The Amulet (Custodian Novel # 1)

by Alison Pensy

CHAPTER EIGHT

  Faen had caught the interest of Uncle Leo and Nicki, too; they now wandered over to meet him. Faedra was feeling more and more uncomfortable with her family surrounding them. They were all very polite, but there was no doubt in her mind, it was a thinly veiled inquisition. She started to relax as Faen charmed the pants off them. Answering their questions without so much as a hint of subterfuge, or annoyance. Faedra thought if she had been questioned like him, she would be feeling exasperated by now, but she was impressed by how quickly he could think on his feet. Obviously, all his answers were lies.

  She excused herself to go and use the restroom. She needed a break from the surrealism that was surrounding her at that moment and wandered down the corridor to where they were located. As soon as the door closed behind her, the sound of the music muffled. Once inside the restroom, she looked at herself in the mirror. She was feeling a little tipsy after having one too many drinks handed to her. Wandering back towards the party, she stopped to look out of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the corridor.

  The courtyard was lit up with floodlights that cast a warming glow over the fountain. There was seating surrounding the fountain; the whole picture looked inviting. She decided she needed some fresh air to try and clear the fuzzies that were addling her brain and went to sit out there for a moment. She would be on the soft drinks for the rest of the night she told herself sternly. She stepped outside into the welcoming warmth of the summer night air, wandered over to one of the benches, and sat down. The sound of the music was reduced to a muffled beat in the background now. She leaned back against the bench and soaked in the atmosphere of the courtyard. The fountain was very pretty in its own austere way.

  It was an uncomplicated structure, but grand in its simplicity. The water trickling from the top tier, fell into the tier below it, which then cascaded down to the basin at the bottom. People had thrown coins into it. The coins glinted in the light from the floodlights that illuminated the water; she wondered if any of their wishes had come true.

  A noise coming from beyond the courtyard towards the rear vehicular entrance of the hotel, pulled Faedra from her thoughts. It was black as pitch over there, out of reach from the floodlights in the courtyard. She didn’t think much of it; it was probably just a guest and there were plenty of people milling around this evening. Although, she noticed now that she was completely alone in the courtyard.

  “Hello?” she called into the darkness.

  “Faedra,” a gravelly voice responded.

  She didn’t recognize it, but that didn’t mean much either. There were a number of the party guest’s partners here tonight that she had never met before. She rose from the bench and wandered over to where the voice had come from.

  “Hello, is anyone there?” she asked again, squinting her eyes, trying to force them to see into the darkness.

  She felt a warming sensation on her ring finger and looked down at it. The symbols on the ring were glowing brightly. Wear it also and never take it off. It will warn you if danger is near. She remembered what her mother had written in her letter. The fine hairs on the back of her neck raised and goose bumps flashed up her arms. A chilling cold enveloped her, a cold like she had felt in the woods. She turned to leave but was not quick enough. She didn’t see it coming; doubted if anyone could have, it happened so fast.

  No longer were her feet on solid ground. They were now dangling at least a foot above it. Something was holding her around the neck and she grabbed at it in desperation, trying to pull off whatever was holding her. Her eyes widened with horror when her hands were grasping at nothing but thin air and realized that nothing physical was holding her. How could she fight against an imperceptible force? She kicked out with her feet in all directions, hoping feebly that she could make contact with something and maybe knock it off balance. But again, she made contact with nothing, no one. A spine chilling cackle erupted at her futile attempt to free herself from whatever was holding her captive.

  “We have waited patiently for this moment,” the voice spoke again with revelry. Whoever it was, they were certainly enjoying themselves.

  She looked around wide eyed, trying to see who else made up the ‘we’. But she couldn’t even see what was holding her, let alone anyone else that may have been lurking in the shadows. Faedra could feel the ring on her finger heat up even more. It didn’t hurt, but it was a powerful reminder that she was in very grave danger, a fact that hadn’t escaped her attention.

  “Who are you?” she croaked through the stranglehold on her neck. Her question was answered in an instant, as a pair of eyes glowed in the darkness below her. She felt sick, a deep retching, nauseous feeling resonated from the pit of her stomach. “Oh, God, a redcap,” she continued through restrained vocal chords.

  There was another gravelly cackle and it turned Faedra’s blood to ice. The force holding her began to move her over towards the light from a streetlamp that was behind the wall of the back entrance to the hotel. Whatever it was that was holding her, backed her up until the circle of light from the streetlamp illuminated them both.

  Faedra looked down, terror-stricken, as the figure holding her gradually came into view. Fear couldn’t even begin to describe what she was feeling when her eyes sent what they were seeing to her brain. It was grotesque. One of its long sinewy arms was held upwards towards her. Spindly fingers with yellowed, claw like nails were shaped as though they were gripping something invisible. Then she realized they were… her neck. She was hovering at least three feet up and away from the hand that was held out towards her.

  The creature couldn’t have been much more than four feet tall, but what it lacked in stature, it made up for in repulsiveness. It wore a long, dirty brown leather tunic that came to mid thigh and was belted at the waist. What looked like steel boots adorned its feet and they made a small clanking sound as it walked. She remembered the sound from the woods when they had been running, but hadn’t been able to put her finger on it at the time.

  It had an ominous looking dagger thrust through its belt that was slightly rusty and stained with blood. Its other hand had hold of a menacing looking weapon with a huge axe blade at the top of a long handle that stood at least a foot taller than the redcap, and was finished off with a spike at the end. It, too, looked well used and blood stained.

  Its face was gnarly, like old elephant hide, with black soulless eyes that no longer glowed now that they were in the light. A long crooked nose protruded out morosely from the center of its face, and the jagged, uneven fangs it had for teeth, jutted out from its lower jaw and were yellowed and rotting. On its head it wore the article for which it was named, a red cap. It fit its head like a glove, and although she didn’t want to admit to it, she thought it looked like skin, but not its own skin, someone else’s. It glistened moistly in the light from the streetlamp.

  “What do you want from me?” Faedra croaked, scanning the area. She still couldn’t see any more of them.

  “Why, the amulet, of course,” the redcap spat back at her in disgust, then turned his attention to the necklace dangling from her neck.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t ask why, I just get to keep my prize…you,” it cackled with delight.

  In a flash, it had forced Faedra to her knees. She was now almost eye level with the hideous creature as she kneeled in front of it. She wrinkled her nose when it leaned in close to her and wafted a breath over her face. It smelled repugnant; she almost threw up right there and then. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t close her eyes. Faedra stared frozen in time at it, as it examined her closely.

  “I can understand why she wants you dead,” it whispered with spine chilling contempt.

  “Who wants me dead?” Faedra squeaked.

  “That is of no consequence, Custodian,” it replied, its gravelly voice scraping at her skin like a rough piece of sand paper. He laid his axe-like weapon on the floor
and took hold of the amulet with his free hand. Faedra wasn’t sure what happened next, but the creature was flung across the darkness. A howl screeched through the air as it made contact with what she assumed was the dumpster. She made to get up and run for her life, but the creature was back on her in a flash. The redcap held her neck with its actual hand this time; much more violently than before. It held the palm of its other hand for her to see.

  “The amulet is warded; only you can touch it. It would seem no one else can while you live. So, it looks like I’m going to have to kill you right here to take it from you. We were looking forward to having much more fun with you than that, but,” and it shrugged its shoulders, “needs must.” There was a glint in its eyes when it said it.

  Faedra moved her eyes downward to look at its hand. She couldn’t move her head, it was being held too tightly. The palm of its hand had been seared with the pattern from the amulet, burning a permanent brand into its skin.

  Her mind whirled as the oxygen was being cut off to her brain. She couldn’t die, not here, not now.

  “Faen,” she shouted through her constricted vocal chords. Nothing more than a hushed whisper emanated from her mouth. “Faen, help me,” she said again, futilely hoping that he could somehow hear her or sense that she was in danger. She looked over towards the courtyard, and her heart sank. It was still empty.

  She was quickly sinking into blackness; no, she couldn’t let this happen.

  Do something Faedra, she commanded herself. You need to do something now, or you will die. Right here, right now.

  The thought of what it would do to her father, to find his only daughter’s battered remains, lying lifeless behind the hotel, sparked something deep within her. Her fear turned to anger, which in itself, turned into the searing sensation of energy flowing through her body. The streetlamp above her flickered.

  Faedra opened her eyes and summoned all the energy she could from her body, then her mind started reaching outside of her skull, searching for other sources. The light above her flickered again, and she took hold of its energy, too, pulling it inside her body and molding it with her own. The bulb in the street lamp shattered, sending a shower of sparks raining to the ground like one of those fancy fireworks she enjoyed watching on Bonfire Night.

  She looked straight into the redcap’s eyes.

  “Not tonight, you don’t,” her whisper was barely audible as she channeled all the power she was controlling through her palms and slammed it directly at its chest.

  The intensity of it threw the redcap violently back against the dumpster again. She couldn’t control the immensity of the force she had created and it sent her flying backwards, also. Her whole body was picked up by it and she was hurled into the wall behind her with brutal propulsion. She caught a glimpse of Faen exiting through the door into the courtyard. He conjured his sword from nowhere and was spinning it in his hand as he moved towards her. There was a blood-curdling crack as her head slammed against the hard stone of the brick wall. She fell limply to the ground.

  “Faedra!” she heard Faen shout, just before everything went black.

  Faen moved with lightning speed to the darkness of the area behind the hotel. The street lamp was broken now, so the only light emanating there was the dim glow from the floodlights in the courtyard. He moved with stealth over to the redcap. It looked unconscious but he wasn’t taking any chances, and ran it through with his sword. Faen mumbled something and the redcap shimmered and disappeared. He stood up alert, his sword held ready for battle. He scanned the area for anything else, but couldn’t sense anything untoward. In the next heartbeat, he was kneeling over Faedra’s lifeless body that was now lying face down on the ground.

  “No, no, no, not again. For the love of the Gods, not again,” he cried as he carefully turned her over. She felt limp in his hands, just like Lillith had eleven years ago. He examined her face. She had a gash on her forehead; blood was trickling from it down the side of her face. He gently moved a lock of hair away from the gash so he could take a better look. It didn’t look too deep and it started to heal right in front of his eyes. He heaved a sigh of relief. She was not dead if her body was healing.

  “Faedra, can you hear me?” he asked, his voice soft as silk.

  She groaned in response. Her eyes flickered open for just a second as she took in his features and could see the agonized look in his eyes. It nearly broke her heart.

  “I am taking you home,” he said, and she felt the ground disappear beneath her.

  Faedra attempted to try and comfort Faen with a smile, and then sank back into the black abyss once more.

  Faen made it to her home within moments of lifting her from the cold hard ground. He lowered her cautiously to her bed. He had to check and see if any bones were broken because, if they were, they had to be set straight or they would heal crookedly. He took each of her limbs and gently straightened them one by one. He watched as the bruises disappeared almost before they even had a chance to develop. After she turned of age, the healing process her body possessed became even more efficient. He took hold of each hand and examined her fingers. Nothing seemed to have been broken and he rested them down on either side of her body. He leaned forward and coaxed the tangled strands of hair away from her face and waited.

  The energy he had just witnessed her expend probably had as much to blame for her state of unconsciousness than her head being slammed against the wall. He went down into the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards until he found what he was looking for. He filled a large glass with water, then filled it almost half way with sugar, stirring it until it dissolved. He returned to Faedra’s room with the glass and placed it on her nightstand.

  A few more moments passed. Faedra sucked in a deep breath, as if she had been underwater and just come up to the surface for air. Her eyes flew open; wide and scared. She scanned her surroundings and saw Faen sitting beside her; she threw her arms around him.

  “You are safe now, Ms. Faedra,” he said softly, in an effort to calm her. “Here, drink this; you need to regain some of the energy you expended,” he said, handing her the glass from the nightstand.

  “What is it?” she asked. Although, she trusted him implicitly, she still wanted to know what she was putting in her body.

  “Sugar water,” he stated.

  She drank it without further comment.

  “Did you see what I did?” she exclaimed enthusiastically, after she had finished the entire glass.

  “Yes, it was most impressive, Ms. Faedra.”

  She looked around again, a little disoriented. “Wait. How long have I been gone from the party?” she asked, looking down at her torn and dirty dress.

  “About fifteen of your minutes, I estimate,” he replied.

  “Oh, good grief, I have to get back there.”

  She pushed herself past him and headed for the closet. She certainly couldn’t return dressed like this; her father would freak out.

  “That is not a good idea.”

  “I don’t care, Faen. My dad will be worried sick. I don’t even have my cell phone; it’s in my purse that is still on a table back at the party.” She ran over to the home phone that was sitting in its charger on her nightstand, picked it up and started dialing. Faedra made sure to put in the couple of digits needed so that the number wouldn’t show on his caller ID. She hoped he would think she was calling from her cell. She couldn’t stand the thought of him worrying about her. “I’ll call him from here.”

  “Hello,” Henry answered. She could hear the music in the background. Good the party was still in full swing.

  “Hey, Dad, it’s me.”

  “Fae? Where on earth are you? I was starting to get worried.”

  “Don’t worry, I needed some fresh air and went for a walk in the village.”

  “On your own?” he exclaimed.

  “No, Faen’s with me,” she cringed as soon as she said his
name, and Faen shot her a strained expression

  “You went home to get your dog?” her dad asked incredulously.

  God, she hated lying to her father, and she was hopeless at it.

  “I thought he may need to go for a wee,” she said cringing again. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Fae, you do the oddest things sometimes. I tell you, that dog knows he has you wrapped around his paw.”

  She raised her eyes to the heavens. Oh, if only he knew.

  His tone changed then. “Is Frederick with you? He disappeared about the same time you did.”

  “Yes, Dad, he’s with me. He didn’t want me walking alone, so he asked if he could join me.” She listened as her dad grumbled something into the phone, but, just at that moment, a loud song started up in the background and she couldn’t make out what he was saying. It was probably for the best. “I’ll see you soon,” she yelled over the din.

  “You are going to have to be more careful what you say in the future, Ms. Faedra,” Faen said, stating the obvious.

  She turned to him and squared her shoulders. Whether or not he had looked concerned about her when she was lying in his arms almost dead, he certainly didn’t now. He was back to his usual stuffy demeanor, and right now was the wrong time. She had almost been killed tonight, certainly had the stuffing knocked out of her, and she just about had enough of the self righteous fairy that was intruding on her life.

  “Well, excuse me for not having my brain firing on all four cylinders after having it slammed into a brick wall just a few minutes ago,” she snapped.

  She had been expecting a full-blown throbbing migraine after that incident, but, as yet, nothing had materialized, for which she was relieved.

  Faen raised an eyebrow at her outburst but said nothing for a moment.

  “Fred, Ms. Faedra?” he looked at her questioningly. “Do you believe I look like a ‘Fred’?”

  Faedra’s shoulders slumped. No, he most certainly did not look like a Fred. “Give me a break, Faen, it was the only other F-word I could think of at the time,” she said, raising her eyebrows at him. “But I changed it quickly. I don’t think Frederick’s too bad, though.”

  Faen was quiet again, watching with interest as Faedra continued to look in her closet for a suitable replacement. She picked a similar styled dress, but this one was a deep forest green with a cream embroidered trim around the hem. She hoped not too many people would notice. Who was she kidding? This dress looked nothing like the one she was wearing that was now ruined. She held it up and looked over at Faen, eyebrows raised. Faen shot her a puzzled look.

  “Out,” she snapped and looked towards the door.

  “Oh, yes, of course, Ms. Faedra,” he uttered before his swift exit.

  Faedra mumbled something about ‘ungracious fairies’ under her breath as she changed into her other dress.

  “If you insist we go back to the party, I will not leave your side again,” he stated without compromise through the door.

  “Whatever,” she retorted.

  “Even if you have to go to the bathroom!” he added for good measure.

  She scowled at the door.

  “Okay, I’m ready,” she said as she opened the door a few moments later to find him waiting patiently, as usual. She had changed into her other dress, tidied her hair, cleaned the blood from her face with a moist wipe, and touched up her makeup, all with such incredible swiftness it surprised even her. There was just a tiny red mark on her forehead where the gash had been, and she covered that easily with a little concealer.

  “So, do I get to go flying again?” she asked when they were standing outside. She had missed the first experience due to a lack of consciousness.

  “If we are to arrive swiftly, yes.”

  “Which brings me to my next question,” she paused for effect.

  “And that would be?” Faen responded.

  “If I have on this ointment that is supposed to enable me to see through glamour, how come I still can’t see your wings?” That particular point was needling at her now.

  Faen gave her one of his wry smiles. “That would be because, how would I say, I ramped up the frequency of mine, so to speak.”

  “Not fair,” she mumbled. He just inclined his head in his annoyingly gracious way and held out his arms.

  “May I?” he asked.

  “Oh, go on then, if you must,” she replied nonchalantly, trying very hard to hide the fact that she was super excited that she was about to go flying with a fairy.

  Faen scooped her up in his arms. She wrapped hers securely around his neck, and they glided gracefully across the field to the village. It took her breath away.

  “What if someone sees us?”

  “They won’t. I have hidden us.”

  Faedra watched as they skimmed above the rooftops of the houses in the village. It was an exhilarating feeling with the warm breeze blowing on her face and through her hair. Although, all too quickly, they were on the ground again, and walking back through the front entrance to the Old Brewery.

  Faedra took a deep, steadying breath as they got closer to the party. She knew she had some explaining to do. She had just been for a ‘walk’ in the village with a man no one had ever met before, and she had changed her dress.

  “Well, here goes nothing,” she whispered to herself as Faen leaned forward opening one of the doors to the banquet room for her.

  Her father was on her in a flash. “Why did you go wandering off without telling anyone?” he demanded. Then looked down at her dress and narrowed his eyes at Faen who was glued to her side, just like he said he would be.

  “I spilled red wine on my other one, Dad, so I nipped home to get changed. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my birthday in a stained dress.”

  He didn’t look entirely convinced of her story, but didn’t say anything more on the matter either. “Well, you’re back now. Please just let me know if you decide to go on a walkabout again. You know how I worry about you.”

  “I know, Dad, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” But something told Faedra that maybe it wasn’t a promise she was going to be able to keep in the future. She suddenly yearned for the uncomplicated life she had lived until this morning, where she knew exactly who she was and where she was going.