by Viola Grace
"What kind of things?"
"Nothing that doesn't earn the eighteen or over rating.” She lied to them about her theme every year, it was part of the tradition. With another wave and a flip of her hair, she exited the building—right into the arms of her suitors.
"Good morning, Tara.” A short bow by Alexi greeted her. His blonde hair slithered over his shoulder in waves and fell almost to his hips. As he stood, she stifled a sigh at his golden good looks. Lord, he was pretty.
Mind you, with Michael standing next to him with his marble skin and midnight eyes, she was spoiled for choice. The timbre of his voice when he kissed her hand and said, “Good morning, Tara,” had her insides turned to jelly.
"Morning, boys. What brings you out this morning?"
"You of course, my lady. We wait for your choice."
"Well, the open street isn't the place to discuss it. Come with me.” She strode purposefully to her home, just five blocks from the station. Tara also studiously ignored the two cars that kept pace with them. The two driverless cars. Caro had warned her about that one as well.
The horses that could become cars, unicorns and anything else that they chose. It was a little much for a girl from a small town.
They walked a few steps behind her, one on the right and one on the left. They didn't say anything, just kept pace with her all the way.
The instant that they entered her home, she turned on them. “Guys, I am not going to make any decisions about my personal life this week. I have to get the haunted house up and running, get the other staff trained and take a long and hard look at my life in general and you two specifically."
"So which one of us do you favour?” They were both so earnest, her sun and moon.
"At this point, I will say neither. I cannot choose one of you over the other when I know neither of you at all. You will have one week to court me."
"What manner of courtship do you wish?"
"Traditional. I want to learn what I can about each of you, your histories and families. Why you chose to become involved with the Silverwood project? All of it.” She looked them each in the eye. “For now, I want you to each go and to return at two-thirty with your version of a frightening costume for the house. Each of the employees will try and come up with a scary visage and their rate of success determines where they will be stationed, in the house or running the tour."
"Yes, Ma'am."
With a set of snappy salutes, her elves left her home and proceeded to their respective cars. She had three hours to make some phone calls.
"Are you sure that she is out running?"
The deep chuckle on the other end of the line had her smiling, “Yes, Tara. She is out. She has begun the Silverwood Running Club."
"Cool. Who joined?"
"All of the steeds, some goblin born elves, pure elves and a troll or two. They are all trying to keep up with her and ask her questions about human women at the same time.” Another laugh punctuated his statement, “It is finally a challenge that she looks forward to every day."
"I am really happy to hear that. I know that you just want her happy.” She paused for a second and then just jumped in, “I need to know a little bit about elves. Would you be willing to answer a few questions?"
Axom snickered on the other end of the line. “Sure. What did you need to know?"
"This is so embarrassing.” She took a deep breath. “How exactly do your people execute a regular courtship? I have kind of challenged my two to engage in a week of courtship and I have no idea what that will entail.” Caro's fiancé laughed out loud at her predicament.
"It isn't as bad as you are making it out to be."
"How bad is it? And stop laughing.” She wasn't very irritated with him, just a little irked that she had not thought to ask about the circumstances before throwing out the challenge.
"It isn't bad at all. They will bring you gifts, impress you with physical feats and try and convince you that they are the best match for you. That they are your soul mate."
"That isn't too bad, but I know that you didn't do all that with Caro."
"Do you think that she would have let me live if I had? It isn't her style."
A laugh bubbled up within her from the place that was reserved for loving amusement. “You are right there. She would have kicked you into next week and run off with that psycho just to piss you off."
"Psycho?"
"Yeah. Ranal. He has been sleazing around here, but Michael and Alexi ran him off."
"Who is Alexi?"
"The Lios that is here to persuade me to run off with him."
"He and Michael worked together?"
"Yeah. Axom, what are you getting at?"
"It is simply odd, that's all. We don't usually mix with those of the light court.” There was a pause. “If they get along, it will be easier for you to make your choice. And easier for your neighbours. Do you know his talent?"
"Michael or Alexi?"
"Either, both."
"They can both walk through walls."
The whistle on the other end was pure Carolyn. He must really be bonding with her to be so in tune. “This is going to be interesting. Keep me posted, Tara."
"Uh, okay. I will talk to you later, Axom. Say hi to Caro for me."
"Will do. Bye."
At the click in her ear, Tara blinked in puzzlement. Either Axom was rapidly coming into the twentieth century or he was absorbing Caro's vernacular some how. Either way, it had been like talking to a baritone Carolyn. It was comforting really.
Now if she could only figure out the sub text of their conversation she would be a lot less uneasy. Elves were nothing if not cryptic. And tall. And a pain in her ass, but a sexy one.
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Chapter Four
Tara went up to the first room on what would be the tour. Heh. This year was going to be fun. Each room was not about torture and justice, it was a fairy tale. The living room was her depiction of Red Riding Hood. It was slightly grotesque, but Red was standing by as the Wolf—who had obviously consumed Grandma—faced the animated portion of the room, the Woodsman. So it was the moment before the Wolf was cut open and Grandma was freed, but it was a gory moment. The axe came down as she controlled it and sliced the belly of the Wolf open to expose the recently eaten senior. It all worked like a charm.
Onto the next depiction and tableau in what usually was her dining room. She faced the horrible scene from Briar Rose when the mother-in-law was slaughtering the children. This one called for a second tableau when the evil queen mother got her comeuppance, and the children came back to life. Despite the horror that she wanted to instil, she wanted to leave each room with a feeling of a happy ending just a moment away.
She picked up the large iron key that she had had made for the next room. Bluebeard's chambers. The first room depicted the bride and her sisters gossiping and discussing the new wealthy husband that the youngest had landed, the second room was the chamber of horrors with the previous dead wives in various states of dismemberment, after which the key in Tara's hand took on a reddish cast. Even though she had designed it, she still thought it was cool. Bluebeard getting hacked to pieces was just the icing on the cake in the final cupboard. It was a fairy tale that had always made her uneasy as a very violent view of the married world.
Not exactly what you would want if you were thinking about finding a man and settling down, but it was one of the more brutal tales.
The final room depicted the ball featured with Cinderella, the next tableau however, showed the horror of the stepsisters and the butchery of their feet that had been involved in trying to fit the glass slipper on. One had hacked off her toes and the other her heels at their mother's insistence.
She shuddered a bit at the brutality, but it was part of the original stories and what made them such great morality tales. Those who engaged in wickedness or deception were punished, even before the hero had won his or her way in the world.
She triggered t
he action with the remote and the knife came down. Ick. Well, it should get some shudders and screams from the ladies as they left. So should one of the elves coming through the wall and picking up the shoe to offer it to one of the ladies. That should have them freaked out in short order.
Tara sighed and made sure that one by one all of the mechanics were operating and each room had its proper music. The music was key to setting the tone and a cheerful note offset the horror a little to well. Classical was always best.
When the doorbell rang, she was ready.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I commend you on your choices of horrific costumes. This year's theme is the Horror of Fairy Tales so small concessions may need to be made by you. There is a trunk full of costumes inside, and I know that some of you are very eager to see what you will be escorting people through, so come along."
She led the two trolls, the corpse bride, two deaths, three vampires and one werewolf with mange into her home.
She finally heard the question that she was waiting for. “I thought that this year was crime and punishment?"
"You, my dear werewolf, have struck upon a portion of my madness. Every year I lie about the theme when I am asked. This goes back to the first year when I shared my theme and all local houses took up the same one. So now I tell everyone different stories and see who has been talking to people."
Sara, the werewolf, looked embarrassed. She was the niece of the Sherriff and Tara had no doubt as to where her information had originated.
"Here, ladies and gents, are the costumes that you can choose from. You are welcome to keep the costume after the haunting is over."
Excited mutterings ran through the group and one bright star asked, “Can we choose after we get the tour? That way our costumes will better match the theme."
It was a brilliant smile that lit her face. She was always so happy when one person was thinking for the group. She couldn't watch them the whole time and one person who was on the ball would naturally herd the others.
"All right people, we are about to start the tour. You can all take recorders or notepads from that table on the left and follow me through the house. Five of you will be taking the tickets and conducting the tours one by one, the other four will take part in the actual haunting. Alexi and Michael are already taking part in the interior, so it will be up to the rest of you to figure out where and who you want to be."
"You aren't going to assign us?"
"Nope. You will enjoy it more if you have the choice. I have selected you all because you have the urge to be a little theatrical in you. The task of taking the tours around and introducing the people to the rooms one by one is a hard one. You need to keep enthusiasm and horror balanced. It is a hard job, but rewarding as the clients jump and shudder."
They smiled and, with a sharp nod and a follow me, they were on their way. She gave them the full monologue and the full experience with her mind flipping the switches and blowing the wind in the scenes one by one. Each one had ghostly fluttering of fabric and the icy caress of invisible fingers on the people who were listening to her every word.
Screams were heard from her audience when her invisible touches were felt and the occasional snarl emanated from the two elves as she let her caresses get slightly more frisky. In their troll costumes, the noises were incredibly to type.
She was having far too much fun, and before she knew it, it was over. “Ladies and gentlemen, please select your costumes for the event and then please return here tomorrow for dress rehearsal after four.” They were a little stunned, smiling and bemused as she let them go. Her mind locked all the doors leading to the tableaus so that they would not be tempted to explore while she pulled aside her elves.
"Guys, I want one of you to be in the Cinderella ballroom scene and one of you to be in the slipper scene. And I would like each of you to walk through walls as you do it. Is that possible?"
They looked at each other, as if silent communication was occurring, and nodded to her, “As our lady commands.” They moved as one and then Alexi winked, “When should I pick you up?"
Tara laughed. “I will see you in an hour. I warn you, there isn't much available in this area at night."
"I will make do, now pardon me as I get my Prince Charming costume.” He bowed and moved out into the room where the conglomeration of drama students and local fans of the haunted house were taking their pick of the vast array of costumes that she had available.
"So, Michael? What did you think?"
He stood pondering her for a long moment. “I think that a woman with so vast and vivid an imagination will be hard to please, but I will try my best."
"That is all that anyone can do. Now, as attractive as you are as a troll, could you go and pick out a ballroom costume? I want you to walk through the ballroom by coming out through the wall.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, but let her phantom hands wander over his body lightly. It was a tease, but she couldn't help herself. If her body couldn't do it, her mind would.
He jumped slightly, but merely gave her a look that promised revenge as he joined the others in the anteroom.
She had to get ready for her date.
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Chapter Five
Tara moved through her house, unlocking and relocking doors as she went. She was almost running when she moved into her private quarters. She was excited and couldn't help it. It was her first date in years, and despite her tendency to use her phantom limbs to grope men, she had limited experience one on one.
As she got ready, she couldn't help but wish that Caro was here helping her pick outfits and heckling her choices. But her best friend had started a new life without her and that was right and proper. If luck held, she would be joining her friend in a few weeks, and if not, her life would take another turn. Either way, change was in the wind.
She selected dark leggings, cork-soled sandals and a voluminous shirt with dagged sleeves. It wasn't exactly normal, but then neither was she. Tara realized as she approached the front door that they had not set a place to meet. Alexi could simply walk through the walls so she had no clue as to when he would show. Maybe he would give up on the whole thing? She wasn't much of a prize after her talent was taken out of the equation.
Just as she was wallowing in doubt, her doorbell rang. Her hero was at the door.
It was nine at night and she opened her door to greet the sun. She had simply dubbed him the sun and Michael the moon the instant that they first came into her line of sight. She was drawn to both the same way she was their celestial counterparts. But Alexi was truly beautiful. It made her feel like a brown robin in comparison, even though her hair was a brilliant scarlet for the Halloween season.
"For you, my lady.” Alexi extended his hand and within it, was an exquisite rose. Instead of the trite red, it was a gorgeous dark purple, the stem silver and the scent of a thousand years of romance in the petals.
She was entranced, “It's beautiful."
"It will never wither as my affection will never die."
A shy smile crept over her face, “And that is pretty, too.” She took the flower and breathed deeply of its intoxicating scent. Alexi was smiling at her bemusement so she finally came to herself and asked, “Where are we going?"
"I have an evening planned for us, please accompany me to my trusty steed.” He waved his arm toward her walkway and there was his car, gleaming silver and gold in the moonlight.
Tara took his arm and let him lead her to the vehicle, “What is your steed's name?"
"Sona. We have been together for four hundred years. She has never failed me."
"Are Sona and I going to have a problem?"
"No, I think she likes Michael's steed, Rybok.” He tucked her into the car and they were off. Two towns over, he brought her to an Italian bistro and they spent the night talking about their families and their plans for the future. Alexi was excited to be in the new world with the new magic taking hold. He had two brothers, which was unusual
for elves, and one sister. His parents were still alive, but had chosen to remain in Underhill instead of making the crossing between worlds.
She responded that her closest family wasn't related at all, but was her friend Carolyn. Her father was still alive, but her mother had died when she was ten. She had two younger sisters who had followed her father halfway across the country so she was effectively alone and she had pursued the Haunted House as a way of dealing with her powers.
He found it fascinating and asked her questions about her creative process and the funding for the projects.
She told him about her artwork, the jewellery that she created and all of the other items that she made with her hands or mind depending on her mood.
Creative arts were very well received amongst the fey and he delighted in all of the details of the creative process that she would give him. It was too soon when the owner was shooing them out of the restaurant and sending them on their way.
Tara didn't know what the time was when they got home, but she did know that she wanted Alexi with everything in her. And she wasn't going to let herself have him.
When he pulled up at her door and the car turned off, she moved to leave the car as fast as she could, but his gentle hand drew her back. Their lips met in a searing kiss and she shook with longing as his hands slowly explored her body through her clothing. Her nipples were stroked, her breasts caressed and her waist held as the kiss went on and on. When his fingers began to delve beneath her waistband, the sensation was enough to draw her to her senses. “No. Not tonight."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't screw around on the first date and tomorrow I am going out with Michael. It wouldn't be fair to bond to you and then leave him with nothing."
"But it wouldn't be nothing, it would be amazing.” His hands stroked her arms, wrists, palms.
