Perfidious

by P. T. McKenzie

  “She shouldn’t be a half-breed! She needs to choose which she is.”

  My breath caught in my lungs.

  “No! You want her to be something she isn’t. Elisia isn’t one or the other. She is both. And she’s found friends, humans and half-breeds, that accept her. You can’t ground her from Perfidious. I have kept my mouth shut for too long, but I hate what that place has done to you.”

  Silence hung in the air.

  “What place, Riley?” Dad’s voice was eerily neutral as he spoke to Mom. “And choose your words carefully, because if you’re talking about the Council, then—”

  “Then what?” Mom was yelling now. “I don’t like what they’ve done to you. Ever since you started there, you’ve changed. You’re not the elf I married or had Elisia with.”

  I heard footsteps toward my parents’ room. Another pair quickly followed. I stood up, ready to make my way to my bed in case they realized I was awake and listening.

  “You better not be coming to this room,” Mom stated.

  “What do you mean?”

  “This is my room. I can’t handle another night of you waiting around until you think I’m asleep to sneak out and run back to the castle. Either leave now or wait on the couch.” Mom slammed her bedroom door.

  Dad stood there for a long time, and I was frozen where I was. My parents never really fought, but it wasn’t like Dad was ever home for them to have the time to. It kinda made me happy to know that Mom tried to understand me. She didn’t know everything going on, but she was right. I was both.

  My chest ached. Why did my father think I needed to be one or the other? Was he really letting the Council change his view of half-breeds?

  Finally, he moved. I heard him pack up his things and exit through the back door. I tiptoed to my window to watch him stomp into the forest.

  I stepped away from the window, ignoring the thoughts scrambling around my head, and looked at the clock. In dim blue letters, it read 12:34. I made my way to the small closet in the living room, quietly grabbed ibuprofen and an ACE bandage, and wrapped it around my hand.

  Even though people would be able to tell it was swollen, they’d believe I sprained it without asking too many questions.

  Well…as long as no one saw it.

  The next morning, I woke to Mom making breakfast. She had peanut butter toast sitting on the table for me, so I plopped in a chair to eat, stopping mid-bite as Mom sat down next to me.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you,” I said, grabbing a hold of her hand to show her how guilty I felt.

  Mom shook her head. “Your father and I talked last night. Don’t feel bad for hanging out with your friends. I just want you to tell me something, and I want you to be honest.”

  I nodded. She took a deep breath. It seemed like she didn’t actually want the truth to what she was about to ask.

  “Are you going places you shouldn’t? Places that are dangerous in Perfidious?”

  I wasn’t going to lie to her. The fight she had with Dad the night before was probably still on her mind.

  “I travelled up to Gross Peak yesterday. It's up on the mountain cliffs. It's further than I should have gone, but I made sure I was with a group. We stayed together and made sure we were safe.”

  “Why?”

  “It was for a friend. I was worried that if I didn’t go with him, he would’ve tried to go himself. He would have ended up dead if he did.”

  Mom’s eyes widened. “I think you know better than to let others influence you, Elisia. You know the rules. You're not allowed to go farther into Perfidious then Coalfell. That’s what we agreed upon. It's not safe for someone like you.”

  That was the problem.

  It’d never be safe unless something changed.

  I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times to tell her what I wanted to, but nothing came out. Instead, I stood up from the table.

  “I need to get to school. I’m not hungry anymore.”

  I walked past her. My hand ached, and I moved the long sleeve so that it covered the bandage. With one last glance to Mom, I left the house.

  I jogged to school and got to Math class before I surfaced from my thoughts. Greyson wasn’t at the desk next to mine, and he wasn’t in his usual one at the front either.

  Where was he?

  I wanted to text him, to check in with him, but Mrs. Walker barked at me to take my seat.

  I kept looking for Greyson for the rest of the day, but he wasn’t at school. If I didn’t see him in gym class, I needed to stop by his house to make sure he was okay.

  I turned the corner to the locker room just as the creaking janitor door opened next to me.

  An arm shot out of the darkness, pulling me inside.

  My brain processed everything too slowly for me to react. The person closed the door and put his finger to his lips. I exhaled in relief, seeing who it was.

  But I still wanted to slap him.

  “Greyson? Why did you—"

  He grabbed my left forearm and held my bandaged arm up into the light. I had to tighten my mouth shut to stop from yelping in pain.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you broke something?”

  “I didn’t want you to worry about it.” I cradled my hand close to my chest.

  Why is he so upset?

  “Unwrap it. Kalvin taught me something last night.”

  I hesitated and made a mental note to hit Kalvin the next time I saw him.

  “Elisia,” he pleaded, “trust me.”

  I begrudgingly unwrapped the bandage. Even though he hadn’t seen it yet, he didn’t even flinch at the sight of my broken, battered hand.

  He gently placed his palms below and on top of the bruising, watching his hands with intense concentration.

  Nothing happened.

  What is he trying to do?

  I waited impatiently. Gradually, a shiny green light began to glow between us, illuminating most of the small room. A warmth started to spread from my fingers down to my wrist, continuously heating until it felt like fire on my skin. I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from screeching. Each bone popped back into place with a painful snap.

  The green light faded, and the purple coloring vanished from my skin.

  Greyson wavered on his feet as his eyes struggled to stay open. I held my arms out to steady him before he fell against the wall of toiletries.

  “Greyson.” I scanned him for any physical injury. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded, sweat dripping down his face. “Bones are a lot different from healing a cut. Kalvin came up to my house late last night after your father left. He told me about your hand. He also told me about a fairy who lives in the village with the power to heal. Apparently, Kalvin went to her and asked her to write an explanation of how it works. He cut his arm a few times so I could practice, but healing you took more out of me than I thought it would.”

  I looked down at my hand, opening and closing it repeatedly, in awe at the lack of pain. I had never been healed before. It differed from my quickened healing, but the result felt like I never broke it.

  The bell sounded from the hallway.

  “Well, thanks. Now, come on,” I said, helping him up and letting him lean on me for support. “Let’s get you to the nurse. She’ll have something to help you recover.”

  14

  Greyson took small steps to the nurse’s office, but he never stopped or hesitated. Sweat seeped through his shirt, sticking to me. I tried to not think about how much it could have cost him.

  His eyes glazed over as we hobbled into the clinic. I helped lower him into a chair and made sure he was okay before making my way to Ms. Needham’s office.

  I’d known Ms. Needham almost all of my life. She was a human doctor who lived in the village to take care of half-breeds but moved to the high school upon my father’s request. He wanted to have someone he trusted close to me in case something happened. She responded to house-calls after school and on weekends.

  H
owever, since most monsters don’t get sick like humans did, Ms. Needham mostly dealt with injuries and overexertion of abilities—which could be deadly but usually only in cases with extreme exhaustion.

  I knocked on her office door next to the clinic. The door was slightly ajar, revealing a filing cabinet and a bookcase on the left that only held a few books. The door creaked as I entered.

  “Ms. Needham?” I asked.

  An older woman sat at the desk in the middle. Her white coat brought out the white in her usually blonde hair. She looked up from an excessive amount of papers.

  “Oh, hello, Elisia. Is something wrong?”

  I closed the door behind me to avoid human ears. “Well, I was in Perfidious, as usual, haha.” I forced a smile, but her arched eyebrow told me she wasn’t buying it. “Um, and I provoked a monster. I ended up breaking my hand. Bad. Like it was shattered in multiple places.”

  I shivered at the thought.

  Her eyes widened as she scanned both of my hands. Not finding an injury, she raised her eyebrows.

  I grinned. “You know Greyson, the one in my grade, football player, right?”

  “Um, I do. Your father told me he was a half-breed as well. Did something happen to you or him?” Ms. Needham questioned.

  I nodded. “Well, he’s part fairy. He healed my hand, but it was too much for him to handle. He jumped from healing cuts to shattered bones.”

  She frowned and grabbed her bag with her herbal treatments and equipment meant for half-breeds and monsters only. I followed her out of her office to where Greyson was sitting. The clinic felt small because of the curtain blocking off the three beds in the back. Ms. Needham grabbed her stool and rolled over to check him out.

  “Sorry, Ms. Needham. I know I just saw you a couple weeks ago for a bump on the head, but I think I hit my head a little too hard this time,” Greyson said, trying to make up an excuse.

  Ms. Needham laughed. “I didn’t know that you could hit your head that hard by healing a broken hand.”

  Greyson looked from Ms. Needham to me and back again.

  “Ms. Needham is human, but she’s studied half-breed and monster anatomy. She’s helped me with more injuries than I can count,” I explained.

  Greyson nodded and let her check him out.

  She checked all of his vitals—pulse, pupil dilation—and listened to his lungs. Greyson put up with it, but he looked like he just wanted to sleep.

  I played with my fingernails. Then, I started to pace.

  She had question after question, but she wasn’t telling us if he’d be okay. Or if there was really something wrong with him. After all, we did fall from a cliff.

  I shook my head. Of course, I was overthinking. I just needed to let Ms. Needham do her job.

  Finally, she stood up and turned to me.

  I stopped pacing.

  “He’ll be fine. It wasn’t smart, and he needs to learn to start slow.” She turned to Greyson as she pulled a small vial out of her bag containing a liquid I knew all too well. “Take this. It’s disgusting, but keep it down. Once you drink it all, you will need to sleep. Take the bed all the way in the back. I have to go help someone in Perfidious at 3:30, so I need to leave around 3:00. I’ll give Elisia a key so she can come wake you up when she gets out of class.”

  Greyson nodded and got up to walk back to the bed.

  “I’ll write you both a pass.”

  I followed Greyson as Ms. Needham disappeared into her office. He smelled the container and immediately removed it from his face. I giggled under my breath as Greyson brought it to his lips, finishing it with a look of disgust.

  “How’s it taste?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  Ms. Needham’s concoctions never tasted good.

  He coughed. “Like she mixed feet, dirty football gear, and—strangely—lime.”

  “Yeah. I had to take something to speed up my healing process more than a couple times.” I laughed more as I took a step back towards the door. “Well, I have to go to class. I’ll be back later. Sleep well.”

  I turned to leave but was pulled back. Greyson's firm grip encased my wrist as he examined my hand.

  “Wait, how’s your hand?” Greyson asked, looking me straight in the eye.

  “Good as new. But you shouldn’t worry about that.” I said, annoyed that he was still worried about me. He was the one in the nurse’s office. “Now, unless you want me to knock you out. Go. To. Sleep.” I pushed his chest softly with my newly healed hand so he would get the hint.

  Greyson's eyes were so full of warmth as he spoke. “Thanks, Elisia. I’m glad I could help you.”

  I made sure he laid on the bed and closed his eyes before I left the room. Ms. Needham was waiting outside the door. She handed me the pass with a Cheshire grin. I rolled my eyes.

  In the locker room, I quickly changed and made my way into the gym. My usual team sat on the sidelines, Noah anxiously bouncing his knee. His gaze shifted and fell on me, his leg freezing.

  I needed to talk to him about Greyson, but first, I handed the gym teacher, Mr. Post, our notes from Ms. Needham.

  Noah walked up to me as Mr. Post blew the whistle for the teams to switch. I wanted to talk to Noah, so I made everyone get into a huddle.

  “Change of tactics, Anthony and Kyle, take forward and go for the goal. Ryan, play half court. Make sure nothing gets past you. Noah and I will play defense and goalie. We don’t have Greyson today, so let’s just make sure they don’t get a goal,” I commanded, and everyone got fired up.

  The puck started on our side of the court, but once Anthony got it into offense, he moved around everywhere, trying to get an opening.

  “So, where is he?” Noah asked me.

  “Did Kalvin come visit you last night?” I countered from the goal.

  “Yeah, Greyson said Kalvin wanted to talk to him about something, and then I went back to sleep. Why?”

  “Long story short, Kalvin taught him how to heal because he is part fairy. He healed my shattered hand and has to rest in the nurse’s office. I have a key to get him out later.”

  The puck slid past Noah. I smashed the bottom of my stick on top of the puck. It stopped dead. Angling the puck down the court, I passed it to Anthony. He easily got it and aimed for a goal.

  “Isn’t that dangerous though?” Noah asked.

  I forgot he was unaware that Ms. Needham knew. The concept of needing to explain everything twice was frustrating me.

  “No. Ms. Needham knows about Perfidious and how to treat us. She is human, but she…Ugh, it's complicated. Just know Greyson is fine and resting.”

  “So why does he have to rest that much if Kalvin taught him how to do it?” Noah asked.

  “Noah. You don’t need to worry about Greyson. He’s one of us now. We’ll take care of him.”

  I was a little surprised to hear our gym teacher blow the whistle. Our team scored just as the final bell rang. Noah and I stayed behind to put the nets away. After the last person cleared the gym, we were finally able to talk.

  It was probably a good thing that I had that time to cool down. I hated being interrogated, which was exactly how Noah was making me feel.

  “You really trust them?” Noah started exactly where we left off, but it confused me what he meant.

  “Who?” I asked.

  “The Elders.” He waited for an answer.

  I gave him a confused look.

  He huffed. “Well, I don’t. I only met them once, and they didn’t care one bit about finding out who he was. They just put all of their responsibilities on you. In the last few days, Greyson—I guess and me—have gone through a lot. Now Greyson is talking about some heir stuff and wanting to see what the Elders say about it. We should protect him, not put him in front of a crowd with a target on his back. And it won’t be humans after him. It will be monsters. Monsters, Elisia! How long do you think we can protect him from that kind of threat?”

  I didn’t know what to say. Noah was right. I only nodded to
show him I understood where he was coming from. It was all I could do. I watched Noah throw his hands up and stomp away.

  Honestly, I never thought it would happen in my lifetime. According to Noah, Greyson really believed he was the king’s heir. It would be dangerous, but if Greyson was the heir, I knew I would follow him.

  15

  I grabbed my stuff from the locker room. All I wanted to do was go home and take a long, hot shower. I pulled the door open to see Greyson leaning against the wall on the other end of the hallway. He should’ve still been sleeping in the nurse’s office.

  I took long strides up to him as he waved to a couple swooning girls down the hall.

  “You should still be in bed. How are you feeling?” I asked, looking him over. He wasn’t pale, and he seemed to be able to hold himself upright.

  He gave me a big smirk. “I feel great. I woke up early. Ms. Needham checked me out and said I was good to go.”

  I stared at him.

  He scratched the back of his head. “She said my healing abilities might be more enhanced than she’s seen, which would explain why I woke up early.”

  “Okay…well,” I said slowly, still shocked that he was awake. “I’m glad you're feeling better.”

  Greyson stood up straighter. “I’ve been thinking about something, and I need to ask you a question.”

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  Greyson opened his mouth to speak, but someone yelled his name.

  “Greyson!” Noah stood down the hall, waving. “Let’s go. We gotta get to practice.”

  Greyson nodded. “One sec. I’ve gotta talk to Elisia about something.”

  “No,” Noah shook his head and quickly made his way to us. “Coach hates it when we’re late, right? So, let’s go.”

  Noah started to drag him away.

  Greyson looked back at me one more time. He gave me a sad smile. “Catch you later, Elisia.”

  I walked home and went straight to the bathroom. The shower ran cold as I turned it on. While it warmed up, I found some comfy sweats and a t-shirt. On my way back to the bathroom, I saw a note on my bed from Mom. Probably a list of chores.