“Bye!” Rhiannon called out.
After the three-remaining got in the car, Lilyette looked at Rhiannon intensely.
“This actually works out perfectly, I have something to show you guys, but I didn’t want Oberon to know about it until we can decide what to do,” she said
“What’d you find?” Kalen asked.
“I’ll show you both when we get back to the house,” Lilyette answered.
“Okay, well let’s get going. You got me all curious now,” Rhiannon said as she put the car into drive and headed back to the house.
Chapter 23
Once in the house, Lilyette motioned for Rhiannon and Kalen to sit down on the couch and then pulled the hidden book out of her purse. She read to them the top part then the description of the black wings and then waited for their replies.
“My wings are black, and I didn’t feel like my personality, or anything was really different,” Kalen said.
“Your eyes also didn’t go completely black like Oberon’s so you don’t have the variation that he does,” Lilyette said.
“Why didn’t you want him to know?” Rhiannon asked.
“Don’t you see? The second he got his wings he became an ‘Unseelie’ like the book said and broke every promise he made to us without flinching. That’s his true self!” Lilyette exclaimed feeling flames flickering beneath the surface.
“We all have some darkness in us. He’s not like that without the wings – this just means we can’t afford to ever let him get them back,” Rhiannon replied.
Lilyette’s hands set ablaze in a brilliant blue fire, startling even herself.
“Lilyette! What the hell?” Kalen exclaimed.
Lilyette tossed the book to the floor, and Kalen quickly stomped on it and put out the flames before they could engulf the book. Lilyette centered herself with controlled breathing and calmed herself down, and the blazes in her hands died away.
“Sorry, apparently one of the side effects of my wings is harder to tame emotions. This book is huge and lists tons of the consequences that can come from our powers, we need to make sure we thoroughly read it before we use them again. I’ll try and not freak out, but you must understand, he’s not the Oberon that we grew up with. For all I know that was just a mask he wore, or perhaps through the years he’s changed, but he isn’t a good guy, Rhiannon,” Lilyette explained.
“You don’t know what he’s been through. His father beats him, regularly and brutally! He showed me his bruises just yesterday. It was horrible. Of course, someone who’s been through that would have some pent-up anger and a desire for control – but that doesn’t make him bad!” Rhiannon said, standing up, feeling her own emotions rising.
Rhiannon flinched as she realized that she’d just told them Oberon’s secret, but decided it needed to be said for them to understand.
I’ll explain to him later, Rhiannon thought.
“No one should have to go through that, being beaten. I should know,” Lilyette replied.
“What do you mean?” Rhiannon asked horrified.
“My injuries? They didn’t come from a car accident,” Lilyette said.
“What…who? What happened?” Rhiannon asked.
“When my wings regenerated me, I got my memories back. I wasn’t sure what to do with the knowledge, especially when I knew what that family is capable of burying after what you told me happened to Kalen’s father. Oberon did this to me,” Lilyette replied.
“Oberon? No…” Rhiannon whispered.
“Yes. When I tackled him to give you guys time to escape, he quickly got the upper hand and repeatedly slammed my head into the concrete,” Lilyette said as her eyes filled with angry tears.
Rhiannon felt as though her heart would beat out of her chest as she broke out in a cold sweat.
“Oberon hurt you? Oberon. Hurt you?” she asked, trying to make sense of what she’d just been told.
She knelt in front of Lilyette and looked directly into her eyes. Lilyette met her gaze, not hiding the pain and tears that filled her eyes.
Rhiannon didn’t know what to say, so she chose to say nothing and instead moved to sit next to Lilyette and hold her. She felt sick to her stomach and found herself needing the hug just as much as Lilyette did.
Lilyette slumped into Rhiannon’s embrace and choked on her angry sobs. She started to tell Rhiannon everything that happened and how she felt as it was happening at the moment – how scared she was. She told her how she didn’t know how to tell anyone the truth because even though it’d happened directly to her, it was unbelievable.
Kalen sat down silently beside them; fists clenched.
Rhiannon’s body began to shake, and she was now drenched in sweat.
Lilyette felt the physical changes in Rhiannon and pulled away a small distance to look at her.
Rhiannon’s eyes darted all over the room, and her face was a sickly pale shed.
“Rhiannon? What’s happening?” Lilyette asked, gripping Rhiannon’s shoulders and giving her a small shake.
“I…can’t…breathe…” she managed to get out as she clung to her chest, feeling as though she were drowning in despair.
The pain in her chest tightened as though her heart were in a vice grip, her breathing was frantic, and she was overcome with nausea.
Oh no, Lilyette thought, panic attack.
Lilyette placed her arm around Rhiannon’s shoulder and gently guided her to sit back.
“What is happening?” Kalen asked as he reached for his phone to call for an ambulance.
“She’s having a panic attack. Put the phone down and go get a paper bag quickly,” Lilyette calmly explained.
Kalen sprinted to the kitchen and returned in a flash with a small paper bag in hand. He handed it to Rhiannon, who grabbed it eagerly as though it were a lifeline.
Rhiannon continued to hyperventilate, and tried to force herself to stop but couldn’t seem to find a way out of it.
“Breathe with me,” Lilyette instructed as she made audible deep breaths in and deep breaths out.
Kalen followed suit, and Rhiannon placed the bag over her pursed lips and joined in. She started to feel herself calm down as she listened to their breathing and started to match hers to it.
Once her mind cleared up, and the panic attack passed, tears escaped her eyes as she began to remember all the happy times she’d had with Oberon and Lilyette growing up.
“How could he? To you? It was always us three, you know? And he could have killed you…” Rhiannon cried as she crumpled and tossed the paper bag to the floor angrily.
“I know. We have to stop them. And we must consider that his mom is in on this. She’s probably the puppet master behind all of this. I can see it in her eyes,” Lilyette said with her eyes flashing with flames.
“What can we do, though? Obviously, we can’t call the police after what happened to Kalen’s mom. No one will believe us. They have all the power,” Rhiannon said sadly.
“No, they don’t,” Kalen began, “We are the only 3 people in the world that we know of that have wings and ancient fairy powers – and now a book that explains exactly how to use them.”
“We can use them to stop them,” Lilyette agreed, “and there’s only one way to stop evil for good – extinguish it.”
Rhiannon looked wide-eyed at Lilyette as Lilyette stood up and walked to the door. A look of determination on her face she expanded her wings and said,
“Who is with me?”
Chapter 24
Rhiannon shot up from the couch and ran to Lilyette and grabbed her hand.
“What you’re thinking…we can’t do it. We would be just as bad as them, and that’s not who any of us are. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy to find another way, but I won’t let us condemn our souls for this,” she said, looking Lilyette in the eyes.
Lilyette stared for a moment back at Rhiannon and felt the truth in her words penetrating the anger that had built up inside of her.
“You’re rig
ht…I know you’re right…but I just feel so helpless. They’re going to keep hurting people. What else can we do?” she asked.
“Let’s go to my place,” Kalen said as he walked towards them, “my mom has been hurt by them just as much as any of us. Maybe she can help us come up with an idea to stop this once and for all.”
“Yes! I agree, let’s do that!” Rhiannon insisted.
“Okay…” Lilyette said reluctantly as she pulled her wings back and made them disappear.
“We can stop for food on the way. Let’s go now,” Rhiannon said.
“Okay, I’ll leave my bike here. Let’s go,” Kalen agreed.
“Let me just go grab a couple things from upstairs since we will probably end up sleeping there,” Rhiannon said as she rushed upstairs. Lilyette grabbed some things of her own and put the book into her bag as well.
Rhiannon entered her room and grabbed fresh clothes, toiletries, and as she was about to walk out, she stopped and grabbed her dream catcher and threw it all in a backpack and went to meet the others downstairs.
Rhiannon pulled Lilyette out the door and tossed her keys to Kalen.
“You drive since you know the way,” she said.
The trio got back in the car and set off.
The drive to Kalen’s house passed by like a blur. Rhiannon was lost in her thoughts, and Lilyette laid down in the backseat and fell asleep. When they finally pulled up to his house, Kalen had to say both of their names a few times to let them know that the car had even stopped.
“I thought we were going to stop for food,” Lilyette complained as she rubbed her stomach.
“You were asleep, and you were zoned out, so I just kept driving,” he said, pointing to each of them, “we can eat here.”
“Let’s hurry inside before anyone else spots us. I don’t need people poking around while we have two – well I guess I make three – fairies in my mom’s house,” Kalen said.
Lilyette and Rhiannon followed quickly behind him into the house, Rhiannon only pausing momentarily to admire the roses again.
Kalen opened the door and was surprised to his mom already walking towards the door.
“I heard a car pull up and came to check,” she said as she hugged her son then Rhiannon.
“And who is this?” Aoki said, pointing to Lilyette.
“Lilyette,” Rhiannon answered.
“Ahhh, I’ve heard a lot about you,” Aoki said as she also gave Lilyette a hug.
“I feel like every time we come here, it’s because of another serious matter. But here we are again,” Rhiannon said.
“Should I make some tea?” Aoki asked.
“That’d be great,” Rhiannon answered.
Kalen ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly and added, “and maybe some food?”
Aoki laughed and said, “Of course.”
Everyone headed towards the kitchen after removing their shoes.
“How can we help?” Lilyette asked.
“Just go relax in the living room. I’ll be done quickly. I already had some soup on the stove from my dinner, and I always make too much,” Aoki replied cheerfully.
Kalen smiled with pride at his mom and lead Rhiannon and Lilyette to the living room.
“Your mom is really nice,” Lilyette said.
“Thanks,” Kalen replied beaming.
“Mama’s boy,” Rhiannon joked.
“And proud!” Kalen rebutted.
“That’s my boy,” Aoki called from the kitchen.
“So, do you guys think Oberon will tell his parents about the wings?” Kalen asked.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Lilyette answered.
“I hope not,” Rhiannon replied, unsure.
“He must take acting classes because he seemed like a pretty cool guy. But now that I know what he did and what he’s capable of? It had to be all an act,” Kalen responded.
Rhiannon’s stomach turned at the thought, had everything between us been a lie?
“Time to eat!” Aoki announced.
Everyone sat at the table, said a quick prayer, and thanked Aoki for the meal.
“Arigatogozaimas!” Lilyette chirped.
“You speak Japanese?” Kalen asked, surprised.
“I know a handful of words,” Lilyette replied with a smile.
“Doitashimashite, you’re welcome,” Aoki replied.
The warm soup traveled down Rhiannon’s throat like a soothing river, melting away the knots and dread in her stomach.
“This is delicious,” Rhiannon said gratefully.
“Eat as much as you want. There’s plenty more,” Aoki replied.
With stomachs full, everyone moved back into the living room and filled Aoki in on everything that happened. She listened intently and pondered over their words. Once she heard about what happened to Lilyette, her eyes changed and shined with intent.
“The Villagomez family has to be stopped. But Rhiannon is right – we won’t stoop to their level,” Aoki replied after everyone finished talking.
“What else can we do?” Lilyette asked.
“I have a group of friends here that can help. I’ve been working with them in secret for a while as we further developed the program that records dreams. We finally got it to the stage where it can make a copy of the person’s brain activity, which has been proven to be as individualized as a fingerprint. Hopefully, that will help prove to officials that the evidence we provide is real,” Aoki explained.
“But how will they know it’s their brain scan?” Rhiannon asked.
“We have to hope that they’ll be willing to look into it if the information we provide is compelling enough. One of our LD members is on the police force and has agreed to take our findings seriously if we can provide it. So far, the few fairies on our team have been unable to get into Adira or Arion’s consciousness which leads us to believe that they’ve trained extensively on keeping out intruders. I think Rhiannon will be our best chance since she’s been able to penetrate Lilyette’s dreams and has proven that her abilities are unmatched,” Aoki answered.
“You want me to go into their minds? What do I do when I get in there?” Rhiannon asked worriedly.
“You’ll need to go through the dream and access the memories. It’s believed that our dreams are often replays of old memories. So, by going through them first, you should be able to find your way to their memories if you focus. Our best chance would be to start with Adira, as you’ve had more personal interactions with her so hopefully, your closeness will give you another edge on finding your way through her psyche,” Aoki replied.
“Couldn’t this be dangerous? What if they realize she’s in there poking around and try and pull her through?” Kalen asked.
“I’ll do it,” Rhiannon replied, “I’m willing to face this if it means we could stop them from hurting anyone else again. This is our chance.”
“She’s got this,” Lilyette agreed, “she busted through to my dreams like a wrecking ball!”
“I came in like a wreeeckiiiing ballll!” Rhiannon sang.
“Stop,” Lilyette laughed.
“You both are nuts, but I’m in. You’re right, Rhiannon is a badass,” Kalen replied.
“You all are badasses,” Aoki interjected.
“Mom! Language!” Kalen said feigning offense.
“Hush,” she said with a fake scold, “now why don’t you guys munch on some fruits, or I have cookies in the kitchen, then go to bed. I’m going to go make some calls and get my people caught up on what’s going on,” Aoki said.
“Actually, before you go, I wanted to ask you something,” Rhiannon interjected.
“Yes?” Aoki asked.
“Would it be okay if I hang something on the wall in the room I’m sleeping in? It’s a dreamcatcher that my mom left me. I recently found it, and it just feels good having it with me,” Rhiannon requested timidly.
“Of course, you can. I’ll go get you a push pin right now!” Aoki answered enthusiastically.
&n
bsp; “Thank you so much,” Rhiannon replied gratefully.
“I want you all to feel comfortable here, so never hesitate to ask me anything. I’m here for you all,” Aoki said warmly.
“Did I mention that your mom is the best?” Lilyette asked.
“Yes,” Kalen replied with a smile.
“You flatter me,” Aoki said as she walked out the room.
“I’m glad we came here. Things don’t seem so hopeless with her hear to guide us,” Rhiannon said.
“Being around her makes me miss my mom. I want to tell her about what’s going on, but I feel like it’d put her and my dad in danger,” Lilyette said conflicted.
“I know what you mean, but maybe after we are done here, we can go and let her know?” Rhiannon replied.
“I don’t know,” Lilyette mumbled.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Rhiannon said.
“What memories are you hoping to have recorded tomorrow if you succeed to get in,” Kalen asked.
“Well, I am curious about her memories of the day my parents died. And I want to know what she knows about what Arion did to your dad and what Oberon did to Lilyette. If I could find all those things before she catches on to me being in there, we could take them down in one shot depending on how much details she’s aware of,” Rhiannon answered.
“I’m certain she knows a lot more than you’re expecting,” Lilyette replied.
“If that’s true, then why would she be so nice to me when I came back? Can a person really be that two-faced?” Rhiannon asked, unsure.
“We all have different faces,” Lilyette began, “it’s not always intentional or meant for manipulation, but no person is just one way all the time. We are multifaceted beings. But honestly, in my opinion, yeah – she really is that two-faced.”
Chapter 25
After everyone woke up and got ready, they nervously waited in the living room for Aoki’s friends to arrive and run them through the next steps.
The nervous energy was palpable as they all sat lost in their own thoughts. A knock at the door shook them all out of their minds and back to the present moment.
The Dream Deceiver Page 11
