I was half-aware in math class. The whiteboard read there was a test next week, but I couldn’t quite comprehend so much time had passed. I’d assumed it would pass slow since I’d already gone through these days before. But other than the school lessons, hardly anything had been the same as it had been the first time. So much had been done and so little at the same time.

“I feel like the teacher pushed up the date of the first test for some reason…” Fox peered up at me from where he’d rested his head on the table. There was an acute lack of interest. He stared at me for a moment, before abruptly sitting up straight.

I furrowed my brows at the look on his face, “Did you talk to Fable?”

“Um…yeah. At lunch. How’d you know?” I leaned back as he leaned forward. His hand reached out, like he wanted to touch me, but thought better of it. I couldn’t read his expression, and I waited for him to say something more.

He finally shrugged, “His magic is…still around you.”

“Oh. I didn’t sense anything…”

“You never sensed magic at all previously. It isn’t impossible to assume you can’t sense subtle magic. It might just be when it’s potent. Don’t worry, sometimes we just leave magical residue around on people. But that’s normally only if we touch them—” His expression darkened and it was the first I’d seen him wear such a face. “Did he touch you?”

“Uh—” I glanced away, shrugging. “I think I made him angry.”

It wasn’t a real answer, but it didn’t need to be. His teeth were bared, much like his namesake when cornered by a larger predator. It was quick, a flash of it, really. But it was enough for me to flinch back. He stood.

“We need to go.” Mr. Robin—the math teacher I’d finally started to remember the name of—raised both his eyebrows at Fox’s suddenness. I did as well as he pulled me up with him. His expression was morphed into something light, airy, with the barest dusting of concern.

The protest did not come and I could see a blue haze dance around his body, “Just be back before class ends.”

The rest of the class didn’t pay us much attention either. Fox led me forward and out into the hall. I pulled myself free the minute we were out, “Y-you’re not about to confront him are you?”

“Fable? No, no, he’d be expecting it. I assume his actions were to get a rise out of both of us. He hates waiting for results you know.”

I flinched, “Do you feel the same?”

“Not quite.” He flashed a smile, but it was more a guess at what a smile was than anything. “But that isn’t something for you to worry about. We don’t interfere in the story, no matter the reason.”

I nodded, knowing this well, “Then why did you drag me out here with you…?”

To that, he didn’t respond. Instead, he turned on his heel and motioned for me to follow. I did. There was no one in the halls, and we walked through them until we hit the stairwell. I blinked up, knowing where it was this led.

“This is the senior floor.”

“Yes.”

“…Why are we going up there?”

“Don’t look at me like that. I said we weren’t going to confront him. I didn’t say anything about talking to him.” It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I followed him anyway. The stairs went on step by step by step. Fox kept speaking. “If it gives you any comfort, I have the feeling this is the last you’ll see of him for a while.”

“I was surprised I saw him today at all. He never even acknowledges me.”

“That’s just how Fable is. We’re merely a means to an end to him.”

I stared at his back, wishing he wasn’t ahead of me so I could try to glean something from his expression, “Even you?”

Fox didn’t answer.

Being on the top floor was strange. Like seeing a rite of passage before being allowed to partake in it. I automatically turned towards the window to look out. The courtyard seemed so small from up here. Especially since there wasn’t a soul out. There wasn’t anything different about this floor than any of the others, and maybe that’s what made the view so weird.

We didn’t have to walk down too many halls. We didn’t even have to peak into a classroom. When we turned a corner, he was there. His eyes flickered up, bored, like he’d been waiting a long time.

“Sensed us?” Fox smiled. I flinched.

“I figured you’d come here. There’s nothing to be concerned about though. I stopped her from—” My ears rang. It was sharp and sudden. I threw my hands over them, pressing my palms in hard as though it’d stop the throbbing. A wobble started in my knees, a threat to give out. With a staggered breath, I tried to stay calm.

The noise was gone in an instant. Hesitantly, I pulled my hands away. The shadows were different. The world was in yellows and oranges and reds. Fable was no longer in front of me. He leaned back against the window, watching the world below. There were students now, a small scattering of them. It looked like they were just leaving club. Fox was on the other side of the window, eyes cast down.

He lifted his head, “Welcome back.”

“I…” I lost hours. Somehow. Someway.

Fable cut in before I could even put together what had happened, “I think we’re done here.”

“W-wait—” I moved to stand in front of him but the movement shot a fresh wave of nausea and dizziness through me. I stumbled, but kept myself upright before Fox could move to help. “What did you do to me?”

“Did it scare you?” I gritted my teeth. When he took a step towards me, Fox tensed. His fingers glided into fists. “Calm yourself, I’m not going to hurt her.”

“You already have.”

“A careless mistake.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Is that what we’re calling it now?”

My head was spinning. There were fragments of memory there. Fox and Fable arguing, a flash of blue, being somewhere else. But they were like water, slipping through my fingers. I couldn’t cup it in my hands, no matter how much I tried.

“I wouldn’t bother.” Fable motioned his hand to get my attention. “That day, you were able to remember the meeting with the Headmaster because it wasn’t necessarily targeting you. This was different.”

It was. The feeling was much like my visit at the Literature Club. But if that was the case, had that magic been targeting me as well? A question for another time. When my head wasn’t a mess and throbbing.

With a breath, I straightened myself, “I can remember.”

Fable considered me. Fox said nothing. The silence stretched on, waiting to see who would break it first. My faux bravado could only last so long. When Fable moved towards me, it was instinct to flinch away. There was no change in his expression, and I wished I could say the same.

“You remember nothing. If you do, tell me what it is. Anything at all.”

“Fox used magic.” A vague answer from a vague memory. Saying it out loud made it feel real, and for a moment I could almost recall more. A sharp laugh, a razor smile, my back pressed against something hard.

The smile was back as Fox grinned at him, “This is why I picked her. Now the two of us should go, I think we said all that we needed to.”

Fox caught my wrist and dragged me away before Fable could get a word in. Slowly, the fog in my head was clearing and I was able to register my body and surroundings. Fox didn’t let go of me even when we were out of the school’s entrance. It wasn’t until we were near my neighborhood that he finally let me go.

“We’ll pretend you remember more than you do.” Fox’s voice was barely a whisper. “It’ll stop Fable from harming you if you give him something to be interested in.”

“Honestly, I don’t remember much.” I wrapped my arms around myself. “I don’t like this feeling. Like something was stolen from me.”

His eyes were as soft as they were firm, “Sensing magic isn’t enough. If you can resist it to some degree, you need to find a way to hone it. It’ll offer some degree of protection.”

I didn’t always sense magic. Two revelations at once. My ability to resist magic wasn’t very strong and I failed to sense magic if it wasn’t actively in use. If this was meant to be something special, it held very little use.

“Why did…” my voice trailed off, wary of starting another fight with Fox. With anyone. That’s all this tale had been. “Why did you let it happen?”

Fox stilled. All emotion drained out of him but he didn’t look away. I waited for an answer, even if there wasn’t one I’d be happy with. “I tried to stop it. He’s stronger than me, though. He always has been.”

“Fox…”

“You should head home. It’s time to rest, especially with what’s been done to you.” The dismissal was clear. It didn’t make it any easier to leave. I lingered where I was, searching for something. I wasn’t sure what. But maybe Fox did, because he reached out and suddenly mused my hair. I gave a sharp yelp in protest. “Don’t look like that. I’ve given you protection as best I could.”

He had. I swatted his hand away, and the ring he’d given me glinted in the dying daylight, “I know, I know! Lay off already.”

His laugh made it seem like everything was fine again. I wished it was that simple. As we waved goodbye, the uneasiness was still resting in my stomach. Waiting until the next time it would wake up again and devour me whole.

//

A week went by. Fox had vanished, but I realized he normally did when he used magic. Guilt flushed through my body when I’d seen his seat empty. I knew magic had a negative effect on him, but I’d been too caught up in my own fear to even consider the fact. Even now, I couldn’t recall what had happened.

It didn’t matter anyway. Not for the moment, at least. I hadn’t seen Fable since, the bruise on my shoulder had all but vanished, and it was the day of the club meeting. Maeve had approached me again during class, and I said I’d be there. Even though Cyrus had gone back to acting like I didn’t exist, I noticed him glance at me when I’d spoken.

The only real loose end here was Abigail. I’d managed to avoid Nia and her the whole time. When she’d shown up to my house, I’d made my parents lie and say I hadn’t been feeling well. It wasn’t a lie, really. And when Abigail had gone into my room anyway, I’d still been buried under the covers, exhausted from endless thoughts. She’d left me alone.

Now, we were face to face after school. She considered me, “You look awful.”

“I haven’t been feeling well.” She was the same as always. Her arms were crossed in front of her, mouth pulled in a frown. “Hey, uh, I have a lot of things to tell you.”

“Do you?” Her eyebrow raised. I felt like a stranger.

“Um, yeah. I don’t know where to start actually…” I swallowed. “I’m going to the club meeting today.”

She was ice, “Why?”

“…Me and Nia followed you that day. Into the woods.” I rushed to the next part before she could protest, my voice dipping to a whisper hard to hear with all the students in the halls. “I was worried. I was scared.”

I was angry, too. But that sentence wasn’t able to pass my lips. It was impossible to consider that I was angry at her. After all my own secrets, I didn’t have the right. So I left it there.

“You know they’re blackmailing me, then?” I nodded. “So you can’t leave me alone?”

“I can’t. Especially when I know that…” I swallowed. “I talked to Justin. He found me in the woods, after you and Nia left. He told me about the club and everything and I just…”

“…You never used to go this far.” I flinched, but she didn’t sound angry. She didn’t sound like anything at all. When I peered up at her, I finally noticed the shadows smudged under her eyes. A flaw in her always perfect demeanor. The sight captivated me, my memory chasing another period of time I’d seen her like this. It came up empty. “Let’s go.”

There was a beat of silence as she turned. I’d expected more. A slice of rage being jabbed into my abdomen. It almost made me want to get out the last point. “Also, Cyrus caught us talking and…and Justinsaidweshouldpretendwe’redating—”

She stilled at my rush of words. For a moment, I hoped she hadn’t even caught what I’d said. But then she shrieked, “He fucking said what—?”

“Cyrus does, uh, think we’re dating. I-it wasn’t my idea. I didn’t know how to react—”

I gasped as she jabbed a finger into my chest, “You’re going to give me a rundown on everything you’ve been keeping from me, because what the hell is this??”

The walk to the club was painful. Abigail extracted every piece of detail she could out of me, and I thought I’d cry at the end of it. Somehow, with a will I didn’t know I possessed, I managed to refrain. Abigail was near seething.

“God, he’s awful. Terrible. The worst boy in the entire school, I’m going to kill him—” It was a miracle she was far angrier at Justin than she was at me. I let her rant to herself, practically hearing her teeth grind.

“Kill me after the meeting.” Abigail whirled, hand whipping out faster than I had time to react. A loud bang resounded as her hand smacked into the metal of lockers. Justin dodged out of the way without an ounce of concern. “Hope you didn’t hurt your hand too badly.”

“That’s the last thing you should be worried about. Maybe you should focus on the fact that this is quite possibly your last day alive.”

“Again, maybe we should wait until after this is all over.” Justin’s eyes flickered over to me, and he offered a mocking grin. “I was wondering when you were finally going to crack.”

“S-sorry…”

“Don’t apologize to him, he sucks.” Abigail snapped, shaking her hand out. I was sure she actually bruised it with how hard she threw that punch.

“If anyone owes me an apology, it’s you.” Abigail scowled, hand clenching like she was getting ready to throw another punch. Justin help up his hands. “Hey, hey, truce? We’re going to need to work together if we’re going to survive this.”

“If I say yes, it’s only for me and Cinder.”

He nodded once, “We can work out details later. For now, we should get going before they wonder where we’re at. Even if I’m hardly a member of the club these days, I can’t miss the show.”

“If those details include you fake dating my best friend like a shitty romcom I’m voting you the werewolf right off the bat.” His laughter rang through the halls and he merely walked on. Abigail and I watched him go.

When I peered up at her, I caught the way her lips pressed together. They looked dry, with the faintest of splits in the center. Another imperfection I’d never seen before. Or maybe one I never noticed when I was always so caught up in how her hair glimmered in the light or the way her eyes reflected the sun.

I swallowed before carefully linking my arms with hers, “Let’s go?”

“Yeah, let’s.” It was finally time to start the show.