by S L Mason
Oh, that’s his game. I’m his sister which certainly makes more sense.
“Look, we’re hunting fairies, your hunting fairies. Why don’t we work together? We escaped from the Fae with her help. We’re trying to figure a way back. Either you want in for the ride, or you want to be an asshole. Make your choice.” Nick retorts.
I’m not sure how smart Nick is. After all, there are only two of us, and I’m a girl. There are three of them. They’re bigger with guns, and I don’t think he can fight off three dudes—men who clearly look like they hit the gym pretty regularly.
“You mean to go where they go.” One of them laughs, leaning back with his tongue out, while Capitan Steel rubs his chin with his free hand.
“Yeah, they live somewhere. We were there and got out. Now we want to get back, so either you’re in for the ride or you’re just a fucking asshole standing in our way. Which is it?” Nick puffs up with his comeback.
I’ll give it to Nick. He has a set of brass ones for sure. Mouthing off to three jarheads isn’t smart, but then again, guys like to show who’s got the biggest…
“If you guys are going in, we’re going with you.” The leader, Capitan Steel, stands stock-still, his eyes still boring into me.
“Whoa, whoa, Nick. Backup. First of all, we don’t know these guys. Don’t know anything about them.” I let my eyes drill right back into Captain Steel. “Why would we trust them? If I’m going back to the Hallowed Hills, I only want to take people I can trust.” I say while lowering my voice.
Capitan Steel cuts in. “I hear what you’re saying. We’re all that’s left of our crew. Everybody else in our squad’s dead. Fae cut ‘em down. They lock us up with their voices and then bleed us dry. There’s no way I’m staying here. If you have a way to get wherever they live, I want to take the fight to them. My name’s Jake. This here’s Will.” He tips his head to a man to his right.
“My name’s Tom,” The short guy with his tongue out supplies. Tom looks like a short version of Joe Pesci, with a New York Little Italy haircut and all.
Nick puffs himself up in a man stance, the one where they try to make every muscle look as big and bulging as possible. “We get on the other side, she’s in charge. I don’t give a shit who you are, or what you think you know. The only reason why I’m alive is her.” Nick’s proclamation isn’t what I had in mind.
They lower their weapons, enough to show they aren’t a threat for now. Will’s eyes never find me. Instead they scan the area.
“You know how to keep the Fae from entrancing you?” I inquire.
“We filled one ear with cotton balls, and we got an earpiece in the other so their singing doesn’t work,” Will replies.
“Or you could be like me and be completely tone-deaf so their music doesn’t mean shit to me.” Jake is funny. I can’t help it. I crack a smile. I suppose being tone-deaf would do it if the singing works on vibrations.
Perhaps they haven’t noticed the peak of my ear and the unusual shade of my green eyes. Or am I naturally compelling everyone at this point in time without even realizing it? When I compelled Lavender in the Hallowed Hills, I yelled. I was angry. I didn’t care if she was supposed to be a Fae lady’s maid-type person. She changed my hair color without my permission. It isn’t that she changed my hair that bothers me anymore. Now it’s growing out the same color, and my hair was never black. It’s brown. Boring brown. That’s me, boring, brown Sarah. Now I have black hair and green eyes.
I feel like everyone who sees me can tell that there’s something not quite right. They can see I’m different from them. Olive’s the only child that doesn’t shy away from me. They feel it on a deeper level, like when all the hair on the back of your neck stands up. Or you don’t know why you turn to drive home a different way than normal. Then you find out there’s an accident on the other road.
“You don’t have any other friends?” Nick’s voice takes on that note of suspicion you get when you’re being set up.
“No, we’re a three-man crew now. There were more of us but not anymore.” Jake locks his jaw down hard on the last word, pressing his lips into a thin line.
“Yeah, they killed Reilly real good,” Tom says. “One purple-eyed motherfucker cut his head off. Right in front of me, Reilly didn’t even raise his hand. He knelt down in front of the pointy-eared bastard. Then he chopped Reilly’s head right off. It rolled away like a soccer ball. I guess the only blessing in the whole situation is Reilly’s parents are dead. So, they’ll never know, there’s no next of kin to inform. Just us.” Tom’s assessment is cringe-worthy, to say the least, but it explains the blood splatter on their faces and clothes.
I hadn’t seen Arty’s dad get his head cut off. I’d only seen the aftermath. It didn’t change the fact that someone had walked right up to him and cut his head off. Phil was a nice guy. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I guess, the only consolation is he went quickly.
Those poor kids at my youth group sure didn’t. They bled out slow. I can’t stop the scene from filling my mind. Pastor Rollins’ torn shirt and swollen eyes, kneeling in the grass with the arrow through his chest and dry blood crusted around his lips, and all those bloody hands in the grass.
Nick hadn’t seen it. I hadn’t told anyone about it. What’s the point? Everybody has their own little story about how the Fae fucked up their family or their lives.
“We need to get out of the open,” Jake announces. “This group might be gone, but there could be others running around. They’re still scouring the towns. According to the squawk on the street, they’re moving into the cities. Cleaning them out pocket by pocket.” Jake’s tone of voice is no nonsense and in charge.
“Why do you suppose they started out here in the burbs?” Nick asks. “I’m sure the pickings in the city are better than here.” Nick’s question surprises me.
“Fewer people, less resistance. Who knows?” Jake’s steel-gray eyes clock the area.
I take one step toward the other side of the street. All four take a step-in unison, shadowing me. I stop and turn to stare at them. “Well, I wasn’t creepy or anything.” I laugh nervously.
Nick smiles. “Sorry. You take a step, I take a step. I’m with you. You’re my only chance of saving Nikki.” He says.
The other three guys don’t say anything. I lift my left foot while eyeballing the jarheads off to my right. I want to see if they are going to mirror me again. They don’t. The moment I set my left foot down and lean forward, all three of them take a step.
Nick doesn’t. “Okay, that is creepy. What’s up with you dudes? Why are you mirroring everything she does?” Nick asks.
They’re following me, but I don’t think they realize what they’re doing. In their minds, everything is normal. I compelled them, but their eyes aren’t glazed over. I took their free will and somehow compelled them to follow me unquestioningly.
Nick shrugs.
The desire to free them wells up in my throat. I swallow it back. I don’t want to sing, but it has to be done. They need free will and the ability to control their own bodies. Not follow me step-by-step. I need them fully cognizant and making their own decisions. It’s our best chance of protecting ourselves.
We are still in the middle of the street, so I head for the nearest tree. It’s easier to sing closer to nature. Man-made structures block the vibrations. The humming of life is sweeter, it changes with soil. I heard someone say when you’re in contact with nature, that’s where the magic happens. It’s true. When I stand on the grass with the soil beneath my feet, I feel the magic. I feel their songs. They rise up through the ground, seeping into my skin and saturating every part of me. I’m compelled to react, to sing.
The Three Stooges follow me step-for-step.
“You three stay here.” I leave them by a couple of trees. Reaching out, I grab Nick’s wrist and drag him about ten feet away. He doesn’t resist my pull. He’s a big guy, so making him go anywhere is difficult.
In a low voice, I explain, “I�
�ve compelled them. Not like you were.” Looking from Nick to the three jarheads, then back to Nick. “You don’t remember anything. But they’re forced to do whatever I do. To follow me. I have to stop it, so I’m going to sing. They will have their free will back. I need you to not freak out, and if they freak out, I need you to stop them.” I stare into Nick’s wide eyes and nod, he in turn slowly begins to nod with me.
Ridges form between Nick’s eyes as his arms cross. He tilts his head and opens his mouth a couple of times to say something. I hear air escape as he frees one of his hands to point at them. “I’m not going to begin to understand. I’m not going to try to understand what it is you just said to me, or how it is you know that. You’ve never told me what happened to you in the Hallowed Hills. But if it gets me back to my sister, I will defend you to my dying breath. I told you that.” He finishes.
I return, “I know you have my back as long as we get your sister, but I may have to do things that I can’t explain, or don’t want to explain, and it’s gonna change me. It’s been changing me, and all I need you to do for as long as you can is please help me. You want Nikki; I want Arty and Olive. We both want to get the fuck away from the Fae. Those are our objectives. I don’t care what their objectives are.” I wave my hand in the direction of my shadows.
“Once I have my sister, if you’re a little too weird for me, I’ll take her and leave,” Nick says. “Until then, yes. I have your back unequivocally. I’m never gonna side with them. You’re my best hope for Nikki.” He locks his jaw down, re-crossing his arms.
I don’t know why I need to reassure myself of Nick’s intentions, but hearing his affirmation comforts me.
CHAPTER 7
Standing in front of the Three Stooges, I let the magic begin. My chest rises, and air fills my lungs, the feel of oxygen flows into my nostrils. My eyes close, and all around me, the low hum of the natural world rocks with my breathing. I coil in my mind.
The memory of Janice enslaving Arty plays over. It’s the key to unlocking everyone’s mind.
The notes rip from my lips in a gentle C, followed by an E and G. The chord resounds off the trees and the soil.
The men in front of me visibly sag with release, each rubbing their foreheads while shaking the fog away. Magic is a drug; it fucks with your mind. Their eyes dart around in fear and shock.
“You made me stand here.” Jake unholsters his sidearm, aimed at me, with a finger on the trigger.
The force of Nick’s hand splays over my chest, thrusting me back. My heart speeds up. Had I done the right thing?
“Take it easy, Jarhead. She just freed you and your pals.” I step out from behind Nick to the three sets of hard eyes.
Jake growls out. “How did that happen?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know, but you’re free now and that’s all that matters. If the Fae try to compel you, I can stop them. That’s what’s important.” I offer.
Jake still has his weapon trained on me. “How do I know you aren’t going to compel me again?” he demands.
“She didn’t do it on purpose. Do you want to kill Fae? She’s our best chance.” Nick’s voice hardens as he moves back into a protective stance in front of me.
“It’s okay, Nick. They’re not going to hurt me.” I step out from behind him again.
I know a change has happened. There’s something different about me, a little bit less human. Every song and note facilitate that slow transition from day to night, where the sunlight bleeds away, and the darkness creeps up on you slowly. Until all at once, you realize you’re standing in the dark and Fae.
I continue, “Either you trust me and you’ll follow me, or you don’t and you’ll kill me. Make up your mind!” I lift my chin to face their choice, whatever it was.
Jake grips his M9 Beretta tighter. I see the flexing movement in the tendons on the back of his hand. As the muscles in his head tighten, the blood vessels in his neck bulge. He’s exerting an effort to restrain himself; he wants to shoot me. I can almost taste his desire.
All of nature around me is silent with anticipation as if they are holding their breath. Jake pulls his arm back and runs the fingers of his left hand through his hair. The grip of his sidearm presses into his skull.
“I’m not gonna kill you. I feel like I should, but I can’t. I don’t trust you, but if you get me where I can kill Fae, till my own death comes to me, that’s good enough for now.” He holsters his weapon. Tom and Will take a step back and relax.
It isn’t an allegiance, but I’ll take it.
“Since you seem to have all the answers. What’s your plan? How do you get us where they go?” Jake locks both hands back on the M4 carbine hanging from his shoulder strap.
That is the $64,000 question, isn’t it?
I keep going over in my mind what I’d heard Janice do when our rafts lifted. He’d sung a haunting song, one of Fae. His desire to go home had been deep and aching. The sound of it had resounded inside of me. I’d felt the pull. His desire had become my desire, and I could taste in my throat his love for the beauty of the Hallowed Hills. The melody of the song still rang in the back of my mind, haunting me. When I slept, I would dream of it and long for that place.
“We have to go back to where we came out. I have to go home, to the maze stones.” I chance a glimpse at Nick and dart back to Jake.
Nick claps his hands together, rubbing them. “Great. Let’s go back to the pile of rocks.”
I move my head up and down. I said as much as I wanted to say for now.
“Where’s home? How do we get there?” Jake is direct and to the point.
“Across town,” I reply.
Without a word, Jake turns and nods to Tom and Will, and we head deeper into the shopping district.
Human logs fill the parking lots next to cars. The air is filled with the stench of rotting flesh. I pull my bandanna around my neck and up over my nose and mouth to block out the bugs and the stink. It might’ve done a better job if I’d rubbed it under my armpit first.
The real secret to traveling around is to not look down at the bodies. Otherwise, you get a full view of maggots wriggling around in torn flesh, on eyes, and out of mouths. The sound of clicking claws and scurrying feet meets us at every turn. If I don’t watch the ground, I miss the places on their bodies where rats, dogs, or birds had pecked, torn, or ripped the flesh away. The hot sun burns down, turning different parts of bodies from a soft white and pink to dark brown. In some places, the skin is cracked, swelling open with maggots tumbling out.
Traveling on foot is like driving: check your mirrors, left, right, up, down, behind looking for Fae. Jake and his crew do that. Jake takes the lead with Tom on the left and Will on the right. Nick brings up the rear, and somehow, I end up relegated to the center.
Tom reaches out and pats Jake on the shoulder. With his left index finger extended, he points to a big four-wheel-drive truck. A GMC Sierra with a crew cab and a human log lying not far from it. I can’t think about the bodies any other way.
Jake brings up his left hand in a fist, giving me enough time to get a very close look at the high and tight haircut on the back of Jake’s neck before I run into his spine between his shoulders. I hadn’t noticed the signal for stop, so I guess I deserve a face-plant into a sweaty back. My heart rate speeds up. I can’t see anything. I’m boxed in by four massive pairs of shoulders. I’d become taller but not enough to beat out these guys.
“Tom, check the body for keys,” Jake orders. “Nick, you and Sarah get in it on the passenger side. Will, take shotgun. Tom, you ride behind me.”
I move to Nick’s side as we execute Jake’s orders. I hear the rattle of keys and the clutching of a hand as they’re caught. Nick yanks the door open, practically shoving me to the center of the truck. The roar of the engine and the closing of doors all hit it once along with the sandwiching between big shoulders and beefy arms.
Why do they say these trucks can seat six people? I’m sitting here between two men, and
there is barely enough room for the three of us. Are they talking about three Leprechauns? Because there’s no way you can fit three full-grown men back here, ever.
CHAPTER 8
I guess Nick must’ve told Jake where I lived or at least where we’d come out because Jake never asked me for the address. I suppose I could’ve just leaned back and enjoyed the ride, except there isn’t anything about this entire situation that’s enjoyable. Everything has taken a turn for the weird. I obsess over the road with my eyes glued to the windows. Truth be told, if we’re attacked, I don’t want to use magic to save us. I’m not in a position to do much until I get out of the goddamn vehicle. So, I lean back and let it all come at me.
I move forward in my seat as we pull down my parents’ street. I don’t know what I was expecting. Something is different. Somebody moved the bodies maybe? But it’s all hauntingly familiar. There are the same dead bodies, with more decomposition than last time I’d seen them.
The revulsion still creeps up my throat. I can’t think about them as my friends and neighbors, or as the woman who lived down the street and used to give me candies for Halloween. Or the old guy who screamed at me because I stole the flowers from his flowerbed. Those people were all dead. All that’s left behind are husks of what they’d once been. Humans.
In the center of the road, just as I’d left it in front of my parents’ house, is a perfectly round circle of cobblestones in varying shades of gray and brown. I even spot a red or pink one nestled neatly in the center of the road. The truck jostles as Jake rolls over one of my neighbors. Nick’s hand squeezes mine. I don’t know if I made a sound or not. I swallow the bile as it burns a path up and down my throat.
“Hey, Jake! You want to not drive over Sarah’s dead neighbors?” Nick asks.
Heat burns my eyes. I can’t think about this. I shove the pain back down into my belly, desperate to push it out.
“Oh hey, sorry, man. I didn’t realize you guys actually knew this neighborhood.” Jake’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. He shrugs.
