Crystal Heart

by Whitney Morris

  The crystal glowed in my hand. It felt warm like a heartbeat. Words came into my head, almost like a whisper. “Crystal Heart, I bind to thee to protect the land and keep the balance.” My voice boomed through the room with the echo of another. Lights shot around the room, creating a strong gust. Two lights separated from the rest and shot out the window. The lights disappeared, and the room fell silent.

  “Father, I did it.” There was no response. “Father.” I grabbed his arm. He didn’t move. He looked like he was sleeping, but he was no longer breathing. “No!” I screamed, dropping to my knees, tears streaming.

  “Mellissa.” Someone was shaking me. “Mellissa.” My heart hurt. I felt like I was about to burst from the pain. “Mellissa, wake up,” they shouted. I opened my eyes. Victoria was beside me, shaking me. My sight blurred as I choked on my tears.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “The king. Freya’s dad. It felt so real, like I was there with her.”

  Victoria grasped my shoulders. “Mellissa, it was just a dream.”

  “No, it was a memory. Freya’s memory.”

  Victoria’s brows drew together as she took a step back. “What are you talking about?”

  Once I was able to pull myself together, I told her all about my dreams. She sat on the end of my bed listening intently, occasionally giving a slight nod of her head. “These dreams,” she said. “You believe they are coming from the Heart Crystal?” I nodded. “And Matt knows about them, and Greg.” I nodded again. She jumped off the bed and threw her arms in the air. “And no one thought to tell me?”

  “It’s not like that. Matt told me not to tell anyone.”

  “Since when has Matt been the master of good ideas?” she yelled. “And you told Greg!”

  “That was only recently, and I sort of just blurted it out.”

  She wagged her finger in my face. “I am your best guardian. You do not keep things from me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry.”

  She sat back on the bed, scowling at me. “Did you ever think that maybe the crystal is just trying to get you to understand what happened before and show you how it got here, with you?”

  “Maybe.” I bit my bottom lip. I had no idea why the crystal was giving me these dreams, but it was trying to tell me something. I just didn’t know what. All the memories had been so different. Some were nice, some scary. and others completely heartbreaking. There didn’t seem to be any link other than Freya.

  Victoria slapped my legs under the cover, making me jump. “Well, we better start getting ready for the journey home, and I want to be the first to know about any more weird dreams.”

  I nodded. She skipped off into the bathroom, and within seconds, I heard water running.

  Home. My heart felt lighter. We were going home.

  Victoria and I stood outside by the sleigh, waiting on the others. The hustle and bustle of the city roared around us. People occasionally stopped to stare or point at us, but mostly, they left us alone. Greg and Yuri had gone looking for Matt. No one had seen him after he disappeared from the ball last night. I stayed to help Victoria stuff all her extra bags in the sleigh. The girl sure could shop, especially when it was someone else’s money she was spending. We had one sleigh this time. Greg would sit in the back with us, and Yuri would sit up front with the driver. We would be taking the sleigh all the way to the veil this time. No chance for me to ruin any boats, and apparently, it would actually be quicker. Why we hadn’t done this in the first place, I had no idea.

  Victoria leant on the sleigh, looking up at the sky. “Well, it seems we have time to spare as my idiot brother has not turned up.”

  “I guess,” I said.

  “We have time for you to tell me where you and Flopsey disappeared to last night.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t notice your absence? I’m your guardian. It is my job to notice these things, so tell me everything.” She looked down at me with a menacing smile. I’m not sure what she thought I had to tell, but I had nothing to hide, and I had no problem telling her what happened.

  When I finished telling her about the misunderstanding between Greg and me, she looked disappointed. Victoria crossed her arms and tilted her head toward me. “Do you really expect me to believe you just talked?”

  “Well, it’s what happened.”

  She handed me a small glass bottle of pink liquid. “Well, I guess I got this made for you for nothing..”

  I held the bottle up to the light. “What is this?”

  “A contraceptive potion.”

  “A what? Why would I need that?”

  “Because it’s better than any human contraception.” She pointed at her fingers in turn as she listed off benefits. “It takes effect straight away, lasts six months, doesn’t have any unwanted side effects, works for both genders and tastes like raspberries.”

  I stuffed the bottle into one of my bags on the sleigh. “They are all great reasons to switch from the pill to this stuff, but what I meant is: why would I need it now?”

  She shrugged. “Well, when you disappeared, I thought maybe you and Flopsey—”

  “What! No,” I shouted. “Why would you think that? Greg is my friend. Friends don’t do that.”

  “If you say so.”

  My face was on fire. Why would that be the conclusion she came to? That was likely what Matt had been up to, but I wasn’t like Matt. Greg may be attractive, but I wouldn’t ruin our friendship with a one-night stand. I didn’t understand why she cared about this. Although, it was nice of her to get me the potion. It seemed to be her way of looking out for me. I looked up at the sky.

  “We just spoke about the council rudely trying to decide my fate and Greg coming back with us. Nothing else. So sorry I didn’t record our conversation to replay for you,” I said.

  She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. I know you’re not a virgin.”

  “How do you know that? Matt doesn’t even know.”

  “Oh, he knows. He just doesn’t want to acknowledge it. He likes to believe you’re still too innocent. Pretty rich when you think of how many girls he’s been with. He still occasionally lectures me about safe sex and how I can say no. Trust me, I say no plenty.” Victoria raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you mean you and Matt never?”

  I gagged. My stomach churned, and I thought I might be sick. “God, no. That is just disgusting.” At least Greg was just a friend, but Matt was like family. How could she even suggest it?

  Victoria bent over laughing. “You are the first girl to ever look like they are about to throw up at the thought of being with my brother.”

  “Glad you find this so funny.” I folded my arms over my chest and frowned.

  She patted my shoulder. “I’m sorry. I never understood why your friendship lasted after the first years of high school and kind of assumed friends with benefits at first. Although, I think I understand better now.”

  “Well, thanks for that disturbing imagery. I’m going to check that I’ve remembered to pack everything.” I walked around the side of the sleigh to get away from this conversation and bumped into Matt.

  “When did you get here?” I asked, taking a step back.

  “What do you mean? I have been here the whole time.” My eyes went wide. I hoped he hadn’t heard our entire conversation.

  “You were right here the whole time we were loading the sleigh? I never heard you approach.”

  “Yes, I was. You obviously aren’t very observant,” he replied.

  How dare he talk to me like that? If he had been here the whole time, he could have helped us load the sleigh. Greg and Yuri had been searching pointlessly. And he must’ve heard what Victoria said.

  “Where have you been?” Victoria yelled, marching around the sleigh.

  “I have been around. Anyway, where is that changeling and water nymph?” he asked, looking at his nails. “We really should be on our way.”

  Vic
toria kissed her teeth. “They are off looking for you.”

  Matt turned away from Victoria and shoved his bag in my face. “Here, be a good little girl and put my things in the sleigh.”

  “She will do nothing of the sort, you rude cretin.” Victoria grabbed the bag off me and threw it back at him.

  Matt sighed, looking down his nose at us. “Whoever thought it was a good idea to put women in positions of power needs a good beating.”

  “What did you say?” yelled Victoria. I was just as shocked as she was.

  “Well, I’m ready to leave now.” Matt waved his hand at me. “Mellissa, go fetch Gregory and what’s-her-face. You can teleport them.”

  I gritted my teeth. What had gotten into him? He was being so rude—not to mention cold, demanding. and sexist. It was like he’d adopted Victoria’s harshness and taken it to a whole new level. I teleported to get Greg, not because Matt told me to, but because if I didn’t leave, I might just hit him. I managed to teleport right in front of Greg. Unfortunately, he wasn’t looking and knocked me over. One of the few times I landed well, and I still ended up on my butt.

  “Mellissa, you should be more careful about where you teleport,” he said, helping me up.

  I dusted myself off. “Matt has turned up out of nowhere, so you can stop searching for the idiot. I think he is hung over and taking his bad mood out on everyone else. Where’s Yuri?”

  “She went that way.” He pointed down a corridor.

  We hurried in the direction he pointed, finding her searching in a staff canteen. If Matt had been acting like himself, this would have been a good guess of where he might have been. Holding on to the both of them, I teleported us to the sleigh.

  “Good, you are back,” Victoria said. “Now, let’s go. The sooner we leave, the sooner I can get away from him.” Victoria glared at Matt.

  He stuck his nose up at her and got in the sleigh. Yuri went up front, while the rest of us got in the back. The sleigh jolted forward with a gentle whoosh sound. We were on our way home.

  Matt sat slouched over with his arms crossed. “I don’t see why we need to take this stupid sleigh back to the human world. Couldn’t you just teleport us there? It would be a lot quicker.”

  “Why are you always asking stupid questions?” snapped Victoria. I wasn’t sure what had happened in the short time I was gone, but she was really wound up.

  “It’s okay, Victoria. I don’t mind explaining again,” I said, trying to calm the situation.

  “Just because you don’t mind doesn’t make it okay. He should know why,” she replied, giving Matt the evil eye.

  “Matt, I can’t teleport us there simply because it’s too far. I can only teleport a certain distance. If I tried to teleport us home, we would just be repulsed back,” I explained.

  He huffed. “You could just do multiple teleports till we got there.”

  “You actually expect her to use that much magic just to get us home a bit quicker?” Victoria said. “What is wrong with you? She was out cold for a whole day. How can you ask that of her so soon? You are being even more of an idiot than usual.”

  He shrugged and looked out the window. It was nice that Victoria had defended me—something I never thought would happen. It was like the two of them had switched roles. Matt really wasn’t acting like himself. He had dark circles under his eyes like he had hardly slept. The way he rested his head against the window, looked like he had had a long night. However, being hung over and tired was no excuse for his bad attitude.

  We spent the rest of the journey in silence until we eventually reached the tear in the veil. It had taken us most of the day to get back, and it was dark out. We got out of the sleigh and all waved to the driver as he drove off, except Matt. He still had his arms folded and was looking in the opposite direction. We said goodbye to Yuri and thanked her for her help. Matt did nothing but scowl.

  I took hold of everyone. “We should be close enough to teleport now.”

  We landed outside Matt and Victoria’s house and were pummelled by rain. Already, I missed the snow. We ran into the house. Next time, I would aim for inside the house. We were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Street, who wanted to know all about our trip. Victoria and I told them everything that happened, while Matt sat silently in the corner, looking miserable. After a few refreshments, I teleported with Greg back to my house.

  Everything was exactly the same as when we left. My dad hadn’t even touched Greg’s rabbit bed that I’d left in the hall. I threw my stuff down in my room and face-planted on my bed. It was nice to be home again and back in my own room. I had only been gone a few days, but it felt like a lot longer. Everything was dealt with for now, and I could chill out and be a normal girl again—at least for a little while.

  Greg popped his head around the door. “Hey, I thought you said you were going to show me where this flat is my father found for me.”

  I rolled to the edge of my bed and sat up. “I did say that, but you shouldn’t have let me come home first because now I don’t want to leave.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I will find it myself.” Greg walked away.

  “Wait,” I shouted. Raindrops hammered against the glass of the window. I couldn’t leave him to aimlessly wander around the village. It was likely I knew where this flat was. I could teleport him there and be back in bed in a couple of minutes.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, reappearing in the doorway.

  “I will take you there. Wouldn’t want you getting lost, never to be seen again. What’s the address?”

  He handed me a piece of paper. I looked down at it and cringed. I definitely knew this place. You would have thought the council could have afforded something a bit nicer. I took his hand and teleported us under a tree opposite a block of flats. I had gotten us as close as possible without risking someone seeing us appear out of thin air. Even under the shelter of the tree, we were getting hit by rain.

  “Are you sure you want to stay there? It’s like, the worst place to live in town.”

  Greg shrugged. “The picture in the advertisement looked all right, and I haven’t really got anywhere else to go.”

  “They always do,” I muttered.

  Greg walked across the road. I thought about just going back to the warmth of my dry house. I sighed as I ran after him.

  I looked at the numbers on the building. “Seriously, you’re on the top floor.”

  “Why don’t you go back home where it is dry? I will be fine on my own from this point.” Greg put his arm around me, nudging me toward the building and swapping places with me, sheltering me from the rain.

  “Are you sure? I mean, shouldn’t there be someone here to meet you and give you keys and stuff?”

  “They said they would leave the keys under the doormat.”

  “Really? Who does that?”

  “These people, obviously. Seriously, Mellissa, I will be fine. I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning for a whole day of lessons, as you insist on having three days to yourself for this Christmas thing.”

  “I am not agreeing to that,” I said. “I now know what ‘bright and early’ really means to you.”

  “Fine, seven o’clock then.”

  “I was thinking more like after lunch, so like, half one-ish.”

  “You are going to have to start earlier than that to make up for the three days you want off.”

  “One o’clock.”

  “Eight.”

  “No, that is still too early.”

  “Nine o’clock, and I will buy you lunch.”

  I pushed my hair back. Nine o’clock was still too early, but I did like free food. “Half nine and you buy me lunch.”

  “Deal,” he said, putting his hand out to me. We shook on it, and I teleported home.

  “Mellissa,” came my dad’s voice. He walked out into the hallway. He went to hug me and then stopped. “You’re soaked.”

  “Well, it is raining.” I had only been out in the rain a few minutes, but I was
wet through. My jeans stuck to my thighs and weighed a ton.

  “You should have called. I would have picked you up.”

  “I thought you would still be at work.”

  “Why don’t you get changed, then you can tell me all about your trip. I will order a takeaway for dinner. I haven’t had time to go shopping.”

  I wasn’t sure what I could tell him about my trip, but I was sure I could come up with something. “Sounds good. I noticed that we are sort of lacking in Christmas stuff.” I waved my arms to gesture at the whole house. “You know, just because I’m not here doesn’t mean you can’t put up the decorations.”

  “Well, since you weren’t here, I have been working late, so I haven’t had time. But because of that, I can now have New Year’s off to spend with you.”

  “That’s great, Dad. I can’t remember the last time you didn’t work New Year’s.”

  “I was thinking we could have a party this year. You can invite Matt and Victoria.”

  My heart sank at the mention of the twins. As much as Victoria loved a good party, I wasn’t sure our newfound friendship extended to this side of the veil. I forced a smile, trying to not show what I was feeling. “That sounds great. Hey, could I invite another friend as well?”

  “You have another friend to invite?”

  “Don’t sound so shocked. I can make friends. I just usually choose not to.”

  “Invite whoever you want.” My dad chuckled as he walked back into the living room. I ran upstairs. I put on a nice, dry pair of pyjamas and threw my wet clothes in the wash. I spent the rest of the evening watching a film with my dad and eating Chinese food. Things felt almost normal again.

  That night, I went to sleep in my own bed, happy that things were going back to somewhat normal. I knew I couldn’t be completely normal again, but for now I was happy with how things were. As I closed my eyes, I saw a light come out of the Heart Crystal. I sat up to look at it, but it was inactive. I assumed it must have been a trick of the light. I put it back down on my bedside table and slowly drifted off to sleep.

  I woke to rain hammering against my bedroom window. As cold as it was on the other side of the veil, I was missing the snow. It was way better than this downpour. I rolled over and looked at the clock on my bedside table. I jumped out of bed. It was already half nine. I ran to the bathroom and got myself dressed. I was going to lose my free lunch if I didn’t get there on time. I ran through the house, picking up my things, some of which I didn’t really need, but it all got stuffed in my bag anyway. I opened the front door to rain bouncing off the gravel outside. What was I doing? I could just teleport there. I closed the door. There was no need for me to get soaked. I shut my eyes and thought about where I wanted to go.