Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

P aige struggled not to tug against the bracelet, but her heart fluttered at the words. "A pixie? Really? Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. It's a little sprite-looking girl with wings."

"Could be a fairy."

"I really don't know the different between a fairy and a pixie, but maybe," Damien said. "Still, it's worth looking at closer…just as soon as I free your bracelet. Don't move."

"Right," Paige said, holding her breath as she waited for Damien to try to wriggle it loose. "How did it get this caught?"

"I don't know," he answered. "The tail is wedged between the thing's ankles. I don't want to break the charm or mar the pixie."

"Take your time," Paige answered, her muscles stiff. "But also, hurry up."

With a grimace on his face, Damien slowly shimmied the charm back and forth until it popped free. "Got it."

Paige immediately dropped down to her knees to eye the carving, her heart speeding up. "Oh, this is promising. I wonder if it'll trigger some hidden space."

"Let's hope," Damien answered as he narrowed his eyes at it. "We should be careful. It's really a delicate carving."

"Yeah, I'd hate to damage it," Paige said.

Dewey pushed closer. "This is no time for delicacy. Twist the gal, and let's see what's cracking?"

Paige screwed up her face at the words. "Are you on drugs?"

"I'm not. But I'd really like to stop being human. It's a real drag and a headache, quite literally."

"Sorry, buddy," Paige said with a pat on his arm. "We'll be careful but go as fast as we can."

Damien eased his fingers around the small carving of the pixie. "I'm trying to find a seam or anything that would indicate whether or not this moves in a specific direction."

"Maybe we ought to just try to gently nudge it," Paige said.

Damien grimaced at it. "Okay, I'll…just…"

He tried a few different grips on the wooden creature before he put gentle pressure on it. "Nothing so far."

"Really give it your all," Dewey answered.

"I'm giving my all. I don't want to break it," Damien shot back.

Paige waved at him to keep quiet.

"Find something?" Cassie asked, shining her light from the top of the stairs.

"Maybe," Damien said. "Hey, maybe you'd be better at this than me. I don't want to break this carving."

"Oh," Cassie said with a grin, "sure. I'd be happy to take the fall for breaking it."

Damien rose and backed away from it. "You've probably got a lighter touch than I do. Plus, you're used to delicate carvings. "

"All right. I'll give it a go," Cassie said, passing her flashlight off to him.

As she knelt down to peer at the small carving, a loud whirring noise drew their attention to the top of the stairs.

Ri hovered there, her face lit creepily by the flashlight she held. "Stop."

Cassie held her hands up in the air. "Okay."

"Ri, help."

Paige slow-blinked as the doll rose in the air, hovering for a moment before she floated down the stairs and awkwardly landed next to Cassie.

"Whoa, careful, Ri," Cassie said, steadying the ghost as she teetered on the narrow step.

"Ri, help. Pixie. Wing. Wing."

Cassie's brow furrowed. "Yeah, the pixie has wings."

"Wing. Wing."

Cassie narrowed her eyes before she peered around the doll. "Mom! I need a Ri translation."

Lily appeared at the top of the stairs. "Did you find something?"

"They found a pixie. I was about to try to manipulate it when Ri told me to stop. She keeps repeating herself, which means she's trying to tell me something, but as usual, I can't understand her."

"Do you know how to use the pixie to find the key, Ri?" Lily asked as she descended the stairs.

"Ri, help. Pixie. Wing. Wing."

All eyes focused on Lily as they waited for her to decipher the cryptic message.

"Wing, wing," she repeated. "Does finding the key have something to do with the pixie's wings?"

"Wing. Wing."

Lily rubbed a finger against the intricately carved wood. "Do we move the wings? "

"Pull," Ri said.

"Pull the wings," Cassie said with a nod. "Ahhh, now, I get it. Thanks, Ri."

Paige and Dewey exchanged a glance at the odd situation as Cassie delicately shifted one wing, then the other. A clicking sound echoed in the foyer.

Paige's heart sped up as she grabbed Dewey's arm, her breath hitching. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Damien said with a nod.

Lily shined her beam around the room. "Quick, look around for a panel that opened."

After a few minutes of searching, Paige's light landed on a dark hole in one of the stairs. "Here!"

She hurried to it and knelt down, her fingers trembling. "There's something inside."

"Let's see, Paige," Dewey said, peering over her shoulder.

Paige reached inside, pulling out an unknown object wrapped in fabric. Her heart pounded against her ribs as she carefully unwrapped it. Tears formed in her eyes as she spotted what lay inside. "The key piece!"

"Oh, we did it!" Lily cheered as applause broke out.

"We did. Oh, thank goodness. Now, we have all of the pieces. We can open this safe or whatever it is."

"Yeah, as soon as we get home," Damien answered with a nod.

"I'll go tell the others so they can quit poking around the dusty attic," Lily said as Paige shifted to lean against the railing, pressing the key to her heart.

"So, do you know where this safe is? Should we take you straight there?"

"It's in Aroostook County," Damien said. "I think a friend of ours knows exactly where. If you just take us back to Hideaway Bay, we'll be able to handle it from here. "

Cassie's forehead creased at the words. "Hideaway Bay is pretty far from Aroostook County."

"Yeah, it is. But…we got to Hideaway Bay, so, we can get back from Hideaway Bay to Bucksville."

Cassie studied him, her features pinched. "Right."

"I'm sorry, I…"

"No, no," she said with a shake of her head. "I get it. You got there a special way. And you can't tell me how you'll get back, but I'm guess it has something to do with the supernatural."

Damien lifted a shoulder as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Right."

"Well, we'll get you back to Hideaway Bay then, and say goodbye. And good luck."

"I really would love to visit again," Damien said.

Dewey leaned closer to Paige, his eyebrows wiggling. "Love connection."

"Yeah, that would be great. We'd love to hear how it all turns out. We'll be wondering."

Damien grinned at her. "Cool, yeah. I'll stop by as soon as I can."

"Good enough. Well, we could start our drive back today, but we'll get in pretty late."

"That's okay with me. I'm so sorry, but the sooner we get back, the– "

"Faster you get to save your mom. I get it, which is why I'm willing to drive it straight today." Cassie nodded. "We'll get you back there, I promise."

"Thanks so much. You've both been great," Paige said with a weak smile as Lily, Althea and the others appeared at the top of the stairs.

"So, you've found it," Althea said with a smile.

"Yes," Damien answered. "This little pixie on your railing opens that cubby in your stair. "

Althea descended the stairs to study it. "How interesting. Well, I'm so pleased you found everything. Now, will you be staying with us and heading back tomorrow or– "

"We'd really like to leave right away–not because of you. I just– "

"Want to help your mother. Of course you do. Well, I won't keep you, but I do have something I'd like to give you if you don't mind waiting a moment." Althea offered Paige a questioning glance.

"I don't. I think everyone probably needs a few minutes to prepare for the long drive back." Paige shot a questioning glance at the others.

"Absolutely," Lily said. "We'll get on the road as soon as possible, but I think we'll all need a few minutes to use your facilities."

"Queue for the bathroom," Althea said with a chuckle before she climbed the stairs and disappeared into the hallway.

Paige eased onto the step with a shaky sigh. "I can't believe we have them all."

"Now, time to use them."

"And then go home and save my mom." Paige's hands trembled as she considered the moment her mother opened her eyes. Every step they took forward was positive but tinged with the sinking feeling that every moment that passed would mean failure.

Paige snapped her gaze to Lily who waited with them. "And I can't thank you enough for all your help. We'd never have found these without you."

"Oh, I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit," Lily said with a shake of her head. "You would have found them. Maybe not as fast and maybe not without a trip to the slammer, but you'd have found them."

Paige offered a light chuckle at the words before she nodded. "Yeah, definitely you've made the process faster. And thanks so much for driving us back today."

"Of course," Lily said as Cassie appeared.

"Your turn."

"Thanks," Lily said as she shuffled to the powder room.

Althea returned with Carly, holding a small wooden box.

Paige rose as she descended the stairs to them, thrusting the object forward. "What is this?"

"This is an old music box. Found in the castle that inspired Sleeping Beauty. I thought it appropriate to give to you. It's supposed to have magical properties, though outside of having a pleasant enough tune to lull me to sleep, I haven't found any. Maybe you can."

Paige accepted the wooden box, running her fingers over the ornate inlays. "I can't take this."

"Yes, you can," Althea said. "Carly loves music boxes, but never took to this one. Please take it."

"Yeah, I have an entire collection," the teen added, "but that one's not my vibe."

Paige lifted the lid and tinkling music floated from within. "Thank you. This is…an amazing gift, and I'll always treasure it."

"You are very welcome, Paige Turner." Althea slid a lock of Paige's hair over her shoulder. "Good luck to you. I hope everything turns out well."

"We'll try to send a message back to Lily and Cassie about it. They can pass it along to you."

"I look forward to hearing from them," Althea answered as Lily rejoined them.

"All right, we're ready. Anybody else need to use the bathroom before we head out?"

When everyone had finished, they gathered outside as black clouds pushed away and a new set gathered on the horizon, saying their goodbyes and climbing into the car .

Althea waved them off, her hair blowing wildly in the wind.

Paige rubbed a hand over the music box, her heart pinching as she thought of all the people they'd met on the strange journey who had helped them so much. At least she'd have a reminder of them once she returned to Shadow Harbor.

"Looks like we'll be hitting some rain," Lily said as they pulled from the driveway. "It'll make things a little slower going, but we'll get there."

Paige settled into her seat, her nerves still on edge as the first raindrops pelted the windshield before the deluge started.

They made slow progress until the rain finally cleared.

After a quick stop for dinner, they continued toward Hideaway Bay, arriving around midnight in the small hamlet.

The tires crunched gravel as Lily eased the car into the driveway.

Paige spilled out, her heart thumping harder against her ribs at the prospect of returning to Bucksville.

"Now, do you need a place to stay for tonight or–"Lily asked.

"No," Paige said. "We'll go straight back to Bucksville now. Thank you so much for your help."

After exchanging a hug with the woman, Paige blinked away a few tears and pulled Cassie into a hug, too.

"Goodbye, Paige. And good luck. Get us a message about what happens if you can."

"I will," Paige said with a bob of her head. "Thanks."

She glanced at Damien who said his final goodbyes to both women along with Dewey.

"Ready?" Damien asked.

"Yep," Paige answered with a shaky inhale. "Let's head back. "

With a wave at the two women and the ghost, who Cassie had removed from the car, they circled around the house, heading for the beach.

With cellphone flashlights leading the way, they slipped into the beach cave and searched for the Chapter Gate, using it to return to the sea cave near Bucksville.

Outside, the waves crashed against the rocky shore as the sun shone brightly down.

"Wow, I wonder what day it is," Damien asked.

"Let's go see if we can find anyone," Paige said.

Dewey rubbed his hands together. "Let's get into a house so I can be a dragon again. I hate being human."

"Okay, buddy," Paige said as they climbed up to the cliff above.

"Which place do you think they're at?" Dewey asked. "Although either is good. They both have great food."

"You and the food," Paige said with a shake of her head.

"We'll try Alexander's first since we're closer," Damien said, "and if they're not there we'll– "

His voice cut off, and Paige snapped her gaze to him, her brow furrowing. "What is– "

A gasp cut off her words as she stared at the path ahead of them. A massive creature blocked the way. Her eyes rose to take in the tall beast as its tail swishing behind it and enormous wings extended on either side. "W-what the hell is that?"

"Dracopire," Damien answered. "And they are deadly to humans."