Authors: S.E. Myers
Ryleigh was ready for food and a nap. At the mere thought of eating her stomach tightened protesting its emptiness.
Ryleigh was also beginning to also think that Tristan had to have been wrong. Maybe his parents were acting weird because of what was going on? Maybe they were scared? She was meeting Tristan and Illeana later citing library study. She would be lying to her aunt but it was necessary.
***
Vera made a mental note to call Fin and fill him in on Ryleigh’s progress. He would be pleased to know that she was everything that they hoped for. Ryleigh was beyond important to Finar. Vera wasn’t yet sure how much information she was going to relay. Over the phone she could force a non-truth, but in person, that was a feat she wasn’t sure she could manage. Vera had always been compelled to answer Finar truthfully and honestly.
If she’d had a witch, that would make all the difference. Unfortunately, they no longer existed. This supernatural natural world they lived in was hard enough without having the right resources. She dialed the all too familiar number, “We need to talk. Face to face.” She hated having these discussion with Finar. He could be scary and violent. Her stomach wretched violently. How Adrianne ever dealt with him, she would never know.
***
It wasn’t but an hour before he walked into her study carrying an air of arrogance about him. “Well?” he questioned his dark eyes glittering. Vera remembered how kind those brown eyes used to be.
“She knows,” said Vera. She waited for Fin’s reaction. He was a slow boil but when he roiled he damn near exploded.
Finar allowed Vera’s words to marinate his thoughts. Thinking they could keep her in the dark forever was futile and he knew she would find out…eventually. He paced back and forth dramatically. It was more for effect than anything. Finar knew it was only a matter of time before Ryleigh realized she was different, or, before someone else told her.
“I am not surprised,” commented Fin in his haughty tone. “She is seventeen after all.”
“It was Tristan and Illeana.”
“Oh really,” Fin sneered. I am going to have to have a talk with their
parents.
Trouble. That is what they are.” Walking closer with each word until the last was blown onto Vera’s cheek with a whisper, “I… don’t… need…
trouble
.” Spinning on his heel he tossed his head back, ‘I have a contingency plan in action, however.”
Vera was afraid of Fin’s “contingency” plans. The last time he had a plan, he damn near killed Ryleigh. She told him the car accident was a bad idea, but, Fin usually only listened to himself.
“I did tell her I thought her father was alive,” Vera regretted the words leaving her lips as soon as they tumbled out. She wished she could have caught them and shoved them back down her throat.
Fin erupted. His true form was one of the most frightening that Vera had ever seen. It seemed as if it took only one step to grab Vera by the arms and pull her close. His eyes glowed red and his skin was riddled with hues of green and blue scales. But his teeth. Saber tooth fangs that hung from his mouth like extended bone. The dark energy that resonated from within him smothered the room in a blanket of filth.
Vera felt as if she were suffocating. She couldn’t shift into form. Fin was too strong for that. He pulled energy from her keeping her form at bay. Vera started shrinking into the floor whispering, “Stop! Please!” The words choked out slowly with hope he would acquiesce and back down.
He pulled his energy back enough for Vera to pick herself up from the floor. She staggered and fell into her desk, dizzy from the amount Chi that Fin exerted. The sheer force of Finar’s complete form was enough to dampen the output of ten lesser Fae energy. His form was more demonic. Dark. Ominous. Dangerous.
“If Tristan and Illeana will not stop meddling, then I will make sure they do. Ryleigh. Is. Mine.” Finar turned and walked out the room completely pulling his energy back inside him.
As soon as he left Vera sat behind her desk with her head in her hands, “What have I done?”
14
The death of a twin
Tristan and Illeana had just arrived home from running errands prior to meeting Ryleigh that evening. They decided they would cook dinner and wanted to pick up a couple things. Before opening the front door they could feel the air cackle with static. Something was more off than usual. Illeana reached out to turn the handle to the door and Tristan grabbed her hand. “No,” he said. “Let me.” Always the diligent “older” brother. Illeana smiled with her violet eyes. They had an unspoken communication.
Tristan turned the handle and the door flew inward out of his hand. He braced his arms to protect Illeana from what danger could lurk inside.
“Come in children,” he heard from the darkness. Tristan took a step forward ever hesitantly keeping Illeana behind him. Although they were stronger together, they still needed to be wary of danger.
“Who’s there,” called Tristan.
“Don’t you recognize your favorite uncle,” the snide voice replied. “Come in here, now.” Tristan and Illeana approached the living room. The smell of sulfur and sandalwood lingered throughout the house, a residual effect from Fading, or traveling from the Sanctum.
Fin was sitting in one of the recliners. He was dressed in his normal debonair style. A relic from the 30’s. Finar chose not to update with the modern fashions, instead he preferred pin striped suits, walking canes, and top hats. His eyes narrowed as the twins entered the room. “I’ve heard that you can’t stay away from Vera’s ward.” Tristan moved to speak but Fin silenced him before he could utter the first sound, “Don’t. I don’t want to hear your excuses. You were warned. You’ve been warned after the first time you made contact with her. You. Are. Not. To. Talk. To. Her.” Fin emphasized each word with a point of his finger between Tristan and Illeana. “I’m afraid I am going to have to inflict some punishment.”
“No!” protested Tristan. “She’s family! How can we not…” Tristan’s sentence was broken by a gloved hand clasped around his throat. Fin’s acrid breath was hot on his face and Tristan could see the Fae within Fin in his eyes. Tristan became scared for the first time.
Finar grabbed Illeana by her mane of blonde hair, “I warned you both.” They all vanished into thin air leaving behind a slight wind that barely blew dust from the table.
***
They reappeared in the Sanctum. The Sanctum was part of the Fae realm. It was what Fae called home after leaving the sight of humanity. A network of caverns filled with memories of the past and echoes of ancestral energy.
Finar still grasped Tristan by his neck and Illeana by her hair. Tristan and Illeana hadn’t faded before and were still recovering from the ill effects of it. Fading was harsh on the body the first time, insides felt as if they were twisting into each other as lungs failed to breathe. It was beyond pain.
The twins couldn’t breathe and continued to gasp for air. The air was heavier and reeked of sandalwood and sulfur. It could take a few seconds to get used to and was a combination that only Fae could tolerate.
Tristan’s eyes burned as he tried to regain his senses and reach for Illeana. He could hear her continuing to cough and gag.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Fin remarked. “You two don’t get to touch.”
Fin propelled Illeana forward into a cell carved into the cave wall behind them. He then threw Tristan into a matching cell a few yards away. Using his energy he locked the cell doors at the same time. “They are made of ash,” he said. “You cannot use
your
energy alone to open these doors. There is iron reinforced through the doors as well. You are staying here until I can figure out what to do with the pair of you.” With that Finar disappeared with a pop of air.
Tristan coughed and yelled, “Illeana! Are you okay?”
Muffled he heard her respond, “Yes, I’m fine.” He could then heard sobbing. Tristan turned and punched the wall of his cell.
What am I going to do now?
***
Illeana could hear Tristan cursing on the other side of the wall. It was muffled, but she could feel how frustrated and angry he was that this happened. She wasn’t sure why she was crying. The tears just continued to come and wash her face clean of the settled dust from the cavern. She was more angry with herself…
and
Tristan. They’d just had this conversation. The “What if?” scenarios. This was not what they were prepared for. They had completely underestimated Finar and his abilities.
“Tristan,” she called out. “Tristan!”
“Yeah,” she heard his voice stifling the anger and disappointment.
“What are we going to do?”
“I am not quite sure yet, but we’ll figure out something.”
Illeana tried to draw on her inner Chi but she couldn’t. There was something dampening her energy. She couldn’t even call on her imp to help her out. She tried to stretch her mind out to feel around and see if there was anything, any hope, but she couldn’t even reach Tristan to connect with him.
Illeana rested her hair on her knees. Her mind tried to run through every possible scenario. She was scared. And afraid. Afraid that she and Tristan were going to die.
***
Finar was ticked off. It took him a long while to calm down to think about what to do. The twins were lucky he didn’t snap their heads off. He did not want Ryleigh to learn anything about who she was or what she could do. He needed her ignorant.
He’d faded into an upper level that contained a home office. It was where he spent most of his time lately. He wanted what lay inside of her and he couldn’t stand to think that she
might
be powerful enough to evade him. He’d already risked so much to come this far. He was one of the most powerful Fae that currently existed outside of the Inner Realm. The hidden realm that no human would ever see. Where his kind had been banished for centuries.
The Sanctum. That one word was supposed to mean safety… sanctuary… but instead, became a prison. Families living in fear, their kind made to disappear. It was turned into a prison by those who feared the Fae. By those who feared what they could do.
Finar was angry. It was going to be his turn to get back at those that caused their sequester. Ryleigh was the key to it. She held the power that he needed.
“Mia, get in here,” Finar snapped.
“Yes, master,” Mia replied as the imp appeared before him.
“Take me to him.”
The imp grabbed Finar’s hand and they faded out of the upper Sanctum.
***
Finar appeared in a cell that was far below where Tristan and Illeana were being held. Each time he appeared before the man, the man grew more and more curious as to why he was not dead yet.
“So Thomas, tell me about your daughter. What makes her so… special,” Finar approached Tom’s beaten and bruised body leaning down to whisper in his ear emphasizing the word “special”. He was going to get it out of him.
Tom laid on the ground and shut his eyes. Finar looked toward Mia, “Bring her.”
It only took a few seconds before Mia appeared with Tom’s wife, Adrianne. “You will tell me,” Finar sneered as he threw Adrianne on the ground at his feet. She was barely alive. Tom sat up to grab his wife but Finar kicked him in the chest. Tom muttered a painful grunt as he leaned over trying to recover from pain.
“You don’t get to touch her. You may never touch her again… if you don’t tell me about her.” Tom rolled over glaring at Finar. He knew that if he told him about Ryleigh, his daughter would be in more danger than she was now. “The only thing special about her,” he said between breaths, “…is that she is our daughter.” Finar growled as he grabbed Adrianne by her hair yanking her from the cell floor. She cried out in pain, grimacing from the torture that had been inflicted on her. “Please, there’s nothing,” she implored. Finar threw her behind him and she hit the wall, rendering her unconscious.
“No!” Tom shouted as he lunged for Finar.
Finar grabbed his throat as he came close invoking his Chi, his eyes glittered as red as ruby’s as his form started to emerge from his human guise. “I don’t think so Tom. You saw what I did to your companions; imagine only what I would do to you.”
Tom swallowed hard remembering the agony he felt as Finar tore his imp limb from limb. The connection to their imps severed, they couldn’t channel any energy unless Tom and Adrianne were close and touching.
Tom looked to his wife, limp and unconscious. Guilt flooded through his being. He knew he needed to give Finar something, anything… he just didn’t want to be forced to divulge the truth. He couldn’t put his daughter in that kind of danger, but no matter what he told Finar, she would be a gross target. He could only hope that once he exposed her, she would have learned enough on her own to ward off the danger heading her way.
Finar moved toward his wife, “You have exactly three seconds. I know you moved away to keep her hidden. Keep her secret. And you are going to tell me why if you want yourself and your wife to live.”
Tom winced knowing he had to speak up or he and his wife would die. He didn’t trust Finar, but he knew he could bide he and his wife some kind of time, “Okay. I’ll tell you what is special about her.”
Finar looked pleased; his Chi pulling back inward, his imp breathing hard from being unable to control the amount of energy Finar had the capability of exploding, “Get on with it then.”
“We believe that Ryleigh absorbed her twin’s energy. That’s why we moved away. That is why we ran.”