Night of the Fae (Ana Martin series)

by Lyneal Jenkins

  ‘Are you alright?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m just tired.’ I smiled again. My face was starting to ache from the effort I was making.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Too much alcohol last night remember.’ Relying on the confusion of the bipolar and his ability to believe what he wanted to, I reached up to kiss him. After a moment of studying me carefully, he did not disappoint. He visibly relaxed and pulled me into his arms.

  ‘That will teach you,’ he laughed. ‘Do you want to be woken in a couple of hours for some dinner?’

  The thought of sitting across from Suraya nearly made me shudder. ‘It’s okay. If I get hungry, I’ll grab something easy.’

  I kissed him lightly and trudged up the stairs with a heavy heart and no idea what to do about his daughter. If Suraya was anything to go by, I realised that I may well have been lucky with Adam’s reaction to me. He had always kept it to cold stares and open distain. Somehow I didn’t think that was going to be the case with Suraya. I had a gut feeling that just wouldn’t go away and my hackles were up.

  Chapter 18

  For a couple of days I was the model hostess towards Suraya, if only because she was Gabriel’s daughter. I listened as she talked and smiled at her weak jokes. I even began to question my own reaction towards her as she was nothing but pleasant and helpful.

  Then little annoying things started to happen. My books went missing and turned up in the most bizarre place, the garden. When I questioned Suraya about it she responded with a wicked smirk behind Gabriel’s back, and by saying, ‘How could you leave them outside Ana? You are so lucky that they are not ruined.’ It was said so sweetly and I was only infuriated further when Gabriel responded with, ‘You can be so forgetful sometimes Ana.’ I hadn’t even been outside, yet my words of denial were brushed off.

  Things fell off the kitchen side when I walked past to smash on the floor. Gabriel always laughed with Suraya about how clumsy I was and Suraya smiled sweetly in his line of sight, only to turn the smile into a sneer when he turned away. My nerves were constantly on edge and it wasn’t long before I had had enough.

  I went off to work in a really bad mood. Not only was I on a late, which meant I wouldn’t be finishing until ten at night, but my tunic had gone missing and I didn’t have to think hard to figure out what had happened to it. My mood only worsened when I arrived at Pinehill. One of our less capable residents, an extremely frail woman by the name of Barbara, had an accident in her bed, the kind that meant I had to wear two pairs of gloves and have a strong stomach to clean up.

  Robert was really in the mood to push my buttons as well. At dinner he took his usual grumpiness one step further and threw his plate across the room, narrowly missing another resident. As usual he didn’t apologise, instead shouting that we were trying to poison him and that he was on to us. The day was definitely not getting any better. By the end of the shift I was actually looking forward to going home, which hadn’t been the case in the two weeks since Suraya had turned up.

  Thankfully Carl was in a good mood and had already agreed that I could leave thirty minutes early as I wasn’t needed for handover. There hadn’t been a chance to grab anything to eat during the shift, so by the time I pulled up outside the house, I was happily anticipating the beef dinner Gabriel had promised to save for me.

  When I found Suraya waiting in the kitchen, I gritted my teeth and used every ounce of control I had not to clench my fists.

  ‘Where’s your dad?’ I asked as I threw my bag on the table.

  ‘At Adam’s,’ she replied with a sneer. ‘He left your dinner in the fridge.’

  Ignoring her hostile stare, I opened the fridge, only to find that there was no plate in sight.

  ‘I threw it in the bin,’ she added with a grin. ‘I can always scoop it out for you if you want.’

  I banged the door closed hard enough that the jars inside rattled. ‘Why would you do that?’

  ‘Because I can,’ she replied mildly.

  I slammed my hands down on the side with such force that the shock travelled up my arms to my neck. ‘How freakin’ old are you?’ I demanded.

  She laughed lightly, a sound that may well have been pleasing if I hadn’t known her true nature. ‘It is you who is the infant.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said sarcastically. ‘I’m the one who is having a two year old temper tantrum because daddy wants to share his time with someone else.’ My teeth clenched so tightly my jaw ached. It took several deep breaths before I managed to relax myself slightly. ‘You know, I’m not talking about this with you. I will just tell your father and you can explain it to him.’ I nearly groaned with misery. It was as if I was a child once more, planning on telling tales to my parents.

  ‘You can,’ she laughed. ‘But who do you think he will believe.’

  ‘He certainly won’t believe I threw a full plate of dinner away,’ I said stiltedly as I opened the bin. It took several seconds of staring at the bread wrapper I had put in there in the morning, before I realised that there was no sign of my dinner.

  ‘I never said it was that bin,’ she said smugly. ‘I wonder if he will believe that you were so tired that you forgot that you ate it.’

  I slammed the flap closed, only to watch as the lid unbalanced and fell to the floor. I stared at it for several seconds before I could relax my body enough to bend down and retrieve it.

  ‘What do you hope to achieve by this?’ I demanded once it was back in place. ‘If you think that I am going to leave him, you are sadly mistaken. One day he will see what you really are, and mark my words, I will still be here when he does.’

  Her face turned a mottled purple and she raised her hand as she sprang towards me, like a cat leaping towards a mouse.

  ‘Just do it!’ I shouted as I backed against the side, causing her to pause with her open hand still raised. ‘Then I will have all the proof I need.’

  She lowered her hand, though her face remained twisted in a snarl and the pulse in her temple continued to beat furiously. She rolled her tongue in her mouth as if she had just tasted something bad, leant towards me, and spat in my face.

  I stared at her with my mouth open, as her drool ran down my cheek. I had never had such a degrading thing done to me before, and I had to fight the impulse to smack her.

  ‘Nice,’ I muttered instead, using the palm of my hand to wipe the saliva off. ‘Real mature.’

  ‘I will see you gone,’ she promised. She abruptly turned on her heals and stalked from the house, leaving me to lean against the side as tremors racked through my body. I couldn’t believe that I had gone to war over a man, let alone against his daughter. As I made myself a bowl of cereal to replace the lost dinner, I tried not to think of what else Suraya could have in store for me.

  When I woke up I was instantly aware of the taunting voice that whispered in my mind, not something I really had the head space for right now. What was even more dismaying was as the depression progressed, I realised that it was the worse one I had had in many years.

  Three days into the bout I stood gripping the edge of the kitchen side as uncontrollable tears rolled down my cheeks. It was as if a thick cloud had surrounded me and I was suffocating under the pressure of it. My internal demon was working full force, and had progressed beyond general insults. Give up, it whispered. Take all the tablets you have. I bit my lip so hard I drew blood, trying to banish the voice from my mind. Maybe use the knife, it murmured as I stared at the draining board, gripping the side so hard my fingers ached. You can end all of your pain, it promised. My hand reached towards the blade, and stroked along the cool, sharp edge, as if I was caressing a lover’s face instead of the item that could end it all.

  ‘No,’ I sobbed. What was worse was that the voice didn’t scare me. Its words brought with it a feeling of stillness, which paused, rather than calmed, the storm within.

  I wished that Gabriel was around so that he could prevent the ideas that were forming in my mind. I would never act on such acti
ons, as I had learnt a long time ago that such thoughts were only there as a desperate bid to escape my own anguish, but I was heartbroken that they had returned after so long.

  Another wave of torment flowed over me and I nearly crumpled under it. Even though all I wanted was to curl up in a ball, I knew I needed to get out of the house. The normal tricks to alleviate my despair were not working and I was becoming increasingly concerned about myself.

  My own weakness disgusted me and I held onto that feeling, fanning it so that I could get angry as I would need it to force myself out of the house. Using the feeling of loathing, I abruptly turned away from the side in order to find my car keys and be gone before the moment passed.

  I was halted in my tracks by the sight of Suraya stood in the lounge doorway, her fingers held towards me, and her face supporting the same vicious look it had when I first met her. It was replaced as soon as I saw it, and instead she frowned at me with false concern.

  ‘Are you alright Ana?’ she purred, with a smile so innocent it would have put a baby to shame.

  There was no doubt in my mind of what I had seen and I now knew why I was suffering so much. As the Fae did, she was manipulating me, pushing the chemicals of my low into overdrive, causing the thoughts of suicide.

  I had a moment of relief when I realised that it wasn’t that I had lost control of the depression, but rather her malicious tampering, before I comprehended the real enormity of what she was doing. Gabriel had said that the Fae could push people to things they wouldn’t normally do. Was it possible that Suraya could do that to me? Could she cause me to harm someone that I loved? By the way that I was feeling I realised that it was much more likely that she would cause me to do harm towards myself.

  She stood still, watching me, with no sign of her obvious hatred, waiting for me to speak. But as try as I might, I couldn’t get any words to pass my lips. Even though darkness was the main focus of my emotions, I could feel the dim pulse of fear buried beneath and I couldn’t deny that the woman stood before me was as dangerous as the devil himself, if not more so.

  ‘Tell Gabriel I’ve gone to Maria’s,’ I eventually managed in a strangled sob.

  I had to get away from her and I had to do it now. Her heavy stare crushed me as I grabbed the car keys off the table, barely registering the item sat next to them and stumbled from the house. Even though I knew I was imagining it, I could hear her laughing cruelly behind me.

  Half way down the path, what I had seen finally registered. The full bottle of sleeping pills that had been tucked away in the back of the medical cupboard hadn’t made their own way out and I certainly hadn’t done it.

  Don’t, my mind cried as I turned back towards the house. She will hurt you. I ignored the voice, and clung to the small amount of strength that was buried deep inside.

  Suraya was still stood smiling in the doorway, and she continued to do so as I scooped the bottle off the table. Without looking at her, I headed towards the medical cupboard.

  ‘Did you really think it would be that easy?’ I said as I put them in the small box containing all the other medication I had collected over the years. It wasn’t until I was back at the door that I turned to face her. ‘I’ve already survived so much worse than you Suraya.’

  I had time to see her face twist into a snarl, before I hurriedly exited the house. I may want to try and salvage some semblance of dignity, but it would be wise to remember that she was very dangerous.

  The journey was only five minutes and there had never been a time I felt so relieved to stand in the dingy hallway that smelled of urine. My despair had lessened somewhat, though I still felt as if I had been forced through an emotional wringer and the dark cloud, filled with the taunting demon, was still heavy on me. Through my new abilities, I was able to sense that my friend was in her flat and I sighed with relief as I knocked.

  ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’

  ‘I’m sorry for descending on you without warning,’ I told her as she ushered me into her untidy flat. As much as I loved Maria to bits, I did wish she would tidy up more often. She did clean, though only once a week, and as a rule, if I was brave enough to join her in her chaos, I always ended up tidying for her. She wasn’t bothered by this as she claimed everyone had their quirks, and generally either left me to it, or followed me round, occasionally telling me where to put something.

  ‘I’m not like you.’ She smiled as she closed the door behind me. ‘I love surprise visitors, it makes the day more interesting.’

  I pushed, what I hoped were clean clothes, to the side of the sofa and sat heavily down.

  ‘You’re particularly dark today,’ she said as she sat in the only free space on the other sofa. According to Maria, when people were low their aura’s darkened. I still wasn’t sure how much I believed about what she claimed, yet I had to admit that however she did it, she always recognised my mood as soon as she saw me.

  ‘I can’t bear it anymore,’ I told her as I started crying. All the strength I had managed to find in order to confront Suraya had gone, and although I didn’t feel as bad now that I was away from her, I was still struggling to tread water.

  Maria waited patiently during the minute it took me to curb my tears, before leaving to enter the kitchen. By the time she returned carrying mugs, I had managed to get some sort of control. After putting them on the table, she plucked a tea towel from the pile of washing and handed it to me. I was sure that she wouldn’t have handed me something dirty to wash my face with, but still, I hesitated for a second before conceding that I didn’t actually care enough to worry about it.

  The mug contained a metal strain, filled with loose tea leaves. When I brought it to my lips and blew on the steaming drink, an awful smell of mouldy oranges and damp leaves hit me.

  ‘What is this?’ I pulled my nose back and grimaced. ‘It smells like a rubbish skip.’

  ‘It’s a herbal tea, it will relax you.’ She indicated for me to drink with a wave of her hand.

  ‘Herbal?’ I asked sceptically. ‘Have you put Valium in it or something?’ I wouldn’t have put it past Maria to spike my drink.

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ she laughed. ‘It’s all natural, though will probably do the job better than Valium would.’

  I held my breath and tentatively sipped it. The taste wasn’t as bad as the smell, yet it wasn’t pleasant either.

  ‘How do you drink this?’ I asked after I swallowed the nasty tasting liquid.

  It wasn’t the worst thing I had ever tasted. My parents had once gone through a herbal tea phase and I remembered how my dad had got me making homemade nettle tea with him. After a day of being stung as I helped pick the irritating plants, and days of cutting and drying them, I had been eager to taste my own handy work, only to be terribly disappointed when it had tasted like dirt. Even though Maria’s special brew wasn’t quite as bad, it was a very close second.

  She shrugged. ‘You get used to it. So, tell me what’s going on.’

  I told her about the things Suraya was doing to make my life difficult, and about the way I thought she was making my depression unbearable, though I kept the bit about the tablets out of it.

  Maria’s lips clamped down into a firm line. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘As sure as I can be.’ I was painfully aware that I didn’t have any actual proof.

  ‘Have you told Gabriel?’

  Even through my own misery, I was aware of the tension her voice. There was a moment where I thought I may have done the wrong thing by coming to her with my problems, yet at the same time, I needed someone to talk too and as the Siis had to remain a secret, it left only her.

  ‘What can I say? How can I tell him that his sweet innocent daughter is really a class A bitch? He wouldn’t believe me anyway, you know Gabriel, he sees and feels what he wants to half the time and she does act nicely towards me when he is around.’

  ‘Ahh, when you put it that way I can see what you mean.’

  ‘At least Adam was up front with
his distaste, not hiding behind false smiles and kindness.’

  Surprisingly, I realised that I almost missed his presence. Over the weeks of training the relationship between us had changed slightly, he’s eyes still held suspicion when he looked at me, but he no longer glared at me and we had even managed a few conversations without it erupting into arguments. I was aware that he didn’t respect or particularly like me, but he seemed pleased with my determination in learning to fight.

  ‘What does he think of Suraya?’

  ‘I have no idea. He hasn’t been around in weeks, not since she turned up.’

  I missed training with him, Gabriel had tried on a few occasions, but he had always been too gentle with me, defeating the object of fighting in the first place. If I had been able to train, at least I would have had an outlet for my frustrations.

  ‘I’m worried she will split us up.’ Hearing the dejection in my own voice I gulped down the rest of the tea, if it could be called that, in the hope that I would start to feel better.

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ she said softly, though with a hard edge simmering beneath the surface. ‘You and Gabriel will always be together. It doesn’t take someone with abilities to see the bond between you and how strong it is. You should tell him.’

  ‘Then what?’ I asked sadly. ‘Even if he was to believe me, what would happen then? I doubt he would send her away, and I don’t believe she would change if he confronted her, it would just get worse.’

  ‘This is why I don’t date guys with kids.’

  ‘No, you just date crazy men who want to kill you.’

  We grinned at each other. Maybe it was the special tea or maybe it was just being in her company, but I was starting to feel more relaxed, more than I had in weeks.

  ‘Shall I cast a spell on her?’ Her voice was stiff and when I looked at her properly, I could see a certain gleam to her eyes that reminded me of Eris.

  ‘It would probably backfire on you.’

  My words weren’t without merit. Not only had there been the attack involving Ron when she had caused him to see things that weren’t there, she had told me of other, not so serious incidents. Such as when she had tried to get herself the job in real estate, she had succeeded with her aim, but had to leave her home in the midlands and move to Durham to take it, which wasn’t exactly what she had had in mind. Not that I was complaining, if she hadn’t done it she would never have come into my life.