by Jenna Grey
“Lily, I never came to your house, not in person,” Virginia said. “The woman that came to your home and delivered that note was nothing more than a projection, not real at all – just a pale imitation of me. I am trapped here in this place, trapped by the Black King and I can never leave.” Lily just stared at her for a moment, trying to take in what she was saying.
“I don’t understand any of this,” was all she could think to say.
“It took all of my energy just to create that projection; it drained me, but I wanted to try and reassure you that things would come right in the end. It was the least I could do. I can see the future, and I know that you will beat the Black King in the end, but I don’t have the knowledge to help you defeat him right now. I only wish I did.”
Lily allowed herself a few moments to take in what Virginia had said, and Virginia had the grace to allow her the time to do it. She sat patiently waiting for Lily to speak. Lily finally said:
“You said that you were the one that gave me to Maggie?”
“Yes. I brought both you and Connor through to this world to keep you safe from the Black King.”
“Who is this Black King, what’s his name?”
Virginia wiped a stray tear from her pale cheek and she suddenly looked lost. Lily got the overwhelming impression that Virginia was hiding some great sorrow, that perhaps the Black King had taken far more than her freedom from her. Lily suddenly felt very sorry for her.
“We know him only as the Black King. No-one knows his name. There is power in a name and if you knew it, then you would have power over him...” she hesitated and put her hand to her head, screwing up her face in a moue of concentration. “I can’t keep you here for much longer. I’m sorry, I’m weakening. Only know that you will get home, and you will be happy – you and Connor. You must come here to me, and I will take you back home.”
Lily let the words sink in and felt an overwhelming sense of relief... and joy. She had waited so many years to hear those words.
“How will I find you?” Lily asked.
Virginia smiled then, and it made her face radiant.
“I’ll show you the way when the time comes, but that time isn’t just yet. The play has yet to run its course.”
Lily raised an eyebrow.
“That’s not very comforting. What about Connor? Why is he trapped in that terrible half place between worlds?”
Virginia gave a deep sigh.
“Ahhh, that was something I didn’t foresee. As I was bringing him through the Black King laid a curse on you both, a befuddlement curse, and I could only protect one of you from it. I chose you because I thought that Connor would be able to handle it better than you could. I know how much he has suffered all through the years, and if I could have done anything to make it better I would. You can help him now. I really don’t have much time left. If you have anything else to ask, ask it quickly.”
Lily could see that her lovely face was growing pale, purple rings forming beneath her eyes.
“Are you Seelie Shee then? Are you one of my kin?”
Virginia gave a light, bright laugh, throwing back her head, and filling the air with a sound like tinkling bells.
“Me? No child. I’m a Korrigan.”
Lily’s mouth dropped open slightly, and she blinked at the creature in front of her.
The Korrigan were female fey who lived in the woods, near streams or springs, and were a cross between a banshee and a succubus. They sought human lovers, and often kidnapped human babies, raising the child as their own. They could make men fall in love with them but often kill those who did.
And they could predict the future.
Lily gave an awkward laugh.
“Well, whatever you are, I’m grateful for your help.”
“Go now, I grow tired. Stay strong. Remember. The Black King will fall.”
And Lily slipped away from that beautiful place into a warm and pleasant darkness. She floated on soft foamy clouds of sleep, feeling content and blissfully happy, knowing that at last things were making sense and that one day, she really would get home.
And then they came.
They invaded that warm, sweet darkness, pouring into it like sewage and contaminating everything it touched.
This time though, it was different, and for a moment she couldn’t quite make out what the difference was. Then she realised, this time she could feel the essence of this creature, sense what it was, as if somehow a door had been opened to her and she could pass through to a new reality. She could feel its strengths and its weaknesses, understand how it thought and felt, and what she felt was terrible.
It was the same as it always was in every other way, that terrible paralysis, that awful feeling of total helplessness, and despite her best attempts to stay calm, she felt the panic set in, as she became aware of the presence in the room – that one great dark shape and the other creatures, baying at its heels. She could feel the gentle weight of her replacement charm lying between her breasts, and although she couldn’t move she felt comforted by it, as if she somehow knew that it would work, that Connor was there with her in spirit, if not in body. She could feel its power there, just as she could feel the power in the ointment she had made, a soft ripple that ran through her like butterflies touching her skin. Still her breathing quickened and she felt her heart doing little skittering jumps in her chest. What if it didn’t work? The thought of that creature inside her again tipped her over the edge into sheer blind terror.
Oh Please God, let it work.
The creature was coming nearer and she felt her chest tighten to a band of steel. Her heart no longer skittered, it began to pound, blood pulsing in her temples like a great beating drum.
There was a great crack of an explosion next to her and the slither of golden light that had been filtering through her eyelids vanished, leaving her in total blackness. She was jolted awake by the sudden noise and sat up, drawing in a frantic lungful of air. The sound had been the bedside lamp exploding and she had opened her eyes just in time to see the creature that had been on the bed flee towards the window, screeching its rage.
Lily started as the door flew open and Kieran burst into the room.
She’d forgotten to put the chair under the door handle.
“Are you okay? I heard a crash,” he said. All she could see was his skinny silhouette, stark against the lit doorway.
“I’m fine,” she replied, “I just knocked over the bedside lamp. Go back to bed.”
Whether it was something in her voice that made him hesitate, or some sixth sense, she had no idea, but without warning Kieran flicked on the main light. Lily squeaked a panicked “No!” But it was too late.
Kieran just stood, staring at the bed, at Lily, a genuine honest to goodness, unhidden fey. He just sort of hung limply, as if someone had pegged up his shoulders to an invisible washing line and that was all that was keeping his legs under him. He stood there transfixed, gazing at her in wonderment, eyes too-wide, mouth hanging slightly open, totally bewildered.
“Kieran...” Lily had no idea what to say to him, how to undo this disaster.
Kieran staggered forwards, his face like grey parchment, his eyes so wide that she could see the white all around them. He looked like a mad horse.
“Fuck,” he said. This was followed by a ‘shit’ and another ‘fuck’, by which time he had reached the bed and was sitting down on it, very shakily. “What have you done to yourself?”
Lily forced back the hot tears that threatened to drown her.
“Kieran, please you mustn’t tell anyone.” Her voice came out as a little broken thing. She was shaking so badly that she could barely get the words out.
“Tell anyone what?” Kieran asked, his voice vacant, as if he were lost in some dream. He reached out and touched Lily’s face tentatively, fingers gently tracing around her features, exploring them, as if he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t hallucinating. He ran his hand through her hair, the deepest burnished mahogany, lett
ing it trail through his fingers.
“That I wear a disguise – that this is what I really look like.”
“I don’t understand – I mean what... how?...” He snapped his mouth over his words as if he were suddenly afraid to let them out.
“Let me explain, please...” She hesitated, not sure how much of the truth she should tell him. Whoever said that fairies couldn’t lie?
“I think you better,” he said, but he did manage the shadow of a smile.
“A long time ago, I was... attacked, and my mother, Maggie, put me in this disguise to protect me, to stop it happening again. I’m not sure it really would have worked – I don’t think that paedophiles always take much stock of what their victims look like, but it made her feel better, and although it might have been false security, it made me feel better too. I just kept it going, and let’s face it, now it really might work. I mean who would want to get up close and personal with that Lily Mckenzie? Please, I’m begging you, don’t tell anyone. I have to stay hidden.”
Kieran still had his eyes fixed on her face, mesmerised and then he said:
“Yeah, I get it. I won’t tell anyone. But shit, you’re a total babe. You could be like a film star or something.” He started grinning then, the shock obviously wearing off. He started giggling, nervous, but genuine. The colour was beginning to return to his face, the wildness leaving his eyes.
“That was the problem,” Lily said, smiling as well now, the danger seemingly over. “I’m leaving soon, anyway, so just forget this happened, and you can start hitting on the new girl.”
Kieran pulled a face, still grinning and shaking his head in bemusement, then the smile dropped and he looked deadly serious.
“It’s okay, really, I understand... I know what it’s like to be scared.” Lily had no doubt that it was a genuine expression of sympathy on his part, and it totally disarmed her. The look on his face told her that he really did understand; he looked haunted. She had the overwhelming urge to grab him and give him a hug. Instead she just closed her hand over his and gave it a little squeeze.
“I know that you had a bad time with your dad, didn’t you?” she said.
He gave a bitter laugh, but he didn’t pull his hand away, gazing down at his too-long shorts as if they had suddenly become very interesting. The Hulk grimaced a dreadful scowl back up at him, as if daring him to show her any kind of weakness. Kieran looked up at her from under his eyebrows, and said:
“Yeah, and my uncle. Keep it in the family, ay?”
There was so much bitter resignation in his voice that it made Lily heartsick. She clung onto his sweaty hand, and his fingers tightened on hers, almost hurting as the memories flooded back to him.
“How old were you when they started abusing you?” she asked.
“Six.”
“Oh shit. I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged and gave a ‘shit happens’, kind of look.
“Nah, it’s okay. I’m over it,” he said, and it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t and never would be. Now the Neo Nazi look, the aggression, the insecurity, it all made so much sense. She hated herself for being so mean to him in the past.
“Well, I’m only going to be up the road – you can come and see me if you want, bring the little ‘uns maybe? Just please don’t say anything to anyone. I know you might be tempted.”
The look he gave her then was grave; he stared straight into her eyes, and she knew, as he spoke the next words that he would never go back on them.
“I told you, I won’t say anything, I promise. But shit, you’re fucking hot.”
They both started laughing then.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Lily said.
Kieran gave a real belly laugh then.
“Nah, you’re not my type.”
Lily pulled a face.
“Oh right... you fancy the new girl that’s coming,” she teased.
He shook his head and grinned at her.
“No, I fancy the bloke that works in the butchers.”
It came out as sounding nonchalant, but Lily knew that the words cost him dear. Lily’s mouth dropped open and she clapped her hands over it, squealing. So many things made sense now.
“You’re gay!”
Kieran flushed scarlet and pinched in his face, defensive anger tightening his jaw.
“Don’t you fucking tell anyone, they’d make my life a bleeding misery!”
Lily shook her head quickly.
“I swear, no-one will ever find out from me.”
“You keep my secret and I’ll keep yours,” he said, and there was just a hint of threat in his voice
“But you’ll have to come out some time or other,” Lily said.
“So will you...” He hesitated, and gave a winsome little smile. “I will miss you, you know. I know I act like a burke, I mean I’ve led you a dog’s life, but I don’t mean any of it. I like you being here, you’ve been more of a mum to me than shit for brain’s has. It’s her I’m kicking up against, not you. I don’t want you to go.”
Tears brimmed in his eyes, and escaped to cascade down his cheeks and he smeared them away, angry at them for betraying him. A bubble of snot escaped his nose, and he wiped it away on his arm. Despite the obvious drawbacks of getting much closer to him, Lily pulled him to her and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, and surprisingly, he hugged her back.
“I’m only on the other side of the village, just ten minutes’ walk away. You can come and see me any time you want.” She was mentally adding him to her list of ‘people to take back to Elphame with her’.
She heard Claire’s bedroom door open and shut. She must have seen the light on in the hall and wondered what was going on. Lily heard the bathroom door open and shut.
“The She Devil’s woken up,” Lily said, with a sigh. “Better not let her find you in here, they’ll be hell to pay.”
Kieran pulled back, wiping his face on the hem of his tee-shirt and looking embarrassed.
“Better not find you in here looking like this. I’ll see you in the morning.” And he unexpectedly bobbed forwards and gave her an embarrassed kiss on the cheek. He turned off the light as he left the room, leaving Lily, bewildered, in the darkness.
Chapter Thirteen.
Lily hadn’t slept at all, didn’t dare sleep, but she had spent the night reading – or rather staring at the page which seemed to be filled with some very strange language that made no sense to her whatsoever. She must have read the same line about fifty times before she closed the book and just settled herself by the window, looking out at the stars, going over and over the same things in her head, just the way she had gone over that same line of text on the page.
The charm...
the Korrigan...
.....the Black King
Connor...
Gary...
the dead cow...
… the Korrigan...
Connor...
Morning came and she staggered to the bathroom, so tired she barely knew what day of the week it was. She picked up the oil spray to begin her usual ritual, but she suddenly stopped, staring hard at herself in the mirror. Last night, when Kieran had seen her true self, he’d said. “You’re a babe.” He hadn’t said, “You’re a fairy, or what are you?” He had seen her as entirely human. Was she unconsciously doing what Connor did, and weaving a human glamour around herself as a form of protection? Did she really dare test it?
Sod it, why the hell not? If she was fey, she should start acting like one of the fey. She was tired of being the victim. It was time to fight back – she was beginning her new life – perhaps she ought to start it with a bang. She braided her hair, but left off the usual make up and the glasses, even left off the godawful cardigan, and just went down to breakfast in her light summer dress and thin floral cardigan. Claire had given it to her in a vain attempt to make Lily pretty herself up, but she’d never worn it, despite Claire’s constant nagging. It wasn’t exactly haute couture, but at least it didn’t make her look lik
e a refugee from some war torn country.
Kieran, Liam and Sarah were already at the breakfast table and she sat down, helping herself to some cornflakes. Kieran looked up at her and gave a puzzled frown, pulling several faces at her, projecting desperate “Haven’t you forgotten something?” vibes. Lily just grinned at him.
Claire turned around to see that Lily had come in and almost carried on with what she was doing, before she stopped in her tracks and gawped back at Lily, her mouth hanging open, making her look as if she’d somehow lost a few dozen IQ points in the last few seconds.
“What have you... I mean... how... what have you done to yourself?”
Claire drew in a breath, desperately afraid that she’d made a dreadful mistake and that Claire – and all the world – could see Lily for what she was. She almost bolted back upstairs to hide again.
“You look beautiful,” Sarah said, with some satisfaction, “Like a princess.”
At least she hadn’t said ‘Fairy princess’.
“Yeah, you look good.” Kieran said, grinning at her. “You make Lindsay Lohan look like an old dog.”
Lily thanked God for Kieran and let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding.
“Where are your glasses?” Claire asked. Lily grabbed at the first lie that came to hand.
“Oh, I’ve got contact lenses, I thought I’d give them a go.”
Claire peered closely at her. as if she were some interesting new kind of insect.
“I can’t see them,” she said, squinting.
“Oh, they’re a new kind – practically invisible,” Lily tossed back, with a sweet smile. Claire gave her a ‘well, I’ll agree, but I don’t quite get it,’ kind of look and said:
“Well, I must say you do look better without the glasses... you look...”
“Almost normal?” Lily finished.
Kieran was just grinning inanely at her, thoroughly enjoying the joke.
“Nah,” he said. “You look hot.” Lily pushed the cornflakes across to him.
“Thanks,” she said, grinning back. Claire just stared between the two of them as if she’d just witnessed the miracle of the burning bush. Lily tossed a glance at Liam and Sarah, who both just looked a bit bemused, but seemed quite happy to accept the new Lily without too much thought. Claire still looked as if she’d just seen an elephant walking through the room.
