Jade's Paradox_Becoming Fairy Queen

by Isabelle Hardesty

“Soraya was a Fairy Enthrall, after all. Fairy Queens are seldom sweet and cuddly,” Seven said.

  “I came to her for help, not to have her beast-mode this and take on Bex. What if she gets herself killed?” Jade asked. She felt guilty for getting Soraya more involved in this, but at the same time, she had to tell her.

  “Soraya’s going to be fine, don’t worry, my Love.

  “I’m wrapping up here and can meet you wherever you want me to be in thirty minutes. Text me the location and I’ll be there.

  “You’re more powerful than before, Jade. Believe in yourself, I know it sounds corny, but you have to.”

  “I know. Even when everything is crazy, you manage to say something to keep me going. I love you,” she said, looking around at the people walking by, oblivious to her supernatural drama. What she wouldn’t give to just be a normal and not have any of these problems. She was worried for Nyx and Soraya.

  Luckily, she knew where Bex’s high rise lair was, known as Zoralia Mansion. The entire building belonged to her. She knew she’d find her sister there. She hoped she would make it to Nyx in time.

  Six

  With all the chaos, Jade wanted to go back to the basics. She wanted to protect people. So she did what came naturally for her.

  “Stay put,” Jade mumbled as she tied the mugger’s hands together. She noticed his palms were smooth. He must not have been at this too long, she thought.

  “You’re not a cop,” he said. “You can’t do this.”

  “Nope. Not a cop, but you’re not supposed to grab someone’s purse.” She looked at the guy, who appeared to about her age.

  She adjusted the black mask over her eyes. She felt foolish, but didn’t want her identity revealed, especially now that someone seemed to be impersonating her.

  Could it be Bex? For a fairy to do that she’d either have to get a shapeshifter to work for her – and no sane shapeshifter would work for Bex -- or she’d have to have a powerful spell and an item from the vector, or the person being impersonated.

  “This isn’t even legal,” the mugger said to Jade, struggling to escape.

  “Relax, already. This is a citizen’s arrest,” Jade said as she gave the rope one last tug. “That should do it.”

  She stood up and stepped back, pulling her burner phone out of her back pocket and dialing the police. “There’s a mugger tied up ready to be picked up. There’s a crowd of witnesses on the corner of 10th street and Second Avenue.”

  She was silent, listening to the voice on the phone, “No, this is an anonymous call.” She tossed the phone on the ground and crushed it under her boot. The last thing she needed was for the police to know what she was doing.

  “Hey, why did you do this? You don’t get paid, right?”

  Jade turned around and said, “I can’t help myself.” She crossed her arms and looked at him, feeling a mixture of pity and anger. “Why do you do this?” she asked before she could stop herself.

  “I can’t help myself either, I guess.” He sat up and tilted his head to the right, smiling, “Hey, we’re having a moment right now, aren’t we?”

  “No-uh-no.” She shook her head and smiled, despite herself. “Make better choices. I’m sure you’re smarter than all this.” She gestured to the alley and the empty boxes nearby.

  He shrugged and slumped back against the wall, awaiting the police.

  “Call me, Masked Danger,” he said. He threw his head back and laughed.

  “Better choices,” she said one last time.

  She sprinted down the dark alley, avoiding the approaching sirens. Lucky for Jade, a boisterous group of bachelorette party revelers were nearing her and she planned on joining them. She’d fit right in.

  She turned back to look at the guy, when she noticed a figure approaching him from the other side of the alley and a flash of a metal object.

  She heard him scream and ran towards him. He’d fallen to his left side. Jade fell to her knees and put pressure on the wound on his stomach. She looked up into the face of the attacker and it was like she was looking in the mirror.

  How is this possible? Jade thought. She didn’t have any shapeshifter enemies, especially since her boyfriend was the Alpha of the NYC shapeshifters. And, almost all fairies didn’t have the power to shapeshift.

  “You shouldn’t go around stabbing people, Jade. Not at all the actions of a Fairy Enthrall. This may get you unqualified to run. What a shame,” the Jade look-alike said to her.

  It was confusing to see a person who looked just like her. The look-alike’s red scarf even looked like one she owned.

  “You probably can’t tell who I am with this ugly mask I’m wearing,” she grimaced. “It’s me, Bex. You really shouldn’t have let me into your apartment that one time. All I had to do was steal that red scarf you had hanging near the door. With this garment and a potent spell, I’m you,” Bex said as she reached back and pulled out a long sword. She ran towards Jade and swung the metal blade.

  Jade held her hand up and deflected the blow with a force-field of light.

  “Why not shift, Jade? Have you finally realized it makes you unable to use your fairy powers? Being half fairy and half shapeshifter isn’t as fun as you thought it was, huh?” Bex swung the sword back and forth in the air. “I have no powers now except the power of this blade against your bones. Too bad your hands are busy, otherwise you could overpower me and finally win. Why not free your hands, let the criminal die and come and fight me, hand to hand combat?”

  Jade glanced at the mugger. She couldn’t let him die, which she had a feeling would happen if she released the pressure on his wound.

  Jade couldn’t get up and fight Bex, but she could still fight back. She threw her free hand up and sent a shot of light at Bex, sending her flying to the ground.

  Bex kneeled and stood up slowly.” I see you’ve been brushing up on your fairy magic,” she said.

  “I’ve been training to beat you.”

  Bex look surprised and then said, “Well, I can’t stay. I’ve got some more damage to do to ruin your reputation. You aren’t fit to be Fairy Enthrall, especially if the police arrest you, which they’ll do by sunrise. By this time tomorrow, this city will be buzzing with Faction members dying to kill you. Such a pity.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “Hmm… I’m seldom wrong. You’ll find out in time. The question is, what’s going to happen now that NYC has a vigilante-turned-villain? Between the Faction and the NYC police, you will be very, very busy trying to survive.”

  “Stop hurting people.” Jade raised her left hand and a purple-colored glow appeared from her fingers. She wasn’t sure if it would work, yet, since she’d just learned to throw light, but she tried, anyway. A bolt of light shot out from her fingers, grazing Bex’s right thigh.

  “Eee!” the evil fairy queen screamed. She turned and ran down the alley and bumped into several people as she escaped the scene.

  “Help!” Jade screamed. A few of the people on the street walked towards Jade and the wounded man. A small crowd formed.

  “Can I help?” A woman asked. She had covered her mouth and swayed from one foot to the other, obviously in a panic.

  “Call 9-1-1, please, I don’t have my phone,” Jade said.

  The woman called 9-1-1 and said to the operator, “Someone’s been stabbed. You have to hurry.”

  “Put me on speaker phone,” the emergency operator said.

  Jade listened to the instructions, nodding her head, and continued to apply pressure to the wound.

  “Okay, help is on the way. Do not remove your hands or he may die. Do you hear me?” the emergency operator said.

  “Yes.”

  The man opened his eyes. He clutched his side and cringed when he saw Jade. “You’re prettier than I thought. She looked like you but she—” he moaned with pain.

  “Don’t talk,” Jade said. “What’s your name?” she asked, trying to distract him and give him hope.

  He grabbed her hand and said
, “My name’s Matthew. Don’t let me die,” he squeezed her hand and he closed his eyes.

  “You’re going to be okay.” Jade applied pressure to his side, ignoring the warm blood that seeped out. The adrenaline surged through her body and her shaking hands. She felt her shifting happening, but willed it to stop.

  “Just hold on,” she told Matthew. Her mind raced. She couldn’t leave him, or he might die. But, if she stayed, the cops would find out who she was. “I’m right here, Matthew, just stay alive, okay?’

  Sirens screeched and stopped as car doors slammed shut. The police and the paramedics arrived at the same time.

  “NYC police, put your hands in the air,” a voice shouted.

  ***

  The woman who had called 9-1-1 raised both hands, still holding her cell phone. “She didn’t do it,” the woman said, “It was another woman holding a sword. She ran that way. She looked like her.” She waved her phone in Jade’s direction. “I took a photo of the one with the sword.”

  “Put your phone down. Do not move an inch,” the police officer said, approaching with his partner.

  Jade recognized the voice —it was him. Crap, she thought. She glanced up at Detective Solano and back at Matthew, whose color was waning.

  “You again,” Detective Solano said, shaking his head.

  “I was just walking by.” She knew it sounded like a hollow reply, but Seven had cautioned her that too much information made you sound guilty.

  “Really? ‘Just walking by?’” he said. “Come by my office tomorrow for some questions to help catch the attacker.” He handed her his business card.

  Jade slipped the card in her back pocket and stepped back, watching as paramedics rushed a stretcher towards Matthew in a flash of movement, questions and commands.

  She didn’t know how Bex had done it, but there was a shapeshifter out there killing people and she had to stop her. It had to stop before more people died. She felt responsible that all of these deaths were because of her. This was the third attack.

  ***

  That night, Bex attacked two more people. Unfortunately for Bex, Jade’s alibi was that she was in the hospital, waiting to find out how Matthew was.

  Photos of Bex as Jade circulated on the news and social media.

  While at the hospital, Jade kept her head down, avoiding eye contact. She didn’t want anyone to call the police.

  “Hey, that’s the lady on the TV,” one man said to another. “You’re a criminal, lady. You should turn yourself in, before I do.” He held his phone up.

  Jade was speechless, she hadn’t expected Bex to move so quickly. She knew that she’d make it worse if she tried to defend herself with her unbelievable story.

  Jade stood up and left the hospital.

  She had no choice but to break the Secrecy Protocol, if she was to survive and put a stop to Bex.

  ***

  A few hours later, Jade looked around the bleak police office and realized she had to remember Seven’s advice. “Acting is more than making someone else believe your story. You have to believe your story.” She sighed and tapped her finger on the desk.

  “So, Miss Delacourt, we have to clear some things up before we let you go. Lucky for you, we have witnesses who corroborate your story. They said they saw a woman leave the scene with a bloody sword like a katana or something. The weird thing is that a couple of them got a glimpse of her face—they said she looked like you,”

  “That is weird.”

  “So, why were you there last night?”

  “I usually walk from my apartment to Union Square to meet with friends.”

  “And you take that alley shortcut?”

  “Sometimes, yes.”

  “You, a girl from the suburbs of Atlanta, aren’t you scared of seedy NYC alleys? Anything can happen in this city.”

  “Not really.” She shrugged. She felt good so far. She really wasn’t scared of the alleys, so she hoped her nerves weren’t showing.

  “If you have nothing to hide, why are you so nervous?”

  Crap, her fingers were still tapping on the table.

  “Stupid habit I’ve had for years. It used to drive my teachers crazy.”

  “I can imagine,” he said, raising an eyebrow and clearing his throat.

  “So, did you know that someone out there looks like you and is attacking people? That’s an odd thing, don’t you think?” He leaned forward. The fluorescent lighting gave his skin a greenish tint.

  Jade lifted her shoulders and shook her head. “As you said, anything can happen here, I guess.”

  “Hm, well, I guess we’re done here.” He sat back and jotted some notes.

  Jade forced herself to not twitch or tap or do anything that showed her anxiety. Instead she remained calm with a small smile.

  “Ok, Miss Jade Delacourt,” he said, scribbling in his notebook. He looked up and closed it, slipping the pad in his jacket pocket as he stood. The metal chair slid back, screeching across the linoleum tiled floor.

  He leaned on the table and said, “Stay out of trouble, or you’ll end up locked up. There’s a woman out there who looks just like you. This is not good for you. Hopefully she can be stopped before she does more damage and you end up in the slammer.”

  “Ok, thanks,” she said, shooting up and slinging her book bag on her shoulder.

  “Go, get out of here.”

  Jade wondered if the best thing was to tell Detective Solano the truth. But that would be crazy, she thought. The last thing she wanted, though, was to end up in jail for Bex’s crimes.

  ***

  Later that night, Jade and Seven sat on the roof of their apartment building.

  “Are you really going to do it?”

  “I have no choice. If I don’t, I could go to jail for those murders and the attempted murder of Matthew. Doctors are saying he’ll make it, that’s the only good news.”

  “So the only way to save yourself is to put yourself in danger?” Seven asked. He held her face and pressed his lips to hers. “You’re not alone. I will do everything in my power to protect you from the Faction, Bex, and crazy normals.”

  “I love you,” she said. It had been building up for some time now, but she had never said it.

  Seven smiled, “I love you too, Jade.” He kissed her and grew serious. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this change. I need to know you’re going to be okay.”

  “I’ll be okay. I promise.”

  They stood under the glowing dark city sky and clasped hands.

  “Nothing will be the same after tonight. No matter what the Order says, if I win or lose, I won’t choose being a Fairy Enthrall over loving you.”

  “If you did, I would wait for you,” Seven said. He held her fingers to his lips and kissed them one by one. “You have to do whatever it takes to stop Bex from unleashing Flora Mordis and killing thousands.”

  The picture he painted was grim. “I don’t want to have to choose,” she said, feeling a flood of emotions take over her senses.

  “But if you could save lives, I understand. I would know you had no choice.” He kissed her and held her close.

  Jade remained silent. She leaned her head on Seven’s shoulder and tears streamed down her face.

  Seven

  Later that day, Seven, Jade and Alejandro sat in her living room.

  “So you want me to bait the Faction?” Alejandro asked.

  “It sounds crazy when you say it out loud, but yes and no. I’ll bait them. But I want you to initiate a conversation,” Jade said.

  “As if they converse normally.” Alejandro shook his head.

  “Look, you didn’t know that they were that evil when you were part of them.”

  “It would seem obvious, though,” Seven said with his arms crossed.

  The two guys had formed a kind of brotherhood founded on a former hatred of each other.

  “You would think it would be obvious to take down your hair products a notch or two,” Alejandro said, without missing
a beat. He then turned to Jade, his childhood friend, and said, “Continue.”

  “Ok,” Jade pulled out a folder from below a large coffee table book and said, “I’ve been planning this for a while. We have to stop them once and for all. And I think we’ve finally found a way.”

  She pulled out several papers and planned the Faction’s take down.

  Little did Jade know that somewhere on the other side of town, Bex was doing the very same thing in reverse.

  ***

  The room was full of fairies and a shapeshifter. All were silent as Bex repeated, “No one talks to anyone about anything in this room. We have a mole, and I will find out who it is, eventually.”

  They nodded.

  “You know what? I’m not convinced.”

  She pulled a box of straws from the table near her and ripped one open with a talon-like nail. “There we are.” She held the straw up and then to her lips. She snapped her fingers at the guards that lined both sides of the room. She waved a purple scarf in front of them, which smelled of fairy lavender.

  The fairies’ hands flew to their mouths.

  “What you will notice, fairies, is that I don’t trust you. So, I temporarily sealed your lips and left a space for a straw. I’m not a monster, after all.” She walked past several of the fairies and checked that their lips were sealed. She continued, “My body count has to stay below a certain number or I get in trouble.” She rolled her eyes. “Relax. Yes, you can drink and survive. This lasts until the election.”

  The room was filled with moans and murmuring.

  “Enough about you. Let’s get back to work. You will find a folder at your desk. In that folder are specific tasks for your team, from cleaning to packing. All of you have a specific job to ensure I’m ready for the election.”

  One of the fairies scribbled on a paper near Bex, “What happens if our team fails?”

  Bex saw the question and scoffed. “This is my answer.” She grabbed the paper and held it in her fingers. The tips of her fingers glowed bright red and then the paper was engulfed in flame, turning to ashes.

  ***

  Alejandro managed to set up a meeting between the Faction leader in NYC and Jade rather quickly. The meeting was in an empty warehouse in Hell’s Kitchen. A few dusty chairs and a table sat in the center of the dimly lit room.