we get to bed and catch up on our sleep?"

CHAPTER 24

Emery's P.O.V

I had woken up from a long and comfortable nap. For a moment, I did not realize where I was. It was after a while that the memories of the previous day came back to me. With excitement, I walked towards the suite windows which were partially covered by the curtains. I drew them back to take a look at the city that surrounded me.

My mouth opened in amazement. I must have been on higher ground because I could barely see the roads. I also spotted a wide river with a large road bridge on top.

My hands reached for the glass, and I found myself itching to just fly over the city to get a better view just like I did in Crystalia.

"Good morning, Emery!" Harry greeted me as he barged into the room with nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. His torso was bare, revealing a marvelous hairless chest and faint six-pack abs.

I think I just found another reason why his fans love him.

"Harry! What if I was undressing?" I screeched, telling myself to look at his face and only his face.

"I heard your footsteps from the kitchen," he replied with a confused look. A blush began to form on my cheeks.

Wait. We had a kitchen?

"Anyway, I hope you are hungry. I'm making breakfast," he said before leaving the room. My eyes shot up in disbelief.

Harry could cook? This I got to see.

I found myself walking behind him and towards the kitchen.

On our way there, my eyes widened as I looked around the suite. On the previous night, I was too to pay a lot of attention to my surroundings. If I did, I was sure I would have been gobsmacked then.

I looked down, noticing the marble floors. The walls around were painted cream white. On my left was a large dining and entertainment room with a glass door leading to the balcony where one could feast their eyes on the view of London. Moreover, lights placed on the ceiling illuminated the room, even though there was enough light coming from the balcony door. Further in front of me was the exit door and to my left, the kitchen where a shirtless Harry was making me breakfast.

The smell that came from the food had me salivating instantly.

"You can cook?" I found myself asking, still not believing that he was an expert in the kitchen.

"Yeah," he replied. "My mother taught me. I used to step in when she would get tired. I also took cooking classes in high school."

He did?

"I did," he replied with a smile, answering my mental question. Okay, that was good to know. I was ready to taste whatever he would make and be the judge of it.

"Morning," a groggy Selena greeted us as she made her way towards us. I wanted to laugh at her current physical state. Her hair was all over the place, and her eyes were barely opened.

"Hey, Selena!" Harry greeted loudly, making Selena flinch.

"Harry, can you keep it down? It's so early in the morning," she grumbled.

"It's 9:30," Harry deadpanned.

I stifled a laugh at the shrug that my cousin gave him.

"I don't get it. What were you doing last night?" I inquired.

She remained quiet, not bothering to answer my question.

I gasped. Her eyes widened, thinking that I knew what had occupied her.

"You were with Justin, weren't you?" she blushed in reply. My question was a guess, but seeing her blush, I knew that was true.

"But how? I thought you were asleep!"

"What I do with my boyfriend is none of your business," Selena chose to state.

I rolled my eyes at her.

Minutes later, the three of us sat around the dining room table. It had been months since I had eaten a decent breakfast, and I was very happy with what Harry had cooked. The three of us were eating eggs and bacon with glasses of orange juice.

The minute I took the first bite, I knew Harry was a genius cook. Selena and I actually groaned with pleasure at the taste. It was that good. All the while, Harry was watching us with expectant looks.

"Marry me," I said, earning a look of shock from him. "If you can cook this well, I would want you all to myself." He proceeded to laugh.

"Hey guys," Zane made his presence known, making me tense. I looked up to glance at him. Our eyes met, and I immediately looked down at the table. Selena saw the exchange, and she gave me a questioning look. I just shrugged, feigning it was nothing before continuing to devour my food.

"You cooked?" Zane questioned. Harry nodded.

"I'm not busy this week, and we had guests," Harry replied. I looked up from my plate to stare at the two members of the Ordinary Brothers.

Zane gave him a smile. "Could you--"

"No," Harry replied in an instant.

"But--"

"No," Harry spoke again.

"Hmph," Zane sighed in defeat before moving to sit beside me.

Oh crap. Was it only me or did he not feel weird about what happened hours ago? He saw me naked for goodness' sake!

What happened next shocked me. Zane took a bite out of my eggs.

"Zane!" I shouted his name in disbelief, turning to face him. He gave me a sheepish smile before digging for another bite.

"Harry!" a whine left my lips as I turned to face the curly-haired boy. Zane took part of my breakfast, and I wanted the curly-haired boy to replace it, and if possible, make more for me. Harry rolled his eyes with a smile, and with a wave of a hand, the egg was replaced, and Zane had his own meal.

"Thank you," he replied before he began to dig into his own meal. Minutes later, Ethan decided to grace us with his presence. The cheery mood was placed on pause as we all turned to face him with a look of expectation.

It was important to let the memory wipe that Selena and I had done on him to take effect. We didn't know if the specific memory was erased from his mind, so we had to wait until he woke up to find out.

Ethan furrowed his eyebrows at us.

"Okay, what is going on with you guys? It's too early to make this morning weird," he said, but we ignored him.

"What do you remember of yesterday?" Harry asked. Ethan gave him a look of confusion.

"What?"

"What is the date today?" I questioned.

"The tenth of January, 2011," he replied. We all sighed in relief.

"What do you remember last?" Selena asked.

"You guys coming to the hotel after traveling by our jet from New York. Afterward, we ate and went to sleep."

"Where are we?" Zane asked.

"In London, on our second tour—okay, what is going on?" Ethan asked.

"Nothing," we all replied at the same time, but the look of disbelief never left his face. I sighed.

"Remember going to Eva's castle last year?"

Ethan nodded.

"Well, Selena and I wiped a part of your memories," his eyes widened as I informed him of that, "Because you kept having nightmares about something that happened there."

"You wiped my memories?" he asked with a raise in his voice and a look of fear etched on his face.

"A memory and the nightmares brought by the memory. Trust me, you do not want to have those memories back in your mind."

Ethan remained silent for a while, but he nodded as a sign of acceptance.

Hours later, the rest of the boys were awake, and we had all eaten and gotten dressed.

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" Liam asked while filling himself a glass of water.

"I don't know," Selena replied with a shrug. "You are the ones who know this area."

"We don't know this area. Well, most of it," Logan replied. "We could go see the Buckingham Palace."

Where?

"But that's open on specific dates," Ethan said, and after a moment, he added, "I think."

"We could get in. The advantage of being a popular celebrity is getting everything you want," Zane said. I eyed him with a look of incredulity.

"Cocky much?" Selena asked with a sly smile. Zane rolled his eyes at her.

"Okay, so it's settled then! We could go to Buckingham Palace right now," Liam said.

Moments later, we found ourselves being driven towards our destination. Trevor, the boys' tour manager, insisted that we should be careful not to let the paparazzi notice us. The boys had to wear disguises in which they wore dark sunglasses and colored wigs over their heads. Ethan was the exception because he had to wear a black wig over his head. We had no option but to agree with Trevor's suggestion. Then he called for two private limos to take us wherever we wanted to go. That was how we later found ourselves outside the grand building.

"Wow," I replied in amazement. I found myself suddenly wishing that I had brought a camera with me.

The structure of Buckingham Palace was large. We were feets away from its gates, admiring its design and appearance. The building had a large rectangular cuboid-like design. The structure was painted white with antique-white streaks at the sides and at the large entrance.

Birmingham Palace had a wonderful garden that beautified the place. Apart from the green grass that covered most of the area, there were flowers being grown that added color to the surroundings. A large fountain statue also met my eyes.

Regarding the security, the palace had guards situated around the area and beside the building's iron gate entrance. They all had worn tall, black bearskin hats with red coats that had white buttons. They had also worn black trousers, and they each held a rifle positioned to point towards the sky. From where I was standing, I could see a couple of them march towards different directions.

"It's so huge," Selena said with wide eyes, drinking in all she could see.

"It's so grand," I commented. The only royal building I had ever come across was Crystalia's castle, and that was not even recognized on earth. I continued to look over the building, and a memory hit me. Wasn't Buckingham Palace in that Garfield movie where the cat went to England?

The British are coming! The British are coming!

I held in a chuckle as I recalled that moment where the dog peed on one of the guards, and he and Garfield were being chased away.

"You know we could go inside, right?" Zane spoke beside me, breaking the train of memories that were going through my head.

The seven of us were about to step foot towards the palace grounds when the guards approached us in a quick manner. They came and stood before us, not saying a word. The guys and I moved to evade them, but they moved towards our direction to block us.

Strange.

"Hello?" Liam asked while waving a hand in front of one of the guards, but he got no reply.

"Why aren't they letting us in?" Logan asked. "It's bad enough they don't acknowledge us. It would be good to know why."

"Really?" Selena asked with a sly smile. She went to approach the guards who were blocking the entrance. She snapped her fingers in front of one of them.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

"Selena!" I whisper-shouted her name to get her attention. I did not want to risk being chased by the palace guards.

"Hello?" she called out to the guard who completely ignored her. She was not going to get a reply anytime soon.

"Rude," she said with a frown before coming to us.

"I guess we are not allowed inside," Liam said. That caused me to frown. "Sorry guys. Maybe on another time when we come back."

"You guys will be back here?" I almost missed the last part of what Liam said because I was disappointed.

"Yes," Logan replied. "It's all part of the tour."

"There must be some other places we could go sightsee," Selena stated as we all began to exit the palace grounds. 

What a waste it was to even go there.

"We could go visit the London Eye," Harry suggested.

"What's that?" I asked in curiosity.

"It's a huge Ferris wheel we could board and see most of London."

Selena and I perked up at that idea. We then boarded the limos we came with and then we drove to the London Eye. Once we arrived, we alighted and the vehicles we traveled in left.

The London Eye was large just like Harry had said. It was one huge Ferris wheel with a white exterior. For a moment, I thought it was like any other ordinary Ferris wheel. I took a closer look, and I was astonished by my discovery. There were pill-shaped structures with glass walls.

On that particular day, there weren't many people. Seeing the few individuals standing in a line made me glad about it because I couldn't wait to board it. It was soon our turn, and we all boarded one of the capsules.

The doors closed. Once I felt the capsule moving, I grabbed onto the closest thing to maintain my stability. That thing was a person, and it was Zane. A blush formed on my cheeks. I instantly withdrew my arms... only to draw them back onto Zane when the capsule moved and stopped, shaking for a moment.

I looked up at the boy who had still worn the dark pair of sunglasses, and he was trying so hard not to laugh.

"What?" I asked with a small frown.

"For someone who can fly, it's ironic that you are scared of heights."

I rolled my eyes at him, silently agreeing with the irony, and watched as we were slowly being risen off the ground. I looked through the glass that exposed the outside world, noticing that we were a bit high off the ground. 

The Ferris wheel stopped again before resuming its movement minutes later.

I looked behind me and saw the rest of the boys talking with Selena. They seemed to be having fun. Seeing that my cousin was occupied, I turned to look for seats. I found one that I doubted was a seat.

With a shrug, I decided to just stand for the whole read.

"Emery, I think we need to talk about last night," Zane said, and I wanted to bury myself into the ground. The worries of the Ferris ride were completely forgotten once Zane mentioned the previous night. I thought he had forgotten about it since we were acting like best friends in the morning, but seeing that he was bringing it up...

"It's okay. I know it was an accident," I said, trying to make the conversation short. My cheeks turned a rosy red just at the memory of Zane busting into the room and seeing me.

"I'm sorry. I should have at least knocked, and I should have had the sense that you might have been undressing. I didn't mean to look at your--"

"It's okay!" I repeated, cutting him off before he mentioned any body part of mine. "It's okay. It was just a one-time thing."

Zane kept staring into my eyes to see if I was honest before nodding and turning to face the view outside the capsule.

"Wow," he commented. I looked at the scene around me and my eyes widened in amazement. I could see part of London from where we were, and we were still moving upwards! There was a river, which I believe Liam said was the Thames and a bridge above it.

Oh. That was the bridge I could see from the hotel!

I could even see the Big Ben from where we were. 

Liam called it that when we I mistakenly called it the big clock tower of London. 

"It's so beautiful," I commented as I touched the clear surface of the capsule.

"It is," I heard him reply. With a small smile, I turned to face Zane. I almost shot up with a blush when I noticed he was looking at me. It felt awkward again, and I turned to face away from him.

The ride came to an end, and we all alighted from the capsule. The guys and I walked out of it, and moments later, other people were boarding it.

It was past midday by then, and it was heading towards evening. Moreover, we had not even had lunch yet.

"We should go grab something to eat," Selena said. "All this sightseeing is making me hungry."

The boys led my cousin and me to a nearby restaurant. It was in the outdoors with a huge tent above us. Seeing many people had situated themselves in the area, I felt worried about the boys' inconspicuousness. That thought flew out my brain when the smell of food wafted around my senses.

We had only settled down and ordered our meal when the worst thing had to happen. I mean, it was bound to happen, but so soon?

"OMG! It's the Ordinary Brothers!" someone screamed, and everyone around the restaurant turned to face us. I searched with my eyes for who had screamed, only to see a blonde girl with an excited smile pointing at our seat. How did she know who the boys were?

My head turned to face the boys, only to notice that the black wig Ethan had worn exposed half of his blonde hair and that he had removed his sunglasses.

Oh no.

CHAPTER 25

Emery’s P.O.V

One by one, the fans of my ex-bullies exposed themselves by releasing shrieks of excitement. It only took a second for my hearing to focus only on the screams. I suddenly felt scared. I did not know what to do. 

I took a brief glance at Selena and the members of the Ordinary Brothers. They remained still with widened eyes, scared like I was that they were found out.

“Run,” Logan said. He did not have to say it twice. I was not looking forward to having my late lunch interrupted by the boys’ fans. But what Logan said had been a mistake on its own. No sooner had we gotten up than they started to follow us. 

Talk about an incident similar to running away from a lion.

We took off at a fast pace away from the outdoor restaurant. By the sound of the approaching footsteps, I did not need to turn to know we were being followed. Our ordered lunch was soon forgotten as adrenaline pumped through my blood, giving me the energy to evade my ex-bullies' crazy admirers. Logan was in the lead, and the rest of us followed where he ran.

Two minutes later, we found ourselves running through the streets of London with a horde chasing us. Of all the thoughts of how the day would end, that was far from it.

“I love you, Harry!”

“Please sign my T-shirt!”

“You will be mine, Logan!”

Those were some of the shouts I heard from the fans. The rest was just jumbled up screams. Looking around, I saw a few people standing by and taking photos of Selena, the boys and me.

My legs began to ache as I was soon getting tired. My head turned to take a peek behind me. I was astonished by the fact that the fans were moving at a constant speed, not seeming to get tired at all. What were they high on? Coke?

I looked at my sides and saw Selena and the boys running with me. They kept a constant speed, and I was reminded I needed to get back in shape. My eyes narrowed at Liam who was speaking on the phone. How could he do that when most of our minds were occupied with evading the clutches of the crowd behind us?

The moment could not get any worse than it was already was, could it? Yeah, big mistake to even ask that question. In front of me, I saw another screaming group, mostly filled with girls waving their arms in the air, run towards us.

Oh crap. What do we do now?

As if someone heard my question, two cars stopped in front of us. My thoughts of ‘this is the end of the road!’ were interrupted by an angry Trevor getting out of one of the cars. I never thought I would have been happy to see the burly man than I was at that time.

“Get in!” he shouted, motioning with his arms towards the vehicles. 

Again, no need to say it twice.

  

Selena and I rushed towards one. We entered it with haste, quickly settling ourselves as Liam joined us in the same car. I looked behind, and through the window, I saw the rest of the boys boarding the other one. I gazed at the front, seeing the other group of fans approaching us. Before I could worry about them being close to us, the car drove off towards the left as it took another route, taking us away from the spectacle.

I sighed in relief, collapsing onto the back of my seat. My heart regained its normal beating rate, and I felt my mouth was dry from running too much and thus getting thirsty.

“I think I found out how the boys manage to stay in shape,” Selena joked, and Liam laughed beside her, even though he was a bit out of breath.

“Wow,” I commented before turning to face Liam. “Do you go through that all the time?”

“Rarely,” he replied. “It only happens when we mess up with our disguises.”

“If you ask me, I’m surprised it didn’t happen on the London Eye,” Selena said. “Ethan’s wig was already half off when the ride ended.”

“That is surprising,” I said. “No offense, but what do those girls even see in you guys?”

“Potential husbands who can sing and make their fairytale dreams come true,” he said, and I snorted in disbelief before laughing. When I was done laughing, I saw that Liam was serious.

“Oh!” I exclaimed in shock. “Could it be your accents, fellow English boys?”

It was Liam’s turn to snort.

“What are you going to do next? Say something along the lines of British tea and crumpets?”

“Probably,” I answered in my own version of a British accent. Selena and Liam turned to face me with looks of surprise. So I continued “Fine sir, do you know where we’re going? It’s a bit hot, and I’m sweltering like a popsicle on a hot day.”

“What?” Liam asked with a weirded out look, and Selena and I guffawed with laughter.

“You nailed it, Emery!” Selena said in between laughs.

“O kind fellow, do you know where I can find British tea and crumpets?” Selena asked, and I found myself applauding for an accent well portrayed.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Liam rolled his eyes at us. “We may be British, but we are not all from England. Ethan, for instance, is from Ireland.”

“What about the rest?” Selena asked. Liam frowned.

“England.”

Then we all laughed.

“Guys, I think we went off topic. What were we talking about?” I asked.

“What the girls see in the Ordinary Brothers. Yeah, and Selena is a fan of ours even before she met us. Tell us, Selena, what the girls see in us.”

Selena’s eyes went wide at Liam’s statement. A smirk formed on my lips as I stared expectantly at my cousin.

“Umm… you have beautiful voices. You’re cute, and you all have great personalities.”

“Aww,” Liam gushed at what Selena said. My cousin turned to give me a bored look as if saying ‘look what you’ve made me do.’

The car came to a stop, and we all got out of the vehicle. The other car that the rest of the guys had boarded soon came to view and was parked beside ours.

“It’s good to be back at the hotel,” Selena said. “I’m still hungry. Let’s order pizza or something,” she continued as she began walking towards the hotel entrance. My eyes landed on the other guys. Liam and the others were in the process of being given a stern talk from Trevor. It didn't involve my cousin and me, so I followed Selena.

***********************************************************************************************

Eva’s P.O.V

“Your Majesty, what is your plan?” Tevix, my second in command, asked. I sighed before continuing to look at what was in front of me.

I had placed a large mirror and enchanted it in my castle to spy on Emery. 

“I have no plan for now,” I replied as I moved away from the magic mirror. The view of Emery and her friends was replaced with a reflection of the chamber.

“What? But your Majesty—” Tevix went to complain, but I interrupted him.

“Patience, my minion. We will do what you had done for the past years. The only difference is that this time, you will not attack.”

“Your Majesty?” he asked with a wary look.

“You and the rest want to attack the witches,” I said and he nodded in reply. “There is one thing that is blocking our way towards them, the crystal. We need to get her out of the picture, but that will be difficult. Look, for now, do not attack. Let the witches think that you are all powerless. They will believe that you won't attack because I'm 'dead'. Meanwhile, I will come up with a plan, and Crystalia will be ours.”

I let out a loud cackle just for the fun of it.

***********************************************************************************************

One week later

Emery’s P.O.V

A week had passed with the boys. We mostly spent our time indoors, but Selena and I didn’t mind, especially after being chased through half of London by the boys’ fans.

I kid.

We were chased through the whole city of London. 

Okay, it may not have been that long, but it felt like it!

Anyway, the boys were supposed to resume their tour. According to their tour manager, they were supposed to be heading to Glasgow in Scotland. Even though it had been a fun week with the boys, I felt like I was intruding. I hated that.

“Emery, are you ready to go?” Ethan asked as he peeked through the open door to my temporary hotel room. I was packed and ready to leave with my three suitcases. In the past week, the boys took Selena and me shopping. The weird thing was that they didn’t let me pay for the clothes and they didn’t even let me see the price tags. It was strange, but I didn’t dwell much on the matter.

“I’m ready,” I replied, summoning my telekinesis powers to help drag my luggage on the floor. I exited the room at the exact time that Selena did, only to see she was using her powers for the same purpose as I was.

“Guys! We’re still in the hotel. What if someone saw you?” Logan said.

“Relax,” I replied. “No one can see us from here. In fact, they would have done something by now, seeing that someone used a fireball to light the oven.”

Logan blushed, and he let the issue go. The specified incident was quite humorous. In the past week, we were trying to bake an apple pie. The oven was not lighting up, and Logan was getting impatient. He decided it was a good idea to light it up with a fireball. 

...

Had I not frozen time to cast a spell to get rid of the fire, we all would have been killed, and the hotel suite would have been in flames. What we learned from that incident was to never let Logan light anything with gas.

The door to the hotel suite suddenly opened. Selena and I immediately stopped using our powers just as Trevor entered the room.

“Hey, guys! The cars are downstairs to take you to the airport. The crew and I will follow you on another plane. Remember not to draw attention to yourselves. That is all I have to tell you. Management will inform you through the phone if anything changes,” he announced before leaving the room.

“That was brief,” Selena commented. She and I thought that the boys had some kind of friendship with the tour manager. Maybe we were wrong, but who knew?

When we were all ready, we headed towards the hotel elevators. Trevor had already checked us out, so there was no reason to check ourselves out at the reception desk.

We found the cars just like Trevor had explained at the back of the hotel. 

“This is going to be great!” Selena squealed in excitement. “We are about to go to Scotland. Emery, it’s like a wedding present to us.”

“You do know you could have come here alone with Crystalia’s queen paying for the trip, right?”

Selena snorted.

“She’s like my mother. She would be asking how much money I’ve spent, and I do not want that.”

We all boarded the vehicles in an order that Selena, Ethan and I sat in one vehicle while the rest shared the other.

“How do you all fit in that other car?” I asked Ethan in shock.

“Harry sat at the front,” he replied. That made sense.

“So Ethan, is this your first time to go to Scotland?” Selena asked just as the driver started the engine.

“No,” he replied. “I’ve been there when we had our first tour. It was one of the cities we visited.”

“How is it?” I asked.

“The scenery is beautiful. I think you girls will love it.”

After a while, we found ourselves exiting the car. We were at an airfield where a private jet was parked. There was an airport building a distance away from us. The field was mostly made up of tarmac road, and the rest was a field of green grass.

The jet read Private Air Charter. My mind picked up the name. 

Where had I come across it? 

Then I recalled it was the same one that Selena and I boarded to come to London. I was excited to get on it again.

Minutes later, we were all settled and taking off. The boys sat a couple of seats behind Selena and me. They needed to talk about plans for the tour. 

The two of us sat together and had rearranged the seats to face the front of the plane. The distance between the boys and us gave my cousin and me enough privacy to talk about anything that we knew.

“So I’ve been thinking, what are we going to do about college?” I asked Selena. She was quiet for a moment before she turned to face me.

“Really? You’re thinking about college now?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s not too early to plan for the future,” I replied. “And we know what we want to do.”

“Exactly!” Selena said. “We could start later in the year, probably August. Look, let’s just enjoy the tour. We could talk about it when we go back home.”

I gave Selena a curious look. She ignored me as she turned to face the window beside her. I was uncertain, but it felt like my cousin wasn’t sure about her future plans.

Zane’s P.O.V

“Guys, I need your advice on something,” I said. Ethan, Logan, Harry and Liam stopped conversing with each other and turned to face me.

“S’sup, Zane? What’s the problem?” Logan asked.

Then I proceeded to tell the boys about what happened when I went into Emery’s room the other week. They gave me shocked looks.

“No,” Logan said with his mouth wide. “You did not.”

“I did. But it was an accident! I didn’t know she was in the room instead of the shower!”

“Dude! You could have knocked before entering,” Ethan said with a chuckle. I glared at the boy, but all he did was laugh at my reaction.

“I realized that later, but I had already seen everything.”

“Everything?” they asked at the same time with worried looks.

“Everything.”

“Oh, Zane,” Harry said, turning to face me and clapping me on my back. “You are screwed.”

“I apologized to her and she seems okay with it. The thing is I just feel weird around her.”

“What kind of weird?” Liam asked.

“The good kind of weird. Like, I can’t stop thinking about what I saw.”

“You mean you’re aroused around her,” Ethan pointed out with a flat tone.

“Ethan!” the rest of us whisper-shouted to him.

“What? It’s not like they can hear us.”

I groaned before placing my face in my hands.

“I will just advise you by saying it’s just a phase. Also, do not tell Bianca about this. Your girlfriend will be mad that you are fantasizing about a girl who looks hotter than she is,” Ethan continued.

“Ethan!” we shouted his name at the same time, and the bandmate just shrugged his shoulders. I turned around to see if the girls had heard us. They were chatting animatedly, even though I couldn’t hear what they were talking about. At least my worry ceased about Emery having heard what was discussed.

I just hoped that Ethan was right and that it was just a phase. 

CHAPTER 26

Emery's P.O.V

The flight to Glasgow was short. It took roughly two hours to reach our destination, and we were early enough to get lunch. At the moment, the boys, Selena and I had sat around a large table in a restaurant, away from the view of the public eye.

  

My cousin and I insisted that we cast a spell over the boys to hide their identity in public, but the boys rejected the idea. They said, and I quote, that they didn't want something like Freaky Friday to happen to them.

I mean, seriously? We were experts in magic, not freaking beginners!

Anyway, we had just ordered our meals, and we were waiting for the waiters to bring them to us. To hold our stomachs, we had requested for milkshakes. It was better that than ice-cream because I would be full even before I began to devour the meal.

"You guys are sure that you don't want me to cast a spell to hide you?" I asked again before taking a sip of my strawberry milkshake.

Mmm, yummy!

"We are sure," Liam replied. He and the rest wore the same disguises like the last time when we went to Buckingham Palace. I had to agree that the blonde wig could agree with Liam. For the others, it seemed so out of place. It seemed like they were trying to pull a Hannah Montana, and it was working so far.

"You guys are lucky," Selena said. "I'm surprised no one has noticed you by now!"

"Here you go," a waiter said as he and two others brought us our food. They had gotten the arrangement wrong, and so we switched plates to get what we ordered.

We all dug into our food, enjoying what was served before us. I had a plate of spaghetti Bolognese with another milkshake whereas the rest ordered lasagna.

"So the tour is about to resume," Liam said as a way of starting the conversation. I had been doing that thing where a customer in a restaurant awkwardly takes glances of their meal and surroundings when the singer spoke.

"We will be very busy with preparations and auditions," he continued. I had a feeling of how the conversation would go on.

"So you need us to leave," I stated for him. His head and the rest's turned to face me in an abrupt manner. Their eyes were wide, and they had looks of disbelief.

"What?" Logan was the one who asked, stretching the word. I sighed.

"Liam said you guys will be busy. I would not want to be a bother--"

"You are not a bother to us, Emery," Zane cut me off.

"But--"

"You. Are not. A bother," he punctuated the sentence while giving me a no-complaining expression. I had no option but to agree with him.

"Okay. So what is it that you guys wanted to say?"

"We got you new phones," Liam replied.

Selena shrieked in excitement whereas I raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with ours?" I asked with a frown.

"No Wi-Fi," Ethan stated as if it made a lot of sense.

"Okay," I stretched out the word.

"No compass, no support for cellular internet connections, no long-lasting charge..." Zane trailed off.

"Okay," I cut him off.

Liam proceeded to open the bag that he came with and took out two small boxes.

"Samsung Galaxy S," Selena and I read aloud. I looked away from the phone and to the boys.

"How much did this cost?" Selena asked.

"Not a lot. We even had installed unlimited calls and texts for you."

"You did?" Selena and I asked at the same time. The boys nodded in agreement, and they stared at us with hesitant looks.

I did not know how to feel about it. I mean I loved that they did that for us, but I did not want to feel indebted to them. But then, that was already too late, seeing that I boarded their private jet for free.

I opened the box and saw a black sleek touch-screen phone staring back at me. I touched it, caressing the phone and feeling amazed that such technology had reached my hands.

"I love it," Selena and I stated at the same time. We stared at each other before falling into fits of laughter. The boys relaxed, seeing that we were okay with the phones.

After having lunch, we went to a hotel booked by the boys' management. 

Then on the next day, we found ourselves going to the location where the boys would perform.

It all felt surreal. The advantage of being on tour with the Ordinary Brothers so far was going to new places I would never even have bothered to visit. Even though I wouldn't get to visit all of the popular sightings in the area, I would have seen enough to satisfy my curiosity, especially since I wasn't the touring type.

Selena and I were outside a large structure where the boys were to perform. It was called the Clyde Auditorium. It had a smooth dark-bluish metallic appearance.

There were people around, and there was the crew of the tour that the boys came with. They were inside the building practicing the songs and dance moves for the two-day concert.

The phones that the boys got Selena and me had five-megapixel cameras. They weren't very clear, but then they weren't that bad.

The two of us were acting like the tourists we usually weren't. We moved around, taking pictures of our surroundings to fill the memory of our phones.

"Why are you taking photos of the sky?" Selena asked with a frown on her face.

"I love me some scattered clouds on a clear blue sky," I replied, continuing to snap photos of the atmosphere.

"Girls," Trevor called out to us as he approached us. Selena and I turned to face him.

"The boys want you to go see them inside," he said, pointing at the large structure. "They said something about you liking the inside of the auditorium better, I don't know."

Selena and I thanked Trevor before proceeding to the entrance of the building. Once we were inside, we noticed that the ceiling's position kept increasing in height as we walked further to the stage. There were about six hundred bluish-green seats around us. There were also others on the two floors above us that were arranged in an ascending order towards the entrance.

"Wow!" Selena exclaimed in amazement. She took the words right out of my mouth. 

How many people were going to attend the boys' concert?

In front of us was the stage. There were lights arranged at the top of the ceiling, and below it, there was a stage where the boys were expected to perform. Behind it was a black stage curtain.

"Amazing, right?" Logan spoke. We turned to face him, seeing him approaching us with a smile. He was walking towards us from my left. It seemed like he had been waiting for us.

"How many tickets did you sell?" I questioned.

"I don't know," he replied. "Our management deals with all that stuff. By the way, you should come see us practice in the back."

"No--"

"Sure!" Selena cut off my decline. With a sigh, I followed her and the musician. We moved towards the back of the stage, which was past the curtains, where we saw the crew of the tour preparing themselves for the concert. There was a group which was dealing with music and sound check. Another was setting up the stage while the other, which was the rest of the band, was singing.

"Selena! Emery!" the boys called out our names. Some of the crew turned their attention towards us. I felt a blush form on my cheeks, and so I avoided their gazes and turned to face the boys.

"So, what are you guys up to?" I asked. There was a piano among them. Harry had sat in front of it while Liam held a guitar. Zane and Ethan had been singing, but at the moment, they were all giving me furrowed eyebrows. Harry even went as far as raising an eyebrow at me.

They continued to remain silent.

Did I forget something?

Then it hit me that they were preparing for the concert.

"Sorry. I forgot because this place is amazing," I said with my mouth forming an 'O' shape. "I didn't think you had many people coming to your concert."

Another silent reply.

What had I done now?

I mentally went through the words I spoke. My eyes widened when I realized my mistake.

"No! What I meant is, I didn't know how popular you were."

Selena turned to face me with a look of disbelief.

"Still?" she asked. She shook her head at me in false pity, and I rolled my eyes at her. That managed to get a smile from the boys.

"So, how does it feel?" Logan asked beside me with a giddy smile.

"Huh?" I said with a confused look. He playfully rolled his eyes at me.

"Your first concert!"

"I'm excited. I can't wait to see you perform!" I replied.

"Really?" Logan asked with a look of disbelief.

"Sure! I may not have heard your songs--"

Selena cut me off with a false clearing of her throat.

"Most of your songs," I corrected myself. "I liked What Makes You Beautiful. That song gives me a feeling that your other songs are great."

(A/N Some of you may have already found out that this book was originally a 1D fanfic. I have included some of their songs in this book. I placed them here for fiction, to get the story ongoing. Please don't hate me!)

"Guys, I have an idea!" Ethan shouted with a smile. "Let's sing to Emery that song and make her love it."

Ethan say what?

"NO!"

"YES!"

Selena and I had screamed together. I turned to give her a bored look in which she replied with an innocent smile. Then I heard the guitar intro to the song being played.

I faced the boys.

"No," I deadpanned. No way was I planning to hear what they were going to sing. We were in public for Pete's sake! Speaking of which, the crew had stopped what they were doing to witness our exchange. I did not want anyone to think I had problems accepting my appearance.

   

"You're insecure, don't know what for," Liam began, moving towards me with a smile while playing the guitar, thus going against everything I said.

"Guys, there's no need--"

"You're turning heads when you walk through the door," he cut me off again.

I sighed in exasperation. Well, might as well hear the rest of the song.

"Don't need makeup, to cover up,
Being the way that you are is enough

(Harry)

Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you,

(All)
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know, oh, oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
If only you saw what I can see,
You'd understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh, oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh, oh,
That's what makes you beautiful

And there came my blushing cheeks.

(Zane)
So c-come on.
You got it wrong.
To prove I'm right, I put it in a song.
I don't know why, you're being shy,
And turn away when I look into your eye-eye-eyes,

(Harry)
Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you,

(All)
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,

(Harry)
That's what makes you beautiful

Na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na [x2]

(Harry)
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

(All)
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,

(All)
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful (Oh),
If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately ([Harry:] desperately),
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,

(Harry)
That's what makes you beautiful."

"So," Liam said, stretching the words. "Do you love it now?"

I was a blushing mess by then. When they finished the song, they pointed their fingers at Selena and I. They didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. And the staring. Oh my goodness, the staring! They were looking into our eyes. No, souls! It took a private concert with them to understand why their fans adored them. They had beautiful voices.

"You win!" I said in a blubbery mess. "I loved it."

"Yes!" the boys said, finally stopping pointing at me.

"I need to find a bathroom," I said, quickly heading out of the area. I needed a quick moment to calm down and to stop blushing like a school girl.

***********************************************************************************************

Hours later

"Good evening, Glasgow!" Harry greeted through the microphone. His voice sounded through the whole building, and he was answered by screams from the people who had attended the concert.

I was still in Glasgow. The boys' concert had started. Selena and I were next to the stage with other fans of the boys. I felt so out of place and extremely awkward, especially after having being sung to by the boys behind the stage hours ago. Selena had a good laugh once I exited the bathroom, and she made fun of me, saying that I got OBer fever. 

Like Bieber fever.

"Shut up!" was my reply, even though I had blushed harder than ever before. Selena just laughed at me and said, "It's normal to act like that towards them. You are one of the few who can hold themselves from jumping their bones."

"Selena!" I had shouted at her before she guffawed at my reaction. I couldn't help it. The boys had sung wonderfully. Their eyes pierced through mine, especially Zane's. I found his brown orbs unexpectedly mesmerizing.

Oh crap.

"Hi! I'm Ashley," a blonde girl with curly hair who looked like she was in her twenties greeted me with an extended hand.

"Emery!" I yelled with a smile. "This one over here," I said, motioning to the girl responsible for bringing me on tour with the boys, "is my cousin, Selena."

"Hi!" my cousin yelled at the girl beside me.

"I am so excited for this! When I heard about this band of handsome British guys who can sing, I just couldn't say no to going to one of their concerts. I finally got a chance to see them live!" Ashley gushed about the boys.

"I love all of them, but I love Harry more. His green eyes just speak to me, and I would actually do anything for him, even kill. I would destroy anyone who gets in my way!"

I eyed her warily, trying to hide that I wanted to escape her proximity.

"I'm kidding!" she said with a smile, making me relax instantly. The boys had been speaking, and soon, a familiar tune began to sound through the area.

"... You're insecure, don't know what for..."

"Ooh! I love this song!" Ashley screamed before singing along to the lyrics. A blush came to my cheeks as the memory of what had happened earlier replayed in my mind.

The night went on with the boys performing different songs. They even had performed their own versions of songs performed by other artists. There was a lot of screaming involved, especially when Harry greeted one of his fans. It seemed to be hours before the concert ended.

"Good night, everybody!" Liam shouted through the mic. He and the rest of the boys began to head backstage, and everyone began to move towards the exit.

"I had fun," Selena told me as we moved towards the exit of the building. I looked around for Ashley but then noticed she wasn't around. 

I frowned. It seemed weird that she would leave like that, but I didn't focus much on it. I turned to push my way through the dispersing crowd of OBers.

CHAPTER 27

Third person's P.O.V

"What is the matter, my son?" Queen Elizabeth asked the upcoming ruler of Crystalia as she walked into the chamber. She had been looking for him to speak about the erwiches when she spotted his hunched form. Erick stood facing a window in one of the castle towers, staring at the area near the mountains. 

"I had a dream, mother," he said as he turned to face her with a worried expression. "I had a horrible dream that we will all cease to exist."

The queen felt her heart drop.

"What do you mean?" asked Elizabeth. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stared at her son in question.

The Prince sighed before replying, "I dreamt that Crystalia will be destroyed, and everyone would be under a new ruler."

The Queen's eyes noticeably widened at the words that her child spoke.

"What did you dream about, Erick?" she dared to ask.

Erick stammered, afraid that saying what he saw would make it come to life.

"What did you see?"

"I saw us fighting off the erboons and some erwiches. I was there and so were you. Justin, Selena, and the boys from the Ordinary Brothers were even there."

He paused for a moment.

"I didn't see Emery. I thought she might have been murdered, but none of us seemed sad about anything. No one showed signs of anger but determination. We just had serious expressions as we fought off the erboons and erwiches. I was left to believe that maybe Emery could..." he trailed off while biting the bottom of his lip with an uneasy look.

The Queen released a gasp, grasping what her son was trying to say.

"That is preposterous! Emery would never do such a thing! She is a crystal, and more importantly, she is a member of our family!"

"But she wasn't there!" the Prince exclaimed in horror. "I don't know why, but it felt so realistic. My gut instinct told me that Emery was the one bringing disaster to Crystalia in the dream."

"Listen, son. It was a dream, and it was nothing but a dream. I am sure Emery would not do that to us."

The Prince rubbed his temples as he felt a headache on its way.

"Could this be because you are worried about your coronation in three months?"

"It cannot be that," Erick replied. He winced as the pounding in his mind increased. "I took some wine last night before going to bed. Maybe that's why I had the dream."

The Queen showed a smile, pleased to know that her son wasn't thinking ill thoughts of Emery anymore. Erick had exposed a smile of his own before he headed to his own chambers. Once he was inside his room, he locked himself in.

He sighed, plastered on the door, as he took a brief glance at his room. History books regarding Crystalia were sprawled on the floor. The wooden table that served as his study zone was filled with other books that contained Erick's notes. The wide open window in front of him gave the room some brightness.

He walked to his dresser and searched for some painkillers for his headache. He swallowed them dry and headed to his bed to lie down. Then he fell asleep again.

Four hours later, he shot up on his bed, sweltering from the nightmare that had plagued him.

It was the same dream; the one where he suspected Emery would destroy Crystalia and its rulers then take it for herself.

The dream had been repeated for a reason, which was for certain. It brought a belief that the person he once considered a friend could possibly change, and he felt fear grip his heart.

The dream felt like a warning of the future to Erick. He needed to do something before what he saw could become a reality. He knew for a fact that his mother would not believe him, that she would take Emery's side in the matter against his, and that brought a feeling of hurt. 

Shrugging off that thought, he realized he had to be alert and that he couldn't tell the Queen. He knew he had to be there when something immediately seemed off. The most important thing to do at the moment was to avoid speaking of the dream. As the future king of Crystalia, he felt a responsibility to secure his people. That could even mean destroying certain friendships for their sake.

Emery's P.O.V

(A/N Had no idea of which limo image to use so I chose this)

It was another morning. The sight of buildings passed me by at a fast pace through the tinted windows of the car. The boys, Selena and I had returned to England for the tour. The boys were to perform in Liverpool.

Around the time that the boys performed in Glasgow, I realized that being on tour was hard work. For instance, we all had to wake up at six at one time to go back to England three days ago. It was not a problem for Selena and me because we used to wake up early at times to read. 

We basically adapted to it! 

Unlike us, the boys were extremely tired by morning. Even though we got less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep, I felt as chirpy as a bird.

"I love England," I said.

"Could you keep it down?" Logan groaned as he placed his hands over his ears. "Some of us are trying to get some much-needed sleep."

I snorted. Currently, I was in a limo with him and Harry. It felt uncomfortable for a moment, seeing that I usually shared a car with Selena, but I basically got over it once the boys started sleeping. It was fun to watch them cuddle. Could it be possible that there was an ongoing bromance that I had no idea of?

"We're here!" the driver of the vehicle shouted. Harry and Logan instantly flinched at the voice. I held in a laugh at their reaction, but then I immediately felt bad for them.

They looked exhausted, and yet they were powering through it.

We all exited the vehicle. I found myself staring at a huge building. It seemed like a theater. It had brick walls, and it had the words 'CITY HALL' placed above it.

"Where are we?" I asked just as the vehicle we had come with drove away.

"Newcastle City Hall," Harry replied.

Oh yeah! I recalled Trevor saying something about the boys' next performance being on some city hall. I frowned at the building in front of me. It seemed small like it was intended for a small banking institution or something. 

Hmm... maybe the concert was intended for a few people...

The sounds of a car approaching could be heard within our proximity. Logan, Harry and I turned to see if the others were approaching, and we were right. The black limousine came to a stop beside us. Since we were standing on the sidewalk, the three of us moved behind to give space for those on board to alight.

The doors of the vehicle opened. Selena was the first one to exit. When she saw me, she grinned as she extended her arms. I didn't have time to react before she engulfed me in a hug.

We had basically seen each other about three hours ago, but who was I to complain about a free hug? I hugged her back for a couple of seconds.

My attention turned to the people behind her. Liam was talking to the rest of the boys. The subject was probably tour-related. Selena and I decided to talk about other things as we waited for the boys to finish talking. Once they were done, we headed towards the entrance of the structure before us. We walked past a hallway into one room, and I was amazed by what I saw.

My cousin, the boys and me continued walking forward, all the while looking at my surroundings. There was a floor above the seats around us with more seats arranged in an ascending order. The stage had a couple of curved stairs. Lights were placed at high points on the walls in a manner that they mostly faced the stage.

Even though the building looked noticeably smaller than the one the boys had performed at in Glasgow, it still looked big to me.

A couple of minutes later, the crew was seen entering the building. The owners of the building helped in preparations for the boys' performance. Afterwards, we all dispersed to get lunch. Selena and I spent time taking more photos outside the theater. 

Hours later, everything was ready for the concert. The security personnel had arrived hours ago, and we were all preparing for the live performance.

"Five minutes!" someone shouted. Selena and I were backstage. On the three performances of the boys we had seen, we were always on the front. Seeing that we would be enduring that for the next months, we decided it would be fun to be in places other than the front. We wanted to see how things were to people situated in different spots.

The back of the stage was bustling with a lot of activity. Some guys were performing a sound check, others were arranging the lights while others were just ordering people around.

"Where is our opening act?" Trevor shouted as he moved through the area. "We are four minutes away from the concert starting!"

That was another thing I noticed about the boys' tour. They had other musicians start the concerts before they did. Apparently, it was important to build excitement or something like that.

On my right, I felt sudden movement from my cousin. I turned to face her, planning to talk to her, but then she had already moved swiftly before I could say anything. My eyebrows furrowed as I saw her talking to Trevor. 

What on earth was that girl planning?

Selena's P.O.V

I wasn't sure, but the lack of the opening act was some kind of sign to me. Maybe I could dismiss it and wait for another. But then, when would I get another chance to do what I decided?

I had developed an interest in singing ever since I first joined high school. My parents, however mean they could have been to me, complimented my talent. I developed singing as a hobby. It inspired me to write a couple of songs. I wasn't that good because I was a beginner, and so I had asked Justin to help me develop them. 

That was before we started dating.

He said they were pretty good, and he urged that if I was determined to pursue a career in music, I should do it.

I had been thinking a lot about it especially since I had found out what I would have to learn in medicine. I winced when I heard about the modules, and so I knew I couldn't actually do it. I thought about changing courses, but I wasn't certain of which one to pick.

That was until I joined the Ordinary Brothers on their tour with my cousin.

"Hi, Trevor," I greeted the bodyguard in front of me. In reply, he raised an eyebrow. "Is it possible for me to open for the boys?" I asked him. He raised a finger, motioning for me to wait for a moment before yelling at other people nearby. The tour manager then turned to face me with a look of disbelief.

"You can sing?" he questioned in doubt.

"Pretty much, yeah," I said with a shrug.

Trevor continued to eye me, and then he finally shrugged.

He shrugged.

"Okay. This concert might as well be the disappointing one on this tour."

I gave him an offended look.

"What? You say you can sing, but I don't know if you really can. We don't even have enough time to judge that. Either way, people will forget about this after assuming the boys had one of their fans..." Trevor trailed off as a smile took over his features.

What?

"That's it! You can go sing or do some karaoke version of a song, and we'll tell people that the Ordinary Brothers had..." he trailed off again. "That seems like a bad idea, and management would not like it. Damn it! Time is running!"

Trevor rolled his eyes as he sighed. "We have no other option. Go and have fun!" he said with a fake smile, pushing me towards the stage.

I continued to frown as the memories of what he had said replayed in my mind. I successfully buried the thoughts away and went to the sound crew. I gave them my phone and told them to copy a file into their system. It was an instrumental of a song I had written with my boyfriend's help. 

Nobody needed to know that.

We were one minute until the concert began, so there was no chance of changing my clothes to look the part of a musician. I didn't mind, seeing that Trevor mentioned the concert would flop.

I was met by applause as I walked towards the stage. It was after the curtains had been unveiled that what I was planning to do really sunk in my mind. My breathing suddenly became ragged due to nervousness. The OBers kept looking at me in expectation. I gave a small nervous smile before taking in deep breaths to calm myself.

The familiar tune of the song I wrote began to play. I was getting ready to sing, but my eyes betrayed me by looking at the numbers that had come for the show. There were so many people, and they had mixed expressions of confusion and expectations. 

I was starting to think against singing in public. What if I became a laughing stock?

I gulped, then I noticed I missed my beginning. The beats of the songs had even begun to play. There was soon a moment of silence, and the song began playing again.

You can do this, I told myself.

I repeated the thought. I closed my eyes, and the nerves calmed.

   

"I wouldn't wanna be anybody else,

Hey!

You made me insecure,
Told me I wasn't good enough,
But who are you to judge,
When you're a diamond in the rough?
I'm sure you got some things,
You'd like to change about yourself,
But when it comes to me,
I wouldn't want to be anybody else!

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na,
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na,

I'm no beauty queen,
I'm just beautiful me,

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na,
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na,

You've got every right, to a beautiful life
C'mon!

Who says, who says you're not perfect?
Who says you're not worth it?
Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'?
Trust me,

That's the price of beauty,
Who says you're not pretty?
Who says you're not beautiful?
Who says?

It's such a funny thing,
How nothing's funny when it's you,
You tell 'em what you mean,
But they keep whiting out the truth,
It's like a work of art,
That never gets to see the light,
Keep you beneath the stars,
Won't let you touch the sky!

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na,
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na,

I'm no beauty queen, I'm just beautiful me

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na,
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na,

You've got every right, to a beautiful life
C'mon!

Who says, who says you're not perfect?
Who says you're not worth it?
Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'?
Trust me,

That's the price of beauty
Who says you're not pretty?
Who says you're not beautiful?
Who says?

Who says you're not star potential?
Who says you're not presidential?
Who says you can't be in movies?
Listen to me, listen to me,
Who says you don't pass the test?
Who says you can't be the best?
Who said, who said?
Would you tell me who said that?
Yeah, who said?

Who says?

Who says you're not perfect? (yeah)
Who says you're not worth it? (yeah yeah)
Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'? 
Trust me, that's the price of beauty (hey yeah, beauty)
Who says you're not pretty? (who said?)
Who says you're not beautiful? (I'm just beautiful me)
Who says?

Who says you're not perfect?
Who says you're not worth it?
Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'?

Trust me (yeah), that's the price of beauty
Who says you're not pretty?
Who says you're not beautiful? 
Who says?"

Emery's P.O.V

Applause filled the area around me, but I was standing in shock.

Selena could sing?

"Thank you!" she screamed to the audience before she came backstage. She had a grin on her face as she was heading towards my way.

I still trying to process the events of the last five minutes. 

My cousin could sing. My freaking cousin could sing!

B-but, how? I didn't even know that!

And then there was something nagging at the back of my mind; that song... I had never heard of it. Could it be that my cousin wrote an original song?

On her own?

"YOU CAN SING?" Logan screamed beside me as Selena closed the distance between us. The loudness of Logan's voice forced my mind back to my surroundings. 

The rest of the boys were passing me by, flocking around my cousin and showering her with compliments. She laughed, enjoying the attention she was getting. Even Trevor and a couple of the members of the crew went to congratulate her!

"That was beautiful! I'm sorry I doubted your talents earlier," the tour manager apologized.

"It's okay," my cousin replied with a smile.

"Do you think you can do it again?" he asked. Selena looked undecided. Her eyes finally met mine, and an uneasy smile graced her features.

"Emery!"

I rolled my eyes at her with a smile. 'You sneaky bitch!"

Trevor and the guys laughed.

"You can sing? You can freaking sing, and you didn't even bother to tell me?" 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's just that I didn't want people making a big deal out of it."

I couldn't stay mad at my cousin. My smile turned into a full grin as I went to hug her.

"I'm so happy for you," I told her.

And I so wished I had her guts.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but boys, you're next in three minutes," a member of the crew told us before leaving the scene.

The boys moved quickly, leaving my cousin and me alone. Trevor gave Selena another compliment before he too walked away. 

"Is this why you didn't want to talk about college?" I asked after a moment of silence. She did not reply, and that alone was an answer.

"Why?"

"You wanted us to go to college. You looked so forward to it that I didn't want to disappoint you."

Wow! I didn't know she felt like that.

"Selena, it's okay. I'm your friend and family. I don't want to be the reason why you can't pursue a career in music. I'm telling you to go for it; that is if you really want it. I'll be okay with going to college alone," I said.

She looked surprised.

"Really?"

"I'm happy for you! Also, it will be cool having a celebrity relative. Just do me a favor by not becoming a snob."

She laughed at what I said before engulfing me in a hug. A tune began playing on stage. My cousin and I turned to it, looking at the boys as they began their performance.

CHAPTER 28

Emery’s P.O.V

“Uh huh… Okay. Thank you, Trevor,” Liam spoke before he hung up the phone. Selena, the members of the Ordinary Brothers and I were in a hotel in Blackpool, England. The boys had a day break before they were to perform at a venue called the Blackpool Opera House. At the moment, we were in a hotel suite having breakfast together.

Liam had received a phone call from the tour manager about something that seemed serious. The rest of us stopped eating to try to listen in. We heard nothing from the other line, and so we just waited for Liam to hang up and tell us what he was being informed.

“Guys, we have a problem,” he said as he kept browsing through his phone. Seconds later, he flashed us an online news article.

‘WHO ARE THESE GIRLS?’

I was confused by the title. There seemed to be no problem. My eyes traveled below the title, and that was when they widened at what I saw. Below the title was a picture of Selena and me running with the boys in London, trying to avoid the boys’ admirers.

Taking a moment to think about it, why were Selena and I running? We were not famous at all. Maybe we wouldn’t have brought such unwanted attention to ourselves if we stayed put.

I frowned at the thought.

“Don’t worry. The paparazzi don’t know who you are,” Zane said with an easy smile.

“Yet,” Ethan added, receiving looks of warning from the rest of the boys.

“The unknown girls have been spotted with the boys during their current tour. They have brought a frenzy of questions about them in the past two weeks, and everyone is dying to find out who they are. Could they be family members or secret lovers of the Ordinary Brothers?”

“WHAT?” I yelled at what I had just read.

“For now, we don’t know, but we’ll keep you posted.”

“Oh,” Selena stated with a hand over her mouth. Then she began squealing with excitement. I turned to face her with a look of disbelief.

“Are you kidding me?” I yelled. “The celebrity reporters spotted us! By now, I am certain they are searching for info about us. This is not something to get excited about! What if they find something embarrassing about us?”

“Emery! Why are you acting like that?” Zane asked with a frown. “It’s not the end of the world. Sure, the paparazzi will eventually find out who you guys are, but they won’t bother you as much as they bother us. Trust me.”

I turned to face the band member who spoke. “Zane, I appreciate your efforts in trying to calm me down, but have you guys forgotten that you bullied me in high school?"

The atmosphere turned serious all of a sudden, and I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry. I just realized I brought the mood a bit down, but think about it. What would you say if they dug that up?”

“Actually…” Logan trailed off, earning a look of suspicion from me.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, before we formed the band, we kind of made everyone in high school to keep quiet about us bullying you.”

My eye twitched as I calmly tried to process the information I had just received.

“What. The. Hell?” I cursed out as calmly as I could. "How?"

"Well, we apologized," Liam said, and I rose both eyebrows in disbelief. He sighed.

"Um, we had to kind of pay them to keep quiet."

"WHAT?" I screeched.

"Nothing too big!" Liam said with wide eyes. "Just a couple of signed T-shirts, VIP tickets to our concerts..."

"...setting up meetings with celebrities that they love, giving them enough cash to help them through college..." Ethan continued.

"ETHAN!" the rest of his bandmates yelled at him, but he just shrugged.

"She was going to find out eventually."

"No, she wasn't. If only you kept your mouth shut," Harry glared at Ethan before he sighed.

“We’re sorry,” Harry apologized. “It was necessary to stop the paparazzi from finding out about what we did to you. Besides, I know you would have disliked the attention that would have turned to you.”

Harry was right, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Oh please. You were trying to secure your future in the music business. How would you have known about me not liking the attention?”

Harry’s eyebrows squinted in confusion at me. “I am sure you ran away with us when our fans spotted us. You could have stopped and told them who you are and how you know us,” he pointed out. I remained silent, knowing that he was right.

“This will all blow up within days, and you could go back to being invisible,” Logan said with a smile.

“Umm…” Liam trailed off as he read through his phone. Logan and I sighed at the same time.

“What now?”

Instead of handing it to me, he handed the phone to Selena. She grabbed it with a worried look. That facial expression quickly disintegrated to a look of happiness.

“LOOK!” she yelled with a smile, pushing the phone to my face. I grabbed it to read through what Liam showed her.

‘MYSTERIOUS BEAUTY OPENED FOR THE ORDINARY BROTHERS WITH AN ORIGINAL SONG, AND IT WAS MARVELOUS!’

I read through the article. There were many words appraising Selena’s talent and her song, which was mostly accepting one’s whole beauty. Apart from that, there were speculations about popular music companies wanting to sign her.

“Whoa! People want to make me a star!” she screeched with excitement, and I joined her, jumping up and down and clapping my hands like a child.

“This is great! I have never been so happy in my life,” she commented with a smile. The boys and I joined her in the celebration.

Our moment of excitement was interrupted by a fireball passing past my head and to the wall beside me. I turned to face it just in time to see it explode and send flames that were close enough to char my head. Selena and I ducked on instinct as we turned to search for whoever threw the fireball.

The boys had also ducked. My eyes continued to roam around the room until they instantly caught sight of a female erwich in ragged clothes.

“We’ll deal with this!” Harry shouted, stopping me from moving towards the erwich. Harry shot up from his hiding place and threw a fireball of his own at the erwich.

He missed. The erwich had teleported within milliseconds to stand beside him. His eyes had widened with disbelief before he was sent flying backward onto the wall behind him. A sickening crack sounded throughout the room. 

That could not have been good.

“Harry!” we all yelled out his name just as he landed on the ground like a sack of potatoes. He was unresponsive, and I hoped he had just passed out.

Ethan stood and threw the erwich back with his powers of telekinesis.

“Foolish witches,” the erwich said before disappearing into thin air. The rest of us spent the next couple of seconds panting aloud. 

It finally happened! An erwich attack finally happened!

I was kind of hoping they wouldn't attack after Eva's demise, but I was wrong. Now that they were going to attack, those guys were not going to hold back their true capabilities.

“Harry!” Logan shouted as he ran to the curly-haired boy who lay on the floor. Our attention turned to the unmoving band member as we all followed Logan, curious and worried at the same time about Harry’s physical state. We crouched down to inspect him.

“There’s a pulse,” Selena said as she placed her index and middle finger on Harry’s neck. We then all sighed in relief. At least Harry was still alive. We only had to worry about the damages done to his body.

Selena suddenly screamed as she was brought upwards by an invisible force. Our attention turned to her just in time to see her dangling mid-air while trying to get rid of something around her throat. She was thrashing, and that was not helping.

“Selena!” the boys and I yelled before I levitated to her dangling form. My hands grasped something, and I wanted to wince in pain. Whatever was holding her up did not want to be let loose.

“Guys, I need help here!” I yelled out to the rest. Within an instant, Ethan and Logan came under Selena. They hoisted her up in hopes that the thing that held her would stop choking her. That didn’t work, seeing that she was still struggling to breathe. My heart began to pound with worry and a sudden feeling of helplessness.

This couldn’t be happening.

My cousin could not die on me at that moment. She was my best friend. She had a lot to look forward to in life. She was the only piece of my father that remained, and I would be damned if I let her go under my watch. I took a deep breath and grasped onto what was holding her midair.

I had winced before a scream tore through my throat as I felt around the object. The thing was hot, and it was burning the flesh of my hands.

What the hell?

The smell of burning flesh, no doubt mine, wafted through the air. I found a point of release on whatever held my cousin. I pressed on it with as much force as I could summon with my vision threatening to darken, and my cousin released a large gulp of much-needed air. The thing was unlocked. Some kind of red fire appeared in the form of a circle before extinguishing itself in the air.

Selena tried to plant her feet on the floor, only to collapse into Ethan’s arms. She began coughing a lot as tears began to leak from her eyes.

“What the hell was that?” she asked through a still-hoarse throat after being given a glass of water.

“I don’t know,” I replied as Liam tended to my burnt hands. I had not seen how disfigured they had become, and I was not looking forward to finding out.

“There,” Liam said as he finished healing my hands. I raised them to inspect how healed they were. I was amazed. It was like they weren’t burnt at all.

“Thank you,” I told him. He nodded with a smile before going to tend to the still-passed-out Harry.

“Do you think that this is the erwiches’ way of revenge for killing their leader?” Selena asked with a frown.

Selena was right. I would not have put it past the erwiches to try to avenge Eva. But what were we to do? Declare war within the hour? 

By the way, why did they target Selena instead of me? That seemed weird on its own.

“I think it is. We must tell the Queen and Erick about--” I was cut off by an invisible force that sent me flying towards a wall behind me. Once I hit it, pain exploded at the back of my skull. I was seeing stars once again for a moment.

“Look at you,” taunted the same erwich that had tried to attack us minutes ago. “You’re the crystal, and you’re already planning to cry to the rulers of Crystalia. You can’t even deal with something as small as me!”

Selena and Liam rushed to my form. They helped me steady myself, and all the while, I was facing the erwich that dared to smirk at me.

“No wonder it was easy to kill your mother.”

My eyes widened at the disbelief of what the erwich said. It seemed like it had a death wish.

Sometimes wishes do come true.

Rage exploded in me like a chemical test gone wrong, or more vividly, a nuclear bomb on a small island. I swiftly summoned a fireball, and before the erwich could react, I sent it at a fast pace towards it.

The erwich exploded within an instant, not even getting time to scream in agony.

“Emery!” I heard someone yell out my name. I turned to face the source, only to realize it was Logan. He had crouched down before he stood up to face me.

“You almost hit me with that fireball!” he yelled, totally freaking out at the moment. My eyes widened as his words hit me.

“I almost--” I said in a manner of repeating what he said in a question.

“Yes!” he replied with his eyes wide open.

“I am so sorry! That erwich mentioned my mother, and I snapped.”

He began to calm down, but he still seemed frightened.

“Emery, I’m sorry about the loss of your mother. However, you need to get a grip on yourself at times. You do not want to accidentally kill someone you care about.”

I nodded in agreement to Logan’ words. The singer gave me an understanding look before he went to check on Harry.

“That was close,” spoke Selena. I turned to give her a bored look before sighing over what had almost happened. The truth is, if I had actually killed Logan, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself. Even though he bullied me and left me half for dead.

A sudden thought came to mind.

Maybe the erwich wanted me to kill him!

I was furious once again. I couldn’t believe I was foolish enough to let the erwich get inside my head. It was a good thing that it was dead or else I would have cut it into pieces and fed its body to hungry polar bears in the Arctic.

Whoa! That was dark.

Logan was right. I needed to control my emotions before someone could possibly lose their life. I needed to have a calm mind and control over my urges.

Why was I chosen to be the crystal?

Selena’s P.O.V

It was a day after the dreaded erwich attack. Harry woke up an hour later with a migraine. Liam healed him, and he was back to normal, although he freaked out over what could have happened. Emery, the boys and I had teleported to Crystalia. We had engaged in light conversations with the Queen and Prince Erick before we told them about the attack that occurred in the hotel suite. They were glad that I was okay, but they were worried about the next attack. The erwiches had been really holding back if that incident was an example of how they could truly fight.

The Queen said that she would try to deal with the matter. Regarding the invisible rope-like thing that had me dangling mid-air in the hotel suite, it was apparently a rope of fire. It had been enchanted so that no witch could touch, even a crystal. It seemed weird and extremely worrisome that the erwiches had such an object.

“How is your boss?” I asked as Harry and Liam led me through the hallways of some building I had no knowledge of. The boys’ main manager had planned a meeting to talk to me. I had no idea of what it was about. The boys insisted that I go meet him, and I found myself saying yes to the cute pleading faces they had made earlier in the day.

“He’s okay,” Liam replied.

“No. I mean, what is he or she like? What should I expect of them? How should I act?”

“Just be you,” Harry replied with a smile. “He will love you.”

We came to a stop in front of a large brown mahogany door. Liam knocked. Anxiety gripped my heart, and I found myself thinking twice about what the boys and I had planned. I took in deep breaths to calm myself. I didn’t want to make myself a laughing stock.

“Come in!” a voice with a British accent shouted behind the door. Liam pushed the door open.

“After you,” he said.

“Oh please. You first,” I replied with a nervous smile. Liam shrugged before walking into the room. Harry followed next.

“Hello, boys! Nice to see you after quite a long time!” the same voice spoke with a cheery tone. The boys gave their replies and engaged in light conversation while I observed my surroundings. In front of me was a man with grayish-black hair. He had worn a casual gray shirt, and he had situated himself behind a black mahogany desk. Two black leather chairs were placed in front of the desk.

The gray walls around the room had me believing that the room was an office of some sort.

“We’d like you to meet our new friend, Selena,” Harry spoke. I snapped back to the conversation at hand when he mentioned me. I faced the person sitting in front of me.

“Hello, I’m Simon Cowell,” the man introduced himself with a serious expression, extending a hand in greeting. I released a small smile as I extended my own hand to shake his.

“Selena Trentstone,” I replied. Simon released a small smile before directing his attention to the boys beside me.

“Boys, I believe the two of us need some privacy.”

I felt more nervous at the moment.

“It’s okay! Don’t be nervous.”

“Knock him dead!”

Harry and Liam advised as they left the room. Once the door was closed, I felt some kind of loneliness. I moved towards Mr. Cowell’s desk. After repositioning one of the chairs to face him, I sat down and talked to him.

“I never got the chance to thank you for opening for us in one of the boys’ concert,” Simon said as he revealed a small smile.

“It was no problem. I wanted to help any way I could, even though it meant embarrassing myself in public.”

The boys’ boss laughed. My nerves began to ease.

“Embarrass yourself? Please. You were amazing and everyone, including you, knows it!”

I shrugged in reply with a smile of my own.

“How did you do it?” he asked. “How did you come up with an original song and end up making it sound so perfect?”

“I had help.”

“From the boys?” he asked.

“No,” I replied, not letting anything else go by. Simon released a small frown, but he ended up turning it back to a smile.

“Anyway, the reason I called you in is that I want to offer you a contract.”

“A contract?” I asked.

“A music contract,” he said as he opened his desk on his side and giving me a brown A4-size envelope. It looked bulky.

“Wait. You want me…” I trailed off.

“I’m offering you a chance to be a musician!”

What?

I never thought that would happen to me. I mean, I believed I had a wonderful voice, but not that good to actually have a career in music!

I shot up from my seat and did a little dance of excitement. My cheeks turned red as I remembered where I was. I sat back down on my seat. Instead of a frown, Simon gave me an amused smile.

“I don’t know what to say,” I replied as I looked at the brown folder, afraid of opening it.

“You don’t have to say anything. Take the rest of the week to think about it. I would not want you to do something you don’t want to do. If this is truly what you want, you can contact me. My numbers and e-mail are in the documents in that folder.”

“Oh my goodness! Thank you, Simon!” I said as I shot up from the seat with a smile.

“You’re welcome, Selena!” he said.

Minutes later, I was outside his office door. Liam and Harry had been waiting for me at the receptionist. I told them the great news, and they were happy for me.

I already knew what my answer was going to be once I exited Simon’s office. I just hoped things would turn out great and that Emery would support me on my decision.

CHAPTER 29

Third Person's P.O.V

Eva stared in surprise at what the magic mirror had revealed to her. She could not believe what had happened. 

Emery had lost her cool and almost killed someone!

"Your Majesty, I am very sorry about Thalia," Tevix was speaking as he approached the evil crystal. Eva stood still before turning to face Tevix with a knowing smile.

"I don't mind," Eva replied with a smile that brought unease to the erwich. "In fact, her noble sacrifice has brought something up that I had missed these past weeks."

"What is it your Majesty?" the erwich asked with a curious expression. With a smirk, Eva turned to face the magic mirror. Her left hand glowed green as she caressed the clear surface.

The reflective object revealed the moment when Eva was burnt by Emery. Tevix visibly winced at what was shown in front of him.

"I don't understand, your Majesty," Tevix replied. The queen sighed. With a snap of a finger, the moment was replaced by the usual view of gray clouds. Then the queen turned to face her second-in-command.

"When I killed Susan, Emery was furious. She got so angry that she burned me alive! Don't you see, Tevix? The plan was in front of us all along!"

The erwich was not following. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Eva noticed, and she sighed, knowing she had to explain further.

"Emery burnt me when I took out her mother's heart. She blew up an erwich for being happy about her mother's death and almost killed a fellow witch!"

"So we need to revive her mother and kill her again?"

"No, you idiot!" the evil queen yelled. "We can't do that. What I'm trying to say is Emery has a big heart. She cares for those around her. Did you even see what she did when I placed the rope of fire around Selena's neck? She would do anything just for their sake."

"So what are you suggesting, your Majesty?" the second in command asked. "That we kill everyone that the crystal cares about? I should tell you that she will find out that you weren't dead, and she will come for us all. She too is as powerful as you are, possibly even more, and she can obliterate us within seconds!"

The Queen thought over what Tevix said. She sighed in defeat, realizing that he was right.

"Damn it! I have no plan," she said. "It may take a while longer for us to reach the day our dynasty begins."

Eva had been walking around the room as she spoke. She came to a sudden stop and turned to face the erwich.

"What if we make them turn against her?"

Tevix thought over the words the Queen said.

"That seems impossible. How are we to do that, my queen?"

Eva's lips turned to form an evil smirk.

"I've seen that Erick has been having some nightmares about Emery. We could start with him then we'll slowly go to the others."

The Queen walked upstairs towards the top floor of one of her towers. Tevix followed behind her, eager to know what she had come up with.

They came to a stop in an empty cellar. It was the same one where Eva had killed Emery's mother. The pot was still in its position, but there were no contents in it.

"Get me these ingredients," she spoke as a piece of wrinkled paper formed on her hand. Tevix grasped it and inspected it. It was a list of ingredients to make a potion.

"It's time we manipulate the Prince's nightmares into our own hands."

***********************************************************************************************

Dream

Screams pierced the air as witches ran towards Crystalia's castle and nearby buildings for cover. Erick witnessed in horror as something red brightened up the early morning or late evening sky; he couldn't tell. Then a distinct crackling sounded through Crystalia like thunder.

He looked up just in time to see the dome materialize into glass shards with glowing golden edges.

"Look out!" a guard yelled out. The people screamed, rushing faster towards safety. Erick moved away from the window and further into the safety of his room. His heart thudded irregularly increased as fear made its presence known.

The shards landing on the ground sounded through Crystalia. It was like glass breaking, but only louder. Once that was over, Erick went to the window to inspect the mess that had occurred. Parts of the castle exterior walls were glistening, indicating the presence of pieces of glass. Then they slowly disappeared.

The distinct sound of erboons approaching made Erick move to lock the window. One flew and banged itself on the window, making scratches appear on it. It screeched with red eyes, staring right at Erick. The Prince's eyes widened in horror. He ran to the door and quickly shut it before fleeing to the castle hallways.

In there, witches were moving about, screaming in fear while trying to exit the castle. Then he comprehended something.

It was the dream. It was the same nightmare Erick had been having, only this time he was without those he knew. Selena, the Ordinary Brothers, and his mother were not present. That seemed strange. The Prince believed it was another chance that he would have to find out what caused all of what he was seeing.

An erboon flew through one window and went after him. Erick stood, believing that once he was attacked, he would not feel any pain.

He was wrong.

The erboon's claws pierced through his chest as it screeched. In reaction, Erick screamed. The pain was too much, it felt so real. He tried to push off the erboon but realized that he could feel it.

His eyes widened in horror. He couldn't believe he could feel the erboon. It was as if it was really there, trying to kill him. 

What was going on? What kind of a dream was he having? Was he experiencing a vision of the future?

He hoped it truly wasn't and that he would wake up soon. Nothing seemed to happen. He was still in apocalyptic Crystalia. The creature stared at him with its red eyes. He still felt the agony, and he needed to do something.

He felt around his jeans, hoping he had a dagger in there. He sighed in relief as he felt its outline in one of his pockets. With a swift movement, Erick took it out and dug the weapon into the erboon's torso. The animal screeched, retracting its claws from his chest.

Erick stabbed into it repeatedly to make sure it was truly dead. The animal lay still, not showing any movement at all. He pushed it off his form as he stood up. Then Erick resumed his journey to the castle's main study room. He did not find his mother there, which seemed odd.

He decided to move to the conference hall. People were busy trying to flee for their lives. Erick watched in horror as erboons flew into the castle. They had grabbed a couple of witches and flew high in the air before dropping them to their deaths. In the other dreams, he was attacked by those before he woke up. At the time, he was not going to let that happen.

Ducking to the floor, Erick tried to swiftly run towards the exit of the castle. Once he was outside, the environment changed. It was night with no stars. Instead of bustling movement, he saw dead bodies. 

That was not like in the other dreams.

Bodies of fellow witches lay across the castle surroundings. They had been piled carelessly like sacks of flour. Flies buzzed around the corpses, and Erick felt like puking at the scene. 

Erick looked around, realizing that the bodies had been piled around his surroundings. Some eyes were open as they stared into nothing, frightening Erick as he thought that was how the witches died.

The pungent smell of rotting corpse hit him unexpectedly. The dream was beginning to feel more and more vivid, and he was starting to lose focus on what was real. He moved through the field of corpses, not knowing what to do next. Then he tripped on something and fell onto something cold.

He came eye to eye with his brother's dead body. He was frozen for a moment, eyes widened, not believing what was beneath him.

"JUSTIN!" Erick screamed as he stared into the boys' eyes. Erick looked at his brother as he began to cry, spotting a stab wound on his torso. He called out again, but Justin gave him no reply. His eyes moved across the field, and he noticed his mother's body laid on the grass. Just like others, her eyes stared into nothing.

"Mom!" he screamed, rushing towards the Queen's form. On his way, he noticed other bodies. Like those of the Ordinary Brothers and Selena. They had patches of dried blood on their clothes. Their eyes were also open as they stared into nothing. Then he noticed something he had grown accustomed to during the past week: Emery'was not around.

In the previous dreams, Erick had been fighting with Selena, Justin, his mother and the boys who had bullied Emery. Emery was not there, which led him to start thinking that she betrayed them. He didn't want to be sure. 

No, he feared that he might have been right.

Erick collapsed on his knees as he gathered his mother's body. In the middle of his crying, he noticed a figure in a distance fly towards him. Erick squinted his eyebrows as he tried to focus on it. Then he stopped breathing altogether.

It was Emery. However, it was not the Emery he knew. The one who faced him was completely black. She had worn a black dress that flowed in the cold wind that he could hardly feel since he was occupied with his sadness. Her usual brown eyes were replaced with pure black ones. Erick gasped at the other thing he spotted. Because Emery was close to him, he noted that some parts of her skin had blackened while others had small green patches. He was certain it was her.

Emery was an erwich. But how did it happen? What led her to be the person she currently was?

"Why?" the Prince asked. "Why did you do all this? What do you even have to gain from all of this?"

Emery smirked as her unusual skin turned to reveal her human one. Her red hair was turned an unnatural black. Apart from that, she appeared unusually pale.

In the distance, Erick could hear erboons approaching. They were coming from the mountains at a fast pace.

"EIA!" Emery screamed with a voice that did not belong to her. In fact, it sounded like an echo. Erick flinched as a look of confusion took over his expression. "EIA! SIPTAC! EIA! SIPTAC! EIA! SIPTAC!" Emery repeated those weird words. It seemed like she was saying something else, but he couldn't hear it. 

Weirdly, Emery's black hair was slowly turning blonde as her eyes slowly turned a weird shade of... Erick wasn't certain, but it was as if they were turning blue. 

Just then, his view of Emery was blinded by a flock of attacking erboons.

Erick shot up in bed, his heart beating fast with sweat on his head. He scratched his head as he took the journal beside his bed. He had been using it to record the dreams he had been having during the past week. With his mind still fresh with the memory of the nightmare, the Prince could not afford to have it forgotten. He recorded every single thing he had dreamt, and he also wrote the weird words Emery said with another person's voice.

When he was done, he began pacing around his room. He needed to tell someone about the dreams he had been having. He even avoided going back to sleep in fear of the dream becoming a reality within seconds.

***********************************************************************************************

"Wait, wait, wait. So what you are trying to tell me is that Emery, my cousin, a person who let people bully her for two years, could kill every witch and us in Crystalia?" Selena asked with a look of disbelief.

Prince Erick decided to call Selena about two hours after the nightmare. The girl grumbled why he was calling her very early in the morning until Erick told her it was private and important. Minutes later, she found herself with the Prince in the main study room in Crystalia's castle. She had not even bothered to change her pajamas. Erick had closed the doors and windows for privacy. He had situated themselves in a secluded corner because he wanted to leave no chances of the words he would talk with her to reach wandering ears.

"Listen to me," Erick said. "I have been having these dreams for the past week! They were all the same, except for the last one. It all felt real! I think someone is trying to warn us about the future."

Selena snorted at the words the Prince spewed out of his mouth.

"Okay. So far you have told me up to the point where you see us all dead. Surprisingly, you have even mentioned seeing the bodies of my favorite boyband. That doesn't seem weird to you?"

"It was her! She was completely black all over. She had black eyes and black skin. She even had the erboons beside her!"

Selena remained uncomfortably silent after Erick spoke. The Prince noticed, and he gave her a look of worry. He had been hoping that it was nothing but a weird dream.

"Her skin and eyes were black?"

"Yes, but not completely."

"Are you sure the dream isn't showing your racism?" she asked with a disappointed frown on her face. Erick gave her a look that said 'Are you kidding me?'

"I am not a racist, Selena. She was unusually black, and there were patches of green on her form."

Selena's eyes danced around the room. She remained quiet for a few seconds, but that freaked out Erick.

"Do you remember Eva's story on how she turned evil?" she asked.

"Yes. Someone slipped a potion..." I trailed off as I stared into Selena's eyes.

"Maybe Emery was evil for no reason. Maybe in the dream, it was because she was turned by someone."

Erick suddenly began to have hope. Maybe Emery would still be good.

"But then, she said something before the dream ended," continued Erick. "She said something along the lines 'Eia! Siptac!'"

Erick suddenly felt the mood in the room shift.

"NO!" Selena boomed in horror. Erick shot up at the loudness of her voice before a look of confusion settled in. "She couldn't!"

"But she did!" Erick spoke in confirmation. He waited a moment before asking "What does it mean?"

"It's ancient Crystalix for 'I chose'."

Fear gripped his heart once Selena told him those words.

"So, Emery could be truly evil?" Erick asked her. She nodded in reply as she grasped his hands in hers.

"We have to keep this to ourselves," Selena told him, and he nodded in agreement. "No one is to know about this until we have proof. I just hope we are wrong about this."

Erick hoped so too. He would hate to take drastic measures to avoid his nightmares from becoming a reality.

CHAPTER 30

Emery’s P.O.V

“Hey, Rachel!” I greeted her on the phone. My heart clenched as I felt a tad bit guilty for ignoring her for the past three months.

“Hi, Emery! How are you doing?” she asked with a tone that asked ‘Should I be careful with what I say?’ I wanted to laugh at the way she was talking to me.

The boys and I were back in London. They were given a three-day break before they were to resume their tour. In the early hours of the morning, Selena, the Ordinary Brothers and I were all back in the first hotel I had ever been to in the UK. They decided to use the free time they had to catch up on some sleep. 

That was about four hours ago. It was still morning, and I was on the phone catching up with Rachel.

It had been a long time since I talked to her. Rachel had known about my mother’s passing, and she offered to be there for me whenever I needed someone to talk to. Okay, she was there for one week, trying to lighten up my mood. Seeing that I was unresponsive and still in my state of sadness, she decided to leave me alone. Now that she got word of me being okay, she decided to call me.

“…Is Selena there? Tell that crazy girl to come to the phone!” Rachel spoke with a laugh. I gave out one of my own, and I had no idea what to tell her. Selena was not around. About an hour ago, she had gone out with Harry and Liam. I had a feeling they were taking her to their boss to talk about her having a music career.

The problem was, how could I tell Rachel that? The girl could flip out and demand to see us. Don’t even get me started on what might happen if I told her we were with the Ordinary Brothers.

“She’s not around,” I replied. “She’s gone out to do some grocery shopping.”

“Oh,” Rachel spoke with disappointment.

“I’ll tell her you called.”

“Okay. We’ll catch up later.”

“Sure. Bye!”

I hanged up the call and sighed while staring at the phone. Rachel did not know of my whereabouts. I was surprised she had not gotten wind of what had happened in the past three weeks.

Selena had been on celebrity gossip magazines. Rachel knew I was with my cousin. The thing was, how would she react if she found out? Or maybe she did, and she was waiting for us to tell her. She might have been testing us to see if we would tell her the truth.

Oh crap.

“Emery,” Zane called out to me as he entered my room. His voice quickly diminished my thoughts of Rachel as I turned to face him with a look of surprise.

“Zane! Um, shouldn’t you be sleeping?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. Hours ago, when we had arrived at the hotel suite, most of the boys headed to their rooms.

“I feel well-rested,” he replied as he walked around my room. He came to a sudden stop before turning to face me.

“Do you want to go out?” he asked. My eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

Of all the things I expected him to say, that was the least. Was he asking me out? Like, going on a date?

Zane understood my reaction because his eyes widened in shock.

“Oh, sorry! I meant that we have a music video to shoot. Would you want to come with us, or will you be okay staying in the hotel?”

Ooh! That was something we had not done. I was curious to find out how music videos were made. 

Okay, in the BTS videos uploaded on the internet, they would show parts of the process, but I wanted to witness all of it.

“I’m coming,” I replied without a second thought. Zane gave me a pleased smile before walking out of the room. I took a change of clothes and headed straight into the bathroom of my mini suite. I even applied a light amount of makeup. Once I was ready, I headed to the boys.

At the moment, we were only four. That included Logan, Zane, Ethan and me. I was astonished that they were all awake, but then I recalled that we were going to a video shoot. 

“There you are!” said Logan with an overdramatic exasperated expression. “We have been waiting for you for five hours!”

I squinted my eyebrows at him in confusion.

“It’s only been twenty minutes.”

He maintained his expression. “It felt like three hundred.”

I rolled my eyes at him, finally realizing he was joking. The others just chuckled.

“So, Emery, this is the plan. We are going to the Big Ben where Harry, Selena and Liam will meet us. There is a bus that will be waiting for us. Our crew will be with us to help shoot the video,” Zane explained.

“I don’t get it,” I said.

Big Ben?

Then it clicked.

“Your music video will include that clock tower-building I saw in the animated Peter Pan movie?”

“Yes, and other spots in London. We’ll also be meeting our fans,” Ethan continued.

Oh, crap. If my memory served me correct, during the last time I faced their fans, I was chased around like a chicken afraid of losing its head. Would it be worth it, just to know how music videos were created?

Yes.

***********************************************************************************************

Selena, Liam and Harry were outside the Big Ben when Zane, Ethan, Logan and I arrived. Some of the crew I recognized from the boys’ tour was also there. They helped set up the cameras while Selena and I stayed behind the scenes.

Apparently, the boys were shooting the music video for One Thing.

My curiosity was misplaced earlier about what would transpire. It did not even take an hour until I was bored with everything around me. Selena was bored too, and so we spent most of the time talking to each other.

***********************************************************************************************

It took the whole day to shoot the music video! Even though it was nice to see the boys meet their fans, I was still cautious about an unexpected celebrity chase. At that time, the admirers were calmer but more prone to having heart attacks on the spot. When the crew had shot every scene for the video, night had already strolled in.

“Your fans are crazy,” Selena said as we walked towards our hotel suite. “I can’t believe some of them chased after us while we were on the bus!”

The boys replied with guffaws.  

Parts of the video shoot included filming the boys greeting their fans while they were on a red bus. Selena and I remained hidden, and we found it funny to see their admirers run after them. All the while, they boys waved at them with plastered smiles on their faces.

“That wasn’t so bad,” I said. “Honestly, I expected your admirers to attack you.”

Logan snorted.

“They couldn’t because we had security around. Aren’t you glad you had fun with us today?”

I shrugged in reply.

No, I did not have fun. I had to stand and sit a lot to watch the video-making process.

“So, what do we do?”

“We could get something to eat. I haven’t eaten anything the whole day,” Ethan said. Thinking about it, Ethan was right. I couldn’t believe I forgot about lunch!

The boys and the crew were so busy that they hardly had time to take a break for lunch. It was a surprise we had all been able to move with empty stomachs.

“We could get something from Nandos,” Logan said as we approached our hotel suite door.

“Where?” Selena voiced out my thoughts. Logan rolled his eyes.

“Some restaurant Trevor mentioned to us. He said we should try their food, and so I thought we should.”

“Sure, but if it sucks, Harry will have to cook us food,” I threatened.

“Hey! How will it be my fault?” Harry asked with a frown. Logan just chuckled before nodding.

***********************************************************************************************

“What should we do now?” Liam asked. Logan had already placed an order for our meals, and so we were waiting for the food to be delivered. We had showered and changed into more comfortable clothes, especially since most of us planned to go to bed after dinner.

“We could play games,” Ethan answered with a mischievous smile. “How about ‘never have I ever’ ?”

“Ethan, some of us don’t drink,” Liam replied. The blonde-haired boy frowned in disappointment.

“I have an idea!” Harry said with a smile. “Truth or dare.”

I felt queasy when he proposed that. I had never played the game, but I had enough knowledge to know it would include doing embarrassing things.

“No, thank you,” I denied the proposal just as I was turning to walk towards my room.

“Why not?” Harry asked with a frown. Before I replied, I saw a spark in his eyes as they widened.

“You’ve never played it before, have you?” he asked. I shrugged in reply, instigating that it did not matter.

“You should play with us! Think of the awful things we can do to each other!” Logan said with a cheeky smile.

“And that is why I never played the game,” I answered for them. The boys released a humph of disbelief.

“Come on, Emery! As your cousin, I should tell you that you only live once,” Selena advised. I groaned at the words of wisdom she said.

“Alright. I’ll play the stupid game,” I gave in. Everyone else in the room cheered for me. Then we situated ourselves in the entertainment room of the hotel.

We didn’t know who would pick who, and so I suggested the inclusion of a glass bottle. We all agreed, and so we sat on the floor in the form of a circle with the bottle in the middle.

“Okay. I’ll go first,” Harry said as he was about to pick the glass bottle. However, Liam’s hands shot out and grabbed his.

“No way. We do not want a repeat of last time,” he said.

“What happened last time?” Selena and I inquired at the same time.

“You do not want to know,” the boys replied together. I hated to think of what had happed 'last time', and so I shrugged it off.

Liam spun the bottle. We all watched it until it pointed towards Harry. The curly-haired boy looked slightly frightened.

A smirk took over Liam’s features. I had no idea he could do that!

“Truth or dare, Harry?” he asked. Harry shifted from side to side, contemplating on which to pick.

“Dare,” he replied. His eyes widened as if shocked by what had he picked.

“I dare you to…” Liam’s smirk remained as he trailed off, looking around the room. “…shout on the balcony that you are bananas about bras.”

“No!” Harry screamed in horror. His cheeks turned a bright red, and the rest of us tried to hide our laughs.

“You could do that or…” Liam trailed off again. “…kiss Logan.”

“WHAT?” Logan and Harry asked at the same time. Liam just shrugged with a smirk.

Harry sighed as he stood from the floor. We all turned our heads to face him.

“Shout it for everyone to hear!” Liam added as the curly-haired boy opened the balcony doors. He disappeared as he walked towards the balcony.

Moments later, we heard him scream “I am bananas about bras!”

The rest of us couldn’t hold it in anymore. We all ended in fits of laughter. Harry came back with a furious expression, but that just fueled our laughter.

“You will pay for this,” Harry swore. Liam just shrugged. Once the laughter subsided, Harry spun the bottle. It landed on Ethan. The boy with blonde hair sat straight as he stared at Harry.

“Truth or dare, Ethan?” he asked.

“Truth!” he shouted the answer so fast. Harry blinked in surprise at the fast reply before he continued.

“Okay… Did you fantasize about Selena in your dreams last night?”

My eyes widened in shock as I stared at Ethan. Selena looked at the blonde with a look of surprise as well. Ethan’s cheeks turned red like a fire truck.

“It was not what you think. She was sucking—I mean giving me a wonderful taste of fudge—I mean lollipops—I mean pizza,” Ethan stuttered his reply.

Aww! He had a dream about being fed delicious foods. By my cousin.

Is that normal?

Harry’s eyebrows shot up and down as a smirk took over his features. The others seemed uncomfortable. Selena and Ethan were still blushing.

Wait. Was there something I was missing?

The game went on. Liam was dared to suck his toe, and Ethan exposed another embarrassing truth of him mastur—I mean master baking with me. 

I had no idea what that meant. 

Selena was dared to apply a lot of makeup. Her face looked like a baked cake gone wrong. Then Zane was asked if he had a huge wiener, and he replied with a shrug. I wondered what it was with the boys and food-related stuff. It was a good thing I wasn’t chosen yet.

“Emery,” Selena called out my name.

Oh crap!

“Truth or dare?”

I thought over the options given. If I chose truth, I would have to expose some humiliating secret about my life. 

Trust me, they were many. 

But if I chose dare, I would have to do something embarrassing. At least the dare would die down immediately after.

“Dare,” I replied. Selena had smirked before she said, “I dare you to make out with Zane.”

The rest of the boys oohed at the words spoken. I immediately regretted picking ‘dare’. I should have gone with ‘truth’ to avoid the mess of feelings that followed after. I was immediately a nervous mess.

Zane had shot up when he heard his name. His eyes widened with the alarm of hearing what Selena had said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Zane stated. “It will be like forcing ourselves towards each other.”

I nodded in agreement to what he said.

“We don’t mind,” Selena said and earned nods of agreement from the others. “Besides, Emery has never had her first kiss.”

“Selena!” I shouted at her as my cheeks began to heat up.

“She has been itching to get kissed since high school,” she continued, completely ignoring me. I sighed as I bowed my head to face the floor. At that moment, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.

“I don’t know,” Zane replied. “Shouldn’t her first kiss be with someone special?”

Selena rolled her eyes before turning to face me.

“Emery, would you mind if he kissed you?”

Um, yes. I would mind!

“What kind of a question is that? Of course I would mind! I don’t know how to kiss!”

“That is why him kissing you is the dare. Let him get rid of the kinks you have. At least you will know what to do when you’re with a guy,” Selena explained.

I sighed as I thought about it. It didn’t take that long.

“Eh, okay.”

“WHAT?” the rest of the boys asked in disbelief.

“Emery, you are sure you don’t mind?” Zane asked with a concerned expression.

“I’m sure,” I confirmed. "It's not like anything will change."

The room remained silent as everyone watched, expecting the dare to unfold. My eyes turned to Zane. He was still in shock. I hesitantly crawled towards him. All the while, his eyes were trained on me.

I had no idea why, but I felt my nervousness increase. 

“Just for a while,” Selena added.

"Are you sure you want to do this? It is your first kiss." Zane stated with a worried expression. At that moment, I was glad he was being nice about what has happening. It showed me that he cared.

And that was all I needed to go through with the dare.

"I'm sure," I said with a small smile.

Zane hesitated for a moment.

"Just kiss already!" Logan yelled in the background. I rolled my eyes just as Zane lowly chuckled. Once again, there was silence as everyone waited for the kiss. Zane then closed his eyes as he leaned in. I hesitated for a moment.

Okay. What did Sebastien from The Little Mermaid say?

“You’re going to pucker your lips, like this.”

I envisioned the scene in the movie, almost laughing with Zane’s lips approaching mine.

Oh, right.

I moved my lips to meet his. I had no idea of what would happen, and I was shocked by the feelings that came when my lips touched his. 

The kiss lasted for a millisecond; it was a peck. It seemed so innocent, so delicate. Zane and I were about to part, with no awkwardness between us, when Selena said, “That was not a kiss! That was a peck! Give her a real kiss! Or are you inexperienced too, Zane?”

A look of determination crossed over Zane’s face. Something shfited in his eyes as I felt his arms wrap around my torso. I was brought closer to him with my legs opened wide to fit his torso in between. I stared into his brown orbs before he kissed me again.

Something about the kiss was different. Unlike the first one, it brought more confusing emotions in me. Zane continued to kiss me, making me ignore my thoughts.

His lips moved against mine, and that made me catch up quickly that I was to do the same. I felt the difference in the textures of our lips, and that made dinosaurs stomp around my stomach.

Zane wrapped his arms tighter around me, bringing me closer to him up to the point where I practically sat on his thighs. The kiss continued. We were soon moving in sync.

I couldn't focus on anything but the feel of Zane's torso, his arms around me, his lips on mine and the erratic pounding of my heart. 

I soon felt a hand, his hand, reach for the back of my head. He cradled it, still leading the kiss. Then I felt something explode in my stomach. My body got hot, and I felt something stir in my loins.

I don’t know how it happened, but the kiss deepened and quickened at the same time. I pressed my lips harder on Zane's, eliciting a groan out of him. 

Oh, the things that groan did to me...

His mouth opened, tasting my lips with his tongue. He prodded them, and I had no idea of what to do. Then he did something unexpected. 

He bit my lower lip. 

I gasped, only for his tongue to enter my mouth.

Heat trickled down to my core at the mere feel of his tongue against mine. I think I moaned out loud. Still having no idea of what to do, I moved my tongue against his. He copied my action, only seeming to move faster.  I tried to keep up with him, but then I couldn’t from the wonderful pleasure I was feeling. I almost felt disappointed in myself, but then I realized that was what he wanted.

We explored our mouths like we were doing a forbidden dance. Our torsos were pressed onto each other, and that did nothing to cool off my form. My hands had nothing to hold onto. I reached for Zane’s shoulder and biceps, feeling the muscle while moaning at the same time.

Crap, he was hard.

I soon moved them to his hair. I tugged on it, getting groans out of him. Then his lips left mine. He started pecking the skin from my cheeks and onto my shoulder. Meanwhile, my hands rubbed along his shoulders and back. He found a sensitive spot that almost had me giggling from being ticklish. Then his lips went back to my mouth, continuing the assault he had been doing with his tongue.

I felt a wetness form in between. I couldn't stop it because it felt so good. I pushed myself harder into Zane, feeling my breasts crush underneath his torso.

I was soon wanting to feel him, to have nothing in between us, but the sound of the doorbell stopped everything. 

It was like a cold bucket of ice was dunked onto me. Just like that, the kiss had ended. Zane and I were looking at each other, and his orbs seemed to have darkened. In fact, I felt something hard poking at my thigh.

“I’ll get that,” Liam said with an uncomfortable look, quickly getting up to go to the door.

Zane and I continued to stare at each other awkwardly.

“Wow!” Selena broke the silence that would have made things more awkward. “Now that was a kiss.”

I felt my cheeks blush as I remembered Zane and I were not alone. He was still staring at me with desire in his eyes. He was panting just like I was. The stare he was giving me demanded more, and a part of me wanted just to give him that.

Then the color in his eyes began to dilate. They widened when he realized what we had done. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

“Umm, I have to… deal with something,” Zane said as he gently began pushing me off his thighs. I blushed again, moving to sit on the ground. Zane quickly rushed out of the room. Seconds later, the sound of a door closing sounded through the suite.

The air was still filled with awkwardness. I soon spotted Liam coming into the suite with the packaged food. I ran towards him, and he was surprised by my quick movement.

“Rachel wanted me to talk to her. So... yeah. Long night,” I lied as I got my food. Liam was giving me a confusing stare, but I did not bother to answer. I gave him and the rest a small smile before heading towards my room.

Along the way, I stopped for a few seconds to stare at Zane's room. I soon continued walking to my room.

CHAPTER 31

(A/N Descriptive R-rated thoughts ahead; the signs !-! will be there in brackets as a warning. Enjoy!)

Zane's P.O.V

No one questioned my rush into my room, and I was glad. I needed some time to think of what to do, especially after the kiss I shared with Emery. 

I was in my room, pacing as I thought of what to do to avoid the mess being bigger than it already was.  

What have I done?

 My hands were in my hair, pulling it as I replayed the mess I of things I had made in my mind.

I kissed Emery.

Why did I agree to do the dare? Maybe I just gave into the pressure of doing it. Maybe I was too tired to comprehend what I was doing. Maybe I felt bad for ruining the chances of Emery getting her first kiss in high school.

The reasons seemed to be fitting to explain why I did it. But then, a part of my mind denied all the explanations. 

I had really wanted to kiss Emery.

I am so messed up!

Ever since I saw Emery naked in her room, I had lustful thoughts and feelings that involved her. I thought it was a bug in my mind, and I wanted to clear things up. I wanted to explore what would happen between Emery and me, and so the dare seemed fitting to solve the problem. 

However, it did not work. 

The kiss backfired on me. It was great. No, it was awesome!

(!-!)

I had never felt something like that in my entire life. Sure, I had kissed a couple of girls since high school, but they had never brought out the feelings I experienced when I kissed Emery. 

The first kiss, the one that was a peck, seemed ill-fitting. It didn't help with anything until Selena had told me to give Emery a real kiss. 

And boy, did I. I am glad she didn't even feel how hard I was.

Kissing Emery was like getting high. I felt something that made me feel more alive than I currently was. It almost felt like taking a drug.

F*ck!

No one had ever kissed me like that. It was her first time, and still, she had me stunned.

To make matters worse, I wanted to do it again. 

No one knew how much I wanted to do it again.

I wanted to feel those lips on mine, to explore Emery's mouth with my tongue. 

And that moan... Oh, that delicious moan. 

I wanted to hear it again. It seemed like the melody of a new catchy song that replayed in my head. I wanted to hear it over and over again.

I wanted to kiss Emery so hard that she saw stars. I wanted her naked and between my sheets. I wanted to feel her and to feel those soft breasts of hers. I wanted to fill her cunt with my cock and to have her walls squeezing me over and over in orgasm.

I bet she would have been sensitive from me playing and tonguing her nipples. Maybe she could even come from just that.

I looked down, seeing that my cock had hardened.

My thoughts came to a stop when I recalled I had a girlfriend.

F*ck! 

I had no idea of what I would do. I didn't want to hurt Bianca. Of course, she was somewhere in the UK with her family. She had just left two days before Emery and Selena joined the boys and me on our tour.

I needed to keep the kiss a secret or else our relationship would be over.

But then, did I want to be in this relationship?

My thoughts went back to Emery, and I was reminded once again of my hard-on. My thoughts went back to the kiss, and no matter how hard I tried, I knew I wouldn't be able to focus on anything else.

I locked the door before going to bed. It was a good thing my girlfriend would not know of what I was going to do.

(!-!)

***********************************************************************************************

Selena's P.O.V

It was late in the night. I was awake in my hotel room. I had just come from seeing Erick, thinking over what he had told me.

Before I could tell Erick about the wonderful news of me being an upcoming musician, he had told me about his dreams. I was frightened by what he said. Surely, Emery could not turn evil so quickly. That had to be false. 

However, the words he told me she had shouted in the dream seemed to say otherwise.

I wished it was all fake, but the chances of the dream being a reality were high. I believed I needed to keep busy and to avoid Emery for a while. It was a good thing I got the job offer from Simon Cowell. I planned to call him as soon as morning came.

***********************************************************************************************

One month later

Emery's P.O.V

It had been four weeks ever since the boys shot their One Thing music video. It had also been two fortnights ever since the dreaded dare – the one that brought weird feelings. Things seemed to get more awkward ever since Zane and I kissed. I had no idea of what to do with the feelings he had invoked in me. It was even hard to come up with a subject to talk about when we were alone. Unlike the last awkward incident where he saw me topless in the bathroom, we hadn't talked about the current one.

Apart from that, the boys' tour had ended in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The end of the boys' tour meant that they had some time until the tour resumed in March or April in the same year. In the meanwhile, their time was filled with scheduled interviews and coming up with new songs.

That seemed like my time to leave, but the boys insisted I shouldn't. In fact, I was with them wherever they went. I felt like I was intruding and totally out of place, but the guys kept insisting I stay around with them. That included Zane. I had no idea why he agreed with the others, seeing that we had not talked about the awkward make-out session we shared.

Selena had gotten her dream of becoming a musician. It was sad to hear that she left the following day without even telling me! I mean, I was not going to stop her from going for her dream. I was supportive of her! She could have at least waited a week before she left, but I guess she couldn't wait for her career as a singer.

"Emery, I need to talk to you," Zane spoke as he entered my room. We were back in London and back in the same hotel where we had kissed. 

I wondered why the boys' management wouldn't change the hotel. The entertainment room was a reminder of that evening. I did not know how to feel about it, and that scared me.

"Sure," I said with an uneasy smile as the memories of the kiss we shared played in my head for the ten thousandth time. 

Zane closed the door behind him and turned to face me.

"Look. I know things have been weird between us in the past month..."

You don't have to say it out loud. We both know that!

"...and I wanted us to talk about it."

We moved towards my bed where we sat to face each other.

"Do we have to?" I groaned as I blushed.

"Actually, yes, we do," he replied. Then a nervous expression took over his face.

"I have a girlfriend," he said. I sat motionless as I let the words he spoke be fully processed in my mind.

"I'm sorry, what?" I deadpanned. Zane shifted on the bed, which did not help in making matters better.

"You have a girlfriend? Why didn't you tell me before we did the dare? In fact, why am I finding out about this now?" I asked with slight fury.

"I know I should have told you before we kissed."

You think?

My eyes turned their focus to the wall behind him. Zane could not have been serious. So, what he meant to say was, I kissed someone's boyfriend?

"Then why didn't you?" I asked with a hurt expression. "We could have avoided this tension between us!"

"That's why I'm apologizing for what I've done. I never meant to make things awkward for us," he continued to speak, and I felt something painful in my heart. I looked around and not at him, wondering why my eyes suddenly wanted to water.

He had a girlfriend, and I kissed him. That fact did not bother me. What hurt was the apology for kissing me. As if it was a mistake. Sure, it was, but...

What was wrong with me?

"It's okay, Zane," I said with a fake smile. I hoped he could not read what I was feeling.

"I also need you to not tell my girlfriend about what we did."

No problem.

"Sure!" I replied in a quick manner. If there was one thing I hated, it was a drama that involved me. I wanted Zane out of my room so that I could figure out my feelings.

"Okay," Zane said before getting up from the bed and staring at me. "I'll see you later."

"Sure," I replied before he walked out of the room. Once he was outside, I shut the door behind him and collapsed on the floor. My knees were bent before I placed my head in between. I was not crying, but I felt sad.

However, the tears that trailed down my cheeks betrayed me.

I needed to get over the feelings I had for Zane or else they would destroy me.

CHAPTER 32

Emery's P.O.V

Another day had passed. I was in my room. The sky had darkened, signaling the beginning of the evening. After the talk I had with Zane, I felt more confused about my feelings. It should have been easy to make up my mind and to deal with the issue, but it wasn't. In fact, my mind kept replaying the kiss. I was saddened by how Zane easily dismissed the kiss; it showed he didn't feel what I felt, and I was frustatingly sad.

Pushing the thoughts away, I stared at the city buildings through the mini-suite window as I dialed Selena's number. The phone rang, but she did not answer. I called her again, but she did not answer. That was strange.

Ever since Selena left to make her artist image, she hardly communicated with me. She must have had a hectic schedule that barely gave her time to talk to me. My mind kept pushing that my cousin was trying to avoid me, but that felt so unrealistic.

We had just spoken about a week ago. During the call, she seemed very tense and evasive. It didn't help that she replied with short answers and barely kept the conversation going. The call did not even last two minutes! I mean, how busy could upcoming artists be?

I was certain things were okay between us before Selena left. I would have known, or she would have told me if I had wronged her, and so that could not be the cause. Maybe my cousin was busy making an album, but who knew for certain? I decided to stop trying to call her and let her call me when she would be free.

"Food's here!" Liam shouted throughout the suite. I got up and headed towards the kitchen. Liam was perched up on a seat behind the island where three boxes of pizza were placed. The delicious smell of the food had me salivating within seconds.

The sound of footsteps approaching vibrated through the room. Ethan, Harry and Logan came towards the kitchen island like a herd of running buffaloes. I moved out of the way for them to pass. In an instant, two boxes were taken.

"I have been starving!" Ethan commented before opening one of the boxes. He proceeded to take a slice before quickly devouring it.

"Would there be enough for the six of us?" I asked with an amazed look, seeing Ethan gulping down another pizza slice within seconds.

"Make that seven," Liam said as he opened the only box left on the island. I turned to face him with a confused look.

"Huh?"

"Zane's girlfriend is coming." The appetite I had was quickly replaced with a feeling of dread.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" I questioned Liam and the others who were busy munching on the pizzas.

"We did in the morning," he replied before taking out a slice and eating it.

"You did?" I said, and he answered with a bob of his head.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Logan asked before devouring another slice.

"No!" I replied immediately. "Just wondering," I said before taking a slice of pizza from the box that Liam was eating. As I slowly digested the meal, I was wondering what the outcomes would be.

I kissed Zane. Hopefully, his girlfriend wouldn't know that I had kissed him. If she did, then I was dead meat.

How would she react after knowing her boyfriend kissed another girl? Would she break up with Zane? I would hate to be the cause of demise in their relationship.

"Hey guys!" someone shouted as he entered the room.

Speaking of Zane...

I turned to face him, only to come to a stop with a look of surprise.

That was his girlfriend?

The girl was beautiful. She was gorgeous. Her eyes were green but darker than Harry's. She had lightly tanned skin, and the eyeliner and mascara she wore made her eyes pop out. Her lips were ruby red and full. My eyes traveled lower, spotting the outfit she had worn. The black sleeveless shirt she had worn did not hide the largeness of her breasts, and her blue skirt accentuated her curves. I felt a little bit insecure.

I felt envious of the girl. How could Zane have a girlfriend like that and decide to kiss me on a dare? I mean, she was prettier than I was! I just didn't understand. I mean, how could I compete with that?

"Hey guys!" the girl greeted the boys with a wave of her hand. The rest replied with excitement, including me but with less eagerness. I felt so out of place with her being there. I mean, she was pretty. She could have even been a model for all I knew! I frowned as I looked at her again. I found her staring at me with a curious look. I blushed before quickly taking another slice of pizza to keep me occupied.

"Who is she?" I whispered to Liam who was still beside me.

"Oh. That's Zane's girlfriend," he replied before continuing to eat the remaining pizza slices. I stared at him expectantly. He gave me a confused look.

"What?"

"I know that. What I need are more details. Like, of how long, where they met, and all that."

"About a year, right here in England," Logan answered for Liam as he came towards us. I looked over the pizza boxes that Harry, Ethan and Logan took, only to see one of the boxes empty. That explained why he came towards Liam and me.

One year? They had been dating for one year? Oh crap. I was doomed.

"She was our friend when we all moved here."

"If it helps, she is two years older than Zane," Liam added. I squinted my eyebrows in confusion.

"How old is Zane?" I asked.

"Twenty years old."

I turned my head to face the couple, only to realize it was a mistake. Zane had Bianca backed up to a wall and was making out with her. I think he even had a hand under her shirt. Why was he doing that, in front of everyone in the hotel suite?

Seeing the ongoing scene made my heart clench. I had been forcing myself to eat after hearing about Zane's girlfriend coming, but seeing the makeout session in front of me completely destroyed my appetite. I felt like going over there and throwing Bianca away from Zane.

Whoa. Was I jealous?

Zane was kissing her the same way that he had kissed me.

Wow. I guess I was jealous?

I lost my appetite as thoughts of Zane came back to my mind.

"I think I'm going to bed," I told Liam as I went towards my bedroom. He made no move to stop me, seeing that he was engaging in conversation with Logan.

Once I was inside my room, I jumped onto the bed and began to silently cry.

I felt confused by my emotions, and I hated myself at the same time. It hurt to see Zane kissing another girl while I was in the same room. 

I shouldn't have let Zane take over my head. I mean, he was my ex-bully for Pete's sake! Being his girlfriend would be weird. However, a part of me thought it would be nice.

What was wrong with me?

I suddenly had a moment of realization. My eyes widened in shock as I replayed it in my mind.

I was crushing on Zane.

I instantly wiped the tears off my face and shuddered, sitting up on the bed. Why? Why? SERIOUSLY, WHY?

Why would I be crushing on him? Okay, he kissed me, and it was amazing. That was not a good enough reason to have feelings for him. I didn't know him that well. Besides, he had a girlfriend.

Have I also mentioned he even bullied me in high school?

A knock sounded on my door, breaking my train of thoughts. I wiped my tears before getting up and walking towards it. I opened it, expecting to see one of the boys. I was shocked to see Zane's girlfriend herself.

"Oh. Hi! I'm--" I went to awkwardly greet her, but I stopped when I saw the look she gave me.

She was glaring at me.

"Listen here you bitch!" she started. My eyes widened in shock. "Zane is mine! If I spot you eyeing him again, I will make you regret it."

With that, the girl walked away. I slowly closed the door as the words the girl spoke replayed in my head.

What the hell was her problem? I didn't want Zane! She could keep him for all I cared.

Eva's P.O.V

"I like this girl," I commented as I stared at my magic mirror with a smile. The girl, Bianca, warned Emery to stay away from her lover. I turned away from the mirror to face my minion, Tevix.

"I think she will be very useful to us."

***********************************************************************************************

Emery's P.O.V

After the warning from Bianca, I went to sleep. I did not dwell on it for a long time. It seemed absurd, the threat she made. I guessed she felt threatened by my presence, but what was there to be threatened about? She looked like a model, and I looked like... me. So, I decided to let the issue pass, believing it wouldn't be a problem.

On the following day, the boys' schedule was filled with a meet-and-greet and an album signing. I tagged along, and unfortunately so did Bianca.

Okay, I had no idea what the girl's problem was. I believed she thought that I wanted to take Zane away from her. That was stupid of her. If I wanted him, I would have been dating him weeks ago! But then, it was me, and so the chances of that happening were none.

The boys had scheduled the album signing in a theater that I had no excitement of finding out its name. Outside the building were many people, including the security team the boys' management had hired. Bianca and I were standing backstage in the building. The area we were standing on was highly illuminated by the headlights placed on the ceiling. There was a large red stage curtain in front of us that blocked the view of the boys signing albums and meeting their fans.

Bianca and I had been quiet towards each other. In fact, she had been giving me sneers all morning. I rolled my eyes at her for the hundredth time before I took my phone and dialed Selena's number.

Ugh, nothing!

I wanted to throw the phone towards a wall or something. How could the girl avoid my calls at my time of need? 

An idea came to mind. I could ask the boys' manager to help me access Selena.

Before I could smile, Bianca turned to face me with a glare. At the time, she was speaking.

"Stop thinking about my boyfriend you bitch!" Bianca yelled at me. I gave her a weird look as I slowly blinked my eyes at her.

"Girl, you are crazy," I told her as I went to concentrate on my phone.

"I'm not crazy!"

Ugh.

"I saw the way you looked at him last night and I saw the way you looked at him today!"

"I didn't even--" I went to deny the notions, but Bianca cut me off.

"I'm warning you once more. I don't even give second chances, but you seem like a nice person."

"Excuse me?" I glared at her.

"Do not look at him!" Bianca ignored me. "Zane is mine! Either stop whatever feelings you may be developing for him or deal with my wrath."

I stared at Bianca in disgusted shock.

Zane was dating that?

I had been in a bad mood since morning. Selena was not answering my calls. It was , unfortunately, that time of the month for me, and so it was easy to get me mad. Bianca would not shut her trap that she called a mouth, and that seemed to fuel my bad mood. 

 "Okay, calm your bitchy self down," I said, getting tired of all the crap that was spewing from her mouth. Bianca gasped in shock.

"Bianca, I am in a very bad mood right now. Like I said, I don't want your boyfriend! Okay. You may be right about me looking at him last night--"

Suddenly, Bianca charged after me. She went to slap me on the face. I ducked. She swung again, and I avoided graciously it.

That's it.

I caught her hand just as she was about to hit me in the face and went to deliver my own slap. Bianca's head turned on impact. The sound echoed throughout the building once my hand made contact with her face.

Wow. I must have hit her hard!

"Emery!" Zane yelled out my name as he and the rest of the boys came towards Bianca and me. I felt myself visibly pale as I turned to face him.

Zane wasn't alone; a few members of the crew had come to see what was happening. A millisecond later, Bianca started to let out a fake cry. Apparently, I was the only one who knew it to be fake. The others seemed captivated by her act.

"Z-Zane," she dared to fake stutter as the band mate approached her and wrapped his arms around her. All the while, he and the rest of the boys were sending me harsh glares.

"I promise you it was not what it looked like," I went to defend myself.

"Why did you slap her?" Zane boomed out with fury. His voice caught the attention of the other people who were around the area. They all stopped what they were doing to stare at the commotion that was unfolding. I blushed in embarrassment, hating the looks I was receiving.

"She was insulting me! She was saying some stuff that aren't true about me before she started calling me a bitch! What was I supposed to do, take it?" I yelled out my answer.

"She... she's l-lying Zane," Bianca said as she continued her fake cries.

Well, damn! Bitch can act.

I rolled my eyes at her.

"I was trying to be friends with her. Sh-she told me I was ugly and that I didn't deserve y-you."

"Oh, come on!" I yelled out. "She's the one who's lying!"

"I think I've heard enough," Zane said, stopping me from speaking further. The boys gave me disappointed looks. Just by that, I knew who they believed. 

"Unbelievable," I muttered with a shake of my head as I walked out of the area.

"Where are you going?" Logan yelled.

"Anywhere that is not here."

 It was no use to try to talk them out of what they believed because it would make the situation worse. I momentarily turned my head to see the boys, only to get mad when Bianca sent me a smirk.

Looking back at the moment, I realized that was the sign for me to leave the tour. I should have left and gone back home. That way, I would have escaped the mess that came my way weeks later.

***********************************************************************************************

Third Person's P.O.V

Bianca was in a Starbucks café in London. Since she was dating Zane and the boys' fans were also fans of her, she had to wear a disguise. At the moment, a red wig hid her natural hair and her sunglasses shielded her eyes.

Stirring the cup of coffee on the table, Bianca frowned when she remembered the newly risen problem: the girl, Emery. Bianca was certain that Emery had feelings for Zane, and that Zane may have had feelings for her. 

She hated it.

Bianca was not looking forward to saying goodbye to her rich and famous boyfriend, and so she had to do something to keep him.

"Is this seat taken?" a brunette woman greeted as she stood over Bianca's table. Bianca did not want company at the moment. 

Before she could reply, the woman sat opposite her. 

Bianca cursed the woman under her breath. She wanted to be alone, but the woman was stopping that from happening.

"Hello, Bianca," the woman greeted her. Bianca tensed, directing her gaze from the cup of coffee she held to the woman to see if she knew her.

She didn't.

The woman had pale skin. Just like her, she had worn a pair of dark sunglasses. Her black hair was tied in a bun, and she had worn a pale yellow dress.

"Have we met before?" Bianca asked before taking a sip from her coffee.

The woman laughed Bianca's words.

"No, but I know we have something in common."

Interested, Bianca leaned forward towards the woman.

"Really?" she asked, and the woman nodded. "Then what is it?"

The talk was momentarily interrupted by a waitress who asked what the woman wanted. The person made her order and resumed the talk with Bianca once the waitress was out of earshot.

"You have an issue with an unwanted guest. I know her, and I can help to get rid of her."

Bianca took a few seconds to understand who the woman meant. She suddenly felt like she was being watched. She looked around the café to see if the police had finally caught up to her crimes.

"Don't worry," the woman said. "I'm here alone."

Bianca did not know if she could trust the woman. She seemed suspicious.

"What's in it for you?" Bianca asked with a raised eyebrow.

The woman revealed a smirk.

"Nothing that concerns you."

The girl felt uneasy when the woman replied.

"I don't know..." she trailed off.

"I know about your illegal activities," the woman said. "If you don't accept my help, I will expose you and have you arrested within the hour."

Zane's girlfriend tensed as she felt a chill run down her spine.

"What proof do you have?" Bianca asked. The person older than her shrugged before showing a plastic bag with a knife marked with blood stains. Bianca tensed when she saw the evidence. She recalled the events that revolved around the knife. She even recalled the trouble of getting that knife from the police, only for it to be snatched by the woman in front of her.

"What do you want?"

"I want what you want, and that is to get rid of Emery," the woman replied.

Bianca sighed, knowing she had no way of escaping the deal.

"Fine! I'll help you..." Bianca trailed off, having not asked the woman's name.

The woman in the dress laughed.

"Please, call me Eva."

CHAPTER 33

Emery's P.O.V

I hated her.

After the whole fiasco with Bianca, I left the boys to wander around London. 

It was a usual thing I would do when the boys would be busy with celebrity-related stuff. I wandered the cities we toured and even took photos of sceneries I found amazing.

Anyway, on that particular day, I came across a park. I spent most of the remainder of the day there, watching people minding their own business. I had bought some food before seating on a bench under a tree, delving deep into my thoughts.

Bianca was a bitch; I was not going to argue with that. The boys were quick to defend her from me. She had known the boys longer than I had, so that meant they knew her and trusted her more than me. It also meant she could manipulate them and have them eating from her fingertips. 

It hurt that they did not fully trust me. 

Sighing, I leaned back on the park bench as I stared at my surroundings. The sun was setting; the sky had begun to darken, and the people around the park were reducing. That meant I too had to leave. Who knew whatever bad things could occur at night.

I got up and took out my phone from my pocket, checking for any missed calls or messages.

Nothing. Guess the guys were still mad at me.

I thought over what I had to do. The expected solution came to mind, and that alone had me infuriated. I did not need to apologize. Bianca did! She was the one who lied about the insults. But then the boys would not believe me. 

Thinking about it, the girl did deserve the slap.

Releasing another sigh, I began walking back to the hotel. I wouldn't care whether the boys had returned or were still busy in the theater. As I walked, I noticed the beautiful sight of London in the evening. The street lights had been turned on, illuminating the objects in my surroundings. Buildings lights had been switched on, and the billboards that hung on some of them were also lightened.

About twenty minutes later, I found myself approaching the hotel suite. There were two bodyguards situated next to the door. They had to be placed there ever since a fan of the boys found out their hotel whereabouts some time ago. That led to the most amusing moment in my life where the boys panicked at the sight of a fellow admirer. 

Okay, they could have calmly dealt with the problem, but the fan chased them around the hotel, wanting to kiss them.

Just as I was approaching the door to the hotel suite, the two bodyguards came towards me.

"Ma'am, this is private property. You are not allowed to enter," one of them said.

I was shocked that they didn't let me pass. I knew who the guards were since they tagged along with the boys and me hours ago. They even helped me enter a limo earlier on the previous day! What changed?

"What do you mean 'I'm not allowed to enter'? I have been with the boys for the last two months!"

Although I should have said they saw me in the morning, but that did not come to mind.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you are still not allowed to enter."

I felt my patience slipping off. It had been a long day. I was tired; I just wanted was a moment to rest.

I turned to go back the way I came. I turned a corner, making sure the bodyguards could not see me. Then I froze them in time. With quick movements, I went towards the door. I swiftly opened and closed it, unfreezing the security personnel once the door closed.

To my surprise, the boys were there and so was Bianca. Zane's girlfriend gave me a look of shock. It stayed there for quite a while before disintegrating into a glare.

What was that about?

The air in the room instantly became tense as to my arrival.

"Guys, may I talk to you?" I asked out loud. Bianca did not alter the glare she was sending my way while the rest seemed indecisive.

"Okay," Liam replied after a while. I took a deep breath to get rid of the anxiety I was feeling. Well, it wasn't anxiety but fury. I couldn't believe I was doing what I was going to do, but then it had to be that way. It would not help if I had a screaming match with the boys, trying to prove my innocence. They would still pick Bianca's side.

"I want to apologize for my behavior earlier," I started, earning everyone's full attention.

"Bianca," I spoke as I faced her. She was still glaring at me. "I'm sorry I slapped you. I have no idea why I did it. Zane, I'm sorry I slapped your girlfriend. Do you all forgive me?"

"Okay," the response came from the boys seconds later. A smile appeared on my face while a look of disbelief took over Bianca's.

"Are you kidding me? She slapped me!" the bitch screamed.

"But she did apologize," Logan replied, and Ethan nodded in agreement. "It does take a lot of courage for people to admit they're wrong and to apologize."

Bianca opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water whereas I felt victorious about the moment. Before she spoke, one of the security personnel from outside the door entered the room.

Oh no.

"Sirs, there is a woman who says she's--" he cut himself off once he saw I was inside. He got a look of confusion on his face.

"Who's what?" Zane asked.

"How did you get in?" the guard asked me, ignoring Zane's question.

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked with a furrow of his eyebrows. "I thought you allowed her in. I mean, she's with us."

The bodyguard's eyes widened in shock. I raised an eyebrow with a side of my lips turned upwards. A blush slowly crept onto his cheeks.

"Yeah, why wouldn't you allow her in?" Harry asked with the same expression as Ethan.

'I hope they don't know that she paid me not to let her in.'

My eyes widened in disbelief. I looked around to see if the boys heard the thought of the guard, but they all seemed confused.

Damn it! They didn't hear it!

I swiftly turned to face Bianca who was looking nervous from where she stood. There were only two girls in the room, and it took no-brainer to figure out which girl he was referring to.

Unbelievable! Bianca paid a guard to stop me from entering the suite?

I was furious, but I managed to hide it under my façade of amazement.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" a woman's voice shouted at the entrance. She swiftly came in, body checking the guard as she entered.

"Ow!" the guard exclaimed, but he was ignored.

The woman who had entered had wavy brown hair that reached her shoulders. Her face had light wrinkles, but they did not deter her beauty. Her creamy skin was lightly tanned, and she had worn a red-violet blouse and dress.

I couldn't help but feel I had seen her before.

The guard went to move the woman out of the suite, but he was stopped by Zane.

"Mom?" Zane asked in surprise. My eyes widened in astonishment.

That was his mother?

"Honey!" the woman yelled as she approached Zane. Her son swiftly walked towards her and embraced her in a hug. The guard turned to leave the room. I gave him a glare, but he did not meet my eyes as he was leaving, closing the door behind him.

"I can't believe you're here!" Zane said with a mixture of disbelief and happiness, dragging my attention back to him and his mother.

"I wanted to surprise you!" she replied. Then she turned to face everyone else in the room.

"Hi, Mrs. Marsh," the rest replied. I found myself mouthing the words, hoping no one saw that embarrassing moment.

"Who is this?" the woman asked as she turned to face me with a curious expression.

"Ah, that's Emery," Zane replied while he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I greeted the woman with a smile. I had given her my hand to shake as part of the greeting. She did not release it as she studied me. I maintained my smile, but I felt it start to get weary by the nonstop stare from the woman.

"Oh yes! I recognize you."

My eyes shot up in surprise.

"You do?" I questioned.

"Yes! You used to be in the same high school as my son, right?"

I nodded my head in confirmation, still shocked by what she was saying. My attention turned to Zane, who was looking anywhere but at the ongoing exchange between his mom and me.

"Uhm, how long are you staying Miss Marsh?" Bianca, who had been quiet for a while, asked. Miss Marsh's face turned into one of contempt.

Was it me or did she not like Bianca?

"Bianca... you're here?" Zane's mother asked. Bianca frowned.

I think I love this woman.

"Mom!" Zane chastised his mother with a frown. At that, the woman smiled.

"Oh! Where's the bathroom?" she asked. Zane led her away while the rest of us remained.

"Poor Bianca," Liam said with a shake of his head as if pitying the girl.

"Why are you saying that?" I inquired.

"Couldn't you tell? Zane's mom doesn't like his girlfriend. She says she usually has a feeling of the people around her, and she gets a bad one from Bianca. I don't know."

I shrugged my shoulders, delving into the thoughts that were playing through my head.

A feeling. People can't just know that a person is bad just through a feeling. Unless she was an empath...

Yeah... no. Wait.

At times, I wondered about the origin of the boys' powers. Maybe they had ancestors who were also witches, probably their grandparents or great grandparents. I needed to check on that the next time I went to Crystalia. 

But honestly, I saw myself forgetting about that in the future.

About thirty-five minutes later, we had all settled around the dining room table. Our dinner had been ordered, and so we were devouring it while engaging in small talk with Mrs. Marsh. She caught up with the boys and their lives. I smiled throughout all of it, not knowing what else to do.

"Back to what we were talking about. Emery," Zane's mother called out to me. I swallowed my food before turning to face her with an expectant look. She was two seats away on my left, and Liam and Logan occupied those seats.

"Zane used to talk about you a lot when you were in high school."

"Mom!" Zane groaned as a blush took over his features. I felt some kind of giddiness seeing Zane reacting like that. It rattled my nerves.

"Really?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes! And he wouldn't stop mentioning you. The whole family thought he was in love with you."

I felt my cheeks turn crimson red.

"But then, he fell in love with that," she continued, motioning her spoon to Bianca. Zane gave her a stare that said 'behave'. I wanted to laugh, but I covered it with a cough. Bianca, however, saw through it, and she glared at me. I rolled my eyes in reply.

"So, Emery, what did you get in high school?"

"A B+," I replied, earning looks of amazement from everyone except Bianca. She just glared at me.

"I think I heard Zane complaining about you being a bookworm and not noticing his undying affection for you."

"Mom!" Zane screamed with a shrill voice. I could not hold it in anymore, and neither could the other boys. We all laughed, and Zane continued to blush in embarrassment.

Once we had all cooled down, his mother resumed talking to me.

"What do you plan to major in?" she asked.

I slowly chewed my food, thinking of what to answer to her.

"Medicine," I replied. She made a sound of amazement.

"But doesn't that take about eight years or something? I'm sorry if I'm too nosy, but why didn't you start last year?"

Liam, who was sitting beside me, gave me a concerned glance.

"Uhm, my mother passed away last summer," I spoke as calmly as I could, looking at the food that I was passing around on my plate with my spoon.

She gasped.

"I am so sorry," she said with a sad smile, reaching for my hand. I reached for hers, and she squeezed. I squeezed back.

"Most of my time was spent with taking care of the funeral and... and stuff that needed completion."

I felt tears threaten to blur my vision.

I gasped as I took in a deep breath to avoid the waterworks from coming.

"But I'm okay," I said, retracting the hold she had on my hand to fan the tears that threatened to come out.

We talked about lighter, happier stuff after that incident. 

Then something had to happen.

"Bianca, dear, what do you plan to do with your life?" Mrs. Marsh asked Zane's girlfriend. She had been silently seething throughout the dinner, sending me glares when Zane's mother talked to me.

"I'm planning to be a model," she replied with a cocky smile. Zane's mom rolled her eyes.

"What if you lose that figure? What if someone happened to cut or burn your face?"

At the last question, I turned to face Zane's mother with a confused expression.

"Why would my face be--" Bianca went to ask with a confused stare, but she was cut off.

"What would you do when all your good looks run out?"

"Mrs. Marsh--"

"I can guarantee you, Bianca. I do not plan to have a gold digger marry my son."

"I am not a gold digger you stupid woman!" Bianca shouted, standing up from her seat.

Okay...

"Your looks say otherwise, bitch."

My eyes widened when Mrs. Marsh said those words. Bianca gasped, tears threatening to escape her eyes before storming off the dining room.

"Bianca!" Zane called out, but she didn't turn to face him. Then he stood up, facing his mother with a glare.

"Why do you do this, mom? Why do you always insult her when she's around?"

Oh. This wasn't new?

"She's not good for you, that's why!" Zane's mother shouted as she too stood up to face her son. "I want what is best for you, but that woman is not."

"And how do you know what is best for me?" Zane yelled.

"This person right here is what's best for you!" his mother yelled while pointing at me. My eyes widened. I did not want to be dragged into their argument, more so be at the moment. So I pretended not to have heard them, slowly chewing my food.

"I am an adult, mom! I can do whatever I want, and I can certainly pick whoever I want to date! I don't care whether you approve of her or not because I love her! When will you see that?"

With that, Zane stormed out of the dining room, probably going after his girlfriend. Mrs. Marsh sighed before sitting down on her seat. The rest and I remained silent, not knowing what to do or say.

"Am I the only one who realizes she called her stupid?" I asked after a moment, referring to Mrs. Marsh.

"The guys and I have something..." Liam started to speak.

"You can all go," Mrs. Marsh interrupted. He and the rest had no need to be told twice. They all quickly got up and left, leaving me with Zane's mother.

"Mrs. Marsh," I began talking, searching for the right words to say in my mind.

"Trisha," Mrs. Marsh corrected. "Call me Trisha."

"Trisha," I began again, walking towards an empty seat beside her. I remained silent, not knowing what to say after that.

Then she bent her head forward, chuckling. I felt suddenly uneasy sitting next to her.

"He hates me," she finally said, raising her head to face me. Tears were brimming in her eyes, almost close to streaking across her face.

"He doesn't hate you," I tried to console her. She released a sarcastic laugh, shaking her head while staring at me.

"I would if I were me. What kind of mother does not accept the person her child loves just because of a stupid feeling?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

The feeling she had was not stupid, but I did not want the boys to dislike me.

"A caring mother, that's the kind you are," I answered with a small smile. She gave me her own before embracing her arms around my form. I hugged her back. We stayed like that, and I relished the moment, having missed my own mother's hugs.

Then we retracted the hug with the woman still staring at me.

"I wish he never met her."

I laughed as a reaction to the words she spoke.

Me too.

"What is up with you and her anyway? I could see her glaring like a toddler at you!"

"We sought of had a fallout today," I emphasized. "She thinks I would take her boyfriend, and so she insulted me. I slapped her, she caused a scene and the boys believed I insulted her."

"I knew there was a reason to not like her! Why didn't you tell the boys?"

"I did, but they would not believe me. Therefore, I had to apologize for the slap minutes before you arrived."

"That bitch," she commented, and I laughed again.

"I really wish he never gave up on you," she spoke again before getting up and walking towards one of the rooms in the suite.

What did she mean by that?

If there was one thing I knew about Zane, it was that he was my high school bully. He punched and tormented me. There was no way he had feelings for me at that time. He did not have a crush on me. 

Right?

CHAPTER 34

Selena’s P.O.V

I was making my way towards the entrance of Crystalia’s castle. The guards situated at the entrance’s sides nodded their heads in greeting, and I smiled back at them. Erick had called me to talk to him about something serious with his brother. He told me that he had also called the members of the Ordinary Brothers, which meant that it was very important. 

Lucky for me, I had a free day.

Ever since I signed the contract Simon offered me, my schedule had been filled. I hardly had time to talk to anyone I knew because I had been very busy building my image as a musician. That included coming up with songs for my first album with a group of writers and having TV interviews. I wanted to tell Emery about that, but I didn’t.

I was afraid of her.

Ever since Erick relayed his recurring nightmares to me, I had a hard time trusting Emery. She called, and when she did, I would make it short and sometimes even avoid answering the phone. I decided to stick to messaging to her that I was busy in case she doubted that I was avoiding her.

Five minutes later, I found myself at the entrance of the castle’s main study room. The windows had been opened, revealing the grasslands outside the castle and the afternoon sky. Justin, Erick and the Ordinary Brothers were already there. They had sat around a mahogany table, and they had been talking before I came in.

“Babe!” Justin called out to me as he got up from his leather seat. My mouth broke into a grin as I walked towards him. Once we were close, we embraced each other before delving into a kiss.

I had missed him for the past month since he had been busy with his tour. I intended to make up for lost time on that day. I just hoped whatever Erick had to say would be spoken quickly.

The kiss went on for a while until someone cleared their throat. The kiss stopped, and I blushed, remembering that we weren’t alone. Erick gave us a pointed look.

“Anyway, we need to talk about Emery.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. I looked at the others, and they seemed calm.

“Wait. Did you tell everyone about the dreams?” I asked.

“Yes,” Erick replied as he nodded.

“Hold on. You told her and not me?” Justin asked with a hurt expression.

The Prince rolled his eyes.

“You couldn’t even keep Selena’s birthday surprise a secret for an hour. What makes you think I could trust you with this when the dreams started occurring?”

Justin remained quiet, pouting. Then we went to take our seats.

“As you all know in the dreams, Emery ended the entire witch race, and possibly the human race.”

“I still don’t get it,” said Zane with a furrow of his eyebrows. “Why would Emery even do that?”

“We don’t know,” Erick replied. “And that brings us to the other portion of this talk. Have you guys seen anything weird that involves Emery?”

“She slapped my girlfriend,” Zane deadpanned. I turned to face him with a surprised look.

“Okay, how is that weird? And why would she slap your girlfriend?” I questioned. Emery was a nice and calm person... or so I thought before Erick's dream. It seemed absurd to hear that she hit someone for no reason.

“Could it be possible that your girlfriend did something bad to make Emery slap her?” I suggested with sarcasm. However, Zane didn’t pick it up. He just shrugged.

“Your cousin called her fat and ugly before slapping her.”

I did not expect to hear that.

“Why?” I asked again. “That does not seem like Emery.”

“She even turned my own mom against my girlfriend!” Zane continued to point out.

What? Was it me or was he dumping everything wrong with his relationship on Emery?

“Zane, your mom obviously dislikes Bianca, and that was even before Emery joined us on tour,” Ethan said.

I raised my eyebrows in question towards Zane. He remained quiet for a while.

“All I know is that Emery does not like my girlfriend.”

“I may have to agree with his opinion,” Erick said, having the rest of us turn to face him with looks of disbelief.

“You can’t be serious,” Justin said. “Are you insinuating that any person Emery doesn’t like makes her chances of turning evil increase?”

“Yes. It may seem ludicrous, but we can’t let anything bypass us. Every little thing matters.”

I never thought I would want to slap the sense into Erick, mostly because he didn’t need it. But at the moment... what he said should not have been a factor that could make Emery an erwich. It seemed illogical!

“And I was analyzing what you guys told me about the erwich attack. Maybe the whole almost-killing-Logan was not an accident. Maybe she wanted him dead.”

Which attack? Oh, yeah. 

At that time, the erwich had placed a rope of fire around my throat to try to choke me. Emery had been aiming for the erwich. She blew it up by throwing a fireball towards it, but she could have also blown up Logan.

“You can’t be serious!” I yelled, getting fed up with the ridiculous notions he spoke as I stood up from my seat to face him.

“Emery could not have done that!”

“The same way she couldn’t have tried to kill you with the rope of fire? Think about it!”

I hated that incident. I couldn’t believe I almost died on that day! I recalled the mixtures of pain on my throat. Something hot enough to burn my skin, and the pressure it had on my neck… I shrugged just at the memory of it.

“Then why did she help me? She burnt her fingers trying to rescue me!”

“Maybe she wanted to win our trust. Maybe she wants to hit us when we are most vulnerable. Again, think about it!"

"Dude, she already has out trust," Justin stated while I nodded along with him. Erick sighed.

"In the dream, the dome that protects us from the erwiches and erboons was destroyed. Emery was even there, admitting she chose to be on the bad side! Which other person is powerful enough to break the dome but the crystal?”

Everyone was quiet for a while. I opened and closed my mouth, unsure of how to respond. I felt my heart clench with uncertainty. A lot of things were against what Erick was saying, but the dream was a huge factor in our decision.

As much as I hated to admit it, the Prince was right, even though I still doubted him. 

I decided to settle on my seat.

“That’s why I need you guys. I need your aid in keeping a close eye on her. If she behaves in a weird or bad manner, do not hesitate to tell me,” Erick advised.

“But Selena and I are hardly around her,” Justin pointed out with a frown.

“Good point. Guys,” Erick said, turning to face the boys. “Will you do this for me?”

“We will, your Majesty,” Liam replied for the five of them.

“Good. You are all dismissed.”

***********************************************************************************************

Emery’s P.O.V

It was two weeks after Trisha, Zane’s mother, had visited. 

Things seemed to be okay. The boys were busy coming up with lyrics for new songs and going to celebrity interviews. I tagged along wherever they went, and unexpectedly, so did Bianca. She sent me glares when we were near each other, but other than that, she did not cause any trouble.

After the end of the two weeks, we all returned to London. We were back in the same hotel where I kissed Zane. Night had rolled in, and everyone had gone to bed.

At some point in the night, I was having a weird dream. It involved Penelope, the ghost who talked to me in my dreams. 

I found myself in a bright surrounding. Everything was white and misty, and I couldn’t distinguish any other object around me. Then it instantly darkened. I heard chains grazing the hard ground, and Penelope suddenly thrashed in front of me. 

I screamed when I saw her. She looked a bit roughened up, and chains had bound her. Her white dress had dirt streaks across it. Her mouth had been sewn shut, but I could hear her trying to say something. She looked scared as she furiously tried to mumble something at me. Then suddenly, she was dragged back into the darkness. 

I gasped as pain radiated from my stomach. It spread through my whole form, making it difficult to move. I winced as I looked up, seeing a blurry black figure above me. I was still hazy from sleep and the nightmare. My body had been in a state of rest, but it was taking me a while to gain my full energy. I reached to push the person off me, but I was instantly backhanded. The pain in my stomach slightly reduced its throbbing until it returned again, but on a different spot.

By then, I could focus on my surroundings. Adrenaline pumped through my blood as I stared at the person above me. Things seemed to move in a manner that had me feeling dizzy. I couldn’t identify the person’s gender. Their face was hidden behind a black decorative mask. I could only see the eyes. They were black as they stared at me. I could make out streaks of blonde hair peek out on the base of the person’s neck.

Then I spotted something that the person held above me: a knife. It had blood dripping from the sharp edges.

My eyes widened in shock. I slowly looked down at my form, seeing a wet dark spot marring the cream shirt I had slept in. The lights in the room were off, so I could hardly see anything in the hotel room.

“This is from Bianca,” the person interrupted my thoughts in a whisper before delivering the knife into my chest. I didn’t even get a chance to teleport or something. I wanted to scream in pain, but the person had a hand over my mouth, preventing me from informing anyone about my situation. 

Instinct kicked in as I thrashed on the bed in a futile effort to escape my assailant. I heard and felt the vibrations of my scream on the person’s hand. Unlucky for her, the volume was loud enough for people in the hotel to hear. I heard footsteps just as the person went for another stab on my torso.

I soon stopped struggling due to the pain I felt. I lay motionless. I couldn’t even blink because it seemed exhausting. The person above me, thinking I was dead, removed her mask. 

It was a girl. I got a good eyeful of her. She looked to be about her mid-twenties with pale skin.

She even had the nerve to smirk at me, revealing her unbelievably white teeth.

I was going to hunt her down as soon as I got healed.

“I thought I heard something,” I heard Harry say from outside my mini suite. The girl’s eyes had widened before she swiftly moved away from view. I thought I heard a window open as she left.

My breathing had become ragged, slowing down in the process. I had no idea of how long I could go through the pain in my chest.

Then I heard the door open. I felt relief that someone had entered my room. The footsteps that were heading into my room stopped. “

EMERY!” Harry screamed. I heard him rush towards my form. He soon came into view. He looked worried and definitely panicked. He was observing my form, and I watched as his eyes looked over me.

“Emery!” Ethan also screamed as he came into view.

“Hello? Yes…” I thought I heard Harry speak to someone in a rushed state.

"..." I tried to tell them to heal me, but I couldn't even mutter a word.

“Sh*t! No, Emery! You can’t die on us!” Ethan shook my form, his eyes searching desperately into mine.

Liam’s P.O.V

A loud commotion had woken me up from my restful sleep. Adrenaline kicked in, and I was soon rushing towards the source.

“What is it?” I asked as I entered Emery’s room. I momentarily froze at the sight before me.

Emery’s bed was wet and had a huge red patch. She was still, barely moving.

Oh no.

The sight that had met my eyes was grotesque. Emery was still, staring into nothing as her clothes and bedding continued to dampen from the blood oozing from her. There were holes on the shirt on her chest and abdomen. 

I was furious and worried at the same time. Someone had stabbed Emery. They did it repeatedly, probably to make sure she died. The smell of blood permeated the room, and I knew I needed to act fast before she could pass away on us. I went to her form and channeled her thoughts.

Emery, can you hear me?

Yes! She replied with a frantic voice. It hurts so bad, Liam! Use your powers to heal me!

I quickly placed my hands on her form. A bit of progress on healing her had been done when Zane came into the room.

"EMERY!" he boomed as he moved further into the suite. 

"Close the door, you guys!" I yelled at the rest, still healing Emery, but it was too late.

Bianca busted into the room and gasped at the mess. 

Fuck!

I was forced to release my hands from Emery.

Liam! Emery shouted through the mind link.

I can’t heal you in front of Bianca. She doesn’t know about us being witches.

I waited for a reply but I got none. 

Emery?

Emery!

My heart thudded. I felt like a huge load of responsibility had been dumped on me. I was stuck between waiting for the paramedics to arrive and healing Emery myself. 

I was beginning to panic on what to do. 

If I healed Emery, Bianca would find out about witches. I did not know what would happen if she did, and I was not looking forward to bad things happening.

Emery? I called out to her, but she did not reply.

“Where's the ambulance?” I asked in a yell.

"They're on their way!" Ethan replied. I felt so frustrated as I tugged my hair. Tears were already brimming in my eyes; Emery could have been dying, and I was afraid of healing her in front of Bianca.

Speaking of Zane's girlfriend, I turned to face her. She was in an embrace with Zane as she cried on his shoulder, facing away from Emery's body.

F*ck it!

I went to continue healing Emery. I didn’t care at the moment about what Bianca would say. We could make her forget about it after Emery was healed.

“Liam, what are you doing?” Harry asked with a worried expression, but I didn't care. My hands were on Emery's torso, and I summoned my powers. I stared at her eyes as I willed for my powers to work.

Seconds later, nothing seemed to be happening.

"FUCK!" I yelled in frustration as I started crying. We could not lose Emery, especially not like this. 

The paramedics were soon rolling into the suite. My eyes slightly widened at their fast entrance. They quickly carried and placed Emery’s form onto the gurney before wheeling her off. The rest of us were trailing behind them. It was after a while of staring at her in worry that I noticed a stab wound had been healed.

People had crowded around the hotel lobby. They were shocked by the scene in front of them, but that was the least of my worries. 

We all followed the paramedics right outside the hotel where an ambulance was parked.

“Anyone who’s close to her?” one of them asked.

“I’ll go,” Ethan said before boarding the ambulance vehicle.

“We’ll follow you,” I told him. He nodded, and soon, he and Emery were driven off to the hospital.

Ethan’s P.O.V

The vehicle was moving at a fast pace, and I was glad it did. The wailing noise of the ambulance and the fast movements of the people in the vehicle were not my main concerns. I fixated my stare on Emery, who had an oxygen mask placed over her nose while the paramedics began setting her up for treatment. Her eyes were closed, but at least she was alive.

Ethan. I heard Emery weakly contact me in my mind. I grabbed her hand into mine.

“It’s okay, Emery,” I tried to calm her, rubbing a thumb over the back of her hand. “You’ll be okay.”

Bianca sent someone to kill me.

I processed the words she told me. It took a while for me to be shocked by what she had said. The events that had occurred less than an hour ago had forced my focus to my surroundings.

What? I questioned, but I gained no reply. 

"Sir, I would kindly need you to stay on the other side. We are reaching the hospital," a female paramedic informed me. I was reluctant at first, but I soon let Emery go and stood on the other side.

The paramedics continued doing their thing as I began thinking of what Emery had told me.

Bianca sent someone to kill her?

I doubted her words. It seemed impossible.

Why would Bianca target Emery? Why would she want her dead? There was nothing to gain for her from Emery's death.

My thoughts led me to replay the words Erick had told me, Selena, Justin and the rest of my bandmates. I was afraid that he was right about Emery possibly turning evil.

It made no sense. Emery was on the edge of dying. If she wanted to get rid of Bianca, wouldn't she have done it without putting her life on the line?

I was not sure of what to believe in anymore. 

The vehicle stopped moving. My focus was brought back to the present as the back doors opened. Seconds later, I was following the paramedics into the large hospital building.

***********************************************************************************************

Third Person’s P.O.V

Eva and Bianca were in Eva's castle. In the past two weeks, Zane’s girlfriend had been introduced to the world of magic. It scared Bianca, and she was certain it would take her some time to get used to it.

“Are you crazy?” Eva asked Bianca with a glare.  

“It seemed like the best solution for the both of us! You wanted her dead, and I was willing to do it for you,” Bianca defended her opinions.

“Not like this!” Eva boomed with a shake of her hand. “Do you have any idea of what you could have done?”

Bianca slowly shook her head in a manner of saying ‘no’. Eva ran a hand through her hair, sighing deeply in frustration as she walked across the small chamber before turning to face Bianca.

“This could have blown up in our faces! What would you do if they found out about what you did?” Bianca remained silent, thinking over what Eva said.

Although glad that Emery was in the hospital, Eva worried about what would happen as a result of that.

“Emery will know what you did to her.” The evil crystal knew that was a fact. If Bianca was found out, everything Eva was planning would be ruined. She wanted someone to enter Crystalia and infiltrate the rulers’ plans. 

The best candidate was Bianca since she had the trust of the boys.

“Isn’t there a way we can transfer the blame?” Bianca suggested after a moment.

An idea came to mind.

“Yes, we can. But I need you to follow my instructions this time. Don't go carrying out plans before discussing them with me. Are we clear?” Eva spoke.

“Yes,” Bianca replied.

“Good. Now," Bianca spoke as she walked towards a magic mirror in the chamber. With a wave of her hand, she exposed Erick, Selena and Justin on the mirror. They were in different places. Wavy lines of white smoke separated them.

"I need you to gain these people’s trust,” Eva explained. “Once you do that, we can proceed with our next plan.”

CHAPTER 35

(A/N Next chapter is epilogue)

Emery's P.O.V

An annoying beeping sound had me stirring from my sleep. I thought it was an alarm clock, and so I felt around for the device. What met my hands was a large expanse of sheets. My eyebrows furrowed before I forced my eyes open. 

I instantly closed them due to the unexpected brightness of my surroundings. It took them a while to adjust to my environment. 

The brightness I had earlier seen was the white light being emitted from the bulbs on the white ceiling. 

Where was I?

I instantly shot up from what I presumed was a bed, turning my head to observe my surroundings. I was in a blue room. On my right was an annoying continuous beep from a heart rate monitor, and a couple of feet in front of me, there was a white door. On my left was a window that allowed some light to enter the room. Shutters had blocked the view behind the window, only allowing rays of sunshine to enter the room.

Oh no. Please don't let it be—

I interrupted my thoughts as looked at my form, noticing I had worn a white blue-dotted gown. White sheets had most of my form, and the bed squeaked with every movement. My right wrist had an IV stitched under a bandage, and my nose had an oxygen mask placed over it.

I wanted to cry.

I was in a hospital, again. What happened this time?

The memory of the events that led me to be hospitalized slammed into my mind, leaving a slight headache. The hair on my skin stood as I recalled Bianca had sent someone to do her dirty work. I recalled every visual thing that surrounded those events. That included the person who tried to murder me.

If Bianca wanted to get rid of me, why didn't she do it herself?

I began thinking about it, and the answer to my mental question was quick.

The bitch didn't want to be linked to my 'murder'.

Tears brimmed my eyes as I recalled the unjust events that landed me in a hospital bed. 

I still could not believe Bianca had the guts to send a hitman to murder me, and in the same hotel suite as she was! How dumb could the bitch be? 

In fact, how dumb could the killer be? I knew she thought I was dead, but when she removed her mask, I immediately studied her features. Her face was embroiled in my mind.

She was going to pay.

"Emery!" my cousin's voice pierced the room as she busted through the ward door. A smile appeared on my face, glad that she had been on the other side of the door.

She gave me an awkward hug since I was sitting up on the bed. Once she retracted it, I took my time to study her features.

She looked prettier. The pink lipstick she had applied stuck out, barely inconspicuous. Eyeliner and mascara accentuated her eyes, making them look big. A light blush covered her cheeks. 

"How are you feeling?" Selena questioned with worried eyes.

Like crap, I thought. I opened my mouth to speak, but I found it hard to utter a sound due to the soreness.

Water, I thought again. Selena heard my thoughts. She exited the ward for about a minute before returning with a white plastic cup. I took it and slowly lowered it to my lips, drinking the liquid. It left a weird aftertaste of pills, which made me scrunch up my face in disgust.

"I am so happy you're okay!" Selena said with a smile before taking out her phone. She called someone. Even though I could hardly decipher the words the person on the other line said, I could tell my cousin was talking about me.

"That was Justin," Selena said once the call ended. "I told him you woke up, and he was very happy for you. He said he would drop by later with Erick."

I nodded, excited to see them. I kept studying Selena as she looked at me. She had changed in a way. Maybe she had grown. But then, I noticed the smile she was giving me. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me because the smile seemed forced.

"What happened to me?" I asked, feigning lack of knowledge about what I already knew. I just wanted to see if Bianca was sent to jail.

Selena shifted in her seat with a look of nervousness.

"Someone stabbed you while you were sleeping," she said. I couldn't help but feel giddy about the thought of Bianca going to prison for what she did to me.

"Once I heard what happened, I didn't know what... I couldn't..." she trailed off, her voice wavering as she began crying. My thoughts were cut off by the sadness in her voice, and I felt bad for thinking of myself and not the others who were worried about my well-being.

"Selena, no," I tried to comfort her. "I'm here, and I'm okay."

"There was so much blood, Emery," she continued. "I wasn't sure you would survive! In the last four weeks that passed--"

My eyes widened at what she said before interrupting her.

"Hold up. Four weeks? I have been in the hospital for four weeks?"

Selena remained silent for a while as I digested the piece of information.

I lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I was having a feeling of deja vu. 

Wasn't that what happened after my ex-bullies had beat me with metallic rods? I couldn't believe I spent a month or more in a coma!

"So," Selena stretched the word, wiping her eyes. "There was an investigation that was done to find out who tried to kill you."

I was giddy again. I couldn't wait to hear about Bianca being arrested.

"They couldn't identify anyone, so we all believed it was erwiches."

Wait, what?

"The investigation was dropped--"

"Erwiches? What would they have to do with it?" I interrupted. Selena stared at me in confusion. How could it have gone to erwiches and not straight to Zane's bitch of a girlfriend?

Hadn't I told Ethan that Bianca sent some bitch to try to kill me?

"We believe they sent someone to try to kill you while you were asleep. On the day after you were admitted to the hospital, many of them were around Crystalia. It was like they wanted war to begin on that same day. Everyone was scared and thought it was the end. Then suddenly, they teleported. We all thought they found out their plan had failed."

My eyes widened in disbelief.

What. The. Hell?

"We even had to assign two guards right around your ward just in case they decided to strike while you were still recovering."

Unbelievable! 

It did not make sense. How could someone try to kill me on the same day erwiches were close to declaring war on Crystalia? It just didn't add up! 

Or maybe... was Bianca being helped by the erwiches?

I quickly shook the thought off. Bianca was bad, but I did not believe she would be bad enough to hang out with evil witches. 

"I don't believe what I just heard," I spoke after a while. "The erwiches had nothing to do with me."

Selena's facial expression contorted into one of confusion before saying "What?"

"It wasn't them. Bianca tried to kill me," I replied. Selena shifted on her seat, digesting what I was telling her with a bewildered expression.

"What?" she asked again.

"She sent some blonde woman to try to kill me. Then the blonde said something along the lines 'this is for Bianca' before stabbing me repeatedly in the chest."

Selena looked troubled. She wasn't reacting the way I expected. She wasn't gasping or getting angry; she was just looking at anything but me.

My cousin was silent and still, looking at me with uncertainty. I wanted her to be angry, to cuss the bitch that landed me in the hospital. Why wasn't she doing what I expected?

My eyes widened when I realized something.

"You don't believe me, do you?" I inquired, sitting up on the bed. Selena remained silent for a while, not meeting my gaze. "Why?"

"While you were here, Erick, Justin and I had the time to meet Bianca. She seemed like a nice person, and she didn't have the urge to slap me like you said she did to you."

The hell?

"She seemed like a kind and generous person. Honestly, Emery, I don't understand why you hate her."

I remained quiet before saying "What?"

"She even said she was sorry about what happened to you. She brought you get-well flowers!"

Unbelievable! I had been underestimating Bianca. The bitch was smart, and she currently had everyone I knew eating out of her hands.

I was furious.

"Selena, Bianca has a liking towards popular people-- I can't tell you for certain. All I know is that she's pretending, Selena! That bitch knows what she's doing, and what she's trying to do is to turn you against me!" I shouted.

"Emery, do you hear yourself right now?" Selena asked, confused. "That is not Bianca!"

"You don't know her the way I do, Selena!" I yelled. "The Bianca you have been seeing is not the one I have been dealing with. She's a sneaky bitch! She slapped me just because she thought I was going to steal her boyfriend!"

My cousin furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Weren't you the one who slapped her?"

Damn it!

"That doesn't matter! She paid a bodyguard to keep me away from the boy's suite! Let's not also forget that she sent someone to kill me!"

"Alright, enough!" Selena shouted back, making me flinch in disbelief. "Let's assume that what you're saying is true. You don't love Zane, and Zane doesn't love you. There is nothing between the two of you."

I nodded in reply to my cousin's words.

"I am not understanding this. If Bianca really did do what you are saying she did, what is in it for her? In fact, why do you think she hates you?"

"I don't know, okay?" I shouted. "All I know is that the bitch hates me for some reason. She wants me gone, and I still don't know why."

There was a moment of silence. My breathing was fast because of the conversation we had.

"Sometimes I feel like I don't know you," Selena suddenly said. 

"Selena?" I questioned hesitantly in disbelief.

"I have stayed and listened to your side of whatever feud you have with Bianca. I don't understand you! Why do you hate Bianca so much? She's a nice person who doesn't mean any harm, unlike someone in this room."

"What is that suppose to mean?" I asked in fury.

"Stop pretending, Emery! Justin, Erick and I know your whole innocence façade so you can drop it! We all know you hate Bianca and that you want her gone."

"Wha--" I went to speak, but she cut me off.

"No! I am done standing up for you! I don't know how you did it. I don't know how you got yourself into this mess. All this because you hate Bianca and you want to get rid of her?"

Selena was full of rage as she stared at me, and I noticed the protective instinct she had towards Bianca. I was furious for a completely different cause then, I was hurt. My cousin had made up her mind. She believed Bianca, not me. Bianca had managed to rope my cousin into her lies, and I had lost her.

I did not want to hear anything else that my cousin had to say.

"Get out," I ordered. Selena's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?"

"You heard me correctly. Get. Out. I expected you of all people to believe me, but you don't."

Selena gasped as she shook her head in disbelief at me.

"Wait," I said without looking at her. From my peripheral vision, I saw that she had stopped.

"If Justin and Erick share the same views as you do, tell them not to come. I'd rather do something worthwhile than having a fight with them."

I still did not look, but I felt Selena leaving the room. Once the door closed behind her, I sighed, lying back onto the bed.

Then I silently cried.

***********************************************************************************************

It was hours after the spat I had with Selena. I had been thinking of what to do before a doctor entered the ward to check on my vitals. They were normal, and I was allowed to be discharged from the hospital. Once I had finished the paperwork, I began my descent towards the building's exit.

Ugh, I hate hospitals. 

I hoped I wouldn't be back in one.

"Emery!" someone yelled my name. I turned to face the person, noticing that it was Ethan. A smile appeared on my face as I approached the blonde-haired guy.

"Ethan!" I said his name in greeting, hugging him. Then I momentarily stopped with my eyes wide. I looked around, noticing that no one around the hospital hallway noticed him.

"Um, how are you here?" I asked him.

"Oh! Selena showed me a spell to make people not notice me."

I nodded my head in understanding, my smile slightly twisting into a frown when he mentioned my cousin.

"Where are the guys?" I asked.

"Logan had a muscle pull."

I winced, imagining the pain the poor bandmate must have been going through.

"Where are Justin and Erick?" I asked him, walking in sync with him as we went towards the hospital exit.

"They told us to get you. They even told me to tell you they made up their mind. I didn't understand what they meant, but they told me you will."

Made up their mind? What—

Then it hit me; I recalled the words I had spoken to Selena before she exited my hospital room. I swallowed hard as my heart clenched in sadness. I was determined not to cry. My best friends, the three people who I had considered family, were on Bianca's side.

The only people I was left to depend on why my ex-bullies. I took glances at Ethan, feeling weird about the conclusion formed in my mind. He was with me, and it meant that he possibly didn't hate me.

Ethan and I were outside the hospital, approaching a parked black car. 

Bianca had caused me pain, and I was going to make her pay. I was going to tag along with the boys on tour and expose Bianca for who she really was. They would find out about her attempt in killing me, and I would enjoy seeing her being escorted to prison.

"So, are you excited to go to Australia?" Ethan said while opening the door opposite that on the driver's side.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him in confusion.

"Our tour resumes next week."

My mouth opened in the form of an 'O'.

"Sure," I replied. Ethan smiled as we both got into the car.

The plan of proving Bianca being an evil bitch could wait for a while.

However, that itself was a mistake on my part.

CHAPTER 36 (FINAL CHAPTER)

(A/N This is the final chapter! The sign !-! for signaling the beginning and end scenes that may have mature actions. Enjoy!)

One week later

Just like Ethan had said, the tour resumed in Australia. It was going to last a week. After that, the boys were going to be busy with creating new songs and attending celebrity interview shows.

Anyway, the first place we were all going to be in was Sydney. The boys and I were there, including someone I hated.

Bianca had joined us. How exciting.

She had been smirking at me, and I took it that she knew how livid I was that she was there. I sent her my own glares. 

Or maybe, she had a plan formulating in her mind...

I did not like that thought one bit. Ever since I rejoined the boys on their tour, I made it a mission to avoid any confrontations with Bianca. That bitch hated me, and it was certain she would try to stage an incident with me seeming to be in the wrong. I did not want that, especially when I was about to start digging into her past.

When we had arrived in the continent on the previous day, the boys' management had booked us all a stay at the Intercontinental Hotel. It was a beautiful hotel with luxurious suites.

The boys, Bianca and I had gotten a big hotel suite. It was made up of beautiful glass doors that also offered wonderful views of the ocean and the city around. I took a couple of photos for memories.

Four days after our arrival in Australia had soon passed. The boys had been extremely busy since day one. Bianca tagged along with them whereas I stayed in the hotel. 

I was still adamant in avoiding Bianca.

It was another day. I was spending my time in the hotel, watching a couple of movies. The boys and Bianca had gone out to do some tour preparation stuff. I thought they would be gone until evening, but they were soon entering the suite that afternoon.

I instantly got up from the couch I was lying on, surprised by their sudden return. I looked at them with an excited grin, but I immediately dropped it. The boys were in front of me, looking at me with expressions ranging from fury, disappointment, and hurt.

Behind them was a smirking Bianca.

Oh no. That can't be good.

"Emery, what is this?" Logan asked angrily as he shoved his phone into my face. I noticed he had logged in on Twitter, and there was something posted that involved him and the rest of the boys.

@EmeryDavis: @theOrdinaryBrothers is a boyband filled with homos  

My eyes widened at the tweet. 

 A few months ago, the boys had opened a Twitter account for my cousin and me. They followed us, and their fans followed us too. However, I rarely used mine.

At that moment, I realized I should not have gotten the account.

"Do you know how serious this is?" Logan asked while I was still trying to comprehend how I could post something awful about them on the Internet. 

It was not like me!

"You could get in serious trouble from our fans! Why would you even post this?" Liam asked with a hurt expression.

"I did not post that," I said.

"Then why is your name in this?" Logan asked with a raised eyebrow, still angry.

"I don't know!" I said, looking around the room. I noticed Bianca trying to hold in her laugh.

Of course.

"It was not me, guys! It was Bianca," I stated, earning a roll of the eyes as a reply.

"Sure," Zane said with a sarcastic smile. "Just like it was her who insulted you, and just like she was the one who sent someone to stab you." 

I had told Ethan that Bianca sent someone to kill me. The subject had been dropped ever since I was discharged from the hospital. Ethan must have told them, and I was surprised they still did not believe me.

I wouldn't lie about things that were very serious. It hurt to see the boys siding up with Bianca.

I got it. She was with them longer than I had been. But why didn't they allow some doubt into their lives? 

I guess that is the thing about trust. It forms some sort of shield that blocks anyone from turning your beliefs on something or someone.

"I'm telling the truth! I haven't even touched my phone for the whole day!"

There was no reply but a set of disappointed, hurt and angry expressions.

"You don't believe me?" I asked with a hurt expression.

"Why would we believe what you say?" Logan asked, not meeting my eyes. "The evidence points to you."

Tears blocked my vision, and I instantly turned to exit the hotel suite.

Liam's P.O.V

"What a mess," I commented, rubbing a hand over my forehead. I turned to Zane who was still angry over what had occurred.

"I still don't understand. Why would Emery even do this?" Logan asked, looking down at his phone. I checked mine too to see if the tweet had gained any publicity.

One thousand retweets. Crap!

I checked on a couple of replies, seeing that they were mostly defending the boys and me. I felt a smile tug my lips, happy about the replies from my fans. I noticed some that had cuss words, but it did not bother me that much.

Especially since they were being aimed at Emery.

"I don't know," Harry replied with a furrow of his eyebrows.

'Do you think this is payback for what we did to her in high school?' I heard Ethan ask through the mind link.

I remained quiet, thinking about it.

'But she said she forgave us,' I replied.

'Yes. But what if she lied and is trying to ruin our lives? ' Harry joined in the mental conversation.

'Emery is not like that.'

'Dude, she burnt Eva for killing her mother. Imagine what she could be planning to do to us.'

Harry was right. I knew that what we did to Emery was not as bad as what Eva had done to her mother. We had once put her in a hospital. She was angry about it, but she didn't seem too angry to actually want to kill us. It had even taken us a while to actually earn her forgiveness. 

But then, what if it was her plan all along? To get us to trust her with everything before she takes her revenge on us?

My heart, once glad about the insults posted on Emery's twitter account, twisted in fear for us.

I turned to face Zane, but I noticed he was silently talking to Bianca with a smile on his face.

"I need to take a walk," I told everyone. They nodded as I turned to the hotel suite exit.

I needed some time to think.

I was outside the hotel in about three minutes. Afraid of being ambushed by my crazy but wonderful fans, I had worn a black hat to hide my hair and a pair of black sunglasses. I worried about the disguise I wore, feeling it was not enough, so I stood next to the elevator I had boarded to reach the lobby. If I was caught, I could go back to the suite.

A minute passed, and there was no reaction from anyone who entered or left the building. They just gave me weird glances before going on with their lives. Smiling with relief, I moved towards the exit and began wandering around the city.

My mind went back to the tweet Emery had posted about the boys and me. I was angry about it, but then I wondered what she would gain from saying bad things about the band.

Oh, yeah. Revenge.

If the time between the day she said she forgave us until the current one was all a plan of hers to destroy our image, then she needed to leave. In fact, I was planning on asking her to do just that when she got back. I worked hard to earn my image as a musician. It was a dream come true for me, and I would be damned if I let anyone ruin it.

I was forced to focus on my surroundings when I reached the side of a road that I wanted to cross. The street I was in was mostly deserted, and a few people were moving about. Nobody was staring at me, and I found it safe to cross the road.

I was in the middle of the road when a high screeching noise pierced the air.

I turned to my left, just in time to see a car coming right at me at a fast pace. It did not reduce its speed. The road I stood on was wide by about six lanes. 

I was trapped.

My eyes widened as fear gripped my form. I didn't have enough time to evade the oncoming vehicle.

In an instant, the vehicle collided with my side. I was thrown over it, rolling on top of it just as I got a glimpse of red hair and lightly tanned skin. The vehicle sped on once I landed on the ground in pain. I heard muffled shouts in the background before I blacked out.

***********************************************************************************************

Emery's P.O.V

I couldn't believe the nerve of those boys! How could they be certain that I insulted them on Twitter? 

Me, of all people?

I growled under my breath as I passed the city buildings and people who were busy with their lives, thinking over the events of the past two months. 

Everything had been great until Bianca joined me and the boys on their tour. It was like she was the devil reincarnate, the tornado that came unexpectedly on a sunny day. She wanted to get rid of me for some reason I did not know.

If that were to continue, things would just get worse. I realized then that I needed to get away. 

I needed to leave the tour, like pronto. 

Immediately after touring the city, I planned to head back to the hotel to pack my things and leave. Bianca could be planning something much worse, but I was not going to stay to see it happen.

My thoughts were interrupted by a hard slap on my butt. I stopped, turning to face the person who did that with a pissed off expression.

There were two guys who seemed about ten years older than I was. One was blonde while the other had black hair. The blonde had brown eyes, while the brunette had blue ones. 

Overall, they looked handsome.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked. Even though they were hot, they did not have the right to do what they did. I was already having a bad day and I did not want to make it worse. 

The blonde smirked, and the other one looked me up and down.

"Bianca was right," the brunette said. "She is pretty and innocent. I wouldn't mind doing this one for free."

I was momentarily infuriated by the mention of Bianca's name, but that was quickly replaced by a bout of fear. 

I looked at my surroundings, noticing that I was in a deserted alley. The sun was still present and close to setting. Whichever part of the city I were in was shadowed. There was a large trash bin twelve feet in front of me that blocked the route out of the alley. Behind me, there was an empty parked car that blocked the view of the alley. 

That wasn't there when I was walking by.

[!-! ( A/N: You know what this means)]

I panicked, turning to run from the men. Before I could move more than three feet away, a hand grabbed onto my shoulder and I was dragged back. My back collided with a hard surface. My eyes rotated up, noticing that my back was pressed against a brick wall. I felt its surface bruise my skin, but I could hardly feel it because of the paranoia I felt in the presence of the two men.

One of the men began dragging his hands around my form. I was momentarily frozen, seeing that I was caged to a wall with the two guys. The blonde one grabbed my butt and squeezed.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled out loud, trying to sound confident, but I heard my voice wavering. 

I was instantly backhanded. The slap had my face turned to the side, bringing a throbbing sensation on my cheek and a slight headache as a result. 

I soon heard a ripping sound.

I looked down, seeing that the brunette had ripped my shirt off of me. Then he quickly got rid of my bra, exposing my breasts.

I was angry, but fear superseded that feeling. Then I felt fingers touch my thigh before wandering higher.

"Stop!" I yelled in alarm, earning another slap. That one had me momentarily disoriented. I felt a mouth on one of my nipples and fingers tugging on the other one. They pinched the uncovered nipple. I felt like weights were trying to crush them. It seemed rushed like someone was greedily looking for something.

I cried out in pain, feeling fingers unexpectedly enter my vagina. The agony was doubled when the mouth on my nipple bit hard on it. I thought I saw stars at the back of my head for a moment. If anything, I was worried I would bleed.

"She's so tight, Rich," one of the men said, moving his fingers in my channel. 

It hurt. It really hurt. The pain spread through my form, and it did not help that the fingers were about two or three.

A hand was then on my throat, choking and restricting the amount of air that was passing into my body.

"Don't make her pass out, Nick! Bianca says she needs to live through what we do to her," the blonde one, who was sucking and biting my breasts, ordered.

The fear and helplessness I was feeling quickly turned to anger. 

I forced my form to spring into action. Channeling my powers, I astral projected behind the men. 

My astral-projected form momentarily shook at the feeling of being there as two people and observing myself. The men were busy doing their awful things, and I tried not to look too much at my abused self.

In an instant, I had kicked the one who had his mouth on my breast. He harshly bit into it as a reaction, making me wince in pain, even though I could have screamed. Ignoring the pain, I punched the other one hard on his head. He passed out, releasing the hold he had on my throat. I felt his fingers leave my groin. I looked down at them, gladly seeing there was no wound.

Thank God.

The one I had kicked looked frozen as he stood before the two of me. In an instant, I used my telekinesis powers to raise him high into the air. He started screaming.

Not wanting anyone to witness what was occurring, I forcefully brought the guy back onto the ground. He lost consciousness on impact.

I looked at my hurt form, noticing that blood was trickling out of my groin.

[!-!]

The sight of my form had me momentarily frozen. My heart had been beating so fast ever since the guys tried to force themselves on me. It hadn't fully dwelled on me what had almost happened until then.

But then, it felt like it was already too late.

Two men had been forcing themselves on me. They had touched my breasts and placed their fingers in areas I never thought they would.

I was livid. I was sad, and I was disgusted with myself.

So filthy.

I felt the emotions that wanted to take over my form. I tried, and it was a miracle I even found the strength to hold them back. I couldn't think too much about what had happened. 

I needed to leave the scene.

I closed my eyes, willing for my astral-projected form to disappear. I also chanted a spell to fix the shirt I had worn and to clean me up before swiftly turning and running away from the alley. 

As I ran, my mind focused on one thing.   

Bianca was going to pay.

After a while, I found myself entering the hotel. I showed the hotel guards my suite card and they allowed me inside. I went towards the elevators, trying so hard to keep a lid on my emotions.

Once I was in one, I pressed the floor number for my suite. The doors slowly closed, and I was glad that I was the only one in the elevator.

No sooner had a second passed than sobs racked my form. I faced the ground, tears streaming down my cheeks as I thought of the day's events. 

I couldn't believe I was almost raped!

I felt disgusted with myself. All the while, I thought about the men's hands on my form. My cheeks still stung from the slaps I had received, but the pain had reduced in intensity. 

What would have happened? What could have happened if I hadn't channeled my powers?

The thoughts that followed after almost had me puking in the elevator.

Speaking of which, it dinged as the doors opened. I quickly wiped at my face as I made my way through the hallway to the hotel suite.

I reached the doors, but I stood. I had no idea of what to tell the guys.

It was a no-brainer that they currently hated me. I wanted to cry again, realizing that I had no one to talk to. My friends and those I considered family were angry with me; they had chosen to believe Bianca.

It angered me, but then, I didn't care at the moment. 

I wanted to leave. I had endured enough from Bianca. 

I was letting her win.  

With a tired sigh, I pushed the door open.

"Guys, I'm sorry, but I can't--" I cut myself off when I saw who was inside. 

Bianca the evil bitch was there. Apart from that, Justin, Erick, Selena and four members of the Ordinary Brothers were there. Three police officers were also there. 

And they were all looking at me.

"Is that her?" one of the policemen asked, and Logan nodded, not meeting my eyes.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"Guys, what's going on?" I asked. I looked at everyone, noticing that Liam was not around.

"Emery Davis, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Liam Payne," the police officer said as he approached me with a pair of handcuffs. My eyes widened, instinctively moving backward to the door.

What? Liam was in an accident? 

It didn't take me so long to recall the other words that the officer had said.

"What? That's insane. I didn't do that!" I yelled.

"Anything you say will be used against you in a court of law," the policeman ignored my pleas, reaching out for my hand. I had two options: run away and risk a search on me, or just go willingly.

I moved away from the guard, slowly walking around while the others tried to surround me.

It was then that I realized they were blocking every exit that I could have thought to use.

"Emery," Selena spoke with a neutral tone. "Liam had been in an accident four hours ago."

My eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?"

Selena nodded, looking at me as if I knew about it. 

So it was true. But that didn't explain why the police were going to arrest me. The policemen decided to stand where they were, probably figuring out I had no ways of escaping their clutches.

"You're a good actress, Emery," Harry spoke with the same expression as my cousin. "Do you think we are idiots?"

I was silent for a moment.

"I don't follow."

He sighed, shaking his head while staring at the floor before raising his head to face me.

"You tried to kill Liam."

Um, what?

"Harry, that's absurd! Why would I want to do that?"

"Probably because you want revenge for what we did to you in high school!" he boomed.

"Guys, I said I accepted your apologies! I don't want to get any sort of revenge! What makes you think I tried to kill Liam?"

"Your phone was found in the car a few hours after you parked the car next to a restaurant."

My phone...

I patted my jeans in shock, searching for my phone. 

It was not there. 

Someone must have taken it, and that would explain the tweet I supposedly posted on Twitter.

"Witnesses also say that the driver had long red hair and did not stop driving," Ethan added.

How?

I faced Bianca who sent me a secretive knowing smirk. 

It all made sense.

"Guys, it was not me. It was Bianca! I don't know how but she took my phone and sent someone to disguise as me to kill Liam!"

"Oh, please. There is no way you are getting out of this, Emery," Logan said. "What other 'truth' do you want to tell us?"

I took a deep inhale of oxygen. I took a second to look at every individual in the room. Everyone was looking at me with anger and hatred in their eyes.

My heart broke at the ongoing spectacle. What was happening was serious. Everyone thought I had tried to kill Liam, and no one was going to believe me.

"I did not hit Liam with a car. In fact, after I left the hotel, I was walking around--"

"WE HAVE HEARD ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES!" Zane boomed, cutting me off as I flinched in shock. "You have been lying to us ever since this year started, and we are tired of it." 

He reached out for my hand. My eyes widened as I backed away from him, trying to evade. Zane gave me a glare that could kill someone on the spot as he quickly grabbed my arm. His hold was strong and firm. It hurt, just like it did in high school.

 "Take her away!" he practically yelled at the officers. As if on cue, the police officers in the room approached me. In a panic, I turned to face everyone in the room.

"It wasn't me! You have to believe me!" I shouted, my words falling on deaf ears. No one was giving me a sign that they believed me.

"Why would I kill Liam? He's a wonderful guy! It wasn't me! It was Bianca!" I yelled while I was handcuffed. My vision blurred, and I realized I was crying.

"Shut up you lying bitch!" Harry shouted, making me silent for a moment. 

I can't believe this is happening.

The police guards reached for my hands and had placed them in a handcuff, waiting to take me away.

"I'm sorry, Emery. You did all these things, and you deserve this," Selena said with a sad smile.

Then something unexpected happened. Bianca stepped forward and delivered a harsh slap on my face.

"That was for calling me ugly," and then another one, "and that was for slapping me you bitch!"

"Bianca!" Harry yelled as he grabbed the girl who was smirking at me.

With that, I was being escorted outside.

"Guys! Help me! PLEASE!" I yelled out loud, and still, no one came to my aid. I closed my mouth, silently crying at how things turned out. 

The police officers had grabbed onto my shoulders, forcing me to walk with them as we went towards the exit of the hotel. I turned my head, seeing that no one was coming to help me.

To make things worse, there were people wandering around the hotel. They stopped to see what was happening.

I can't believe this is happening.

I should have left the tour. I knew I should have left!

Once I was outside the hotel, camera flashes momentarily blinded my vision.

"EMERY! Is it true you tried to kill Liam?"

"Emery! What did he do to make you try to murder him?"

"Emery! Is it true you faked your own murder to get rid of sweet Bianca?"

I was a sobbing mess, and the paparazzi were there to record everything. 

I turned my head to face the hotel entrance, seeing if any of the people who I loved came for me.

They didn't.

Selena wasn't coming. Erick wasn't coming. Anyone who I trusted wasn't coming.

Something shattered in me. 

I had no one. No one cared for me.

The revelation made me cry harder as I was led to the police vehicle. I didn't even bother to struggle as I was forced inside. 

I couldn't believe it. I could not believe I was going to jail for something I didn't do!

That was one of the worst days of my life. 

***********************************************************************************************

Third Person's P.O.V

Tevix was with Eva in their castle. The both of them were watching Emery as she was led into the cop car. The sight of the crystal crying brought a smile to Eva's face.

"My Queen--" Tevix started.

"I know what you are going to say, Tevix," Eva cut him off.

"Wouldn't she plan to escape the cell?"

Eva smiled.

"She will."

Tevix felt more confused.

"But--"

"Patience, my minion. Everything is all going according to plan. This makes it easy for us to go to our next phase."

"What is it, my Queen?"

Eva smirked.

"Why, turning the crystal evil of course."

Tevix expression turned into shock as Eva cackled.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Hey, guys!

So, there will be a sequel. Book two is currently in the works, and I’m about to finish it.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING THIS BOOK!

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 08.09.2017

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