"Just sayin'." Layol settled into place behind her friend. "I'm not hurting your hip am I?"
"Mom gave me something and it's calmed down a bit."
"What'd she give ya?'
"Don't know, tasted awful." Dekram launched Renrad with sharp kicks to his flanks. "Wing it, Ren!" As the dragonfly revved up, she turned and shouted over her shoulder, "Have you talked to Nesohc?"
Chin resting on Dekram's back, Layol answered, "Yes, he said he thinks they're headed for the academy."
"Cruella's freakin' Hell Hall! I thought Soahc liked Bacs. If one of the staff finds him, he'll get confinment."
"No kidding," Layol trilled.
Dekram tightened her knees against Renrad and tugged the lead right, in the direction of the academy. Renrad veered left. "No, you stupid dragonfly! Wing right." She pulled the lead harder to the right. Renrad turned an abrupt widdershins circle.
"Swell, now he's flying counterclockwise circles." Layol giggled and slapped Dekram on the back. "Why don't you just pull left when you want him to go right?"
"Not only do I have the biggest, ugliest vehicle at school, but the stupid thing has to be directionally challenged." Dekram dug in her heels and jerked the lead left.
Renrad made a neck-breaking stop and both fairies slid forward behind his head. One of the dragonfly's multifaceted eyes turned downward when he swiveled his head. The other eye searched upward. He hovered a few seconds, and before the girls could sit up, the bug bolted for the grass beneath them. Renrad landed, hiked up his back half, and tumbled the fairies onto his head. The dragonfly carefully plucked an aphid off an Oxeye daisy, sat back and nibbled, his body vibrating.
Layol sat up, burbling with laughter.
"Oh, for the love of Disney! This vehicle is going to be the death of me." Dekram wiggled into an upright position, tapped her heels against the dragonfly's flank, and gently pulled back on the lead. "Let's wing it, Ren!"
Renrad paused mid-chew, and shot into the air.
Layol spit Dekram's hair out of her mouth as she asked, "Okay, so how about...a nice little tug… left?"
Dekram's nostrils flared, and she laid the lead over Renrad's neck, giving a soft pull to the left. He banked right and leveled out in the direction of the academy.
The girls flew several very erratic circles around the schoolyard before they spotted Nesohc leaning over Bacs about twenty feet away from a dumpster behind the academy. He was wearing a red t-shirt, dark jeans, his All Stars and a Disney baseball cap.
Dekram urged Renrad forward. The dragonfly's head went batty while he circled a few times. He finally shot downward, came to a head-jerking stop then launched himself into the open dumpster where he promptly began his second course—maggots infesting a bag of discarded junk food.
Layol jerked Dekram three feet upward. "Eww, how gross was that?" she shrieked.
Dekram was about to answer when Nesohc stood, waved his arms, and shouted, "I don't think he's breathing!"
They bolted over to where Bacs lay motionless, skin gray, lips blue and covered in reeking vomit.
Dekram leaned down, held her breath, and carefully placed two fingers under the left side of his chin. "He has a very weak pulse, and it's irregular."
"Have you tried to wake him?" Layol asked.
"That's all I've been doing," Nesohc said, worry creasing the bridge of his nose. "I was about to try mouth-to-mouth when you flew up."
"Somebody should clear his airway first," Dekram said, staring at Nesohc.
Layol winced and fluttered back a foot. "Slime on a shingle! I am so not putting my mouth anywhere near his."
"Well, what else do you suggest?" Nesohc paced, tossing long arms around as he spoke. "We can't just leave him here. I wanted to dump him on his front lawn and call his mother, but that's out of the question. He needs immediate help."
"We should call medical," Dekram suggested.
"I'm thinking Human Services," Layol said.
"Sure, why not HS?" Nesohc said, sarcastically. "Then he can kiss the mock missions goodbye."
Dekram put her hands on her hips. "Look at him! Does that matter at the moment?"
"I know, but I thought… I guess I didn't think."
"Doesn't matter, and time's a wasting," said Layol. "Call somebody, 'cause it's too late to leave it now."
"Oh, Goddess Aine, help us. Soahc is responsible for this, not us," Dekram hissed. "Now we have to explain how we found him and I hate lying, darn it."
"Damn Soahc," Nesohc growled. "She causes a whirlwind of pandemonium wherever she lands and leaves the rest of us to clean up after her."
"Yeah, and just how did you find yourself in the middle of her little tornado of chaos?" Dekram asked. Like I can talk, I'm the one who put a smile on Soahc's sardonic lips earlier today. Got the big purple bruise to prove it.
Nesohc's wings vibrated, dusting the pavement bright red around his feet. He kicked at it, chin lowered, eyes averted. "She kept bugging me, texting me, leaving notes in my locker. I decided to put an end to her crap, up close and personal this time, so I followed her tonight."
"I thought she and Bacs were an item," Dekram said, wings turning green, face turning pink. Why does he have to be so darn nice...and kissable?
"I did too." Nesohc tried to hide a grin, eyes watching green sprinkles dust the pavement. "Guess not."
"Hey, kid-dying-on-the-pavement! Can't find a pulse over here," Layol said, fingers gripping Bacs' wrist.
"What?" Dekram said.
"No pixin' way!" Nesohc pulled out his cell.
* * *
DEKRAM’S FATHER, REDAEL, stood in front of her as they watched the Red Skimmer Dragonfly lift off, heading for the infirmary. One of the two Earth fairy EMTs aboard gave a wave and Dekram sighed with relief; they'd managed to stabilize Bacs after asking them a plethora of questions and then inducing him to vomit.
As the Skimmer buzzed away, Redael turned to Dekram. "Recreational consumption of honey is illegal for all Academy students, young lady. Explain yourself."
Dekram's eyes and mouth got very big and round. "I do not drink honey!"
Nesohc stepped in front of Redael. "It's not her fault. I watched three Air fairies drag Bacs onto their vehicle. I could see he was, um, well, really wasted, so I followed them. And when they just dumped him here I called Layol and Dek to help me get him to his house because my caterpillar is in a cocoon at the moment. But by the time they got here, Bacs was in bad shape and I called you."
"We called you, not just because you're Dek's father but you're big in HS," Layol said. "You know your way around the department heads. We wanted to be able to explain things. We don't want to be kicked off the missions. This is not Nesohc's fault, either."
Dekram's father raised a brow at Layol but spoke to Nesohc. "Were the three Air fairies inebriated as well?"
"They might have had some honey, but I heard them mention Bacs mixed his drink with drugs."
"Do you know where they got the honey and the drugs?" Redael asked, angry eyes moving over all three of them.
They looked at one another until Dekram's father prompted them with a throaty growl.
Layol's whole body shook. "Well, technically, sir-"
"I am not asking for technicalities!" Redael ground out and then glared at Nesohc. "Where was the boy before they dragged him to a vehicle?"
"At the buzz," Layol blurted. "It's…um…a dance-party kind of thing, but we don't go to them, because-"
"Evidently Nesohc did," Redael interrupted, his wings vibrating with annoyance.
"Nes didn't go for the party," Dekram quickly said. "He doesn't drink or do drugs."
Redael unclenched his fists, shoved his hands into his pockets and addressed Nesohc. "Then why were you there?"
Nesohc's All Star tennis shoe scuffed the pavement, and his cheeks reddened under his tattoo. He flipped over his right hand. "I told you, I was following..."
"I heard what you said. I wish to know why you were there in the first place."
Nesohc, Dekram and Layol exchanged a look of unease.
"It was personal, sir," Nesohc finally said.
"Out with it!" Redael ordered.
"He doesn't want to tell you, Dad," Dekram sobbed, wrapping her wings around her shoulders and face.
"The Elements be damned, he will tell me or suffer the consequences."
"Dad, please," Dekram whined, peeking through her translucent wings.
"Elfin bee's knees!" Nesohc sucked in a noisy breath and blew it through fluttering lips. "It was all about one of the Air fairies, not Bacs. She'd been texting me and leaving notes in my locker. She's the one I was following. She and her friends dumped Bacs, but I can't tell you who she is because-"
Layol paused Nesohc's words with a gentle touch to his shoulder. "Nes just wanted to tell her to back off. She's not a nice fairy, but happens to be the most popular girl at the academy, and she probably got in Nesohc's face just to hack off Dek. She hates Dek because she's…um-"
"Dad, can we just let this go?" Dekram's flesh was bright pink and red sparkles fell from her animated wings.
A look of understanding passed over Redael's face. His jaw had tightened before his shoulders relaxed. "I cannot let it go even if I wanted to. The boy is on his way to the hospital, and a report will be filed. I'm sure I'll be getting a call this evening from the HS commissioner as soon as she sees my name on it. At the very least, I'll need to tell her who is responsible for the drugs, and why I was called." He looked pointedly at his daughter.
Layol screwed up her mouth, loudly tsked, and with a huff of resignation, said, "The buzz was at Tripp'n Poppy's. Well, technically, sir…," Layol's body flashed pink, and she closed her eyes as she hurriedly finished, "…um, it was at the warehouse behind the bar, so I doubt Poppy knew there were drugs and honey on the premises."
"And it's not the only place they buzz," Nesohc added, drawing Redael's attention.
"Who? Who buzzes?" Redael asked.
"Just about all the kids at the academy," Dekram said.
"How do you hear about these buzz parties?"
Nesohc pulled out his phone and waved it at Dekram's father. "We get texts through Fun Mail."
"Who sends the texts and who organizes the parties?" Redael's eyes became alert.
The three fairies looked at each other for answers. Nesohc turned to Dekram's father. "We don't know."
"I'll need you to forward me any communications you get about these parties." He laid hard eyes on them. "All of you."
Three heads bounced with a lot of wing action going on behind them.
"Who brings the drugs into these…buzzes?" Redael pushed further.
"We don't know that either," Nesohc said, looking as frustrated as Dekram's father.
"But there are always Fire fairies there," Layol offered then blushed. "That's what I hear anyway."
Redael frowned, hand worrying his chin. After a few wing beats, he said, "I'm going to tell you something and I suggest you spread it around."
Dekram started to say something but hesitated when her father raised his hand and continued. "The Human Services Department has been having meetings about the way the Academy has chosen to… humanize the students as part of their training."
It became silent enough to hear Dekram's dragonfly munching in the dumpster near the building behind them.
Redael gave the bug a thoughtful glance and turned back to his daughter. "Allowing you to conduct your daily lives as humans, pretend insects are actually vehicles, have cell phones to communicate with, play on human websites, dress like humans and listen to iPods seems to be backfiring."
Dekram's jaw dropped halfway to her chest. Letting us conduct our daily lives like humans? What other way was there? Her wings fell limp. "Do you mean everyone who lives in Wandermere has been humanized at some point...because of us kids? Why, Dad?"
Redael took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The idea was to make this generation of fairies more aware of what they would be dealing with on the other side of the portal and, therefore, take our life's work to another level. But you're becoming too humanized. This event is a perfect example."
Nesohc opened his mouth to say something. Redael put his hand up. "You know we haven't successfully bred in over a thousand years. Your births have been a blessing. To have this new generation of fairies truly understand humanistic behavior, everyone in Wandermere had to adapt."
Nesohc said, "But-"
"Hold that 'but'," Layol snapped at Nesohc and then asked Redael, "What about Soa—um, I mean, the Fire fairies at the buzz?"
Dekram's mind was racing. My life is an impin' Disney movie! My skinny jeans? What do real fairies wear? Do they use lipstick? Do fairies really exist? Do they.. o'blessmyfantasyinjectedlife, could Tink be a real fairy?
Redael sighed. "It's not the Fire fairies HS is concerned with—they will never be allowed to enter the human world again. However, the rest of you may, if you pass your mission tests, and HS is well aware that combining the negative human behavior you're exhibiting with the powers you should all possess—charming your appearance, using spells to manipulate human behavior—well, you could generate actions that could quite possibly change the future in an unfavorable way. The department is concerned. So am I, especially after what I've heard tonight.
"So if you're enjoying your… human side, I suggest you pass the word around that if the students continue to degenerate, all human toys will be taken away and all fledglings will be detained in decompressing facilities where we can erase the emotional scars you have been so freely given."
Layol said, "So technically, we don't have to tell you who dumped Bacs, just get everyone at the academy to drop out of the buzz scene, stop making nice with the Fire fairy kids, and then you guys won't have to fry our brains, right?"
They all looked at her.
Dekram was first to speak. "Our whole perception of life has just been ripped out from under us and all you can think of is whether we have to rat out Soahc?"
Layol's eyes got big and round. "Puck's pixin' blunder! I was just thinking about you. You know what she'll do if your father-"
"Hack her!" Nesohc shouted. "I'd love to see her mendacious wings clipped."
"M-E-N-D-A-C-I-O-U-S," Dekram said, "telling lies: having lied in the past, or prone to lying at any given time." She smiled at Nesohc. "Sounds about right."
Layol grinned. "I hate when you get all Webster-D on us."
Redael smiled. "I don't feel bringing Soahc into this at the moment is necessary. You've given me enough information to approach the board. And just for the record, I think the academy's original plan was a good one. I'd like to see it come to fruition."
"Exactly what part of the information we gave you was enough to approach the board?" Nesohc wanted to know.
Instead of answering Nesohc's question, Redael panned a stern look. "I'll be checking my cell phone daily for forwarded Fun Mail texts announcing upcoming buzzes. And I expect the three of you to spread the word about the HS meetings; quite possibly no action will be required if you can convince your peers that they need to clean up their actions and use the tools you have been given in a more effective manner." He nodded in the direction of the building behind Dekram. "Get Renrad out of the dumpster and take everyone home. Tell your mother I shouldn't be much longer."
As they watched Dekram's father fly off in the direction of the Human Services Department, Layol said, "Sh-yeah-right? Like that is so not going to happen. No one listens to us."
"We've got to come up with something," Dekram said, staring at Renrad.
"I think I'll head over to the infirmary to make sure Bacs is okay before I go home," Nesohc said, walking off in the opposite direction of the dumpster.
Dekram asked Layol. "You ready?"
"Yeah, about that, I'm just gonna use my own wings to fly home," said Layol, eyeing Renrad. "I can smell him from here."
"Great. Just great, I am in so much crap when I get home; literally and figurative
ly," Dekram said, stomping toward her dragonfly. "I so need to teach my car some table manners."
Layol called after her, "Hey, if he can dumpster-dive for dinner and eat a bumblebee for lunch, bet he can woof down Soahc for breakfast. Just sayin'..."
Dekram turned, walking backwards. "I said I wanted to teach him, not poison him."
Chapter 4
"I JUST LEFT Bacs." Nesohc's anxious voice amplified through Dekram's cell phone speaker. "And I'm telling you, he did not purchase the drug."
"Okay, if he didn't buy the Angel Trumpet dust, how did it get in his stomach?" Dekram pushed her mission statement folder aside, wiggled across her bed and dangled her feet over the side.
"He's not sure," Nesohc said, "but they found large amounts of the hallucinogen in his system. Bacs said he only had one shot of honey, no drugs. Someone had to have slipped it into his drink."
"Do you think he's just saying that so he won't get grounded? Ankle-rings are hated!" Dekram flew over to her mirror for a closer look at the bruise. She pulled the elastic waistband of her pajama bottoms aside and finger-tested her hip. No pain and just a purple-yellowish bruise.
"No, he acted weird when the doctor told him about the drugs. I don't think he took them knowingly. I think he was pixed."
The elastic on Dekram's pajamas slipped from her fingers and snapped around her waist. "Did you ask Bacs who gave him the drink? You don't think Soahc would…I mean, surely—that impin'-wimpin' fairy's fart—she wouldn't, would she?"
"I didn't think to ask Bacs who handed him the drink. Sure makes me want to watch my back—yours, too. It's not the first time someone put drugs into someone's—"
"Everyone said it was Fire fairies," Dekram whispered, remembering the swarm with skull tattoos. But what if it's Soahc? She ran shaky fingers over her scalp, pushing bright curls off her forehead.
A frustrated breath came from the cell phone speaker. "Do you remember if Soahc was at the buzz the night the Air fairy almost died?"
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