October 23 (cont.)

Aidan left soon after to go to class.

Brittany, Michael and Keagan grabbed some sodas and chips, and headed up to Keagan's room. Keagan and Brittany sprawled on the bed while Michael lounged in the chair next to the bed. Keagan knelt up on her bed and grabbed one of her DVD cases from beside her four-poster canopy bed. She handed the case to Michael and reached down to pick up her fleece blanket from the floor by the foot of her bed. She giggled when it squirmed under her touch; she uncovered her month old puppy Eclipse.

Eclipse had been a shelter puppy. He was a mutt. They suspected he was part toy poodle, but he looked more like a Maltese. He was fully black with bits of white on his nose, paws, and the very tips of his ears. There had been an eclipse on the day she had first seen him, while volunteering at the local shelter, and so had named the poor, starving, shivering little puppy Eclipse.

By the time Keagan had picked up both Eclipse and the thin fleece blanket, Brittany and Michael had finally agreed on a movie. Glancing at the title, Keagan was fairly sure Brittany had picked it out, and Michael, being the kind, soft-spoken boy that he was, had agreed. It was a newer romance movie, and one of Brittany and Keagan's favourites.

Michael stood and slid the DVD into the player, as Keagan turned the television on. Brittany scooted to the foot of the bed, Keagan curled up at the top with Eclipse nestled into her arms and the blanket. Michael sat with his head against Keagan's pillow as the opening credits rolled. Keagan's head gently bumped his once. She scooted over a bit, blushing furiously as he moved his head from her pillow.

When the movie ended, Michael stood up and put the movie back in its proper sleeve and turned towards the bed. Brittany was stuck lying on her stomach as Eclipse had managed to crawl up onto her back and fall asleep. Keagan was toying with the frayed edges of her blanket as she stared at the ceiling.

Sunny knocked on the half-open bedroom door. Keagan glanced over as Sunny poked her head in. "Brittany? Michael? Are you two staying for dinner?"

Brittany popped her head up as much as she could without disturbing Eclipse. "May we?"

Sunny smiled brightly. "If it's alright with your parents, of course you may."

Michael, seeing that Brittany was stuck, chuckled and pulled out his phone to call their parents.

After he received their permission, he knelt in front of Keagan and asked if they could be told what had happened.

Keagan shrugged. "They'll find out eventually, so you may as well let them know now."

Michael nodded and squeezed her fidgeting hand gently. He explained everything to his parents, and after a moment of silence, he said goodbye and clicked his phone shut.

"They said we could stay as long as you want us to. Mom says she loves you, Keagan, and if you ever need her or Dad, to let them know, and they'll be there in a flash."

Keagan smiled, and picked Eclipse up off of Brittany's back as he yawned and began to stir. Brittany flipped over and yawned. "The same goes for us, you know that."

Keagan nodded, smiling at her best friend. "I do. I'm sorry it kind of cut into our movie day..."

Eclipsed hopped out of Keagan's arms and onto the floor as Brittany pounced on top of Keagan, and began playfully biting her arm. Keagan giggled as Brittany exclaimed, "Don't be silly!"

Sunny laughed and began walking downstairs. "Come on down you three, dinner's ready."

Keagan and Brittany wrestled for a minute more before tumbling off the bed and landing in a heap on Keagan's fluffy lilac carpet, barely missing Eclipse, who then began chewing on a twisted strand of Keagan and Brittany's hair in-between his high pitched barks and growls.

Michael laughed and held out both of his hands to help the girls up. Keagan and Brittany smirked at each other, taking his hands. When they had stood halfway up, they let their weight fall back onto the floor, pulling Michael with them to the carpet. He landed on Brittany's lap with his head on Keagan's stomach.

The girls squealed and tried to squirm out from under his weight. He flipped over and began tickling the two of them.

After a few moments, he rolled off of them. Keagan scrambled up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She playfully punched his shoulder, "Not cool, Martin, not cool."

Michael feigned hurt as he rubbed his shoulder, causing Keagan to laugh. "C'mon, Sunny's probably wondering where we are."

Keagan nodded. "C'mon."

As the three of them walked into the dining room, Brittany flitted over to sit beside Aidan. Michael pulled out Keagan's chair beside her father, who sat at the head of the table. Michael sat beside Keagan, across from Brittany.

Sunny brought out a platter, a large roasted lemon-pepper chicken sat atop a bed of mint leaves. She added the platter to the already over-elaborate table which held crystal glasses and bowls of garlic green beans, the wicker basket filled with freshly baked bread. The gleaming china dishes and pure white linen table cloth made a perfect backdrop for the deep purple napkins at each place.

Sunny started back into the kitchen. Keagan and Michael jumped up. "Let me help you, Sunny!" The two looked at each other and laughed.

"Let us get the rest for you, Sunny." Michael offered.

Sunny smiled at them. "That would be wonderful you two, thank you. The pitchers are all set up and on the counter." She sank into the chair across the table from Connor that Michael pulled out for her.

Keagan and Michael picked up the six pitchers and took them into the dining room. The pitchers were filled with three different sodas, milk, water, and sweet iced tea, from Sunny's own Southern background.

After the two sat back down, Connor reached out his hands, taking Aidan and Keagan's. The others followed suit, Michael and Keagan hesitating slightly before clasping hands. As every night, they said grace, before digging into Sunny's savory Southern cooking.

As Keagan reached to take the mashed potatoes from her father, she realized that she and Michael were still holding hands. They quickly dropped hands, their cheeks reddening.

Brittany and Aidan again exchanged smiles before returning to their dinners.

After dinner, Keagan, Michael and Brittany returned to Keagan's room to watch another movie, an action movie this time. As the credits began rolling, Michael nudged Brittany's head with his foot. "Hey, wanna get going?"

"No." Brittany yawned. "But we probably should." She rolled off of Keagan's bed and reached over to hug her tightly. "You take care. Call me if you need anything. See you in the morning."

Michael hugged her as well. "Same here, anything at all. Night Keag."

Keagan walked them to the door, waving as they drove off. After she closed the door, she went and kissed her father, Aidan, and Sunny goodnight.

Back in her room, she slipped into her pink fleece pajama pants and white tank top, crawled into her soft bed, and pulled the lilac and teal comforter up to her chin. Her tattered fleece blanket was tucked into her side. She glanced over at her nightstand that housed her new diary. She shook her head as she turned over and cuddled Eclipse to her.

There's no such thing as magic.... Right?

October 23 (cont.)

Keagan buried her face in Aidan's shoulder. His arms tightened around her as he stared incredulously at Jezebelle. He had known she was awful, but he hadn't clued in to her master plan. 

A sudden blur of yellow, and a resounding smack stunned them all into silence.

Jezebelle lay across the chair, her hand to her cheek which was glowing bright red. She stared up at Sunny whose hand was still raised. Connor stepped up beside Sunny, his hands on his hips. "I think you'd better leave, Miss Breckers."

Aidan stood, scooping Keagan up with him. She blinked in surprise at Sunny. She had never seen her move so quickly, nor had she ever seen her so angry. Jezebelle stood quickly, then advanced towards Keagan. Jezebelle clawed towards her as Connor leaped in front of his children, receiving her clawing nails digging into his face.

Connor, his face scratched and bleeding, grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back. She called out in agony, and stopped struggling, falling against him in defeat. He looked towards Sunny. "Call the police."

Keagan hid her face in Aidan's throat again, her small, trembling hands clutching at his broad shoulders.

Minutes later, the still air of the sleepy little town was filled with the sound of screaming sirens. Jezebelle began to cry.

Aidan sat down with Keagan as the police chief clomped into the room, big, dark, and foreboding. Chief Askuwheteau Wolf was a close friend of the Michaels' since attending college with Connor. He was a full-blooded Algonquin Indian who had been born and raised in Brook City. He had been somewhat of an uncle to Keagan and Aidan since birth, but since neither of them had been able to pronounce his name, which meant "he keeps watch," they called him Uncle Alex. Aidan, now 21, had dropped the "childish" nickname for him, choosing to simply call him Alex, as most people did. However, Keagan, at 15, still considered him as her uncle.

Keagan blinked through the tears as she glanced up at him, and he smiled, his teeth gleaming white against his russet skin. His normally loose, long black hair was contained by a thick leather band at the nape of his neck. He stroked a strand of Keagan's hair away from her face. "Keagan, Honey Bear, do you want to tell me what happened?"

Keagan nodded, sniffling a bit as she shifted herself on her brother's lap. Uncle Alex rested his hands, palms up, on Keagan's thighs. After brushing a few tears from her face, she placed her small hands in his. Big and warm, his hands wrapped tightly around her small, cold fingers.

Uncle Alex's thumbs gently stroked the back of Keagan's hands as she recounted the story. When she finished, Uncle Alex stood and walked over to where his partner had Jezebelle in handcuffs. Her short black hair quivered around her face, and her black eyes flashed at them. Uncle Alex's ink-blue eyes were hard as he looked at her and began to read her rights, leading her down the stairs.

Keagan stood and took Sunny and Connor's hands, Aidan walked behind her, and they followed the others down the stairs. Uncle Alex pulled open the door, almost running straight into Brittany and Michael Martin. Both of them looked on in shock as Jezebelle was put into the squad car and taken away.

Keagan quickly dropped Connor and Sunny's hands to try and fix her hair, attempting to make it a little less obvious that she had been crying. Not that she thought Brittany, her best friend of 12 years, would think any less of her, nor would Michael. But it was Michael she was trying to impress.His soft, floppy brown hair fell to his eyebrows, drawing attention to his dark, stormy blue eyes that made Keagan go weak in the knees. His full lips smiled easily, a sincere smile that made her heart soar when he flashed her that smile. But right now, those beautiful lips weren't smiling, they were frowning slightly, his brows knit together in concern. Brittany grasped Keagan's hands in her own, her big, baby-blue eyes wide.

"Keags, what happened?" Brittany breathed.

Michael stepped up beside them, placing a hand on Keagan's shoulder. "Keagan? What's wrong?" His blue eyes were dark with concern for her.

Keagan shook her head a bit, smiling faintly at them. She looked over her shoulder at Connor and Sunny, who slipped into the kitchen. Aidan moved closer to Keagan and rested his hands on her shoulders.

Keagan turned back to her friends and told them everything that had happened. By the end of the story, both of them were staring openly at Keagan, their eyes wide with shock.

Michael wrapped his arms around Keagan, and Brittany stroked her hair. Keagan blinked in surprise at the sudden warmth of Michael's arms around her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and breathed him in. He smelled wonderful. It reminded Keagan of the forest, leather, and sun-shined meadows. Keagan smiled as one of his hands tangled in the ends of her hip-length hair.

Keagan's eyes suddenly flew open as Michael's did the same. They both pulled back, reddening in embarrassment, both staring at the floor. Neither of them noticed the knowing smile that Brittany and Aidan exchanged.







I dunno, think I should continue?