Book of Secrets

      He waited for a reply, but when there wasn't one, he opened his eyes to find that his mom wasn't positioned at the stove as usual, furiously cooking. He looked around, maybe expecting to find her rummaging through the fridge, but she wasn't there, either.

      "Susabell?" he called as he took a seat on a tall wooden chair set up next to the island. He watched the kitchen door as his younger sister waddled in. Her long, whip-like ears were plastered to the blonde hair in the back of her head, and her tail was curled around her left leg. One of her paws was tightly gripping the ears of a Cybunny plushie, and the other was curled up into a fist with the thumb jammed into her mouth. "Susabell, where's Mum?"

      "I dunno," the Gelert lisped, taking her thumb out of her mouth. "She weft earwier. She towd me not to answer the door."

      Endler tensed. "You did as Mum told you, right?" he asked, trying to keep his calm as to not upset his sister.

      "Yeah," Susabell answered. "I'm a good Gewert, right, Endwer?"

      "A very good Gelert," Endler said, jumping off the chair and patting his sister's head. She giggled as she stuck her thumb back in her mouth. "Now, I'm going to, um, go down to the book shop. I need to get a book to read for Neoschool. Don't leave the house, don't answer the door, everything mom told you. Okay? Can you do that for me?" Susabell nodded.

      Endler ran to the front door and flung it open, nodding back at his sister, who was watching him with wide blue eyes. "Be safe," he said, then slipped out the door and shut it firmly behind him.

      Bright light hit the Gelert's spotted fur, and he squinted at the path ahead of him. He knew that Susabell could see through the window, so it would've made sense to walk to the book shop and not scare her. But then again, she wasn't the smartest Neopet on the planet, so she might not have even thought to look through the window and would've just gone right up to her room to play with her Usukis.

      He turned around, seeing her little paw waving out to him from the window, the little Gelert's paw still wrapped around the toy. He sighed and began the walk down the winding road towards the book shop, sparing a slight wave to Susabell as he went.

      As soon as he figured he was out of sight of his house, Endler darted behind a tree and slid into a sitting position on the ground next to the trunk. His gaze drifted from building to building in Neopia Central, taking in the sights. He noted that there was no sign of a Faerie Gelert with pinkish-purple wings that sparkled in the sunlight, which meant that his mother wasn't there. Perhaps she had just made a trip to the food shop. He smacked his forehead with his paw, wishing that he had asked Susabell when their mother had left. Of course, the little Gelert might not know, but their mum could've just made a quick run to the store for ingredients for dinner. He cursed his paranoid nature as he stood up off the ground and began walking in the direction of the book shop once again.

      He didn't really need a book for Neoschool, but it wouldn't hurt to have one, because he could've sworn he'd heard whispers about his writing teacher assigning a book report soon. He sighed, his ears drooping behind his head.

      "Hey, kid." Endler froze. "Yeah, you, the spotted Gelert. Kid, are you even listening to me?"

      Endler turned, his entire body shaking, his tail curling into a nervous, jagged spiral around his leg. In the shadows of a narrow alleyway stuck between two Neohomes, a figure partially covered with a purple cloak had appeared. She was oddly tall, with a protruding orange beak and deep purple eyes. An old, dusty book was held gently in her wings. "You need a book?"

      "Well, I mean..." Endler tapped his fingers together, contemplating running away. His mum had always told him not to speak with strangers, and there couldn't be a Lenny stranger than the one before him.

      "I'm not a stranger," the Lenny said, as if answering Endler's unspoken thoughts. "And I heard that you need a book for Neoschool. Here, this book is much better than the garbage for sale in that shabby old bookshop down the street," she said with a nod towards the book shop. "Have it. Free of charge." She shoved the book into Endler's paws and took a step back into the shadows.

      "Wait!" Endler fervently whispered. "If you're not a stranger, then who are you?"

      "Call me Mal," the Lenny said just as she disappeared into the shadows once again, leaving Endler alone and confused on the street. How she knew about the possible book report, he might never know, but at the moment he didn't really care. The sun had begun to go down, so Endler's main focus was on getting home so his sister didn't rat him out to their mother for getting home after dark.

      Tucking the old book underneath his arm, Endler ran back onto the gravel path and started back to his Neohome.

     ***

      "You're in so much troubwe," Susabell said as soon as Endler ran in the door. "Mum was aw mad because you were gone after dark." She glanced out the window, watching as the last rays of sun disappeared over the hills in the distance. "I tawked to her, but she woudn't wisten to me. Even after I towd her where you were."

      "I'll deal with it," Endler sighed. "You didn't answer the door?" Susabell shook her head as she shoved her thumb back into her mouth, then turned and waddled up the stairs with her Cybunny plushie still gripped tight in her hand.

      "Endler," a cold voice said from the doorway. Endler winced at the expression on his mother's face, furious with worried eyes. He absolutely despised when his mother worried over him. "Your school bag was in your room, but you weren't."

      "Well, I..." he trailed off under his mother's gaze.

      "I believe that the rule in this household is that everyone is home before dark. I was. Your sister was. But since you weren't, no dinner until all of your homework is done." Endler opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut as his mum pointed a finger towards the stairs. With a slight growl, Endler retreated to the stairs, ran down the upstairs hallway and locked himself in his room, his mother's gaze not leaving him until the door was shut.

      Completely ignoring the homework that had spilled out of his bag, Endler trudged over to his desk and tossed the old book on top in an explosion of dust. He coughed and waved his arm to blow it away, then sat down in his chair and examine the book. The title was in some language that he couldn't understand, as was the note written on the first page. But surprisingly enough, the rest of the pages were plain old Neopian. Endler wasn't the most studious Neopet, but despite most of the words being fairly advanced, he could still make out a fair amount of them.

      The book lacked markers where the chapters began and ended, and instead was just a continuous paragraph. It bugged Endler that the same words kept appearing multiple times throughout the entire book, words such as 'faeries' and 'destroyed' and 'captured'. Faerie was a good word in his mind, but despite lacking the knowledge of what the other two words meant, they didn't sound like kind words at all.

      The word destroyed in particular reminded him of the fall of Faerieland that had happened about three years ago. Sure, it had a big impact on all of Neopia, but to the families living in Faerieland, the change had been dramatic. His mother, being a faerie Neopet, had managed to escape the fate of being turned to stone, but had felt sluggish and tired for the entirety of the change, and even for months afterwards. Endler had only been six at the time, but living in Faerieland, he remembered the terrified screams and the crowded streets vividly. They threatened him in his dreams, terrified him every time he looked at old pictures.

      His sister was lucky. She hadn't been around when Faerieland fell, and therefore didn't have any of the haunting memories.

      A headache beginning to crowd out Endler's thoughts, he spun around and stood up off of the chair, taking a few tentative steps with his hands held out for balance. His vision spun, his head pulsed, and his feet stumbled over his own tail. He yelped as he tripped, conking his head on the wall, and collapsing in a crumpled heap on the floor.

     ***

      "Endler! Endler!"

      "Endwer!"

      Endler's vision swam. He could make out two shapes in front of him, but he didn't have the energy to figure out what they were. Just as he was about to fall back into a deep sleep, he felt a sharp tug on his ears, and he shrieked. His vision cleared and he shot up panting. His sister was giggling with his ears still held in her hands, and his mother was kneeling next to him with one hand on his shoulder. Her eyes perked as Endler awoke, and he gasped as she scooped him up into a strangling hug.

      "Dear Fyora, Endler, I thought I'd lost you for a moment! You were knocked out all through the night and halfway into the day." She released her grip on him, sitting back and brushing a strand of bleach-blonde hair behind her head. "What on Neopia happened to you?"

      "I got dizzy and hit my head," Endler said with a shrug. "I bet it was because I was trying to read. I told you reading was evil."

      "Reading? You never read," his mother stated blandly. "Was it part of your homework?"

      "I think we have a book report coming up," Endler said. "I went down to the book shop today."

      Endler's mum stood up, walked over to his desk and flipped the book closed. Her grip tightened on the book and she bit her lip, turning to Endler, who was trying to shoo his sister away as she continued to tug at his ears.

      "Endler. Where in Neopia did you get this book." It wasn't a question, really, but more a statement. "The book store doesn't sell books like this."

      "I-I found it," Endler claimed, lying through his teeth. "It was on the side of the road, half buried and surrounded by grass."

      Endler became very frightened as his mum's bright hazel eyes glazed over staring at the cover, and she muttered something incomprehensible. After placing the book back down on Endler's desk, she left without another word.

      Susabell released Endler's ears and skipped after her mother, her thumb in her mouth once again. She waved goodbye to Endler and pushed his door closed as she left.

      Endler rubbed the back of his head, the headache attempting to push its way back into his mind. He stumbled over to the desk, the book seeming to almost call to him. He sat down and closed his eyes for a moment, smothering the headache, and then turned his attention to the book.

      Oddly enough, the cover was no longer in the strange lettering, but in writing he could read. Ways of the Faeries, the title read. It seemed like a nice title.

      Endler flipped to the first page, which was also now in writing he could read.

      Endler,

      Your mother is hiding secrets from you. This book reveals many secrets of the faeries in general, but only I know the multitude of secrets that your mother has kept hidden for years. If you wish to know, then meet me in the enclosed location.

      -Malorene

      There was a note taped to the inside that Endler hadn't noticed before, and a shiver went up his spine. He slammed the book shut, grabbed it off of his desk and shoved it deep in his bookshelf between two books he didn't bother to ever read before. That was just way too creepy for him, and besides, it probably wasn't true anyways. Just then, his mother called for him, saying his lunch was ready. Endler happily replied that he would be right down, and dashed out of his room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

The End