Toby
Toby watched for Lyssa in quick glances so Megan wouldn’t notice. She was suspicious of everything he did, and didn’t feel like arguing with her right now. He watched the last of the kids get on the noisy bus. He could see Marvin’s head turned talking to someone beside him. He couldn’t see who it was. Maybe it was Lyssa. Something wasn’t right. He felt it slowly build in him.
“I said are you picking me up at seven tonight?” Megan gently moved his head with her fingers on his chin until he met her suspicious eyes. “What is the matter with you?”
“Nothing,” Toby replied. “Seven, yeah, that’s fine.”
“Don’t be late,” She warned before turning to her chirping friends.
Toby couldn’t stop thinking about Lyssa. The way the sun caught the flecks of copper in her hair mesmerized him. She was short and small in size, he wanted to protect her. Even in his dreams Lyssa is there. Toby hates to think about them as they seem to keep getting weirder.
The one he had last night makes him not even want to go to bed without a heavy duty sleeping pill, like the ones where you go to sleep and the next thing you know it’s morning.
Everything seemed normal in his dream. He was having dinner with his family when he heard a plinking sound. He listened to its tiny pounding. It was something hitting glass, like wings of a butterfly hitting the inside of a glass jar. None of his family heard it, so he investigated.
There in his mother’s curio cabinet was a fairy, alive and looking at him. Shocked, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Her wings fluttered shifting color with each movement. Her clenched fists pounded on the glass. The fairy looked at him with desperate eyes letting out a scream and banging on the glass.
He bent down gazed at her reddish hair, freckled face and eyes the color of the sky after a summer storm. Toby stood up like someone kicked him when the tiny fairy yelled his name. Gazing at her, he realized even through the wings and pointed ears that she looked like Lyssa. He said her name cautiously as she banged on the glass exclaiming they were coming for her.
He jumped back watching black smoke curling around her. Screaming her name, Toby tried to open the latch and even break the glass, which was no use. The pluming smoke took her. Lyssa was gone and he was supposed to save her. He had to put a stop to whatever was wrong with him.
Promptly, Toby picked up Megan to go to the movies. The town of Briarwood had one of the last privately owned theaters that not only showed movies, but school programs were still held here. Its nostalgic atmosphere attracted many people and was usually busy on the weekends. Toby didn’t pay attention to the chick flick they went to go see. All he could think about was if he was going crazy.
“You seem distant,” Megan said, nestling her head into his shoulder.
“I’ve just been tired lately,” Toby said, peering into the movie screen.
He couldn’t sit there. He had to do something to stop this overwhelming urge that came over him.
“Let’s go,” Toby whispered in Megan’s ear half way through the movie.
“Why?” She asked.
“Come and find out,” he said getting up.
Megan followed with her hand in his. Quietly they passed the other movie goers slipping into the empty lobby. Toby remembered the theater had a downstairs. Perfect.
Dust filled the damp air in the yellowish light. Old movie posters and short sections of theater seats sat dust covered along the wall.
“What are we doing?” Megan asked.
“You wanted me to be spontaneous. So, I thought I would.” Toby glided his hand over the side of her face.
“Yeah, I guess this is spontaneous,” she replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
Toby ran his hands over her back, slid them down caressing every curve. He kissed her neck smelling her sweet perfume. He liked the way Megan smelled, sweeter than she really was.
He began to unbutton her shirt throwing it to the old theater seats. He felt her bare shoulders, her skin soft and cool under his touch. She slid her hands over his stomach, past his chest in one motion and then curled them around his neck.
Each of his hair follicles sensitized to Megan’s fingers through his hair. He felt alive in a way he never felt before. His hands tangled in her hair, sweat excreting through his pores, the smell of dust mixed with roses and the pounding of his heart. What he felt had no word to call his emotion. He was alive.
“Lyssa,” Toby whispered cradling Megan’s head in his hands.
She pushed away. “What?” She screeched.
“What?” He pulled himself away, shocked that he’d said Lyssa name aloud.
Megan stepped back grabbing her shirt.
“You said Lyssa,”she said, with a scowl look on her face.
He did say that. Why did he say that? He looked at Megan who looked like an angered cat, eyes like crescent slits and mouth tight like she could have hissed and scratched him to pieces if she had claws.
“Megan…” Toby started to say as she half way tromped up the wooden stairs.
“Look, I heard what you said, and if you are seeing someone else, you have better stop,” Megan slightly pushed open the door. “I am giving you a second chance, make it count or I won’t be here.”
She only wanted to be with him because he was popular and all the girls wanted him—he knew this though he really didn’t know why. She was just using him as a trophy or another mark on how many people she had sex with. He was no different.
She didn’t matter to him. Megan was just another girl at school anymore. He sat in the abandoned seat, rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes when he felt a pang inside of him like someone pulled at his insides. Her name kept repeating in his head like an echo. Lyssa, Lyssa, Lyssa.
Something wasn’t right. Suddenly, scenes filled his head like flashes. The campground, Lyssa struggling to call for help, no one heard her. The vision then shifted like someone changing T.V. stations. He hovered over her in midair, and wanted the vision to quit, but it wouldn’t stop. Lyssa laid motionless, eyes closed, skin pale and her auburn hair tangled with leaves. She looked like a dying flower that he had to save.
Go to the campground.
Without hesitation, Toby went to his truck, started the engine knowing if he was in his right mind, he would have gone after Megan, but he didn’t. He saw her in the parking lot talking to a group of people. She was laughing and hanging on some other boy. Toby didn’t care, he had to save Lyssa.
Eli
“Master, the scent is strong here,” the lighter mane Mog said pointing down the road that led to the cabins.
“Very strong,” The darker one confirmed.
“Follow it then,” Eli said, looking at them.
They ran quickly like they enjoyed the chase that was hopefully coming to an end. Eli traced after them following their moves. Silver clouds covered the sky allowing only slivers of moon rays to give them any light. Eli watched the Mogs put their noses to the ground swirling around him in like a dance.
“It’s her!” the lighter mane one said.
Eli smiled. He had her now, and cornered with Mogs. Feeling a twinge of electricity in his palm, he knew his mark was glowing with life.
“Get her,” Eli whispered.
The Mogs raced down a path that twisted and turned in a steep incline. Finally, the tree-covered path led them to a calm lake of silver waters and white cliffs bordering it. Eli looked around as the Mogs stopped.
“What is it?” Eli asked.
“Another scent is here. It’s our foe,” the light mane one said.
He walked past them. Two figures stood by the water’s edge. One was definitely female, and by the warning of his palm—a Fae. The other was stout and hunched over slightly. Eli walked towards them realizing the female was making a portal. She had a thick line of light scrolled in midair by the water’s edge. Only she was having trouble keeping it intact.
He
then stopped, and stood in the darkness. The female looked familiar with her golden hair and slim body, but it was hard to tell. He stood there for a moment watching her with the Mogs behind him. Frustrated, she threw down her etch used to make portals and gave a growl. Eli proceeded to step forward.
“Didn’t the Muses give you a ticket back Cinnia?” Eli asked.
Startled, Cinnia turned. Her eyes of surprise cooled into an icy stare.
“Eli,” She turned to him smiling. “Traveling with Mogs? I thought you were the one with connections.” Her voice mocked him. “It seems I’ve finished a job that the Muses thought a male Fae should do. I proved them wrong.”
Eli only smiled at her.
“I should say the same,” Eli said looking at the scale covered creature. “Varkin isn’t usually your first choice at travel companions.”
“Neither is a deserter.” Cinnia quickly turned with darting eyes at Eli.
“I didn’t desert you. I’m acting on my own. It was you who insisted traveling with me,” Eli said, not wanting to bring up past events.
“Well, I have accomplished what you couldn’t,” Cinnia said in a teasing voice. “I have the Everspell.”
Eli looked at Cinnia who was amused at his reaction. Slowly, he stepped closer wanting to take it from her. He stood a breath apart from her. Her eyes twinkled with a delight, like a spoiled child that kept getting their way and knew it.
“No hard feelings,” she said, in a quiet tone.
“Where is it Cinnia?” Eli met her eyes steadily.
Just then, he heard something on the ground next to him in the shadows. He looked at Cinnia and pulled from his pocket a small ball glowing with a harsh white light. Before him was a girl, a young Etherling. She looked dazed trying to focus on who was in front of her.
“Who are you? What do you want!” The Etherling pleaded.
“Who is she?” Eli asked. “What are you doing with an Etherling?” Eli demanded.
“She is the Everspell,” Cinnia said, turning back to construct her portal. “What did you expect? The Everspell to be hanging from a tree, gift wrapped with a bow and your name on it.”
“An Etherling can’t be the Everspell,” Eli said, dumbfounded. “That isn’t possible.”
“You should know Lil by now. She is clever.” Cinnia stopped, looked over her shoulder, and smiled. “Then again, she got you pretty good.”
Eli grabbed Cinnia by the arm jerking her so fast, she dropped the etch. Cinnia, for a split second looked surprised at Eli’s action, and then as her warrior’s trailing took over, she stiffened, grabbed Eli’s other arm and twirled him to the ground. He jumped up looking at Cinnia as he straightened his cloak.
“I don’t want to hurt you Cinnia. We can work this out together,” Eli said, as the Varkin stepped forward and obediently behind Cinnia.
“You’re scared. Good,” she said, with a quick kick of her leg nearly hitting Eli on the side of the head. He looked at her holding her foot.
“I said I don’t want to hurt you,” Eli calmly said.
Cinnia squint her eyes, showed her teeth in an animalistic growl and jumped-kicked him in the groin with her other foot. She twirled through the air landing beside Eli who rolled on the ground in uncontrollable pain.
“Thank you for not hurting me, Eli.” She whispered in his ear before she let out a laugh.
“Don’t do that to master!” Eli heard one the Mogs say pushing Cinnia to the ground.
Eli jumped up the best he could at the advancing Varkin who knocked him to the ground. Eli pushed on the creature’s throat trying to keep its many layers of pin like teeth from imbedding into him.
Suddenly, the Varkin was pulled off him as the other Mog with one arm held him pinned to the ground. They rolled in a mass of teeth, claws, fur and scales. Eli could see the portal glowing with light, it was ready for passage.
Cinnia with a dagger, stabbed at the Mog pushing him through the portal with an echoing yell that faded.
“Don’t take her to the Muses,” Eli said, stepping in front of her. “He doesn’t care about you, no matter what risks you take.”
Cinnia stopped, looked at him with black eyes that reminded Eli of a storm advancing in the distance. “You know nothing about love.”
Eli couldn’t let her take the girl. He didn’t want to fight with Cinnia either.
Stepping squarely in front of her, he placed his hands on her shoulders, pulled her tightly next to him and kissed her hard on the mouth. Her unmoving lips were too surprised to respond back before he pushed the shocked Fae away and shoved her through the portal. The Varkin whose nature is to follow their commander, did so without hesitation and left Eli and the light colored Mog standing in front of the Etherling.
“This is a dream. This is a dream,” the girl said, sliding away from him.
“Don’t be scared,” Eli said, kneeling down.
“This is a nightmare then,” she replied.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I just want the Everspell,” Eli said looking at her.
“Eli, that was quite a performance. Bravo! And I love how you rebound so quickly,” Deravon said, standing behind him.
“I am glad you were entertained.” Eli didn’t bother to look at him. “A little help would’ve been nice.”
“And get my new boots dirty, I don’t think so.” Deravon crouched down beside them. “What do we have here?”
Eli wanted Deravon gone. He was a nuisance to his plans that he kept interfering.
“What did Cinnia want with her?” Deravon asked.
“She needed a pet,” Eli said, trying to gently grab the girl by the arm.
A quick swing of her fist met his left eye causing him to lose his balance. Eli surprised, bounced back up to Deravon laughing.
“Cinnia must have already trained her,” Deravon said taunting Eli.
“Please, just let me go,” she pleaded.
Eli noticed something in the girl’s hand glowing. It had to be the Everspell. Deravon noticed too, and with naturally quicker reflexes, grabbed the Etherling’s arm and they both peered at the unmistakable mark.
“Why darling, you have a mark too.” Deravon moved closer to her.
Eli gazed down at the glowing mark. It was in the outline of a leaf from a Silverthorn tree; the first tree made by magic and sacred to all Fae. It was Livianna, the last of the winged Fae, who caught one of the leaves before the last tree died; a remembrance of why protecting magic and their way of life were so important. Now, an Etherling had one of the most important relics-the Everspell.
“You have to come with me.” Eli ordered looking at the girl.
The girl jerked her hand from Deravon looking at Eli with frightened and angered eyes. She looked like a small animal cornered, but he had no choice but to take her by force. He couldn’t possibly explain who he was and what she had in her. He didn’t care, he just wanted the Everspell.
“You freaks aren’t taking me anywhere!” She yelled trying to get away before Deravon snatched her by the arm causing her fleeing body to fall backwards.
“Let me go!” Her voice filled with fear.
Eli didn’t want to hurt or make her fear him. He had to get her under control. Before he could do anything, the girl elbowed Deravon hard in the stomach causing him to bend over and gasp for air. The girl was swift. Maybe she knew what she had and was trained to protect it. The girl jolted off into the forest. Eli ran after her.
“I don’t want to hurt you! Sentry, I am ordering you to stop!” Eli thought maybe she knew of sentries and would understand that he truly meant her no harm.
The Etherling weaved through the trees like a rabbit. Low limbs slowed him slightly, but the girl wasn’t as agile as he thought and right before he could grab her, she fell to the ground.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she cried with tears now streaming down her face.
“Like I said befor
e, Etherling,” Eli said, glancing down at her mark trying to catch his breath. “I am a sentry. I don’t want to hurt …” Suddenly, something large slammed into Eli causing the image of the girl to fade into blackness.
The next thing Eli was aware of was the constant up and down motion of his body and plush fur surrounding his face. He was on the back of the Mog.
“Master, I found the scent!” he exclaimed.
“Stop! I am ordering you to stop and go back! We had the Everspell!” Eli yelled pulling on the Mogs mane with no response.
“I can’t stop, Master. The scent draws me to it!”
Lyssa
Lyssa didn’t stay around for whatever snatched the crazy guy chasing her to come and get her as well. It was dark and she was off the trail. She could be anywhere. Reaching into her pocket she tried to feel for her cell phone. It must’ve fallen out. Would her dad be worried? Would he call the police and would there be a search for her. That would be embarrassing, but at the same time she wanted to be found. What would be her excuse?
Lyssa stopped, leaned against a tree and began to question her own sanity. The girl with the thin silver pencil, drawing a glowing liquid line in midair she called a portal. The two guys chasing after her and the scaly creature with piranha teeth couldn’t be real. It was just her imagination at work. She was exhausted, frightened and now lost.
She probably just hit her head when she was trying to get a leaf from a tree. That sounds logical, and a good story. It was dark when she came to, and disoriented she wondered off. Yes, that sounds better than two cape-wearing weirdoes, a gorgeous looking woman, and two mutated Muppets with sharp teeth were after her.
Suddenly, a glowing light filtered through the trees in front of her. The cool light made long shadows as it moved closer to her. Stepping backwards, she turned and was face to face with the dark-haired guy that grabbed her earlier. She peered into his eyes which seemed to twinkle like stars.
“You didn’t expect that did you? You thought I was coming from the other direction. I know I should make a better entrance, but in this case, I had to be sneaky.” He stepped closer as Lyssa backed away with each step he took until her back brushed against a tree.
“Who are you?” She asked trembling.
“I suppose I could tell you my name, but we don’t really have time for introductions. You see, we need to get out of here and in a hurry too,” he said, smiling. “Darling, I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t like to hurt anything, at least directly. It gets too messy sometimes. You need to get over that.”
“What do you want then?” Lyssa felt like he wasn’t going to hurt her, so maybe she could talk her way out of his hold.
“Well, I do believe we share a mutual friend. Her name is Lil,” he said raising his already arched eyebrows.
“I don’t know any Lil.” Lyssa shook her head confused.
“Oh, I didn’t think, she probably had an alias,” he said turning his head away and tapping his finger to his chin. “Well anyhow, everything will be just wonderful when you wake up!”
Before Lyssa could scream, run or take a punch at him, a quick shadow ran over her. Her body felt like it was falling into a black void. She felt his arms grab hold of her limp body. She tried to scream or move but her senses were paralyzed.
Fear gripped her lethargic body as she felt her body being moved. Her numb body then hit the ground with a thud. She felt like she was trapped in a bubble to the outside world. Lyssa then didn’t feel anything as her mind faded to blackness.
Toby
An eerie mist loomed through the tops of the trees making a layer of fog and clear air. His truck lights cascaded over the winding gravel road. Droplets of mist formed on the windshield.
Toby couldn’t get there fast enough, and hit potholes like his truck were an indestructible tank. He felt frantic and didn’t know why or what drove him to do this. His mind was not his own. He felt like a marionette—every move was a pull on the strings that controlled him. He gave up questioning his thoughts and only thought of one thing—Lyssa.
With a slam of his brakes, the truck came to a sudden stop. Mist swirled through the cutting beams of the headlights. Toby slammed his truck door shut and stood in the cool air.
The buildings stood quiet encased in shadow. He looked at the three trail entrances. One went to the lake, one wound its way through the forest only to connect near the opening and the other led to the caves. Lyssa was collecting leaves so she wouldn’t have gone too far, so he decided to go on the one everyone went on earlier.
His small flashlight skidded across the ground. Everything was quiet. He called her name with no reply. The air was a damp cold. Lyssa could be frozen by now, he quickened his pace.
Suddenly, his flashlight caught something shinning on the ground. He ran to it and picked up a small bag with Lyssa’s name on it filled with leaves. Something had happened. He called her name following the trail back to the beginning. The forest was big, and it was dark. He should call for help.
Just as he started to call 911, something vibrated in his ears causing him to drop his phone and fall to his knees. A voice filled his head as he tried to block it out. It receded and a vision took its place.
He hovered over her. She appeared to be just sleeping. Her auburn hair mingled with the wet decaying leaves. She looked like a withering flower trying to survive the coolness of wind—a promise of winter. The girl was Lyssa. Toby realized this, and as soon as he did, the scene widened showing crescent shaped voids that he knew were the mouths of the caves.
The trail was steep and his flashlight was the only thing that penetrated the dark. A mist rolled around him making a thin veil of white. Toby finally reached an open area with rock cliffs surrounding him. Just like in his visions, he saw her.
“Lyssa!” Toby ran over to her.
Her legs were bent lying to the side and her head was turned in the opposite direction. She looked peaceful. Her reddish hair looked like it could almost burn her pale skin. Hesitantly, he ran his hand alongside her face to make sure what he was seeing was real. Her skin was cold. Pressing his finger against her throat, he felt the small flutter of her pulse, she wasn’t’ dead. Taking off his coat, he wrapped her in it and carried her back to his truck.
Her small, limp body slumped in the seat. He kept looking over at her. Was he going crazy? How and why did he find her? The visions had led him to her. Was it an act of God or some other unworldly being? Something was happening to him and he wasn’t sure if it would stop.
Toby drove as fast as he could down the highway to the hospital that was right off the interstate bypassing Briarwood. The bright lights almost hurt his eyes as he pulled up in front of the emergency entrance.
Carrying Lyssa through the automatic door, he felt like he was in a dramatic scene from some movie where the hero saved the day and the girl as well. He decided at that point he had gone completely mad. A nurse looked up casually at first from her desk, and then jumped up motioning for him to go down the hallway.
“What happened?” The nurse asked motioning for him to follow.
“I…I don’t really know.” Toby wasn’t prepared to come up with an answer.
“Have you been drinking?” She asked in a nonjudgmental way.
“No,” Toby replied as he laid Lyssa down on a gurney.
“What’s your name?” She asked looking at him.
“Toby. Toby Winslett,” Toby said looking back at Lyssa. “Her name is Lyssa Cleverthorn and I found her on a trail at Camp Westfield.”
She looked at him questioningly. “Answer me truthfully because her life may depend on it. Are there drugs involved?” Still, her voice had a nonjudgmental tone.
“No.” Toby felt like a criminal to the questions she was asking.
“Let’s go back to the waiting room and you can answer some more questions about your girlfriend,” The nurse said gu
iding him back as another nurse came and pushed Lyssa down the long hallway into another room.
“Lyssa, she isn’t my girlfriend,” Toby said at his own surprise.
What was Lyssa to him? Something that stirred his senses like no other girl had and he hardly knew her. There is something about her though that he can’t place—like looking through frosted glass trying to see the other side. It was frustrating. He had never felt this way about a girl before. Girls were play things, trophies, something to show off and party with. Lyssa didn’t fit that mold. He was truly concerned with her. He had never even felt that way about any girl that he dated. Why was Lyssa so different?
Lyssa
The first thing that filled Lyssa senses was the smell of overused Lysol and then the brightness of white. Her mouth was dry and her body stiff. Slowly she moved her arms trying to prop herself up. She had something attached to her hand, thinking it was the gold string that the woman used to bind her wrists, instead there was a small clear tube with tape securing it. She was in the hospital. No doubt. How did she get here?
“Hello there honey,” a thick southern accent voice came beside her.
“Where am I?” She asked in a raspy voice.
“You’re at Memorial Hospital and you are fine only a couple of bumps and bruises.” Her warm smile was surrounded by curly golden hair. “It was a good thing your boyfriend found you or you might have frozen to death.”
“Boyfriend?” Lyssa said looking away.
“Why don’t you go to sleep and when you wake up everything will be better,” she said holding a syringe filled with something she pushed into the small tube.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Lyssa mumbled as a warm tingly feeling overtook her into a numb black of nothingness.
People of Fae Page 6