by Xavier Neal
I smirk as she nods at two very tall, very strong, body guards, who are standing outside a sealed glass door. At the sight of her they both nod before greeting her in unison, “Belle.”
She winks, raises her eyebrows, and waits for the glass door to slide open. “Gentlemen.”
“What is all of this?”
“This...” she says as my eyes admire an operation I'm not sure I can even comprehend. “Is where the magic happens.”
I stare at machines that operate in perfect harmony. They're mixing, crushing, grinding, compressing, and then they are bagged and tagged towards the end. Even though the assembly lines do not seem to be monitored by actual living beings, they're working efficiently.
“This is where we mix and create product,” an unfamiliar voice speaks up.
Taken off guard I snap my head to the side shocked when I see two females standing beside Belle, one with a lap top, the other twirling a sharp dagger. Wow! They could easily be the female versions of Aiden and Eiden.
Belle points during her introductions. “Peyton, meet BR and Ty.”
BR, who's like looking at the female version of Aiden, is indeed holding a tablet. She has very light brown hair with soft waves, slightly paler skin than her counter-part, and is very tall, yet very slender, with a pair of box glasses falling down her face.
“Bearathina.” She cradles the device and extends her hand for me to shake. “Everyone just calls me BR.”
“BR's father is head of medicine in all of Neverland. He's cured unthinkable diseases. Treated war victims. Created some amazing medicines. Quite the miracle man when it comes to mixing chemicals. It just so happens his daughter possess the same abilities. So, she's given fairy dust.” Belle removes the box from her bag. “Then cuts it, mixes it, and makes it available for others to use...without killing them.”
“Fairy dust can kill you?”
“Straight injections sure can.” She slips the tablet to Belle and opens the box. “I separate a portion, keeping it pure, that's what you put on severe wounds and what not, but if you were to try to take a straight pill or sprinkle some in a drink, it'd kill you.”
“Dangerous, as helpful as it is.”
Belle clicks a few things on the tablet and hands it back. “Exactly.”
“I'll get started on this,” she prepares to slide away towards a backroom. “When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow morning.” Belle turns and continues, “This is Ty.” I watch as she rolls her fingers around the tip of the blade. “Her father is head of National Security of all of Neverland. The police force. The secret security that watches over King Scott. The military that protects us from invasions. All of those are under the thumb of her father Chief Titus.” Ty winks at me and Belle sighs, “Ty makes sure all the right people are paid in law enforcement.”
She slips her dagger out of sight into her back pocket, which is when I extend my hand for her to shake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure,” she replies, her attention glancing at the machines immediately after.
Belle tosses her hair over her shoulder and says, “We just stopped by to drop off the Dust. We have to swing by and pick out our dresses. This is Peyton's first party, you know.”
“Really?” Ty's face goes from strong to sympathetic, quite quickly. “It'll be all good. We'll all be there and that'll be a less stressful time for us to get acquainted.”
I glance around at the machines that seem to be working flawlessly. “This a stressful time?”
Ty explains, “Well, if any of these machines stop working, drop temperature, drop pressure, mis-mix, or misread something and it isn't immediately taken care of, it could costs us three figure thousands.”
Three figure thousands? Oh like six figures! That's an insane amount of money! All that money we get to spend freely and play with comes from Belle's beautiful wings.
“You've got this under control.” Belle loops her arm with mine. “See you tonight...”
“In deed.” Ty tips her head at us. We turn to walk away when she clears her throat. “Hey Belle, can I ask you a quick question?”
“Shoot.”
“Did um...Eiden hook up with anyone while you guys were away?”
Puzzled I raise my eyebrows, not realizing that maybe the twins had girls here waiting for them.
Belle leans her face to the side and sighs, “Really?”
Embarrassed but obviously in no shape to admit it, she quickly follows it up with, “What?! You guys were gone a little longer than normal this time. I'm just saying things can happen in a couple of weeks.”
“Can they?” Belle's condescending tone reminds me of Peter's. It's one I don't like. “Come on Ty.”
Not saying another word, the two of us exit the way we came and shuffle across the way to the strip mall. Belle drags me to a high end store where everyone who works there seems to know her name.
Overwhelmed by the amount of attention coming our way, I find a lounge chair and have a seat right outside the dressing rooms. I rest my arms on my legs, and my face in my hands while I watch Belle browse different items. Staring at her as she browses reminds of the time Justin took me to his favorite store to buy a special shirt to meet my parents. He was so excited that day when it started. We shared his secret piano. Our first kiss. It was also the first time he ever introduced someone as his girlfriend. Girlfriend. I love the way it comes out of his mouth, and being called that. I love the way it feels when he's wrapped up around me acting like a boyfriend. Protecting me like a boyfriend. Loving me like a boyfriend.
“Don't worry,” Belle hums out holding a pink off the shoulder number to her chest, not evening looking up at me. “You'll see how much he loves you.”
I don't respond. Glad she thinks so. Leaving me to rot in prison not once, but twice, doesn't quite make the love cut. We all make mistakes, I get that. But every mistake he makes seems to risk my life and that...that I don't appreciate. That doesn't feel like love to me.
Once Belle has found a pink dress that pleases her, she hands me a little black number insisting there's no need to try it on. Knowing better than to argue with her, I follow her to the checkout counter where she pays for both. On our way back to the jeep, she assures me she will take good care of me like she always does, before taking a phone call.
**
In the evening, after hours of transforming me like the stylist she is, we head off to Main Shore. Belle drives us to a private secure parking garage in the middle of the city where she parks us, insisting that there's nothing to worry about. How even though it looks shady, that we are as safe as ever. She leads us across the street to a warehouse building where she swipes a key card to gain access. As we maneuver our way around boxes stacked high, I make note of all the employees standing around. Some are lingering behind boxes. Some are casually shuffling some around. The more I stare, the more I notice several of them don't resemble stock men, but body guards. Around the back of the building, we run into a tall, bald, dark skinned man, with a long red tail. I try not to stare as he pulls open a door that looks like three crates stacked high. Politely he ushers us through and we stroll down a long hallway towards very loud, but jazzy music.
To my surprise we're at the top of a staircase with a lively nightclub in motion down below. Around the top on both sides of us are tables with people sitting, drinking, and enjoying the music. There's a bar and a small closed off section where I see Peter. His legs are propped up on a table, crossed, while his arms are stretched out around the back of the couch with girls surrounding him in all directions. Fawning over him. Giggling. Pouring drinks in his glass like some sort of drug lord in a bad movie, or in my case reality. The green button down shirt he's rocking somehow makes him look even sleazier.
I watch Belle storm away straight for Peter, her stunning barely there pink dress turning heads along the way. With a soft smirk, I start descending the stairs spotting the twins, who are together at a gambling table. Aiden's dressed up in a light brown bu
tton down, and Eiden in a chocolate colored one, sporting a backwards baseball cap with it.
Making my way over to them, I smile at the sight of Eiden excitedly tossing a fist in the air. Loudly congratulating his brother on another win, he yells, “Again! He won again! He cannot lose! This man cannot lose!”
Casually I question from behind them, “He can't?”
Aiden's face goes from excited over the game to shocked as his eye scan over my body. My dress is strapless. It's black and white lace with a sweetheart neckline. While it's tighter than I care to have it, I'm thankful it stops closer to my knees than higher up. Belle also decided to leave my hair down with some curls on the end insisting it'll mix the sexy with the sweet.
Aiden tries to speak, “Y-Y-You look...”
“Fantastic,” Eiden inserts, grinning wide.
Softly I sigh, “Thanks.”
For a moment, they continue to stare, which flatters me even more. Realizing they've probably stared long enough, Eiden clears his throat helping break his brother's train of thought. Immediately Aiden smiles and looks back at the table that reminds me of a craps table, but instead of a pair of dice it looks like a pair of animal eyes with numbers on them. If that's not weird enough, instead of poker chips, sea shells of different sizes are being tossed around.
I watch as he picks up the eyes once more. “What are you playing?”
“Wapp.”
“Which is?”
“It's like craps,” Eiden answers as Aiden tosses the eyes again resulting in yet another win.
Casually I scan the crowd before whispering in Eiden's ear, “I thought you guys were supposed to be doing business.”
Eiden whispers back in my ear, “We are. We're keeping an eye out as product moves around this place. We don't personally distribute, but it's being sold around the club. We can't be caught with anything in our hands.”
I search around again seeing if I can spot anything out of place. From what I see, it looks like people are just having a good time, like they would at a normal nightclub. Whispering back to Eiden I ask, “That's why Hook can never catch you huh? Because you never have the stuff in your hands.”
“It's one reason.”
“But what about the money? He could still catch you with that.”
Our whispered conversation continues, “Doesn't matter if it's clean enough.”
“What does that mean? Are you supposed to be cleaning it right now?”
“We are.”
“No you're not. You're playing some game.”
Eiden smirks crookedly, the way Justin used to, which tugs at my heart more than I want to admit. “Everything is not always as it looks Peyton. You of all people know that.”
Ugh. Why the riddles? Why must they all say things like that? Eiden winks and motions his eyes back towards the game. Frustrated I turn my attention back just as some random guy bumps into Aiden. Suspicious that it wasn't random, I watch carefully, noticing a small stack of the green currency with the mermaid face on it slide out of his hand and into Aiden's. With the money still low, he waits until the guy is out of sight and places it on the table demanding more sea shells. After a minute he bets all of the shells he has. Slyly the dealer glances and taps his finger twice on the table in such a subtle way I'm not sure if it's code or not. Aiden rolls the eyes and I watch as the eyes start to stop on a number he didn't bet on when the table board seems to slightly move to land on the number he desired. The dealer announces that he's yet again a winner. Aiden hands several of the shells to his brother who insists he needs to go cash them. Smiling at me Aiden, slips the dealer a bill under the table. Now I see. Everyone can be bought for a price. No wonder it's hard to catch them when most people don't mind taking the small handout offered.
Overwhelmed by what I just witnessed, I say to Aiden, “I'll see you around in a bit. I'm gonna get something cold to drink.”
He nods dismissing me, but quickly grabs my arm. “Avoid anything brown. Just trust me.”
I scrunch my face but nod in return. That sounds like solid advice. After maneuvering my way around the busy club, I arrive at the bar. Scanning the bottom half of this place, I see a stage with a jazz band playing music. It reminds me of a cross between a 20s style and modern hip-hop. There's a crowd dancing close to the stage in what appears to be a designated dance floor. Surrounding the space there's lounge couches staggered along with high top and low top tables. All the seating seems filled with giggling creatures. Some look like people and some don't. Eventually my eyes find Justin, who's sitting in a lounge couch in the back corner. A small sigh falls out of me. He's wearing his black suit pants, a gray dress shirt with no tie. His head is covered with a gray fedora though this one has a thick black strip that creates a simple bow. Never thought about a bow being on such a manly creation, but it looks good. Damn good. Just like him. Just like Peter was surrounded, so is he. Some are touching his arms while others are touching their necks to try to draw his attention to them. Surprisingly enough, I never see more than a flicker of a smile on his glum face. What's got him so down? He's basically swimming in gorgeous girls that make me look like a rag doll even dressed like this! I mean...there's a chance that things between us are bothering him, but I doubt it. He can't possibly still be upset over us. Right? I look away, eyes scanning the entire place again, this time observing the way his 'throne' is directly below Peter's. Well, where else would his second in command be? I roll my eyes slightly disgusted. Not being able to help myself, I glance at Justin once more just as the girl beside him tilts her head in front of his face and runs her hand towards his inner thigh.
“That's my baby sister,” a voice pierces through my thoughts. Quickly I turn to it. Ty's in a tight black dress with orange tiger print across. Instead of just looking intimidating like she did earlier, she looks intimidating and sexy.
I push my hair off my shoulders, doing my best not to stare at the sight I just was. “What?”
“That's my baby sister.” She points to the girl snuggling herself up to Justin. “Lily.”
“Lily,” I repeat softly now knowing the name of the female who's doing a great job of making me jealous.
“I know you know Justin,” her voice sighs as she hands me a glowing green drink that matches hers. “The charming, suave, playboy who's most likely to break your heart before even pretending he has one of his own.”
Maybe to the rest of the world. That's not quite the guy I've come to love. Love? No. Maybe. I don't know. I adjust the drink in my grip.
“He's had any girl he wants and every girl. And what did I tell my sister before she volunteered to take care of him? Guys like that aren't going to fall in love with you Lil. Guys like that are fun to play with but don't let your heart into it. And what does she do while healing his wounds, just that. Little sisters are so hard headed, ya know?”
I smirk and shake my head. “I'm an only child.”
She takes a sip. “Be thankful.”
On a hum, I follow her movements and take a sip of what she ordered for us. The bright lime green drink taste like a green apple jolly rancher with a small alcoholic after taste. Politely I say, “Thank you for the drink.”
“Don't mention it. No need for you to try a million terrible drinks before arriving at perfection.”
Pleased, I continue allowing the liquid to cool my aching throat as the situation we were gawking at a minute ago arrives right on our front door step. Really? So this night is not going to get any easier?
“Justin, just listen to me!” Lily screeches, turning his body around to face her, us as the audience.
“Lil don't beg, it's not attractive,” Ty tries to save her little sister from embarrassment.
“I don't care!” she yells at her sister over her shoulder. “Just listen to me. Justin, I fell for you the minute I saw you. Then there's the connection we had while I tended to your injuries...” Her hand travels up his arm, which causes a jealous twitch inside. I grip my glass tighter. “I know there's someth
ing here. I saw it in your eyes that first night.”
With a deep swallow he glances at me, offering me a soft yet painful smirk. Oh God, he's about to confess something. I have another sip of my drink. “Lily, look, it was fun. There's no denying that-”
“Then why can't we be together!”
“Because I'm in love with someone!” He declares, surprising both Ty and me. By the expression on her face, I assume she's never seen him act like this.
In disbelief she squeaks again, “Who? Who?!”
His hand gestures towards me. “Her.”
Really? Just drag me down with your soap opera drama? I don't need to be tossed into this mess! Don’t I have my own problems to deal with? And why is it most of my problems involve him?
