Five (Elemental Enmity)

by Christie Rich

  My body convulsed when he hesitated and pulled his hood back into place. The only part of his face I could see was those glorious lips. Why was he suddenly frowning? Did I do something wrong?

  Voices cut through my thoughts.

  No.

  Laughing.

  Someone was giggling. I hadn’t seen it before, but another path shimmered into view between us.

  The hold this man had on me shattered. Apprehension flooded through me in a relentless wave.

  He moved closer.

  What was I still doing here? Why hadn’t I run when I had the chance? I retreated another step. I could still scream.

  He frowned as if he knew what I was thinking and spun toward the chatter.

  His rugged jaw tightened before his head veered to the right and back at me. His fists clenched at his sides.

  One heartbeat. Two.

  A flash of white.

  A predatory smile curved his mouth moments before he saluted me. Then he stepped off the path toward the forest, disappearing behind a thicket of trees.

  I remembered how to breathe.

  A group of girls stomping through puddles came barreling toward me. One of them gasped, breaking away from the others. “Are you okay,” she asked, concern clear in her tone.

  “I—I think I’m lost.” I glanced ahead. The man was gone. The tree line looked different, not so thick. I would have sworn I had been in the middle of a vast forest, but I was on a large path in a thinly wooded area. I even heard the sounds of campus now. Where was the shack that had been there moments before? I forced myself to turn toward the girl on trembling knees. “How do I get back to Le Mans Hall?” My smile took quite a lot of effort. I didn’t want her to know how freaked out I was.

  She gazed at me through kind eyes. “This trail is tricky. I’ll show you.” Holding her umbrella higher, she stood beside me. “Here”

  “Thanks,” I said, ducking under it. I welcomed the cover even though the rain had turned to a drizzle.

  She laughed. “Won’t do you much good now. You look like you’ve been swimming in the river.”

  My lips twitched into a minute smile. Was that man still lurking in the shadows waiting to strike until I was alone? I prayed he was just a figment of my overactive imagination, all the while knowing in the bottom of my soul that he wasn’t. With more effort than it should have taken, I tore my gaze from the trees. “I should have paid more attention to the weather when I left my room.” I glanced at the woods again. I couldn’t help it.

  “Wow.” Her eyes roamed over me. “You’re really shaken up.” She placed a reassuring hand on my arm. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you home and dry in no time.” She extended her hand toward me, grinning. “I’m Natalie Walker.”

  She had an infectious smile, a short curvy frame, bright green eyes, fair freckled skin, and thick, bouncy auburn curls.

  I gave her a curt nod and shoved my trembling hands into my pockets. “Rayla Tate.” I couldn’t say anything else. My throat was too tight with fear.

  “Where you from?” she asked, following my gaze over to the trees.

  I ignored the intrepid call of the forest. I made myself look only at her. “Utah. You?”

  “Arizona. Technically we’re neighbors.” She smirked, cocking her head. “I can’t seem to get used to this place. There aren’t any landmarks to keep me grounded.”

  Natalie Walker was a refreshing distraction. My fear slowly subsided with every normal word she uttered. I laughed. “I know, right? I feel lost without the mountains.”

  She pointed toward her friends who huddled together under cheery umbrellas, talking and giggling. Their bright rain-boots rebelled against the turbulent sky. “They keep telling me I’ll acclimate. I don’t know if that’s possible.”

  We walked toward the group. She introduced me. I was never going to remember all their names.

  “Are you coming with us, Rayla?” asked one of the girls.

  “I…” I should have been settling into my new life, making new friends, doing whatever college students normally do, not worrying that a pack of fae lords were going to come for me. Whatever that meant?

  Having one man stalk me was bad enough, even if by some miracle he did turn out to be imaginary; or more likely, a college student that was trying to be friendly. All I knew was nothing or no one could get me to go further down that path.

  “I’m taking her back,” Natalie said, saving me. “She’ll catch a cold if she doesn’t get out of those clothes.”

  I gave her a shy glance. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

  Natalie took my elbow. “Couldn’t be if you tried.” She twisted toward the girls who were already skipping down the path in sets of two, arms linked. She shrugged. Her tone lowered. “See you guys later.”

  I fought the temptation to tell them and campus police about the man because I was probably either being paranoid or delusional. If I set aside the purple light I had seen which I definitely could have imagined, that guy hadn’t actually done anything but walk toward me and smile—for all I knew he had been going for wolfish.

  “I’m sorry to ruin your fun,” I said. I should have insisted she go with her friends, but I couldn’t get the words to come out.

  She nudged my shoulder. “I hardly think pounding through puddles is enjoyable. You just got me out of an entire afternoon of wet misery. I should be thanking you.”

  My mind stuttered momentarily. Was I actually having a real conversation? I blurted out the first thing that came to me. “Well, when you put it that way, why aren’t you?”

  She laughed and I smiled. She showed me around campus a little bit before depositing me in front of my dorm.

  Most of the buildings had a similar gothic charm, but some, like Regina Hall, were decidedly minimalistic boxes. Who knew the two styles could mesh so well.

  “See you around, Rayla. Thanks again.” Without giving me a chance to reply Natalie headed for her dorm.

  She couldn’t know how grateful I was to her. I was going to have to be more careful from now on. Aunt Grace had been right about one thing, at least. I needed to stay around people.

  Chapter Four

  “I was worried about you,” Cassie said when I walked through the door.

  Water from my clothes dripped all over her shaggy, hot-pink rug. Amazingly enough she had transformed the blank room into a miniature reflection of home. She opened a drawer and handed me a soft, white towel.

  “Thanks,” I said, making good use of her offering.

  I peeled my shirt off first. An unopened banana would have been more comfortable than me with my clothes clinging uncomfortably to my skin like this.

  She sat solemnly on her bed, her eyes downcast. “I’m sorry, Rayla. I just don’t know how to deal with what happened. I know you think that you saw a p-p…”

  “Pegasus,” I finished for her. I locked my knees and waited for her to confess that she had been too afraid to talk about it.

  “Yes, well, I think it was just a trick of the light. That guy was trying to scare us.”

  I narrowed my eyes, claiming her gaze. No matter how much I had tried to convince myself otherwise, the man in the woods had not been normal. I had already had enough time to be sure he was the motorcyclist. It was the way he made me feel. Even with all my doubts, I couldn’t deny the effect he had on me. “I know what I saw.” She could deny it all she wanted, but what that guy had done couldn’t have been smoke and mirrors.

  At least she was admitting she had seen him now. It was a start.

  Her expression didn’t change. She still had that mechanical smile on when she climbed down the ladder. “You’ll realize I’m right over time. It was an isolated incident.” Her solid tone made me wonder if she was trying to convince herself. “There isn’t anything to worry about.”

  I stood rigidly in front of her. She thought this was simply going to go away. I wished she was right, but I knew differently now. It wasn’t like that man would leave me alone. He follo
wed us here for heaven’s sake. “That’s just it. It might not be an isolated incident.”

  She scowled. “What are you saying, Rayla?”

  I motioned toward the window. “I had a guy just about accost me in the woods.” I might have been exaggerating slightly. Who knew what he would have done if he had gotten his hands on me, but I needed her to tell me what she knew about this whole mess. I shuddered, thinking about what might have happened if Natalie hadn’t come along when she did.

  Cassie leaned against the door-jam to the bathroom, crossing her arms. “What were you doing out in the woods?”

  I grunted in disgust. She was avoiding the obvious. “Can’t you think of a better question than that?” The last thing I wanted was for Cassie to leave, but I had to have answers. If Aunt Grace was right, Cassie had some information to share.

  Cassie ducked into the bathroom for a minute and came out with a tissue. Pointing to my nose, she handed it to me. I wiped and blew. What, now she was my mother? Despite my irritation, I nodded my thanks. She climbed back up to the bunk she had claimed—nice of her to see which one I wanted.

  With conflicting thoughts almost visible in her eyes, she turned toward me. “It was probably—”

  “Sure,” I said. “I know what you’re going to say. He was probably some Notre Dame student that got caught in the rain.” Hadn’t that been what I had first thought about him? But he was more than an ordinary man. No guy had ever made me feel like that. As if he was meant for me. No that wasn’t it. It was more like I was meant for him. Cassie’s justification attempts suddenly boiled my insides. I continued without giving her a chance to butt in, “Or maybe my nerves are frazzled right now? This one is even better. I’m imagining things.” I poised my hand in front of me and motioned as I said, “Blah. Blah. Blah!”

  “Rayla!”

  Her gaze on me might as well have been a laser beam. I hadn’t meant to be so rude, but she was making me crazy with her denial. I worked on toweling my hair while I raised a questioning look to her. “You know something more about this.” I tried to hide the hurt choking my throat. How could she betray the unspoken rules of our friendship like this? “Why won’t you help me?”

  She cringed, splaying her hands wide. “It’s going to be okay,” she said in a rush. “We don’t need to worry about it. You’ll see. They will go away.” Her hand shot up to cover her mouth. With shaking fingers she ran the other through her midnight ringlets. She looked as guilty as a dog caught tipping over the garbage.

  “Say too much, did you?”

  Keeping her gaze downcast, she played with the edge of her new quilt. “I should just go home. I can’t get involved in this stuff again.”

  “What stuff? Tell me what’s going on!”

  Her expression scrunched in clear pain. “I can’t.” Her deadly quiet voice chilled me.

  “More like, won’t. I thought you were my best friend. Am I in danger?”

  Without so much as a sound, she leapt from the top bunk and bolted out the door.

  *****

  I had to go to orientation alone. Giggling girls flanked me everywhere I turned. I got a few tentative smiles, but who would want to befriend someone donning a perpetual frown.

  When Cassie returned late that evening, I pulled the covers closer to my neck. Sleep was a distant dream. Not even bothering to turn on the lights, she tip-toed around the room and slipped into bed without saying anything. I was still hurt, so I kept quiet. I hadn’t been able to use her phone to try Aunt Grace again, and tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

  When exhaustion finally took me, I surrendered completely. I had been afraid I would have nightmares about cloaked specters riding winged creatures. Thankfully, I didn’t even dream.

  *****

  With the new day came a stronger determination. If Cassie wouldn’t talk to me, I would figure things out without her.

  I pulled out my laptop. I googled one word: Fairies.

  How could I get through millions of webpages? I tried to narrow my search. This time I typed: Fairy lore.

  Now all I had to do was wade through nearly four million sites. One said that the fae were called Sidhe, pronounced she. Okay. That was strange, but I tried it anyway. Even with the drastic reduction in results, I would never get through all of them in my lifetime.

  I started with the first. Good old Wiki. A chill ran up my spine as I read:

  They are said to live underground in the fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans.

  The more I researched the deeper fear sank into my chest. To my dismay it didn’t stop there, by the time I read a few more pages, it spread down to the tips of my toenails. I learned nearly every country on the planet has some sort of fairy lore. They are called different things, of course, but the stories were remarkably similar. I even found out fairy people were absurdly called the lordly ones. If Aunt Grace was right and I hadn’t caught Cassie’s hallucination bug, I was going to have plenty of them after me soon. Just how many made up a pack?

  I couldn’t believe she claimed I was made for fae lords, as though my sole purpose in life was to service them. Forget what I wanted. I belonged to them. As if I would ever let that happen.

  I had finally admitted to myself that this might be real. Only time could give me an actual answer on that one. But if these men, that were supposedly after me, thought I was going to just let them have me, they were up for a huge disappointment. I hoped this was just an elaborate ruse set up by Aunt Grace to make me regret disobeying her.

  Unfortunately, all the hope in the world wouldn’t make something like that true. It really wasn’t her style. She was more likely to come get me herself than to send some guy on a bike.

  Besides, she had already made it clear I couldn’t come home. Few things could make her sound panicked like that. It was fine by me. I didn’t want to leave.

  I needed to focus on my classes. I came to St. Mary’s to get a great education, so I could make something of myself. I was not about to let a pack of fae lords, no matter how intimidating, steal my life from me. If they did come around, I would simply tell them to go find another girl to terrorize. I couldn’t worry about what some imaginary people, as Cassie had called them, might do to me. I already had enough reality to deal with.

  My schedule was demanding and didn’t allow me to be distracted. My hardest class was biology. Cassie wanted me to take it with her; I preferred it to chemistry, so I agreed.

  That’s where I was now, with Cassie sitting next to me. She kept shyly chancing glances.

  When I finally smiled at her, she visibly relaxed. I had come to the conclusion that she would open up to me in her own time. Pushing her hadn’t done me any good. There had to be a good reason for her to be so guarded. Besides, days had passed and nothing else had happened. I was beginning to think Cassie had been right. We hadn’t really spoken much, but she was slowly starting to relax around me again.

  All I had to do was be patient—or taken by fae lords. Either way, I would find out what was going on. Until something occurred, though, I had to live.

  Thankfully I hadn’t felt the terror that had blighted my life since my first day here. I was slowly settling in to my routine. I found a job that I start next week. The positions on campus had been filled fast, but our librarian gave me advanced notice about an opening at the Hesburgh Library at Notre Dame.

  I still had no idea why Aunt Grace told me to stay away from there, but my funds were dwindling to nothing. Maybe I had misunderstood her? I had no way of really knowing. I hadn’t been able to contact her for a real explanation. My phone wouldn’t work. I hadn’t had any luck with Cassie’s, either. That worried me more than I wanted to admit.

  If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought something was blocking my calls. After several attempts, I had finally gotten a hold of my cell services customer service department. The guy working with me gave up after a few hours of me trying to explain the absurdnes
s that had become my phone. He suggested I buy a new one—another expense I couldn’t afford.

  My blasted e-mails wouldn’t even go through. I went old-school and mailed a letter home before I came to class. I needed to contact Aunt Grace. Her comments were like a pesky fly landing on my brain at the most absurd moments: like now.

  Excited conversation erupted all around me. What had I missed?

  “So what do you think we should do?” Cassie asked.

  I scanned the room, hoping for some kind of clue. Nothing. I finally settled for the dumb approach. “Huh?”

  Cassie’s little laugh was barely audible. She sucked her upper lip inward and cleared her throat. “How do you think we should organize our presentation?”

  I had no idea what she was even talking about, so I improvised. “Your ideas are always way better than mine.”

  She smirked and tapped her finger pensively on her chin a few times. “Well, we could do a power-point, but that’s boring. There has to be something she wouldn’t expect.” She turned her hand over in a one-sided shrug. “You’re the creative one.”

  “Who are you talking about?” I asked in confusion.

  She looked at me as if I had just grown another eyeball. “Professor Blakely. Earth to Rayla, where have you been for the last half-hour?”

  I grunted. I needed to focus. No amount of thinking about the fae was going to help me pass this class. For whatever reason, I was sure the professor didn’t really like me. She seemed sharper with her comments to me than the other students. I could have been imagining her coldness, though. Just like everything else lately. Either way, I wouldn’t pass on a chance to get a few extra brownie points from a great presentation. “Maybe we should think about it for a while. Something fantastic is bound to come to us.”

  Cassie tapped her pen pointedly on her notebook. The light from the windows bounced off the shiny red surface and into my eyes. “I would rather have a plan,” she said. “That way we’ll know what to shoot.”