Folklore's cửa hàng was a mixture of silvers, whites, and blues. The walls were painted white with blue carpeting. Everything else was pretty much metal and stood stacked perfectly on the shelves to the point where I seriously wondered if Folklore was OCD, like I was. I walked in further, then pulled my áo khoác closer to myself. It always felt cold in here.

Naturally, Chikara eased to the side, looked over thêm of the cases and trying to find something he could cause trouble with.

"Don't break anything." I warned, knowing the five dollar allowance his mother gives him wouldn't be enough to cover his butt.

"Noooo promises." He đã đưa ý kiến flatly.

He picked up a small, blue vase and began to observe it. I only shook my head and went to catch up with Demetri.

Chikara Henderson. He's my best friend, not even that. He's like my illegitimate older brother. We go waaaay back. Still, the kids just to much to handle all the time.

Both Demetri and Folklore stood in front of something covered with a red sheet. Whatever it was, it almost reached the ceiling; and it definitely hadn't been there two weeks ago.

Demetri stood with his arms crossed, his book dangled from his free hand. With a questioning expression on his face, he turned to Folklore.

"Drew? What exactly is this?"

Folklore looked up from a set of jewelry he had stacked on the counter.

"Ah, yes." He đã đưa ý kiến and quickly walked over. "Your surprise."

Grabbing hold of one of the corners, he flung it off. The thing free-fell to the floor to reveal a statue of a young woman with long hair and a flowing dress. Her arms were raised in the air and holding crossed daggers. A common symbol here in Solarice that meant creativity and free-mindedness. As for the statue itself, there was really no need to explain.

Like I said, my uncle was an archaeologist. I've heard this story a million times before.

"The goddess Gossamer." I said, my voice filled with recognition. "One of the first beings to create the magic world."

Gossamer, the fairy/witch hybrid who created the world of Solarice; an alternate dimension within the human world. Way back when, humans and magic got along. Then humans started to fear us and the things we could do. Now, here we were.

It's been like that forever, since the beginning of time. No human contact. Of course, thirty years back the law had been raised. There were still magic creatures in the human world. Shock, surprise. Some even had families and children. If they wanted to live in Solarice again, they had to leave their kids and spouses behind. That hoặc live in the human world, and as many horrible things as I hear uncle Seth say about the human world, I wouldn't want to.

Some brainiac a few years back finally realized it wasn't right and lifted the law. Crossover between worlds was allowed. Even then, it's usually on a hush hush basis. Humans aren't ready to remember us yet. They all live in their own little fairy tales. Somewhere to far for us to find. Forgotten the taste and smell of the world that they've left behind.

Yeah, I quoted Paramore. Bite me.

That's not saying I hate humans. I mean, most of my family is human. Granted, Demetri and I got our werewolf genes from dad's side of the family. I'll just go out on a limb and say...I hate everything equally. I don't discriminate.

"Arrived straight from the North Pole yesterday." Folklore đã đưa ý kiến and patted the side of the statue.

"Wasn't uncle Seth there a few weeks back?" Demetri asked, after thinking for a second.

They discovered a temple at the North Pole in the human world recently. It's suppose to be where Gossamer and the first magical creatures and humans lived before they crossed the land bridge to North America. Naturally, every historian and their grandmother set off to find it.

To me, the whole thing sounded like a hoax. But as I starred up at the statue, with her beautiful face and long hair, I began to câu hỏi myself. What would a statue like that be doing in an abandoned temple in the middle of nowhere? My train of thought was interrupted when Chikara walked up.

"The North Pole? Isn't that where Santa lives?"

I felt another breathe escape my mouth. Must...resist...urge to slap!

"That's the South Pole, Chikara." Demetri corrected, seeing the conflict coming.

(And no, before bạn even ask, Santa doesn't exist. Sorry to crush your dreams.)

"Your uncle asked if I would sell it to him as soon as it came in. When bạn guys start to head home, let him know it's here, okay?"

"That won't be necessary, Drew."

Turning around, we could see uncle Seth as he walked through Folklore's hippie beads. Aunt Rachel and Maggie walked behind him. Maggie's fresh-out-of-college physique and bouncy energy mixed with my aunt Rachel's motherly nature and calm attitude. While one hand held uncle Seth's, the other rested on her swelling stomach. Best bets was that it was going to be a girl, just so fate could have us all outnumbered if there was a family battle.

Folklore scratched the back of his head.

"Drew to bạn too, huh?" He asked. "Guess everybody in CoutureVille speaks that way."

I snorted, getting the typical displeasing look from my uncle. As if I cared. CoutureVille. God, Folklore was my hero!

"Yeah, we can take it from here, guys." Maggie said, stepping forward.

She paused long enough to give folklore a small wink. His cheeks turned a bright shade of Crimson. He then snapped around.

"Indeed! Let's get started!" He choked. Awkward. Embarrassed.

I caught the satisfied look Maggie had on her face when she turned to me. I only shrugged. Flaunt what your momma gave 'ya.

Uncle Seth reached for his wallet and pulled the money out, handing a good bit to Demetri. Obviously. He was the only one out of the three of us he could trust.

"Mall money." He explained. "We'll be moving the statue around the museum for awhile, so we'd appreciate it if bạn guys..."

"Weren't there?" Chikara finished for him.

"Exactly."

"The girls are already in the car." Aunt Rachel added after being silent this whole time. Chikara nearly had a spazz attack.

"Yay!" He quipped.

"Ehhhh..." I only groaned. Girls meant Blaze. Blaze meant snobby stuck-up chicks who were faker than her bright màu hồng, hồng hair.

"Come on, Bane. Let's go!" He raced toward the door while I dragged behind, trying to take as much time as I could. Demetri came up beside me, a small smile on his face.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

I was silent. Twin telepathy time. (Try saying that ten times fast.)

"It won't be that bad." He soothed.

bạn don't know how wrong bạn are, dude.

I couldn't help but think a part of Demetri knew the trip was going to end badly, he just wanted to look on the bright side of things. Pacifist, always ones to keep the peace.

"Maybe your right."

"Look at it this way. At least he gave us money. Usually he tells us to fend for ourselves."

Okay, good mood over.

"No. He gave bạn money. Because he trust you, not me."

He only sighed.

"He does trust you. I was just closest to him."

With that, I turned to the back of the store. Uncle Seth stood with a crisp white áo sơ mi on. Even with it bạn could see his muscles and broad shoulders. An ex-football player who absolutely refused to get a bia belly like most men his age did. The aggression never left, though.

With us, it was the typical jock hates emo thing. It's like I was a player on the opposite team, the enemy. Metaphorically speaking, Demetri was the geek bạn paid to do your homework. One that never caused trouble. It's been that way since I quit track and picked up the sketchpad and the red hair dye. I'm not his little jock anymore. That's when Markus moved in. His son. The one following in his footsteps with the whole football dream.

Uncle Seth and I fought. Markus and I took it to the extreme. If bạn looked behind closed doors you'd realize that he really isn't that awesome, charismatic guy everybody thinks he is. Most of the time I have the upper hand, though. Markus knows what I can do, and he's afraid of it. Which, seeing as how I can control it and I would never just attack somebody, it makes him look kind of stupid. Ignorance is bliss. In which case, Markus must be the happiest guy in the world.

I caught Demetri's gaze for a second, full of brotherly tình yêu and understanding; but he doesn't understand, and he probably never will. Nobody will.

"Yeah. Sure."

My tone suggested otherwise. Something, luckily, he didn't catch onto. The last thing I need is a lecture. Especially in the car with Blaze and Lestari. I looked down to the book he had been carrying around all day. time to change the subject.

"What are bạn reading?" I asked.

"It's..."

I plucked the book out of his hand before he had a chance to reply and read the front cover.

"The Things They Carried...sounds dull."

I threw it up and Demetri scrambled to catch it.

"And a fore-warning for an toàn, két an toàn sex."

"It is kind of dull." Demetri admitted, looking at the cover again. "War isn't really my thing. Especially not human wars. But we're đọc it in my AP class."

War. God, I hated that word.

I turned backwards now, smirking and staring straight at him.

"What's that? Is the great Demetri admitting defeat?"

"Bane..."

"Somethings difficult for him?"

"Bane..." He đã đưa ý kiến again, thêm impatient this time.

"So the great mellow-hippie-genius can't stand AP class. Isn't this bittersweet..."

The rest of my sentence was cut off. Uncle Seth, the evil mastermind he is, must have left the front door open when he walked in. For the một giây time that day, I fell. An added bonus? Instead of carpeting, it was a flight of brick steps and hard concrete.

I raised myself up quickly, waiting for the air to come back into my lungs...and for my rib cage to stop aching.

I shot a vượt qua, cross look at Demetri. He stood in the middle of the doorway, his book hiding his mouth and his eyes wide. He lowered the book as I got all the way up, revealing an apologetic smile. He shrugged.

"Front steps..." He said, as if the warning was still fresh.

A little to late now, bro.