Without further ado, here it is.
So, I opened my mouth, inhaling quickly, and, with a slight pause, fought the words out. “Hey, Angie, look. I’m sorry—”
Out of nowhere, something like five men jumped out of the bushes behind us with guns in their hands. I shot up, and the little Angie kid did too, but not before it all was over in a flash. “THERE HE IS!”
“RUN, KID.”
“ALEX, LOOK OUT—” Before I even knew what happened, I saw a flash of blue and other bright colors run forward. Then there was a high pitched scream, and she—
No, I shouldn’t think about that now…
Part One
…The rain was incredibly heavy that night. I don’t think I’ll be able to ever forget it because it was the night that changed my life—when all my trouble started. The thunder and lightning was pounding outside, and the rain was so thick that you couldn’t see two inches past your own nose. Luckily, I was inside, peaceful, content, and (most importantly) alone.Not really happy, but it was as close to that as I’d get.
Anyway.
I was lounging around in the back of my cave, finishing off the last bits of my dinner, when, out of nowhere, this small, wet little thing threw herself in and landed flat on the ground. She lay on the stone for a little longer, gasping, before sitting up and getting her wet hair out of her face. I tensed—human. I hated humans. And don’t come after me with the whole “But you were a human once too” talk; believe me, I’ve heard it enough. The little human girl was soaked to the bone…she was getting my nicely-cleaned floor wet. Even worse, she started wringing her hair and clothes out too. Great. First rain, now an unwelcome guest. She dropped her purse onto the ground and lay down again, stretching her teeny limbs out spread-eagled.
…It would be so easy for me to just break those off. It would certainly be fun, even if she didn’t taste very good.These pleasant thoughts often came to me. No. Not tonight. Too much trouble. I’ll just scare her off. So I licked the blood off my jaws, stood up to my full height of eight and a half feet, began a growl in the back of my throat, and walked toward her. My claws made clicking noises on the stone floor, and I felt my fur bristle with pride…I look awesome. It took the stupid little thing a few moments to notice me, but when she did, she sat up…and smiled.
“Oh, hello there! Am I intruding?”
For a moment, I was caught off guard. I shook myself. “…Go away, little girl. You don’t belong here.”
“Well I don’t really belong anywhere. And I’m not a little girl.”
A sigh rippled down my spine; she just wasn’t getting it. She really didn’t get it. “Oh really.”
“Yup! I’m twenty-four, which makes me an adult.”
“Uh-huh.”
She nodded, her curly, dyed hair bouncing.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
“…Aren’t you—uh—afraid I’m gonna eat you, or something? Look, little girl—”
“I’m not little.” She repeated.
“Well—whatever! My point is, I could crush you. Grind your bones up easily. Pull your limbs apart and eat them in front of you. Doesn’t that scare you?!”
She thought about this for a few minutes, casting faraway eyes to the ceiling. “…Well sure it does. But you’re not, are you? I mean, that’s kinda rude.”
There was another silence. I found that my jaw was hanging slack. Then, out of nowhere, she giggled; it was high and sort of bell-like—incredibly annoying.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Now I was just speechless.
“I’m—I’m sorry, you just have this hilarious expression right now…” She didn’t stop laughing. No, even though I threatened her, she just rolled on her back on the stone floor and laughed in my face. It was infuriating to be outsmarted by a stupid, little, human girl.
“…So the fact that I could rip you to shreds any minute now doesn’t bother you.”
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“Because death is a welcome guest! Why be afraid of dying if it’s gonna happen to you someday anyway? Besides, there’s only one thing I want right now anyway, and if I don’t get it, then that’s okay. I’ll live—I mean—” She broke off into obnoxious giggles again.
“And what would that be?” My voice was beginning to snarl, and I felt the corners of my mouth drawing back into a sneer. If looks could kill, she would have been dead a long time ago.
“Oh, I want to see the fairies dance!” This caught me off guard; I stopped and looked at her, my jaw going slightly slack.
She smiled. When I didn’t say anything else, she took out a thin, worn out blanket from her purse and laid down on the floor, shutting her eyes. Good. She’ll at least be quiet, now—maybe I can carry her outside and put her in the forest or something so she’ll get lost and not come back…Just then, they snapped back open, and came to look at me again.
“By the way, my name’s Angelica Richards, but most people just call me Angie. I mean, most people just call me ‘girl’ or ‘stupid’ or ‘scram’, but all my friends call me Angie….Do you want to be my friend?”
“No.” I spat at her and turned to walk haughtily back to my food.
“…That’s what everyone says.”
I paused again. “Then why don’t you go back to your friends, where you’re wanted.”
“Because I’m not wanted. That’s why I left—‘cause I’m just a burden to people.” I started to comment on how much of a burden she was being to me, but I forced myself to be silent. “My dad disowned me, too, so I don’t have a home anymore. I started just being homeless and being okay with it, but then I found out about the fairies, so I left! And now I’m here, and life’s great, so it’s all okay.”
“Wait…” I slowly turned to face her again, my eyes narrowing. “How long’ve you been out on this…this…” I fought for the word. “trip?”
“Oh, I don’t know, a few months.” She broke off yawning, and snuggled deeper in the blanket that barely covered her; two pale, little feet poked out. The thought of breaking them was still rather appealing.
I was arguing with myself. “…My name’s Alexander.”
Her face instantly light up, along with her eyes. It sort of seemed like they turned a brighter shade of blue, but I quickly ignored that as a trick of the mind. “Alex?! That’s such a cute name!”
“DON’T call me that.” I cut her off hurriedly. What am I getting myself into?!
“So…so you’re my friend, now?”
“No, duh. I’m just…”
What am I doing?
“Yeah?” She looked excited, and waited impatiently for what I was going to say next.
That horrible twisting, lurching feeling I got in the pit of my stomach when I was battling with myself sprung up again, worse this time, along with a small migraine. My fur fluffed up a bit. Finally, I grasped an answer that I was sure to regret— “I’m just saying I’ll take you to see the fairies dance.”
I did regret it. The little girl gave this loud squeal that pierced my ears and made my head pound harder. “THANK YOU! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!”
“Alright, alright, I get it!” With that, I stormed off to the back of my cave again, my whole body bristling, and flopped back onto the ground in front of my meal again. I had started today with a good feeling, and it ended with the gods sending a demon after me as my eternal punishment. What was worse, the cow I had gone to so much trouble to kill was now cold.
Make sure to check in again next Monday for the next part!
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