by S. J. West
“Hang on, Lilly. I love you,” he said, filled with a new hope and sense of purpose.
He quickly vanished from my mind. The effort it had taken to project the image must have been great. I felt so tired. I just wanted to rest. I let the darkness overcome me and help me find some peace.
I wasn’t sure what was happening to me. I’d been locked inside my dark prison for so long it was a shock to my system when I finally did see light again. I slowly opened my eyes and quickly shut them.
“Turn that dang light off,” I heard Tara say. “It’s bothering her eyes.”
When I tried to open my eyes again, the first person I saw was Brand. He was looking at me expectantly through his tired grey eyes.
“Hey,” I said not being able to get much else out of my throat it was so dry.
“Have her drink some more of this,” I heard a strange male voice say. I looked to see who it was and saw a tall black man dressed in a dark blue suit and tie standing by Brand hand him one of those nondescript beige plastic hospital cups with a straw in it.
“Drink this, my love,” Brand said placing the straw in my mouth. “It’ll make you feel better.”
The liquid inside the cup was sweet, almost like drinking sugar water. After I’d drained it of its contents, Brand handed the cup back to the stranger.
“What happened?” I asked, finally finding my voice.
“You were poisoned,” Brand explained. “Malik was able to make the cure and save your life.”
I turned my attention to the tall black man again. I could only assume he was Malik. He was a nice looking man, in an odd way. His hair was cropped short and his ears stuck out a bit far from his head but it didn’t detract from his handsome features too much. He had an open, friendly face which was only accentuated by his smile.
“I’m just glad Brand figured out what was happening before it was too late,” Malik said with sincere humbleness.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “It was just a bee sting.”
“It wasn’t an ordinary bee,” Brand replied. I saw his jaw muscles tense, a sure sign he was trying very hard to keep his anger in check in front of me. “Don’t worry about it right now. We’re handling it.”
“You need to get as much rest as you can,” Malik advised me. “The effects of the poison will take at least a day to completely go away.”
“How long was I in a coma?” I asked.
“Two weeks,” Brand told me.
“Where are Will and Malcolm?”
“They’re doing something for us. They’ll be here when they can,” Brand said in a controlled tone which told me he was deliberately hiding something from me.
“So what are we gonna tell the doctors?” Tara asked, looking at Malik for an answer. “They were pretty much telling us to make funeral arrangements just a few hours ago. How we gonna explain a full recovery?”
Tara was always the practical one when it came to explaining the surreal world I found myself in to the real world around us.
“They’ll just think it was a miracle,” Malik told her. “As long as Lilly’s healthy, they won’t worry about it too much. They didn’t understand what was wrong in the first place. Most likely they’ll just assume whatever poison was running through her system made its way out.”
“Well, I better go get Grandma and Lilly’s mom,” Tara said. “It was hard enough to convince them to leave her long enough for you to work your voodoo on her.”
“I’ll go with you,” Malik quickly volunteered.
Tara seemed surprised by his offer but didn’t tell him to stay behind. She turned to me and said, “We’ll be back. Just be prepared for a lot of crying. You had us all worried, girl.” Tara kissed me on the cheek and went to the door. I saw Malik open it for her and let her go out before him.
I looked at Brand and saw how much the past two weeks had drained him emotionally. His face was paler than usual and his eyes were haunted by the real possibility he had to face of losing me again.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Why should you be sorry?” He asked, completely unprepared for my apology.
“All I seem to do is cause you and everyone else a lot of pain. Maybe you should have just let me go.”
“Don’t say that,” he said with such vehemence it made me flinch. “I don’t ever want to hear you say that again. Do you understand me?”
I couldn’t say anything.
“You just don’t understand,” he said running an agitated hand through his hair. “None of us would be the same without you in our lives. Don’t ever say you’d rather be dead. If you had died, a piece of all them would have died with you.” He looked at me. I wanted to erase the pain I had placed on his face. “And it would completely destroy me, Lilly.”
How could I have said such a selfish, thoughtless thing to him after everything he must have gone through the past few days? I immediately felt ashamed for my moment of self-pity.
“Forgive me,” I said, putting my hand on his arm. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“I’ll forgive you if you promise to never say or even think like that again.”
“I promise.”
He leaned down and gently kissed me on the lips. He touched his forehead to mine and just sat there with his eyes closed, content to just be near me.
The door to my room opened and I saw Utha Mae and my mom come in. Brand left my bedside to allow them some time with me. I saw him walk over to Malik and say something. Malik nodded and left the room.
Tara had been right. Utha Mae and my mom ended up crying as soon as they saw I was awake. Brand stayed in the background keeping a watchful eye on me. A little while later, Malik came back into the room and said something to Brand. Brand nodded but never took his eyes off of me. Malik took a seat in the corner obviously wanting to be out of the way of my family reunion.
I did, however, notice his eyes follow Tara wherever she went. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Yes, from what I knew he had been the one who saved my life but other than that I didn’t know anything else about him. After the fiasco that was Simon, I intended to make sure Malik’s intentions were honorable, if indeed he had romantic designs toward my best friend.
A little while later the team of doctors assigned to my case came into the room and hovered over me pondering what had caused my miraculous recovery. Having no clue what had cured me since they were never able to figure out why I was sick in the first place, they did what Malik said they would and basically agreed that whatever had been in my system was now out.
Utha Mae and my mom decided to leave about an hour later. Apparently they had been staying with me in my hospital room a lot since my arrival and both wanted to spend a night in their own beds for the first time in two weeks. I encouraged them both to go home. Malik and Tara escorted Utha Mae down to her car. Before she left, my mom picked up my left hand lightly touching the ring on my finger.
“When did this happen?” She asked.
“Not long before I got sick.”
“When do you plan to get married?”
“After I’m out of school.”
“I see,” she put my hand back on the bed. “Well, you get some rest and call me if you need anything.”
She turned from me and I thought she was going to leave the room but she walked over to Brand first.
“Take care of her,” she told him and gave him a motherly hug.
After she left, Brand came and sat down beside me on my bed.
“She took that better than I thought she would,” I said.
“Your mother loves you,” Brand said. “I know she hasn’t always shown you that in the past the best way possible, but you shouldn’t doubt her love for you. I think she just wants to see you happy. Like we all do.”
“What did Malik tell you earlier, when he came back into the room?”
“He told me Malcolm and Will caught the person who poisoned you.”
“Who was it?”
He paused as if he wasn’t
sure he wanted me to know, but he finally said, “Izzi.”
“Izzi? Why would she want to kill me?”
How had I made Izzi mad enough to want me dead? I’d only met her maybe three times in my life.
“I’m not sure yet,” Brand answered. “But I intend to find out.” The menace in his voice worried me.
“How are you going to do that?”
“Malik can force her to tell us the truth.”
“How?”
“Do you remember me telling you Izzi was a fairy?”
“Yes.” It was the night I went to Brand and declared my love for him. I’d asked him about his relationship with Izzi and discovered it had all been a ruse to make me mad enough to forget about him.
“Malik is her leader. I guess you could say he’s the king of the fairies. She’s supposed to answer anything he asks her truthfully. But if she doesn’t, I’ll know.”
“I don’t understand. How did she poison me with a bee?”
“Fairies are shape shifters. They’re all born with the ability to shift into one particular animal. When you showed me the yellow jacket, I knew it had been Izzi who poisoned you.”
“Is that like a skill of hers? The poison she put inside me?”
“No, she used a mixture of poisonous plants and coated her stinger with it. They’re practically untraceable since they can only be found deep inside the Amazon. Fairies know a lot about nature. They protect nature when they can and use it when it’s advantageous to them. That’s one reason why they like to be naked whenever they can. It’s a more natural state. After you showed me it was her, I went to Malik to ask for his help. When I told him what your symptoms were he had me take him to the Amazon to find the antidote. Though, involving Malik is going to change both of your lives I’m afraid.”
“In a good or bad way?” I asked hesitantly.
Brand smiled. It was the first true smile I had seen on his face since I woke up.
“Depends on how you look at it, I suppose. When a fairy saves a human life, they become that human’s godparent.”
“So, what, Malik’s like my fairy godfather now?”
“Basically, yes. He’s going to be in your life a lot from this day forward. Fairies are very particular about how their charges are treated and looked after.”
“How old is he?”
“Mid-twenties I think. Why?”
“He’s not like you then? He won’t live forever?”
“No, fairies have life spans similar to humans now. There aren’t any pureblooded fairies left in the world. Most fairies live to be a hundred or a little over that but not much.”
“Do they have powers?”
“Only the ability to shapeshift. Their knowledge of plants and animals is passed down from generation to generation. They’re skilled at making potions but not much else.”
“Can I be there when you ask Izzi why she tried to kill me?”
“Why would you want to see her again?”
“I want to know why she did it, and I want her to tell me herself.”
Brand was hesitant to honor my request but he finally said, “If that is what you want.”
Chapter 7
The doctor’s reentered my room before Tara and Malik made it back from escorting Utha Mae to her car. They requested I stay in the hospital for a couple more days for further observation. I didn’t want them to be any more suspicious than they already were about my recovery, so I agreed to stay and let them run their tests. Brand stayed close by my side while they talked with us. I began to wonder if he would ever feel comfortable leaving me alone again. It seemed like every time he did something bad happened to me. Heck, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to leave me alone either.
Tara and Malik came back to my room after the doctor’s left and told me Utha Mae and my mom planned to visit again the next day to check on me.
“What day is it anyway?” I asked having no concept of time anymore.
“It’s Sunday,” Tara answered.
“They’re going to kick me out of school,” I moaned, leaning my head back on my pillow staring at the white tiled ceiling above my head. “And Dr. Barry is going to fire me.”
“Girl, you worry too much,” Tara sat down on the side of my bed. “I’ll go get your assignments from your teachers tomorrow. They know you were in the hospital. And don’t worry about Dr. Barry.” The confident smile on Tara’s face had me intrigued.
“Why? Did something happen to her?”
“Oh, I had Malcolm go talk to her for you. From what he said, she’d pretty much do anything he asked her to. So keeping your job isn’t something you need to worry about.”
Poor Dr. Barry, she had already been slightly infatuated with Malcolm even before meeting him. After being exposed to him, I was sure she thought herself head over heels in love with my friend now. I would need to make sure Malcolm didn’t go see her again. It wasn’t fair to use his power of attraction in such a selfish way.
“I need to head back to Washington to make some arrangements,” Malik said to us. “But I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I couldn’t help but notice his eyes were more on Tara than Brand and I when he said this.
“Would you mind taking me home? I’d like to get things taken care of quickly,” Malik said to Brand.
“Of course,” Brand reluctantly left my side and put his hand on Malik’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back,” he said to me before they vanished.
“So what’s the story with Malik?” Tara asked. “He just sort of showed up and took over.”
“He’s my fairy godfather,” I said feeling a little silly saying it out loud. They were words I never could have imagined coming out of my mouth.
Tara’s eyes widened. “You mean he’s gay? Girl, that figures. Why do so many good looking men end up liking other men?”
I couldn’t help but giggle. “No, Malik’s not gay as far as I know. I mean he’s literally my fairy godfather.”
Tara looked completely confused and I couldn’t blame her, I wasn’t all that confident I understood what it meant either.
“You mean like in Disney movies?” Tara questioned. “He’s not going to be dancing around with a wand singing Bippity Boppity Boo is he?”
“No,” I laughed. “At least I hope that’s not how it works.”
Brand reappeared in the same spot he phased from and seemed pleasantly surprised to return to a laughing me.
“What’s so funny?” he asked coming to reclaim his seat on the other side of my bed.
“I was just telling Tara that Malik is my fairy godfather.”
“He’s going to tell his firm that he’s moving to Lakewood,” Brand informed me.
“What type of work does he do?”
“He works for a private law firm. They handle environmental policies and things like that. He said it didn’t really matter where his home was. He may have to make trips up to Washington D.C every once in a while but that would be about it. He mostly works from home anyway.”
“So he’s completely changing his life because of me?” I asked, wondering how many people I would end up affecting in some way. “When is he supposed to come back?” I asked.
“In a couple of days when you’re allowed to go home,” Brand answered.
“When can we talk with Izzi? I want to know why she tried to kill me.”
“We’ll need to wait until you’re out of here since you want to be with us when we ask her.”
Unexpectedly, Malcolm and Will walked through the door to my room. Brand and Tara gave up their positions beside me so my two other fallen angel friends could give me hugs.
“Dearest,” Malcolm said in an admonishing tone. “You really need to stop having these near death experiences. I’m not sure I can handle them anymore.” He sat beside me holding one of my hands.
“I’ll see what I can do about that,” I said squeezing his hand, trying to reassure him that I was feeling better.
“Where is she?” Brand asked Will, who was standing o
n the other side of my bed. Will handed Brand what looked like a small metal box.
“She waited until the last possible second to change,” Will said.
Brand put the box in one of his pant’s pockets.
It took me a minute to understand what they were talking about.
“Is Izzi in the box?” I asked.
“Yes,” Brand answered, trying to keep his emotions hidden, but I could see the anger simmering behind his grey eyes. “Fairies have to change into their animal form once a day for at least a few minutes or they lose the ability to shape shift. Malcolm and Will waited until Izzi had to change and then they trapped her.”
“Why doesn’t she just change back into her human form?” I asked. Surely she could just bust out of her small prison that way.
“It’s an iron box,” Will told me, coming to stand on my left side once again. “It’s like poison to fairies. She won’t be able to change back until we let her out.”
“Then why don’t we just open it up now?” I asked. “I want to know why she did this to me.”
“It was hard enough to catch her the first time, dearest,” Malcolm said. “We’ll have to do it at my house. The room I built for Sebastian to stay in at night has no openings for her to use as an escape. She can’t simply change into the bee and run away from us there. It’s where we’ve been holding her until she needed to shape shift again.”
“Shape shift?” Tara asked. “What are y’all talking about?”
Brand explained to Tara about the shape shifting ability of fairies.
“What’s Malik turn into?” she asked.
“I think it’s a black cat of some sort,” Brand answered. “But you would have to ask him to confirm that. I don’t know Malik all that well, to be honest. We’ve never spent much time together.”