“Brinely?” Fern asked again. Brinely turned slowly around and saw his twin sister tied to the cold ice. All alone, with her hand stretched out toward him. Keelia’s breath caught inside of her. Please. Oh, PLEASE let him love her still!

                “Fern?” Brinely ran toward her and hugged her tightly, “Oh Fern! I didn’t believe Dedrick! I missed you so much! Why didn’t you come and find me?”  Fern pulled away from him.

                “Brinely, I don’t know you anymore! You are the meanest person that I have ever met!” Fern’s eye began to flicker and Brinely stood there, too stunned to say anything, “I don’t want to see you until you realize all the things that you have done to harm me. Don’t come near me again. All you cause is pain and suffering to the people that I care about.” Tears flooded from the pale blue eye.  The eye began to flicker more and more, and Rachel pulled Brinely around the corner, into the freezing water again and put him back by the edge of the water. Creep emerged; Fern was dead until the next time the monster inside her left. She would be living a half-life, until somebody stepped in and figured out a way to stop the monster from ever coming back.

                Brinely watched Creep emerge from the water, but when he saw her face and heard her voice. He knew that his sister was overpowered by the monster inside. It was his fault. He could have helped her, and from now on, he would.

---

                When Rachel and Keelia got back from school, they were immediately sent into Master Brinald’s office. Sweating and soaking wet. They had to explain four things. First: Why did they run out of class? Second: Why Jonathan and Isaac were in the hospital with major concussions? Third: Why were they soaking wet? And Fourth: Where they had been? “Jezebel Bare. We’ll start with you. Explain yourself!” Master Brinald’s face was beet red with frustration. Rachel looked straight ahead at Master Brinald.

                “Sir, my name isn’t Jezebel. That is simply what my mother wishes to deceive people that my name is. My birth name was Rachel Jezebel Bare. And that is the whole explanation that I am willing to share.” Well done, Rachel, Keelia nodded.

                “Keelia, explain yourself,” Master Brinald said, clearly not satisfied with Rachel’s answer.

                “I went to see a friend who has been sick for a very long time,” she said.

                “Where did you go to visit, said ‘sick friend’?” Master Brinald asked.

                “We can’t tell you, sir,” they both murmured.

                “Why are you both soaking wet?” he asked.

                “We can’t say that either, sir,” they replied, their heads hung low in shame, but it was worth it. 

                “Fine. I will send you off with a warning and detention for the rest of the day. If you do this again. You will have further consequences. Do you understand?”

                “Yes sir,” they agreed in unison. The next thing they knew was that they were the only kids stuck in detention. Keelia drummed her slowly drying hand on the table in front of them for a few seconds.

                “So…” Keelia began, “I’m sorry that I got you in trouble,”

                “You didn’t get me in trouble. I’m glad I got to spend time with you, although I really didn’t think that I’d be doing it in detention!” Rachel laughed and Keelia joined the laughter.

                “Ya! I really wasn’t expecting this to happen!” Keelia said after a sigh of happiness, “I’m surprised that we didn’t get in more trouble,”

                “Me, too! Hey! I never answered your questions about my dad. You wanted to know his name?” Rachel asked.

                “Yes! If you’re OK saying it. Don’t say it if your mom would kill you for it! Oh and speaking of, can I have those keys?” Keelia asked.

                “Sure, why?” Rachel questioned.

                “Well, I’m trying to figure out how to get rid of Fern’s monster. And I think that these may help a little bit!” Keelia answered as Rachel dug inside her pocket and pulled out the two black keys. “Are those made from onyx?” Keelia asked when she looked closely at them. They were identical, but they didn’t look like keys. They were gems, placed inside metal. One had a peridot stone cut into a rough oval, and the other had a small ruby on it.  Each stone had the initials of each person engraved: JMLB and IRMB.

                “Yes. They’re made from-”

                “The cave where Fern was changed,” Keelia finished for her. She hid the precious keys into her vest pocket and looked up. Rachel held out another two keys to her. She looked at them. One had a Sapphire and the other an agate. They had the initials: RJB and BRM.

                “The Sapphire one is mine, and I took the agate one from Brinely. I think that you should hide them so that none of the Shen Drar can turn us. Each person can only have one key. Those who have already turned keep their keys around them at all times, never letting them go,” Rachel said. The detention time had ended, and Keelia got up to leave.

                “What was your dad’s name?” she asked.

                “Bolsvar, my father’s name was Bolsvar,”