by J E Mueller
Of Beasts And Bells
A Fairytale Adventure
J.E. Mueller
Copyright © 2020 by J.E. Mueller
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Cover by Raveborn Covers
Editing by O.R. Faulkner
Book Formatting by J.E.Mueller
To all the fairytales
And those they inspire
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Acknowledgments
About The Author
Also by J.E. Mueller
Chapter 1
The sounds of coffee beans grinding and espresso dripping mixed with a hum of background chatter. It made the perfect ambient backdrop as I dove into my new library find. It seemed like hours could just tick away seamlessly as I read and sipped my mocha happily. Of course, this could only continue if luck held out for me.
The soft chime of little bells rang announcing a new person entering the shop, and the level of noisy chatter increased tenfold. I brought the book closer to my face, as if the words on the page would stop the horrendous sound of hyena laughter and increased volume. Despite the chaos, the chapter demanded to be finished. The knight's true identity had been discovered, the lost prince wasn't so lost, and the damsel in distress was tricky and surprisingly skilled with stealth and daggers.
Their journey reached a crescendo, so close to the heart of the tale when someone said, "Now there's the girl I've been looking everywhere for!" I vaguely noted the words before the book was ripped out of my hands.
I blinked in surprise, jolted from the world I had just been in. The whiplash of being pulled back into the real world caused me to scream internally. Outwardly, I glared up at Donny as he ran his free hand through his dark hair.
"My book." I stated flatly at him, hardly extending my hand for the stolen item. I had played this game a few too many times with him. Something we should both be over seeing as we were in our early twenties.
"Come on now, it's the perfect day to be outside. What do you say to a hike? Maybe some fishing?"
I glared harder at him in response.
"My dear Bella-"
"That's not my name." I answered cooly, not caring if my tone venomously. I felt my anger rising, and my magic steadily building and bubbling up.
"But it means beauty, and you are the most beautiful in town. Maybe even in the world!"
"And you've got dung for brains. Give me my book. I won't go hiking with you, or your idiot friends, and that goes triple when you can't even get my name right."
"But a single women like yourself has no idea-"
I shot up from my chair, startling him as I yanked my book out of his hands. Without a word I nabbed my coffee, bag, and then headed out the door. I could hear Donny's friends laughing and egging him on in the background.
I set a brisk pace as I headed down the street, hoping that Donny wouldn’t follow, but prepared to vanish into the crowd if need be. The sound of laughter could be heard as the shops door swung open and I knew he was setting out to try again. Picking up the pace, I ducked down into Traveler’s Alley. It was a little walk way that led to a dozen or so shops with back entrances. I chose a shop that a large family was coming out of and headed inside, and hoped the group of people blocked anyone’s view of me entering.
Safe inside the shop, an abundance of sweet sugary smells wrapped around me. I walked toward the front entrance to see it was a cozy little bakery. My eyes were drawn to the display case filled with dozens and dozens of cupcakes. The sweet aroma of freshly baked goodies surrounded me as I slowly made my way into line. A woman in her early thirties manned the register and was smiling pleasantly at the two teens discussing which flavors they wanted, and which sounded too weird to try. I could hear her replying to their questions but I wasn’t paying enough attention to hear their replies.
I glanced around as I waited in line, taking in the small room. A few chairs and small bistro style tables with sparse decorations were in the room. While it was cozy, it appeared no one was hanging around. Spotting a small trash can, I downed the last of my mocha and tossed the empty cup before returning to the line.
I turned my attention back to the desserts, and caught my reflection in the magically immaculate glass. My brown eyes looked drained of life and my dark hair was starting to come loose of my braid. I shifted my attention to the tags of the cupcakes that were available. The normal flavors were there, along with some less common favorites, and some really odd additions. Marble was always a good choice, and the chocolate peanut butter one sounded good too. The Slamberry looked like it might be fun, with its pinks and purples. The Rave was sort of horrifying yet I kind of wanted to try it. There was blue and black frosting with neon green little candies in it.
As the teens headed out the lady at the register greeted me. “Welcome. If you’d like a suggestion, I think you’d love to try the Rose Petal.” She walked over to the display and motioned to the second shelf.
I nodded as my eyes found the one she was referencing. There were gummy candies shaped like rose petals tucked into the frosting.
“What flavor is it?” I asked curiously, not opposed to the suggestion.
“It’s a vanilla cake with hints of rose and honey.” The lady replied, “Perfect for a princess looking to escape her day.”
I glanced up and she smiled warmly. I didn’t get the princess commentary, but I had never had a rose flavor cupcake before, and curiosity was going to be my downfall. “Sure, I’ll take it.” It was the least I could do since her shop was my temporary hiding place.
“Perfect.” The lady carefully put the cupcake into a little purple box with a silver crown logo on it.
I paid for my treat and debated on heading out the front or if I should double back to head home. As luck would have it, I saw Donny walking with his friends near the front of the shop. They hadn’t seen me yet so I headed straight for the back. Victory, and dessert, were mine.
I didn’t want to spend the day dodging idiots, so I headed home. The second I opened the door to our apartment I could hear the clanking of parts, and what sounded like an instructional video, coming from my brother’s room. I shut the door and took note of a few parts that went from the living room toward his doorway. I wondered if he’d dropped them and forgot or if he was just working on projects everywhere today.
We had lived here for around eight months, and my brother had settled in perfectly. He didn’t get along with most people here, but he was handy and someone always needed junk fixed. Marcus didn’t mind though. He had plenty of friends online, and seemed to always be chatting away with someone. Usually the conversations were super centered on tech and nerdom but sometimes I could hear him playing an RPG or something online.
Marcus had a niche speciality of electronics. If it had a computer in it, he could finagle it to work again. Sometimes he ventured out from phones and laptops to more obscure things like drones or even fighting little robots, but usually he stuck to phones and laptops.
“Yo,” I called loudly as I set my bag aside. I brought my book and cupcake into the kitchen as the sound of something falling apart echoed throughout our unit.
“Hey Ash!” I heard him call.
I sat down at the table next to where I
had left my laptop and opened the cupcake box. “What’s going on with the symphony of chaos in your room?” I had no desire to look. The other day when I glanced in there were more parts and scrap pieces than visible floor.
Marcus peeked his head out. Dark clumps of messy wavy hair blocked most of his face. “Trying to fix Corbin’s crashed bot.. Everything is off. I think this unit is fried.” Marcus ran a hand through his hair, trying to move it out of his face but most dropped back into his eyes. “Thought you’d be out all day?”
“The idiot brigade found me.” I sighed and took a bite of cupcake. The rich flavors with a hint of rose were perfection.
I was grateful that I didn’t need to explain my statement. Marcus was well aware who Donny and his crew were. I first met Donny on the second or third day we were in town. I just wanted a coffee so I had some liquid motivation to help me continue unpacking. Donny spent the entire time we were in line trying to use terrible pick ups on me. Not even funny terrible, they were just insulting. He even tried following me home until I threatened to spray him with mace.
He still has no idea that I don’t actually carry mace at all times. I meant to, but I didn’t always think to grab it.
“Oh, wow that was fast. I figured they’d take longer.” Marcus finally joined me in the kitchen and plopped down in the seat across from me, quickly taking note of my treat. “Where’d you get that?”
“Cupcake place?” I shrugged before explaining the location. I hadn’t even glanced at the name of the shop. “It’s not bad.” I downplayed the delicious flavors, not wanting to share.
Marcus eyed the cupcake a moment longer before shaking his head. “Anyway, I’m going to try and make this thing work. I’ve got that conference in Joplin I need to head to tomorrow.”
I set the cupcake down and frowned. Joplin was at least a three hour drive away. I vaguely remembered him mentioning a robotics thing there a few months ago.
“Already? Do you think that’s really a good idea?”
“We’re supposed to be building a life Astrid, not hiding forever.”
I sighed loudly, not really wanting to have that conversation. At least not again this week. “Well, I hope it goes well,” I relented a bit, trying to pretend I was positive.
“Tell you what, I’ll bring you back a souvenir.” He smiled pleasantly and rubbed his hands together, excited by the idea, “Anything you’re looking for?”
I shrugged trying to rack my brain for what a geek bot convention could possibly have that I would interest me. “What about…” All I had was a cupcake for inspiration. “Something with roses. Surprise me on the details.”
Marcus gave a laugh as he stood and headed back to his room. “That’s vague enough to be possible.”
I took another bite of cupcake, enjoying the sweet flavor for a moment as the odd sounds picked up again from Marcus’s room. He was right. I was glad he was living more, but I still worried about his name getting out. Being known wasn’t always a good thing, and had already landed us in too many unpleasant situations.
I hated feeling on the run. It was a nerve grating type of confinement. You couldn’t really trust anyone but you had to act normal. It only slightly eased my nerves that he was locked away. It would buy us a few years before the parole hearing…
I shook the thoughts out of my head and opened my book. I gave my laptop a glance and decided to ignore my online classes a tad longer. Forget living, I needed an escape. Sugar, books, and a happily ever after sounded like better therapy than tedious classes.
A knock sounded at the door as I stirred the spaghetti absentmindedly on the stove while I continued to read. The sound barely registered as I continued my task. A second knock came with more force and Marcus poked his head out of the room. I glanced at him and shrugged. I rarely had anyone over and wasn’t expecting company.
Marcus shrugged back and walked over to the door to check the peephole and sighed loudly. He opened the door only as far as the chain would allow. “What’s up?” I heard him ask.
I glanced at the pasta, and seeing the noodly goodness was cooked to perfection I shut off the burner but didn’t make another move. I was in the perfect spot to just barely see Marcus and not be seen by whoever was on the other side of the door. The best spot to be nosey.
“Marcus! Our good friend the tech master!” I could hear Donny’s voice echo back a bit too enthusiastically.
Inwardly, I groaned and didn’t move a muscle. I knew Marcus could handle it.
“Yep, that's what you call me,” he replied in a fake friendly tone. “What can I do for you guys?”
“Have you been tanning man? Looking good. You could probably get a third of the ladies in town now!” Donny answered with a fake laugh, probably trying to smooze. Whatever he was doing, it sounded terrible.
“Nope, just you know, naturally tan,” Marcus replied flatly.
I had to hold back a snicker.
“Anyway, is your sister around?” Donny finally got to the point.
“Nope, she’s not.” Marcus shrugged. “She left about an hour, hour and a half ago.” He gave another shrug.
“Oh cool. Any ideas where she went? I wanted to see if she wanted coffee or something tomorrow,” Donny asked casually.
“Yeah, no idea man. I know she did the library thing earlier. Sorry man.” Marcus moved to close the door but Donny put his foot in the way.
“What’s her cell number? I could get a hold of her that way.” I could hear his voice oozing with glee, like the lightbulb finally illuminated in his head giving him this fantastic idea.
“Nah, sorry man, we’ve got a firm rule. She doesn’t give my number out and I don’t give out hers. Later.” Marcus shoved the door firmly shut and locked it. He came over shaking his head and sighing as he walked. “If I could forbid you from dating him I would.”
“No need, I would rather roll in day old sun rotted fish guts than be anywhere near that dumpster fire.” I drained the pasta before moving to put sauce on the noodles.
Marcus sat at the table while I got things on a plate. “This town isn’t half bad if we don’t include that guy.”
“This town is terrible because it lets guys like him do whatever they want,” I retorted sharply. I set the plate down in front of him and started on mine. “But if I try and bring that up it’s all ‘boys will be boys’ instead of holding people accountable for their trash actions.”
Marcus sighed. “I know, I’m sorry Ash. I don’t have a better solution right now, but we’ll get there.”
I sat down with my plate and tried to take things down a notch. It wasn’t his fault. “I know. We’ll figure things out.” I tried to smile at him before diving into my food. “What was the lead that brought us here again?”
“I forget what group posted about it. Just someone saying this area was in huge need of some real tech support. It’s like everyone just looks over this place.” Marcus shrugged and continued eating.
Not much seemed to change around here. I tried to look into events around town and at the library and they had the minimal things you’d expect, that followed the same yearly schedule. Sweethearts card making class, how to bake holiday cookies, fall food drive, and a short list of equally dull predictable classes. No more than two things a month, and no less than one. It didn’t surprise me no one would want to stay here. It was luck or magic that this place still existed. For now it was just a place to live. We’d find the perfect area to stay eventually.
“So, want to hear about the book I’m reading?” I asked rhetorically before launching into as much detail as possible.
Chapter 2
Marcus left in the early part of the morning. I checked all the police reports in the convention area and made sure my sperm donor was still where he belonged. After that, I made sure Marcus’s phone was still sending his location to mine. His magic allowed it to send even if wifi was absent. With the paranoid double check done I grabbed my bag and headed out.
I adored my brother
’s magic. It helped bring tech to life, and gave old tech a second chance before it fizzled out. It was weird and no matter how much I tried to research it, his particular set of skills didn’t have much of any information available. Magic was an oddity. It grew and changed with the times, or so it felt like. No matter how much anyone tried to research it, there would likely always be things no one would ever fully understand.
My magic tended to fall more under the primal category and was overall unreliable. It wasn’t entirely something that could be controlled, and I was never certain of the exact impact it would have. I could also talk with animals, which was more annoying than not. It was why on days like today I put in headphones to shove out the incessant chatter and gossip.
I would take bird song hour over the noise of crowds though. People weren’t up and I didn’t have to deal with that one particular group. That one abysmally irritating person.
I shoved the thoughts out of my mind as I neared my favorite coffee shop. It hands down had the best lattes in town but probably the worst hours imaginable. It was only open from six in the morning until noon and I wasn’t much of a morning person. Still, eight was early enough and gave me a few hours to read and sip coffee in peace.
Usually.
I pulled out a new book, having already completed reading the cutesy novella I had started yesterday. This one was about ancient magic, curses, and sorcery. Where magic had gray areas but was still categorized in black and white. Like anything was ever black and white.
“There’s my exotic beauty.” I heard his voice from next to me. “How’s my Bella?”
I could feel the rage build within, skyrocketing itself to a level I hadn’t felt in awhile. “That is not my name.” My voice was low as the power within me boiled. I turned my glare at him feeling my magic ready to lash out. “And you will not speak to me or anyone that way.”
