by Zoe Parker
‘Little Red Riding Hood.’ I’m joking, but the teeth comment made days before comes to mind.
‘Then I shall be the Big Bad Wolf.’
Giggling, I turn back to a bunch of folks staring at me. “What?” I ask them.
Immediately they shake their heads and turn back to their own conversations. Is it that strange for me to giggle to myself? I know I do it at least once an hour. Or more. Probably more.
Rubbing my hands together, I start calculating how many kids will be trick and treating. And how much candy I’m going to get out of it—a candy tax sounds super fair to me. One piece of chocolate and one piece of hard candy. Or gum, but I always end up swallowing mine and Ruthie said it’ll get stuck in my… well, that area I’m currently sitting on.
I’m not sure I believe her, but I should be careful just in case. I tried to ask the Google God but got a lot of nude butts and no real answers. It’s Ruthie; why would she lie about such a thing?
“Iza.” The sound of Jameson calling my name breaks into my candy daydream.
“What?” I ask blinking to center my attention on his face.
“Let’s go get the costume shopping done. We still have the limo and the bus, so we can get all of the kids to the store,” Jameson says.
Great idea. That makes perfect sense and I love shopping.
Jumping up, I grab my coat and head out the door. Two seconds later the slushy, cold feeling of the snow squeezing between my toes makes me turn around and run back inside to put shoes on.
“You’re not driving,” Nika insists, stopping to put her own shoes on. The laughter and excited chatter of the kids fills the hallway next.
For once I agree with her, mostly.
The kids can get a lot more injured and I’d feel bad if they got hurt. But right this second, there’s a point of principle that I need to address. Standing, I cross the hallway and stop beside her. She’s taller than I am, so I look up into her face and lean so close my breath moves her hair.
I whisper, “You’re welcome to ask me to do something or give your opinion. But this needs to be the last time you try to tell me what to do, okay?”
Childish it may be, but I’m done being controlled and ordered around by people. If she says to me that she thinks something is a bad idea, I’m alright with that. Anything along those lines, really. But this bossy thing she has going on has got to go.
Her face blanches and her mouth opens and closes.
“I’m so sorry my lady. I remember you as a child and perhaps that is something I need to stop picturing you as.” Her apology surprises me.
I pat her arm and say, “Yeah, that ship sailed. I haven’t been a kid since the day I was taken.” Then I head back outside. This time with shoes on.
Chapter Forty-Five
Iza
Watching the reactions of the cashiers at Wally-World is almost as entertaining as the shopping part itself. There are seventeen kids between the ages of six month old Minos and eighteen-year-old Michael. At the looks of wonder on some of their faces, I realize that they’ve never been to a store.
“All right heathens, you get a costume, a toy and a food. Go!” I wave them forward with my arms as I say go.
For a moment they all pause, then in a stampede of little feet, they’re off.
Laughing, I follow behind Knox and his little group. He’s walking slower than the rest of them, his arms behind his back. His face has such an adult like look on it, not like the Knox I know. He stops and looks at me and the familiar smile creases his face.
Thank god. I was seriously starting to worry again. With a wave at me, he takes off running to catch up with the other kids.
An hour later, I start tracking them all down. I’m pretty sure the manager is threatening to call the police and I can’t be banned from this store too.
Seventeen kids leave a lot bigger messes than I usually do. There are costumes and bags of candy everywhere. That’s not counting the toy aisles. When I get the bicycles, I laugh out loud.
A bunch of them are hanging upside down on the rack like those hairy apes on the zoo show.
“Kids, time to get down and get going, and clean up your mess! Five minutes!” I yell over my shoulder as I walk towards the next aisle full of giggles.
Finally, we get them all rounded up—costumes, toys, and food in tow—and get them herded outside. I can feel their happiness through my links with them.
A sign at the door way catches my attention. It says Happy Thanksgiving, and there is a big roasted bird of some type on the table. I know this; it’s the next holiday.
Oh, oh. I’m totally cooking a big bird. When I get home, I’m going to get on the interwebs and find the biggest bird in this world. Maybe get a few of them.
The family looks so happy in the pictures. I want to make my family look that happy. Decision made, I catch up and climb into the car. These human holidays are fantastic. A candy day, a bird day, and then a fat man will climb down our chimney, eat our cookies, and leave us presents.
This is going to be a great few months.
Wait, where the hell is Phobe?
Chapter Forty-Six
Phobe
The sudden shot of happiness that bleeds through our bond catches me off guard. I am not sure what made this miracle happen, but I will need to find out what and find a way to replicate it.
This feeling… feels good.
“Hey there kid, what are you doing?” a voice demands from behind me.
Letting the glamour of yet another new face fall around me, I turn and pretend that I am completely surprised by his appearance.
“I’m sorry, dude. I was just looking for my dog. She got out of the house.” As I talk, I walk closer to him.
This human has information I need. Information I am going to get.
One way or another.
Snatching him from his post is easy. Pulling him along behind me, unconscious, is even easier. Leaning him against the wall of the park bridge, I slap his face to wake him up and start asking him questions.
Human minds are incredibly frail, so I am careful to extract what I need. This man provided some; I need more. Other than information, the humans provide no real sustenance, but I eat him anyhow.
Now I can really dig into his memories.
Heading back towards the nondescript building, I pull the hood of the jacket up over my head.
“Here, boy.” Whistle. “Come here, buddy,” I say, working my way back towards the other set of guards. Time is limited; they will eventually catch on to their missing companions.
Realistically, I could walk into the building and take what I need. But there is more going on here—I can sense it. Precision is required. I will whittle away at it until I find out the cause of the unease.
One man at a time if I have to.
“What are you doing here?”
Number two. There are forty more guards spread throughout this hidden compound. This is going to be a long night.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Iza
Halloween arrived right on the tail end of another light dusting of snow. The previous snow melted super-fast, which disappointed me a little bit. The muddy mess it left behind, I can do without.
Thankfully, getting dirty is kind of fun.
We put the costumes on the kids, let them ‘do’ their own makeup, sort of. Basically, to be what they already are without any glamour—no hiding tonight. Which is spectacular.
The town is a mass of talking, laughing kids wearing a wide variety of what they consider ‘monster’ costumes. The younger ones are followed by a mix of harrowed-looking parents and humored ones.
After telling one of the kids to pay attention for the fifteenth time, I kind of understand the look. I keep bouncing back and forth between the two. But I don’t trust the humans who kidnapped me to not try and take one of the kids.
It’s why everyone from the Sidhe is out here helping me watch them.
And the candy tax is being fully enforced. So far, I’
ve managed to swipe a candy bar per kid. I was keeping them in my pocket, but all the walking around made me hungry.
Now I have seventeen wrappers in my pocket.
Phobe is nowhere to be found. I feel him out there, but I haven’t laid eyes on him for more than a few minutes at a time. And he’s not on Sidhe land. He hasn’t told me what he’s doing, either. Not that it’s really any of my business. When I get curious enough, I’ll go hunt him down.
That will probably be soon.
It boils down to the fact that I don’t think he needs to be at my side 24/7. We are our own people, who do our own things. God knows I like my time alone. Look at how I was kidnapped… okay that’s not the best example.
“Lady, what kinda monster are you?” The adorable little voice talking pulls my gaze down. A little human boy, wearing the fake armor of a video game, looks up at me with big brown eyes.
I kneel, going down to his level. “A nice one… for you anyhow. I like cute little human kids.”
He smiles, and he’s missing one of his front teeth.
“Kenneth, get your worthless ass over here. If you keep wandering off I’m going to beat—” The intent, the hate in that voice makes me react before I think about it.
The older, rather squat human man is now up against the wall, his face turning a pretty purple because I’m choking the life out of him.
“Kid, who is this guy?” I ask.
“My step-dad.” Kenneth, because that’s what this ass called him, says, coming to stand beside me.
Calmly he looks up at his step-dad and not one look of worry sparks in those brown eyes. Step-dad here did something horrible for this child to be this way.
Pushing my face right into the man’s, I smile, showing him my real teeth, and say, “I’m going to borrow Kenneth for the night. He needs to be someplace safe to have fun. When I bring him home, you will be nice to him. Because if I find out you hurt him in any way, I will flay you alive and feed you one piece at a time to my Fiends. Understand?”
A Fiend appears at my shoulder and gnashes her teeth at him. Warm, wet liquid comes into contact with my shoe, and the smell of ammonia burns my nose.
Did he just pee on me?
Disgusted, I drop him.
“Come on, Kenneth, I’m going to show you what a real dinosaur looks like,” I call over my shoulder, while sneakily peeking to make sure he follows. “And get new shoes,” I add.
With a look at the pussy coughing on the ground, one that finally holds a bit of fear, he runs after me.
Kids shouldn’t be afraid of their parents. Not in those ways. A little afraid of getting in trouble, sure. But not violence to the magnitude I bet this little guy has experienced.
Kenny, because Kenneth is way too formal, slips his hand into mine and starts swinging our joined hands as we walk. He’s talking a mile-a- minute about all the costumes around us. It makes me smile.
Maybe I should feed the step-dad to the Fiends anyhow?
We get to the rest of the kids and everyone is welcoming and bring him right into the group. Everyone except one.
Knox.
“Why did you bring a… human?” he asks his tone incredibly snide for someone so little.
Is he jealous?
“Knox, that’s not nice to say. You want me to have someone take you home since you’re being a jerk?” I ask.
The transformation from the super serious, snotty Knox is immediate. He smiles and pats my hand before running off to be with the other kids.
Can jealousy make people act that way?
“He’s going through a lot, Iza. Kids do weird things sometimes. He’s jealous you’re showing someone attention other than him,” Jameson says, stopping beside me.
Rolling my eyes, I start walking to catch up to the kids.
Jameson might be right, but I don’t need to tell him that. It’ll go straight to his ego and his ego is plenty big enough all by itself. He’s dressed like a model for Halloween. A freaking model.
Who does that?
His costume consists of fake leather pants, a too-tight white shirt made of straps, makeup—lots of eye makeup—and enough stuff in his hair to stick it straight up.
He looks ridiculous. But it is a night for wearing costumes, or taking them off.
“Where’s Phobe?” he asks.
I shrug at his question. Changing the subject, I say, “I’m going to buy the biggest bird I can find for the day of thanks. So, make sure we let everyone know.”
He clears his throat and says, “Iza, are you going to cook? I mean the goblins do—”
“Is there something wrong with my cooking, Jameson?” I ask in mock-seriousness, biting my lip to keep the smile off my face.
“Uh, well…no. I mean—” He straightens his shoulders. “—the last time you tried to cook you melted the spoon into the soup and ate it.”
“I have the tube to watch. They have all these how-to videos on them. We’ll be fine,” I reassure him.
The truth is, I’m a terrible cook. Mostly because I have no idea how to cook. More than likely, I will let the goblins cook most of the meal—but I’m cooking the damn bird.
“Oh, okay. I’ll be on hand with a fire extinguisher,” he says, saluting me.
Shoving at his shoulder, I laugh when he topples over. “The Sidhe puts the fires out, silly.”
Climbing to his feet and dusting the snow off, he catches up to me, his eye makeup now smeared.
“Exactly how many fires have you started, Iza?”
Quite a few, really. I like the idea of cooking. I just lack the follow through. “Once or twice.” I fib.
“Why don’t I believe that?” he counters.
“Because you’re smarter than you look,” I answer and run to catch up with the group of kids.
We are going to the graveyard to see if there are really zombies and ghosts. The Fiends can eat the zombies and Phobe can… Well, shit he isn’t here.
“Can anyone eat ghosts?” I call into the crowd. When the laughter dies down I shove my hands in my pockets. “I’m serious, guys.”
“Ghosts aren’t real, Iza. Why in the world would you think that?” Nika says from across the small clearing in front of the graveyard.
“TV,” I grumble.
“Not everything you see on TV is real,” Nika replies.
“The Addams family could be our cousins!” I insist. “They might be real. Definitely more real than those soap opera shows you sneak and watch, Nika.”
“Their stories are legitimate romantic stories, Iza. It is perfectly plausible that she was pregnant with her sister’s dead husband’s baby. We had no idea that her Mother was sleeping with him and killed him in a jealous rage, then called her alien family. No one saw the aliens coming either, or their amnesia!” she defends heatedly.
“Nika, everyone knows that aliens with amnesia aren’t real,” I tease.
“Amnesia is a serious ailment that needs more people to be aware of it. Especially amnesiac aliens,” she mutters.
“The next time you say my shows are weird, remember this conversation,” I say, ending her little tirade about aliens with as serious of a look as I can make.
She pauses with her mouth open, and then does something completely surprising—she sticks her tongue out at me and walks off.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Phobe
Iza surprises me at times, especially moments like this. After doing the nightly routine of sniffing out the human authorities interested in Iza and removing them from the equation, I find her in what they call the ‘living room.’
Sitting in the middle of the room’s floor, she has candy scattered all around her while she divides it up equally among the children. While doing this task, she is entertaining them with stories about Halloween that she read off the internet.
They are so enthralled with her they are uncaring of the occasional piece of candy she sticks in her mouth.
Her candy taxes.
Also surprising is that s
he has not asked me about where I am going when I leave. Her curiosity is so strong sometimes I can feel it, but still, she does not ask. Then again, I am not so sure I will tell her if she does.
This particular endeavor needs subtlety. Iza does not possess any.
Dismantling them a few men at a time is effective. As of right now, the commanders of this human organization are not aware that one building—formerly full of them—now sits empty. They will notice soon enough, but their cameras will not be telling any tales.
Humans are not my preferred meal, but their memories serve a good purpose. In this last week, I have learned much from them.
For example, they have been experimenting on the half-breeds for decades. Their blood tests outed the creatures. As well as using the dragons as subjects, that Kael has provided over the years. They have breeding programs where they are attempting to make better soldiers for war.
It is failing.
The half-breeds are not strong enough. The dragons are, but they do not breed well with humans. And they only produce once.
The other Feyrie at the Sidhe… are more than strong enough. The child Minos provided them valuable intel. I erased as much of that as I could. But I have not been able to locate their main facility where they house the information.
That is something I will discuss with Iza.
Withholding the information is only temporary. Iza needs to be a part of the bigger, noisier moves on the board. Leaving her out of that would be a mistake, and I am sure would piss her off.
Her being pissed off at me is not appealing.
Coming out of my thoughts, I look towards her and grit my teeth. She is gone. How is it that this woman distracts me so? Even from her! Crossing the room, I head outside, using the door that appears with the Sidhe’s assistance. Apparently Iza is outside. Following that thread that attaches us to one another forever, I locate her quickly.
Another surprise from her today.
