Faerie (5 page)

Lily went to get the cutlery from the drawer, wincing as she caught sight of the burnt offering of a meat loaf that had been laid out on the counter like a tribute to some ancient god.

“Did you see the woman that came to see me this morning?” Lily asked.

“Might have done,” he said, an evil little smile touching his lips. That was more than enough confirmation that he had.

Lily grabbed a hold of the iPad, and tucked it under her arm. There was an indignant ‘Oy’ from Kieran, who made a grab for it, but Lily hung on tenaciously and said:

“If you did see her and answer some questions I’ll pay for a couple of downloads from iTunes for you.” The bribe was accepted with a nod and Lily continued. “What time was this?”

“About half nine.”

“Describe her.

The grin broadened.

“She was hot.”

Lily rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh.

“I know this is asking a lot of a teenage male, but can you give me a bit more detail?”

“Three downloads?” Lily growled her agreement, and suspected this was going to end up costing her most of this week’s pocket money. “Okay, hair down to her waist and green eyes – like yours, only nice, not skanky like yours, and she was blonde, not dark. She was gorgeous ‒ legs up to her armpits, tits like melons. Totally hot babe.”

Lily tutted.

“You noticed the colour of her eyes, when she had tits like melons? I don’t think so. You’re making this up.”

He looked quite affronted that she was doubting his word.

“No, fuck off,” he said indignantly. “I noticed her eyes because she kept looking at me, like this, like she wanted to get my kit off and jump me.” He pulled a face, sucking in his lips and his eyes half closed, trying to look sexy.

Lily would have made some disparaging remark, but didn’t want to rile him, She couldn’t imagine any sane girl fancying a scrawny Neo Nazi like him. He was alarmingly thin – a pasty little scruff with little hope of ever becoming a fine figure of a man. He had shaved his head down to a fine suede, and the swastika tattoo was clearly visible through it; his clothes were military left overs, cargoes, camouflage tee-shirt, and khaki jacket – all three sizes too big for him. Lily wondered if he actually knew what that swastika represented, either in its original form as a good luck symbol or its acquired, far more sinister meaning. She let all of that wash over her and said:

“So she seemed nice?”

“Yeah, why, what’s going on?” He was curious now. She handed back his iPad, but it lay black-screened on his lap.

“No, nothing. I just wanted to see if I could work out who she was, that’s all. I think it might be someone from my class.”

“No way, she was older than that – twenty five maybe. I’ve never seen her before, and trust me, I would have remembered her.”

Lily pulled the scrap of paper out of her pocket and looked at it again. Was it possible that this woman was another fey? Green eyes were not that common, and from the way Kieran had described her, surely she could be fey? If she was, why hadn’t she contacted Lily sooner? Lily called on her power and stared down at the note. If it had been touched by one of her kind she would be able to sense it. She opened herself up to it and almost instantly felt the arcane power tingling on its surface. She felt a little thrill of excitement run through her. Whoever had touched this last had been powerfully magical. She slipped the note back in her pocket, and allowed herself a little smile.

Chapter Four.

Dinner was a delight; meat loaf, lumpy mashed potato with khaki coloured tinned peas and transparent gravy – a banquet fit for royalty. Liam’s meal had been mushed up to form an unrecognisable heap in the middle of his plate, like a scene from
Close Encounters
and he’d barely touched it. Lily could hardly blame him. Sarah had tried to pile hers in a little heap and had hid it under the spoon to make it look as if she’d eaten more of it. Lily would try and sneak some cereal bars to them later; she’d bought an emergency supply with her pocket money, for such emergencies. Kieran had eaten his entire meal, but then, he’d eat anything – Lily was certain he had worms.

She finished the washing up and gave the little ones their baths, dumping them both in together, and still a little troubled that they didn’t seem quite themselves.

“Are you worried about anything, sweetheart?” she asked Sarah, as she settled them down for the night. Sarah stared at her, eyes just a little too wide and bright.

“If you go away, who’s going to look after us?”

Lily stroked her hair back from her face and smiled down at her.

“Well, you’ll be getting a new sister. I’m sure she’s going to be very nice.”

“Sarah didn’t seem very reassured. Lily sang to them both, as she did every night, until they fell asleep. Her voice, of course, was as much fey as the rest of her, and even Claire was forced to admit that she sang beautifully. Her lullabies could down anyone in a matter of seconds – a magical version of Temazepam. She sat on the edge of the bed, watching the two children sleeping peacefully for a few minutes just to make sure they were quite settled and then went to her room to get a few hours of ‘me time.’

She was still puzzling over the cryptic message she’d got from her mysterious visitor. Who would leave her a message like that? The more she thought about it, the more puzzled she became. She decided to put it out of her mind for now and think of other things – namely Connor and how she could get to see him again. She had already realised that if she went to see Connor tomorrow, whether by fair means or foul, then she could stop by and see her new flat at the same time. It must be somewhere close to Hawthorn Lodge. The prospect of being nearer to Connor was more than enough incentive to banish all fears of moving. She’d had the letter stuffed in her bag for days at the bottom of her bag. She scanned down through the letter, past all of the waffle to the address.

1 Hawthorn Flats.

She did a double take and looked at the map they had enclosed on how to find it. Sure enough Hawthorn Flats was literally next door to Hawthorn Lodge, the entrance just a few feet away. It couldn’t be... although wasn’t today a day of revelation and wonder? She’d found the only other one of her kind she’d ever met in her life and wasn’t it right that she should end up living right next door to him? She was suddenly presented with so many wonderful possibilities she could hardly contain herself. She had heard that the council had built a small block of single bedroomed flats over on that side of the village, bedsits really, for single men and women that didn’t warrant a house or even a larger flat, mainly older people who were still independent, or people like her who just had nowhere else to go, most youngsters coming out of foster care ended up in hostels or even living rough on the streets. She supposed she was lucky to get one, but her teachers had written on her behalf, extolling her virtues and she supposed they had taken pity on her.

It was getting late, and Lily thought it would be safe now to try and clean up her newly found treasure. She dragged the chain from under the bed, flapping back the tarpaulin and staring down at the vile mess with utter disgust. She had no idea how she could clean it, but she was not going to put that thing on the bed until she’d got rid of all of the vile substances that covered it. Shower, yes, the shower. Her first thought was to leave it until everyone was in bed, but if the house was that quiet, then she thought that someone might hear the shower running and wonder what she was doing taking a shower in the middle of the night. As it was, everyone seemed preoccupied and if she was quick, she thought she’d get away with it. Claire was away with the pixies watching something with a great deal of gunfire in it, so she wasn’t a threat – if she needed the loo, she’d use the downstairs one. She could hear Kieran in his bedroom, rapping along to whatever artist was playing on his iPod. She doubted she’d see him again until morning, but if he did come out and catch her, she would just say that she was doing some sort of science project and she’d bribe him to keep quiet with more downloads.

The bathroom was down on the first floor, which meant bumping the damn thing back down the stairs and up again, but there was really no other way she could do it. She snuck down the stairs and looked both ways, making sure the coast was clear, and dragged the chain down, wincing at every bump and rattle.

You are on a fool’s errand.

A voice in her head, dark and chilling.

She looked around, casting a frightened glance into the heavy shadows on the landing.

“May Hecate bring down her wrath upon you,” she hissed over her shoulder, trying to keep the fear from her voice. It was a curse her mother had taught her and just about the worst curse any witch could lay on someone.

She looked down the darkened hall to the heavy shadows at the furthest end, close by the bathroom door and would swear that she saw them moving.

You cannot win this game.

“Sod off!” she snapped, in a fierce whisper. Not exactly a witch’s curse, but very cathartic all the same. She felt a sudden wave of sickness wash over her. The image of chess pieces sprang bright to her mind and this time it was the white pieces that lay toppled, as the Black King towered over them. She forced back the dizziness, the feeling of overwhelming terror and kept moving towards the bathroom. That voice had come from so close by, a whisper in her ear, so close that she could almost feel the chill of its breath on her face.

“You can’t stop me,” she whispered. “I won’t let you stop me.”

She thought she heard a laugh.

The darkness around her suddenly seemed so much darker, so much more intense, as if it was trying to swallow her up. She could see the light coming golden and comforting through the glass panel at the top of Kieran’s door; it threw a glowing square of butter yellow on the hall carpet, and Lily’s immediate urge was to run to it and let it wrap her in its bright warmth. She had to risk turning on the hall light; there was no way she was going willingly into that darkness. She flicked the switch and the bulb flashed its death throes, and plunged her back into darkness. Lily muttered a curse under her breath.

“Fine, if that’s how you want to play it, just fine,” she murmured.

She mumbled another thousand curses under her breath, and looked back along into the darkness. There was movement there, she was sure of it. At least that confirmed one thing – those creatures did not want her to have this new weapon. She decided that she had to risk it, hoping against hope that whatever was lying in that darkness could do her no real harm while she was protected by the very thing they were trying to keep from her. There was a certain irony in it.

As she got nearer to the bathroom, she felt a great coldness brush over her, as if someone had opened a door close by into some Arctic waste. She shuddered, her arms coming up in goose bumps, her scalp prickling and her hair standing on end. She could feel something like an electrical current running through her entire body, tingling on her skin like a thousand tiny pin pricks, nipping at her.

Something touched her, just a brush against her shoulder, a shadow hand reaching out of the darkness, and she jumped back, turning to glare at whatever it was. She thought she saw the vague shape of a hand reaching out of the darkness, but it was gone before she could register it properly.

She finally reached the bathroom and dragged the chain inside, without putting on the light until she was safely inside and the door firmly closed. She could still hear Kieran in his room, rapping along with Eminem, totally oblivious to the supernatural battle that was going on just feet from his door.

Lily dragged the chain into the shower, and turned it on to its hottest setting, but at a trickle, hoping that it didn’t make too much noise. She used the lavatory brush to scrub as much of the filth from it as she could, using up a whole bottle of disinfectant on it. The water ran red, and not all of it was corroded iron – that anyone could do something that terrible to an innocent animal out of spite or to further some sick plan, she still couldn’t understand. She watched the bloody filth sliding down the drain until the water rain clear, then wrapped the chain in an old towel to dry it off. All she had to do now was to get it back to her room without being seen.

She realised, of course that she would have to switch off the bathroom light again before she opened the door, and that prospect really didn’t please her very much. She cursed herself for not thinking to bring a torch with her, but that would probably have blown as well. She flicked off the switch and was plunged into sudden darkness, and for a moment even her fey eyes couldn’t adjust to the lack of light. She blinked away the white flashes of the strip light that ghosted in her eyes, and bent down, dragging the towel covered chain towards the door – then she remembered the discarded tarpaulin. She turned to retrieve it.

Beneath it, something moved.

It was a strange undulating movement... a wriggle... no, not a wriggle, a smooth glide, as if somehow the fabric was alive. She stepped back, a gurgle of fear escaping from her throat. Something was alive in there. She moved forwards cautiously and lifted the edge of the tarpaulin with the lavatory brush, peering underneath. From beneath the folds of fabric came a black slithering shape, writhing across the floor towards her. She leapt back, clamping her hands over her mouth to hold in a shriek and stumbled backwards, jumping up onto the toilet seat, and trying to back away from it. It reared its huge black head, the size of a large man’s fist, and hissed at her, its bead-green eyes, bright and looking straight at her. A fork tongue flicked out, tasting the air.

You are never going home.

Lily lashed out with her foot and caught it a blow under the chin. It reared backwards, the head seeming to disappear completely for a few moments before it reformed. Lily tried not to panic, but she had nothing to use as a weapon against this creature.

What was she thinking? Of course she had something to use against it. She drew in her breath and launched herself from the seat, over and past the creature, to the towel covered chain. She landed in an awkward heap, banging her shoulder hard against the door, and yelping. The snake turned its head and pulled back, poised to strike, but Lily seized the cold metal of the chain in her hands, ignoring the searing pain, and used it like a whiplash on the creature, slicing right through its neck. The creature vanished in a cloud of dusty smoke, just disappeared, and she was left alone.

Lily dropped the chain, holding up her hands and staring down at her palms. They were blistered and raw, as if she’d burnt them. She went and run them under the cold tap, fighting back the pain, and it gradually subsided. She was shaking violently, her teeth chattering. She threw the tarpaulin over the chain, and with a strength she didn’t know she possessed, she lifted it and carried it like a baby in her arms, scurrying back to her room, terrified beyond rational thought. She dumped her burden on the bed, sinking to her knees and sobbing.

Lily took long minutes, finding enough strength to move, to collect her thoughts, just to fight her way out of that pit of terror she had suddenly found herself in. She was still shaking, her hands still excruciatingly painful, but she forced herself to ignore it and put the old tarpaulin into a dustbin bag, stowing it back under the bed.

‘You are never going home’, the voice had said. Was that what this was really all about? That these creatures needed to keep her away from Elphame? When she thought about it, it made sense. Someone had taken her and Connor away from Elphame and brought them here to this miserable world, and they must have done it for a reason. Now it seemed the Shadow People didn’t want her to go back there. Did that mean there was a way back and she was close to finding it? It opened up a whole new world of possibilities. If there was a way home, she would find it and she was not going to let those bloody creatures stop her. She had a feeling that Connor knew, but he wasn’t exactly in a position to tell her. She was quite certain that her mysterious visitor today knew a great deal more, but until she decided to make contact again, that was hardly going to do Lily any good.

She sat for a little while, just perched on the edge of the bed, looking down at the coiled snake of chain that lay at her feet, and all she could see was that snake. The humanoid and the snake – they had to be one and the same creature, didn’t they? They felt far too much alike in essence. The djinn were shape-changers. Could this creature take any form it wanted? The thought was not a comforting one.

Her hands were still hurting dreadfully. She had some ointment that she’d made a little while ago to put on Sarah’s burnt hand, and once she smothered her palms in it and wrapped them, it did feel a little better. Lily took a scarf from the drawer, and using it as a protection from the searing sting of the iron, she hoisted the chain up and draped it in a large lozenge shape in the centre of the bed. She could still feel a kind of bright heat from the metal, even through the fabric. She had created a kind of cocoon in the centre of the bed, a protective shell that she prayed with all of her heart would keep the shadows away. If the worst happened and she rolled against the metal in the night it would wake her up, cause her more pain, but not seriously hurt her. She tied a string of little jingle bells up over the top of the bed, with a string fixed to the mattress, so that if anyone climbed onto it, the bells would ring. Dark fey hated bells – but Seelie Shee used them all the time on their horses' harnesses and loved the sound of tinkling bells.