Escape

by Sheritta Bitikofer

  He didn’t look at her, he didn’t reply. Connor just stood waiting for her so they could continue. Was something wrong? Did he feel the way that she felt when his hands were on her? Her back muscles were rejuvenated, but her lower abdomen was tight with a queer sense of expectation. Amelia wanted him to take away the aching, but there was no way she would let him touch her there.

  Amelia was about to rise from the log when she heard something peculiar. It sounded like the tinkling of a small bell. “What was that?”

  Connor had heard it too and he knew exactly what that was.

  The bell chimed again and more joined it. Soon, a chorus of melodious bells surrounded them. And with them, came the dancing lights. Amelia likened them to fireflies or lightning bugs. They looked so small from a distance, but they grew closer, drifting in from the darkness. They came in all arrays of colors from yellow to blue and even some were pink and purple. They fluttered and flinted about in random patterns, alighting the grey forest with a wash of rainbow sparks. There seemed to be hundreds of them.

  Connor made a noise of disgust as he muttered the word “pixies”. Amelia watched as the lights emerged from the woods and she could slowly make out the figures in the lights. The pixies were no taller than a matchstick and resembled the form of a human lady. They wore tiny outfits of bright colors to match their glow.

  “We’re in the country of Phantasia now,” he said.

  Amelia smiled as they hovered around her and Connor, casting fanciful glimmerings on their skin and clothing. She could see that they flew on wings that were as wide as the pixies were tall and in the shape of dragonfly wings. Their bell-like sound came from the flapping of these wings, which were as swift as a hummingbird’s.

  One blue pixie flew close to Amelia’s face, examining her features with a fascinated grin. Its face was so beautiful and perfect like a porcelain doll. Amelia lifted her hand and the weightless pixie stood on her palm, her wings outstretched to her sides at rest.

  Connor watched her face fill with wonder and enthusiasm. He felt something strike against his hard heart, creating a crack in his armor. It was enough to make the corners of his mouth twitch, tempting his mouth to do something that he hadn’t done in centuries. He steeled himself and looked away.

  “They’re so tiny,” Amelia commented, studying the curious pixie in her hand – which was studying her just as closely.

  “Yeah, but they can be big trouble too.”

  The pixie that Amelia held perked her head up at Connor’s remark and turned, stomping her little bare feet against Amelia’s palm. She just barely felt the force behind it.

  “I’ll have you know that we are no trouble at all, mister demon.” Her voice was just as musical as her wings, sounding like the trickling of a fountain. Surprisingly, her voice was more than loud enough for both of them to hear, despite her small size. “We’ve come to help.”

  “We don’t need any of your help,” Connor snarled.

  “We know you’ve journeyed far. There is a home of gnomes not far from here where you can rest for a while.”

  “We don’t need any rest and I’m not dealing with any gnomes. We need to get going.” Connor began to walk away from Amelia and the pixies, but he was stopped as a few began pulling on his hair to keep him from running off.

  He jerked and swatted at them, but no swing connected with the pixies. They were too swift and dodged out of range.

  Amelia couldn’t help but giggle at the spectacle. “I am a little hungry, Connor. Can we at least stop there to eat something?” Amelia pleaded, more curious about what a gnome looked like than anything else.

  “We can eat right here if we need to.” Connor leered hungrily at a nearby pixie that was edging too close to his face. It caught his meaning, let out a shrill little squeak before retreating behind one of its friends.

  The blue pixie flew up to float between the two of them. “It’s not safe to stay out on the open road. There is danger on the winds.”

  “Danger?” Amelia questioned, a sliver of anxiety piercing her lungs so she could barely breathe.

  The pixie wouldn’t answer her, but kept her focus upon the one she really needed to convince. “Let us take you to the gnomes. They can shelter you while you rest.”

  Connor glanced between the pixie and Amelia and though he didn’t like the idea, he waved his hand in defeat.

  The pixies gathered together in a swarm of riotous color and began snaking through the trees ringing their bells as they went, leading Amelia and Connor off the path and deeper into the woods.

  Amelia stayed close behind the pixies while Connor lagged. As they weaved their way through the woods, she began to notice that she was no longer treading on barren ground, but plush grass. And the trees seemed to spring to life just as quickly. Connor had mentioned that they were in a different country, but she didn’t know they could be so starkly different.

  Above, some of the moonlight filtered through a canopy of leaves, allowing less light to penetrate to the path, but the pixie glow was more than enough to travel by.

  Amelia could hear birds singing a happier tune and the calls of the night creatures were not as mysterious and frightening. She could say that they were even more familiar, reminding her of nights back home. Connor didn’t seem amused by any of it. His face was puckered into a sour sneer as he trudged along.

  After some walking, Amelia saw a glow ahead of them that was distinctly different from the pixies. This glow was steady and only flickered a little. She recognized it as that of a candle. As they came closer to it, she saw that it was emitting from a carved out hole in the trunk of an extraordinarily large tree trunk that towered high above the others. It had to have been more than ten foot wide at its base and she could make out the outline of a wooden door next to the open window. This must have been the home of the gnomes.

  The pixies led them forward, but the gnomes were eager to intercept their guests. A couple came bounding out from the door in the tree, their arms outstretched to receive them. Amelia was shocked to find that they looked exactly how she had envisioned them to be.

  They were akin to the little statues she saw on her neighbor’s lawn of the traditional garden gnomes. They were short and plump with pink chubby cheeks. They wore tall, colorful pointed hats and shiny leather loafers. One was an old man with a long white beard, wearing a smart waistcoat and trousers while the lady fashioned something like a peasant dress that reached to about her ankles with golden hair braided in two strands down the front of her. Both wore bright smiles and friendly expressions.

  The pixies, seeing that their task was complete, dispersed in all directions. Some flew up into the high treetops while others scattered with the wind. Amelia watched them disappear, leaving the only light coming from the gnome’s home.

  “Welcome, travelers!” the husband greeted heartily. “The pixies told us of your arrival. Come on inside and we can get better acquainted.” His voice was husky and deep, despite his size.

  Amelia and Connor stopped just before their home and saw that the door was no more than two and a half feet in height. There was no feasible way they could even crawl through.

  “I don’t think we can get in there,” Amelia observed, pointing to their open door. The two gnomes looked to the door, then their guests and then to each other. When they realized their hastiness in assuming their guests would fit, they laughed heartily. Even Amelia smiled a little, but Connor stayed flinty.

  “Our apologies. We are so used to having company that are our size or smaller,” the wife said merrily, her eyes twinkling with gaiety.

  “Is everyone in Phantasia small?” Amelia asked, feeling that her questions could finally be answered.

  “Oh, yes. Quite small. We have a pot of vegetable stew brewing in the house. If you wish, you can wait out here and we will bring you both some when it’s finished.”

  Amelia sniffed the air and could detect the faint scent of cooking herbs. Her stomach rumbled, eager to taste the broth. “
It smells great.” She set down the box and settled herself on the ground to patiently wait for her meal.

  “Fantastic,” the husband exclaimed. “My name is Arradatt and this is my wife, Losgrila. And what might your names be?”

  “I’m Amelia and this is my guide, Connor.”

  The wife peered at Connor curiously. “Hmmm… What strange names. Where do you hail from?”

  “I’m from another world called Earth. He’s from the country of Augustine.”

  “Humph,” Arradatt said. “I’ve never heard of Earth, but I’ve heard too much about Augustine. What manner of beast are you?”

  Connor spoke up for the first time since they left the path. “A demon.”

  Losgrila gave a startled gasp and clung to her husband. She began muttering something in a foreign tongue that Amelia couldn’t understand. But, she did understand her fearful tone.

  “No, no, he’s good. He won’t hurt you guys. He’s just helping me get home.” Amelia hardly knew what she was saying. She wasn’t positive that Connor wouldn’t hurt them, but she didn’t want these two kind gnomes to turn her away now that she realized how hungry she was.

  The two gnomes eyed Connor suspiciously and edged towards their home. “We’ll bring that broth out to you when it’s finished,” Arradatt assured.

  Before the door closed, Losgrila poked her head out and addressed Amelia. “If you need anything, just yell. We have plenty of knives in here.” And with that she firmly shut the door and Amelia could hear them bolt it from the other side. She was sure that their version of a knife would be even smaller than a toothpick and probably a useless weapon against Connor, even if she needed one.

  Amelia was grateful that she would receive a meal, but now their hosts were wary of them. She should have lied and said that he was human too, even though that would have been far from the truth.

  Connor stood, his arms crossed over his chest and staring off crossly into the woods. She wanted to scold him for being what he was. He could have been warmer to the gnomes and reassure them that they were safe with him as their guest. Instead, he let them be terrified of him.

  Amelia sighed and turned her eyes to the ground. Sprouting there was a little dandelion, its silky orb just barely visible in the moonlight. She plucked it up and slowly twirled it between her fingers. It was something so simple, but it reminded her of home. These grew all over her backyard. Her mother hated the weeds, but Amelia loved to blow on them when she was younger and spread their seeds all over.

  She could hear the gnomes softly argue inside about Connor. She didn’t blame them for being hesitant hosts. She was hesitant on traveling with him too. She glanced up to him and saw that he was sitting down now not too far from her, but his stare was still focused on something in the distance that she couldn’t see.

  He seemed so far away, like he wasn’t even there just a few feet from her. She wondered what he could possibly have been thinking about.

  “Do you miss her?” Amelia asked before she could even think about what it was that she was saying.

  Connor turned to regard her. “Who?”

  “Esmeralda. Do you miss her?”

  He looked away and she could see the searching in his eyes. “No, not really.”

  “Weren’t you two a couple?”

  He sighed and lifted his chin a little higher. “We were once, a long time ago.”

  “But not anymore?” Amelia felt an inexplicable glimmer of hope.

  “No, not anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  Connor sighed and was silent for a moment, as if to search his mind for the answer. “We’re just too different. She needed something that I couldn’t give.”

  She curled up her knees to her chest and hugged them tight, willing this moment to never go away. He was opening up so unexpectedly. “How long were you with her?”

  “Too long.” His tone was dark and rueful. It was enough to make her heart break.

  “If you weren’t a couple, why were you living together?”

  Connor shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. We were so used to each other, I suppose.”

  “Did you ever live anywhere else besides Flagler?”

  He was quiet and she silently begged him not to shut her out again. She just wanted to know a little more, that was all. Just a few more questions were all she wanted, if he would allow. She wanted answers so badly that she could feel tears threatened to spill from her eyelids if they didn’t come.

  “Yes, I did.”

  Amelia let out the breath of relief. “Where?”

  Connor turned and their eyes met. There was such a broken light behind his gaze that she almost dreaded what the answer would be. “Earth.”

  It was only one word, but with its utterance, Amelia felt like a gunshot had gone off. More questions reeled in her brain, making her lightheaded with the desire to know everything. She threw caution out the window and moved forward on her hands and knees to approach Connor.

  “Earth? You lived on Earth? Where? When? Were you a demon then? How did you get here? What happened?”

  Connor held out his hands and eased her back. “Whoa, settle down.”

  Amelia sat back on her heels and let her hands rest upon her thighs, but she couldn’t ease her frantic mind. She had to know more, every cell in her body screamed for it.

  Connor took a deep breath that trembled as much as her hands did. “I was born on a farm in western Pennsylvania in 1760.”

  Amelia could hear the strain in his voice. She wondered if he had ever told anyone this story before. If he hadn’t, she felt so privileged that he would share this with her. She bit her lips together to keep herself from asking any questions until he was finished with his story.

  “I had two brothers and when my father went off to fight in the war for independence, we were left to take care of the farm with our mother. It wasn’t long before we received word that he had been killed in battle.” Connor’s eyes fell away as he relived the moments that he could never forget.

  “My older brother went off to war just a year later. My mother begged him not to go, but he couldn’t be talked to. He was killed too. My younger brother was too young to join the militia, but not old enough to be of any help on the farm. Mother did some work, but her health was failing and she was too overwhelmed with grief to do much. I wanted to go and fight, but I couldn’t leave them behind. They depended on me.

  “One night in 1779, I was tending the fields by moonlight. It had to get done and I was running out of time. I was at my wits end. I cried out to God, to anyone, for help. I couldn’t handle it anymore. We needed the war to end, we needed money, and we needed hope.”

  Connor’s expression shifted from pitiful to the familiar bitterness that Amelia knew so well. “Then, he came. He was dressed in all black and standing there in the middle of the field. I shouted at him to go away, but then he was right in front of me. I fell down and he said that he heard my cry for help. At first, I thought he was an angel from God, but when he continued, I knew he was anything but that.

  “He said he would offer me and my family rest from our troubles if I agreed to serve him when the time came. I asked him what kind of service he needed, but he wouldn’t tell me. He only said that it would be in my best interests to agree. So I did.”

  Connor paused, taking a moment to arrange his thoughts before continuing. “I didn’t see the man again for weeks, but I saw the benefits from our deal. The harvest had never been bigger and it was all ready for market. And we sold so much that it looked like we wouldn’t need to worry about money again for a long time. It was a miracle.”

  “But, something must have happened.”

  “Something did happen. The British came. A group of them came to the farm asking for provisions and shelter for the night. My mother was a die-hard patriot, as were my brother and I. She refused. When they asked again, my brother came running out with my father’s gun and shot an officer right off his horse.

  “One of the ot
her British officers attempted to shoot my brother, but my mother got in the way and they shot her instead. A few more shots later, my brother was dead. I watched it all from the barn. I grabbed a pitchfork and started to run towards the soldier that shot my mother, but the man appeared again and held me back. He told me that now was the time for me to serve him.

  “I felt a sharp pain in my back and everything went black. I thought he had killed me, but then I woke up in this world. I was in a nice house and it was nighttime, but no one was around. I could see so much clearer, hear everything, and smell things I couldn’t smell before. I found a mirror and saw what I had become. The man appeared and finally introduced himself as Baal. I had heard teachings about him in church, but didn’t realize that he was so real.

  “He owned me. He still owns me. I did his dirty work, stealing souls, making deals like he had with me. For a century I jumped back and forth between this world and the next until I ran away from him. I found Flagler and Esmeralda. Baal did not have jurisdiction there and he couldn’t come to claim me. So, I stayed there.”

  Amelia was fascinated and heartbroken by his story. She couldn’t imagine losing her family like that. “So, if you left Flagler, then Baal could come and take you?”

  Connor’s voice grew ominous. “He can try.”

  The gravity of Connor’s situation hit her sorely. It was her fault that he was in danger now. Baal could come any moment to press him back into his services. “Is there any way to break the contract with Baal?”

  “Only if one of us dies. And I know it won’t be me.”

  Malice dripped from his tongue with each word, so much that it frightened Amelia. If they came across Baal, what would happen? Would Connor fight to the death to reclaim his freedom?

  “You should go back to Flagler. It’s safer there for you. I can make it on my own.”

  Connor shook his head. “No, you can’t. And besides, I’ve hidden in that hole for long enough.”

  Amelia hugged her knees to her chest once more and settled her chin atop one of her knees. They were silent for a while, Amelia processing all she had been told and Connor rebuilding his internal defenses.