Beastly (23 page)

BeastNYC:
Not for us right now. We’re still in hs. But someday…

LilLindarose:
Someday…

BeastNYC:
Anyway, night. And thanks for the support.

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PART 6 - HAPPILY EVER AFTER

1

A minute later, when we stepped from the building, we saw the police cars surrounding the place. A crowd of people and news reporters from every station including my dad’s were there. And there was the guy, the lowlife pusher who’d been holding Lindy. He was talking to them.

“It’s him!” he shouted when he saw us. “The beast that attacked me.” A buzz came from the crowd as they saw me, then saw I was no beast.

“That’s the beast?” the female reporter from my dad’s station exclaimed.

“He was different before. He had fangs and claws and… hair all over him.” The reporter turned to Lindy, obviously hoping to salvage her story. “Miss, did you see a beast?”

“Of course not.” Lindy looked up at me. She touched my hair. “I never saw a beast. But that man…” She turned to the pusher. “He attacked me. He might have killed me, but this guy burst in and saved me.”

“I told you,” the pusher yelled. “He’s the beast. It’s magic that changed him.”

“Magic.” Lindy’s laugh was a little forced, a little fake. The crowd laughed too. “Magic and beasts only exist in fairy tales – or maybe drug-induced hallucinations. But heroes and villains are real.” Now the mic was in my face. “Did you see a beast?”

“No. I didn’t see a beast.” I took the mic from the reporter, authoritative, like my dad would have been. “But if there’s a beast, maybe he’s just a regular guy with a skin condition or something. Maybe he just needs some understanding. Maybe we judge people too much by their looks because it’s easier than seeing what’s really important.”

The reporter snatched the microphone back. “Well, that was sappy.” She turned away from me and spoke to the camera. “No leads in the mysterious case of a beastlike individual who terrorized subway passengers in Brooklyn tonight.”

The crowd began to disperse. An officer grabbed the pusher. “Not so fast, buddy. I ran your ID. It seems you got a warrant outstanding… and we found that gun she was talking about.” He turned to Lindy and me. “Would you mind coming down to the station to give a statement about what happened?”

“Not at all, officer,” I said, thinking how much that would piss off my father, not to mention how freaked he must have been by the whole “Beast in the Subway” story, especially when he saw coverage on his own station. He was probably sitting in my living room already.

“I’ll go anywhere,” Lindy said, “as long as he goes with me.” The officer rolled his eyes. “Kids in love. Crazy.”

He might have muttered something more, but I didn’t hear him. We were too busy, kissing.

2

It was hours before we returned home, but when we did, Dad was there, watching CBS Morning News. The slide behind the reporter said, beast in the subway?, and showed a wolflike creature. Dad’s tie was off. He looked rumpled.

“You know anything about this, Kyle?” He gestured toward the television set, not seeming to notice the change in me.

“Why would I?” I shrugged. “Obviously, I’m not a beast.”

He looked up then. “No, you’re not, are you? When did that happen?” He meant did it happen before or after the news story. I didn’t answer his question. “Dad, this is Lindy.”

“Nice to meet you, Lindy.” He gave her his best newscaster smile, at once managing to take in her Jane Austen T-shirt, old sneakers, and off-brand jeans while completely missing her face. Typical. Would it have killed him to make eye contact with her? “Well, this calls for a celebration. Shall I take you out for breakfast?”

Also typical. Now that I was normal, he was all about spending time with me. I glanced at Lindy.

She wrinkled her nose.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I have to go talk to Will and Magda since they’ve been with me the whole time. And then I’m gonna crash. I’ve been out all night.” I enjoyed the look on his face when I said that. “But hey, we’ll have to do it real soon.” Like, in a year or so.

After he left, I went up to find Will.

It was barely five, so of course Will was asleep when I knocked on the door. I knocked louder.

“Adrian, maybe this should wait until later. He’s asleep.” Lindy leaned toward me. “And I can think of other ways to kill time. I missed you so much.”

“Me too.” I kissed her. I thought of the winter. I’d been as dead as one of my roses, but I hadn’t wanted to admit it to myself. “But I need to talk to Will right now. It’s important. I think you’ll see why. I know he will.”

I knocked harder. “Open up, sleepyhead.”

From inside the door came a muffled voice. “Time’s it?”

“Time to see the light. Open up!”

“I’ll sic Pilot on you.”

“He’s a helper dog, not a watchdog. Open the door.”

At first, there was no other sound, and I thought he had gone back to sleep. Then, just as I was ready to bang on the door again, I heard footsteps. The door opened.

I watched as the light hit Will’s eyes.

“What the –” He looked left, then right, his eyes focusing on me like they never had before. “But how… who are you?”

“It’s me, Adrian. And this is Lindy. Can you see us, bud?”

“Yes. At least I think I can. But maybe it’s all a dream. You led me to believe you were hideous, a monster.”

“And you led me to believe you were blind. Things change sometimes.” Now Will was laughing, dancing around the room. “Yes! Things change! I can’t believe it. And Lindy? Is this you? Have you come back to Adrian, then?”

“Yes. I still don’t understand it, completely, but I’m happy. So happy.” She hugged Will, and Pilot, who was usually well behaved, seemed to realize that his services as guide dog weren’t needed because he jumped up and down, barking and licking everyone’s hands. So Lindy hugged him too.

When we finished jumping around, celebrating, I said, “Where’s Magda?” If Kendra was true to her word, something should have happened to Magda too. She should have been reunited with her family. But now I didn’t want her gone. I needed Magda, wanted her to stay. I ran down the hallway to Magda’s room, Lindy following me. I pounded on the door. There was no answer.

When I opened the door, the room was empty.

“No!” I practically crushed Lindy’s hand in my grip. She gave me a weird look, and I remembered what a great day it was, what a perfect day. Still, I said, “I didn’t get to say good-bye. She left without saying good-bye.”

“Magda?” When I nodded, Lindy said, “Oh, Adrian, I’m sorry.” I started to leave the room. But suddenly I caught a glow from something on the bed. I walked toward it.

It was a silver mirror, just like the one I’d smashed the night before on the subway. But this mirror was not smashed, and looking into it, I saw my reflection, perfect as I remembered – straight blond hair, blue eyes, even a tan. When I opened my mouth, perfect lips moved over white teeth. And at my side was the perfect girl, the perfect girl for me.

I said, “I want to see Magda.”

At once, Kendra’s reflection appeared.

3

“Where is she?” I said to Kendra.

“Meet me on the roof,” she said. “The sun’s about to rise.” We went to the fifth floor. I hadn’t been there much lately. Now, being there with Lindy, I remembered all the lonely days I’d spent there, sitting on the sofa, and the day we’d been there together too. It was wondrous when life gave you a second chance. I opened the window and hoisted myself onto the roof. Then I put out an arm for Lindy.

The roof was flat with a ledge around it, so we could walk. The sun was rising. New York City at sunrise is one of the most beautiful places in the world. People make a big deal about the skyline, but it’s nothing like watching the pink sun seep through the buildings, especially when you’re holding hands with the girl you love.

I kissed that hand. “Look. Is this the most incredible morning or what?” But Lindy wasn’t looking at the sunrise, or at me. Instead, she was looking off to the side. I followed her gaze and understood.

Kendra was there. It was the first time I’d seen her since the spell. She was beautiful, as she’d been that day, her hair flying purple and green and black around her face, her robes black. And behind her was a flock of crows, stretching across the sides of the roof, black and green and purple in the rising sun.

“Kyle, you look great.”

“Adrian. I prefer Adrian.”

“Me too, actually. Suits you.” She stepped up to Lindy. Or rather, she floated. It almost seemed like she was flying. “And Lindy, we haven’t met, but I’m Kendra.”

“Kendra, the…”

I’d filled Lindy in on all the details of Kendra while we’d waited in the police station that night.

“You can say it,” Kendra said. “The witch. I know what I am. There are some who would call me a wicked witch. I’m the one responsible for the spell on Adrian.”

“And are you proud of that?”

“A little bit. He’s a better person than when he started.” Lindy didn’t look so sure, but I nodded, knowing it was true.

“But I’ll admit my previous spells weren’t as successful. In my youth, I tended to be impulsive –

turn someone into a frog first, ask questions later. The other witches got on me, said that by using my powers too frequently, I might draw attention to witchcraft and set off a wave of witch hunts as big as Salem. As punishment, I was sent to New York City to work as a servant. I was told not to use my powers at all.”

“But you did,” I guessed.

She nodded. “I did because I was placed in the home of a teenage boy so horrible and insensitive that I felt I had to teach him a lesson. I cast a spell.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Beside me, Lindy squeezed my hand.

“The other witches were appalled. I had cast a spell – a big, obvious one that could end up in an incident like… oh, say, a beast on the loose in the New York subway system. They were particularly concerned that I’d chosen the son of a news personality as my victim.”

“Yeah, that sucked of you.”

Kendra rolled her eyes. “So they said I would stay with him forever, in the form of that same family servant.”

“Magda?” I got it. “So Magda isn’t real?”

“She’s real.” With a wave of her hand, Kendra transformed. Now she was Magda. “She is I, I am she.”

“Wow,” I said. “This is… I thought you… I mean, Magda was my friend.”

“I am, my love,” Kendra, now Magda, said. “I cared about you from the first and wanted you to be happy. I could see the sadness in you that made you not see the true beauty of life. That was why I did what I did.”

“And what about Will? Is he a witch too?”

Magda shook her head. “No. I knew about Will, that he would be kind to you and teach what you needed to learn. And I, a humble servant, suggested to your father that he find a blind student to tutor you.

Will needed a job and now, because of your unselfish wish, he has regained his sight.”

“But there was another part to that wish. I wished you… that Magda could be reunited with her family.”

“And so I was – at midnight, last night.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I wish you luck, Adrian.” She placed her hands on my shoulder and on Lindy’s, and I felt a bolt of electricity, like when you accidentally put your finger between an electrical plug and the socket. I wondered if she was putting a spell on us. I looked at Lindy to see if she was morphing into a hyena or something, but she seemed okay.

“Luck?” I said.

“Not that you’ll need it. You have earned your love far more than most couples your age. Unlike most, you really know each other and are thoughtful of each other. When you allowed Lindy to leave and return to her father, I knew it would work out.”

“Wish you’d clued me in.”

She ignored this. “And now, through your wish for Magda, I am reunited with my family.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can’t talk anymore. They are waiting.”

She waved her arm and disappeared. At least, I thought she had. But Lindy pointed down, and that’s when I realized that a crow occupied the exact spot where Magda had been standing. It was a beautiful crow, large and sleek, with black wings reflecting purple and green in the rising sun. She hopped over and joined the others and, as one, they rose over our heads and east, toward daylight.

“Wow,” Lindy said when they were out of sight. “That sucks.”

“What does?”

“I was waiting – politely – for her to stop talking. But if I’d known the nice lady was going to transmogrify into a crow, I’d have been quicker about making a request.”

“What kind of request?”

“Well, I’m really happy that we’re together, of course. But I loved you the way you were. Before. I thought Kyle Kingsbury was cute and all, but Adrian was the one I fell in love with. I didn’t see you as a monster, not after a while anyway. I saw you as unique. Special. I think I loved you almost from the first.

I just didn’t know.”

“So you want me to be a beast?” I said.

She shrugged. “I guess that’s not really practical, huh? I mean, it is easier to go to the movies and stuff with your boyfriend if it’s… um, not a news event.”

“Easier to apply to colleges too.”

“Agreed.”

“So what’s the problem?” I said. “I’m the same, no matter how I look.”

“I guess. But I was sort of thinking that maybe she could change a couple things about you, since she’s a witch.”

“Like what?”

“Basically, you’re tall, blond, and perfect.”

“I don’t know about perfect.”

“Ten out of ten shallow high school girls surveyed would agree you’re perfect.” I thought of Sloane. “Okay, let’s assume for the sake of argument that I’m perfect. So?”

“That’s why I wanted the changes.”

“Like what? You said I’m perfect.”

“Oh, I don’t know. A bump on the nose, or maybe a wart. Twenty pounds in the gut or maybe a big zit on your forehead.”

“I see.” I took Lindy’s hand. “And why would you want that?”

“Because you’re perfect. And I’m… well, not. Guys who look perfect generally don’t go out with girls who are, you know, average. Maybe Adrian King loved me, but will Kyle Kingsbury stay around, or can he do better?”