Mellissa

Screams echo around me. The ground is shaking. The ceiling has caved in. I look up at the night sky. The moon is full. A shiver shoots down my spine. A man hovers above me. I cannot see his face, but I know he’s bad news. Every urge in my body tells me to run away, but I don’t. He lands in front of me with a boom. The ground under his feet cracks.

“Thing’s don’t have to be like this,” I shout.

He looks at me, his eyes dark and cold. There is no emotion in them. “You made your choice. Now you must live with it.”

He runs at me with some sort of shadow sword. Swirls of light come to my aid. We both take flight, and our battle continues midair. So much damage. Everything is in ruins. We are evenly matched. I can’t win. Dropping to the ground, I whisper to a tree. As he comes at me again, the tree begins to glow. Its branches reach out and pull him in. I whisper to the tree again. It stops glowing. He is gone, trapped inside the tree. I drop to my knees, clutching my side. There’s so much blood. I don’t remember getting hit.

“Then what happens?” Matt asked, clutching the edge of his seat.

I shrugged. “I usually wake up.”

“Seriously? What sort of ending is that? We need to know if you make it.”

“I can’t help it. It’s a weird dream, and I can’t get back to sleep once I wake up.”

Matt put his arm round me. “And that’s why you’re such a grumpy beast today?”

I pushed his arm off me. “I am not grumpy.”

“Then why are you refusing to help me with my essay?”

“It’s not my fault you left your homework till the last minute again.”

Matt was always doing this—leaving his homework until the last second and coming to me for help. I, like a kind-hearted fool, always helped him. Maybe I was part of the problem, not forcing him to do it himself. I crossed my arms. “Ever think maybe I’m just tired of bailing you out?”

“Come on, Mel. This is our whole relationship. You help me with homework. I set you up on a date with one of my buddies.”

“Except I don’t want to date any of your buddies.”

He rolled his eyes. “Can’t blame me for trying to make you more social. Plus, my mates are way better than the usual nerds you date.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t like your sort of socialising. Ever consider I might want to date someone with at least half a brain?” Matt liked to hang out with a bunch of meatheads. We probably wouldn’t be friends if I hadn’t known him before he became so popular. The art of being popular was pretending to be something you’re not. Luckily, I knew the real Matt.

“How about I buy you some chocolate?” Matt asked.

“Fine, but I also want ice cream.”

“Deal.” He shook my hand. “Too bad our homework isn’t to write a story. I would totally steal your dream for that assignment.” His brow lowered as he rubbed his chin. “Hey, Mel, what do you know about the Great War?”

“The what war? Like World War I or II? I thought we were doing English, not history.”

He pulled a pen and paper out of his bag. “Never mind. What should I write?”

“I’m not telling you what to write. I’m just offering guidance. Anyway, I want payment up front. I can’t trust you not to do a runner.” I got up and walked out of the room.

Matt ran after me. “That was, like, one time, but fine, we can go to the shop first.”

I pulled on my boots and jacket. “More like every time a pretty girl bats her eyelids at you.”

“Not true. I am a very good friend. I can’t help if the majority of your gender finds me irresistible.”

I groaned. As soon as we left the house, I regretted not putting on a proper coat. The cold air pierced my skin. I stuck my hands in my pockets and pulled inward, trying to make my jacket cover more of my body. My mistake was looking at how Matt was dressed and thinking that meant it was warm. He was wearing surfer shorts and a T-shirt. He always looked like he was dressed for a trip to the beach and seemed to be immune to the cold.

As soon as we got to the supermarket, I headed straight to the clothing section in search of a hat and scarf. Matt followed. “We are in the wrong section for chocolate and ice cream,” he said. “I also want sweets. Lots of sweets.”

I picked up a few hats and tried them on. “I don’t want ice cream anymore. I want cookies and hot chocolate. How do you stand walking around like that in this cold?”

He shrugged, leaning against a clothing rack. “I’m just hot stuff.”

I shook my head. He never gave me a proper answer to that question. I didn’t know why I still bothered to ask. Pulling on another hat, I frowned at myself in the mirror. It wasn’t easy to find a hat that would fit over my wild curls. They pretty much had a life of their own. I pulled my hair out of the ponytail it was in. My hair fell down my back, making it easier to flatten my unruly curls and get the hat on.

“You know, it really isn’t that cold,” Matt said, waving his hand at me but looking off into the distance. “Just get the green one. It goes with your eyes.”

“Since when does green go with brown?”

I didn’t get an answer. Something else had caught his attention. I went up onto my tiptoes to see what he was looking at. Some girl around our age was eyeing Matt up. I rolled my eyes as he gave her his signature sweet smile and a slight nod of his head. The girl blushed and giggled as she ran round the corner. I threw the pink hat in my basket and put the others back, then grabbed the matching scarf and tapped Matt on the shoulder. “I’ve got the stuff I want. Let’s get those snacks.”

A big grin, completely different from the one he’d just given the girl, spread across Matt’s face. It was more childish. This was the real Matt. Filling his belly was what he really cared about. As we weaved our way through people pushing trolleys, more girls ogled Matt. Wherever we went, he got a lot of attention from the opposite sex and occasionally from the same sex. I, on the other hand, would either get evil looks or treated as if I were invisible. Today, I was nonexistent. I didn’t understand why so many girls felt the need to throw themselves at him. I was fully aware that my best friend was well above average in the looks department. He was tall, blond with light blue eyes and well-toned, but they hardly knew him. They had no idea what sort of a person he was. I knew exactly what Matt was like—full of childlike wonder, great for a laugh but could never get anywhere on time. Matt was like the brother I never asked for but wouldn’t give up now that I had him.

We turned down an aisle full of sweets. Matt’s face lit up. “Now this is what I’m talking about.” He rubbed his hands together as he stalked along the shelves. “Once I get this homework out of the way, I can focus on writing my letter to Santa to let him know all the sweets I want. That should have been our homework. I could’ve done that without your help.”

“I can’t believe you still write a letter to Santa,” I said. Actually, I could. Matt loved the magic of Christmas, and so did I.

Someone kissed their teeth behind me. “Yes, Mellissa, he still writes to Santa, as he refuses to grow up.”

I recognised the disapproving voice straight away. It was Victoria. She brushed past me. I shivered at a sudden, cold chill on the back of my neck. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

Her arms were folded, and she looked as if she’d tasted something sour. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m getting some sweets to take to the cinema.”

Victoria was Matt’s twin sister. They looked almost identical. She was the kindest, loveliest person you could ever meet, if it benefitted her, and she had nothing to gain from being nice to me. She was harsh with her words, and she didn’t think much of me. I used to think since I got along with her brother so well, and with them being twins, we could be friends too. I’d been completely wrong. They may have been twins, but the only thing they had in common was their birthday.

Victoria turned her nose up as she waved her hands in our general direction. “Now, could you two move along before my friends get here? You’re bad for my image.”

Matt glared at her. “You don’t own the supermarket, Vicky. And you’re the one that started talking to us. We’ll take as much time as we want picking our sweets.”

“You two are so childish. It’s annoying. The way you act reflects badly on me. We’re almost eighteen. You should start acting more grown up.” She turned her gaze to me and pointed. “And you are even worse. What’s with the cat-ear hat? Aren’t you the oldest in our school year?”

I looked down at my basket. I didn’t see what was wrong with cat ears on a hat. It was cute. I wanted to come up with a smart response, but instead, I just frowned and said, “But I like cats.”

Matt stepped between me and Victoria. “You know what, Vicky? We may be childish, but at least we’re comfortable with who we are. You’re just a fake, too scared to show everyone the real you.”

Victoria clenched her fist. For a moment, I thought she was going to hit him. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. As usual, you’re too stupid to realise what is going on around you.” She gave Matt the most disgusted look I’d ever seen. Then she glanced my way, tilted her head back and huffed before walking away.

Matt let out a long breath once she was out of sight. “Sorry about her. I don’t know why she insists on disapproving of everything. I hate how she talks to me like I’m some little kid. She seems to forget that we’re twins, and she’s not my older sister. Hey, Mel, are you listening?”

I was only half listening. I was used to Victoria being rude, so it didn’t really bother me. Sometimes, I wished I could come up with better responses, but her opinion of me didn’t matter. At that moment in time, there was something else that had captured my attention. That was the first time I saw him. I thought I was imagining things. Rabbits aren’t meant to be hopping around supermarkets, yet this one was staring right at me. There was something odd about the rabbit. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

“Oh my God. It’s a rabbit!” screamed a lady. Everyone in the shop turned to look, stunned.

“What are you doing in here? Get out. Now!” shouted a member of staff. He ran at the rabbit. The rabbit dodged the guy, causing him to stumble. I was confused by the crowd’s overreaction to a rabbit. It wasn’t exactly a vicious creature. I turned to Matt to see if he thought this was as crazy as I did, only to find him gone. I spun around. Matt was chasing the rabbit with the shop assistant. I’d never seen a rabbit move so fast. It was managing to outmanoeuvre the two people trying to catch it.

“Hey, Matt, let the rabbit be,” I yelled. Both Matt and the rabbit looked up as I spoke. The rabbit circled round them and dashed toward me. I scooped the little guy up.

“Madame, are you okay?” the shop assistant said with a pant.

I shrugged. “It’s only a rabbit. I’ll pay for my stuff and take him out with me.”

The shop assistant agreed. He simply wanted the rabbit gone. I paid for my shopping and left. For some reason, Matt’s good mood had dropped drastically. He was frowning, with his hands in his pockets. He didn’t say a word most of the walk back to my house. I didn’t see what his problem was. It was just a little bunny rabbit, and he was pretty cute. Maybe he was upset that he’d been outmanoeuvred by a rabbit. It had been amusing to watch Matt and the shop employee chase the little guy around.

Just as we got to the top of the street I lived on, Matt stopped in front of me. He put his hand out. “Give me the rabbit.”

I took a step back. “Why?”

“Because you don’t know what he is.”

“I know what a rabbit is. I’m not stupid.”

Matt ran a hand though his hair. He looked like he was about to pull a chunk of it out. “That’s not what I meant. I would just like the rabbit, please.”

“I don’t know where your sudden mood change has come from, but I’m keeping it.”

“I thought you didn’t like animals? You know my family has had loads of pets. Let me take it off your hands, and I’ll take care of it.”

“I do like animals. I just don’t like keeping them as pets, but there’s something different about this rabbit. Besides, he seems scared of you. You can accept that I’m keeping the rabbit, or you can keep going on like a crazy person, but I won’t help you with your homework if you do.”

Matt screwed his face up but seemed to accept that I wanted to keep the rabbit.

My dad’s car was parked in the driveway. He was home early. I bit my lip. How was I going to get the rabbit past him? I’d hoped to get him in the house before my dad arrived. If I’d already made the rabbit comfortable, he couldn’t say no to me keeping him. If I was quiet, I could sneak in and hide the little guy in my room. My dad would never have to know he was there. Then, I could bring the subject up later. Preferably when Matt wouldn’t be around to offer to take him off my hands. Unfortunately, walking across the gravel that made up our low maintenance front garden was not a quiet task. I opened the door to find my dad standing in the hallway.

His face dropped as we walked in. He pointed at the creature in my arms. “Mellissa, what is that?”

“It’s a rabbit. I found him hopping around the supermarket. Can I keep him? I’ll look after him myself, and he won’t be any hassle to you. Promise.” I spoke as quickly as I possibly could. “Anyway, you’re home early. Today is my turn to make dinner. You just go and relax while Matt and I do our homework. Then we’ll make dinner. It will be a taste sensation.” I hoped a change of subject would distract him. I gave my dad the biggest smile I could manage, then pushed Matt up the stairs.

“Mellissa, we will talk about this later,” my dad shouted, “and nice to see you, Mathew.”

“And you, Mr. Hail,” Matt shouted back as I pushed him through my bedroom door. I placed the rabbit on my desk between a pile of papers and my sketchbook. Matt scowled at me. “Your dad lets you get away with practically anything. I wish I could just smile at my parents like that, and they’d let me run off.”

“Yes, but I’m pretty sure you would be running off to do something you really shouldn’t.”

Matt pushed a pile of books to the side so he could sit in the window seat. “I think it’s more like the perks of being an only child.”

“Count yourself lucky. I’ve always wanted a sibling.”

“All right then, we can swap places for a bit. I’ll stay here and be an only child, and you can have my sister.”

“On second thought, I’m happy with the way things are.” The thought of living with Victoria did not appeal to me. “Anyway, we have homework to do.”

“Yeah, we do, but where exactly are we meant to do our work in here?” Matt pointed at my desk, which was overflowing with paints, brushes, and sketchbooks. I’d been working on my art coursework the night before. To an outsider, my room did look a mess, but to me, it was a well-organised mess, which is not the same as just being messy. Yes, everything was in what looked like random piles around my room, but I knew what was in each pile and could find anything I needed within seconds. Still, it was true that there wasn’t room to do our homework.

“To the dining table,” I proclaimed. I gave the rabbit another look before picking up my English books and laptop and heading downstairs with Matt.

After dinner, Matt went home with the best essay he’d ever written, thanks to my fantastic tutoring skills. I went back to my room to check on the rabbit. He hadn’t moved. He was still on my desk, wedged between my sketchbook and water pencils. It was as if he had been waiting for me to come back. I sat at my desk and swivelled side to side. Why had I picked him up? There was something different about him. He didn’t act like a normal rabbit. I’d never seen a person, let alone a rabbit, sit still for so long. I leant on my desk. There was something oddly familiar about this rabbit. He was a ginger colour with big green eyes, and he was looking at me the same way I was looking at him—like he was also trying to figure out why I was strange. Round his neck was a beautiful crystal. I’d never seen anything like it. A faint hum buzzed around my room. I spun in my chair, expecting to see a wasp, but there wasn’t anything there. I shrugged and turned back to the rabbit. He was now looking down at the crystal on his collar. I didn’t think rabbits wore collars, but what did I know? I had never had a pet before. With a fancy collar like that, he must’ve had an owner. They probably missed him. I picked up the crystal to see if it had a name on it. The room filled with rays of bright light. I jumped out of my chair, catching my feet on its legs and tumbling backward. Grabbing my desk, I pulled myself up. Where had that light come from? The rabbit jerked away from me and jumped onto my bed.

“You really are the keeper of the Heart. I wasn’t sure when I saw you in the shop, but the crystal just confirmed it,” said the rabbit.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out. The rabbit did not just speak. I had imagined it. It had been a long day. I just needed to get some sleep. The lights had been in my imagination too. Tired. Yes, that was it. I had overexerted myself helping Matt.

The rabbit tilted his head. “Miss Hail.”

My eyes widened. He really was speaking. Unable to process any speech, I slowly backed away from the rabbit until I was against the wall.

“Miss Hail,” said the rabbit again.

I looked at the rabbit sat on the end of my bed, then to my bedroom door. To get out of the room, I would have to pass him. I looked out the window. Jumping would be a last resort. The rabbit hopped toward me. I screamed at the top of my voice and leaped toward the door. In my panic, I tripped over my own feet, falling face-first in a pile of clothes. Pushing my clothes out of the way, I tried to get up, only to slip back down.

My bedroom door thudded open. “Mellissa, are you all right?” my dad asked.

“I’m fine, I—well, it’s just that—um…” What was I meant to say? I couldn’t tell him that the rabbit was talking and had scared me half to death.

“Why are you on the floor?” He stepped over the pile of clothes and helped me up.

“It’s just—” I looked back at the rabbit now sat by the window. No way my dad would believe me, and I was sure the rabbit wouldn’t talk on request. “I thought the rabbit was going to hop out the window, and I fell as I tried to stop him.”

“Mellissa, I thought something was really wrong. That creature is already causing problems.”

“You’re right, Dad. It’s probably best I don’t keep it. Having a pet is way too much responsibility. I’ll take it to the shelter tomorrow before school.”

My dad stood a little straighter. His brows narrowed as he looked down at me. “Really?”

I nodded a bit too frantically. “Really.”

“Good, good. Well, shut that window for now, just to be safe.” He shook his head as he walked out of my room.

I listened at my door as he walked away. Once I could no longer hear his steps, I marched across the room and grabbed the rabbit. “What are you? And how did you talk?” I turned him side to side and upside down.

“Hey, that hurts you know.” He wriggled about and jumped out of my hands. I narrowed my eyes. He sounded posh. “My name is Greg, and I do not appreciate being manhandled like that.” Maybe I had been a bit rough.

“Sorry, you just took me by surprise. It’s not every day that I meet a talking rabbit. How is it you can talk?” I couldn’t believe I was having a conversation with a rabbit.

“I can talk the same way you can. I learned as a child. Look, Miss Hail, I’m not from around here, and I need your help.”

“How can I help you? You seem like a pretty capable little rabbit. Wait, how do you know my last name?” He may have overheard Matt or my dad using my name, but they didn’t tend to add Hail on the end. Maybe talking wasn’t the only peculiar thing the rabbit could do. What if he was an evil enchanter?

“I just assumed you shared the same last name as your father,” said the rabbit. That made sense. Matt still referred to my dad as Mr. Hail. “Please, Miss Hail, tell me what you know about elves, leprechauns, and magic?”

It seemed like an odd question, but then, the whole situation was. “They are all stuff of fairy tales.” I hit my forehead with my hand. He was a talking rabbit. He was magic. That’s why he wanted to know how much I knew—to see if I could help him. I jumped up and down on the spot. “This is totally wicked. You are magic. Well, a magical creature. That’s what you want help with. You’re not from around here, which means you’re from some magic land, and you want to get back there. Right? Oh, this is so cool.” I squealed with excitement. The idea of there being a whole world of magic out there was something out of the books I loved to read.

“You are partially correct. I am a magical being, and I am from a magical land, but I don’t need your help getting home. I need your help to save the world.”

“Wait, what?” The excitement drained from me.

The rabbit—Greg—pulled himself up onto my desk. “Miss Hail, you are the new keeper of the Heart Crystal. Do you not know what that means?”

“The what crystal? I don’t have any sort of crystal. Sorry, don’t have what you’re looking for.”

Greg put his head in his paws. “No, that’s not what I mean. I have the Heart Crystal.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“You are the one that needs to have it. You’re the only one that can access its power and save us all.”

I dropped into the window seat. “Come again?”

Greg paced along the edge of my desk. “How can this be? She knows nothing about the Heart Crystal. They said the royals went into hiding, but surely they would have kept their offspring informed of who they were.”

He obviously was no longer talking to me. I leant against the window. It was cool on my back and helped ease the headache that was developing. Why hadn’t I just given the rabbit to Matt when he asked for him? Then, he would’ve had to deal with the crazy talking beast.

“Miss Hail,” said Greg

I sat up, wide-eyed. “Yep.”

“It has come to my attention you know nothing about magic.”

“Why would I?”

“Because you are heir to the elf throne, keeper of the Heart Crystal and our only hope. I will just have to educate you.”

I bit my thumbnail. “I—um—well. Did you say elf throne?”

“Yes. Long ago, there was the Great War. The king of the leprechauns tried to take control of the lands using dark magic, but Queen Freya—your ancestor—stopped him.”

“Did you say leprechauns?”

“Yes.”

I laughed. “You expect me to believe leprechauns are the big bad villains of your story?”

Greg’s nose twitched. “I don’t see what is so funny. This was a dark time. Kadon, King of the Leprechauns, killed the Sea King and laid waste to his kingdom. He then corrupted the Moon Crystal with dark magic and used it to take control of people on the land, forcing them to fight for him.”

“Wait, now there’s a Moon Crystal?”

“Yes, there are three life crystals: the Moon, Sun, and Heart Crystals.” He put his paw to his head. “You really know nothing. This is going to be so much harder than I thought.”

“So sorry I’m not up-to-date on magic rabbit stories.”

“This is not some story, and I’m not a rabbit.”

I stood up. “Then what are you?”

“It doesn’t matter what I am. This is about what you are.”

“I’m just a girl. A normal girl. I am not some heir to the whatever throne or keeper of the moonstone.”

“The Heart Crystal,” shouted Greg.

I pointed at him. “Don’t shout at me, you creepy little rabbit.”

“I’m sorry.” He lowered his head. “I did not mean to offend you.”

“Well, too late. I think you should go. Considering you’re not really a rabbit, there’s no point taking you to the animal shelter.”

Greg made his way over to me. “Please, Miss Hail. Can we not start over?”

My chest tightened. He looked so cute there at my feet, looking up at me with his big green eyes. I folded my arms and closed my eyes. “No, we can’t. You’re confused about who I am. I’m sorry, I can’t help you. You should go find someone who can.”

“But Miss Hail—”

“No.”

I’m not sure how long I stood there with my eyes shut, but when I opened them again, he was gone. I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding. I slumped onto my bed. Had that all really just happened? Talking to a rabbit. A crazy rabbit. Not much of what he said had made sense. It had all been a misunderstanding. A case of mistaken identity. The rabbit would find who he was really looking for, and I would go on with my life as before. At least, that was what I wanted to happen.