Once (Gypsy Fairy Tale)

by Burnett, Dana Michelle

  No... Go away... Go away...

  We were no longer dancing. We were simply standing there, not moving, not speaking.

  The tap came again at my shoulder. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.

  Niall stood beside me with his hands clasped behind his back and a polite smile on his face.

  “Might I have a word?"”

  Chapter 15

  “You must be very confused,” Niall said as he took a seat in the chair across from me.

  We were far away from the other travellers, hidden away in his tent on the very edge of camp. He explained that he preferred to be in the open air and hoped that I was comfortable enough for our talk.

  Comfortable? There is nothing comfortable about this...

  I sat in the wooden folding chair he offered, relieved when Kieran brought another one up next to me and sat down.

  I wanted to reach out and take his hand, but I shrank back as Niall turned his green eyes on me.

  He looked from me to Kieran and then back to me again.

  “You must’ve noticed by now that there is something very different about us,” he said.

  Okay...This getting weird...

  I glanced at Kieran and then back to Niall, “I know that you’re travellers.”

  Niall nodded, “Yes, but it goes much deeper than that.”

  He motioned for Kieran to come to him. Kieran glanced at me nervously and then got up and went to Niall’s side.

  “As your people say,” Niall said as he took Kieran’s arm. “Things aren’t always as they seem.”

  With that, he pulled a folded knife from his pocket. Niall flicked his wrist and the blade opened. He looked over at me and without hesitation cut a long vertical slit in Kieran’s flesh.

  I was at the edge of my chair, wanting to scream, wanting to run, but all that I could do was stare at him terrified as the blood started to run from Kieran’s arm and down onto the flattened grass.

  Oh my God... Oh my God... What sort of sick bastard would do that to his own son?

  They were both watching me, studying my every reaction. I could hear myself panting, gasping for air and uttering sounds that were the starts of words that I never finished.

  They’re a cult... That’s it... They are a cult of some sort... And they’re going to kill me, cut me up, and make a suit of my skin...

  Niall leaned down and blew on the wound like any other person would blow on their soup to cool it. As he did, the flow of blood stopped and the cut scabbed over. Then, with just a brush of his hand, the scab fell away to reveal completely healed skin.

  “What the hell is going on here?” I demanded. I could feel my panic rising, wanting to burst forth and make me scream.

  Kieran rushed to my side, mumbling something about everything being okay and how there was no reason to be afraid. I heard him talking and I recognized the words, but it all got jumbled up in my head to where I heard only the meaning.

  I looked at him, realizing my first impression of him was correct. He really was too perfect to be real.

  Niall stepped forward, “We are Tuatha De Danann. Our ancestors were the first rulers of Ireland. Centuries ago we were driven into hiding because people were afraid of us because we were... Shall we say, different?”

  Different? That’s an understatement.

  “You see,” he explained. “We age differently, illness has no effect on us, we can command the elements, move things without touching them, and we sometimes know things before they happen.”

  I glanced at Kieran, “Magic.”

  Kieran nodded and shifted his eyes away, “Magic.”

  I turned my attention back to Niall, “So, you all are some magical breed of people, but why are you here?”

  “I knew your grandmother,” Niall confessed. “Loved her even, then she married another.”

  “She never said anything about... You.”

  Niall nodded, “I doubt that she would’ve mentioned the likes of me. She was very angry with me for a very long time.”

  He sat down in the chair across from me again, “When your grandfather was nearing the end, she sent for me. I came immediately, but he was too old and too ill. I couldn’t heal him so he died that very night, and she could never forgive me.”

  “But that wasn’t your fault,” I argued, a little shocked that I was defending the man that terrified me only moments ago.

  He nodded again, “It is exactly that type of misunderstanding that made us hunted for centuries. If it were not for the travellers, we would never have survived at all. The travellers are kind enough to keep our secrets and to hide us among them.”

  “You don’t have to worry,” I said looking from him to Kieran and back again. “I’ll keep your secret too. I’m not going to tell anyone what I’ve seen.”

  “That’s not what I'm worried about,” Niles said with a sigh. “People in our circle live a long time, reaping the benefits of our kind, but it’s not for everyone. Kieran and Megan’s mother was a mortal, she wed me and lived well over a century without aging, but in that time she saw everyone else that she knew wither and die. Leah was a kind and sensitive soul, and it tortured her so much that she eventually took her own life.”

  I cast a pathetic glance at Kieran who had looked down at his feet and refused to meet my eyes. It must be awful to hear his mother’s death talked about so casually.

  I turned back to Niall, “I still don’t see what all of this has to do with me.”

  “I see the warnings and I can tell you this will not end well.” Niles said, motioning to both Kieran and I. “Before it goes any further, I have to ask both of you to think about what you are doing.”

  Before I could explain that nothing had happened between us, Niall turned and left. Only then did I look back at Kieran.

  “Kieran, what did he mean by all of that?”

  Kieran sank down into the chair and stared down at his hand. He said nothing. He just sat there staring at his hands.

  Megan and Alana appeared at the opening of the tent, peeking their heads inside.

  “We saw Niall leave,” Alana said.

  “Are you okay?” Megan asked as she stepped inside, watching Kieran every step of the way.

  I gripped the edge of the seat of my chair, watching them come in and trying to wrap my mind around everything I just learned. These people weren’t just a different culture, they weren’t even human.

  Alana came over and touched my arm, “What did he tell you?”

  I looked up at her. She was so perfectly beautiful it should have always been obvious that they were not like normal people.

  “He told me about all of you,” I said flatly, watching her reaction. “You know, what all of you are.”

  Megan and Alana exchanged a conspiring look, seeming to communicate some silent message with their eyes.

  “So what now?” Alana asked, casting a quick glance over to Kieran.

  He snapped out of his trance and stood; “Now I need to make sure that Harmony gets home all right.”

  I timidly took the hand that he offered, half expecting to feel different now that I knew the truth. I stood and allowed him to lead me to the entrance of the tent.

  “Kieran," Megan called as she plopped down in the chair that I had just abandoned and pretended to examine her perfectly manicured nails. "Just remember that everyone deserves happiness, sometimes you just have to wait for it.”

  Chapter 16

  Kieran walked me home in the pale moonlight. We passed the now dark rows of booths and caravans as we walked the empty paths out of the fairgrounds.

  I followed him without resistance, my head spinning with everything I had learned. How could it be the creatures like Kieran and his family existed? How was it that the natural laws did not apply to them?

  He glanced back at me, worry puckering his brow. Could he sense all of the random thoughts going through my head?

  “Are you all right?” He asked.

  All right? Are you insane? How c
an I be all right?

  Kieran gripped my hand tighter, “I can only imagine how crazy this must all sound.”

  I shook my head, “I still don’t understand.”

  “What don’t you understand?”

  “So, you’ll never grow old?” I asked as I stepped up beside him while still holding his hand tightly.

  Kieran gave me a weak smile, “I will eventually grow old, but it will be a very long time from now.”

  “How long?”

  “What?”

  “How long?” I repeated. “I guess what I mean is how old are all of you?”

  Kieran shrugged, “Well, to give you some sort of idea, Niall is three hundred and fifty-four, Alana is one hundred and seventy-three, and Megan will turn one hundred and seventy next month.”

  “And how old are you?”

  “One hundred and seventy-six.”

  I couldn’t believe it. He should be dead. He should’ve died a century ago, and yet, here he was handsome and perfect.

  “So you saw the Civil War, roaring twenties, and President Kennedy?”

  Kieran nodded, “The Civil War was a dreadful, unfortunate time. As for the roaring twenties, we spent that decade on a circuit train.”

  “What about President. Kennedy?”

  “Never met the man.”

  I walked beside him, trying to grasp the enormity of this new piece of information. Every bit of history that I ever read about, he lived it.

  “You must’ve had an amazing life.”

  “Not really,” he said with a sigh. “Because we had to make a living, we fell into the circus life easily because of our gifts. I’ve spent my entire life just going from place to place, but not really seeing or doing anything.”

  “But still....”

  He shook his head, “But still nothing. The only things I remember from the past century are things I wish I could forget.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like when the big top burned down and killed all those people in Hartford, Connecticut or the time our train was hit by another train and over eighty of our friends died.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Both times we were almost exposed and had to move on to another carnival,” Kieran said. “See? Not the march through the history books you pictured, is it?”

  “No.”

  We were quiet for a while, but there were so many questions I wanted to ask, but one very important one that came to the forefront.

  “And you can’t die,” I whispered as I looked up at his perfect, unlined face.

  “Oh I can die,” he said. “But because I can heal myself, it takes a very serious wound to kill me.”

  I shook my head, trying to make myself believe it, but it all seems so fantastical. Was all of this really possible?

  I could really see a forever with you... My God... He really meant that... Forever...

  We crossed the street then, taking our time as there wasn’t a single car to be seen. I walked next to him, holding his hand tight. Afraid he would decide at any time that I was close enough to home and he would just turn around and go back to the camp.

  I tried to stop my thoughts from spinning inside my head. I wasn’t ready for the night to end and I needed to come up with more questions to keep him talking.

  “So, if your mother, she was a normal person like me?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And she stopped aging when she married Niall?”

  “Yes.”

  “But how?”

  “I don’t want to talk about her,” Karen snapped.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

  Kieran shook his head as we stepped up to the door of my house, “It’s okay, it’s just that I don’t want to confuse you even more by filling your head with my mother’s sad story.”

  I stepped up on the porch beside him. I said nothing as he turned the full force of his green eyes on me.

  “We’ll be leaving in a few days,” he said with a sigh. “You never have to see any of us again and your life can go back to normal.”

  Normal... Boring... Uninspiring normal...

  I couldn’t feel anything. I went numb. I knew my heart had to be beating that I must be breathing, but I couldn’t feel any of it. Shouldn’t I be able to feel something?

  Kieran pulled me to him, crushing my head against his chest. I could hear the steady thump of his heartbeat directly under my ear and bit by bit the feeling came back to my limbs. I wrapped my arms around him, resting my hands flat against his back. I could feel the subtle movement under my fingertips as he breathed in and out.

  He’s breathing... I’m breathing... It’s going to be okay...

  His hands were on my face, forcing me to look up at him. I stared up into his emerald eyes, almost losing myself in the way they glistened in the dim light from the streetlights.

  “I meant what I said,” he whispered looking down at me. “In another time, I could really see a forever with you.”

  I closed my eyes as he brought his lips down to my forehead. I inhaled the scent of his skin, savoring the closeness of him. I tried to tell myself that this was enough, that I could live my entire life on this one moment.

  But it’s not enough... It’s not...

  Suddenly my arms around his neck and I was kissing him. I pressed my body up against his, molding myself to his contours.

  His hands were in my hair, and he was kissing me back, bruising my lips with his. I didn’t care if it was right or wrong; I just wanted him closer, surrounding me and consuming me.

  In the back of my mind, I could hear my grandmother's warnings about men and ending up just like my mother, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t my mother and I wanted Kieran.

  I reached behind myself and opened the door. Without saying anything, I pulled him inside and pushed him against the wall.

  Again, I brought my lips up to his and kissed him deeply. I peeled his shirt from his body, exposing his broad chest. I let my lips travel the hard plane, relishing the taste of his skin until he moaned with pleasure.

  I then led him up the stairs, silencing any of his reservations with my lips as I took him into my bedroom. I forgot all about my grandmother’s warnings as I pulled him down onto the bed with me.

  “I cannot ruin you, this is not the traveller way.” He protested even though I could feel his excitement through his jeans as I straddled him.

  I pulled my own shirt off and brought his hands up to my breasts.

  “I’m not a traveller,” I said and then brought my lips down on his again.

  Chapter 17

  The bright light of the morning sun woke me. I could feel the heat of it coming through the window and onto my naked skin as I looked at the clock on my night table.

  Seven o’clock.

  I stretched, feeling the hairiness of Kieran’s leg next to mine.

  It wasn’t a dream...

  Turning over, I looked down at his sleeping face on the pillow next to mine. He was even more handsome asleep, his face relaxed and somehow even more youthful.

  I was amazed that he was next to me, naked in my bed. I had never done anything like this before. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine being with a man I met a little over a week ago.

  Kieran’s eyes fluttered open, glowing light green in the early morning light. His lips twisted into a delicious smirk as he looked over at me.

  He reached across the pillows and pulled me close, kissing me hungrily. A flutter of desire spread over me until even the tips of my fingers tingled.

  How could I ever give this up?

  I buried my face into his chest, smelling his hot skin and the feel of it under my cheek. I loved the way that his arms came up around me and his hands felt on my back.

  “Harmony?”

  “Yes?”

  Kieran nuzzled his lips into my hair, “What would you say to forever?”

  “What?”

  “I’ve waited a lifetime to feel this way,” he said softly. “I don’t wa
nt to lose it.”

  I lifted myself up so that I could look down into his face, trying to read what I saw there.

  “What are you saying?” I asked.

  Kieran brushed my hair back from my face, “I want you to come away with me, to go with me when we leave.”

  Yes... Yes... Yes...

  I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

  “I can’t,” I said without hesitation.

  His face fell, “What?”

  Even I was surprised by my response; I couldn’t believe what I was saying.

  “I can’t,” I repeated simply. “My grandmother spent her life building all of this for me. I can’t just walk away.”

  He sat up, sliding out from under me. “You would chain yourself to a failing business in an old house full of memories, rather than for a chance of happiness with me?”

  “I can’t just walk away,” I argued. “My life is here.”

  “What life? You’re not living... You’re just existing.”

  “It’s all that I know.”

  “Well,” he said as he got up and began getting dressed. “There it is then.”

  “Kieran,” I pleaded as he kept his back to me. “Please try to see this my way. Two weeks ago my life was normal, and my grandma dies, you and your family come to town, and suddenly magic is real and you’re asking me to go away with. Do you know how crazy that is? I still can’t believe it all.”

  “What about me?” Kieran asked in a tight voice. “Can you believe in me?”

  I reached out and touched his arm, “I want to. I want so badly to.”

  “But you can’t.”

  “I can’t.”

  Kieran turned, his eyes shining with unshed tears. He reached out and stroked my cheek.

  “You’re going to regret this,” he said.

  I could feel the tears welling up in my own eyes, “I already do.”

  He brushed his hands over his eyes, kissed my forehead and left. I heard him on the stairs and then I heard the sound of the front door opening and then immediately closing and I was alone.

  I fell back onto the bed. I clutched his pillow to me and cried. I cried so hard, as if the sobs were being ripped for my body.