These Lying Eyes (7 page)

Once the cars were long gone, she made her way back into the house with the sprites leading the way. They made their way upstairs, and instead of turning into her turret bedroom, she opened the door to Sarah’s room. It was precisely neat with the bookshelves organized by color, the pretty eyelet cover on the bed smoothed, and all drawers and closets closed. Mina opened Sarah’s closet, pulled out the dirty clothes basket and found the nightgown Sarah had been wearing the night before on the top.

The pink linen hem was still damp and streaked with grass and dirt.

“What should I do?” she asked as she carefully replaced the nightgown.

“Something iz not right with her,” Poppy said as she snooped in the drawers of Sarah’s desk.

“Maybe it’z from that spell you found,” Hitch added as he checked under Sarah’s bed and shook his head.

Mina sighed as she left Sarah’s room to sit on her own bed.

“You should ask Grace for help,” Zizi said. “She would know what to do.”

“Oh hey, Grace,” Mina mocked. “My sister’s face turns all horror movie creepy, and I’ve found her wandering in the woods. Yeah, right.” Mina shoved her hair back and tromped down the stairs to the garage where she carefully rolled the scooter out.

“Sarah haz never told on you.” Zizi reminded Mina as she placed the helmet on her head. “But even still maybe you should tell your parentz.”

“Sarah never would tell. Neither should you.” Poppy said, “Not when they’ll just think Mina’z even more crazy.”

Hitch nodded and said, “You’ll be stuck in even more visitz to the shrink.”

“If you won’t ask Grace for help,” Zizi said with an irritated flutter of her wings, “You are going to have to figure this out on your own.”

Before Mina could even ask who Zizi was talking about and how that person could help, her friend had darted into the trees and was gone.

“What doez Zeez think you’ll do with what she findz anyway?” Hitch asked, “Seeing az how we iz imaginary.” Hitch landed on her shoulder and anchored himself to the strap of her messenger bag with just enough force to nearly pull Mina off balance.

“Hitch,” Mina pled.

“Leave her alone, Hitchcock Bartholomew Zmythe. It’z not Mina’z fault she doezn’t believe in uz. You wouldn’t believe in her if you waz the only one who saw her.” Poppy landed next to Hitch, slapped his arm, and darted after Zizi.

Hitch took to flight, hovering in front of Mina, dragonfly wings buzzing.

“Are you mad?” He asked, cocking his head as he examined her.

“No.” Mina licked her lips. The truth was she wanted their help. She twisted her lips, remembered the novel with its explanation of why she’d be seeing the sprites Maybe…

Mina licked her lips again before asking with a dry voice, “Can you stay with Sarah today?”

Hitch twisted his head after the Zeez and Poppy.

Mina stared at him, pressed her lips together and whispered, “Please?”

“Really?” He asked.

Mina nodded. She knew what she was saying. She was saying with that plea that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t crazy and they were real. If that was the case, who else could she count on to take care of her sister with her?

Hitch darted forward, grabbed one of her gold curls before he whispered with a hoarse voice, “Of courze, I will.”

He darted up and disappeared over the trees, heading towards George Washington Middle School where they’d had some of the worst years of their lives. The place where Mina had been lonely and terrified of her crazy and the sprites had ached for Mina’s pain.

Mina swallowed dryly, considered that she was beginning to believe that her imaginary friends were real, and wondered if she had finally, truly gone mad.

* * *

A few weeks later, Mina emailed her essay for her long-distance class; she had written the essay about sprites in different pieces of unrelated fiction. The moment she clicked send, Mina closed her laptop, dropped it and her essay notes into her bag, and snuck out of the house. Writing the essay, reading book after book, all the while tracking Sarah and the weirdness that was happening with her had further brought Mina along to wondering.

What if the sprites really were real? What if she wasn’t crazy?

It didn’t take her long to find her way to Carousel Park next to her school, where she found a covered table, and pulled out her notebook. It was filled with drawings, photo copies, and notes from her research.

The previous weekend, in between essay re-writes, she’d gone through all the books for her essay and made a list of “facts” regarding sprites. She wasn’t sure how much of what she listed was real, as far as her friends went, she added what she knew from them.

All three sprites stared at the list with Mina. They were tense, obviously controlling themselves from sharing their thoughts. Mina read the list again, pen tapping, lip between her teeth.

1.) Sprites are very strong, perhaps as strong as a full grown human.

2.) Sprites are vibrant in color, especially in their wings, hair, and skin.

3.) Sprites wings vary—butterfly, bat, dragonfly, bird, etc.

4.) Sprites often build relationships with children, usually children who have magic abilities as well. In some of the stories, the sprites could learn to use the same abilities as the human child.

5.) Sprites are often part of a society that has “Witches” and “the Fae.”

6.) These abilities are genetic.

7.) Some sprites have their own magic abilities.

“It’s this part that matters.” Hitch finally said, darting from Mina’s shoulder to land on the notebook and point at the 5
th
statement with his toe.

“Mmm,” Poppy seemed to be holding back a shout, whereas Zizi calmly said, “Yes.”

Mina tapped her pen and considered. Many of those facts crossed over into several pieces of fiction, but the book series that Grace had lent her at the beginning of the year was a series of adventures that contained all of the same ideas. And, Mina’s imaginary friends could have stepped right out of those stories. Mina had already tried to find the writer, but he was long since dead, so she couldn’t email him. She hadn’t been able to find the authors of some of the other books. Many didn’t have the normal ISBN or a publishing company. Yet they were crisp with tight spines and white pages; they weren’t old like the 20’s adventures.

A sort of conviction was growing in Mina. There could be a society of sprites, witches and whatnot. It was possible that Mina was somehow a lost member of it. But if those adventure stories were right, her abilities were genetic. And that meant, her family was too. Were
all
of them unaware and lost?

Her mom had 8 siblings. Most of them lived in Ocean Haven, so she had a pack of cousins, aunts, and uncles all right here in this town.

Who lived in a town where sprites lived.

And who didn’t know what they were?

Yeah, right.

* * *

“Hey,” Max said as she lifted the helmet off her head just before school.

“S’up, dude.” She replied as they dodged other kids to enter the building.

“So I was wondering if you wanted to study for our English test together?”

Mina glanced up at him, almost in surprise. They’d been doing their home work together for a while, but still, he always asked her. Yet again she felt as if there was something unsaid behind his words. Like he had something else to tell her, but she waited, and he said nothing.

Mina ignored a flash of…attraction for him. But he was her squeaky Max, and he was her only friend outside of her cousins and the sprites. Plus she was a dried out twig with a mop of bi-colored hair—there was nothing for him to want about her.

“Totally,” Mina said catching sight of the sprites. They were darting between the other kids, flashing back to Mina to tug her hair or pet her ear and then blasting forward to snag whatever caught their attention, the little thieves. Mina tried to keep her eyes from following them, but they were having so much fun. It had been weeks since they’d all spent the day together, and being together made it feel like a holiday.

Hailey and Charlie joined Mina and Max, and Hailey even gave Mina a somewhat friendly nod.

Then, she caught sight of an unfamiliar girl walking towards their group with a determined stride. The girl’s blue eyes were intense and familiar. She met Mina’s gaze. With a twist of her head, the stranger’s hand snatched out grabbing Poppy’s bat wing. Poppy shrieked, whiplashing in the air.

Mina gaped, helpless, as Poppy growled in pain. She tried to twist back, attempting an attack on the girl’s hand. But the girl reached forward with her second hand and grabbed Poppy’s legs. Once the limbs were imprisoned the girl let go of Poppy’s wings to grab her torso.

“What are you doing?” Mina gasped. The girl looked as if she was going to twist, and if she did, surely Poppy would snap.

Without thinking, Mina grabbed the girls wrist, dug her nails in, and jabbed her foot down on the other girl’s foot.

The girl screamed dramatically, but there was a slight smirk when she and Mina were face to face. The girl let go, finally, of Poppy and dropped her to the ground.

“Mina!” Hailey yelped.

Mina lifted her foot and slammed it down again.

“Holy crap, Mina what are you doing?” Hailey said, taking hold of Mina’s arm. But Mina shook her off as the girl lifted her foot to crush the sprite.

“No!” Mina yelled, diving forward attempting to cover Poppy’s body with her own. The kids in the hall, busy with their friends, hadn’t seen the girl’s movements, but they all stopped and ogled Mina after her horror-filled yell.

Choking back a sob Mina’s hands hovered over Poppy. How to not hurt her further? Gasping breaths jumped from Mina as she ran her finger along Poppy’s body and just barely felt the movement of the sprite’s body.

Mina looked up and the girl was gone. With a desperate glance for help, Mina saw frozen faces, a few cell phone cameras snapping, but no friendly gaze.

She sucked in her lower lip and carefully scooped Poppy into her arms. There was a quiver in the sprite’s breath, and Mina froze. Hitch landed on Mina’s arm, kneeling next to the red-head. He gently touched Poppy’s breast, ensured she was breathing, and nodded at Mina.

Mina forced herself to her feet as she heard Hailey say, “Aunt Vee, Mina’s doing it again. You said to tell you if I saw it, and I have.”

Hailey spoke into her phone, and her voice echoed in Mina’s ears. Even still, Mina could barely process what her cousin was saying. Part of Mina knew she should be worried, but she couldn’t get past the horror of what had happened. Even now, Hitch’s arms were trembling as he debated aloud what to do. Zizi had disappeared, and Mina was afraid to ask Hitch what to do with everyone staring at her, and perhaps a few filming.

Mina’s eyes swam with tears, so she almost missed seeing Max shuffle away from her. But the look of dawning horror on his face was catalogued by her brain even as she searched for help.

“I
told
you she was crazy,” Hailey muttered into the phone.

“What are you doing?” Max sounded appalled, and Mina swallowed dryly. She wasn’t surprised by Hailey’s reaction, but Max, Mina hoped she could have counted on Max.

“Can’t you see?” Mina begged, holding Poppy forward. “See, Max see.”

Max shook his head and sidled a few steps away from Mina, as a few random kids laughed. Mina heard a tone of mockery but didn’t bother to listen to what they were saying.

“Ok, I’ll keep an eye on her until you get here,” Hailey scowled as she spoke into her phone before turning the frown on Mina.

“What do we do?” Mina asked Hitch ignoring the dropped mouths of the other kids as she spoke to empty air.

“We need help,” he answered as Hailey responded as well, “You’re making me late for class. I have to stand here and be associated with you until your mom comes. Why do you always ruin everything?”

Mina gasped, but Hailey’s comments barely registered. Who could she go to for help for Poppy?

“Mina,” she heard Hitch say, but almost couldn’t reply. “Mina, give me Poppy.”

“What?” She asked almost drunkenly, blinking down at the sprite.

“Mina, damn it. Turn the crazy down a notch until your mom gets here.” Hailey said as Hitch said, “Give me Poppy, I will take care of her.”

Mina shook her head, and his words were traveling in slow motion through her brain. But then teachers were shooing other kids away, and her mom was running down the hall, and Mina knew she couldn’t escape like he could, so she let him take Poppy into his arms just as Mom grabbed both shoulders, gently wiping Mina’s tears away before looking around for an explanation.

“Take care of her,” Mina whispered looking up at her mom in a daze.

Everyone finally knew her secret, but now that her worst nightmare had come true, Mina found she didn’t care.

All she cared about was being trapped while Poppy needed help.

* * *

Before Mina could even think she had been rushed to Doctor Seal’s office. Through her tears, Mina barely registered that her mother acted as though Mina had fallen down the stairs and was covered in blood, bones sticking out, and all. Her mom must be freaking out, but Mina couldn’t care.

What was going to happen to her?

Mina’s dad was already waiting at Dr. Seal’s office. Dad paced the foyer, and his eyes shot over Mina with a look she couldn’t read. Mina saw her mom jerk her head at Mina before her dad thought to wrap her in his strong arms and press a kiss to the top of her head. Then they escorted her into Dr. Seal’s office, left her there, and returned to confer in the foyer. Whispering about her. Making unsolicited and unwanted plans for her.

Deep shaky breaths forced Mina to lean back into the overstuffed cushions of the gray couch. Mina’s fingers traced slight patterns into the soft velvet fabric while her other hand clutched her chest. The panic was overwhelming; she felt like she was having a heart attack.