by Norah Black
She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Evelyn was still reading her paper, and walked silently to the health section. There was only one book about sex there and she reached for it as the front door chime announced a customer. Nadia let her hand drop and wandered to the front of the store. The two men that walked in looked like nothing she had ever seen before, yet somehow seemed familiar.
One was at least 6’9” with broad shoulders and shoulder length brown hair. The other was shorter by at least eight or nine inches, but he had a stunning face and jet-black hair pulled back in a ponytail. His hair seemed to catch and reflect light from all angles. Some women would have fallen at his feet begging to be noticed. He seemed so familiar that Nadia found she was staring. The man looked at her and she immediately dropped her eyes. If Foster had been there he might have misconstrued her staring for interest. The man seemed to glare at her, but didn’t hold her gaze long. He and his companion moved down the center isle without any purpose. Nadia gave them an appropriate amount of time before approaching them.
“May I help you?”
The two men turned and looked at her. The tallest one seemed to not care she was there, but the other one glared again. Neither spoke right away. Finally the tallest one broke the silence. His voice was an infusion of sound that penetrated her skull and caused a desire to weep with joy. She was sure if she could hear an angel’s voice it would have sounded like that.
“We’re just looking. Thank you.”
Nadia nodded once and went to sit beside Evelyn behind the counter. She had stopped reading the paper and was openly watching the men. After a few minutes they both moved to the front door to leave.
“Ya’ll come again.”
“I’m sure we will.” The tall man said again.
Once they were out the door, Nadia let out a sigh of relief and Evelyn whistled through her teeth.
“Yes, sir, if only I was ten years younger!”
“Whatever, Evelyn!” Nadia laughed and moved from behind the counter.
“What? Okay maybe fifteen years younger. What’s that saying, ‘the older the berry the sweeter the berry’?”
“No! It’s ‘the blacker the berry, the sweeter the wine’!”
“Oh. Okay, wine becomes more valuable and is smoother the older it gets! Whiskey too! So there!” She let out one of her famous cackles, and they spent the next hour debating why older women were good for younger men and vice versa.
*****
When Nadia left the store she was at her vehicle before she realized that she had left her book bag inside. She ran to Evelyn’s car and told her she had forgotten it.
“Just use your key, honey. I trust you!”
Nadia waved goodbye to her and unlocked the store. She didn’t bother with lights and was back outside within a minute. She turned her phone on and saw that Foster had texted ‘I love you’ an hour after her shift began. She smiled and began texting him back when something hit her hard from behind, knocking her to the ground. She immediately began kicking and screaming. A set of strong hands pulled a sack of some kind over her head. She felt something smash into the back of her head, sending her mind into silence and darkness.
Everything went black.
*****
Foster was napping in his room when his phone woke him up. He felt disoriented for a moment and looked at the clock, letting out a curse. He had slept past the time when Nadia was getting off from work. He held his phone and saw that she had texted him. When he saw the words, he felt confusion that melted into fear. The words on the screen were, ‘I lov’. That was all. His mind raced.
Foster tried to call her but the phone immediately went to voice mail. He knew the only time her phone would ever be completely off was at work. Book Nook was closed. It was almost nine-o’clock at night. He threw on his shoes and grabbed his keys. He descended the steps in such a hurry that he nearly fell flat on his face when he missed the last two steps. His father and Darren were just leaving the barn as he ran from the house. Foster saw them and ignored their questions about where he was going. His mind was in multiple places at once. Once in his car, he slammed on the gas. He took several deep breaths and choked on the dust that his tires were churning into the air. He was driving far too fast for the dirt driveway, but it didn’t matter; soon he was barreling sideways onto the asphalt.
When he arrived at the shopping center, he didn’t see any other vehicles except Nadia’s. His legs felt like rubber as he stepped out of his truck. Her car was empty and he ran to the front window of the store, hoping she was in there. He tried her cell phone again and cursed when the voicemail came immediately on. He stood in front of the store and put his hands on top of his head and slowly scanned the parking lot. He was looking for anything out of place.
His eyes caught something part way down, near Nadia’s car. As he approached, his hands began to shake. Nadia’s phone lay there, and the back and battery were a few feet from it. She had dropped it. Why didn’t she pick it up and how did her partial text even get to him?
*****
Foster knocked on the front door hard enough to rattle the entire doorframe. The porch light came on and Crystal’s apprehensive face appeared when the door opened. She stood back and Foster walked in. He could feel sweat running down the sides of his face.
“Is she here?”
“Nadia? Well, no, we figured she was with you.” Crystal’s eyes became large when Foster held out the broken cell phone to her. Frank walked into the room and took it from him. They stood in silence for just a moment. The only sound was Foster’s ragged breathing, and then the room became a flurry of movement as Crystal yanked the receiver from the phone on the wall and she called Kristen. Frank began barraging him with questions about when he saw her last. Crystal hung up the phone and said that Kristen hadn’t seen or talked to her.
Foster sat on the edge of the couch and listened to Frank talk to the police, and then shout that it didn’t make sense to wait a full twenty-four hours to file a missing persons report. He slammed the receiver down and came to sit heavily in his recliner. Crystal was crying silently. On impulse Foster stood and touched both of them. They instantly felt peace run through their bodies.
“I’m going to find her.” He said quietly and left the house.
*****
When Foster arrived back at his house, he saw Darren and their father sitting on the front steps. Anger, so vile and foreign to him, rose from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head, and he left the vehicle in one fluid movement. His lithe body was at the top of the stairs and on Darren faster than Darren could respond. Foster grabbed him and threw him off the porch and onto the ground; jumping down and landing on Darren’s chest. He grabbed Darren’s hair at the top of the scalp and yelled in his face.
“Where is SHE?”
“What are you...” was all Darren could respond before Foster smashed the back of his head into the ground.
Foster felt hands grab him and pull him to his feet. Julia and Walt came to either side of Foster and he fought against the calm feeling that was being transferred to him. Robert held a hand out to Darren and turned slowly to look at Foster. Foster had a sick feeling that his father for once felt a little pride for him since he had displayed violence.
“What is this about?” he asked in an even voice.
“Nadia is missing. I found her broken phone in the parking lot where she works. Her parents have no idea where she is.” He took a deep breath and pointed a shaky finger at Darren.
“I know he knows where she is!”
The air grew silent as the entire family turned to its gaze to Darren.
A faint hint of smile slowly crept across his face...
~ Volume Two: The Search ~
Darren looked at Foster with narrowed feral eyes. The night air became heavy and hot. It fell on them in a silent, stifling blanket. No one spoke, and Foster tried to shrug off the calming emotion his mother and brother were still forcing on him. He didn’t want it. For once
he wanted the pure anger. He wanted the food of hate to sustain him. Nadia was missing. Darren had something to do with it.
“I know you did it.” Foster said through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Darren yelled. He pushed past his father and tried to start the fight again by grabbing for Foster’s shirt. Darren’s hand grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked him backwards.
“ENOUGH!” Darren’s black eyes looked deep into Foster’s. He grunted and pushed Darren towards the steps. “Inside! Both of you!”
Foster looked at his mother. “She’s missing. I can’t stand this.”
Julia tried to smooth his sweaty hair from his forehead but Foster jerked his away. She gave a worried glance to Warren, who simply shook his head. The momentary stifling heat began to lift. Crickets resumed their calling and a few fireflies came back into the yard. Julia looked up the steps at Foster and saw the Nephilim in him for the first time ever. She shuddered to think that this tragedy might turn him towards this path. She went up the steps slowly and Warren followed. When they entered the great living room, Darren was seated on the floor and Darren was leaning with one elbow against the mantle. She scanned the room for Foster and found him standing perfectly still right beside her. Warren led her to the rocking chair by the fireplace and took his usual seat beside her on the hearth.
“Foster, I will hear what happened.”
Foster told his father the entire story from start to finish in a monotone voice that took far more control than any of them knew.
“Had you any reason to fear for her safety before tonight?”
Foster gave him an annoyed glance. “Really, Father?”
Darren turned a shade darker. “Don’t toy with me, boy. I may not have wanted you breaking rules to see this human, but I certainly wanted no harm to come to her.”
Foster slid his eyes towards Darren. “I think he wanted harm to come to her.”
Darren stretched his legs in front of himself and leaned back on his hands in a lazy pose. “If I wanted to harm her, she would already be dead.” He said with a grin.”
“And you will be dead if anything has happened to her.”
Darren let out a string of curses in the Old language.
“I knew we were being watched!” Foster yelled. “I was trying to watch her as much as I could! I was too tired tonight and now she is somewhere that I’m not!”
Foster didn’t bother to respond to his father yelling for him to come back. He didn’t acknowledge his mother’s gentle voice. He took the stairs three at a time and slammed the door to his room. He spun around several times looking for something, anything, that he thought could give him a clue as to what to do. He ran both hands through his hair and suddenly froze. Of Course. He closed his eyes momentarily and took a few short steps to the large windows on the far wall. He laid his palms on the cool glass and stared into the forest beyond. Small lights, too large to be fireflies, flitted here and there, just inside the tree line. A soft amber glow was throbbing from somewhere in the middle of the woods. Door of the Realm. It was the full moon. The Door of the Realm was open tonight. Foster leaned his forehead on the glass and let out a shaky sigh. They have taken her into the Realm.
*****
Foster packed a small bag with an extra change of clothes and a few toiletry items. He felt foolish as he pulled the drawstrings together and slung the bag over his shoulder. The Realm was not a place you packed for. It was nothing like this side of the veil. He thought about Nadia and said a silent prayer for her safety, and her sanity. He hoped she wasn’t too afraid. He shut his door quietly and stood at the top of the stairs listening for the others. He didn’t want them to know what he was planning to do. It was forbidden for a person of mixed race to enter the realm alone before their twenty-one. Even after that, certain races, the ones considered more dangerous, were only allowed to enter accompanied by a member of the Fae or Sidhe. A member of the Sidhe currently ruled the Realm with an iron fist. Foster wasn’t sure why any other race would be considered more dangerous than one of the Sidhe. They were as cold and ruthless as they were beautiful.
Foster walked silently down the steps and peered on either side of the open staircase as soon as he was far enough to see into the living room and dining area. He would just have to hope no one was lurking in the kitchen area or near the glass doors. The rooms were dark except for the flickering lights of a few dying candles. His mother loved candlelight and would burn several tall ones in the massive fireplace when it was too warm to light a fire.
Foster tip toed to the front door and turned the knob. A voice spoke from the darkened kitchen; the words velvet and steel.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Stefan. He was the uncle from the abyss, who only showed up in emergencies, and who appeared out of what seemed like thin air if a fight was brewing. He constantly itched for a fight. Yet, Foster could not completely dislike him. He was the only member of his father’s family that kept contact after he married a mixed breed of the Fae.
Foster turned slowly and allowed his shoulders to slump in what appeared to be defeat. It was the same with a pack of wolves. Always show submission to an Alpha. “Stefan. Good to see you.”
His uncle stepped forward and lit a cigarette. The light illuminated his features for just a moment and Foster was surprised to see the lines of age beginning to show. Stefan was only ten mortal years older than his own father. Would Darren show age soon as well?
Stefan slowly moved his hand back and forth, putting the match out. “You aren’t really glad to see me, now are you?”
“I prefer you don’t meddle in this. I assume Darren or Father called you.”
“You assume correctly. It was your father. He called two days ago.”
“Why? There is nothing wrong here.”
Stefan regarded him coolly. “Right. You broke the rules, Foster. It has caused quite a bit to be wrong.” He let the last word drip from his lips like poison. “No one from any of the ancient races can become involved with a mortal. You know this.”
Foster felt the anger rising again. Alpha or no alpha; he was tired of these games. “That’s funny, because I thought that your kind depended on the involvement of mortals. It would be like some kind of Euthanasia to deny yourselves that.”
Stefan laughed out loud. “We are supposed to reproduce with other Nephilim, but alas sometimes mortal women are just too much for us,” he said giving Foster a sly look, “and sometimes the Fae as well.”
Foster wanted nothing more at that moment than to stab his uncle to death. Instead he calmly replied, “Exactly when is the Council’s posse going to lynch Darren?”
He snickered and reached out to slap Foster on the shoulder. “Darren only messed up locally once. It’s ancient history.”
“Where’s everyone at?”
Stefan opened the front door and flicked the butt of his cigarette outside. “The barn.”
“Mother too?”
Stefan nodded and Foster dropped his bag, bouncing out the front door and down the front steps before he could be stopped. Foster ignored his uncle’s protests and kept walking. Stefan took several long strides and walked behind him. The barn was lit by several oil burning lanterns, even though there was electricity wired to it, and that only meant one thing; several high members of the Fae were present inside.
Foster pushed the door open enough to allow his body to move through. The barn was no ordinary barn. Looks could be deceiving, and to any mortal it would appear just a dusty place, with a broke down tractor and an old dried up cow. They would even perceive to see two ordinary horses and a few chickens. In reality, with help of Glamour, it was a pristinely kept place with many strong animals including two spirit horses. The far end of the structure was the meeting hall. Part of the way Foster’s father had earned his place back within the Nephilim ranks was performing certain unsavory tasks for hire and being the bearer of the meeting hall. A meeting hall must be pr
esent so close to a Realm Door.
As he approached the hall, all eyes turned to look at him. He stopped halfway and announced in the most authoritative voice he could muster.
“I wish to enter the Realm.”
*****
Nadia’s head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds and the constant throbbing caused her to wish for sleep again. The room she was in was almost completely in darkness. She lifted herself tentatively on one elbow and winced at the increased pain in her head. A wave of nausea caused her to lie back on the make shift bed she was laying on. She touched the sides of it with her fingers and it felt like some like of woven straw or thick grass. There was a pillow under her head and to her amazement it felt as cool as if it had of been in a refrigerator. The door to the little room opened and a shaft of light cut across her face, causing Nadia to throw an arm over her eyes.
“Here.” A rough voice said.
Nadia slowly lowered her arm and blinked at the person standing over her. His features were non-descript since he was standing in front of the light, but she could tell he was tall, impossibly tall.
Where are all of these tall men coming from? She sighed and tried to sit up. The man bent before her and helped her lean against the wall. He tried to put something in her hand.
“What is it?”
“It will help the pain in your head.” He placed what felt like a leaf in her hand and set a small wooden cup of water beside her. He stood and walked out of the room without another word, but he left the door partly open so she could see. Nadia squinted at the little leaf. Another wave of nausea went through her and she shrugged placing the leaf of her tongue. She chewed it up and swallowed. It really didn’t have much taste at all. The water from the wooden cup, on the other hand, was the best water she had ever tasted. Completely cool and slightly sweet, Nadia was disappointed how quickly she drained the cup dry. She turned the cup up several times hoping to find just one more drop, before finally tossing it aside in frustration. She wanted to stand and see what was on the other side of the door, but her mind was becoming fuzzier. The edges of her vision blurred, and before she could have time to consider what may have been in that sweet water, she was asleep on the straw mat once again.