Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
James
Ikick my legs, waiting for Vera to come back and find me. She said she would.
It’s weird to be spending this much time fixated on Vera. Before today she was just a screenwriter, we were just working together. Everything was professional and honestly, I never really spared her a second thought. But now?
She’s my only tie to back home.
That makes it feel like we share a far more intimate bond. As if she is the only person who could possibly help and understand me and even after we get home—because surely we won’t be trapped in this story forever—she will likely be the only person to ever know what we went through together.
I shudder and adjust my coat.
I should probably not go thinking things like that. It might skew my perspective. I’m already too deeply connected to Vera for comfort. I don’t need to go and bring the future into it. But it’s true, isn’t it?
If and when we get home… who will I be able to talk about this experience with?
If I tell someone that I spent a day as the captain of a ship straight out of Peter Pan, then I would be involuntarily hospitalized faster than I could say “just kidding”.
Only Vera would believe me and that’s because we shared this experience together.
I sigh, reaching up to rub at my eyes. I pause when I realize I almost did it with my left hand.
I grunt in disgust and drop my arm. Will I ever be able to get used to that dratted hook?
I don’t think it would be too bad if I could have a normal prosthetic, but the hook is really too flamboyant for me.
“James?”
I straighten so quickly that I slide off the wall, bumping my back in the process.
I grimace, trying to hide it as I rub my back.
I’m uncool enough without having to add falling off walls to the list. I’m still embarrassed that I lost complete control of myself back there.
Vera said it was the plot doing that, whatever that means, but I happen to notice that she was fine.
No, I was the raving madman who was trying to kill everyone. And she got to be the cool and in control one.
Although I am a teeny bit impressed by the fact that I was able to beat that Fredrick guy. Guess he wasn’t as tough as he thought himself to be.
I turn to Vera as she makes her way through the mist that is gathering here at the alleyway near the docks.
I feel my mouth drop open as I take her in.
Dressed in a green gown that is almost the exact color as the sea this morning, her hair is only slightly pinned back while the rest of it cascades around her back.
She has a silver mask with blue jewels on it on her face, but I can still clearly make out her bright eyes in dusk.
“Wow, Vera, you look…. Wow.” I state and then I clamp my mouth shut when I realize that I was stuttering.
She presses her lips together as she swipes at her skirts. “I know but Naia wouldn’t let me leave unless I had changed. So here I am.”
“Here you are,” I breathe. I reach up and smack myself in what I hope is a subtle manner. I blink multiple times, trying to get control of myself.
What has come over me? First, I’m thinking about myself and Vera having a special bond when we are just fellow castaways stranded in a different world, now I’m losing the ability to speak properly just because she is in a dress?
Ridiculous. I’m being ridiculous.
I notice that Vera has material draped over her shoulder. She straightens it out to reveal a long blue cloak. “Here, put this on,” she says holding it out to me.
“What for?” I ask with a frown. It isn’t that cold out here and I’m already wearing this coat.
“It’s the closest thing to a disguise I could find.” She pulls a mask that had been hooked to her belt off and holds it out. It’s silver like hers only it doesn’t have the blue jewels. I’m thankful for that. I’ll look ridiculous as is in an ornate silver mask without adding any gems to the mix.
I reach up, placing the mask against my face, however one second later I realize I won’t be able to tie the strings. I press my lips together and hold up the hook.
“Here, let me,” Vera says stepping closer to me. She presses on my shoulder, and I lower myself till I’m closer to her level.
“Do you think when we get home, I’ll get my hand back?” I muse out loud. I know that even getting back home is a huge assumption. We were never guaranteed such a thing, but I have to hope that if there was a way to get us into this world, there has to be a way to get us back out.
“I think so,” she says as she tugs on the strings on the mask.
I try not to shudder as her hands brush the nape of my neck.
I’m grateful that she doesn’t mention the fact that we might never get back home.
“Just like these scars, it’s just a part of the story.
Once we are out of the script, why wouldn’t things go back to normal?
I’ve come up with a plan by the way, but I don’t think you’re going to like it. ”
She pats me on the shoulder, letting me know that she’s done. I straighten, reaching up to touch my mask and adjust it slightly. I turn to her. “Why? What is it?”
“It involves assassination.”
I feel my eyebrows rise as Vera pulls a dagger out of the sleeve of her dress.
“What?” I splutter.
“We have to break the plot without making it too obvious. In this part of the story, you try to kill Naia and are stopped, but what if we get into that ball and Naia is never your target after all.”
I pull back slightly. “I’m not stabbing you if that’s what you’re asking. That’s in the realm of things that aren’t happening. Like, ever.”
“No, you goof,” she says with a little laugh. “I’m doing all this so I don’t get stabbed at the end of this story. No, you’re going to kill the prince.”
Kill the prince?
I purse my lips. The guy I just thoroughly trounced in the alleyway? I still feel bad about that, and I think I have some of his blood on the elbow of my coat. I step back, resting my hand on my hip. “No, thanks. I don’t kill people.”
“Don’t think of him as a person,” Vera argues as she steps toward me.
She moves close enough that the bottom of her skirts brushes over the top of my boots.
I move back another step, but then my back runs into the wall.
“He is just a character.” Vera holds up her other hand, her finger darting between the two of us.
“You and me, we’re the real people here, and if things proceed the way they are, then we are the ones who are going to die. ”
“This still doesn’t seem right…”
She tilts her head. “So, you would rather kill me instead? The plot took control of you last time we were supposed to fight, what makes you think it won’t find a way to do that again?
We can’t trust ourselves, not while we are trapped in this world.
Our only chance is to destroy the plot by arranging an unplanned main character death. ”
I purse my lips. She has a fancy way of saying murder someone. “It still seems cold-hearted.”
“You think I don’t know that? I’ve had a crush on Frederick since I wrote him. He is literally my perfect man. But I’d rather not die myself.”
I snatch the knife out of her hands before I even know what I’m doing. “All right fine,” I mutter. I don’t know why Vera mentioning liking Frederick made my veins feel as if they were alight with fiery rage, but it did. And it finally gave me the push needed to agree to this.
After all, if the alternative is to kill Vera, I think I’d take my chances with a soulless character who is the caricature of Vera’s perfect man. “I’m not sure about your taste in men though,” I grumble.
Vera blinks, stepping back in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“I mean this Frederick guy is all looks and no brains. He doesn’t even have a personality other than being a valiant hero. How in the world are you going to find a guy like that in real life?”
“I never said my type was convenient,” she grumbles. “There’s a reason I’m still single.”
“You’re too picky.”
“Oh, shut up and let’s get out of this story so we can go back to being frenemies.
” She turns, heading back toward town. I’m not sure what is going on up past the docks, but I’ve noticed a bit of a to-do.
The merchants were preparing for a party of their own, setting out stalls and gathering in the streets.
The castle is in the center of town, so whatever it is, we will have to pass through it to get to our destination.
I hurry after Vera, my boot scuffing against the cobblestones that make up the paths. “Wait, since when have we been frenemies?”
I wasn’t aware that we were friends or enemies. Let alone both.
She shrugs. “I was trying to be nice and not just call you my enemy.”
“Enemy?” I choke out.
“Foe. Bane of my existence… I mean you’re one to talk about pickiness. I’ve never met a more nitpicky person. You butchered my script! You couldn’t leave anything be.”
“Uh, that was my job,” I say as I grab her elbow and force her to stop. “This movie affects my reputation. I wasn’t about to put out a flawed piece.”
“My script wasn’t flawed,” she spits, her eyes flashing with frustration. “And you’re acting like you work for a huge company. My script isn’t going to be the next blockbuster so why did you have to massacre it so?”
I exhale slowly. It isn’t as if I wanted to crawl out of my farm in Idaho just to work for a struggling small studio, but it’s all steppingstones in my goal to become the next big producer in Hollywood. I can’t very well do that if I produce sub-par movies. Even if it is only out of a small studio.
“I believe that you should always give everything your best.”
“Well, bring that logic to the ball and make sure that you give killing Frederick your best effort.”
“I just don’t know why I have to do it,” I mutter. I slide the dagger under my arm so I don’t have to hold it anymore as I wipe my palm on the end of the cloak. It’s all slick with sweat.
“Because it was Hook who tried to kill Naia in the story. If we are trying to beat the plot we have to stick as close to it as possible and strike in the minutest way. We just need to change it ever so slightly otherwise the plot will catch on and find some way to control you again.”
“Why are you so convinced that the plot is a tangible being we need to trick?” I grab the dagger again and hold it up. I honestly don’t know where to put it, but I don’t want to carry it around all evening.
Vera sighs and steps toward me, she hooks her finger in the pocket on my coat, holding it open wide. She swipes the dagger out of my hand and drops it in. I try not to flinch as I feel its weight land at the bottom of the pocket.
Her eyes hold mine for a long second. “Something was controlling you earlier today.”
I suppress a shudder at the memory. “Okay and… what makes you think it can be tricked?” I wave my hand. “What if the plot is an omnipresent force that can hear us right now? Then it would know what we’re plotting.”
She smirks up at me. “And what is it going to do? Stop us from completing the plot? That would be counter to its nature. No, up until the switch we do everything exactly like the script did. Then when it comes time for Hook to try to assassinate Naia you just have to move the dagger slightly to the left and take out Frederick instead. You had enough control of your body in the alleyway, I think, to move the dagger an inch or two off target.”
I swallow nervously. That was only with me fighting my own body with my whole strength, but I don’t bother bringing it up. Honestly, the more I think about it the less I want to remember. I make a mental note to look into therapy when this is all said and done. I think I’m going to need it.
“Okay, so what’s the next part of the plot?”
Vera rolls her eyes. “It’s a stupid romance scene. Hook and Moira have to go through the merchant’s festival to make it to the ball. The atmosphere will be going against us.” She holds up a finger, jabbing it in my face. “Remember our deal. No falling in love.”
“And no murdering… well, each other.” Apparently, everyone else is fair game in our desperate bid to get home. “It shouldn’t be too difficult. I have no intention of doing either.”
“Good,” Vera straightens. “Just because we are forced to play romantic leads does not mean that anything needs to come from this.”