Ethan came to with a gasp, and realizing that his hands were still entwined in Grayson and the girl's hands, sat up and freed himself. Rubbing his eyes, the world slowly came into focus. Grayson was sitting up next to him, looking dazed, while the girl had already sprung up and proceeded to anxiously gauge their surroundings.
For the first time, Ethan noticed where he was. They'd landed in a sort of forest clearing - but it wasn't really in a forest, at least not any kind of forest he'd seen or known of before. There were trees all around them, tall and swaying - weeping willows. Every tree had before it an enormous swaying green curtain, and he realized that they were also under one. The curtain of leaves seemed to hug them, hiding and protecting them from whatever was outside. There was a light breeze blowing through the clearing, and at one point it shifted the leaf curtain just enough to let golden light through, and they got a glimpse of the outside. Everything was bathed in a pretty pale moonlight, and small shapeless things seemed to flicker and glitter in the air. Ethan drew in his breath in awe, and turned to Grayson.
Grayson had gotten up and, like Ethan, was peering around at their new surroundings. The initial shock seemed to have worn off him, and soon he came up next to Ethan and said, "Bro, where do you think we are?"
"Do I look like I have a clue?" Ethan said, somewhat irritatedly. "You still haven't told me who the hell that girl is, and why we're even here."
"I don't know why we're here either. And the girl is a long story."
"That's what you said before the walls flipped out on us and we landed here." Ethan rolled his eyes. "Just tell me, gosh, is she your secret magic girlfriend that you hid under the bed or what?"
Grayson looked around for the girl, suddenly awkward again. The girl came over to them, her long hair swishing over her shoulders and creating a golden brown halo around her figure. She was wearing a white dress of some kind of swishy silky material, and it flowed around her figure as she walked - if 'walk' was really a suitable adjective to describe her movement, which could easily be described more accurately as gliding. In a few seconds she was next to them, and she turned to Ethan. Her eyes seemed to shift in subtle shades of blue and green, and she smiled at him, causing him to inexplicably feel awkward and blush.
"My name's Kasey," she said. "You're his brother, right?" She glanced quickly at Grayson for affirmation before turning back to him, continuing. "I know you're really confused right now, and honestly there isn't much time for me to explain everything. But the gist of it is, I was that fly on the wall that you were annoyed with earlier, but I'm not really a fly, if that makes any sense."
Ethan stared blankly. "What?" he asked, feeling stupid.
"Yeah, it doesn't make sense, does it." The girl - Kasey - sighed a little hopelessly, and added, "I'm cursed."
"Cursed to what?" Ethan had a thousand questions in his mind, and was beginning to question his senses. Maybe he'd fallen asleep and was dreaming up this weird magic girl and her forest.
I probably shouldn't have eaten all that ice cream after dinner, he thought remorsefully.
Kasey broke into his thoughts with "Cursed to be a fly. Originally I was meant to be a fly till I died or someone swatted me to death -" here she looked pointedly at Ethan, causing him to half-smile shamefully "- but there was a small loophole that would break half the curse if anyone thought of it, which I didn't expect anyone to think of, because it was so hopeless. If someone gave me a name, I'd be able to be in my true form as long as the night lasted." She beamed at Grayson, and he grinned back, losing some of his awkwardness.
"So you're saying that Grayson's being an absolute weirdo happened to break your terrible curse?" Ethan stared at Grayson, dumbfounded.
"Yeah, something like that." She smiled again, and then in a burst of impulse, moved towards Grayson and linked her arm through his. Grayson found himself caught off-guard but he recovered instantly, smirking and pulling her closer.
Ethan rolled his eyes and resumed questioning. "So what the hell are we doing here? And what did you mean by 'they've come for us?'"
The smile faded off Kasey's face, and turning serious, she replied, "Them. The ones who cursed my people."
"There are more of you? More cursed ones, I mean?"
"Yes, and they live here."
"So Them, They, whoever they are, are somewhere in this . . . forest? . . . right now, and they're going to kill us?" Ethan looked around nervously as he spoke, as though expecting someone to pounce on them out of the night.
"They're not here yet, They're giving us a chance. We have forty-eight hours to find everyone who's been cursed and get them together."
"Then what?" Grayson interjected.
"Then we'll see. We need to find them before thinking of anything else, and we have zero time to waste." Kasey wrung her hands impatiently, outlining the urgency of her situation.
"Hey, then let's go!" Grayson caught her hand and began to move to where the tree branch curtain separated, looking back at Ethan, who was still standing, watching them. "Come on Ethan," he began.
"Yeah whatever, I'm coming." Ethan shook his head and followed them, slightly behind as Kasey took the lead, still holding onto Grayson's hand. As they got out of the trees, the scenery began to change. They were on a moonlit path made of pale stones and trampled leaves, flanked by weeping willows on every side. Ahead of him, Grayson and the girl were chattering about some irrelevant subject, pointing out objects as they moved, not running but moving swiftly through the forest.
Ethan felt a dull pang of loneliness, realizing that he was forgotten. He thought of how this was just Grayson's luck, to find a magical fairy girlfriend and immediately forget his twin brother while he rescued her family. Nothing like that ever happened to him. The world was against him, it seemed, always trying it's best to leave him out. He looked up at the night sky, noticing that the stars seemed brighter, and they twinkled mockingly at him. The forest was quiet, but occasionally he thought he heard a hummingbird flying around them, or a dove cooing it's lonely song.
"Ethan?" Grayson called, and realizing that he was far behind, Ethan began to run to catch up. He looked up wistfully at the stars again, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw one fall, streaking fairy dust across the dark sky. Something deep in him made a wish, and at that moment, silhouetted against the moon, a tiny shape fluttered and landed on his heart.
