Starlight

by Mac Flynn

  "I'll try to watch my hopping this time," I assured her.

  I walked up to the unicorn and grabbed another handful of her mane. The steed watched me out of the corner of her eye as I tested my hopping first, and then pushed off from the ground. I held back much of my strength and landed neatly on the steed's back. The unicorn stood and I proudly sat tall atop her. She trotted around the island a few turns. The feel of her smooth motions beneath me made me feel like I was one with her body.

  I laughed, and the sound echoed around the area. "This is amazing!"

  Muir watched me from afar and smiled. "She is, isn't she? I just hope we can keep that monster's hands off her."

  The unicorn jerked to a stop and faced the culvert through which we'd come. I leaned forward over her neck and peered into the darkness. "What's wrong, old girl?" I asked her.

  Something glistened in the darkness, and then my collar activated. The vicious jolts of electricity raced through my body, and I felt the strands of energy travel through the hairs of the unicorn's mane and into the beast. The horned steed reared up and gave a horrific cry that echoed off the walls. She bucked and reared, but my convulsing hands gripped the mane too tight for her to throw me. Muir raced around us with her arms outstretched to catch its mane, but she couldn't get close to the terrified beast.

  I lost my balance on her smooth back and tumbled off the left side. My glasses flew off my head and landed with a splash in the water. The unicorn collapsed onto the island on her right side and lay still on the sand. My body was wracked with pain, but it was a familiar pain. Muir hurried to the unicorn's side, but didn't touch the beast. It still breathed, but it was a shallow, unconscious act.

  I managed to raise myself onto my arms and look to the culvert. Fox stepped out from the shadows. In one hand was another of his cuff link buttons, and in the other was his tranquilizer gun. His eyes fell on me and he wore that half-smile of his.

  "I didn't think my plan would work out this well, but you never cease to surprise me," he commented.

  I clenched my teeth. "What are you talking about?"

  Fox stuffed the cuff button into his pocket and smiled at me. "It's quite simple, really. Your collar has a tracking device installed so I allowed you to be led by Muir to the unicorn. Our research into the hair I gave you showed it had amazing electrical conductor capabilities. When I activated your collar with my spare cuff link the electricity traveled from your body to that of the unicorn's."

  "You tricked me!" I snarled.

  "If I had brought you in on my plan you might have refused to cooperate, and I couldn't take that risk. Now if you will excuse me-" Fox pulled out a bridle identical to the one Muir had taken from him and walked towards the unicorn.

  Muir climbed to her feet and spun around to face Fox. She held her arms out on either side of her and glared at him. "Ya can't touch her with yer filthy hands!"

  "On the contrary. I can," he argued. "You see, the principle of its main defense works only while the unicorn is conscious. Unfortunately, unicorns never sleeps, but my theory that it could be knocked unconscious has been proven correct."

  "I won't let ya defile her with yer filth!" Muir growled.

  "I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter," Fox argued. He raised his stun gun.

  "Watch out!" I cried out.

  Fox pulled the trigger and a dart lodged itself into one of Muir's arms. She clutched her arm and dropped to her knees before she collapsed onto her side. Fox tucked the gun into his overcoat and strode over to the unicorn. He knelt and lifted the nose of the beast to fit the bridle.

  I tried to stand, but my shaking legs wouldn't support me. "You can't do this!"

  "I have once before. There's no reason I can't repeat the process," he pointed out.

  I couldn't let this happen. I couldn't be like Muir and live with the guilt of having helped trapped the animal. I narrowed my eyes and one of my hands grasped the sand. Hair sprouted from my body and my gloves tore open as my hands lengthened into full claws. My shoes broke apart and my clothes changed to rags as my muscles expanded. I was only half-transformed into my werewolf self, but that was enough for what I needed to do.

  I climbed to my clawed feet and lunged at him. Fox turned around and reached for his tranquilizer gun, but I knocked him to the ground a few feet from the unicorn. I planted my hands on his shoulders and stuck my short, half-formed snout into his face. My touching him meant jolts of electricity raced through my body, but I gritted my teeth and bared the pain. The air crackled with the electricity from my collar. My instincts told me to rid myself of this monster, but I wouldn't become one to get rid of one. I turned to the beautiful creature near us.

  "Get up! You have to get up!" I yelled at her.

  The unicorn's eyes fluttered open. Fox wedged his foot between us and against my chest. He kicked me off him and stood. I somersaulted and landed on my feet so that I was able to kick off from the soft sand. My shoulder slammed into his chest and we tumbled off the sand into the water.

  Fox and I forgot that water was a good conductor, but we were reminded when my collar reactivated during our brief contact. The electricity spread through the water, shocking Fox in the process. He cried out and collapsed onto his knees in the water.

  I stood close by him and looked to the island. The unicorn shakily stood to its feet and whinnied.

  I waved my hand at it. "Get out of here! Go!" I ordered the majestic beast.

  The unicorn turned and galloped down one of the culverts. The echo of its clattering hooves soon faded away. I breathed a sigh of relief that was stifled by a gasp.

  Fox had shot me with a tranquilizer. I felt the puncture and looked down to see the dart sticking out of my abdomen. With my long nails I plucked it out of me, but my head grew woozy. I stumbled to the island and collapsed face-first into the sand. My body reverted back to my human form. The last vision I had was of Fox sloshing towards me and him taking off his overcoat.

  5

  The next thing I knew was being pulled from a seat and tucked against a soft, warm chest. I opened my eyes and saw I was being carried across the helicopter pad atop Fox's castle. The arms holding me belonged to the owner himself. His overcoat was draped over my partially nude body. I shivered at the feel of my cold, damp clothes against my bare flesh.

  Emery met us at the door leading inside. "I assume the night did not go as planned," he commented.

  "Not quite," Fox replied as he brushed past Emery and through the doorway into the castle.

  We soon arrived at my gloomy chambers where he set me on the bed. I was conscious enough to move my head, but the rest of my body was too weak from the tranquilizer and the electro-shock punishment to move.

  Fox stepped back and frowned at me. Emery soon joined him at his side and glanced at his employer. "Will you go again this night, sir?"

  Fox shook his head. "No. We can safely assume the monocerotem won't make another appearance tonight."

  "I see. Should I tell the workers to build a temporary cell?" his assistant suggested.

  Fox closed his eyes and should his head. "No, but we should increase the strength of the collar's electrical charge."

  Emery bowed his head. "I will get right on it, sir."

  Fox didn't reply. He took one last long look at me, and turned and left the room. Emery watched him leave, and when the door was shut he stepped over to the bed. He pulled out a small tablet from his suit jacket and pressed a few buttons. I heard a faint humming noise emanate from the collar as its computer processes changed themselves to suit the wishes of my captor.

  "Will it kill me?" I croaked.

  Emery kept typing on his tablet keyboard. "If Mr. Fox wished for your death we would not be having this conversation."

  I snorted. "I must really be in the doghouse now. I let another of his pets get away."

  Emery paused and looked over the top of the tablet at me. "What exactly happened?"

  "Didn't you learn everything from this stupid collar?" I
retorted.

  "We did not expect the unicorn to be below ground, so the feed has limited range beneath the surface," he told me.

  My narrowed eyes flickered to the tablet. "So is that what you're changing now?"

  "Along with increasing the effectiveness of the shock," he added.

  I turned my head away. "Then fuck off. If you want to know what happened ask your boss."

  "I will read his report in good time, but it is better to have multiple eyewitness reports," he pointed out.

  I pursed my lips. "Did you know about his plan to use me to find the unicorn?"

  "I did."

  "Then we don't have anything else to say to each other," I returned.

  "As you wish," he replied. The soft noises in my collar ceased. "If you need nothing else than I will take my leave of you."

  "Do I care?" I growled. I heard Emery walk away. The door opened. "Wait." I turned my head towards him. He stood in the doorway but faced me. "Why are there always dead flies around the unicorn?"

  Emery used one finger to press his glasses against his face. "A very interesting question, and one we haven't been able to decipher. Our studies have indicated the dead flies appear when the unicorn itself disappears, and the cause of death is a broken neck, but how and why that happens remains a mystery."

  I turned away from him. "Thanks. I guess."

  "My pleasure." The door clicked shut.

  I waited for his footsteps to fade away before forced myself into a seated position against the pillows. I ran a hand through my hair. "Dead flies, disappearing unicorns, a scary homeless woman. This is just insane. . ." I muttered. I shook my head, dropped my arm to my side, and looked around myself. "And now what do I do?"

  A whole night left to myself, and I was stuck in this room. Or was I? I hadn't heard any ca-chink of a lock at the door. I swung my legs over the bed and tested their strength. They could hold me, but I wouldn't be doing any more Olympic running that night.

  There was another problem. My clothes were ripped to shreds. All I had was Fox's coat.

  "Beggars can't be choosers. . ." I quietly scolded myself as I slipped my arms into the sleeves and hopped off the bed.

  The black overcoat dragged a half a foot along the floor and the sleeves covered my hands. I grabbed the excess hem at the bottom and crept over to the door. One test of the knob told me it was unlocked.

  I opened the door and peeked out. The hall was empty. I never once imagined I was free to escape, not with the silver accessory around my neck, but maybe I could find a way to escape if I ever got the damned collar off me.

  I slipped into the hall and quietly shut the door behind me. The dim lights didn't hurt my uncovered eyes as I tiptoed down the corridor in the opposite direction of the gymnasium. Gray stone walls and shut wooden doors greeted me. Each door I tried was locked until I crept down a flight of stairs. I must have been on a side hall from the main entrance because I didn't see a front door, but down the passage I noticed a glimmer of light stretch out into the hall. A door was open.

  I slid up to the doorway and peeked inside. My eyes widened as I beheld a large, two-floor library. Bookshelves covered the walls from top to bottom except for a large stained-glass window opposite the entrance. The glass showed a scene of knights in armor riding horses, and a woman beside the lead knight. An old man with a white beard and flowing robes was positioned behind the leader of the metal warriors. Latin words covered the border of the scene.

  A large, old desk stood in front of the window, and a comfortable leather chair between the window and desk. The second floor had a wide balcony that was accessed via a pair of winding staircases situated on either side of the glass window. I slipped inside to the center of the room and tilted my head back to look at the countless volumes of knowledge. There must have been tens of thousands of books in that lofty space. There was even a few of those thin ladders that slid on tracks along the bookshelves.

  A wide grin stretched across my lips. I tiptoed up to one of the ladders, grabbed the sides and looked around. The room was empty except for me. There would be no witnesses. I placed one foot onto the lowest rung and kept the other on the ground. My strength was diminished, but I still had a lot of push in my step. I leaned down and pushed off with my grounded foot.

  The ladder flew down its track. It traveled in an unbroken path for forty feet until I saw the end coming at the fiftieth. I slammed my foot on the brake which involved me digging my bare-foot into the floor. That slowed my momentum, but the smooth floor wasn't much of a brake. The ladder hit its end and I toppled to the left and onto the floor. My shoulder hit the stone ground hard. I rolled onto my back and rubbed my bruised appendage.

  "Smart move, Gwen. . ." I mumbled.

  "Can I be of assistance?" a voice spoke up. I tilted my head back and noticed that Emery stood in the doorway.

  I jumped up and wrapped the overcoat close against me. "I'm fine. Super werewolf person, remember?"

  "Even a werewolf can be killed," he pointed out as he strode into the room. I noticed there was a book tucked under his arm.

  "Right now that's probably the only way I'm going to get out from under your boss' thumb," I commented.

  He stopped a few feet in front of me. "That would be a most unfortunate waste of a life," he returned.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Why should you care? You work for him because you want to. In my book that makes you almost as bad as him."

  "I will take that as a compliment."

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't. It wasn't meant to be."

  Emery pressed his glasses against the bridge of his nose. "I will admit Mr. Fox is a very focused individual."

  I snorted. "Yeah, focused on capturing myths and legends like they were Pokemon."

  He readjusted the book under his arm. "That aside, Mr. Fox has instructed me to inform you that you may have your run of the castle so long as you do not attempt to leave."

  I tugged on my collar. "Not likely to happen, is it?"

  "No, I suppose not, but Mr. Fox does wish for your stay with us to be generally pleasant," he told me.

  I crossed my arms across my chest and glared at him. "As pleasant as it can be for a prisoner? Besides, why should he care if I'm happy or not? It's not like I can complain on an employee survey."

  "Contrary to what you believe, Mr. Fox holds a certain regard for you," he replied.

  I raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right?"

  "I never joke," was the bland answer.

  "I can believe that, but what I can't believe is what you're saying," I returned.

  "As you wish. In the meantime, I took the liberty of finding an appropriate book for you to read," Emery told me.

  "What? How To Be A Werewolf In 10 Easy Steps?" I asked him.

  Emery's thin lips cracked a smile. "Not quite." He held out a book.

  The cover was bare, and the binding was old leather. I took it and turned it in over my hands. No writing anywhere, so I opened the cover. The pages were yellowed with great age and made of a thick, rough paper. The language was English, but written in an old hand with ink that started to fade after a few letters. The title was in a bold, thick stroke.

  "Habits of the Monocerotem," I read aloud. My eyes flickered up to Emery's face. "Don't you think I've had enough monocerotem for one night?"

  "You can never have enough knowledge," he returned. He nodded at the book. "Besides, this is the primary source for all of Mr. Fox's knowledge on the unicorn. If you wish to know what he knows then you would do well to study the book."

  I snapped the book shut and jerked my head towards the stained-glass window. "Speaking of knowledge, how about we start by telling me what that's about?"

  Emery half-turned so he faced both me and the glass. "That is a depiction of King Arthur and his knights. As you know Mr. Fox is very fond of the tales and had the glass commissioned prior to building the castle. Much of the library was planned around its installation."

  I raised the book up.
"So is that how he started on his collection?"

  "Yes," Emery replied as he returned his full attention to me. "Mr. Fox has been interested in myths and legends for the greater portion of his life. He has put much effort and a great deal of money into finding the kernel of truth in the stories."

  "I'd say he found a couple of whole cobs," I quipped.

  "A very apt observation. But if you will excuse me, I have some duties to attend to." Emery bowed to me and moved over to the door. He paused and glanced over his shoulder at me. "If you prefer I could have your supper delivered here."

  I shrugged. "Why not?"

  "Very well." He stepped from the room and closed the door behind himself.

  6

  I looked at the cover of the book and opened to the first few pages. The entire book was handwritten in the same flourishing style as the title page. I wandered over to the desk and plopped myself in the leather chair to peruse this strange gift of a book. This was going to take a while to read.

  The book was divided into chapters, but there wasn't an appendix or list of chapters. I leaned back, put my feet on the desk, and flipped through the pages. Most of the text referenced Latin scripts without translating them, so I browsed through the pictures. They were hand-drawn pencil sketches of unicorns. Whoever the author was he had the look right. The unicorn looked exactly like the one I'd seen down to the length of the mane. The only thing missing was the look in her eyes. The artist failed to capture the kind, infinite gaze of that creature.

  I brushed my hand over the picture and sighed. "Looks like you and me are in big trouble. . ." I whispered.

  I jumped when there came a knock on the door. It opened and Emery stepped inside with a tray in his hands. He walked over to me and placed the tray on the desk. There was a plate of bloody meat on the tray. I shut the book and looked over the limited variety.

  "The chef must love me. All he has to do is thaw some meat and slap it on a plate," I commented.

  Emery bowed his head. "I aim to serve."

  I raised an eyebrow. "What's that mean."

  "It means I handle all of Mr. Fox's cooking, and yours as well," Emery admitted.

  I fell back into my chair and tilted my head to one side to study him. "What don't you do around here?"