by Sophia Gray
Blue Ridge
Vol. 2 – The Search
By Sophia Gray
© 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
And above all – Enjoy!
~Volume Two: The Search~
Dain looked at Foster with narrowed feral eyes. The night air became heavy and hot. It fell on them in a silent, stifling blanket. No one spoke, and Foster tried to shrug off the calming emotion his mother and brother were still forcing on him. He didn’t want it. For once he wanted the pure anger. He wanted the food of hate to sustain him. Nadia was missing. Dain had something to do with it.
“I know you did it.” Foster said through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Dain yelled. He pushed past his father and tried to start the fight again by grabbing for Foster’s shirt. Derrick’s hand grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked him backwards.
“ENOUGH!” Derrick’s black eyes looked deep into Foster’s. He grunted and pushed Dain towards the steps. “Inside! Both of you!”
Foster looked at his mother. “She’s missing. I can’t stand this.”
Julia tried to smooth his sweaty hair from his forehead but Foster jerked his away. She gave a worried glance to Warren, who simply shook his head. The momentary stifling heat began to lift. Crickets resumed their calling and a few fireflies came back into the yard. Julia looked up the steps at Foster and saw the Nephilim in him for the first time ever. She shuddered to think that this tragedy might turn him towards this path. She went up the steps slowly and Warren followed. When they entered the great living room, Dain was seated on the floor and Derrick was leaning with one elbow against the mantle. She scanned the room for Foster and found him standing perfectly still right beside her. Warren led her to the rocking chair by the fireplace and took his usual seat beside her on the hearth.
“Foster, I will hear what happened.”
Foster told his father the entire story from start to finish in a monotone voice that took far more control than any of them knew.
“Had you any reason to fear for her safety before tonight?”
Foster gave him an annoyed glance. “Really, Father?”
Derrick turned a shade darker. “Don’t toy with me, boy. I may not have wanted you breaking rules to see this human, but I certainly wanted no harm to come to her.”
Foster slid his eyes towards Dain. “I think he wanted harm to come to her.”
Dain stretched his legs in front of himself and leaned back on his hands in a lazy pose. “If I wanted to harm her, she would already be dead.” He said with a grin.”
“And you will be dead if anything has happened to her.”
Derrick let out a string of curses in the Old language.
“I knew we were being watched!” Foster yelled. “I was trying to watch her as much as I could! I was too tired tonight and now she is somewhere that I’m not!”
Foster didn’t bother to respond to his father yelling for him to come back. He didn’t acknowledge his mother’s gentle voice. He took the stairs three at a time and slammed the door to his room. He spun around several times looking for something, anything, that he thought could give him a clue as to what to do. He ran both hands through his hair and suddenly froze. Of Course. He closed his eyes momentarily and took a few short steps to the large windows on the far wall. He laid his palms on the cool glass and stared into the forest beyond. Small lights, too large to be fireflies, flitted here and there, just inside the tree line. A soft amber glow was throbbing from somewhere in the middle of the woods. Door of the Realm. It was the full moon. The Door of the Realm was open tonight. Foster leaned his forehead on the glass and let out a shaky sigh. They have taken her into the Realm.
*****
Foster packed a small bag with an extra change of clothes and a few toiletry items. He felt foolish as he pulled the drawstrings together and slung the bag over his shoulder. The Realm was not a place you packed for. It was nothing like this side of the veil. He thought about Nadia and said a silent prayer for her safety, and her sanity. He hoped she wasn’t too afraid. He shut his door quietly and stood at the top of the stairs listening for the others. He didn’t want them to know what he was planning to do. It was forbidden for a person of mixed race to enter the realm alone before their twenty-one. Even after that, certain races, the ones considered more dangerous, were only allowed to enter accompanied by a member of the Fae or Sidhe. A member of the Sidhe currently ruled the Realm with an iron fist. Foster wasn’t sure why any other race would be considered more dangerous than one of the Sidhe. They were as cold and ruthless as they were beautiful.
Foster walked silently down the steps and peered on either side of the open staircase as soon as he was far enough to see into the living room and dining area. He would just have to hope no one was lurking in the kitchen area or near the glass doors. The rooms were dark except for the flickering lights of a few dying candles. His mother loved candlelight and would burn several tall ones in the massive fireplace when it was too warm to light a fire.
Foster tip toed to the front door and turned the knob. A voice spoke from the darkened kitchen; the words velvet and steel.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Stefan. He was the uncle from the abyss, who only showed up in emergencies, and who appeared out of what seemed like thin air if a fight was brewing. He constantly itched for a fight. Yet, Foster could not completely dislike him. He was the only member of his father’s family that kept contact after he married a mixed breed of the Fae.
Foster turned slowly and allowed his shoulders to slump in what appeared to be defeat. It was the same with a pack of wolves. Always show submission to an Alpha. “Stefan. Good to see you.”
His uncle stepped forward and lit a cigarette. The light illuminated his features for just a moment and Foster was surprised to see the lines of age beginning to show. Stefan was only ten mortal years older than his own father. Would Derrick show age soon as well?
Stefan slowly moved his hand back and forth, putting the match out. “You aren’t really glad to see me, now are you?”
“I prefer you don’t meddle in this. I assume Dain or Father called you.”
“You assume correctly. It was your father. He called two days ago.”
“Why? There is nothing wrong here.”
Stefan regarded him coolly. “Right. You broke the rules, Foster. It has caused quite a bit to be wrong.” He let the last word drip from his lips like poison. “No one from any of the ancient races can become involved with a mortal. You know this.”
Foster felt the anger rising again. Alpha or no alpha; he was tired of these games. “That’s funny, because I thought that your kind depended on the involvement of mortals. It would be like some kind of Euthanasia to deny your selves that.”
Stefan laughed out loud. “We are supposed to reproduce with other Nephilim, but alas sometimes mortal women are just too much for us,” he said giving Foster a sly look, “and sometimes the Fae as well.”
Foster wanted nothing more at that moment than to stab his uncle to death. Instead he calmly replied, “Exactly when
is the Council’s posse going to lynch Dain?”
He snickered and reached out to slap Foster on the shoulder. “Dain only messed up locally once. It’s ancient history.”
“Where’s everyone at?”
Stefan opened the front door and flicked the butt of his cigarette outside. “The barn.”
“Mother too?”
Stefan nodded and Foster dropped his bag, bouncing out the front door and down the front steps before he could be stopped. Foster ignored his uncle’s protests and kept walking. Stefan took several long strides and walked behind him. The barn was lit by several oil burning lanterns, even though there was electricity wired to it, and that only meant one thing; several high members of the Fae were present inside.
Foster pushed the door open enough to allow his body to move through. The barn was no ordinary barn. Looks could be deceiving, and to any mortal it would appear just a dusty place, with a broke down tractor and an old dried up cow. They would even perceive to see two ordinary horses and a few chickens. In reality, with help of Glamour, it was a pristinely kept place with many strong animals including two spirit horses. The far end of the structure was the meeting hall. Part of the way Foster’s father had earned his place back within the Nephilim ranks was performing certain unsavory tasks for hire and being the bearer of the meeting hall. A meeting hall must be present so close to a Realm Door.
As he approached the hall, all eyes turned to look at him. He stopped halfway and announced in the most authoritative voice he could muster.
“I wish to enter the Realm.”
*****
Nadia’s head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds and the constant throbbing caused her to wish for sleep again. The room she was in was almost completely in darkness. She lifted herself tentatively on one elbow and winced at the increased pain in her head. A wave of nausea caused her to lay back on the make shift bed she was laying on. She touched the sides of it with her fingers and it felt like some like of woven straw or thick grass. There was a pillow under her head and to her amazement it felt as cool as if it had of been in a refrigerator. The door to the little room opened and a shaft of light cut across her face, causing Nadia to throw an arm over her eyes.
“Here.” A rough voice said.
Nadia slowly lowered her arm and blinked at the person standing over her. His features were non-descript since he was standing in front of the light, but she could tell he was tall, impossibly tall.
Where are all of these tall men coming from? She sighed and tried to sit up. The man bent before her and helped her lean against the wall. He tried to put something in her hand.
“What is it?”
“It will help the pain in your head.” He placed what felt like a leaf in her hand and set a small wooden cup of water beside her. He stood and walked out of the room without another word, but he left the door partly open so she could see. Nadia squinted at the little leaf. Another wave of nausea went through her and she shrugged placing the leaf of her tongue. She chewed it up and swallowed. It really didn’t have much taste at all. The water from the wooden cup, on the other hand, was the best water she had ever tasted. Completely cool and slightly sweet, Nadia was disappointed how quickly she drained the cup dry. She turned the cup up several times hoping to find just one more drop, before finally tossing it aside in frustration. She wanted to stand and see what was on the other side of the door, but her mind was becoming fuzzier. The edges of her vision blurred, and before she could have time to consider what may have been in that sweet water, she was asleep on the straw mat once again.
*****
Foster had never been so audacious to interrupt a meeting within the confines of the barn. His father glared at him from under furrowed brows.
“Foster!” he bellowed, but was cut short by the raised hand of an old man in a long robe. The only thing Foster could think was, My God, they have a wizard out here.
“We will hear him, Derrick.”
Foster stepped forward and swallowed hard. The old man looked at him impassively. An older woman sat beside him dressed in a similar manner. Foster could have sworn she was trying not to smile. He dared a quick glance at his mother and saw that she was doing the same thing.
“I wish to enter the Realm before my twenty-one without accompaniment.”
“What is your reasoning for doing so?”
“I believe the human Nadia James is being held there against her will.”
The man regarded him for a moment. The silence was unbearable. “Who is this mortal to you?”
Foster lowered his eyes and thought better of it, lifting them again. He had nothing to hide. “She is the one I have chosen.”
“You realize this is a violation of conduct?”
“Yes.”
“You realize you could be permanently forbidden from entering the Realm, even after your twenty-one?”
Foster looked at his family, his eyes lingered on Warren who slowly shook his head. “Yes, Sir, I am aware.”
Julia twitched in panic. “Foster, no! You cannot give away your place among your people away!” His mother stood and held out her hands pleadingly. “You have only been there a few times. You have no idea what you would be giving up!”
“No, Mother, you have no idea what I would give up if I don’t go after her.”
No one spoke for several seconds. Foster kept his eyes on his mother then shifted them to his father when Derrick let out a bellow loud enough to wake the dead. “Julia! You act like Fae and Sidhe are the only bloods mingling in that boy!”
Her cool eyes stayed on him as she took her seat once again. “Tell me, Derrick Anak, how much other blood has he displayed before tonight?”
Voices rose in a fever pitch. The older Fae were yelling at Foster’s father. He yelled back. Dain was throwing in his two cents worth, and Stefan stood beside Foster grinning from the pure joy of seeing a fight. Words were being used that Foster couldn’t translate. Things were said that made no sense. Foster sighed loudly and left the barn. Once outside he turned to see Warren and Stefan following him.
“I want the two of you baby sitters to leave me alone!” Foster stopped and glared at them.
“I won’t let you go alone.” Warren’s young face looked at Foster with a resolve that he rarely had guts to display.
“You are even younger than I am! Do you want to lose your place too?”
“I’m not the one in love with a mortal. What are they going to do?”
Foster turned his eyes to Stefan. “Well?”
He laughed out loud. Stefan laughed more than any Nephilim that Foster had ever heard of. Warren regarded him cautiously out of the corner of his eye. “I’m certainly not in love with a mortal either!”
“Your kind is absolutely forbidden without a guide.”
“Yeah? So what? Let’s get going before their party breaks up.” He said indicating the barn with his thumb.
Foster didn’t like this arrangement, but he didn’t like the idea of going alone any better. All he knew was that Nadia was in there somewhere and he was going to bring her home.
*****
Nadia awoke to music playing. It was a melancholy sound made by some type of flute or maybe a clarinet. She had never paid attention in music class. Her head felt better and the waves of nausea were gone, only to be replaced by an intense hunger and thirst. She stood slowly and knew that the strength had returned to her legs. She tiptoed to the door and peeked outside. The room beyond looked like it was carved out of some kind of huge tree. It was completely round and in the middle sat a person of some kind. He had his back to her and was indeed playing a flute. Nadia wasn’t sure what to do. She straightened herself and stepped into the room clearing her throat. The music stopped and the person twisted their body to look at her. It wasn’t a man, but a girl, a girl that appeared to be no older than herself. Her hair was short and auburn; and stuck out in every direction possible.
“You better get back in there before Garth comes back.” She said in a
sing song voice. It was sweet and innocent sounding.
“Who’s Garth?”
She sighed and turned back around, positioning the flute back to her lips.
“Can I have something to drink?”
The girl mumbled and set her flute on the floor of hard packed dirt. Nadia was mesmerized by her as she stood. Her movements were more graceful than anything Nadia had ever seen, but the thing that was most attractive was the dress she wore. It shimmered as she moved and looked to be made of a delicate fabric that was perhaps a mix of gossamer and silk. The colors changed as the girl moved. Pale greens shifted into aqua and back again.
There was a small opening across from where the girl had sat and she stuck her head through it. “She’s awake!” She returned to her place on the floor and picked her flute up once again.