The Crystal by Jones M (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

sometimes even avoid answering the phone. I decided to stick to messaging to her that I was busy in case she doubted that I was avoiding her.

Five minutes later, I found myself at the entrance of the castle’s main study room. The windows had been opened, revealing the grasslands outside the castle and the afternoon sky. Justin, Erick and the Ordinary Brothers were already there. They had sat around a mahogany table, and they had been talking before I came in.

“Babe!” Justin called out to me as he got up from his leather seat. My mouth broke into a grin as I walked towards him. Once we were close, we embraced each other before delving into a kiss.

I had missed him for the past month since he had been busy with his tour. I intended to make up for lost time on that day. I just hoped whatever Erick had to say would be spoken quickly.

The kiss went on for a while until someone cleared their throat. The kiss stopped, and I blushed, remembering that we weren’t alone. Erick gave us a pointed look.

“Anyway, we need to talk about Emery.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. I looked at the others, and they seemed calm.

“Wait. Did you tell everyone about the dreams?” I asked.

“Yes,” Erick replied as he nodded.

“Hold on. You told her and not me?” Justin asked with a hurt expression.

The Prince rolled his eyes.

“You couldn’t even keep Selena’s birthday surprise a secret for an hour. What makes you think I could trust you with this when the dreams started occurring?”

Justin remained quiet, pouting. Then we went to take our seats.

“As you all know in the dreams, Emery ended the entire witch race, and possibly the human race.”

“I still don’t get it,” said Zane with a furrow of his eyebrows. “Why would Emery even do that?”

“We don’t know,” Erick replied. “And that brings us to the other portion of this talk. Have you guys seen anything weird that involves Emery?”

“She slapped my girlfriend,” Zane deadpanned. I turned to face him with a surprised look.

“Okay, how is that weird? And why would she slap your girlfriend?” I questioned. Emery was a nice and calm person... or so I thought before Erick's dream. It seemed absurd to hear that she hit someone for no reason.

“Could it be possible that your girlfriend did something bad to make Emery slap her?” I suggested with sarcasm. However, Zane didn’t pick it up. He just shrugged.

“Your cousin called her fat and ugly before slapping her.”

I did not expect to hear that.

“Why?” I asked again. “That does not seem like Emery.”

“She even turned my own mom against my girlfriend!” Zane continued to point out.

What? Was it me or was he dumping everything wrong with his relationship on Emery?

“Zane, your mom obviously dislikes Bianca, and that was even before Emery joined us on tour,” Ethan said.

I raised my eyebrows in question towards Zane. He remained quiet for a while.

“All I know is that Emery does not like my girlfriend.”

“I may have to agree with his opinion,” Erick said, having the rest of us turn to face him with looks of disbelief.

“You can’t be serious,” Justin said. “Are you insinuating that any person Emery doesn’t like makes her chances of turning evil increase?”

“Yes. It may seem ludicrous, but we can’t let anything bypass us. Every little thing matters.”

I never thought I would want to slap the sense into Erick, mostly because he didn’t need it. But at the moment... what he said should not have been a factor that could make Emery an erwich. It seemed illogical!

“And I was analyzing what you guys told me about the erwich attack. Maybe the whole almost-killing-Logan was not an accident. Maybe she wanted him dead.”

Which attack? Oh, yeah. 

At that time, the erwich had placed a rope of fire around my throat to try to choke me. Emery had been aiming for the erwich. She blew it up by throwing a fireball towards it, but she could have also blown up Logan.

“You can’t be serious!” I yelled, getting fed up with the ridiculous notions he spoke as I stood up from my seat to face him.

“Emery could not have done that!”

“The same way she couldn’t have tried to kill you with the rope of fire? Think about it!”

I hated that incident. I couldn’t believe I almost died on that day! I recalled the mixtures of pain on my throat. Something hot enough to burn my skin, and the pressure it had on my neck… I shrugged just at the memory of it.

“Then why did she help me? She burnt her fingers trying to rescue me!”

“Maybe she wanted to win our trust. Maybe she wants to hit us when we are most vulnerable. Again, think about it!"

"Dude, she already has out trust," Justin stated while I nodded along with him. Erick sighed.

"In the dream, the dome that protects us from the erwiches and erboons was destroyed. Emery was even there, admitting she chose to be on the bad side! Which other person is powerful enough to break the dome but the crystal?”

Everyone was quiet for a while. I opened and closed my mouth, unsure of how to respond. I felt my heart clench with uncertainty. A lot of things were against what Erick was saying, but the dream was a huge factor in our decision.

As much as I hated to admit it, the Prince was right, even though I still doubted him. 

I decided to settle on my seat.

“That’s why I need you guys. I need your aid in keeping a close eye on her. If she behaves in a weird or bad manner, do not hesitate to tell me,” Erick advised.

“But Selena and I are hardly around her,” Justin pointed out with a frown.

“Good point. Guys,” Erick said, turning to face the boys. “Will you do this for me?”

“We will, your Majesty,” Liam replied for the five of them.

“Good. You are all dismissed.”

***********************************************************************************************

Emery’s P.O.V

It was two weeks after Trisha, Zane’s mother, had visited. 

Things seemed to be okay. The boys were busy coming up with lyrics for new songs and going to celebrity interviews. I tagged along wherever they went, and unexpectedly, so did Bianca. She sent me glares when we were near each other, but other than that, she did not cause any trouble.

After the end of the two weeks, we all returned to London. We were back in the same hotel where I kissed Zane. Night had rolled in, and everyone had gone to bed.

At some point in the night, I was having a weird dream. It involved Penelope, the ghost who talked to me in my dreams. 

I found myself in a bright surrounding. Everything was white and misty, and I couldn’t distinguish any other object around me. Then it instantly darkened. I heard chains grazing the hard ground, and Penelope suddenly thrashed in front of me. 

I screamed when I saw her. She looked a bit roughened up, and chains had bound her. Her white dress had dirt streaks across it. Her mouth had been sewn shut, but I could hear her trying to say something. She looked scared as she furiously tried to mumble something at me. Then suddenly, she was dragged back into the darkness. 

I gasped as pain radiated from my stomach. It spread through my whole form, making it difficult to move. I winced as I looked up, seeing a blurry black figure above me. I was still hazy from sleep and the nightmare. My body had been in a state of rest, but it was taking me a while to gain my full energy. I reached to push the person off me, but I was instantly backhanded. The pain in my stomach slightly reduced its throbbing until it returned again, but on a different spot.

By then, I could focus on my surroundings. Adrenaline pumped through my blood as I stared at the person above me. Things seemed to move in a manner that had me feeling dizzy. I couldn’t identify the person’s gender. Their face was hidden behind a black decorative mask. I could only see the eyes. They were black as they stared at me. I could make out streaks of blonde hair peek out on the base of the person’s neck.

Then I spotted something that the person held above me: a knife. It had blood dripping from the sharp edges.

My eyes widened in shock. I slowly looked down at my form, seeing a wet dark spot marring the cream shirt I had slept in. The lights in the room were off, so I could hardly see anything in the hotel room.

“This is from Bianca,” the person interrupted my thoughts in a whisper before delivering the knife into my chest. I didn’t even get a chance to teleport or something. I wanted to scream in pain, but the person had a hand over my mouth, preventing me from informing anyone about my situation. 

Instinct kicked in as I thrashed on the bed in a futile effort to escape my assailant. I heard and felt the vibrations of my scream on the person’s hand. Unlucky for her, the volume was loud enough for people in the hotel to hear. I heard footsteps just as the person went for another stab on my torso.

I soon stopped struggling due to the pain I felt. I lay motionless. I couldn’t even blink because it seemed exhausting. The person above me, thinking I was dead, removed her mask. 

It was a girl. I got a good eyeful of her. She looked to be about her mid-twenties with pale skin.

She even had the nerve to smirk at me, revealing her unbelievably white teeth.

I was going to hunt her down as soon as I got healed.

“I thought I heard something,” I heard Harry say from outside my mini suite. The girl’s eyes had widened before she swiftly moved away from view. I thought I heard a window open as she left.

My breathing had become ragged, slowing down in the process. I had no idea of how long I could go through the pain in my chest.

Then I heard the door open. I felt relief that someone had entered my room. The footsteps that were heading into my room stopped. “

EMERY!” Harry screamed. I heard him rush towards my form. He soon came into view. He looked worried and definitely panicked. He was observing my form, and I watched as his eyes looked over me.

“Emery!” Ethan also screamed as he came into view.

“Hello? Yes…” I thought I heard Harry speak to someone in a rushed state.

"..." I tried to tell them to heal me, but I couldn't even mutter a word.

“Sh*t! No, Emery! You can’t die on us!” Ethan shook my form, his eyes searching desperately into mine.

Liam’s P.O.V

A loud commotion had woken me up from my restful sleep. Adrenaline kicked in, and I was soon rushing towards the source.

“What is it?” I asked as I entered Emery’s room. I momentarily froze at the sight before me.

Emery’s bed was wet and had a huge red patch. She was still, barely moving.

Oh no.

The sight that had met my eyes was grotesque. Emery was still, staring into nothing as her clothes and bedding continued to dampen from the blood oozing from her. There were holes on the shirt on her chest and abdomen. 

I was furious and worried at the same time. Someone had stabbed Emery. They did it repeatedly, probably to make sure she died. The smell of blood permeated the room, and I knew I needed to act fast before she could pass away on us. I went to her form and channeled her thoughts.

Emery, can you hear me?

Yes! She replied with a frantic voice. It hurts so bad, Liam! Use your powers to heal me!

I quickly placed my hands on her form. A bit of progress on healing her had been done when Zane came into the room.

"EMERY!" he boomed as he moved further into the suite. 

"Close the door, you guys!" I yelled at the rest, still healing Emery, but it was too late.

Bianca busted into the room and gasped at the mess. 

Fuck!

I was forced to release my hands from Emery.

Liam! Emery shouted through the mind link.

I can’t heal you in front of Bianca. She doesn’t know about us being witches.

I waited for a reply but I got none. 

Emery?

Emery!

My heart thudded. I felt like a huge load of responsibility had been dumped on me. I was stuck between waiting for the paramedics to arrive and healing Emery myself. 

I was beginning to panic on what to do. 

If I healed Emery, Bianca would find out about witches. I did not know what would happen if she did, and I was not looking forward to bad things happening.

Emery? I called out to her, but she did not reply.

“Where's the ambulance?” I asked in a yell.

"They're on their way!" Ethan replied. I felt so frustrated as I tugged my hair. Tears were already brimming in my eyes; Emery could have been dying, and I was afraid of healing her in front of Bianca.

Speaking of Zane's girlfriend, I turned to face her. She was in an embrace with Zane as she cried on his shoulder, facing away from Emery's body.

F*ck it!

I went to continue healing Emery. I didn’t care at the moment about what Bianca would say. We could make her forget about it after Emery was healed.

“Liam, what are you doing?” Harry asked with a worried expression, but I didn't care. My hands were on Emery's torso, and I summoned my powers. I