Scowling, I examine his face, but there's nothing but a smile. I still don't like him, I think, shuddering. A quick tug doesn't move it an inch, and I blush, pulling the broadsword free. It disappears with a small flash before I can even get a look at it, along with the scabbard. Malcolm's smile widens, resembling more and more a shark's grin. "As I thought."
"What just happened? And you still haven't told me where I am. It's a special place, blah blah. Why is it special?" I demand, glaring at him, though it doesn't do much.
"Because this is where Sidhe children learned to control their powers. And where you'll learn, too."
"And who ever said I fucking wanted to?" I snap, surprising myself with the force of the statement. "Give me the stone back."
Before either of us has a chance to act, the stone detaches itself from its orbit around his hand and shoots into my palm, settling there. He opens his mouth to speak but I interrupt, yelling, "I'm sick of your bullshit! Everything you've said has contradicted what you said the week before, it feels like I'm in a badly-written, poorly-planned-out story or something. If you were going for a Mysterious Guardian of Reality thing, you failed, miserably."
The shock on his face makes me smile, and some part of me is tempted to continue, but more than that I just want to go home. As I open my mouth, the stone grows unbearably hot in my hand, and I drop it, staring at the angry red skin of my palm. "Oh, what n--" I begin, but an invisible hand jerks me up and to the side, dumping me onto the soft carpet of my room.
My vision is immediately filled completely by Rachel's face, and her voice booms, "Nat! What happened? Who the hell was that guy?"
The only response that comes out of me is a whimper of pain. I sit up, clamping my hands over my ears and squeezing my eyes shut, acutely aware of the throbbing in my shoulder. Karyn wasn't able to be brought back. Why? It didn't tell me that part. She couldn't come back, and I don't know why. I killed her and it's wrong and I can't even fix it.
Finally, I open my eyes, already brimming with tears, and say, "I just don't know what to do."
"How about you start out by answering my questions?" she says, laughing lightly.
It takes me a moment to remember what she asked. "Oh... right. The wish didn't work. Not completely. It didn't bring Karyn back, and... well. It didn't bring Karyn back," I say, squirming at the knowledge of what else went wrong. "Now the stone is gone. It's where he took me. His name is Malcolm, as far as I know, and he's a fucking compulsive liar bastard," I snarl, standing up, anger burning away all my insecurities.
"Oh..." she says, smiling a conspiratorial smile.
"It's not fucking like that!" I yell, and she shrinks back. "Sorry... it's not. Well, let's get to school," I say, and she just nods, picking up her backpack. Truth will out sooner or later, and I need to talk to Sarah and the others before anyone else does.
