Double Deal

Chapter 6 (Part 1)

They stumbled into Ajax’s house a few moments later, where they heard Sam yelling on the phone. “Sam, we’re back!” Ajax called.

The yelling immediately quieted down. “Follow me downstairs,” Ajax said, leading the two of them to the basement. He grabbed a book off of the desk and flipped through it.

He stopped on a page and read, “The Oxycoccus Regina controls the Oxycoccos, which are mutant red bugs that are blind. If you get stung by an Oxycoccus, it will result in death in 10 minutes if not given an antidote for the poison. If you get hit with an Oxycoccus’ venom, which is released from the back of its mouth, the spot hit will turn pale within the first hour, then green in the next, and finally red. Symptoms of getting hit with venom: Easy irritation, redness, loss of control, flashbacks, lightheadedness, itching, and vomiting. The cure for getting hit with venom is called Vaccin. If you encounter the Oxycoccus Regina after the infected spot turns red, you lose the ability to move freely. Failure to be cured in 2 days will result in death. The infected person should be prohibited from itching or scratching if irritation or itchiness occurs.”

Ajax looked at Lola, closing the book, “Did you get hit with the venom?”

Lola didn’t answer. Instead, she looked queasy. “I’m going to take that as a yes,” Ajax said, grabbing the book on poisons and cures.

He flipped through it, looking for the page titled ‘Vaccin.’ He didn’t find it. “The cure isn’t here,” Ajax said, flipping through the pages again.

“It has to be. The Vaccin cure is one of the oldest cures. It would have been included in that book, even if it was from when Sam was training,” Zephyrus said.

Ajax gave him an annoyed look. He held the book up to him. “The page was torn out. You see the kadoobies? They’re close to the spine, but they’re there. It’s like someone was trying to hide that the recipe was even in this book.”

“Maybe you should ask Sam about it,” Zephyrus suggested, “They were his books right?”

“We don’t have time for this. Lola was clearly hurt,” Ajax mumbled before running upstairs.

Lola started scratching her arm. It looked fine, but as Ajax had read, her arm would look fine. “Lola,” Zephyrus said.

She looked at him. “Stop scratching your arm,” Zephyrus said simply.

Lola gave him an irritated look before looking away, still scratching. “Lola, stop,” Zephyrus repeated.

“I don’t have to listen to you,” Lola said angrily.

“I’m not going to tell you again,” Zephyrus said, standing up straight.

“You’re not the boss of me, Zephyrus,” Lola said, grabbing back at her forearm.

She had momentarily stopped scratching at her arm before starting again a few moments later. “Lola!” Zephyrus walked over and grabbed her arms, “Stop it!”

“Let me go!” Lola tried to squirm away.

“You can’t scratch your arm! Stop doing it!” Zephyrus held her fast.

“Let me-” Tears started streaming down Lola’s face, “Let me go. Please.”

Zephyrus started freaking out, not knowing exactly what to do, “What are you- Why are you crying?”

Lola didn’t answer him; she just kept crying. “Stop it!” Zephyrus urged, “Stop crying!”

Ajax walked back down a few seconds later, “What are you doing?” He said, pushing Zephyrus off of Lola.

“What do you mean? She started crying out of nowhere!” Zephyrus said.

“He was hurting me,” Lola said, showing her arm to Ajax.

“No I didn’t!” Zephyrus said, “She kept scratching her arm! I only grabbed her arm to stop her.”

Ajax gave him an irritated look. “My uncle said that he doesn’t know what happened to the page. He never ripped it out,” Ajax said, tossing the book down, “This is unbelievable.”

Zephyrus looked at the book. “That book is… Samuel Ross’ right?” He asked.

“What do you mean?” Ajax responded.

“Well, these types of books are pretty expensive and rare. Most of them are found at schools, but it’s uncommon for anyone to actually own these books. I know I never did,” Zephyrus explained, “I know the Ross’ had a decent amount of wealth, but it’s unlikely that they had two books of the same kind. Chances are, they bought the book for the oldest child, Mariel, and after she mastered it, she gave it to Sam. That, or they shared the book.”

“You think that my mom is the one who ripped the page out? Why would she do that?” Ajax asked.

“I don’t know. Does it look like I knew your family when they were younger?” Zephyrus retorted. “You know who did though? Your uncle.”

Ajax glared at him before he walked back upstairs. Lola blew raspberries at Zephyrus and followed after Ajax. Zephyrus looked back and watched them until they closed the basement door. Then he grabbed the book and flipped through the pages until he got back to the page for the cure. He ran his finger along the seam as he closed his eyes. Then he was transported into a memory.

“Mariel, that’s not funny. Give it back!” A boy who looked identical to Ajax said. It was obviously Sam.

“Oh, lighten up Nemus. It’s just a little joke,” His 18 year older sister, Mariel, laughed as she had teleported one of his papers away from him.

“Mariel, stop messing with your brother!” Their mother called from the other room.

Sam got up and walked over to Mariel, “Why do you tease me? You already know that I suck at magic,” Sam purposefully walked into his sister as he left his room, his hands in fists.

“Nemus, that’s not what-” Mariel tried to say, but her brother didn’t listen to her.

As soon as Sam was out of earshot, Mariel started searching his room. She found his stack of books that had started to collect dust since Sam gave up magic. She grabbed Poisons and Cures and started rifling through the pages. She stopped at one, the Vaccin cure. She looked at the doorway before promptly pulling the page down, ripping it out of the book. She had severed it from the book neatly, not leaving a single scrap of paper attached to the spine of the book. She flipped the page over, examining it, before quickly putting the Poisons and Cures book back where it was. She folded the paper neatly and put it in her back pocket before she walked out of Sam’s room and to the bathroom.

“Mom, I’m going over to see Atlas. I’ll be back for dinner,” Mariel told her mom cheerfully, who was in the bathroom doing her hair.

“All right, but don’t be late. We have company later,” her mom said.

Mariel walked over and kissed her mom on the cheek, “Love you,” before walking down the stairs and out of the house.

About 10 minutes after her walking through streets that were very familiar to Zephyrus, Mariel walked into a building that was run down. “Atlas!” She called, slightly annoyed.

There was a thud as someone ran downstairs. “Mariel,” A boy who looked as old as her said, almost surprised.

Mariel put a hand on her waist and raised an eyebrow. “Mariel, listen-” As he got closer, Zephyrus saw that he had the same eyes as Ajax.

“That’s not what I’m here for,” Mariel said, clearly annoyed with the boy.

“Please-” Atlas grabbed at her arm, but Mariel pushed him away.

“I already said that I’m not here to hear your sob apology. You had no right to bring me into this-”

“Just let me explain-”

“Atlas. I am not in the mood-” Mariel cut him off.

“Please!” Atlas pleaded.

Mariel had no emotion on her face. “Daz was-”

“I don’t care about Daz! I care about you, Atlas! You are purposefully putting yourself into danger!” Mariel yelled at him, pushing his chest.

Atlas looked at the floor. Mariel pulled the paper out of her pocket and shoved it into his hand. “I only did this for you. This time,” Mariel emphasized, “I swear, Atlas, if you do it again-”

“I won’t,” He looked at her.

She looked to the side, before turning to walk away. “Mariel,” Atlas called.

Mariel turned to look at him, but he had followed her. He kissed her, “I love you,” He said when he pulled away.

“I love you too. Don’t do it again Atlas,” Mariel responded before leaving the run-down building.

“I won’t. I promise.”

Zephyrus opened his eyes. He quickly closed the book when he heard Ajax’s and Lola’s footsteps as they walked back downstairs. “My uncle said that the book was my mom’s, but that when she gave it to him, it was still intact. Nothing was ripped out. He remembers seeing that cure in the book,” Ajax called as he got to the last step.

“Like I said,” Zephyrus answered, “Mariel must have ripped the page out.”

“Did you not just hear what I said?” Ajax said.

“Yes, but just because Mariel gave the book to Sam doesn’t mean that she didn’t have access to it. To be fair, by the time Sam was 16, he’d already given up magic. I doubt he was flipping through the books everyday checking if the pages were torn. She could have at any time, or anyone could have really, gone through the pages and took one,” Zephyrus explained.

Lola started scratching her arm again. “Lola, stop!” Zephyrus said.

She didn’t listen. “Give me your arm,” Zephyrus held his hand out.

“No!” Lola said.

“Lola, give me your arm-”

“She doesn’t have to!” Ajax interrupted.

“You are starting to piss me off,” Zephyrus told him, “The stupid book said that she can’t scratch her arm and I am trying to stop her! And you just keep letting her!”

Ajax realized he was right. “Now I say again, Lola, give me your arm,” Zephyrus repeated.

But, a surprise to Zephyrus, Ajax grabbed her arm and held it firm as she tried to squirm away. Zephyrus kind of looked at Ajax for a second before running to the cabinet full of ingredients. He came back a few seconds later with a bandage to wrap around Lola’s arm. After he finished wrapping it, he took his stele out of his pocket and touched the tip to the bandage. “Now she can’t take it off,” He explained.

Ajax let go of her arm. Lola quickly brought it close to her, rubbing her arm where the bandage was. “So what do we do now?” Ajax asked.

“I think I know a place where we can find a copy of that book, but it is kind of far,” Zephyrus said.

“I can ask Sam-” Ajax started, but Zephyrus shook his head.

“I have a better way. Come on, follow me,” Zephyrus walked upstairs.

Ajax and Lola followed after him, but on her way up, Lola started feeling light-headed again. “Lola, are you alright?” Ajax asked.

Before she could answer, she passed out and started falling towards the floor. Ajax caught her. “Zephyrus,” Ajax called.

Instead of waiting for her to wake up, which was time they didn’t have, they carried Lola over to the couch. Zephyrus grabbed a blanket and put it over her slightly as Ajax grabbed an icepack on her forehead. “She should be fine,” Zephyrus said, “But we have to go.”

“Yeah,” Ajax said, following Zephyrus outside of his house.

Zephyrus stopped at the curb and reached into his pocket, taking out a gold coin. He flipped it and it landed on the street. A few seconds later, a black taxi pulled up. The door opened by itself. Zephyrus got in after Ajax. “Hey, take us to Holly’s,” Zephyrus told the cab driver.

The cab driver looked at him in the rearview mirror, an eyebrow raised. “Just do it,” Zephyrus said.

The cab driver shrugged and started driving. “Who’s Holly?” Ajax asked when Zephyrus leaned back.

“An old friend of mine,” Zephyrus answered. The cab driver snorted, “Shut up.”

The cab stopped moments later. “Get out,” Zephyrus told Ajax.

When Ajax got out, he was in a part of town he had never seen before. In front of him was a shop, Holly’s Diner. Zephyrus looked at it with a worried look on his face. “How are we going to find what we need here?” Ajax asked.

Zephyrus didn’t answer. Instead, he opened the door, a bell ringing as it opened. Before Ajax even got a chance to walk in, Zephyrus was being pushed out. “You’re not allowed to come in here,” A girl said.

“I need to speak with Holly,” Zephyrus said.

“Too bad for you, Holly doesn’t want to talk. Specifically with you,” The girl said, closing the door behind her as she watched Zephyrus.

“Please, I need her help-”

“Zephyrus Grace,” A voice said from behind the girl.

“Holly-”

“I thought I told you never to come here again,” A girl walked up to him.

She was quite tall in stature, just slightly shorter than Zephyrus, who was about 5’10. She had caramel brown hair that ran past her shoulders and startling green eyes with specks of gold in them. “Wi-”

“No,” Holly interrupted him.

Then she noticed Ajax. She pushed Zephyrus out of the way. “Who are you?” She asked.

Ajax managed to stammer out his name. She intimidated him. “Ajax Ross?” She repeated.

“How did a low life like you manage to bring a Ross to me?” Holly asked Zephyrus.

He opened his mouth, but Holly interrupted him again. “Rhetorical,” She said simply.

She examined Ajax for a moment. “I’ll allow you to come inside,” She said, then turned on her heel.

“Holly,” Zephyrus tried again, causing her to stop and look at him.

“I guess you can come inside too, but Emmaline is going to watch you,” Holly said, then walked inside.

“Emmaline?” Ajax asked.

“I hate Emmaline,” Zephyrus growled, then walked inside. Ajax followed.

Emmaline turned out to be a short blonde girl, quite thin, with a pure hatred for Zephyrus. “Zephy,” She said sarcastically.

Zephyrus gave her a small, sarcastic smile, “Lina,” He responded.

They glared at each other. “Where did Holly go?” Ajax asked.

“In the back,” Emmaline said, leading them to her office, where Holly was sitting behind a desk.

“So what brings a Ross here?” Holly asked, gesturing for Ajax to sit.

There was only one chair. “Uh,” Ajax said, looking at Zephyrus.

“Holly, you’re being unreasonable,” Zephyrus said.

Holly didn’t react to him, “I’m sorry, do you hear something?”

Ajax decided to sit down, receiving a smile from Holly. “You know, your mother had quite a reputation in the magical world,” She told him.

Ajax didn’t know how to respond. “Emmaline?” Holly said out of nowhere.

“Yes Holly?”

“Take him out of here,” Holly said.

Emmaline smiled and pulled her stele out. “Walk,” She told Zephyrus straight faced.

“Holly, I have to talk to you,” Zephyrus complained.

“I’ll consider it,” Holly said.

“Holly- Ow!” Zephyrus started again, but Emmaline’s stele was glowing as she poked it into his arm.

“Walk,” Emmaline repeated.

Soon it was just Holly and Ajax into the room. “I’m going to assume you don’t know Zephyrus too well and he didn’t tell you what happened between us?” Holly asked and Ajax nodded.

She murmured something that Ajax couldn’t make out before turning back to Ajax. “Zephyrus is a player. And he played me,” Holly said.

“Do you know what it feels like to have your heart ripped out by the person you thought cared about you?” Holly asked Ajax.

“No, I haven’t gotten the chance,” Ajax answered.

“Do you care about anyone like that?” Holly asked, “Like you would die if someone even laid a finger on them?

Ajax was quiet. “Yes,” Ajax said, hesitantly.

“So you could imagine the feeling if they hurt you?”

“I guess.”

“You want to know what Zephyrus did? He used me to his benefit and then tossed me away when I was no longer of use to him. I cared about him. Apparently he didn’t,” Holly said, “And I’m sure he’s here again because he needs something from me.”

“Actually, I need something. Zephyrus brought me here because he thinks you might have it,” Ajax said.

Holly was intrigued, “What is it?”

“My friend got hurt by a monster and she needs the Vaccin cure or she’ll die in a few days. The book I got from my uncle is missing that cure,” Ajax said, “Do you have the cure or the recipe?”

“Zephyrus didn’t look to see what happened to the page?” Holly asked, confused.

Ajax gave her a quizzical look, “What do you mean?”

Holly looked to the bookshelf in her office, laughing. “Yeah, I think I have a copy of the book here. You can take a picture of the page,” Holly said, getting up to grab the book. She flipped to the page and walked out of the room.

Ajax quickly snapped some photos of the cure and walked out to find Zephyrus.

“You,” Holly pointed at Zephyrus, “Come here.”

She turned and walked down the hall, Zephyrus following after her. “Ho-”

“Don’t say anything yet,” Holly cut him off.

She led him to a back room. “Holly-” Zephyrus stopped because Holly raised an eyebrow.

“Tell me why is it that you came all the way down here when you could have easily seen the recipe?” Holly asked.

“Because I need to talk to you,” Zephyrus said.

“And you brought him here, why?” Holly asked.

“Because I knew that he was the only way I could step foot here.”

“Damn right,” Holly said.

Zephyrus smiled. “And you need to talk to me about?” Holly asked, annoyed.

“I didn’t break up with you for what you’re thinking,” Zephyrus said.

“Then why’d you do it, d-”

“Because of Dexter!” Zephyrus said.

Holly clenched her jaw. “You know he has dirt on everyone. He used mine against me by forcing me to use you. I didn’t want to. Holly, I really do care about you,” Zephyrus said.

Holly looked at the floor. “So it’s Daz’s fault. That’s what you’re saying.”

“You never gave me a chance to explain.”

She looked at him. “Damn you,” Holly said before wrapping her hands around his head and kissing him.