Keeper of the Keys

by Kodilynn Calhoun

Cancer.

  The word rang unceremoniously in her head as Kai stared at the middle aged, balding doctor. Her hand was gripped tight in her mom’s, their fingers twined together. Mom was sniffling into a Kleenex, but somehow, she’d known. Kaiya had heard her crying for the past few nights now.

  Her stomach dropped slowly in her gut like an anchor as dread consumed her. She blinked back tears, trying to be strong. Cancer? She wasn’t even sixteen… How could she have cancer?

  “How long?” Marley sat beside her, her best friend of going on eight years. She knew Kai was too afraid to ask. Marley had always been the bolder of the two girls and Kai loved her for it. Even as she said it, her head was tipped back just a little, her eyes staring lasers into Dr. Holmes’s chest. Demanding, fierce.

  “A few months. It’s developed so rapidly… I’m sorry.” He didn’t look very apologetic, but that was the least of Kaiya’s worries. No. A few months? It was only the middle of April… The fair didn’t come back until summer. Fade didn’t come back until July. Her heart thudded dully, aching as she leaned against the hospital bed and fought back tears.

  Dr. Holmes and her mother slipped out of the room, talking in low tones, leaving Kai and Marley alone. Marley met her gaze with crystal blue eyes, knowing exactly what Kai was thinking. “You think he knew?” Her voice was husky with unshown emotion.

  “Promise me you’ll wait for me.” Kai repeated Fade’s parting words, words she’d engrained in her memory like an etching on glass. He’d said it with such a solemn sadness. He had to’ve known, but how? How could he know when she hadn’t had any symptoms until just awhile ago?

  “Maybe he was an alien,” Marley said. That’s when Kaiya felt the dam burst; she began to cry and Marley let out a curse, squeezing Kai’s hand. “I’m sorry. Stupid mouth.”

  “I won’t ever see him again,” Kai whispered, letting the tears patter against her fisted hand, dripping down to darken her jeans.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I promised him I’d wait. I promised, Mar…”

  Marley stood up, towering over the hospital bed although she was only five-four. “You promised him, Kaiya. Now you have to stay alive for him, okay? You have to fight for him if he really means that much to you. Fight for him. And fight for me…” When Marley finished, tears glittered in her eyes and Marley never cried.

  So Kaiya fought.

  By July, her health was deteriorating. Her hair had fallen out from the chemo. Her body had grown wan and thin, bones jutting out at sharp angles. She was weak, but she refused to stay in bed, knowing that if she gave up now, she would never make it to the fair. Weeks dragged by, but finally, the carnies came back to town. Marley had gotten her permit and broke the ‘no passengers’ law to take Kai to the fair. They watched the Quintari set up.

  “I have to do this alone.” Kai spoke so boldly that Marley merely blinked and nodded. Kai found the lamp post they had met under, right next to where Fade’s booth was being set up. The mouse game. Then she saw him: coffee-dark hair and high cheekbones and blue violet eyes, eyes that darted back and forth, looking for someone. Looking for her, because when their eyes met, he looked like he’d seen a ghost.

  “Kaiya!” He all but screamed her name and she felt that familiar tug at her heartstrings. She lunged towards him and he threw his lean arms around her and held her tight. She bit back a sob of relief, not sure what to say as he pulled her through the crowd of carnies, into an alley that they’d made out in the year before. Tears sparkled in his eyes as he held her out at arm’s length. His hand brushed the bandanna tied around her smooth head. “I didn’t think you’d make it.”

  “What do you mean?” she whispered.

  “The cancer…”

  “How do you know?”

  “I know a lot more than I should, Kai.” His smile was soft, but almost bitter at the corners. “I never thought I’d see you again. I figured I’d be visiting your grave.” He took a shaky breath, clamping her to his chest again. She held onto him, tightly, because he was her lifeline.

  “I don’t have much longer,” she said, voice muffled by his t-shirt. “I’m sorry.” Then she began to cry, because the emotion lodged in her throat hurt too much to bear without release. “I’m so sorry, Fade…”

  “I can’t lose you.”

  She pulled away, puzzled. “This isn’t something we can change, Fade. I have cancer. I’m dying.”

  “Let me fix you. I can’t let you go again. A year was too long.”

  “Fix me?”

  “I can, you know.” His voice was like a lullaby and she wanted to believe him, really she did. “But if I fix you, you can’t go home.”

  A lump formed in her throat. “Why?”

  “Because you would no longer be human.”

  The world seemed to stop. A hysterical laugh bubbled up her throat and she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle it. He looked confused and nervous, a deer caught in the headlights. “Marley was right. You’re an alien.”

  “I’m Faerie,” he said quickly, his tone hushed. “We’re all Faerie—the whole carnival is. The Quintari are traveling nomads, rogues not from either kingdom. We wear Glamour to appear human and we spend our time entertaining.”

  Her head pounded with disbelief. “Right,” she snorted, turning away so quick that she grew dizzy. She had waited for him! She had waited for him, only to be told this? Here she’d thought she loved him… “Fade—”

  Fade gripped her hands in a desperate attempt to keep her there. “I can prove it! Name someone famous.”

  “Albert Einstein.”

  He shot her a look, but didn’t complain. Instead, he closed his eyes. His form flickered, shimmered, and standing before her was the wizened face of the deceased scientist. She couldn’t help it: she gaped. He quickly changed back, his skin shadowed by the walls of the alley. “Please believe me. I can fix you, Kaiya, but you’d have to become like me.”

  “What about my mom? And Marley?”

  “You couldn’t tell them. Unless you wear Glamour, they wouldn’t be able to see you anyway.”

  “I won’t have anyone…” she whispered, looking down at her hands, pale and bony. Did it matter? In a matter of weeks, she’d be dead. They would bury her six feet under and she’d just be a memory to anyone who’d ever loved her.

  “You’ll have me.” He kissed her gently, then pulled her into his arms, cradling her against him. “You don’t have to decide right now. We’re here all week. I’ll be here, Kai, when you’re ready. Just don’t leave me without saying goodbye, okay?” She could see it took all of his power not to cry as he walked away from her.

  She spent the rest of the week with her family, falling into the usual routine: shopping, dinner, movies with her mom. Marley spent three nights at their house. Kaiya didn’t visit Fade and she didn’t ask Marley to take her back to the fair until Saturday evening. She gave her mom the strongest hug she could muster and went out with Marley. As the rusty car idled at the corner, Kai turned to her friend. “Thanks,” she said, meaning more than just the ride, more than she could ever say. “I’m just going to…say goodbye. I’ll walk home, okay?”

  “No way. I’ll wait for you,” Marley argued.

  Kai smiled. “Alright, but I might be a little late. See you,” she said, feeling a twinge of sadness as she got out of the car and latched the door behind her. Marley chuckled and waved her off. Kai found Fade’s booth as if she were set on autopilot. He looked surprised—and so did his friend, Syrrin, who was leaning against the counter. “Can…we talk?”

  “Of course,” both Fade and Syrrin said in unison. Syrrin hopped over the counter to be behind the booth for the final hours of the fair and Fade took Kai’s hand as they headed for their alley. “I was afraid you’d leave me without saying goodbye,” he admitted softly, his breath hot against her ear.

  “Either way I choose, I have to say goodbye to someone.”

  “So you’ve made your decision?”


  “I don’t want to die, Fade… I’m not even sixteen.” She squeezed her eyes shut. He held her against his chest, rocking her like he might a child. “Besides…” She tugged free of him and touched his face. “I love you…”

  His lips spread into a wide grin. “Come with me.” He led her by the hand to the end of the fair, to the line of trailers parked in an alley. There were many of them, all different colors, some with murals painted on the sides. He opened the door to a baby blue one and she followed him in. It was tiny on the outside, but inside it spread out into a several room mini-mansion with gold and black interior. She passed a mirror on the way to the kitchen and noticed how gaunt she looked.

  Fade rummaged in the refrigerator and brought out a plump, violet-red fruit—or what she guessed to be a fruit. Its skin was thin and silky to the touch and it was considerably light. He pressed it into her hands. “Faerie food. Eat it if you’re sure. I’ll still love you if you decide not to.” His voice was certain, but fear lurked in his eyes.

  She didn’t hesitate; she bit into it. The flesh practically melted in her mouth, a combination of flavors that sizzled her senses. She’d never particularly liked fruit until this one. Juice dripped down her chin as she ate until only a seed remained. Fade smiled and washed the seed off, piercing it with a needle and stringing it with a silver thread. Her mind blurred, the world tilting as he secured the thread around her neck.

  “Fade,” she called out, but sound never left her lips. For a moment, the world went black. When she opened her eyes again, she was still standing but there was no weakness in her knees. Her body didn’t ache and her mind was no longer blurry. She was healthy. Alive.

  She glanced around, catching sight of a stranger hovering over her, a stranger with skin so fair it was almost white, his cheeks dusted with silver glitter, his eyes the purest of amethyst. His hair fell around his face in bright copper waves. He smiled and it was both dazzling and familiar. “Fade…” On his back was a pair of wings, reminiscent of a dragonfly’s. She craned her neck to look and saw that she had wings as well, lacy and buzzing with energy. She found she was curious, but not afraid. It was like this form didn’t believe in fear.

  Fade flitted away, not flying, but not walking either. He brought her a mirror and she gazed in. Her hair was back, tresses of golden blond and when she blinked, amber beads dangled like drops of sunlight against her skin. Her eyes were a rich autumn gold, bolder than they’d been before, and her skin was the color of milk and honey. She touched the seed necklace at her throat.

  “What does it do?”

  His eyes twinkled merrily. “Not a thing. I just thought it was fitting. And…” He touched the seed and she watched as he Glamoured it into a delicate silver key. “Now it’s even more fitting. Kai—keeper of the keys.”

  “What next?”

  “Now I get the daunting task of introducing you to my family. You’re an outsider, so they’ll treat you exactly the same as they treat all the other newbies. But don’t worry.” He winked. “They’ll be eating out of the palm of your hand in no time.” The way he said it made her laugh.

  Fade reached for her hand and her heart skipped a beat. She took it. That made him grin. “You know,” he began as they headed down the steps of the trailer and back towards the lights of the fair. She looked over at him, curious to what he was going to say. “You really are the keeper of the keys, Kaiya.”

  “Oh?”

  He nodded and patted his chest. “You have the key to my heart.” And then he shot her his trademark grin, the grin she’d fallen for the year before.

  She laughed. “Corny.”

  “Get used to it; I only get cornier.”

  As Fade helped pack up the fair, Kai perched on the statue in front of the courthouse, eyes trained on Marley’s car. Her friend waited in silence, as keen as a guard dog, and when the crowd thinned out and the Quintari started to leave, Marley began to scour the streets. Kai, Glamourless, walked up to her and for a moment, Marley hesitated. It was as if she saw her, or felt her presence. Then her gaze clouded over once more and she continued to look. “I’m sorry, Mar,” Kai said softly, but she didn’t feel the gnawing ache that she’d expected. It was as if she knew, deep down, that they’d meet again.

  “Someday…” she whispered to no one.

  Then Fade came up behind her, wrapping both arms around her to hold her snug. “Ready to go, Kai?”

  Her gaze trailed across the streets of her hometown, across the courthouse and the empty store fronts with ‘Closed’ signs hanging in their windows. She turned to Fade, looking into his smiling eyes. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She twined her fingers in his and, with one last look back, they headed for Fade’s trailer.

  By dawn, there was a search party scouring the town for Kaiya Western.

  By dawn, Kai was long gone.

  ###

  About the author: Kodilynn Calhoun is a 23-year-old gal from Indiana. She’s been writing seriously for over 10 years; her first real novel was a 300 page fantasy-monster with little plot and plenty of randomosity. Today, she’s mostly a writer of YA paranormals and is a sucker for a good love story and the fantastic: werewolves, shifters, incubi and gargoyles? You name it, she probably writes it (and hopes you like it)! You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or find her online at https://kodilynncalhoun.com

  Thank you for reading!