Makenna, Mrs. Edith, Mr. Gheesling, and Dr. Medford piled out of the auditorium and hurried toward Mrs. Edith's office.
"Stay with us, Tracey," Mr. Gheesling said.
Makenna again tried communicating with Selene. "Selene, Selene, please. What should I do?"
Selene answered just before she gave up. "Bring him to me," she wisely spoke. "Bring Tracey to the shipwreck on North Beach. I can help him."
"But, Selene," Makenna answered back.
"No buts. I hate to say this, Makenna, but if you don't get Tracey to me as soon as possible, he's going to die."
"Die?" Makenna shockingly asked. "What do you mean 'die'? What's wrong with him?"
Selene fell utterly silent.
"Selene!" Makenna called in her mind. "Come back! Come back, please! What do you mean 'die'?" It didn't take long for her to realize that Dr. Medford was no longer with them. Where did he go? Makenna searched the area, but sure enough, Dr. Medford was nowhere.
Makenna focused on Tracey next. He couldn't be dying; nonetheless, he grew weaker by the second. His eyes were barely open.
Tears appeared in Makenna's eyes, and she told Tracey, "Just hang in there, Tracey." Makenna had to find a way to get him out of there and to the shipwreck on North Beach. But how? Before she knew it, she, Mr. Gheesling, and Mrs. Edith reached Mrs. Edith's office.
Mrs. Edith opened the door. She and Mr. Gheesling tried to have Makenna wait outside, but she again refused. "Don't you dare tell me what to do! He's my friend! I refuse to leave his side!" Makenna forced her way into the nurse's office. Eventually, Mrs. Edith and Mr. Gheesling gave up.
Mrs. Edith's office was relatively large. It was not cramped like some high school nurse offices.
Mrs. Edith led Mr. Gheesling to one of the beds and pointed at it. Nodding, Mr. Gheesling gently set Tracey down, and Mrs. Edith tossed a blanket over him.
He was still conscious, but just barely. While he rested, one hand clutched his burning head, and the other stretched out to Makenna. "Makenna," he mumbled.
"I'm right here." Makenna grasped his hand. "Just rest, Tracey. I'm going to find a way to help you. I promise."
Mrs. Edith felt Tracey's forehead and clenched her teeth. "Oh, gosh, he's got a fever. Makenna..." She glanced at Makenna. "Who are his parents? Do you know their number?"
Makenna started to stutter. "He-he doesn't have any pa-parents. He-he's with me."
Both Mrs. Edith and Mr. Gheesling gave her a funny look.
Dr. Medford soon entered the office, and everybody glanced at him.
"Dr. Medford," Makenna mumbled.
"All right," Dr. Medford breathlessly said, "I called EMS. They're on their way."
"Well, that's a relief," Mrs. Edith spoke. She placed a cool towel over Tracey's forehead and rubbed his cheek.
Makenna gasped, and her eyes widened. "EMS? No, no!" She released Tracey's hand, which dropped onto the bed's sheet, and quickly turned to Dr. Medford. "That can't happen! We can't do that! He can't go to a human hospital! He has to go to a fairy hospital!"
"A fairy hospital?" Mr. Gheesling asked. "What are you talking about, Makenna? Do you want him to die?"
"Of course not!" shouted Makenna. She began sweating. "I know he needs a hospital, but he can't go to a human hospital!"
"Makenna," asked Mrs. Edith, "are you all right? Maybe we need to check your temperature, too." Approaching Makenna, she moved her hand toward her forehead, but Makenna slapped it away.
"I'm fine! I'm not sick! I'm telling the truth! He needs a fairy hospital or a magic hospital, whatever! Let me take him! I know someone magical who can help him!"
"Magical?" Dr. Medford inquired. "Fairy? What is going on, Makenna?" He placed his hands on his hips.
Makenna felt Tracey's aura. It was very weak. If she didn't get him to Selene in the next hour or two, he would be dead by sunset. Makenna did not want him to die. She cared about him. He was her friend. Her fingernails turned black—she was so scared—and she felt her magic growing in her body. Tracey had saved Makenna too many times. It was time she returned the favor. She had no choice but to fess up.
Makenna clenched her fists. "Mr. Gheesling, Dr. Medford, and Mrs. Edith, do you know why he's so different from the other kids in this high school?"
They didn't answer. They just stared at her.
Makenna's fists clenched tighter, and she added, "It's because he's a fairy! Ha! That's right! Fairy! F-a-i-r-y! And he's suffering from a spell fever!"
"Fairy?" the three faculty members yelped. They quickly stepped away from Makenna. "Spell fever?"
Mrs. Edith grabbed her arm and lugged her toward another bed. "You've got to lie down, Makenna, and I'll call your parents. Everything will be okay. I promise."
"Let go!" Makenna shouted, freeing her arm. "I know you don't believe me, but it's true! He's a fairy! His wings are just hidden in his shirt!"
Mrs. Edith didn't speak. She left Makenna, and she, Dr. Medford, and Mr. Gheesling approached Tracey.
He moaned and looked up at Mrs. Edith. "Mrs. Edith, I feel hot."
"I know," Mrs. Edith comfortably said. "Hang on for a little bit longer, though, dear. The paramedics are coming." She took the towel off his forehead and asked Dr. Medford to soak it again.
He left the bed and scurried toward a sink.
Mr. Gheesling hovered over Tracey's left side and rubbed his burning forehead.
"Mr. Gheesling," Tracey cried, "I'm dying."
"No, you're not," Mr. Gheesling said. "You're just sick. You're going to be fine. I promise." Soon after he said that, Dr. Medford returned, and Mr. Gheesling removed his hand from Tracey's forehead.
Dr. Medford placed the towel over it again and exchanged glances with the others.
Tracey closed his eyes and pointed at his injured arm. "My arm. It hurts."
"Your arm?" asked Mrs. Edith.
"Your arm?" Makenna repeated. "What's wrong with your arm, Trace?"
Mrs. Edith approached his right side and kneeled to it. Her eyes landed on his bloodstained shirt sleeve, and she gasped. "Oh, my gosh!" Mrs. Edith quickly pulled up Tracey's shirt sleeve and flinched when she saw his swollen, bruised arm. "Oh," she whimpered, "that looks awful. What on earth happened? Mr. Gheesling, get the First-Aid kit. That's an order!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Mr. Gheesling worriedly spoke. He saluted and sauntered away from the bed.
Tears dropped from Makenna's cheeks. "Tracey. Please, Mrs. Edith, I know somebody who can help him. He's a fairy, for Pete's sake! And I am, too!"
"You?" Mrs. Edith questioned. She and Dr. Medford glanced at her.
Mr. Gheesling, carrying a First-Aid kit, stopped halfway back to the bed.
"That's right!" Makenna shouted. A fire burned in her eyes, and she gave Dr. Medford, Mr. Gheesling, and Mrs. Edith an evil death glare. Her necklace pendant began glowing.
Noticing it, Dr. Medford, Mr. Gheesling, and Mrs. Edith said, "Huh?"
"Go ahead!" Makenna threatened. "Chuck him into a laboratory! Have the paramedics throw him into one, but wherever he goes, I go! I will never leave him!"
Faint, blue sparkles escaped her necklace pendant and circled it. Sudden blue magic outlined Makenna, but she continued to yell. "Don't you dare have EMS take him away! Do you hear me? Let me save him! I'm the Metamorphic Fairy! It's my job! I know I can save him! I believe I can save him!"
Without warning, a great blast of wind rushed through Mrs. Edith's office, and Makenna's pigtails were thrown into the sky. The sparkles surrounding her necklace pendant left it and began circling her instead.
"Wha-what's going on?" Makenna said, looking at her hands.
Suddenly, in her head, she again heard Selene's voice: "You've done it, Makenna! Congratulations!"
"What have I done?" Makenna inquired. "I don't understand." And she didn't. Makenna glanced down at her feet and gasped again when she saw she had been lifted into the sky. She closed her eyes when a wave of beautiful pain washed over her body. "What's happening?" she asked again.
Her body glowed blue, and Makenna extended her arms. Blue sparkles surrounded her hair and put it into two braids. One braid hung over Makenna's left shoulder while the other hung behind her right one. Blue and pink flower clips decorated her hair.
The sparkles left Makenna's hair, and she blinked. During the process, a light pink eyeshadow appeared on her eyelids. Makenna's hair waved, and a crystal circlet appeared over her forehead. She held her arms behind her, and the sparkles circled her right wrist. A crystal bracelet appeared around it.
Makenna glanced at her wrist and kicked her legs. Her ballet slippers from her Full-Fledged Transformation appeared, and light blue, translucent gloves decorated her hands and forearms.
Makenna performed a few dance moves. When she stopped, she wore a multi-layered blue dress with pink, yellow, and green mixed in with the bottom layer.
Makenna lifted her hand to finish the transformation and announced, "I am Makenna! Metamorphic Fairy of Seabrook Island!"
For the last time, blue magic surrounded her from head to heels. However, another wave of pain came from Makenna's back. "Ow!" she shouted, reaching for it. Her magic flung itself on top of her, and from Makenna's back—she popped brand new fairy wings that were as large as Tracey's. Once the magic left, the wings' details were revealed. They were still simple but more glamorous than Makenna's previous wings. They were blue with pink outlines, but rainbows shimmered because each wing held a crystal.
Makenna dropped gently to the ground and took deep breaths. She fell to her hands and knees and closed her eyes. Whew, transforming took a lot out of someone. Aside from being sore, Makenna was also a little tired.
Everybody in the nurse's office, except Tracey, stared at her, open-mouthed.
Makenna continued to take deep breaths. She then opened her eyes and fell onto her backside. She examined herself up and down and gasped at seeing her new transformation. "No way!" Makenna bellowed. "I did it! It's inconceivable! I can't believe I got my second transformation!"
In her head, Selene spoke to her again. "I can."
"Wow." Makenna squeaked. For the time being, she forgot about her soreness and stood. She rested her hands on her crystal circlet and asked Selene, "How, Selene? How did I do it?"
"I can't tell you right now, Makenna!" Selene quickly spoke. "You're still in an emergency! You have to get Tracey to me as soon as possible! I will tell you one thing. You deserve these new wings, Makenna. Your belief in yourself and your friendship with Tracey set your Level 2 self free. You have come a long way in such a short amount of time. I'll give you more details at North Beach. For now, you have a mission! If you don't hurry Tracey to me, he will fade away!"
"Oh no!" Makenna said. "Don't worry, Selene, I'm coming. Mr. Gheesling, Dr. Medford, Mrs. Edith, please!" She put her hands together and stared desperately into their eyes. "I know EMS is coming, but no matter how great a human hospital is, it will not be able to save Tracey. I have to fly him back to Seabrook Island. Please. Please, let me go. If you want to share with the world that you saw two real fairies and want to give away our secret, go ahead, but remember, if Tracey gets thrown into a laboratory, I do, too."
The three faculty members finally blinked, and they all peered down on semiconscious Tracey.
While trying to make up their minds, Mrs. Edith kneeled to his arm and began cleaning it. However, he flinched while she did that, and his knee shot up from under the covers. "I know it hurts, dear," Mrs. Edith told him, steadying his arm, "but you're doing great." Sighing, she turned and looked over her shoulder at Makenna, who still had a desperate face glued on. Mrs. Edith's eyes soon left her, and she met Dr. Medford's and Mr. Gheesling's eyes.
Together, they nodded at one another.
"All right, Makenna." Dr. Medford finally spoke. He turned to her. "You can go. But you've got to hurry!"
Makenna gasped. She cracked a feeble smile. "Really? Do you believe that you're looking at two real fairies?"
"Well," Dr. Medford stammered, "we weren't sure at first, but then you transformed before us. That's enough proof for us."
"That's right," said Mrs. Edith. She tied a bandage around Tracey's arm and put it in a sling. Standing, she, too, turned to Makenna. "Don't worry, Makenna, we'll keep yours and Tracey's secret safe."
"You will?" Makenna asked. Tears appeared in her eyes again.
"You can count on us," Mr. Gheesling spoke next. He gave Makenna a thumbs up. "The second I saw Tracey this morning, I knew he was special."
"You have our permission to skip the rest of school today, Makenna," Dr. Medford explained, "but I must call your house and tell your parents what happened."
"Don't worry," said Makenna, waving her hand. "They already know Tracey and I are fairies."
Dr. Medford sighed. "Whew. Well, that makes things easier." He and Mrs. Edith moved aside and allowed Mr. Gheesling to approach the side of the bed Tracey rested on.
He removed the towel from his forehead and carefully picked him up again in his blanket. "No wonder he doesn't weigh much," he observed. "He's a fairy."
Makenna rushed to Tracey's side and rested her hand on his forehead. "Don't worry, Tracey. You're going to be okay. I'm going to take you to Selene. I promise."
"Where should we exit from, Mrs. Edith?" Mr. Gheesling asked the nurse.
"From the side of the school," she responded. She pointed at the door of her office. "At the end of the hallway is the side exit that will take you to the dumpster. You'll be okay. No students are in the hallway right now. They're still in either lunch or the auditorium." She edged closer to Dr. Medford. "In the meantime, Dr. Medford and I will talk to the paramedics when they arrive. Makenna, we promised to keep yours and Tracey's secret safe, but we may have to fess up to them about you two being fairies."
Makenna nodded. "I understand. Please do whatever you can to help them understand, Mrs. Edith. I know they're going to be confused."
"We'll make sure you and Tracey don't wind up in a laboratory, though," stated Dr. Medford. "I promise."
Makenna feebly nodded. "Thank you, Dr. Medford."
"Now go, Makenna!" Mrs. Edith announced. She motioned her and Mr. Gheesling to the door. "We've kept you too long. Fly! Fly, little fairy! We know you can save your friend."
That time, both Makenna and Mr. Gheesling nodded. They hurried to the office's exit and stepped outside, closing the door behind them.
Left behind, Mrs. Edith and Dr. Medford glanced at one another and whispered simultaneously, "Fairies?"
End of Act II: The Curse!
Current Word Count: 92,866