Monsters & Fairytales (27 page)

“Quickly.”
Carlyle grabbed me under my arms. “Hold on to me.” He whispered in my ear.

He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his wings around me. I clambered up his body and wrapped my arms and legs around him. I was engulfed in complete darkness in seconds. Everything went silent from the outside world. I only heard me and Carlyle’s breathing. He was holding me very tightly, but it didn’t hurt.
             

I wanted to turn my head and see if there was an opening where Carlyle’s wings overlapped. It was too dark, though. There was no way there was anything not concealed.

A bead of sweat fell down my back. It tickled. I wanted to move to get it. Could I say anything? If I couldn’t hear anything on the outside then maybe whatever we were hiding from couldn’t hear me. I was afraid, though. My muscles twitched.

“It’s okay to relax.” Carlyle whispered.

“What’s happening?” I asked, thankful we could indeed talk.

“We are being hunted. You must blend into our surroundings. You are not safe in the open.”

“Hunted?” I tried to stay whispering.

“Yes. The Drybucks are patrolled by a protector. Just because Nancy let you pass, does not mean he will, too. We can’t give him any reason to come over here.” Carlyle said.

“Like a treaty? Do lots of humans come into your world?”

“This is not the first time, yes. They are a huge threat.”

I understood now how important fear was to their kind. We needed to never want to follow them. Whatever that thing was, I was terrified of it.

“Can you hear anything?” I asked him.

“Yes, it is passing now.” Carlyle said.

“Why can’t they hear you?”

I tried to keep quiet, but I couldn’t control all of my questions.

“Didn’t Sebastian show you our powers? Don’t worry, we cannot be seen either. We’re safe. I would never let anything happen to you.” Carlyle said.

I pulled my head back and tried to look at his face. The way he said that, the sincerity in it, I wanted to see his eyes.

“Hold on for a few more moments and you can be free.” He said pushing my head back down into his chest.

“Okay.” I obeyed.

There was a funny feeling inside my head. I heard his words echo a thousand times. Did he care for me? He didn’t even know me. Was the trust from Sebastian taking effect on him, too? The display Sebastian and I had put on earlier wouldn’t really have suggested we cared for one another; maybe that was it. Carlyle just felt bad and wanted to let me know that at least one of them was going to keep me safe. Sebastian wasn’t even the one that grabbed me. What did Carlyle owe to protect me like this? Whatever his intentions, I liked it.
And I’d be sure to make it up to him before I left.

His grip slowly loosened on me and I felt sad. I was such a lonely creature. The wind on my sweaty face gave me chills. Seeing Sebastian standing there in comparison to Carlyle, I realized the real reason he didn’t grab me. Carlyle was capable of engulfing me thrice over. With Sebastian, I may’ve been exposed. Not to mention, we probably would have spent the entire time bickering.
             

With his other arm off, but slightly holding onto my back, I held onto him for a few more seconds to stay warm. I hadn’t realized my eyes had closed until I opened them. Sebastian’s claws were right in my face.
So much for savoring that moment.
I sighed and then took his hand. I didn’t want to hold onto him anymore. I didn’t understand the point of it, anyway.

“Do you know your way around? No. You held on to me everywhere I went. And besides, if you don’t pay attention, with everything looking the same to you, you can get very lost in here. We can’t afford to lose you.” Sebastian whispered.

I stopped wanting things. It would be difficult, and I didn’t expect it to be easy, but I tried to keep my heart clear and just daze off in front of me. We walked very deep into the boring and empty Mainbucks. There was nothing to distract me from Carlyle’s odd smiles. The pain from my stretched out arm sort of helped. But then I’d catch myself thinking about why I’d rather be next to Carlyle and not to Sebastian, and I’d have to focus on something else. Their city had to be close. Imagining what it’d look like was a temporary relief.

I, of course, imagined everything civilized the way a bustling city in America would be. The tall skyscrapers among blue skies, cars honking and waiting in line, people running around shopping or going to work; it was something programmed in me.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to ask, but why do you humans cover yourselves in animal fur and skin?”

Carlyle picked at the clothing on my shoulder. My entire body let out a sigh of relief that he had started talking to me again. I felt like I had forgotten what words were. 

“This isn’t animal fur, it’s from a plant. And it’s inappropriate to walk around naked where I come from.”

“I’m not naked. My own fur covers me.” He said. “You do not have your own fur?”

“No. We used to, back during the Ice Age. But now we’ve evolved to no longer needing fur.”

“If you no longer need fur, then why are you wearing clothes?”

He pointed his finger at me in that way that showed he had the higher ground. I was certain he only thought he did, because he was the one asking me all the questions.

“I told you, it’s inappropriate to walk around naked. And it’s unsanitary.”

My body shook at the thought of sitting naked on the subway.

“It seems odd that your bodies would stop growing something that kept you clean.” He mumbled, oozing in superiority.

“Well we have some fur. It’s certainly nothing compared to the extent of yours. I suppose some people have it worse than others. But our entire bodies are covered in hairs. It’s longer in other areas for that purpose of protection. Like our eye lashes.” I said blinking my eyes at him.

He smiled.

“Where does your own fur fall in comparison to others? Is this normal?”

He ran his hands through my hair. It tickled the back of my neck.

“Yes. Mine is normal. Some people shave it off completely, some people change the color of it, and some people are so covered from head to toe that it doesn’t even look like they’ve evolved at all.”

My brain flashed images of
Robin Williams
and that real life Wolf-Man who lived in Mexico.

“Like me?” He asked.

“Yes.” I smiled.

“They must be very warm if they wear plants along with having the same amount of fur that I have.” He whispered.

“Yes, I imagine they would be.” I smiled again.

The conversation had done the trick and I finally wasn’t paying attention to anything. Only now, I really wasn’t paying attention to anything. My heel got caught in a corner of cobblestone and I tripped. Carlyle instantly launched and caught me with one arm. Sebastian was still holding on to my hand and fell along with me. He hit the ground with a loud thud.

“Clumsy?”
Carlyle questioned not only my stability on my feet, but I felt as if he might have intentionally questioned my emotions as well. He smiled at me, completely ignoring Sebastian.

“Thanks.” I said. I was so flustered.

He set me back upright and offered his hand for Sebastian. Sebastian just shooed it away. He instead used my arm to yank himself back up.

“
Eesh
!
You could have warned me.” I whispered when he nearly ripped my arm out of the socket.

“Likewise.”
He mumbled.

Was he jealous? What was with him getting jealous of any man showing some form of interest in me, but then treating me like, well, this, himself? I didn’t understand it. He needed to just drop whatever was bothering him if he cared that much. I mean, wouldn’t he be sad to have me leave? Wouldn’t he want to be nice and have fun these last minutes together? Carlyle was capable of talking to me and carrying a normal conversation. I didn’t understand the big issue.
             

Being upset by all this just made me feel even worse. It meant that I had to have feelings for Sebastian, too. I didn’t want them. I didn’t even want them for Carlyle. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, to be honest. It was a bit much to take in. But I knew that out of all three of them, Joe was the best. I’d have to make it up to him when I got back. I needed to focus my attention on him. Joe was what was real.
             

It was hard to focus with all the tension that started up again. No one was talking or even acting like they knew the others existed. It didn’t help that I only blamed myself. It wasn’t Carlyle’s fault I tripped, but I did and I just so happened to land in his arms. Sebastian should understand that. Just like he should understand why it upset me that he
lied
.
             

Ugh, I wish the city would appear already. It was my only sign that the world I knew was still around. I could be calm again and walking through my apartment in an hour. Was I even going to the city? I hadn’t thought about that. I knew they were taking me to the Minakai. If he was their leader he’d be looking over it. How strange I never realized that before. I turned to say something to Carlyle and was shocked to see it was Sebastian. We were all walking in a row now.
             

For the second time since I met Sebastian, I realized we were sort of living the
Wonderful Wizard of Oz
. He was no longer the cowardly lion, and now I was Dorothy. I just wanted to see the Wizard to get home. It was opposite, with me leaving the monochrome world to get back to my fully colored one, but it was good enough. All I had to do was pretend the bricks we were walking on were yellow and I’d buy it.
             

I looked up and almost lost my footing again. Finally, I saw buildings. They looked like they were made out of aluminum or tin foil. There was rust creeping up the support beams, water stains down the sides and nasty vines growing everywhere. My focus didn’t last long on the houses however. Soon my eyes were swarmed with tons of Sebastian’s and Carlyle’s everywhere.
             

They didn’t vary that much in size or features, but I could tell the differences in age and sex. The younger ones weren’t covered in wrinkles or lines on their skin, it was all smooth and they were furrier. The women had longer hair and teats much like dogs or pigs down their stomachs. Every single one of them had those crazy violet-maroon changing eyes. It was entrancing.
             

They didn’t seem to find me so interesting. They paid no attention as we walked by. It was a normal day to them and they carried on with their normal daily chores.
             

Deeper into the small establishment, there were creatures that I didn’t recognize. They were much smaller than Sebastian or Carlyle. One walked up and Carlyle patted its head, much like I would do to Spike. Were they pets? They were very fat, round creatures with rough, scaly looking skin. Their tails came to point with a ball on the end. They actually looked like an ankylosaurus, but they were smaller and had no spikes. Their feet were bowlegged and stuck out oddly with long black curling claws. Their heads had some fur around the cheeks just below their floppy ears. The snouts were
smushed
in with a few crooked teeth exposed. It was oddly adorable.

We left them behind and kept walking on. My eyes traveled up alleyways and I saw creatures that were like miniature rats but with dragon tails and wings. They were even blowing fire at the food they had just stolen. There were a few centaurs that looked like they were monitoring the streets. They had huge spears in their human hands. They stood much taller than Carlyle, let alone the other species that occupied the land. Maybe that’s why they were on the lookout. Behind stands of funny looking fruit, I realized there were Satyrs. Nearly everything in this world was a hybrid, it seemed. None of them were just human, or dog, or horse, or lion, or goat. It was certainly very odd. I was sure that all of them were normal to the others, though, and that I was the abnormal creature with the abnormal scent. They smelled of dewberries and spring rain.
             

Carrying on, the aluminum buildings were getting thin and more spread out. We were leaving the city. I hadn’t noticed the pollution until we were out. How peculiar that a city of creatures for God could create smog. Back in the open trees, the air was clear. I could take a deep breath and not feel like I still needed to gasp for more air. I'd have thought my lungs would have been used to dirt from living in America.

Up ahead, I could see familiar trees again. We passed a sign near the last of the buildings. The language on it matched Sebastian's birthmark. I wanted to ask them what it said. I imagined it was the name of their town. When I stepped up between them, a glare caught my attention and I forgot words. I shielded my eyes and saw the most captivating castle I had ever seen. It was remarkable. The best part about it was that it was in color.
             

Sebastian was right. Their color scheme was the same in a sense, but so different. The green was a green I had never seen before. It was thick and seemed as though I could touch it. The sky
shimmered
its blue back onto the ground like it was showering us in millions of tiny crystals falling down from the heavens. The ponds were so still and clear that even they reflected the monochrome world back in an array of all the spectacular colors. I wanted to get closer to it.