Chapter 24:

The next morning, I woke up to find John in bed with me. I was about to scream, but then I remembered why he was there with me.

Sneaking out of bed, I almost made it out when John woke up. "Good morning, Eve. Did you have a good night's sleep?" he asked with a yawn.

"I did. Thank you, John, for being here with me," I said as I gathered my things to get changed.

"No problem, Eve. If you need anything, just tell me. Okay?" he said sleepily.

"Okay. Now I am starving. Do you think your dad has the food done?" I spoke.

"Yeah, I bet he does. Let's go."

Walking down the stairs, we found everyone waiting for us at the table. Taking my seat next to Dad and Sly, Sly nudged me and said, "So, how did you sleep, Sis?'

"I slept fine. How about you, Sly?" I asked.

"I had a great night's sleep. What about you, John? A little birdie told me that you didn't sleep in your own bed," he said sarcastically.

"For your information, Sly, I slept fine. And the only reason I was not in my bed was because Eve wanted me to stay with her," John said. Everyone's eyebrows were raised and seemed intrigued by the action that happened.

"Can we just eat? And stop talking about what the stupid little birdie says," Evan said in an annoying voice.

"That sounds like the best idea I have heard all day," I said.

"That is something I can agree with, and just in time too. The food is ready," Donny said with the same tone as Evan. "Eve, could you help me get all the plates of food on the table?"

"Of course. Plateras Mova Da Teblan, Make the Table." With the spell chanted, all the plates with mountains of food on them arranged themselves on the table.

"I am glad that we have a witch in the family with that kind of power," George said sarcastically.

"Thanks, George. I just love knowing that is the only reason you like me," I replied.

"That is not the only reason. You make Brian and all the kids a little bit happier. Even if some of them do not want to be happy. Isn't that right, Kenny?" he asked, nudging Kenny in the side.

"Shut up, Dad. Can we just eat and stop talking?" Kenny asked aggressively.

"That is a great idea," Marcus said.

With the morning discussion over, we all devoured the food sitting in front of us. "Eve, take care of the dishes, please." Donny asked.

"Fine. Mescar Dami Ramasha Plutana, Dishes Away" I chanted.

After my spell, all the dishes were cleaned and put away. Now it is time for us to go to school.

Going to the four-wheelers, we got on our designated four-wheelers. "I call getting to drive Eve to school today," Kenny yelled.

"What?" I asked.

"Remember we were supposed to have different people drive you to see who the best driver is," Kenny explained.

"Oh, yeah. Okay, let us go, Kenny," I exclaimed.

"Sure can," he exclaimed.

Racing to school, I could tell that Kenny was faster than Sly as a driver, yet I could tell the way Kenny was taking the corners like something was wrong with him. Arriving at school, we had to wait a couple of minutes before Sly and the rest came in. Waiting for them, I saw the Dunkels come into school. Baer ran over to me. I backed up into Kenny.

"Eve, hold on. Can we talk after school?" Baer yelled over to me.

"Get away from her!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Kenny, it is okay. Why do you want to talk to me?" I asked Baer.

"I want to explain stuff to you. Please, Eve. You can have the others there, too, if that makes you feel safer," he suggested.

"No, she will not come to you," Kenny said defensively.

"Kenny, it is okay. I guess we can talk after school. But the others will be there, too," I said, gesturing towards the boys.

"Great, I will see you then," Baer said before running to the other Dunkels.

"Why did you agree to that, Eve? What if something happens again?" Kenny said defensively.

"You and everyone else will be there, too, and they want to talk," I said, defending myself.

Before Kenny could answer me, the rest of the guys came in. "Eve, we saw Baer over here with you. What was that about?" Sly asked.

"It was nothing. He just wants to talk to us about what happened yesterday." I said calmly.

"What? No!" Sly yelled.

"It will be okay. Everyone will be there, so don't worry," I said, calming down the situation.

"But I don't like this. What if something happens?" John asked.

"Do you trust me?" I asked calmly.

"Of course, I do. But he is weird. And do you remember what they did to you last time you were with them?" John questioned.

"So just come, and everything will be okay. Can you do that for me?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess, but I don't like it," he said very aggressively.

"Just believe. And if you still do not like it… Just believe in me. Okay, John?" I asked.

"Okay," he said.

"Wait, are we just going to let this happen? The last time you were with them, you and Sly were in a spell," Kenny argued.

"It will be okay, Kenny. Just trust me, okay?" I said, trying to get everyone on my side.

"Fine, but the moment I don't feel safe with this, we are leaving." Kenny said.

"Deal," I said, knowing that nothing bad was going to happen.

With everything figured out, we went to class like normal teenagers. Miss Parman said to have a wolfy day. Everything turned out fine for the rest of the day. Nothing bad happened until it was time for the talk with Baer.

"Thank you for coming, Eve," Baer said.

"Hi, Baer, Wren, Raven, and Ursa," I said. "This is John, Evan, and Kenny. I am guessing we are all here for the same reason."

"We do," Ursa said with an eyeroll.

"My mom has no idea what we are doing, so we need to hurry," Raven said.

"Right; we are here to apologize to you, Eve and Sly. We had no choice but to do what we did. Vogela would have killed us if we didn't," Baer explained.

"He is right. Vogela is crazy. No offense, Raven, but she told us if we did not do it, we would end up just like the Vanyas and be doomed to wandering the world forever. And our parents are too scared to do anything, "Ursa explained.

"We had no choice, but to do as she said," Wren said.

"Your mother taught our moms how to do that type of magic, and we were taught it by Vogela. Vogela is evil. We want to be free from her reign," Baer explained.

"Is that why you are telling me this?" I asked.

"Yes; we know that you can make a difference in our world. Please do something," Raven said.

"We hate living like the bad guys in this world," Ursa explained.

"We are just like you but raised on the crappy side of the world," Wren said.

"No one in our family wants to be like this except for Vogela. We are ready to give up our way for the good," Baer explained. "Do you believe us?"

"Of course. I will do whatever I can to help you. Isn't that right, Sly?" I asked.

"Yeah, no one should do something they hate," Sly said. "Except for school, that is."

We all laughed at that joke. "Well, we better leave," Baer said as we heard a ratty old car coming up the street. "Come on. We better go before they wonder where we are. Have a nice day, Eve and everyone else."

"Bye, Baer, Wren, Ursa, and Raven!" I shouted as they left.

After the Dunkels had left, Kenny said, "Come on, let us go home, too. We need to tell Marcus about this."

"We need to tell Mei about this," I said.

"Whatever… we need to tell someone," Kenny said, holding my hand and forcing me onto the four-wheeler. "Come on, guys."

"Why are you so trusting with them, Eve," John asked as we were about to race home.

"Do I really have a choice in what I do? It is like with you guys… I am forced into this life, so I must accept and move on. It is like what Mom said… can't beat them, join them. And I think this world would like that."

"Makes sense," Evan said as he started the engine to the car.

"Let's go," Kenny said as we raced home. Once in the house, we told Marcus and the adults about what happened.

"What is ridiculous? We have to do something!" Dad exclaimed.

"It is okay, Dad. I know what to do," I said.

"What is that?" he expressed, with buggy eyes.

"It has to deal with the Keuze. I think Sly might have the same idea. So do not worry," I said, consoling him.

"Fine," he said, eyeing me.

"Okay, I am going to do my homework and just have faith in us," I said, looking at Sly.

"Well, I have to do some thinking, but I think we are on the same page," he said. "Let's go act like normal humans for a little bit."

We all went upstairs and acted as if we were normal.