Kennedy Awakens

by Greg Alldredge

  The woman’s voice changed pitch to a lower register. “Chew sure chew want ta go down there? They call that neighborhood Murderpan for a good reason.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure I need to.”

  “Okay, if ya gotta. I’ll be thirty minutes.”

  “Pick me up at the south corner of Tremont and West. You know the place?”

  “Sure thing. See chew soon.” Alleye hung up, but not before starting to sing along with a song playing on the eight-track.

  Kennedy continued her trudge through the snow. Her destination looked open, the lights on, and she spotted an older slender woman wiping down the counter. At least she could get out of the snow. The bell sounded cheerful when she pushed the door open. The shop was warm, and the scent of fresh donuts filled the air.

  “Come on in and have a seat, dear. You must be freezing.” The woman behind the counter spoke with the softest voice. Most welcoming, she must sell boatloads of donuts. The shape of her face was framed by a mass of light brown curls. A little white pillbox hat from the fifties perched on her head.

  “I’m just waiting for a ride… I only came in to get out of the cold.” Kennedy hadn’t eaten since the night before, and the smell of the fresh baked goods caused her stomach to grumble.

  “Don’t mean you can’t come in. Sit down and have a cup… and an apple fritter. I don’t think it will be very busy today.” The woman’s age was hard to pinpoint. “You have your choice of seats.” She motioned for Kennedy to take one at the counter.

  Kennedy worked her way to the stools set into the floor next to the bar. “How did you make it through the storm? They haven’t plowed, and I haven’t seen a car on the roads for hours.” Kennedy didn’t want to add she hadn’t seen a norm since the parties the night before.

  “I hate to admit I have no life. I need to start very early to make the donuts, you see.” She motioned to the filled racks behind her. “I have been here since before midnight.” She made a full circle and gathered up a cup full of black coffee. “You take cream or sugar?”

  “No, thank you, black will be just fine…” Kennedy inspected the racks of brightly colored pastries. They all looked delicious and tempting. As hungry as she was, she might spend hours eating in this place once she started. “What will you do with them if no one comes to buy?”

  The woman set the cup down on the counter. “I have a deal with a local shelter. They take all my day-old product and distribute them to the homeless. Normally I don’t have a lot of leftovers. I tend to eat many of them throughout the day.”

  Kennedy sat on one of the swivel stools. She smiled. “Seems like a sweet job.” Try as she might, Kennedy couldn’t separate out the scent of the woman from the smell of the donuts that seemed to permeate every inch of the shop.

  The older woman chuckled. “I’m sorry, I forgot my manners. Call me, Rosina.” She reached out her hand. “You’re lucky you caught me. I’m normally gone by now. The day shift hasn’t made it in yet.”

  Kennedy took the hand and gave it a quick firm shake. “Kennedy.” She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the touch. The woman’s hand felt smooth as silk. “You only work nights?”

  Rosina continued, “Working nights is the best time. The owners are all gone, and I can have the run of the shop. Only a few customers come in after midnight, and they are mostly drunks looking to fill their sweet tooth to console a lonely heart.”

  Kennedy remained suspicious. The events of this night made her doubly so. Something felt hinky. She left the coffee untouched. “I hate to be rude, but what are you?”

  “What am I? What a strange question. I guess I’m a baker, maybe a waitress… What are you?” Rosina asked.

  Kennedy was tempted to tell her the truth. “I guess I’m just a person looking for answers.”

  Rosina nodded. “Everyone wants answers nowadays, not everyone can appreciate a good donut like they used to. In my experience, answers only lead to more questions, you know.”

  Kennedy wasn’t convinced this woman wasn’t some creature in disguise, but rather than cast in front of a norm, she played along with the charade. “True, but there are things I need to know. Something is happening outside. I think something bad.”

  Rosina looked out the window. Kennedy followed her gaze. The only thing she could see was the streetlight across the street struggling to light the patch of earth directly below it. “Something bad is always happening outside. In here, it is always warm and safe. I prefer it here. Change is coming. I can feel it.”

  Kennedy returned her attention to the strange woman behind the counter. “What kind of change… good or bad?”

  “I don’t know, could be either, could be neither, might be both. I guess it depends on your outlook.”

  The sound of Santana echoing between the buildings pulled Kennedy back from the strange conversation. A quick glance over her shoulder and she spotted the Gremlin waiting outside for her. “Sorry, I need to run…” Kennedy stepped away from the counter, her coffee untouched. Over the centuries, she’d heard plenty of cautionary tales about accepting gifts from strangers. On this night, there were too many people out to get her. The paranoia she normally kept in check ran wild. She hated the idea of becoming the main character in a future cautionary tale of hubris or misplaced trust.

  “Take care of yourself, young lady. Stop by and see me again when this is all finished. You can have that cup and a fritter,” Rosina called to her as she left the shop.

  Kennedy waved with her right hand as she pushed the door open with the left. The woman held something back, but short of casting a spell or torture, she doubted the truth would come out. Better to get in the car and travel south to learn what the Leprechauns had to tell her.

  Alleye leaned over and pushed open the passenger door as soon as Kennedy came out of the shop. “Good coffee in that place. I stop there from time to time.”

  “You know the woman behind the counter?”

  “Not really, I go there for coffee, not talking. Now, what is this chew going south?”

  “I have been directed to… In a way, this is part of my calling, even if I don’t like this part of it.” Kennedy searched for her seat belt before remembering it didn’t exist. “Thanks for doing this. I can’t think of another way to reach that far south in this storm.”

  “Two things.” Alleye reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small pistol.

  Kennedy recoiled from the weapon. “What is that for?”

  “This is one of my little friends a SIG P238, but I like to call it Carlita. If chew treat her right, she will be good to chew.” She passed the gun to Kennedy, grip first. “Careful with it. It is loaded but not one in the chamber. I never wanted to shoot myself while driving.”

  As opposed to shooting yourself some other time? Kennedy took the gun. She never liked them much, but she knew how to use one in a pinch. How could a person live in the United States for over three hundred years and not know how to use a gun? Never having spent much time with Alleye, she didn’t know what type of Fae she was, as it didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. They were acquaintances, so the witch never felt the need to share anything about her circumstances, either, and never asked about Alleye’s. “You know I don’t really need this, right?”

  “Sista, I don’t care how strong chew is, it is always better to have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have one. Chew is walking into some dangerous turf and chew should be packing. I bet most others will be.” By the time she finished the lecture, the car was off the ground and flying south. Normally, it would have been too risky to take a full-sized car for a flight, even in a blizzard of epic proportions, but this was a special case. It wasn’t her car, and there were no norms anywhere outside. It was like someone called a snow day for New England. There were no humans anywhere to be seen.

  Kennedy took the pistol without further argument, stuffing it in her parka’s right pocket. “What else did you need to know?”

  “Chew know whe
re all the people went? There’s some strange shit going on.”

  The passenger window felt cool as Kennedy rested her forehead on the glass and searched the snow-covered roads for any signs of life. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where the norms are. Seems they all took the day off, with the sun.”

  Alleye nodded her head. Kennedy was surprised when she let the topic of snow drop and changed the subject. “It is only a few miles away. Even in this snow, we will be there shortly. I am going to stay and keep the motor running…” She held up a finger. “No sense in arguing, understand?”

  “Thank you.” Having a car waiting made Kennedy less worried. She hated dealing with the dark Fae. Where she didn’t understand the motives of the light Fae, the dark could be downright nasty, deadly, when they played jokes. They never put on kid gloves when dealing with others.

  “Where chew want dropped off?” Alleye asked.

  “I need to reach the largest island in the lake at Forest Hills… You know it?”

  Alleye nodded. “I’ll drop chew off on the south side. I don’t think I can land on the island; we would end up stuck in one of the trees.”

  “That’s all right, the trees on the island have a reputation for having one hell of a bite.”

  Alleye banked the car to the left, circling the lake, looking for a good place to land. “I don’t see any lights down there. I think they have lost power in this part of the city. This might get rough; I’m trying for the path around the lake.”

  Alleye was correct: it was a rough landing, but she managed to miss all the trees, headstones, and other monuments. It wasn’t far out to the lake, but Kennedy didn’t like the idea of floating out to the center for anyone to see. She had another idea, which would have been unthinkable on any other day, but since they had not seen a normal for several hours, she decided to risk the spell in full view of anyone who might be watching. It was time to step up and start taking risks.

  Without the power to control heat like a Succubus, she would be required to get creative to cross the short stretch of water and remain dry. Running on the snow was not ideal, but the thought of leaping over the water and landing in what she considered to be hostile territory did not appeal to her sensibilities.

  She did her best to build up some speed and not fall face first in the snow-covered grass. When she hit the water’s edge, she cast a shield spell below her feet and rode the field of force over the water like a surfboard.

  With dry feet, she stepped onto the tiny island she knew hid the gateway to the land of the dark Fae. She was correct to assume the doorway was protected. The trees started groaning, the snow that covered the leafless limbs dropping to the ground in huge clumps.

  Kennedy needed to duck and dodged the first limb attack. If it had connected, the force would have sent her flying back to the mainland.

  Left hand raised, her shield flashed up before the nearest tree could attack a second time. With her right hand, she charged a bolt of power, ready to blast the next attacker. The sweet smell of heather with a hint of farm slurry mixed in filled her nose.

  She cried out a bit too loudly, “I am Kennedy Leftwich. I come as an emissary of the humans. I am a keeper of the peace; I only wish to talk… Let me pass.”

  A male voice answered her with a thick Irish accent, “You got no standing here, English whore. Take your ass back to your Elf masters… begone with you before you get hurt.”

  “I come to talk, that is all. According to tradition and our compact, you must let me pass.” Kennedy hated standing in the open, waiting to be attacked, but it was her duty to try and keep the peace.

  Another voice called out. A different accent, but still Irish, it sounded richer to her ear. “Seamus, you’re not be treating the lady right now, are you.” A human with dark red hair and a coat to match, not much older than a boy, stepped out from the dark. His was the voice of reason. Kennedy didn’t trust any reason from the dark.

  “Sean, you know these witches. They can’t be trusted. We should burn them all and be done with it. They only lie and conspire.”

  “I am only here to talk; I will remain peaceful if I am not attacked.” Kennedy tried to remain calm and not let fear creep into her voice, but she felt her throat tighten under the stress as she continued to hold the two spells.

  “Now that’s not very nice. You’re forgetting your manners. You don’t want to be seen as unwelcoming, now do you?” Sean said as he waved the unseen man away with his hand.

  Seamus remained in the dark. “Sorry, I forgot my manners. Céad míle fáilte, please come into our home.”

  Sean smiled wide. “That’s more like it, a hundred thousand welcomes. Please follow me into our homeland.”

  Kennedy wasn’t entirely comfortable dropping her protective spells prior to entering the land of the Redmen and the Far Darrig. If the rules of magic worked there like they did in the land of the Elves, she doubted her spells would have much effect, anyway.

  She lowered her hands, and her magic faded into the gloom of night. “It seems I am at your mercy. I have always heard about your grand hospitality, but I have never had the opportunity to enjoy it. I look forward to my time speaking with the Unseelie Court.”

  Sean bowed then raised and waved his hands, opening a shimmering magic door between two trees. “Thank you for your kind words… but as a word of warning before you enter, we don’t like being called Unseelie, dark, or black. We don’t see a load of difference between us and the Sylvans… ‘Cept we don’t have a stick stuck so far up our arse we can’t bend over to take a shite.”

  Kennedy had a hard time not agreeing with Sean’s assessment of the Elves. “Fair enough. What should I call you?” She never thought the names they called each other could bring so much animosity.

  “Call me Sean. We are individuals first, not some hive mind or collective that can be lumped into a ball or stuck into a box. Redmen or Fair Folk is good enough if you can’t remember our individual names.” He chuckled, “Do you like to be called witch whore?”

  Kennedy raised her right eyebrow. “Not particularly, no.”

  “Then let’s try to not debase each other with unjust labels…. Shall we?” Sean stepped into the shimmering dark light.

  For her first trip to the island of the Redmen, Kennedy had a hard time not agreeing with what Sean said. She would hold final judgment on the dark Fae for the time being. She followed her guide into the portal.

  Chapter 11:

  Over three centuries of bizarre experiences never prepared her for what she faced on the far side of that portal. In her mind, she had built up the land of the Fair Folk to be some dark, chaotic foreboding place. Tales of horrors and misdeeds of the dark Fae ran rampant on the streets of the city. She knew of no witches who had ever traveled to this island, and if any of her Fae acquaintances ever passed through this door, they never spoke of this place.

  Her first impression was… anticlimactic. The atmosphere she found on the far side was not much different from the Sylvan home. From initial impressions, the only discernable difference was the color of light.

  In the land of the Sylvans, the color blue seemed… intensified, making the greens and blues more vibrant. Here, the color red seemed more pronounced. Green and blue were muted, but the red and yellow flowers seemed to pop, drawing the eye to the bursts of spring color.

  Kennedy’s expression must have exposed her surprise.

  “First time here?” Sean reached out for her hand.

  “Erm… yes, but I bet you know that. It’s not what I expected.” Kennedy did little to hide the surprise in her voice. She needed to keep her wits about her. Now was the time to remain focused.

  A grin spread over his face. “We get that a lot. Amazing how people judge us without even knowing us… This way, the meeting will begin soon.”

  “I’m really here seeking information on a human… Tom is his name…”

  Smooth as silk, the words flowed off the tip of his tongue. “Really… I don’t know any Tom, h
uman or otherwise.”

  Kennedy wasn’t sure she believed him. The words came almost too quickly, like he’d rehearsed them. “Meeting, what meeting?”

  “Yes, we need to discuss what our response will be to the declaration of war.” Sean didn’t rush. Kennedy would call it more of a stroll through the woods. She worked hard to focus, but Fae of every shape and race seemed to be about the woods. She always knew not every Fae of a given type joined a syndicate and decided to live amongst the humans. The land of the Sylvans and the Fair Folk provided a refuge from human contact. She wondered where the outcasts might call home.

  “Did you know, long before humans, there were only Fae? There was no light, dark, or outcasts. We were united.”

  Kennedy had heard this before… It was one of the chief complaints of the Fae. “And everything was perfect, but the humans came and ruined it all… I’ve heard it before.” She needed to be at that meeting. There was something afoot, and better to learn of it firsthand than after the fact.

  Sean waited patiently until she finished. “That is what many would like humans, and newborn Fae, to believe, but history is rarely as neat and clean as we would like it to be. The humans came and intensified the natural divides that already existed. There were great arguments about what to do with the humans. Some argued for genocide, others a more cautious approach.”

  “The Seelie Court wanted to protect humans.”

  “That is their remembering of the events. The Fair Folk would disagree with that rendition of the facts. All races had extremists on both sides. The Elves had many battles over who would prevail. Before long, out of concern for the safety of everyone, two communities formed. Those led by the Seelie Court and the fairy ladies and us, the Fair Folk. This natural divide happened all over the world. I guess it was natural for the Fae to separate themselves from the ones they disagreed with.”

  This version of the truth was new to Kennedy, but it didn’t explain the reputation of the dark side for mayhem. “This is different than what I have learned. If the Fair Folk are just like the Sylvan, tell me then, why do they have the reputation of being evil?” The words sounded harsh when they flowed from her mouth, but once said, she couldn’t take them back.