"In other words, the sleaziest, scummiest woman on the entire island." I reiterated.
"An impressive feat, considering how many souvenir shops sell $15 jars of maple syrup to unsuspecting tourists." Bailey chimed in.
"Good luck. You'll need it." Channing laughed.
I mumbled something akin to thanks as we made our way out the door.
"Where is Frank?" Bailey asked.
"Shadowing Chavez." I shrugged.
"Clever." Bailey laughed. "We make a good team."
"I wish you were my real partner." I said, quietly. "Bit worried about who I'll be working with, after this."
"Don't think about that, right now." Bailey scoffed. "Right now, we're trying not to get killed."
"Right." I agreed.
We approached the car park.
I looked around, uncomfortably.
"You're never going to be able to walk through here at ease again, are you?" Bailey asked.
I shook my head. "It feels… tainted." I admitted. "I might even have to move."
"It's going to get better." Bailey said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Not before it gets worse." I was much more quiet.
"Hey." Bailey pulled me to a stop. "We're going to pull this off, Azura."
"How do humans do that?" I tilted my head. "You seem to just… Know things are going to be okay."
"I'm surprised you haven't worked it out. We believe that it's the only way it can be." Bailey chuckled. "There isn't an alternative, Azura."
"No." I said, with a squaring of my shoulders. "I suppose there isn't."
"You're a fairy godmother. Believe it's going to happen, and make it right." Bailey nodded.
There was a gunshot, and Bailey fell to the ground, surprised.
The bullet, however, fell off her back, and rolled down the ground.
"Stay down." I whispered, drawing my wand.
"So, Tweedle daft and tweedle dragonfly finally caught up with me." A cold voice said from behind Bailey.
"Stacy." I said, quietly.
"Do you have ANY idea how much of a gigantic pain in my ass you've been?" Stacy asked. "First, you surprise me at the car shop. I expected the idiot to take forever to catch on. Then, I had to KILL him, because he started piecing together that it was a cop." She pointed at Bailey. "Your girlfriend is god damned plucky. Then, the pesky witnesses. How did you finally figure out it was me?"
"How do you know we figured it out?" I retorted.
"I forced it out of Wilcox before I made it look like he committed suicide in that interrogation room you left him in. Tragic." Stacy scoffed. "Like everyone else whose life you touch."
"What?" I blinked.
"You were supposed to save me, you know?" Stacy asked. "I used to pray, and hope, and wish, but you quit. You decided we weren't good enough to be saved from Daddy's wandering fingers, or uncle Art getting angry while he's drunk."
I blinked.
"You know what I am." It wasn't a question.
"A friend gave me this." Stacy nodded, and tossed a strange coin in the air.
There was a strange shockwave, and I fell backwards, dropping my gun.
"What-?" I blinked.
"Now, I'm going to kill your little girlfriend." Stacy said, with a laugh.
Gunshot.
And somehow, I had not a single bit of magic to prevent it.
So I did something else instead.
I kicked the gun out of her hand, and head butted her, knocking her backwards.
If I was thinking straight, I'd have gone for her gun.
I wasn't.
Without magic, I felt all my anger. It burned inside me, overwhelming every rule, or good thing I believed in.
She looked at me with a look of shock, then put up her fists.
I glared, and knocked her feet out from under her, with a deft kick.
I looked towards Bailey for just a second, and then I screamed with rage, and dove on to the murderer.
No magic. Didn't even think to use my gun.
I punched her.
Again. And again.
Day 4
September 3rd, 2019
The burning Fae
I punched, and kicked, and punched, and kicked. Restrained feeble attemtps at fighting back with elbows, and knees.
Minutes ticked by. Hours. It didn't matter. She had killed Bailey. That's what I thought.
Captain Channing pulled me off the bruised and bloodied woman, and shook his head. I could not tell you how much time had passed, but I can tell you that the bloodied face of the woman was possibly the most satisfying sight I had ever seen.
"I should have known." Channing said, quietly.
"She killed-" My voice was raspy. "Let me go! She's still alive! She killed Bailey! She deserves-!"
Channing forced me to look towards Bailey.
Paramedics were loading her onto a gurney.
"She's alive." Channing said, quietly. "The bullet scraped her temple, and she played dead, but other than a long gash, she's fine."
I was bewildered. I thought for sure she was dead. I couldn't feel her anymore. I was cold. Numb.
Veil-blind.
Stacy tried laughing, but coughed up a lot of blood.
Her finger pointed at the coin on the ground.
I picked it up, curiously.
"I win." Stacy gasped out. "You can't defeat her now."
"What did she mean?" Channing asked.
The coin was old. Ancient. A talisman that hadn't been seen or heard about in hundreds of years.
It was called a Faeward.
It made black fairies uncomfotable, and protected you from them. If used correctly, it could entirely negate their ability to use their magic field.
The only one in known existence left was held by the boss fairy, to protect her from my predecessors.
And then, I stopped, and laughed.
"You think this will work on me?" I whispered in her ear. "I'm the white fairy."
She coughed. "Always. What you are."
I waited for the others to pay attention to someone else, before pointing my wand at the coin.
It shattered.
"Azura Noir?" One of the officers said, approaching. "Until such time as we can ascertain what occurred her, I am arresting you for the assault, battery, and attempted murder of Sergeant Stacy Chavez-"
"Knock it off." Channing said, dismissively. "Azura just caught the serial killing bitch that killed Frank."
The officer stopped, looked towards Chavez.
Then he offered me a simple salute.
"Sorry for the misunderstanding, ma'am." The officer looked relieved.
"It's over." Channing said, even more relieved. "I can't believe you got her to openly confess."
"What do you mean?" I asked, perplexed.
Channing held up Bailey's phone.
It was set to record audio.
"I love that clever little shit." I laughed.
"It's really. Over." Channing said, quite relieved.
"Almost." I said, remembering the coin. "There's something I've got to do."
"I'll tell Bailey you're alright." Channing nodded. "I can't believe you tricked her into confessing. Even about Wilcox!"
"That wasn't my intention, but I will gladly take the win." I said, heading for the elevator. "Tell Bailey I will be there as soon as I can."
"I will." Channing nodded. "After I put in a call to her boss. I want her working with you."
"You do?" I asked, quietly.
"Yes." Channing nodded. "It's not very often where I can say there are people I would trust with my life. I know these guys too well." Channing laughed. "You DID IT, and you goaded her in such a way that she had to challenge you. It might not have been the right way, but in the end? You did good."
I smiled. The elevator doors closed.
I went up to the roof, and found my way back to the Fae Woods, the only way you can find them.
With my wand.
Beaten
Black and Blue
I did not so much stroll, or meander in to the Fae Woods, as explode in to them, in an angry fury.
Several of the Fae hastily got out of my way, as I stormed up to the boss fairy, and struck her. She had a freshly healed wound in her upper arm, and the traces of it, while not physical, would hardly be hidden from the others. She instinctively moved to protect it, even though it was healed.
"What the SPARKLES are you doing?" She asked.
"Enough." I said, raising my wand. "I know you did it. I know you're her accomplice."
"What-?" One of the other Fae asked.
"She used the Faeward. Even though I told her it wouldn't work on white fairy magic." The boss fairy winced.
"So you admit it!" I demanded.
"You're damned right I do, you inconsiderate waste of magic!" The boss fairy shouted. "You abandoned us! You defiled what was meant to happen! YOU CAUSED DEATH!"
"She did no such thing." A chilling voice said from behind the boss fairy. "Allura. You're looking well."
"You're not welcome here, Death." The boss fairy spat.
"Azura is not responsible for what other people do." Death retorted. "She tries to make the world a better, safer place. Some people. Bad people. Don't like that."
The boss fairy twirled her wand, and a Celtic cross appeared in front of Death, before she vanished.
"You banished Death?" I asked, with a frown.
"Yes." The boss fairy nodded. "That's my right, as ruler of the Fae Woods."
I twirled my wand, and Death returned, looking particularly confused.
"You're pathetic." I told the boss fairy. "You think that your way is the only way to save the world, but you don't take into account that some people can't be saved, and the world is better, without their abusive, pathetic, bigoted asses."
"That was your JOB, AZURA! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAVE THEM!" The boss fairy exclaimed. "Instead, you constantly SCREWED UP!"
"It wasn't her job, anymore than it was all of ours." One of the other fairies pointed out. "You're the one who assigns us kids to help based on our magic."
"You gave me the least belief, and the hardest cases to solve them with, and then you rode and belittled me for failing. Where was my help? Where was the greater good?" I demanded. "It was nowhere. You never wanted to help those kids any more than I did."
She glowered. "And then you quit, but nobody else would help them. I had to listen to their hate. Their bile. It was disgusting."
"You killed people." I added.
"Oh, yes." The boss fairy crossed her arms. "I had to impersonate someone to do it, too."
"That's why all the evidence pointed at-" I began.
"The wife beater." The boss fairy interrupted. "Glad the psychopath ended him. She was happy to get her hands dirty, though she got really pissy when I killed her little girlfriend."
"YOU killed Tracy Lincoln?" I was shocked. "Why?"
"To make you see what you were doing. To make you suffer." She retorted.
I pointed my wand at her.
"Hah. Please." She scoffed. "You're a hero now. You've got a code of conduct to adhere to, or you will lose your magic."
I closed my eyes, and thought about all the belief weighing on me.
Eva. Channing. Frank. Aabirah. Vanessa. Wilcox.
Bailey.
And I realized something, as I opened my eyes.
"The world has enough heroes." I said, quietly.
"What?" The boss fairy asked.
"Sometimes, what the world needs isn't heroes willing to do the right thing. It needs someone willing to do the wrong thing, for the right reasons, and accept the consequences." I smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. It would not have been out of place on any three B rated horror movies. I genuinely felt ready to do what had to be done, and I was looking forward to it.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO! I'M TRYING TO GET YOU TO DO YOUR JOB!" The boss fairy shouted. "INSTEAD, YOU'RE RUINING EVERYTHING, AND I HAVE TO STOP YOU."
"You." I laughed. My laughter seemed to chill the air around us. The light faded from the woods, and fog rolled in, for dramatic effect. The other Fae were haste to put as much space betweent them and us, as was possible.
"YES! ME!" She shouted.
"Do you actually think you could be as black a fairy as I am?" I asked.
"I could be a blacker fairy, but I don't believe my actions were unfair! They were just! Necessary!" She aimed her wand at me.
"Innocent people died." I retorted. "That's not just."
"So what?" She asked. "In the grand scheme, it doesn't matter."
"Well, then, you're a blacker fairy than me." I shrugged.
"I AM NOT!" She shouted.
"You tried to kill her." I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Your human wench? You have NO RIGHT to steal her love." She spat. "She was never meant to love you."
"Well, it's too bad that I have no intention of giving her up, then. I can see clearly. You'd rather her die, than the two of us have the slightest chance at happiness. I guess there's only one thing left for me to do." I spread my wings.
"What's that?" She demanded.
My wand glowed an angry red, at the realization that nothing I could say would ever stop her from making sure Bailey died.
I burnt with anger down to my very core.
Fire exploded out of my wand in a rage unlike anything I had ever felt, and it wrapped her within it, refusing to let go.
She screamed, and after a few moments, she begged for me to stop.
I took a step closer.
"You told me that I'm a blacker Fae than you." I hissed. "The only thing left to do is prove you right. I was never a heroic Fae. A hero is who I am at work. Who. Not What. I'm the blackest Fae of them all."
I winked.
"And according to prophecy?" I gave her a look of pure mirth. "The Black Fae always end up here. Overthrowing your stupid governance. This time, though? I'm not doing it because I want to rule."
She screamed one last time, before turning to dust.
"I'm doing it because it's the right thing." I told her ghost, as my wings dyed an inky black. I took a moment to draw a little smiley face in her ashes with my wand.
"You're a monster!" She shouted.
"At least I'm not a demon." I retorted, not looking up.
"What?" The boss fairy demanded.
A train pulled out of nowhere, and I shoved her spirit on board.
It took off down a flaming pit.
"Every five minutes." Death said, looking at her watch. "Very punctual. Thank you for saving me from having to summon a reaper."
"Magic bless German engineers, huh?" I joked.
Death smiled, and nodded.
"Azura…" One of the Fae frowned. "You can't stay here. You make the forests angry."
"I know." I replied.
"Then, where will you go?" Death asked.
I smiled.
"The only place I ever belonged, of course."
Epilogue
Home.
I stepped out, on to the roof of the police station, and took a deep breath of the polluted Oceanside air. Where sun had been before, clouds now brewed. Gentle rain began pelting my face, and I could not help but smile.
If you've ever lived in Vancouver, you know what these storms are. They greet you when you come home. They kiss you, and tell you you were missed.
The rain in Vancouver isn't meant to be depressing, or sad, though it sometimes feels cloying and dreary.
That's just Vancouver's way of welcoming you home.
If you're lucky, you'll get a rainbow, too.
I quietly gave the sky a wink, and curtsey, even though I wasn't wearing a dress, then headed back inside, before brushing myself off.
I rushed down to the car park, and winced.
My beautiful car. It was gone. I had forgotten that.
"Thought you might need a lift?" Channing asked, approaching, and twirling a set of keys.
"It's not going to
explode, is it?" I joked.
"Already had the explosive sniffing dogs." Channing laughed.
I couldn't tell if he was serious, but joined him in the car. Part of me was glad that the morbid humor was there. It was a necessary thing in our line of work.
We were silent, and I smiled, watching the rain dance on the windshield.
Pulling up to St. Paul's hospital, I quickly exited the car, and rushed into the emergency entrance of the building. I held out my badge. "LeBlanc. Bailey."
"Room 6." The nurse nodded.
I rushed down the hall, to find the room full of laughter and smiles.
"Azura!" Eva exclaimed, wrapping me in a hug.
"Promised, didn't I?" I asked.
Eva nodded.
Bailey's parents were also present. Bailey smiled, as her father gave me a strange look.
"Mom. Dad." Bailey smiled. "This is Azura."
"Your new partner." Her father noted.
"Honey!" Her mom punched his shoulder, gently.
"You saved my daughter's life repeatedly, I'm told." The man said, walking towards me.
"That's sort of what I do." I nodded.
"I also hear you beat the living hell out of the woman who nearly killed her." Her father added.
"Well. Both of them. Long, and bizarre story. Neither one will be hurting anyone ever again." I took a breath. "And by the elements, Mister LeBlanc, I will always do everything in my power to save your daughter."
He didn't say anything. He stood there for a few seconds.
And then he wrapped me in a gigantic bear hug.
"Welcome home." Bailey said, with a bit of a funny smile.
Once her father let me go, I moved hastily to her side, and wrapped her in a similarly enthusiastic hug. It missed the grand size of Bailey's father's hug, but he also had nearly a foot on me, and a great deal more muscle tone.
"We'll give you two a moment." Her mother noted, pushing everyone else out the door.
"You said both of them." Bailey frowned. "Who was she working with?"
"The boss of the Fae." I said, quietly. "Apparently, she thought she could reign me back in by becoming a murderous toad."
"What happened?" Bailey asked.
"I murdered her back." I said, quietly spreading my wings. The room seemed to dull, both of color, and brightness.
Fae Noir- the Murderer in Blue Page 13
