The fairy grunted, hissed, retracted its claws from her sides and pressed its calloused palms against her stomach. It trembled, massaged her belly, then tilted its head back and bellowed as it came.
It felt like ice water spraying into her from a power washer. She gasped, clutched the bloodied bed sheets, sweat and tears pouring from her face.
The fairy pulled out of her, stood still for a moment and stared. Its wings went blurry, bringing back the violent hum, and the fairy floated above her. They stayed that way for a moment, staring at each other, both gasping for breath, and in an instant, the fairy zoomed out the window and was gone.
Cecilia howled, reached down to her injured vagina and wept. Skittles barked repeatedly from the backyard, slamming her body against the glass door.
But inside, in her belly, Cecilia could feel the magic working. Tingling and piercing, the fairy’s seed spread through her, and she knew, through all the pain, that it was worth it.
The next morning, Cecilia was sure the whole incident was a dream. It had to be. Something like that couldn’t be real. I fell asleep, she told herself. I fell asleep and dreamed all of that.
But when she checked under her pillow, all she found were bloodstains. She reached down, winced when she touched between her legs. It felt like someone had taken a power sander to her.
She shuffled to her window, poked her head out. The placenta still hung there, dried up like a prune. The wall was coated in dark, crusted juice, and she knew she’d have to get that cleaned up before a neighbor saw it.
She reached out, plucked the placenta from the nail, made her way to the kitchen. Skittles still stood on the other side of the glass door, sitting on her haunches and whining.
“Oh, honey, Mama’s so sorry.” After everything that had happened, she’d forgotten all about the Great Dane. She let Skittles inside; the dog ran straight for her water dish and lapped up the water. Cecilia walked to the sink, dropped the placenta into the garbage disposal and flipped the switch. The spinning metal made quick work of it, and, just like that, all evidence of the fairy was gone.
Except for the cold heaviness in her belly.
Her grin could have punctured her eyes as she ran her palms across her stomach. A high-pitched giggle seeped from between her teeth, and soon she was cackling and holding herself up by the counter.
Judy was right. It was well worth it. She couldn’t wait to see her, thank her, hug her.
“Come here, honey. Come to Mama, Skittles.” She sat on the kitchen floor, gasped at the pain, then clapped her hands and held her arms out.
But the dog lowered her head, stared at the spot between Cecilia’s legs. And growled.
“Skittles, that’s enough. Come here.”
The dog whined, her tail tucked under, and took slow, careful steps toward Cecilia. Skittles flinched when Cecilia placed a hand on the dog’s head, then lowered her nose and sniffed at the sore spot.
“Skittles—”
At the sudden burst of voice, the dog yelped and ran off. Cecilia picked herself up, shuffled to the living room where the dog was huddled in a corner, shaking so hard that needles of hair were falling out. She growled, low and deep, and stared at Cecilia’s midsection with hard eyes.
“Bad girl,” Cecilia said. “You stay in that corner then if you’re gonna act like that.”
Cecilia stomped toward her bedroom, shut the door, sat on the edge of her bed. That earthy, pumpkin smell still lingered in the air, and she breathed it in, mentally thanking the fairy. The puncture wounds on the sides of her hips had scabbed over, and she ran her fingertips across them, hissed and pulled away.
She reached over and swiped her cell phone from the end table and quickly dialed Judy’s number. Her skin tingled with excitement as the phone started ringing, but it went to voice mail.
Must be with a client or something.
After the outgoing message and the beep, Cecilia said, “Hey, Judy. Just wanted to call and let you know I survived. I can’t wait to talk to you about it. Give me a call, okay?”
I’ll call the office, just in case she’s there.
And she did, but Rhonda answered.
“Hey, Rhonda, it’s Cecilia. Is Judy in?”
“Didn’t show up. Had some appointments too.”
“Did she call?”
“Nope. But we’ve got some unhappy clients, I can tell you that. You find her, tell her to get her ass here.”
“Yeah…okay. If she shows up, have her call me, all right?”
“Mmm hmm.” Click.
Cecilia furrowed her brow, scratched her head. This did not seem like Judy at all. Rhonda had mentioned the other day that Judy said she might be out for more than one day to take care of Billy, but she surely would have called in to let everyone know. Judy wouldn’t just no-show like that.
Billy’s grinning face sliding across the wooden poles of the staircase crashed through her thoughts, and she jumped up, winced from the twisting pain, nearly collapsed to the floor. She took a deep breath, collected herself, quickly threw on some clothes and slipped into her flip-flops.
When she opened her bedroom door, Skittles was there, her head lowered, her nose sniffing at the space between the floor and the bottom of the door. The dog yapped and shot off like a rocket at the sight of Cecilia, disappeared back into the living room.
“Skittles, what the hell is wrong with you?”
She’s just jealous, Cecilia thought. She knows I’m going to be a mother now, and she’s jealous that all my attention won’t be on her anymore.
But she didn’t have time to think about any of that right now. She grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter, tried to jog to the car, but had to carefully walk instead.
It felt like she hit every red light in town on her way to Judy’s, and she slapped the steering wheel and cursed every one of them. Once she finally turned down Judy’s street, her stomach plummeted and her heart nearly leapt from her chest.
Police cars and an ambulance. Right as she pulled up, the ambulance pulled away, and she found herself secretly hoping it was Cliff inside, not Judy. Anyone but Judy.
But then Cliff walked out of the house, hands behind his back, two officers on either side of him. His shirt was spattered with blood and his face was loose and expressionless like palsied flesh.
Judy slammed on her brakes, jumped from the car. She doubled over, leaned on the Camry for a moment, waited for the grinding pains to pass. Two officers stood in her way as she tried to hobble past them.
“Please…that’s, that’s my f-friend in there.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t let you pass,” the officer said, his voice weak and cracking. His eyes quivered, his face pale. Whatever this man had seen, it had clearly shaken him.
“Just tell me what’s happened. Please…please tell me.”
A second officer stepped forward, shot a disapproving look at the other man. “Ma’am, please go back to your vehicle.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, but she yanked herself out of his grasp.
“Don’t touch me. Where’s Judy? Is…is she o-okay? Just please tell me that! Tell me if my friend is okay!”
The officers glanced at each other.
Oh no. Oh god no.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry.”
She shook her head, hand over her mouth, ignored the pain as she sat on the curb. What did Cliff do? she thought. What did that son of a bitch do?
“And Billy? Wh-what about the little boy?”
The pale officer shook his head, looked down at his shoes. He stumbled toward the grass of the nearest house and vomited into the lawn.
“We really can’t give out information to the public, ma’am. I’m very sorry.”
“The public?” She waved her arms around. “It’s just me standing here. And she was my fucking friend!”
Neighbors crane
d their necks to get a better look at the drama, but they remained on their own property, standing in their doorways or yards.
“I really am sorry, but I need you to return to your vehicle.”
“Fucking bastard.” She grunted as she rose to her feet and made her way back into her car. The image of Cliff standing outside of the house entered her mind, him staring up at the upstairs window, Billy’s bedroom maybe. The man had gone crazy, Cecilia thought. But what could have pushed him over the edge like that? He had a wonderful wife, a beautiful family.
We tried again and again, but it kept happening. We were devastated, heartbroken. But I was told, I was told what to do.
Cecilia drove away, glancing in her rearview as she crept down the street. Billy’s grinning face ignited inside of her skull. Did he cause this? Did the little boy drive his father to murder?
She ran a trembling hand over her belly, the cold sensation swirling inside. No, it wasn’t the child. It was Cliff. The man had lost it, that’s all. Happens all the time.
She wiped the streaming tears from her cheeks, fished her cell phone out of her pocket; she thought maybe she should call the office, let everyone know what happened. The Voice Mail icon flashed. Odd, she thought. I don’t remember getting a call. She hit the Missed Calls icon and saw Judy’s name, time-stamped last night.
With an unsteady finger, she dialed her voice mail, pressed the phone to her ear. She pulled the car to the side of the road and threw it in Park.
“New message, sent July 25, 10:09 p.m.,” the robotic woman’s voice said.
“C-Celia? I’m s-so sorry. Oh Jesus…I’m sor-sorry.” There was a deeper voice muttering something in the background, followed by a growl and then a high-pitched screech. Judy whimpered. “I h-had to pass it on. It’s part of…part of the rules. Oh god, I’m so sorry. If you get this message, forget everything I told you. Don’t invite it into your room.”
The deep voice continued to mutter, and it sounded just as scared as Judy did. “Get the fuck back!” It was Cliff.
“Celia, I hope you get this in time. I h-hope you…”
Cliff screamed, then Judy. There was a wet tearing sound and a series of thick squeals, like a pig being slaughtered.
“End of message,” the robotic voice said. “To delete this message, press seven. To save—”
Cecilia threw the phone against the passenger door, slammed her fists into the steering wheel, honking the horn, then collapsed against it, sobbing.
It rained at the funeral. Cecilia stood back, couldn’t bring herself to approach the two caskets surrounded by Judy’s and Cliff’s families. The two families steered clear of each other, all refusing to look at one another. She caught bits and pieces of conversations, Judy’s family grumbling about how Cliff was a murderer, how they hoped he got the death penalty, hoped he burned in hell for what he did. Cliff’s side of the family speaking about how Cliff was a good man, would never do something like this. That it must have been Judy who instigated it or that he was framed.
As the congregation walked back toward their vehicles, Cecilia averted her gaze, stared at her shoes. She couldn’t look any of these people in the eye, not when she knew the truth. Or at least she thought she did.
Once the area cleared out, she took a deep breath and approached the caskets. Billy’s was about a third the length of Judy’s, a dark oak to match his mother’s. A few stragglers stumbled by, ran their hands over the wood, laid flowers. She recognized some of the doulas and midwives from the office, but she merely nodded at them, pursed her lips; the last thing she wanted right now was conversation. Rhonda and another woman whispered to each other as they passed Cecilia, neither of them acknowledging her presence.
Two bodies remained seated just in front of the caskets, heads hanging, sitting as still as statues. Greg and Alicia, Judy and Cliff’s other two kids. They sniffled, and as Cecilia approached them, Alicia laid her head on her brother’s shoulder and wept.
“Hey, kids. Holding up okay?”
They didn’t answer. Alicia didn’t even look at Cecilia, her shoulders popping with each sob. Greg’s eyes rolled up and landed on Cecilia’s face, squinted.
“I’m Cecilia…your mom’s…friend.”
“Oh right. Yeah, I remember you,” Greg said. “My dad…he didn’t do this. There’s no way he could have done this… It was…” He leaned over, cupped his face and wept.
“I’m so sor—”
“It was Billy,” Alicia said, her face bright crimson and soaking wet. “He was a monster…he wasn’t normal. He d-did this.”
Cecilia just nodded. She knew it was true, knew Cliff was just trying to protect Judy. Their screams would rattle in her mind forever, along with that ghastly squealing. She took a knee in front of the kids, placed a hand on either one of their knees.
“Did your mom or dad ever tell you where Billy came from?”
They looked at each other, both brows furrowed.
“What do you mean?” Greg said.
Alicia jumped up, and Judy flinched, covered her face. She was sure the girl was preparing to attack her, to shut her up about the fairy. But Alicia ran past her, went straight for Billy’s casket and kicked it over. The wooden box tipped to its side, the lid falling open.
Greg didn’t move, just breathed heavily through his nose and stared at his younger brother’s body. The muscles in his jaws rippled and tears continued to spill.
The funeral director got ahold of Alicia, restrained her, the girl’s legs kicking, her hands contorted into claws that swiped at the air.
“He’s a monster,” she said. “It’s his fucking fault…it’s all his fucking fault!”
Billy lay on his side, his arms stiff on either side of him. His eyes were wide, glassy, and they stared out of the coffin at Cecilia. His skin, though covered with powder and makeup, had the same raw chicken hue as the fairy’s. And the boy was grinning, and not just a slight smile that could have happened from the tightening of the skin, but an awful rictus that took up almost half of his face. The tiny nub teeth were as black as burnt wood.
Cecilia’s stomach twisted and her lungs refused to inflate. She clambered backward, knocking over chairs, her eyes pasted to the boy’s face, the fairy’s offspring. Her belly tingled from within, the coldness spreading through her body, turning her skin to gooseflesh, chilling the sweat that coated her.
Alicia continued to scream and kick at the air, the funeral director doing his best to hold her. She cried for her mother, for her father, and cursed Billy.
Cecilia spun and ran, powering through the pain, and she never slowed until she was in her car.
I have to get this baby out of me. I have to get it out.
But instead of driving to a clinic, instead of driving to a doctor, she found herself heading home. Some deep, potent instinct refusing to allow her to harm her baby. My baby will be different, she told herself. I’ll make sure of it.
The sonographer squeezed the clear jelly over Cecilia’s swollen belly and rubbed it in. The cool gel made her flinch, but her eyes were on the monitor. Her heart felt ready to blow as she anticipated some mutated creature staring back at her. She imagined four eyes, wings, clawed hands.
Cecilia bit her lip, gripped the table and held her breath. Sweat trickled from her hairline and ran down the sides of her face, filling the creases of her neck.
The last time she had come, they’d shown her the heartbeat. Everything looked normal, they had said.
And she felt fine, but her nightmares were full of winged creatures and dead babies, dried placentas and Billy’s smiling face.
“Where are you, little guy?” the sonographer said as she slid the wand over the hardened belly flesh. “Ah, there we go.”
Cecilia braced herself. She imagined the sonographer screaming, dropping the wand and crashing over the monitor as she ran from the room.
&n
bsp; “Looks like you’ve got a little girl on the way,” the woman said. “And she looks absolutely perfect.”
“A g-girl? I’m having a daughter?” She stared at the monotone image on the screen, reached out and traced the outline of the tiny person curled up inside of her. “Judy. Her name’s Judy.”
“And she’s beautiful. Congratulations.”
A warm sensation filled her to the brim, and she knew immediately it was love for her baby. She studied the image, smiling, and a tear squeezed free from the corner of her eye. My baby will be perfect, she thought. Not like Billy. She saw no sign of any deformities, no resemblance to her “father”, no reason to believe her daughter would be anything but a normal little girl.
“But Billy looked like a normal child too.”
The sonographer pointed out the limbs, the head and the heart, which beat in a steady, healthy rhythm. She printed out some photos and handed them to Cecilia.
“Everything looks right on track. We’ll see you in another three months, okay?”
“Yes, thank you.” Cecilia clutched the photo in her hand, smiling as she traced the contours of her daughter’s face with her eyes. She could tell Judy already had her chin, kind of long and pointy, and a small round nose.
She’s my daughter. My daughter.
After scheduling her next appointment, she made her way to the bathroom where she stood sideways in front of the mirror and admired the bulge in her belly. That cold feeling never dissipated, and nowadays, she could feel little Judy twitching, moving around in there.
Mama’s gonna spoil you so bad, Judy. Just you wait and see.
She walked into her house, but Skittles wasn’t there to welcome her. Since the day after the fairy’s visit, the dog had not been the same. Wouldn’t come anywhere near her, hid in fear anytime she was in the same room.
“Skittles, where are you?” She whistled, made kissy sounds. “Come on, honey, come to Mama. We have some celebrating to do.”
Cecilia clapped her hands as she searched the house. The Great Dane’s food bowl was still full, and she found Skittles lying behind the couch. The dog had shoved the couch away from the wall so she could fit. As Cecilia approached, Skittles began to shake, her increasingly skinny body rattling against the wall.
Fairy Page 5
