The Portal to Sidhe: Book 1

by Kelsey Schaeffer

  After the Doctor left, I tried to sleep, but I was so worried about my family and friends, my mind wouldn’t stop racing. My grandmother sat on the floor nearby my cot and wouldn't leave my side. As I tried to rest, the storm raged on as thunder was booming through the walls. I hoped everyone was safe.

  Finally at some point, exhaustion took over and I fell asleep. I didn’t sleep long; I quickly awoke when I heard the safe door slam, and I heard yelling from the other room. I shot up from my sleep, still feeling sick to my stomach.

  I jumped out of bed with the IV still attached to my arm. I left the supply closet and went into the main room. When I left, my exhausted grandmother was fast asleep with her head rested on my cot. As I looked around, chaos was rampant. My dad was running around yelling orders, while blood covered bodies’ lay on the floor. Some of the bodies were screaming in pain, but some weren’t moving at all. I looked around trying to recognize the injured.

  Finally I recognized one of the bodies. Damon was lying on the ground not moving. I tore the IV from my arm and quickly ran to his side. I felt sick, but I did everything I could to hold back my vomiting.

  “Damon! Damon!” I screamed as I shook him, he didn’t move. “Help, someone help!”

  My dad came running to my side. “You shouldn't be a part of this! Healing chant!” he said as he placed his hands on Damon’s shoulders. I placed my hands on Damon’s heart and the two of us began to chant. We chanted over and over again trying to restore my best friend.

  In the midst of our chant, I felt sick and couldn’t hold back any longer. I stood up and ran to the storage closet and vomited in the bucket. As soon as I stopped throwing up, my grandmother sat wide-awake. She gasped when she saw I was covered in blood.

  “It isn’t me!” I cried, “Please Grandma, please help Damon.” My grandma nodded her head and ran out of the closet. I knew my grandmother couldn’t do much, as she wasn’t supernatural, but she could help bandage his wounds and stop the bleeding.

  As soon as I finished throwing up, I wiped my mouth and headed back to the main room. I returned to Damon and saw that my grandmother was looking for wounds while my dad chanted.

  “I am not seeing anything major,” my grandmother said, “a few scratches and lots of bruising. I think it’s internal.”

  “We have to chant to heal him or he’ll die!” I screamed. “Help! Someone please!” I felt tears in my eyes, as Damon was not moving.

  My grandmother went to help the others, but Brandon was soon by our side and helping us chant. As we chanted, I could see he had tears in his eyes. As we tried to restore Damon, Brandon chanted through tears and wiped them away with his blood-covered hands. I wondered why Brandon was so upset as blood stained tears rolled down his cheeks.

  After what seemed like hours, Damon slowly moved his arm and his face twitched. He was coming back to consciousness; I knew he would be okay.

  The three of us stood up and began looking around to see who needed help. I looked at Brandon and saw he was crying and his hands were shaking. I looked at him and said, “Brandon, what’s wrong?”

  As he wiped tears from his eyes he said, “She’s gone. They killed her. She has no pulse. I tried to heal her, but she’s gone.” He was talking about Maria.

  My father embraced him and said, “Brandon, go to your children. I can handle this.”

  As chaos continued, I felt sick once more, but this time I felt weak as well. I continued looking around the room to see who needed help. As I looked around, I felt dizzy and began to wobble. I could see my father was talking to me, but I didn’t know what he was saying. I stared at him for just a moment as the room around me began to blur. Then all went black.

  When I opened my eyes, I was back in the storage closet still covered in Damon’s blood. I was lying on the cot and my grandpa Hamilton was sitting next to me this time.

  “You need to rest,” My grandfather scowled. “I know you want to help the others, but you need to take care of your son first.”

  I nodded my head; I knew I overdid it. But what happened? I needed to know.

  “Grandpa, what happened? Who else is hurt? Maria...is dead. What about everyone else?”

  “I don’t know much. Your dad sent me in here to look after you. He’s helping the others and so is the Doctor. You need to try and sip on water and eat. Right now there is nothing you can do for anyone else, you need to take care of you.” I nodded my head and felt tears falling from my eyes. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be

  The generator buzzed on through the day, keeping the electricity going as the storm continued beating down outside. The sound of thunder boomed through the walls as I tried to rest as much as possible, but I had little sleep since I had returned to earth. After what seemed like hours, my father finally came into the storage closet and dismissed my grandfather.

  My father looked grim as he took a seat next to my cot. He reached out and held my hand, then he began to speak, “We were able to defeat them,” he said. “There were several vampires and a few fairies.” My father stopped to take a deep breath, “They were difficult to defeat and without the ice fairy’s magic, they would have killed us all.”

  My eyes widened in fear and I said, “Maria? Brandon said she didn't make it.”

  My dad shook his head and pounded his fist into the ground. “We don’t know what happened. The vampires were coming at us, and their fairies were attacking us with their magic—throwing flames and bursts of energy.” He sighed, “Our fairies were able to hold protection spells over most of us...but they had to keep protection over themselves as well.”

  My dad shook his head again and took a deep breath in as he continued, “The Queen’s fairies were able to break through some of our fairies protection. They made it through Maria’s protection and threw a burst of energy at her. They made it through Damon and Mark’s protection as well, but the two of them survived...we healed them both. Maria must have been hit hard.”

  My father stopped for a moment as he wiped his brow and shook his head. “I tried to get to her...the vampires wouldn’t stop attacking me. Jewl and Loxes were the only two that could take them out...and if it wasn’t for protection magic...I think we’d all be dead.”

  “Dad…” I said as I took his bruised hand. I could see tears in his eyes as his face turned red. Brandon was one of his best friends and he cared deeply for Maria. “I’m sorry Dad.”

  “Jewl and Loxes took most of them out, but a few of them went back through the portal.” He wiped his eyes and changed the subject for a moment, “It’s storming bad outside. This is probably the best spot for us anyway.” Then he went back to Maria, “Nathen and Virgo are taking care of Maria’s body. We’re going to have a memorial for her tonight down here.”

  I nodded my head and continued grasping his swollen hand.

  “Those poor children...I’m going to take over as King for now until you’re well again. I can’t put this burden on Brandon right now.” He said in a tone of distress. He was quiet for a few moments, and then he said, “Sophia and Michael went to get more supplies. They’re trying to get more medical supplies for you and the others. We might be down here for awhile, so we’re trying to stock up while we can. My guess is the Queen will send more after us.”

  “I hope Sophia and Michael are okay,” I said as I rubbed my father’s hand.

  The town remained in the safe house while we planned a mission to Sidhe. There was a lot to plan and consider for our trip to the other world. As the weeks went by, it continued to storm daily, the tornado sirens went off multiple times and we heard wind beating through the layers of the safe house structure.

  About once a week, my father sent a group out to gather supplies. Each time the groups came back, they told us how destructive the weather was growing. They said several of the homes had obtained roof damage and many had broken windows. We were all lucky to have the safe house, which could withstand almost any storm.

  As we waited, we had to conserve energy as much a
s possible. We had been running on the generator for weeks, but at some point the generator would shut down. We stocked up on batteries and flashlights and tried to use only those for light. The gatherer’s brought back games, books and a few comforts of home to keep us occupied while we were trapped in the safe house.

  As the weather continued to grow worse, I assumed the Queen’s sister was killed the night I portaled back to Earth. Although the fairy of order was trapped in a dungeon unable to practice magic, her life force was enough to prevent total chaos on Earth. If she were dead, there would only be chaos left until Desmorelda was killed. The terrible storms were only the first step of chaos, which would lead to the end.

  As I assumed the Queen’s sister was dead, I wondered if anyone else was still alive. It was gut wrenching going through each day wondering if Ben and the others were dead or alive. I missed Ben profoundly, and the only thing keeping me going each day was imagining returning to Sidhe to find everyone still alive.

  When I was awake, I let my mind travel to happy places in a world that didn’t exist. I dreamed of walking arm-in-arm with my father down the aisle of our small town chapel. Ben was standing at the end of the aisle with the biggest smile on his face. My mother, aunt and friends were standing in their seats, wiping tears of happiness away from their eyes as they smiled at the sight. Sometimes my dress was made of silk and sometimes it was made of lace. I could only hope and dream of the day Ben and I would be united again. He would be a wonderful husband and a wonderful father to our son.

  At night, I hardly slept as the dark brought terror to my peace. As my mind went black, my head was flooded with horrible dreams of Ben’s death. The Queen would throw flames at Ben, ripping apart his flesh and sending blood flying into the wall. Sometimes the Queen tore out his heart, shoving it into her mouth as blood dripped down her face.

  Each nightmare, I awoke in a puddle of sweat, screaming in terror. My heart pounded as Damon or my father ran to my side to comfort me back to sleep. Some nights the terrors seemed so real, it was as if Ben was reaching for my help. The doctor was concerned by my lack of sleep and emotional state, but because I was pregnant, there was little he could do. When things were bad enough, Damon used his magic to help sedate me and nudge me into a peaceful sleep.

  As the weeks turned to months, my son continued to grow and my sickness was tapering away, but my nightmares continued on. Dr. Glintin took several ultrasounds, ensuring my son was doing well. He had a strong heartbeat and Dr. Glintin said he was growing just as he should. I was grateful for my son’s safety, but I longed for Ben through each ultrasound. I watched our son move around, even suck his thumb and wave his little arms around.

  The weather never changed. Almost daily, we could hear rain, thunder and wind howling from the walls outside the safe house. My father continued sending volunteers to gather supplies each month. Each time they returned, they told us the status of the weather and the town. According to the volunteers, yards were flooded with water, tornados had torn apart many of the homes and the only untouched structure was the mansion.

  The electricity had been out for months and much of the town was destroyed. Despite the weather, we felt lucky the volunteers never encountered the Queen’s minions again. Our town remained in the safe house to protect us from the weather and the threat of the Queen’s minions.

  As my due date grew closer, the town had made the safe house livable and functional. The supplies had been moved out of the supply closet and set up in a corner of the main room. Dr. Glintin turned the supply closet into an infirmary where he would not only take care of my prenatal needs, but offer the others medical attention. I would likely be delivering my son in the supply closet.

  Sheets and shower curtains dangled throughout the safe house to create make shift homes for individual families. Hand-drawn signs marked each home as our town dwelled within the safe house. My father and the other three council members gave everyone duties to keep the safe house running efficiently. We had the gatherers as well as people who cleaned, people who prepared food and those who watched the children.

  The council and I spent most days trying to keep order in the small safe house and come up with a plan for our next steps. Although I was Queen, my father and the counsel were an enormous help in running the town. As we continued planning our trip to Sidhe, we needed to recruit more fairies to help us open a giant portal. We would need to send several beings to Sidhe to kill the Queen, and it would take colossal amounts of magic to open a portal big enough for our needs.

  Unfortunately, finding fairies would require some of the town members to leave. It was decided that Florence and Ayden would travel to Canada to search out the nomad ice fairies. After the storms, we lost all phone service and had no access to technology. Even if we had use of modern communications, the nomad ice fairies did not use it, and the only way to reach them would be in person. Mark and Dave volunteered to travel with the fairies for their protection. Once the fairies returned and my son was born, we would open a Portal and send a large team to kill the Queen and rescue the others.

  Florence and Ayden took off for Canada only a month and a half before my due date. While we waited for the Fairies to return, the council began to put a plan together for our trip to Sidhe. My grandparents and some of the other older town members would stay behind to watch over the children.

  Brandon would be staying behind as well. After Maria’s death, he was having a hard time dealing with the pain from his loss and was not doing mentally well. On top of dealing with his own pain, he had two little girls who lost their mother. Most days Brandon spent lying in his bunk and keeping to himself. His children were just as melancholy, but my father tried to care for them and keep them distracted. It was difficult watching their family so torn apart each day.

  The warriors, vampires, and several volunteers, would be traveling to Sidhe. Half the fairies would be traveling with us and the other half would stay at Pine Lake to use their protection magic to keep the elders and children safe. I would be traveling to Sidhe with the others, while leaving my son at the safe house with my grandparents and the fairies. Our group was the only hope. If we did not survive the mission and kill the Queen, it was unlikely earth could survive the Queen’s chaos.

  Loxes gave the elders the location to his old home far up north. If we didn’t return in one month, the reminder of the town would hide out in Loxes forest home under the protection of the Fairies. The entire plan was risky and terrifying, but we had no other option. We had to kill the Queen, or life on earth would eventually end.

  I was finally eight months pregnant and only a few weeks away from the birth of my child. Florence and Ayden were still on their journey to find the nomads. The warriors were training the volunteers to fight, and Loxes was training them to use weapons. The fairies were meditating and strengthening their magic. We were preparing for a battle that was only a short time away.

  One day I was in the supply closet with Dr. Glintin; he was checking my vitals. The closet was lit with a soft glow of a lantern nearby to preserve the generator. The doctor was taking my blood pressure, when suddenly the buzzing of the generator stopped. Dr. Glintin and I looked at one another with a confused look on our face. Dr. Glintin stood up and flicked the light switch on. Nothing. I felt a bit panicked. The generator had gone out. Our electricity was gone.

  Dr. Glintin quickly finished my checkup and the two of us headed out to the main room. Everyone seemed to be in a panic as the electric was completely gone. My father and Sophia were checking the panels on the wall, while others looked at one another in confusion.

  Finally my father spoke up, “I’m sorry everyone, the generator is empty. We made it last as long as possible, but I’m afraid that means no more electricity.”

  Everyone began to gasp and speak out at once, but my father continued on, “The failsafe system generates enough electricity to keep the veneration system, sewage and water running. We can survive…but it’s going to be rough. We are going to
be without heat and warm water—”

  “We can’t go on like this!” someone in the crowd yelled.

  “We need to leave, go somewhere safe,” someone else yelled.

  “Everyone, please…please, just listen,” my father said calmly. “We have to stay here until the fairies return, and my grandson is born. It isn’t safe to leave yet. We just have to wait it out a little longer.”

  My father settled everyone down, but no one seemed assured. Being indoors we wouldn’t freeze, but it would get cold very soon. After the gatherer’s last trip to town, they told us it was snowing profusely and there was blizzard like weather drawing in.

  My dad called for a team of volunteers to gather more blankets, food, lanterns, coats, gloves and anything that could keep us warm. The volunteers bundled up and began heading to the safe house door. Just as they were about to open the door, we heard several loud crashes from outside.

  “Wait!” my dad cried.

  Everyone stopped and looked at him for direction, but before he could say anything else, I felt a sharp pain in my side. With each breath I took, it felt as if a knife was gouging into my stomach.

  “Ouuuuuuch!” I screamed as I bent over, grabbing my stomach in pain.

  Chapter 20

  The pain was so bad I couldn’t stand up straight and the world around me was revolving. As I bent over in agony, I could hear my dad shouting out orders, but I couldn’t concentrate on the words he was saying. Moments after I howled out in pain, Dr. Glintin and Damon were by my side. Damon held me steady as I wobbled in anguish. Seconds later, my dad jogged over to my side and lifted me from the ground.

  “What’s wrong?” my dad asked as he carried me to the supply closet. Damon and the doctor followed behind.

  “I don’t know” I panted, as I struggled to breath, “...everything was fine, then I had a sharp pain.” I grasped my stomach, as I felt dizzy and sick. “It’s so bad Dad. I’m in so much pain. I can’t breath”