Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

P aige's heart thudded against her ribs and blood rushed into her ears as she continued through the darkness.

"Sure is dark in here," Dewey said, his voice echoing.

"Y-yeah," she stammered. "I'm glad I'm not alone."

"Me too," Dewey answered.

"We should have asked how long this would take. I keep walking and walking but there's no end in sight."

"Tell me about it. If it's going to be a while, I'd like to take this ring off so I can fly. Walking is for the birds."

"Actually, birds can fly, too, so– "

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho," Dewey said, his sarcastic laughter echoing. "So funny. Not. It's not funny, Paige."

"Sorry. I'm just trying to make conversation. Do you think something went wrong?"

"Went wrong?" Dewey asked.

"Yeah. I mean…if it was going to take this long, you'd think Drucinda would have warned us."

"Well, no. I mean, it would never occur to her to warn us. She thinks people are as knowledgeable as she is. "

"So, we'd just naturally know it takes forever to get through a Chapter Gate?"

"Yeah."

"Does it?" Paige asked, her eyebrows crinkling as she continued forward in the blackness.

"How would I know? I spent ten years trapped in the archives."

"I thought maybe you read about it or something."

"Nope. I had no cause to read about it. None.

Paige heaved a sigh. "Well, I guess, we just keep–wait…I hear something."

"What?"

Paige strained, turning her ear toward the noise. "The ocean."

"Oh, that would make sense. The Slayers live on the rocky coast of Maine."

"Maybe we're almost there. Come on!" Paige blindly reached for Dewey, finding it strange to touch his human hand rather than this scaly paw. She tugged him forward, quickening her pace.

"Wait, wait."

Paige's heart skipped a beat. "What is it?"

"I can't go that fast. I'm…still getting used to these stupid legs."

"Okay, sorry." Paige slowed her pace. "Although, if these people are as bad as you say they are, maybe you should practice running."

"It's not them who are bad. It's their enemies."

"Whatever. You should know how to run," Paige said as light finally struck them, dancing as a pinpoint in the distance.

"Light!" Dewey exclaimed.

"I know." A smile spread across Paige's features as she continued toward it. Dampness surrounded them, and the scent of salty air filled her nostrils. "Smells like the sea."

"And feels like a cave. Ugh. I hate the cold. Why did they have to live in Maine?"

"I think it'll be nice to see. I've never been to Maine."

"Oh, yeah, it'll be real nice. When you're not almost being killed."

Paige pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head as the light grew larger and larger. She made out the rocky insides of a cave.

A rocky beach lay beyond it. She grinned, hurrying forward when she tripped over something and sprawled forward.

"Whoa!" Dewey called behind her. "You almost pulled me down."

"Sorry. I fell over something." She twisted to glance behind her as what had sent her splatting onto the ground. Her eyes went wide, and she scrambled away from the massive lump. "What the hell is that?"

Dewey circled around it, rubbing his chin. "Dracopire. Nellie loves inventing creatures."

"A what?"

"Dragon-line vampire from another realm. These bad boys can breathe fire and suck blood."

"What are they doing in Maine?"

"War," Dewey said with a nod.

"War?" Paige asked as she collected the book she'd dropped and rose to stand.

"Yeah. Dominique brought them to war against the Slayers. Nasty things, these guys. Figures we'd walk into the middle of their war." Dewey shook his head. "At least, we came across a dead one instead of a live one."

Paige grimaced as she stared at the scaly dragon-like creature's body. "Yeah. Good thing– "

"Hello?"

Her heart skipped a beat at the unknown male voice. "We should hide!"

"Why?" Dewey asked. "We have to figure out who has the Eclipsarum Elixir. Why not ask this fellow?"

"Hello!" the voice called again. "Is someone in there?"

"Uh, yeah," Paige called back. "It's, uh…wait, who are you?"

"Damien. Who are you?"

"Damien?" Paige mouthed.

"Didn't you read the book at all? Her cousin…duh."

"I know who he is…I'm just…this is weird," Paige said before she raised her voice. "Uh, hi, Damien. I'm…Paige…Turner."

A laugh escaped him. "Right. Yeah, I bet. Listen, come out here and tell me who you really are, or I'm going to tell Celine. This is private property, you know?"

Paige swallowed hard as she stepped forward. "Yeah, I know. But that's really my name."

"Tell him we need his help," Dewey whispered.

Paige waved the comment away with a wrinkle of her nose as she stepped into the cloudy Maine day. A tall, lanky blond stood in front of her. "Wow, he looks just like I expected."

"Right? I think Nellie based him off of– "

"Nellie?" Damien said before Dewey finished his statement. "Oh, no. Please, not another set of people telling us we aren't real."

Paige licked her lips as she shared a glance with Dewey. "Uhh, well…the thing is…"

Damien flicked his eyebrows up as he waited for an answer.

Paige grinned at him, hoping it broke the ice. Before she could continue, a pretty blonde picked her way across the rocks toward them. "Hey, D, who are your friends?"

"Ohh, wow, it's Celine." Dewey's eyes went wide. "She's one of my favorites."

Damien glanced over his shoulder before he focused again on Paige and Dewey, rolling his eyes. "She says her name is Paige Turner."

Celine stopped for a second, her brow furrowing as she studied Paige. "Wait a minute…are you…related to Reed Moore?"

Paige's heart stopped for a second before it pounded against her ribs. "Yes. Reed is my mother."

Damien flung a hand in the air. "Right. Why didn't I know that? Obviously Reed Moore is the mother of Paige Turner." He twisted to face Celine as she sidled up to them. "And they're yammering on about that Nellie person again. You know the one who– "

"Yeah, I know. Created us. I remember. What are you doing here? Where did you come from?"

Paige tugged her lips into a grimace. "Uhh, we came from– "

"Mars?" Damien ventured. "Oh, no, wait…what did Reed say? ‘The real world.'" He put air quotes around the last phrase.

"Easy, D." Celine patted his shoulder before she focused on Paige and Dewey.

"Michael is going to lose it."

"Michael…Michael Carlyle. Billionaire, rogue, in love with Celine, but willing to settle for Celeste," Dewey answered.

"Maybe we shouldn't comment on their lives," Paige suggested.

"Great idea," Damien answered.

"Look, I'm with Damien. I don't know what you're doing here, but the last time your mother was here, she was nearly killed a number of times," Celine said. "In fact…I think she was killed."

Paige shook her head. "No. The entire time she was here she was in a coma. But when she got ‘killed', she woke up from the coma."

"Wait, wait, wait." Damien waved his hands in the air, his features pinched. "This makes no sense. You're Reed's daughter. But Reed wasn't here all that long ago. What are you? Thirty, at least?"

"Hey!" Paige exclaimed.

"She's thirty-four, not a day over," Dewey said, poking a finger at him.

"Okay, well, I guessed lower so there's no reason to get snarky with me."

"Snark is the best thing I do," Dewey shot back.

"How can you possibly think we're the fake ones and you're the real ones?" Damien scratched his head as he glanced at Celine.

"Damien makes a good point. You are thirty-four, but we saw Reed a matter of weeks ago, and she was pregnant with you."

"So, you saw my mom when she was pregnant with me," Paige said, her lips tugging into a frown. They'd seen her before she'd been kidnapped, before she'd spent thirty years being kept from her daughter, and before she was dying.

"Yep," Celine said with a bob of her head as another man approached in the distance.

"Everything all right here?" he called in a British accent.

Paige glanced at Dewey. "Is that him?"

"Nah, that's Alexander. Alex, buddy. I know you anywhere. You know you're one of my fav– "

"Oh, no," the man said with a shake of his head. "Another set of them who believes we are story characters. "

Celine crossed her arms as she bobbed her head. "Yep. I don't know what you're doing here, but I would suggest you leave before– "

"Wait, wait. We need your help. Desperately," Paige answered, her features pleading.

"You need our help?" Damien asked. "How can we help you? We're fake, remember?"

"Yes, but…it's a long story and…wow, it's really damp here. Can we go inside somewhere and talk about it?"

Celine and Alexander exchanged a glance. "Why not?" she answered. "Follow me. Be careful, the rocks are slippery."

They picked their way across the beach, following the others. Paige wobbled on a few rocks, making her best attempt to hang on to Dewey who struggled to move at all.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's not used to his legs," Paige said.

Damien offered her a wide-eyed stare before he continued on without answering.

"Nice going, Paige. Why don't you just tell them I'm a dragon?"

"I'm planning on it," she hissed. "We need them to trust us. And we can't do that by lying to them. Plus, then you can take that ring off and fly."

"Oh, good plan," he said with a bob of his head before he raised his voice. "Hey, are we going to the main house or Alexander's? Would really like to see both while I'm here."

"Yeah, of course. We'll give you the grand tour," Damien answered. "Do you want to see the town, too?"

"I mean, if you're offering, I'd love to see it."

Damien rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Stop asking for stuff. We're annoying them, and we need them," Paige whispered.

"Sorry. But it's sort of cool. I've read them since I was a little baby dragon. I loved the Shadow Slayers. "

They climbed to the top of the rocky coast, the scent of pine filling the air as they passed through the thick trees, leaving the coast behind.

As the pines thinned, a sprawling gothic house appeared in a clearing. Paige stared up at it, her jaw unhinged. "Wow. That's some house."

They crossed the lawn and entered the house. Her eyes swept upward in the dark foyer, taking in the high ceilings, the massive staircase, and the intricate details on the architecture. "Oh, wow."

"Wow is right," Dewey answered with a nod. "This place looks just like what I expected."

A man with sandy blonde hair bounced down the stairs, eyeing them. "Hey, guys, what's– "

"Michael!" Dewey exclaimed, his eyes going wide.

"Oh, no," Michael answered. "No, no, no, no, no. Not again. No. Please tell me these people are not here to tell us we only exist in a book."

"Sorry, bud," Damien said as he clapped a hand on to Michael's shoulder. "They are, in fact, telling us that."

He waved a hand toward Paige. "Meet Paige Turner. Daughter of Reed Moore."

Michael stared at her for a moment before he burst into laughter. "You're kidding me. This a joke, right?"

"No," Paige said with a shake of her head. "It's not."

"How in the world do you possibly expect us to believe we're the fictional characters and you're real with a name like that?"

She set her jaw, already unimpressed with the crew who insisted she was fictional.

"But…how can you not accept it?" Dewey asked.

"And who are you again?" Michael asked.

"Dewey."

A grin spread across Michael's face again. "Let me guess. Dewey Decimal."

"No!" Dewey exclaimed, heat entering his voice. "It's Deci mael . I'm French."

Michael and Damien exchanged a glance, both still chuckling. "Yeah, okay, buddy. And you think we're the fake ones."

"Okay, look– "

Dewey ripped the book from Paige's hands before she could finish her statement and tossed it in front of them. "Explain that, then!"

All eyes fell to the book on the floor. The words Hellscape were emblazoned across the top and a hooded woman in a red cloak twisted to stare at what looked like a passage leading straight to the depths of Hell.

"What is this?" Michael asked.

"Hellscape," Damien read as he collected the book from the ground.

"Open it," Dewey snapped. "Go on."

Damien flipped the book over, scanning it before he pulled open the front cover.

"There's that author they keep bringing up." Michael poked a finger at the title page.

"Yeah." Damien turned to the first chapter.

"Read it."

"Look, we don't have time to– "

"Read," Dewey growled.

Damien shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he cleared this throat.

"Odd sights have plagued some Mainers near the coastal town of Bucksville in the Down East region. Channel Four has obtained this footage posted on social media that appear to show fireballs descending from the skies over the small town."

The screen flashed to a grainy video showing red splotches falling from the sky before it shifted to a Bucksville resident .

"I didn't know what it was, man, but it looked like fire just raining down from the skies."

The newscaster reappeared on the screen and nodded. "Indeed, it does," she said with a glance toward her colleague.

"Yes, it does, Sarah, but Channel Four has learned that this phenomenon was merely the result of a meteor burning up upon entry into the atmosphere. Local government officials say no one on the ground was hurt, and the meteor pieces never reached the ground."

"Scary, but thank goodness," the perfectly-coiffed blonde said with a grin. "And now on to the week's weather. We go over to–"

Celine clicked off the screen and tossed the remote onto the couch cushion before she sank onto it and dropped her head into her hands. "Ugh, this is not good at all."

"Nothing about Dominique ever is," Gray said, waving a brandy in front of her before he sipped his own.

She grabbed it and took a long swallow, barely tasting the hints of caramel that floated across her tongue. "And what the hell is she doing with these injections?"

Celine crossed to him and yanked the book from his hands. "Injections?"

She fanned through the pages. "Does it say what she's doing with the injections?"

"Not in that book," Dewey said with a shake of his head. "Sorry, kid."

Celine's shoulders slumped. "I was hoping to gain some sort of advantage over her."

"I can't believe you believe this," Michael said with a shake of his head. "I mean, so what…they brought a book with our names in it. That proves nothing. Maybe someone is chronicling our lives. Or maybe they made this up just to ensure our cooperation."

"I found something interesting, actually," Alexander interjected. "It may not explain anything, but it could…even the playing field."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Paige asked.

Alexander poked a finger in the air before he motioned for them to follow him.

They snaked through a back hall and into a large library. Paige inhaled the comforting smell of aging leather and well-worn pages.

"I found this after your mother was here." Alexander crossed to a shelf, scanned it, then tugged a book from the middle. He thrust it toward them. "You're turn…read."

Paige stared down at the colorful image of a redhead sporting black glasses in front of a library shelf. A small teal dragon perched on her shoulder. A sinking sensation filled her as she suddenly felt her head swimming. This couldn't be what she thought it was. Was she about to find out her entire life was…fictional?