by M. C. Cairns
"I'm ready." Her mother and father were both waiting for her when she stepped out of the bathroom. She held out her arms and raised her eyebrows, asking what they thought of how she looked.
"Who is this grown woman and where is my little girl?" her father teased as he hugged her. "I can't believe you are sixteen. You look so grown up."
Her mother alternated between smiling and wiping tears from her eyes as she snapped photos of them with her phone. "You do look stunning, Alayna, and I could take pictures all night, but we are running late. Grab your shawl and let's get going."
They made it to the street just in time to catch the last cab sitting outside the hotel and were at the restaurant in ten minutes. A variety of well-dressed people were milling around on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant when they arrived. Alayna had only seen this many fancy dresses in one place before, and high school prom didn't count as a high society event. She watched in amazement as women in long sequined dresses and men in tailored suits discussed art pieces that were displayed on the sidewalk. As she waited for her father to return from informing the hostess they had arrived, she noticed a large group of people surrounding one of the displays. She inched closer, trying to see what they were looking at, but, at five-foot two, she wasn't tall enough to see over the sea of people.
The hostess stepped outside and called out, "Calhoun, party of two. Calhoun."
The Calhouns must have been at the front of the crowd. An opening formed as a couple that looked to be in their sixties made their way through. As they passed, Alayna took the opportunity to get closer, stepping into the opening and looking toward the center of the crowd. At first, she didn't see anything, but then a young boy moved just enough for her to see what was getting so much attention - her watercolor painting. And standing next to it, dressed in the same flannel shirt and torn black jeans, was the girl with the black hair.
10
The Closet
A
LAYNA STARTED TOWARD THE GIRL, intent on getting answers to her questions. Before she could take two steps, her mother grabbed her arm and hurried her toward the door.
"They called our name. We have to get to our table or they will seat someone else there," her mother said.
"Mom. No. Wait." Alayna tried to pull free, but her mother was not loosening her grip. "Mom, you don't understand. I have to talk to her."
Her mother slipped her arm in the crook of Alayna’s arm and leaned toward her. "What I understand is how hard this reservation was to get, and I am not going to miss out on a nice family dinner because someone who happened to slightly resemble your painting is making a scene."
"Slightly resemble? Mom, did you see her?" She paused for a minute as the hostess showed them their table. Once she was seated, she leaned over to her mother and spoke again. "She is the girl from my painting. She doesn't just look like her, she is exactly what I saw in my dream."
"Don't be silly, dear. It only seems that way because she had the same kind of clothes on." She patted Alayna’s knee and handed opened her menu for her.
"The same clothes. Not the same kind. The. Same. Clothes. And the same face. She is the same person!" She was getting frustrated with her mother and said the last part a little louder than she meant to. Cheeks pink with embarrassment, she scanned the room to see if anyone heard her. She froze as the black-haired girl pointed at her and argued with the hostess. Next to her was a small boy. Alayna recognized him as someone she had seen in the crowd. Earlier she thought he was a little kid, but now that she could see him closer, she realized he was probably about her age or older; however, he was smaller than her and had the same type of build as Ian. She glanced over at her parents, who were discussing which sauce tasted best with rigatoni. She jumped from her chair and hurried to the hostess station before they could stop her.
Putting her hand on the hostess’s arm, Alayna smiled sweetly. "Excuse me, ma'am. These are my friends, they are here to eat with me."
The girl with the flannel shirt froze mid-sentence and waited for the hostess to respond.
"I understand, miss, but we have a dress code here and neither of your friends meets that code. They would be welcome to join you if they were appropriately dressed." The hostess forced a smile.
"Oh, you don't understand. I am one of the artists debuting my art in your restaurant tonight. Surely you could make an exception just this once?" Alayna almost didn't recognize her own voice. She had never been able to speak to strangers without stuttering before.
"Well, congratulations Miss, but as I stated, we have a strict dress code that cannot be broken for any reason."
"Is there somewhere we could go to talk?" The girl from her panting had a strong, deep voice.
"I'm sorry, but we can't let you use our facilities unless..."
The boy exaggerated nodding his head. "Yeah, yeah, the dress code. Is there somewhere we could go to change our clothes?" He shushed his friend when she tried to protest. "I am assuming your dress code is black tie?"
Surprised by the sudden change of heart, or maybe simply to keep from making a bigger scene, the hostess nodded and led them to a side room that must have served as an extra storage area. Once the door was shut on the dimly lit room, the quiet was deafening.
"Um, hi, my name is Alayna." She wasn't sure how to start and 'I saw you in my dream' sounded creepy.
"Hi." The other girl narrowed her eyes as she scanned Alayna from head to toe, "I know your name. Mack told me on the way here."
"Mack? That must be you, right?" Alayna pointed at the boy. "Do you know Ian, um, well, I don't know his last name, but you look like, well, you just look like you might know him. Never mind, I'm sure you probably don't know him anyway. It was a stupid question. I talk a lot when I get nervous. Sorry.” She covered her bright red cheeks and turned to the girl. “What’s your name?”
"Brianne. You seem sort of familiar but I thought I would instantly know you. From the looks of that painting outside, you seem to know me already."
Alayna cocked her head to the side. "Why should we know each other?"
Before Brianne could answer, there was a sharp knock at the door. "Are you almost finished in there?" The hostess sounded anxious to be done with them.
"About that," Brianne pointed at the door and whispered to Mack, "what’s the plan here? We don't have any clothes to change into."
"Leave that to me." Mack raised his hands over Brianne's head and began lowering them in front of her. First in front of her face, where her hair went from hanging loosely over her shoulders to being pinned up in an elegant braid. Then, he swept them in front of her body, changing the flannel and jeans into a stunning red evening gown with amber colored crystal accents, and finally, gold high heels. She stood frozen, her mouth open, eyes wide as she stared at the dress.
Brianne found her voice before Alayna did, sputtering, "What...what was that?"
Mack laughed, "Did you think you were the only one with magical powers? You have fire. I have transformation." He snapped his fingers and was instantly wearing a dark gray suit with a black shirt, black tie, shiny black shoes, and a fedora atop his head.
"Why did it take so much more for you to change me?" Brianne narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.
"Oh, that was just for effect. Kinda cool, huh?" Mack smiled big and gave her a thumbs up.
Brianne punched him in the arm and rolled her eyes. "Show off."
Confused and a little scared, Alayna realized she couldn’t speak because she wasn't breathing. Letting out her held breath, she managed a few semi-sentences. "So many questions. No time. Gotta get out of here. Follow me."
She grabbed Brianne's hand and the storage room was instantly swept from view. Instead, she was standing in the place from her painting. She knew it now. She recognized every tree, every rock, every blade of grass. How could she not? She spent almost every day of her life running through the fields, splashing in the water, playing games with her sisters. Their games all had a twist of magic to them, t
hough. When they played freeze tag, she was always 'it,' and Brianne was the 'medic,' so the other girls would run, and Alayna would try to turn them into blocks of ice. If she was successful, the girl could be saved by Brianne, who would melt the ice to free them, but if Alayna froze them all, she won. She smiled, remembering the hours they would play together.
Suddenly, the scene switched again, transporting her and Brianne to a large room with white marble floors, a massive marble staircase that split in the middle about halfway up, then twisted and turned on either side of the room, and a crystal chandelier hanging over them that was roughly the size of Alayna's bedroom. With very little in the way of decoration, and the impeccable white floors, walls, ceilings, curtains, and pretty much every other surface, the room could feel cold and distant, but to Alayna, it felt comfortable and homey. Probably because it was her home.
She ran up the stairs, dragging Brianne with her, taking the split to the left and navigating the twists and turns with ease. As soon as she was on the third floor, she darted to the right, then a left, down the long hallway, and stopped at the next to last door on the right. She only paused a moment before throwing the door open and running to her bed, pulling Brianne down on the pillows with her. She was finally home. She finally felt comfortable in her own skin. Being in that room opened a floodgate in her mind. All the sudden, she knew she was a faerie, she knew Brianne was her sister and they had four other sisters, she knew about her mother and grandmother and what they did to protect them, she knew about her magic and how to use it, and she knew about the prophecy. That's why everything was happening. The prophecy was coming true. The faeries were at war.
She was jerked back to reality when Brianne yanked her hand away. They were standing in the storage room again and Brianne looked more confused than ever. Alayna took a step toward her. "What's wrong, Bree? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Did you see everything I just saw? Every memory? Do you know what is happening?" Brianne’s eyes were wide in disbelief.
"Of course I did. Did you not know yet?" Alayna whirled toward Mack and narrowed her eyes. "You didn't tell her? You brought her to find me without telling her what we are? What we have to do?"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Mack protested. "Ian and I told her together. He knew a lot more than I did, but, yes, she knew you were faeries and about the prophecy."
"Then why do you look so confused?" She asked, turning back to Brianne.
Brianne shrugged and shook her head. "All I knew before is what they told me. I was taking their word for truth. But when you grabbed my hand, it became real. I felt it in my heart and I saw all those memories. I saw your life as a faerie and wasn't just being told about it. How did you do that?"
"I didn't do it. We did. Did they tell you that we exist in perfect harmony with each other?" Alayna searched Brianne’s face.
"Yeah, but I am still not sure what that means,” Brianne admitted.
Alayna smiled. "That’s okay. Simply put, we are two halves of a whole and, although we can exist and function on our own, we are complete when we come together. Think of us as soul mates."
"Ew." Brianne wrinkled her nose.
Mack snorted. "Not like the kind of romantic soul mates you always hear humans talking about. Man, they get so much wrong. Soul mates, or some call them twin souls, are two halves of one spirit who were torn apart and placed into two bodies. Many soul mates spend eternity searching for each other, moving from one body, when it dies, to another, and another, until they find their other half. Most never find each other and choose to settle for a soul they connected with in a previous lifetime. But when they are reunited, everything comes into focus, the power of their opposite energies blending into one perfect energy makes just about anything possible."
Brianne nodded. "Yeah, it’s still not quite clear, but it's good to hear that we can be powerful, since, apparently, it is up to us to save our entire realm. Mack is taking me to see where one of the faerie treasures was kept. Wanna come with us?"
"Was? What happened to the treasures?" Alayna asked Mack.
Mack held up his hand and said, "We really don't have time to talk about it now. If you want to come with us, we can explain on the way. If not, we really need to get going."
"Of course I am going to come with you." Alayna looked surprised that they thought she might not.
"What about your parents? What will they say?" Brianne raised an eyebrow, looking skeptical.
"Honestly? They would say no. And as much as I would love to march back out there and demand to know why they didn't tell me the whole truth when they had the chance, I can't give them the opportunity to stop me. Hand me that roll of paper towels." She grabbed the dry erase marker from the "Cleaning Checklist" clipboard and quickly wrote a note to her parents.
All three of them jumped when the door was flung open and the hostess cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, but I am going to have to escort you out now." She looked up at them and automatically took a step back. "Oh! You were able to change into something acceptable. In that case, please allow me to take you to your table." She turned to leave the room, obviously expecting them to follow, but Alayna grabbed her wrist, stopping her in the doorway.
"We will not be returning to the table. I am sorry for all the trouble we have caused, but could you please give this note to my parents after we leave?"
The hostess sighed and shook her head yes. Seconds later, Alayna, Brianne, and Mack passed by her as they quickly exited the building, every one of them in jeans, flannel shirts, and tennis shoes.
PART THREE
DAGDA'S CAULDRON
11
The Abduction
A
LAYNA'S PARENTS RAN OUT OF THE restaurant as soon as they got her note. They were so distraught that Alayna would have given up their hiding spot in the shadows of an alley if Brianne hadn't pinned her against the brick wall and clapped her hand over her mouth.
"Are you in this or out?" she hissed at Alayna after her parents passed by the alleyway. "If they get a chance to talk to you, it won't be your choice anymore. Is that what you want? Trust me, I would completely understand. I don't want to do this either. The only reason I am here is because they told me that you and the other girls would be in danger if we don't all work together."
"You don't strike me as the sentimental type," Alayna spat back, rubbing the elbow she banged on the wall when Brianne pushed her back. "Why would you care if we are in danger? Especially since you didn't even remember us."
Brianne knew she acted like she didn't care about anything, but that wasn't who she really was. She loved her family and when she found out she had sisters, she knew she couldn't leave them unprotected, no matter how much she hated this faerie war. But she would never tell them that. "How did you? Remember us, I mean. You made that painting before you met me and Mack says that place is in the faerie realm. How did you know?"
Alayna’s scowl softened. "I didn't remember exactly, it was more like a vision. I saw you sitting under a tree in a dream that felt so real I thought I was really there. Between that and..." She paused, staring off into the distance for a moment, then shook her head to break the trance. "Well, I thought the dream, or vision, or whatever you want to call it, was because of the concussion."
"Concussion?" Mack looked over his shoulder at her, but didn't slow down as he led them down yet another alley on their way to the portal.
"Yeah. Let's just say team sports are not my thing. Especially volleyball. Anyway, I thought the concussion was causing hallucinations or something, but now I think maybe it affected the spell they used to wipe my memory and I was having flashbacks."
"That still doesn't explain how you knew exactly what I look like today."
"That's because she's an empath." Mack stopped in the shadow of a large statue in the art park. It was part of a collection that surrounded a pond featuring lit-up fountains set to music.
Brianne and Alayna both spoke at once.
"A what?"
"What is an empath?"
Mack ran his fingers through his hair and tried to explain, "I can't swear that everything I am about to say is true, but, from what I have been told, empaths are affected by the energies of other people. They can feel their emotions, hear their thoughts and perceive them, even from long distances. Some empaths only connect with people within their energy range, but others are connected to specific people. It makes sense that the two of you are connected empathically since you are soul mates. I would bet, Alayna, that you are also connected to other members of your family."
"She can hear my thoughts? And knows what I am feeling? Talk about invasion of privacy." Brianne huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Actually, I can't hear your thoughts unless you allow me to, and anyone who spends more than two minutes with you would be able to read your emotions." Alayna turned her back on Brianne and spoke to Mack. "I think you are right. I remember something about this from our life before. I don’t remember being able to connect with anyone except Bree, but her and I were able to talk to each other with our minds sometimes. Once, she even saw what I was seeing, but I didn’t know how I did it. I think we had just started figuring out how to use it, but mom was worried about us using it for the wrong reasons so she tried to stop us. It was something about reaching out with my mind and finding the right thread, or wavelength, or something like that." She chewed on her nails while she tried to remember.
"I'm so glad the two of you know everything, but try to remember that I am still mostly human. I still don't know how to use my own magic, much less understand how Miss Goody-Two-Shoes uses hers."
"I was wondering about that," Alayna said. "Why didn't you get all of your memories back when I did? Our link should have been enough to open up your mind, too, but only my memories were present."