Spades: The True Wonderland Awaits. (Of Wonderland Chronicles Book 1) (3 page)

Chapter 5:
Coffee With Strangers

"I say raspberry," I said, tugging at the collar of my winter jacket, but Amber shook her head, almost dislodging her purple earmuffs.

"Caramel," she said, and I made a face, combing my fingers through my dark brown hair.

"What about blue raspberry?" I suggested, and Amber made a face.

"I hate anything raspberry," she said, and I groaned.

"Well, I hate anything caramel," I said, and she groaned.

"Looks like we're at an impasse," Amber said, and I shrugged.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"Hell if I know," she muttered, looking down at the candy flavor emblems - painted in bright, neon colors - we had to choose from.

"If I may interrupt," a boy behind us said as he combed the bangs of his black hair from his eyes. I was shocked to see that he had the same green diamonds under his left eye as the guy from some of my visions had, as well as the same face shape. The only difference was his eyes; instead of being light-colored, they were very dark and beautiful. The diamonds had the same glimmer and shine, and I wondered idly if the diamonds were upraised or not, like they had been glued on to his cheek.

Amber elbowed me in the side, and I let out a cry of pain, snapping back to reality as I realized I had been staring; I blushed. "Yes, you may," she said, smiling warmly at the boy.

"I would suggest lemon-lime," he said, pointing out the flavor painted in neon green and yellow he had suggested to us on the board with two slender fingers, tapping the board.

Amber and I looked at each other; we were both surprised that the other hadn't noticed that option, screaming at us in bright, neon yellow and neon lime green.

"I love lemon," I said, smiling.

"And I love lime," she said, smiling just as widely.

"Thank you," we said in unison, turning back to the boy.

"You're very welcome," the boy said, miming tipping an invisible hat to us. "All that I ask in return is that you join my friend and me for coffee after this."

Amber and I looked at each other and made our decision by communicating with each other with our matching, dark brown eyes. We both turned back to him and nodded.

"Absolutely," Amber said, her eyes raking over the boy in every detail of his clothing, of his shape.

The boy was perfectly calm under Amber's flirtatious scrutiny, and he turned to me. "You'd best order, little one," he said teasingly, pointing behind me, and I turned to see that Amber and I were next to order.

"Thanks again," I said, ignoring the blush painting my cheeks red at his nickname, grabbing Amber's arm, and towing her off so we could order; she was no doubt jealous of the fact that he had chosen me to give the first nickname to, but I gave her a look saying that she could have him. After that, she calmed down considerably, and we began to order.

After we had finished ordering and had received our candy, Amber and I waited for the boy. Soon, he joined us with a blonde boy with blue spades under his left eye - like the guy in the shop - in tow. Neither of them were holding a bag of candy, which you received after ordering from Sugar's Sweet Mill, the best candy store in town. But I didn't ask either one of them about it; I figured it would be too rude.

"Why did I have to come with you?" the blonde boy was asking the darker-haired boy. "We're not even supposed to be here. They did say the mirror transport was forbidden. Imagine what they'd do if they knew we were here. Especially him; he's been very aggressive since the last Alice left."

"I know, but look," the dark-haired boy said with the diamonds under his left eye, gesturing to Amber and I. "I think I've found the new Alice; she has the same attitude, the same look in her eyes, the same face structure; she's a perfect replica of the last Alice - in attitude and everything."

I arched an eyebrow at their strange conversation but didn't ask; when Amber was about to ask, I clapped my hand over her mouth, gesturing for her to be quiet. I didn't want to be rude and demand to know what they were talking about if it was confidential and they didn't want other people to know about it; I figured that they would tell us if they meant for us to know about it.

The blonde boy peered at me before grinning brilliantly. "I think you are right, Damien," he said, turning to the black-haired boy. Then he turned back to me. "May I ask your name?"

"This is Amber, and I'm Bryony," I said, almost blushing under his furious scrutiny.

"I'm Blayke, and this is Damien," the blonde boy said, gesturing to himself then to his dark-haired friend.

"Now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, shall we go to Marble Terrace Coffee for coffee and cake?" Damien asked, and I blinked.

"Marble Terrace Coffee?" I repeated. "I've never heard of it."

Blayke turned to look at me, his light blue eyes shimmering with mischief. "Well, where do you guys go to for coffee then? Starbucks?"

I shook my head. "We always go to the coffee shop attached to 32 Below," I explained, and Blayke snorted.

"The ice cream place? I'll admit their ice cream is good, but their coffee is trash. Come on, Damien and I will show you real coffee," he said, smirking.

"What is 'real coffee'?" Amber asked, putting air quotes around the words 'real coffee'.

Damien smirked. "You'll see."

I rolled my eyes. "It can't be that good, and 32 Below's coffee isn't terrible; it's actually pretty good."

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"This is amazing," I said, taking another sip of the rich, creamy white chocolate mocha. It tasted like coffee but had a sweet aftertaste, instead of the bitter one that usually accompanied coffee from 32 Below. This was different coffee, and tasted much better. It tasted like white chocolate with a slight twist; there was something underlying the taste of white chocolate, something like cinnamon. Whatever it was, I loved it.

Damien and Blayke both smirked at me, and I glared at them, gritting my teeth as I blushed, furious with myself for letting them make me blush like they did.

"Shut up," I said, downing the rest of the white mocha Blayke had bought me. "Don't give me that 'I-told-you-so' look."

They both chuckled, and Damien reached over to ruffle my hair.

"Whatever you want, little tiger," he teased, and I blushed, biting down on the stirring straw I'd been given by the people at the counter of the coffee shop the two had taken Amber and me to.

"Don't call me that," I said, glaring at him fiercely, and Amber bit her lip, anxious to see that I kept my promise.

"What, would you prefer I call you little sprout?" Damien asked, referring to the meaning of my name as he teased me like we had been friends for forever.

I hunched down in my chair as I pretended not to be flattered that he was giving me a sweet nickname, scowling darkly, glaring at nothing in particular.

"She is now plotting your murder, Damien," Amber informed the dark-haired boy, only half-joking. "Judging by that dark scowl, I'm guessing it's going to be an elaborate murder plot that involves stringing your innards over the outside of this coffee shop to warn away anyone who wants to call her that nickname."

Damien's eyes widened. "That's quite . . ." He gulped, but I could see the joking light in his eyes, shimmering like a dark jewel. "Interesting. How is she planning on killing me?"

"You'll still be alive while she/I rip out your innards," Amber and I said together, and Blayke leaned forward, his attention piqued.

"As interested I am in hearing about Damien's demise at the hands of Bryony, I was wondering, Amber, Bryony, how is it that you know what each other is thinking?" he asked, smirking, and Amber and I looked at each other, smirking as well.

"We're mental and emotional twins, and some people suspect that we're physical twins since we look so similar," we said in unison, looking back at the blonde boy at exactly the same time. "We just think on the same frequency, whereas others think on different."

Blayke blinked his blue eyes. "That's very interesting," he said, resting his chin on his interlocked fingers - the perfect picture of interest. "What else can the two of you do?"

"Kill people," Amber and I said, and Damien gulped again - still only joking, but only I and Blayke had realized that.

We looked at each other, Amber and I, and we both burst out laughing. I turned to look at the two boys sitting across from me.

"Nah," I said, waving my hand. "We've never actually murdered anyone, and neither of us plans on murdering anyone anytime soon, not unless they really piss us off."

Amber looked down at her watch and jolted upwards into a standing position. "It's late," she said, her lovely, heart-shaped face twisted into an expression of worry and stress. "If I don't get home soon, my dad's going to worry himself to death. See you tomorrow, Bryony. It was nice to meet you, Blayke, Damien. Bryony, try not to kill Damien; I'm not losing you to prison."

I mock-saluted her with two fingers, and she did the same. We looked at each other and giggled. Then she left, exiting the door with a gentle swish of her hips to try to taunt the two boys sitting across from me.

I turned back to the two boys in front of me, but both of them were standing by my side, having ignored Amber's taunting with ease. Blayke offered me a hand, giving me a smirk that spoke volumes; he had ignored Amber because I was so much more attractive to him was what his eyes said, but I was sure that I had read the message his eyes spoke wrong. I wasn't that attractive that any good-looking guys like Damien or Blayke would pay any attention to me, but somehow they were.

"How about Damien and I drive you home?" he offered, and I nodded slowly, somehow entranced by his light blue eyes glimmering in the artificial light overhead.

There was just something mystical about the way his eyes lit up with a gentle light of mischief, even in the harsh light of the artificial overhead lights. His eyes were entrancing; once you looked into their bottomless depths, you were swimming. You never wanted to leave the pool of emotion hiding in his eyes; it was just magical. It was as if he belonged in a fantasy realm, with eyes that enchanted the beholder in a stupor that seemed to never end.

I blinked, and the stupor was lost. I took his hand, and Blayke pulled me to my feet. He and Damien then guided me out of the coffee shop, Damien with his hand on the small of my back, and Blayke gently tugging on my hand he hadn't let go of, to their car. It was a silver Mercedes Dreamer, a car that I had been dreaming of getting for so long.

I gaped at the amazing car. "Oh, my God," I said, my eyes wide. "This is an amazing car. I've always wanted one. The Mercedes Dreamer, right?"

Blayke and Damien were both smirking at my expression of amazement, but they both nodded, still wearing their stupid smirks that were somehow so attractive to me. I blushed at the thought and bit the inside of my cheek, turning back to the car.

Blayke walked past me and opened the passenger door. He gestured to it widely, bowing to me. "Milady," he said, his eyes teasing me.

"Thank you, Jeeves," I said, teasing him right back as I slid into the seat.

Blayke chuckled and gave me a half-smirk, half-smile that was just so amazingly attractive it took my breath away. "My pleasure, milady." He closed my door, and Damien climbed into the driver's seat.

"Where to, milady?" he asked, smirking at me.

"8024 Red Falls Avenue," I said, somehow trusting these boys with my address - and my life, for that matter!

"Got it," Damien said, nodding as he started the car.

As soon as the car came on, my favorite Carrie Underwood song came on: "Before He Cheats". I opened the CD compartment after the song had ended and found my favorite album by Carrie Underwood: "Some Hearts" inside. I blinked but thought nothing of it; to me, it was just a huge coincidence.

Blayke leaned forward from the back seat, examining the CD I was still holding. He looked at me and smirked. "You like Carrie Underwood? I love her, but Damien doesn't like her so much. I think he's crazy. I love her song, 'Jesus Take the Wheel'. It's my favorite, other than 'Before He Cheats'. 'Before He Cheats' is just a classic," he said, and the both of us engaged in a discussion on Carrie Underwood after I had reinserted the CD into the CD compartment.

The drive was over quickly, and I bid an unwilling farewell to the two boys. I walked into the house, and as usual, it was empty. My dad was out drinking - as usual -, and my mother was still in the asylum. I sighed; and Amber had said I didn't have a disturbing childhood. I was always alone, and no one ever wanted to be with me.

I remembered something I had to tell the two boys, but when I raced out of the house, still dressed in my winter gear, they were gone, as if they had never been there at all. I blinked in surprise and went back inside.

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He watched over the brunette as she slept in her bed, her slender legs tangled in the white bed-sheets. He kissed her forehead gently, brushing his lips against the skin of her forehead with such gentleness he could have been a butterfly simply landing on her forehead. "Sleep well, my angel," he said, murmuring his words in her ear. "Soon, you will fall down the rabbit hole, and you will be in my arms once more."