Monsters & Fairytales

by Rebecca Suzanne

  We were walking down a path that I had never seen before. Somehow, everything was familiar. I wanted to take it in, but he kept rushing me. Maybe that’s what was so familiar. The first time I was here all he did was rush me down the path to the Minakai’s fortress. Like before, I dug my feet in.

  “Please.” He begged.

  “Why can’t we ever just take it slow? Why are you always in a rush? Do I honestly not have any time here?”

  “I don’t know. I have no idea if it’ll come now or tomorrow or in a year. But it came quickly last time. It’s all on you.”

  “Okay, so let me stop and smell the flowers.”

  “But Mirabelle,”

  “Sebastian.”

  I touched the side of his face and looked into his eyes. He put his hand on mine and sighed. He knew I was right. Rushing was only going to make it worse. I needed to be free and enjoy myself. I had to de-stress.

  I stopped walking and leaned against a tree. Staring down the paths around us, I was amazed.

  “I...I can’t believe it was all real. All of this has happened before.”

  He stepped up next to me and put his hand in mine.

  “Yes, it is all real. Even our love was real.” He whispered.

  “It is real.” I corrected him.

  I turned to him and kissed him. Gentle hands pulled me up and helped my legs wrap around his waist. I wanted to assume it was so neither of us were straining our necks, but I didn’t mind the thought of being more passionate with him. Only a few days of repeat had gone by, but I felt we had a lifetime of emotions dying to be set free.

  His cheeks were moist from his tears. I wanted to take all the pain away from him. I loved him so much. Together, we were something unstoppable. Every time I was supposed to forget him, I couldn’t. He had my heart, and thus my soul. I never saw the Zahn taking it from him. Maybe that was the only way to avoid it?

  “I love you just the same as the day we met, but somehow it is more. The human emotions you give me are quite confusing, but I do know you and understand your feelings.”

  He looked into my eyes and I looked into his. Did he understand them? Could those beautiful maroon eyes see inside of my happiness and know he was the key to it? I could see the happiness reigning in his. I made him happy. I did that to him. And he did that to me. It was beautiful.

  “You can feel it, can’t you?” I asked him.

  “What I feel is different, but similar in a sense. To me, you are the reason I exist. There is nothing else that compares to it. But for you, I am the reason you want to exist.”

  “How do you mean?”

  I was slightly offended. I taught him what love was and what it stood for, how could he possibly think he loved me more?

  “You are only human, after all. This was programmed into you, to find love. Love is not something we were designed to understand or even have the capacity to hold. But you taught me that. And for that, it is greater.”

  “Stop reading my mind and telling me what I already know. Besides, that’s not right, anyway. To deny my love for you solely because you didn’t know it before me is… well it’s completely insulting. I didn’t know love like this until you came around, either.”

  “Oh yeah? Not even for that Joe fellow?”

  He smiled. I caught myself getting flustered. I forgot that he had that human quality of jealousy. It made sense, now, why he had spoken like that. It was almost adorable if it weren’t so degrading. But Joe was certainly no threat to him. I would always and will always choose Sebastian over him. I didn’t even know Sebastian existed and I could still feel my heart pulling away from Joe.

  “He ditched me, you know?” I said.

  I figured that if he didn’t already know, those words might ease his jealousy.

  “I know. He doesn’t understand what you are going through.”

  “He does to some extent.” I corrected him.

  I thought of his mother. That was mine and Joe’s ultimate connection. Just as that thought hit me, I remembered Sebastian’s mother, too.

  “I don’t understand loneliness and abandonment?” Sebastian said, cutting off my thoughts at the perfect time.

  “Spike!” I blurted out.

  I slid off of Sebastian finally and put my hands in my hair. I kept leaving him. I was the worst mother ever. Of course it wasn’t ever planned and it wasn’t my fault, but he didn’t know that.

  “Do not worry. He is taken care of.” Sebastian smiled.

  “He’s what? Is that like a Wilson thing?” I said.

  I had a feeling now that Sebastian had something to do with that. My memory was back and I still couldn’t place that one part.

  “No, that’s different. Spike will be returned to you. Wilson has his new home. He understands.”

  “Oh, does he?” I smirked.

  “Yes. Trust.”

  He took my hand and pulled me back up in his arms. I gladly wrapped back up in him. I did trust him. He was a fool to think I didn’t.

  “I’m sorry about your mom.” I said.

  “I’m sorry about yours, too. You know everything is okay, right? In the end, it all works out.” He said.

  “I guess it does.”

  I knew he was referring to us. He was right. Terrible things happen so even greater things have room. It was a cliché of life, but necessary. Humans couldn’t handle themselves without something to keep them grounded. I touched my necklace and smiled. He lifted my chin and kissed me again. She had brought me to him. He was my purpose and she knew it before I was even aware of her. Everything in life was planned.

  Jumping down, the grass soothed my nerves. I couldn’t help it. It was overwhelming to know this was my destiny. I wasn’t even sure what path lay before me, but it had to be something huge.

  Sebastian hovered over me. The sunlight danced in his hair like I had never seen before. I ran my fingers through it and watched the tiny pools of color shift and sway with the rays. My eyes met his and my stomach doubled over. There was nothing else in this life I wanted more. I wanted to stay here forever, like this.

  “You’re just caught up in the moment.” He smiled, trying to show he was teasing.

  I looked into his eyes, searching for that part of him that was sincere. It wasn’t hard to find, just layered under his fear of exposing me to more than I could handle. But I could handle it, now. I wanted it before it was too late.

  “Then get caught up in it with me.” I said.

  “Okay.” He very quietly responded, nodding his head.

  Both of our hearts exploded as we got lost in them together.

  * * *

  We had been walking for what felt like hours. I didn’t mind the endeavor. I had beautiful scenery and perfect weather keeping any anxiety at bay. Not to mention, there was this handsome beast walking next to me. My arms were completely locked around his. They helped me stay upright. I kept looking at him and tumbling in my mind, getting lost in giggles.

  I was completely enamored by him. He knew it. He kept glancing over and giving me a crooked smile. He was trying to act mature about it, but it was nearly impossible. Every form of conversation he’d bring up would just turn into laughter and we’d go back to our thoughts. A part of me wondered what he was thinking, but then I’d get too caught up in my own thoughts to care.

  I glanced over at a meadow we were passing. Not that we ever weren’t near a meadow, but the trees were particularly spread in this part. There was a small creature frolicking about in it. I stopped to watch it. I needed to let the feelings inside of me calm down. What better way than to watch a furry critter pounce around in nature?

  Sebastian kept his distance. He knew I needed to calm down. As much as we should have been delving into our feelings, it wasn’t the best idea for the moment. Last time I opened up to him, the Zahn had come after me. We had to keep it at bay. I knew that I was playing a delicate game, and I’d tested the waters earlier. Waiting for the storm was deadly, but any more distractions and I may neve
r be prepared for it.

  The critter dove into a hole in the ground. I hadn’t even noticed it was there until it did. The grass was so tall; it hid all of nature’s flaws. Not that a hole in the ground was necessarily a flaw, but it was something nature didn’t put there on its own...I guessed.

  Creeping over to the edge of the hole, I tried to catch a glimpse of the animal up close. All I saw was emptiness. There was a back wall, but nothing. How could he have possibly gotten away that stealthily?

  “Here.” Sebastian called to me.

  I looked back at him from my stance on all fours. I felt a tad ridiculous when I noticed he was leaning against a tree with one of those creatures on his shoulder. He was feeding him some type of green fruit.

  “How did you...” I started to ask, but the closer I got to the creature, the more captivated I became by it. It was like a giant sugar glider but with even bigger ears and eyes half the size of its face.

  I couldn’t believe how such an alien creature was so adorable. I wanted it on my shoulder. If humans weren’t so cruel, I would have considered taking it back with me. For now, I’d settle on just getting it over to me.

  I reached up and pulled a fruit down to feed to it.

  “Careful, not the red ones.”

  Sebastian pushed my hand away. I hadn’t realized the fruit were different colors before.

  “Oh, sorry.”

  I found a green one and held it out to the creature. Sebastian smiled in a pitiful way and pushed my hand back to my shoulder. I looked at him curiously, but then felt something soft on my shoulder. I looked and tried not to laugh when I saw that the creature had appeared there. I was so excited.

  “What’s it called?” I asked.

  “A squirrel.” Sebastian said. He had the most serious look on his face I had ever seen.

  “It is not!”

  I wanted to swat him when I realized he was, in fact, kidding.

  “No. They are the Liras.” He said, laughing.

  “Lira.” I repeated.

  It jumped down off my shoulder and scurried off. It had completely devoured the fruit. I tossed the stem and looked back to where Sebastian had been standing. He wasn’t there anymore.

  “Are we almost to your house?” I asked when I caught up to him.

  Why was he rushing off this way? Had we made a mistake? Had the Zahn come to reap what we sowed? I peeked over my shoulder and saw nothing but blue skies. There was nothing coming for us.

  The tension was getting to me. I needed him to stop and acknowledge me. So I tugged on his shoulder and forced him to turn around. I gasped when his eyes were violet. What was happening? Was he giving in? Sebastian, come back to me.

  Running my hands down his cheeks, I hoped to bring him out of this state. Emotions were new to him. Maybe he didn’t know how to handle them? I had to help. He needed to focus on me. Focus.

  “Sebastian?” I asked again.

  “It’s just over there.” He said pointing behind me as if nothing had happened.

  Fearing the worst, I went with it. I didn’t want to stir anything up again. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for him to be feeling this all for the first time in hundreds of years. His body must be reacting.

  There was a wind swirling around us. If it hadn’t been so blue outside I would have been afraid. Something was happening to Sebastian. He had to know I was there for him. I didn’t know what to do to get his focus on me. Kissing him seemed to be what had caused all of this mess, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.

  Just at the height of it all, I lunged at him and kissed him. Before I knew it, his hands were under my legs and I was being pulled up level with him. The wind was blowing my hair everywhere, but we didn’t stop nor care. I was right. I needed to seal his emotions with a kiss.

  I felt a rush inside my chest that made it difficult to breathe. I savored the feeling. He rubbed my cheek and told me he loved me. It was the first time he had said it out loud directly. My heart rate spiked and I found it hard to breathe again.

  “I love you, too.” I cried. “Oh, Sebastian, I was so scared. I don’t ever want to feel like I lost you again.”

  “You have me forever, I promise. You ground me in a way that was unknown to me. I know I’m always saying I never knew this before you, but I mean that I never knew it was possible.

  “Of course I have heard all the stories, and seen the trials of humanity fall and rise over love, but I thought it was all a joke. I thought it was something you forced yourself to believe because you were born that way.

  “I understand the truth of it, now. We are united in love. We are soul mates from two different worlds. I don’t understand it any more than you do, but we both can feel its truth.”

  I wrapped my legs tighter and held on to his neck. We almost fell over. I never thought I’d get someone as strong as him to lose his footing. It was cute. I was glad he was letting the moment get to him. He had been acting tough for a while now; it was enough.

  “I don’t deserve you.” I whispered.

  “Then how are you here?” He asked me.

  He leaned his forehead against mine and sighed.

  “Because, I love you. I know that. It just seems so easy.”

  “Easy?! You think this is all there is, don’t you? That there is nothing better?”

  “How could it be any better than this?”

  I felt myself crying. He had tricked me. The tables had turned and now it was my turn to embrace everything. I was scared. He was so much stronger than me. He pulled me close, but I just wanted to get away. The wind had vanished and everything was silent.

  I jumped down, spreading my arms and running. The trees bent out of my way as I passed them. They were making it impossible to feel like I was going anywhere. I stopped to catch my breath and collapsed on the grass. He was next to me in seconds.

  “As you have never left me, I will never leave you. You do not have to be afraid. This is the new me.” He promised.

  My chest was heaving, trying desperately to get air into my lungs.

  “The last time-”

  “It doesn’t matter, now. Look at you! Look at what you have done for me. You keep denying your place here to only yourself and you’ll never see it.”

  “You denied it.”

  I didn’t mean to hurt him, but I did. He took it.

  “I told you, old me. That Sebastian is gone. And I never denied you, I just had to test you. You’re forgetting that was also before all this.”

  “I love you.” I said.

  “I love you.”

  He sat up and I clambered into his lap. We sat there for a few moments and let the air finally settle. As soon as it did, I knew we needed to carry on. I could feel it. I didn’t know how long the days were here, but I was certain it was closing in. Something didn’t feel right in the air.

  “Yes.” He agreed to my thoughts.

  I stood up with him and wiped my eyes. He kissed the top of my head.

  “Okay. So, where did you say your house was again?” I asked, looking through the trees in front of us.

  I looked over at him when I couldn’t find it. Did it blend into the background or something? He stooped to my level and lined his eyes up next to mine. Then he pointed it out.

  “There.”

  I didn’t know how I had missed it before. There, plain as day was a purple and yellow house off down a narrow path. It was three stories high but very narrow, much like the path. The roof was green and pointed with a red chimney. The smoke coming out was a normal black. That made me feel better that something was normal here.

  “Can we-” I began to say, but stopped when I realized I was alone.

  Sebastian was jogging down the pathway already.

  “Come on!” He yelled back to me.

  What a jerk. I took a breath and started running after him. The breeze was more perfect this time around. Rather than avoid me, the trees were urging me on. I wanted to close my eyes, letting them lead me so I co
uld take it all in mentally, but I was certain that would make me fall. I didn’t need to be any more head over heels than I already was.

  “This is it? This is your house?” I huffed out when I finally caught up to him.

  The house was much bigger the closer I was to it. It most definitely suited him. I was excited he’d actually brought me to meet everyone.

  “Yes.” He smiled.

  He kissed me quickly, then rushed up the rickety stairs. I followed after him and into the foyer. Somehow the inside was bigger. I didn’t understand how the outside walls managed to contain it. It was just completely massive.

  I’m sure the floor to ceiling wall arts, and tons of Myrians walking around, drastically reduced its actually size. Much like the way an empty house looks until you fill it with crap; you always wonder how you got so much inside.

  That strange language was echoing all around me. In spite of not being able to understand it, I could tell they were all welcoming Sebastian back. They were very excited to see him. So many were patting his back and shaking his hands. I was invisible in the sea of black. I didn’t mind.

  I stared at all of them to try to tell their differences. There was a presence at the top of the stairs that forced my eyes in its direction. He was much bigger contrasted to the others. I squinted to make out his face.

  “Carlyle!” I whispered; I was so happy to see him.

  I started pushing past the others to get to him. There was a tight grasp on my arm and I was yanked backwards. Thudding into his chest, I went to complain, but then I saw the look in his eyes.

  He and Carlyle were glaring at each other. What had happened? Did he not want me back here? He wasn’t upset with me; it was all directed to Sebastian. They nodded like fighters in a ring before a fight. I felt sick. It was awful. What had happened?

  “Sebas-”

  Instantly I was cut off with their words of hatred. They were screaming and yelling at each other. It was frightening to watch. I stepped back and cowered behind Sebastian. Carlyle was livid. I wished I knew what they were screaming about. I couldn’t think of a reason for either of them to be this angry. Someone had to stop them. Everyone else was just silent, though. They were watching Sebastian and Carlyle yell, in just as much confusion as I was.