by Anne Haley
She had begged her mother to let her have a couple of her friends sleep over that night, but her mother wouldn’t allow it. She said she was too busy with the shop to be staying up late and worrying about them. It had angered Aylin to the point that she refused to speak to her mother for three days. She would be the only eighteen-year-old girl in the whole world that couldn’t celebrate her birthday with her friends. All because her mom wanted to make sure she would be awake enough to go play with flowers.
The book didn’t do a good job of distracting her. She held the book in her hands, but her focus was out the window, looking up at the moon. It was bright tonight, shining in her window. If she turned off her lamp she would still have enough light to read. Aylin barely looked at her mother when she felt her standing in the doorway. "Aylin, you are still awake?"
"Yes," Aylin snapped. "I’m celebrating my birthday."
Her mother smiled to herself. She walked to her bed and sat down on the corner, watching Aylin. "Aylin, I lied to you when I told you why you couldn’t have your friends over tonight."
Aylin turned her head to look at her mother. She looked so tired; there were permanent dark bags under her eyes. It annoyed Aylin that she wouldn’t take a day off to relax and unwind. "Why?"
"Because tonight I wanted it to be only you and me. We have things to talk about."
Aylin’s jaw dropped. She had heard from friends that some parents kicked their children out when they turned eighteen, forcing them to become adults. She just never imagined her mother throwing her out. "Mom, I can’t live on my own yet! I don’t have any money-"
"Oh Aylin." Her mother laughed softly. "You can stay here as long as you like. I love having you around. What I wanted to talk to you about is something else entirely. I think it’s time for you to understand the truth of who you are."
Aylin frowned at this. All right, so she can stay here. It didn’t stop her mind from racing. Questions flew by wondering, what truth then? Is her mother not her real mother? Is she adopted? "What are you talking about?"
"Come with me outside. It’s so much cooler out there than in your stuffy room. Come on." She stood and waited for Aylin to climb out of bed. Aylin followed her out of the house. Her mother led her through the garden to the edge of the yard where the woods met their property. A cement bench was placed there near a small pond that had goldfish and a small gurgling fountain. They sat down and her mother reached for Aylin’s hand. She turned up Aylin’s wrist, where her ugly birthmark was, and held it into the moonlight.
Aylin looked down to where her mother was lightly circling her finger on her wrist. She couldn’t believe her eyes. There was no birthmark on her wrist. Where it once had been now laid a tattoo. She pulled her wrist away from her mother and held it close to her eyes. Three circles seemed to swirl away from each other, one of the circles shined silver on her skin. The bases of the swirls were joined together, being held by a small symbol. She recognized this design immediately. Her father wore a necklace everyday with a pendent that was this design. Aylin rubbed her thumb over it, but it didn’t smudge. It was real.
She looked up to her mother, her mouth open in question, but her mother pushed back Aylin’s hair behind her ears. "Look," she whispered, pulling a round mirror from her pants pocket. She held it up near the side of Aylin’s head and when Aylin looked at her reflection she jumped off the bench.
"What are you doing?" Aylin asked her.
"Sit down." Her mother ordered. Aylin sat down again, this time not as close. Her mother took her shaking hand and brought it up to Aylin’s ear. Aylin ran her fingers from the lobe toward the top, where now it formed a distinct point. She reached her other hand up, and the other ear was the same. Her heart raced and she couldn’t breathe. Full blown panic settled in and she started gasping for air. "Aylin, honey." Her mother ran her hand up and down her back. "It’s okay. Take a deep breath, slowly." It took a few minutes for Aylin’s breathing to come back down.
"What’s happening to me?" Aylin cried, tears welling in her eyes. She had become deformed before her eyes.
"The day you were born your father and I knew you were special. We knew what was meant for you and what you would become on this night. You are a faerie." She touched Aylin’s face.
"A what?" Aylin half laughed, half cried. Her mother made little sense to her. There was something seriously wrong with Aylin, and her mother sat before her talking about magical creatures. They needed to go to the doctor or something. Ears don’t change shape in less than a minute, and birthmarks don’t turn into tattoos. It’s impossible. Maybe she was dreaming. She was still in her bed, fallen asleep while reading her book. That was the only logical explanation she could think of.
"There are magical creatures in this world, they aren’t myths or tales," her mother started slowly. " They are real, and you are one of them. We knew the moment you were born. You were born with a caul. It’s a special gift passed down through generations. On the cusp of adulthood, when the child turns eighteen, the change begins. For you, that is today." She smiled warmly at Aylin. "You’re father was your guard, your protector, a different kind of faerie. When you were born he knew what his sole purpose was. It was to keep your secret and to keep you safe. When he died that duty was passed onto me." She reached to her neck and slid the chain out from under her shirt, bearing the pendant her father had always worn. "You are a faerie, the moon faerie to be more precise. Aylin, daughter of the moon."
She hadn’t been dreaming. What her mother told her that night seemed to ring true in her veins. She knew she had always been different, but she didn’t know why. Once her mother explained everything to her it had been like every nerve in her body settled, and an overwhelming calm washed over her. She didn’t feel the humidity of the air anymore; she only longed to feel the moonlight on her skin.
Terra looked back and forth between the two women, waiting for them to start laughing at their joke they were playing on her. But neither even smiled, and they were watching her, waiting for her reaction. So, she half-heartedly let out a nervous laugh. "Either I’ve drank too much wine or you just tried to explain to me how you’re a magical creature," she said.
"Terra, this is no joke. What we are telling you is that you are a sidhe, a faerie," Aylin said quite calmly.
"What’s a sidhe?" Terra asked.
"It’s an ancient Gaelic term for the fae. We almost never use it, but there are others that will use that name for us instead of faerie, ones that are stuck in the past," Aylin said. "Faeries have been around for a very long time. But you won’t find much of our real history in books. Fictional books on us have guessed at what we are like, and some are kind of accurate. But, as you can see we aren’t tiny little beings with wings. Maybe at one time we were and evolved into what we are today." She shrugged. "Some things are unknown to us."
Terra looked desperately at El, but El shook her head. "Sorry Terra, Aylin is speaking the truth. I am the sun faerie." She pushed back her wavy hair behind her distinctly pointed ears.
"Faerie," Terra said quietly, testing the word on her tongue. "Faerie?" She raised an eyebrow now. If certain events hadn’t happened in the last year she wouldn’t have been able to consider the possibilities. However, she had been the one to bring life back to a dead tree, just from touching it. She also had a panic attack when silver balls of light formed in the palms of her hands when she was walking through the dark forest. Even so, she couldn’t decide whether to crack up in a fit of laughter at the absurdity or to cry with relief for having an answer to all her worries. "I, ah…" She couldn’t think where to begin. All of the sudden her brain was jam packed with questions. She stood up and began pacing in front of the couch. "Faeries don’t exist. They’re folklore, myths," Terra finally said.
"Oh, we do. Do you want to see proof?" El asked. When Terra only looked at her with curiosity El held out her hand, palm up. Her palm began to glow, like skin does when a flashlight is held up to it, and tiny sparkles formed above her flesh.
> Terra gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Those same silver balls that had danced on her palms now rested in El’s hand. El closed her hand on the sparkles and smiled. "No, no. This isn’t possible. I’m just an average person!"
"No. Terra, there is nothing average about you. You have qualities that only few beings possess. You get to see the world’s beauties for what they really are. The moment you were born you were never average. Did your parents tell you that you were born differently?"
Terra’s eyes were wide with fear. "Not differently. I was born with a membrane covering my face that the doctors had to remove."
"It’s called a caul, or a veil. Being born behind the veil only happens when a child is born with magical abilities. The veil is a thin membrane that masks the face of the child when born, and is removed immediately. It is the telltale sign to the parents that their child isn’t one hundred percent human. Faeries are always born with it. It’s how your parents knew what you were going to become when you reached the age. Your name is significant also. Do you know what Terra means?"
"Daughter of the Earth," Terra said numbly.
"Yes. There is so much for you to know, and I can sense your anxiety, but I think you should take this one step at a time. Let this sink in first. El and I aren’t going anywhere, so we will be here when you need us."
El smiled warmly at Terra. "You’re an earth faerie. I know this is going to take some time to accept it. It did for me, trust me."
CHAPTER EIGHT
Aylin stood on the front stoop of Terra’s small house, waiting for an answer at the door. It had been a few days since she had Terra over for dinner, and she couldn’t help feeling anxious to know how Terra felt. She had put together a bright and cheerful bouquet of flowers, mixing daisies and tulips, and set them in a blue glass vase as a gift. The door opened and her smile quickly turned into a look of surprise. Blake stood, looking down at her, with his arms crossed and a direct glare at her. "Hello." She tried smiling at him, and when he didn’t return the smile she took a step backward. "Is Terra home?"
"She’s not back from work yet," his harsh and forced tone matched his stance. She stood at the base of the stairs, looking up at him. His arms were crossed over his broad chest and he glared down his nose at her.
"Okay. Would you mind giving her these for me?" She held out the flowers.
"Fine." He opened the screen door and took the flowers from her, careful not to touch her. "I’ll tell her you stopped by." He turned away from her.
"Is she happier?" Aylin couldn’t help herself. She wanted to know if she had made Terra’s life better or worse.
"What?" Blake whipped around. "What did you say?"
"I asked if she was happier now. After the evening she was at my home?"
"I don’t see how that’s any of your business," he snapped. He was almost a foot taller than her and looked down at her with absolute fury.
Aylin felt the sharp stab of his anger. Her defense had been quick, and before she could stop herself the vase tipped slightly in his hands and poured water down the front of his shirt. "Shit!" He moved the vase away from his body and held it straight out with tight hands.
Aylin bit her bottom lip. That had been uncalled for, and she wished she could take it back, especially since Terra had not told him anything, and he would never understand until she let him. But Aylin knew that he couldn’t ever be in their world. He was human, and her world wasn’t made for someone like him. "Well, it is. Just tell Terra I stopped by." She turned to see Terra opening the gate.
"Aylin!" Terra called, smiling at her.
Aylin sighed with relief. Terra was happy to see her, and that was an excellent sign. "Hello Terra." She nodded.
"What are you doing here?" Terra was standing next to her now. Aylin noted the pink in her cheeks, something that hadn’t been there before.
"Oh, I brought you those." She pointed to the flowers in Blake’s hands.
"They’re beautiful! Thank you." She smiled. "Would you like to come in? I mean, it’s not much of a place, but your welcome to come in." Her cheeks were reddening.
"I would love to," Aylin accepted and followed Terra up the stairs. When they reached Blake he thrust the arrangement into Terra’s hands.
"I’ll be back later." He grumbled, shooting another glare at Aylin. Unfortunately, it only made her raise her chin in defiance before he looked away and walked out of the yard, down the street. Good thing she didn’t do what she had been tempted to do, which was stick her tongue out at him.
"Please don’t mind him. He and I are at odds right now, trying to work through it." Terra sighed. She led Aylin inside.
Aylin looked around the living room and realized Terra was in a worse place than she thought. The house was nothing of a home, it had the basic furniture and walls and roof to protect them, but there hadn’t been a hint of personality about the house. Shoes were left at the front door, but otherwise there wasn’t even a picture on the bookshelf to show that there was anyone living there. Aylin sat down on the couch and waited for Terra to join her. Terra set the flowers on the coffee table and sat down. "I really came by to see if you were doing okay," she confessed.
Terra smiled and shook her head. "Everyone is so concerned with knowing if I’m okay or not. You know, that’s the only reason Blake is here. I left home with out telling anyone what I was doing, or where I was going. He had been out of town on business and as soon as he got home he started searching for me. I am sure he thought I had started doing drugs or something awful like that. I mean I started acting very strange, in his eyes, the last year. He finally found me after almost a month of searching and he just shows up. He didn’t even try to drag me back home, though I’m sure he would if he thought he could." Terra was concentrating on her hands. "But he’s staying until he thinks I’m okay."
Aylin leaned back against the couch. "I don’t think I’m making it any easier for him to realize that. Here I am, a stranger forcing myself on you. I can see now why he was so upset before."
"Yeah, he really has the whole brotherly over protectiveness down. I shouldn’t be surprised though, he’s always been like this."
"Don’t think bad about that. It’s good to have someone looking out for you. You never know when you’ll need it. It shows how much he cares about you, even if it does get annoying."
Terra laughed and nodded in agreement. She cleared her throat and said, "I am doing okay."
Aylin smiled. "That’s good. I didn’t come here to discuss that though. Well, besides making sure the whole faerie concept wasn’t scaring you away." She smoothed her navy capris on her thighs. She took a deep, steady breath and noticed the hint of rosemary and beeswax that lingered in the air. Terra had tried out the polish that Aylin had sent home with her. She let her eyes drift to the coffee table in front of them and saw the shine of freshly polished wood. "I just wanted to see you. I want to be friends," she shrugged, taking her eyes off the wood. "I wanted to let you know that if you need someone to talk to, about anything, I’m always here for you."
"Thank you," Terra said sincerely. "It’s nice to have another girl to talk to, sometimes Blake can be such a guy." She wrinkled her nose.
Aylin laughed. "Well, he is a man. We should have a girl’s night. I’ll have El whip up some fancy hor’s devours, I’ll get some wine and we’ll paint our toenails and gossip about the townsfolk. It would be great to get to know each other."
The smile formed quickly on Terra’s lips. "You know, that sounds just about perfect."
Blake found himself on the other side of the island by the time he slowed himself down. Just the sight of Aylin had him seeing red. He knew that she was the only reason Terra didn’t jump on a plane to go back home. Aylin, with her jewel tone eyes and tousled black hair no longer was the beautiful goddess he had first seen. She was the enemy, and he needed to remind himself that enemies weren’t attractive. He had to find a way to make Terra see this too. The last two days all she has been talking about is how wonde
rful Aylin and El are. He wanted to ask her who this El was, but he didn’t want to start a conversation about them with Terra. He needed to see El too, so he could put a face with a name, and put her in the same place in his mind as Aylin.
When they had been in elementary school, Blake had been four years ahead of Terra. She had been the quiet type, and could always be found in the library during recess instead of out playing kickball with the rest of the kids. A group of girls picked on Terra relentlessly, and one day on the bus he had decided enough was enough. He had always been one of the popular kids, so he brought home with him a few friends and when they all got off the bus he pulled his sister behind him and they faced the snotty third grade girls. After that day the girls no longer picked on Terra. She was still given dirty looks in the halls, but no one dared to come between Blake and his nerdy sister.
Blake walked onto the beach and noticed that on the other end the sand ended and there was a cove lined with large boulders and a small dock. He made his way to the rocks and climbed to the dock.
Now that he was truly alone he closed his eyes and lay back on the weathered wooden dock. In his right mind he knew that Aylin was no good for Terra. But there was a tiny part in the back of his mind that didn’t want to pull Terra away from her. There had been kindness in Aylin’s eyes, and she wasn’t a bratty teenager pushing his sister around. Maybe she was only trying to help, but maybe her attempt at helping was hurting Terra. It’s happened before when someone innocently wants to help, but ends up doing more damage than good. It was easier to think of her that way, but the rest of him disagreed, especially when he came face to face with her.
What also infuriated him about her was he seemed to have no affect on her. Normally when he would get in someone’s face, they would back away and skitter off. But not her, the more he pushed, the stronger she became. Now she was in their house, and he couldn’t do a thing about it. He had no idea what he was going to do.
