Dancing Days

by Val St. Crowe

  * * *

  The fire was lit in the tweens and rebels enclave, and Dirk was sitting next to it. His body was covered in the little red circles made by the portals. She remembered helping to gather them up with Maddie the first day she’d been here in Helicon. When she’d touched them, it had made her weak. Why was Dirk purposefully putting them against his skin?

  She heard Catling’s squawking meow from next to Dirk.

  Had Catling simply come out to see Dirk? Was there no portal after all?

  But then she saw it. Directly under where Dirk was sitting—a rip in the ground, white light seeping through it. Dirk was sitting on top of the portal. Was he insane?

  “Dirk!” she yelled.

  Owen tossed her an annoyed glance.

  She shouldn’t have spoken.

  “Nora,” said Dirk. “Your tracker. I was hoping that everyone would be so involved in the Solstice celebration they wouldn’t notice this time. No such luck, I guess.”

  Owen marched over to him. “You realize you’re sitting on a portal?”

  “No, really?” Dirk rolled his eyes. “Why do you think I made it?”

  “You?” said Nora. “You’re opening the portals?” She was stunned. But it fit, didn’t it? Dirk knew enough about the security enclave to weave the kind spells that would repel their weapons. His father had obviously taught him that. And he had been so hostile about the Catlin tracker. But... “Why?”

  Dirk shrugged. “At first it was like a prank. Like smashing jack-o-lanterns. I did it because I hate Helicon, and because everyone here is lazy, like my dad always used to say. When your tracker thing happened, I decided to give up. It wasn’t worth it if people didn’t freak out about it. But at Halloween, when you said that I must wish I was like you, it gave me an idea. I thought that if I could get my muse powers to go away enough, maybe when the Influence touched me, it wouldn’t kill me, just burn off all my creativity. And then I could live in the mundane world, like I want to.”

  “It won’t work,” said Owen.

  “How do you know?” said Dirk.

  “Because it was my idea,” said Owen. “I’ve been using them to drain Nora’s powers. And even without muse powers, I’d never let her touch the Influence.”

  Dirk’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you’re with a guy who would do something like that to you.” He shook his head at Nora.

  Nora looked at the ground. “It’s easier this way. It’s safer for everyone.”

  “Oh, so he’s forcing you somehow,” said Dirk, sounding disgusted. “You know, that Agler guy is kind of a self-absorbed prick too, but this guy. You have awful taste in boys, Nora.”

  “Shut up,” said Owen. “Move out of the way so that I can close the portal.”

  “Hmm,” said Dirk. “Let me think about that... Um, no. I’m not going to do that.”

  “Maybe you should,” said Nora. “If the Influence comes through, it could kill you.”

  “I don’t think it will,” said Dirk.

  Owen grabbed Dirk by the collar and yanked him to his feet. “It took quite a long time for Nora’s powers to be really gone. Even now, though, I wouldn’t chance letting the Influence touch her. You’re a muse, you idiot. It will kill you, even if you’ve had these little red things sucking you dry for a long time.”

  Dirk sneered at Owen. “You’re pathetic, you know that? You can’t get a girl to like you without forcing her to do it, can you?”

  Owen snorted. “I suppose you’re an expert on relationships.”

  “Not really,” said Dirk. “But I know not to slam my girlfriend into a tree when I’m mad at her. I know not to suck away her creativity because I’m jealous she won’t spend time with me. People said you were a bully when you were a kid. Well, you’re all grown up, Owen, but you haven’t changed.”

  “Nora’s fine,” said Owen. “Aren’t you, Nora?”

  “I’m fine,” said Nora.

  Dirk looked her in the eyes. “Dump him.”

  “I can’t,” said Nora.

  “Don’t talk to her,” said Owen. “You opened portals in Helicon, sucking the energy out of my home. And you’ve insulted me on numerous occasions. Not to mention the fact you took Nora into the mundane world and let Agler Thorn put his hands all over her and who knows what else. You deserve to be punished.”

  “You sound excited about it,” said Dirk. “You’re really a sicko, aren’t you?” He laughed. “You’re just a twisted, pathetic, sick little boy. You don’t scare me. I think you’re hilari—”

  There was a blinding flash of purple light, streaming up through the portal.

  The Influence! Nora cried out.

  Usually, the lightning bolt would reach for the sky, but Dirk was in the way. Instead, the bolt sizzled all over his body, making the hair on his head stand straight up. He lit up with purple light, and he screamed.

  “Owen, get him off of there!” yelled Nora.

  But Owen was holding Dirk down, keeping him from moving. Owen’s face was lit up from the light coursing through Dirk. His jaw was set and firm, his eyes narrow. He looked like he was concentrating.

  “Owen!”

  He looked at her for a second, and she saw his expression change. Suddenly, he looked afraid. He yanked Dirk out of the portal. The two tumbled back in the grass.

  The light of the Influence hissed out, dumping more red cylinders all over the ground.

  Nora crawled to Dirk’s body. Little sparks of purple were still dancing over his skin. His eyes were wide open and unmoving. He stared up at the stars, jolts of the Influence sparking out all over his body.

  “Don’t touch him, Nora,” said Owen, pushing her away.

  “Owen, is he...?”

  He swallowed. He let go of her and moved over to Dirk, putting his fingers on Dirk’s neck to feel for a pulse. He kept his fingers there for a long time. Then he turned to Nora, horrified. “He’s dead.”

  She hugged herself. The last bits of the Influence flickered on Dirk’s body. The glow died out. He didn’t move, and little wisps of smoke emanated from his skin. Nora put her fist in her mouth to keep from making noise.

  Owen stood up, thrusting his hands into his hair. “I killed him,” he said in a very tiny voice.

  A dark blur rushed through the arch of the tweens and rebels enclave. It lurched into Owen, knocking him to the ground. Owen and the figure struggled. Nora could see flashes of blond hair as the two rolled over and over on the ground. It was Sawyer.

  The figures stopped rolling. Sawyer was on top of Owen. He had his hands around Owen’s throat. His face was twisted, his teeth gritted tight against each other.

  Owen kneed Sawyer in the groin.

  Sawyer let go, whimpering. He rolled over into a ball, bringing his knees up to protect himself.

  Owen stumbled to his feet. He kicked Sawyer once, in the face.

  Nora shouted. “Owen!”

  He stepped back.

  Sawyer wasn’t moving.

  Owen dragged his hands over his face. He walked in a wobbly circle, moaning to himself.

  Nora crawled over to Sawyer’s body.

  Owen snatched her by the arm and wrenched her to her feet. “Don’t,” he rasped. “Leave him.”

  “Owen, what did you—”

  “Shut up!” he said. He jerked on her arm, pulling her along with him, and they were running into the woods. Branches slapped her in the face, tearing at her skin. She yelled at him to let go of her, but he didn’t. He dragged her along with him through the woods, over the plain on the other side, all the way to the edge of Helicon.

  Then he let go of her, and she tumbled to the ground, breathing hard and sobbing.

  Owen ran to the edge. He stared down into it, and he roared, clutching hunks of his own hair.

  It was quiet.

  Nora fought to steady her breathing. Maybe if she was very quiet, she could get up and... And do what? And go where? Owen controlled everything, and he’d killed people, and lost his mind, and sh
e was more frightened of him now than she’d ever been.

  He turned around. His face was wild. “When did it stop?”

  “What?” she said, pulling her knees against her chest as if that was some kind of protection.

  “When did you stop loving me?”

  “I...” This was a trap. She couldn’t answer this question. If she admitted she didn’t love him, he’d be furious. If she said she still loved him, he’d accuse her of lying.

  He turned back around. “It doesn’t matter. You can’t save me.”

  It was quiet again. Should she run? What was he going to do to her now?

  Owen picked his way over to her in the grass. He threw himself down next to her. There were tears glistening in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to kill him.”

  Nora didn’t respond.

  Owen yanked some grass out by the root. He laughed bitterly. “Okay, that’s not true. I did mean to kill him. But I didn’t mean to mean to kill him.” He scattered the grass over the ground. “But I don’t think that matters, does it?” He lay down, gazed up at the sky. He swallowed, and she could see his Adam’s apple bob. “I remember the first time I saw you, Nora. My father had just brought me back to Helicon and dumped me in the babies and toddlers enclave. You were three years old. You had these impossibly small fingers.” Owen held up his own fingers as if this somehow demonstrated what he was saying. “I held them against my fingers, and I remember thinking, ‘These are too small to work.’ But they did. You were perfect and miniature and so pretty.” He looked at her. “I thought, ‘If something this small and pretty and good can care about me, then I’m worth caring about.’ And you did care about me. I made you care about me.”

  “Owen,” Nora whispered. Why did he have to do this right now? Why did he have to make her feel sorry for him?

  “I got it all wrong,” he said. “I could never figure it out the way other people did. They feel something... You feel something I don’t feel.” He sat up, resting his elbows on his knees. “I think it’s fear. No. Maybe it’s pain. No... Guilt?” He laughed maniacally and the tears in his eyes started to stream down his face. “What’s wrong with me, Nora?”

  “I don’t...” That was another trap. This was all just a trap. Owen wanted to make her feel sorry for him. He always pulled the stupid sympathy card. Well, it wasn’t going to work, not this time. She wasn’t going to let him manipulate her. He’d killed Dirk. He might have killed Sawyer. He’d threatened to kill Maddie. Whatever was inside Owen, it was dark and scary, and she hated it. She hated him. Her fingers scrabbled against a rock that was lodged in the ground. She pushed at the dirt, trying to free it. “You never had a family, maybe.”

  “Neither did you,” Owen said darkly.

  “But people loved me,” said Nora. “When I was a baby, people like Jolie, they loved me. And maybe no one loved you. No one except me. But I was too late.” She was able to grasp the rock with her hand. She wiggled it, trying to pull it out of the earth.

  “Do you still love me, Nora?” He looked at her with his crystal blue eyes, so pitiful, tears glinting in the moonlight.

  She pulled the rock free and heaved it over her head. “Not a chance, asshole,” she said, and slammed it into his head as hard as she could.

  Owen looked stunned for a second, and then he melted to the ground, motionless.

  She pushed herself to her feet. She should run now.

  “Nora!”

  Sawyer was running over the field towards her. His skirt was torn down the center, and she could see his legs pumping. Funny. She’d never considered whether or not Sawyer shaved his legs. He didn’t. She fixated on that, for some reason, the look of his masculine legs against his pretty skirt. It was oddly appealing.

  He skidded to a stop next to her.

  She gestured with the rock. “I hit him.”

  “You’re okay?”

  She nodded.

  Sawyer hugged her fiercely, pulling her tight against him. “You’re okay, thank the gods, you’re okay.”

  She hugged him back, the rock dropping out of her hand.

  Sawyer pulled back, grabbing her behind the neck so that he could look into her eyes. “I thought he was going to kill you.”

  “I thought you were dead,” she said.

  And then...

  It was strange, and brief, and somehow pleasant, but Sawyer’s mouth was on her mouth for just a second. A quick—

  And then he was several feet away from her, a look of horror on his face.

  He’d kissed her.

  She cocked her head to one side, feeling confused.

  “You should go for help,” Sawyer told the ground. “I’ll stay here and make sure he doesn’t wake up.”

  “No,” said Nora. She went to Owen’s body. Knelt. Heaved under his shoulders. “Get his feet.”

  “Nora?”

  “We’ll throw him off the edge.” Her voice cracked in a sob. “It’s the only way, Sawyer. When he wakes up... He got to Phoebe.”

  Sawyer shook his head. “Nora, no. We can’t—”

  And he was cut off by a shout. “Over here!”

  Nora stood up. Coeus was striding across the field. Phoebe and Alexander were with him, trailing behind. Nora’s shoulders sagged.