I could feel it wearing off. The pleasant feeling of strength and energy was slowly drizzling away, being replaced by an overwhelming exhaustion that made my arms sag and my head pound. Miriam whinnied and tossed her head, as if sensing by the slack in the reins that something was wrong. I patted her neck and willed myself to stay upright and not give in to the temptation of leaning against her strong neck and resting my eyes. We had long since left the trail to the cave behind us. I looked at the forest longingly. I didn’t like being on the open road, even in the middle of the night, but we still had a couple hours before we reached the path that would lead us back to the meadow. And then a day and half before we get back to the castle.

 “Woah!” I heard Lee cry out in surprise and I felt my breath catch out when I saw a figure leap from Charger and run toward the forest.

 “Jonghyun.” The name escaped my mouth as easily as a breath of air. Ignoring my bodies complaints I spurred Miriam into a gallop and raced after Jonghyun. I flew past him and then spun Miriam around so that she was blocking Jonghyun’s path into the forest. Without missing a beat he planted his feet and pivoted in a split second then ran back the way we had come at an angle, trying to get into the forest. That’s the star quarter back right there. I couldn’t help but think with amusement and I turned Miriam to cut him off again.

 “Jonghyun!” I yelled, not knowing how to calm him down. It was dark, I doubted he’d be able to recognize me without looking at me properly and he was too concerned with trying to escape to bother looking at me. I could hear the beat of horse hooves coming over here. I didn’t know what Lee and Max would do but I felt an unusual feeling of irritation. I could handle this on my own. They didn’t have any reason to get in my way. They should mind their own business.

 Blinking in surprise I paused for a second too long and Jonghyun took the opportunity to dash past me into the forest.

 “Jonghyun, wait!” I yelled desperately. I urged Miriam into the forest. The trees were thick and I had to slow Miriam to almost a walk so that she wouldn’t trip over any roots in the dark. But I could hear Jonghyun crashing through the forest, not bothering to be silent which I was thankful for.

 “Jonghyun! It’s Shianne! Please stop running!” The crashes were getting farther and farther away. Groaning I slid from Miriam’s back and took off running. My entire body seemed to be screaming in pain but I would not allow Jonghyun to get lost in this forest and die. I had been running for a couple minutes when I realized that I couldn’t hear Jonghyun anymore. I stopped, panting hard. I concentrated on slowing my breaths so that I could listen. I couldn’t hear anything.

 I slowly turned in a full circle, searching the forest for any signs of life. I could feel tears prickling behind my eyes and I was too tired to try and keep them from slipping out or to bother wiping them away. I just kept turning around and around, desperately listening for any indication that I wasn’t alone. That Jonghyun had not left me.

 My brain didn’t register what I had seen until I was already halfway around my little circle again. Then I froze for a second and blinked, afraid that when I turned around I would realize I had been seeing things. I closed my eyes and turned back around slowly. Opening my eyes I saw… Jonghyun!

 “Shianne… is that you?” He asked shakily, not moving.

 The tears were still streaming slowly down my cheeks and I found myself wishing that I could turn and hide from him. But I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

Then to my surprise Jonghyun strode over to me in four steps and gathered me into his arms, crushing me against his chest. My head barely reached his chin and I discovered with a small thrill that my head fit perfectly into the nape of his neck. He held me so tightly that the burns on my back made me tense and the tears turned from a slow stream into hot tears of pain, but I clung to him just as tightly, and I realized that there was nowhere else that I wanted to be more than right here in Jonghyun’s arms. I felt Jonghyun shudder and I rubbed his back.

 He bent his head so that our cheeks were pressed together with my mouth next to his ear. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“I should be asking you that. Why are you here? I was so scared. I thought you had drowned.” Jonghyun’s voice cracked and his grip never loosened, as if he was afraid that if he let go of me I’d disappear. I hugged him tightly and forced myself to ask calmly,

“What happened? After I started swimming down?”

“I saw you go underneath the water and just disappear. I was scared that Danson might have done more damage than I had thought and you couldn’t swim so I tried to go after you but Danson pounced on me. He was stronger than I had been expecting. We struggled for a long time, but fighting in the pool made it difficult. Danson landed a good punch and held me under the water until I couldn’t hold my breath anymore. I started to drown.” Jonghyun pulled back a little bit and stared right into my eyes. “As I was drowning I kept thinking about you. I hadn’t seen you get out of the pool and I thought I had failed you.”

My breath caught in my throat at the intensity of his gaze. I was surprised when my voice actually worked and I could say “But you didn’t drown… so what happened?”

“I stopped struggling and he pulled me out of the pool. I coughed up water for a long time and when I looked up he punched me in the face.” He looked away and I could see his jaw bone was jutting out slightly which meant he was clenching his teeth and he only clenched his teeth when he was annoyed or angry.

“He knocked me out.” He let out a sharp laugh. “I always thought I was tougher than that.”

“He almost drowned you!” He shook his head and smiled at me with something that looked very similar to tenderness.

“Yah, well, whatever the case it happened. I woke up and we were in the middle of the football field with Danson standing next to me. Before I could do anything there was a crack like a gunshot and then the air in front of Danson and I…” Jonghyun seemed to be searching for a word to describe the experience then he looked at me.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

I smiled ruefully, “Try me.”

“Well… the air started warping kind of and then instead of looking at the bleachers I was staring at a castle in a forest.” He gave me a worried look but I smiled and he continued, “I tried to get away but Danson had tied up my hands and feet. He pulled me to my feet and shoved me towards the forest. I could feel myself spinning and then I landed hard on my back in the middle of a clearing. The next second Danson was standing next to me. He stared down at me and then I felt something really weird. My head started to feel funny. Like there were more than my own thoughts in it. It felt like someone was trying to invade my mind and pull me out. After that there was only darkness. I felt cramped but at the same time it was like something was trying to pull me apart. The next thing I remember was that I was on a horse. I didn’t know what to think so I ran.”

His arms relaxed slightly and I breathed in a sigh of relief as the pressure went off of my burns. I looked up at him and we just stared at each other for a while. I felt one of his arms move and then his fingers were caressing my cheek. Without meaning to I flinched when he brushed my bruise. I saw his eyes fill with confusion but then he looked at me closer. His eyes hardened at the dame time as he gently touched the bruise on my cheek again.

“What happened, Shianne? Did someone hit you?” His voice was dangerously low. I shook my head and forced myself to ignore the pain that that small movement had caused. I guess I can assume Sapphire’s energy spell has worn off now.

“A lot has happened Jonghyun. A lot. You wouldn’t believe half of it.” I say tiredly, leaning against him again. Suddenly I didn’t even have the energy to look at him. All I wanted was to fall asleep in Jonghyun’s strong arms. Something flickered in my mind’s eye, a face. But I didn’t allow myself to name him before pushing it out. I was finally with Jonghyun, nobody else should be able to come into my head right now.

Jonghyun put his hands on my shoulders and gently pushed me back. He looked at my face and then slowly looked down, taking in my burn covered body. He closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. He then looked straight at me.

“I think you should tell me what happened.”

I looked away. Wondering where I should start, what I should say. I thought I heard my name being yelled faintly in the distance. Sapphire is probably worried about me. I thought guiltily and then I knew what to tell Jonghyun.

“I have a sister. And not just a sister, I have a twin. Her name is Sapphire. And we’re both fairies.”

I snuck a peak to see how Jonghyun had reacted to my statement. His expression hadn’t changed and his hands remained on my shoulders. I turned to look full at him. He blinked slowly.

“Fairies… as in, little winged creatures?” He asked cautiously. Without saying anything I expanded my wings. They slowly grew and I watched Jonghyun’s eyes go as wide as quarters when they were at their full size. Without taking his eyes off of my wings he said again “Fairies.” Then he looked at me and I was shocked to see a huge grin spread across his face. “Do you have magic?”

I smiled and nodded. I heard my name being called again and I could tell that it was Lee’s voice. I concentrated and my wings shrunk and went into my skin again. I took Jonghyun’s hand and pointed towards Lee’s voice.

“My friends are looking for me. Let’s go back. You can meet my sister.”  

Jonghyun smiled and laced his fingers through mine. I felt goosebumps go up my arms and it had nothing to do with the crisp night air. I felt a different kind of strength go through me and with a grin I yelled, “Lee! We’re over here!”