A Shattered Song ✔️

Chapter Eleven: Poison Ivy

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Poison Ivy

Evelyn liked to play tricks on her mind.

She liked to make it think that no, she was not a prisoner. No, faeries did not exist. No, she was not to be tested once more at an indeterminate time in the future.

Instead, she liked to make it believe that she was on her bed at home, eating snacks with Kayleigh. Getting annoyed at her parents. Texting her online friends.

How long have I been here...?

The days blurred. Each meal melted into another. Her routine was ingrained in her mind: sleep, wake up, imagine things, eat, sleep, wake up again. Over and over and over again.

What are the colour of Kayleigh's eyes...?
Shouldn't she have known that? Shouldn't she have been clinging to every part of her friend possible?
What was Kayleigh's favorite food...?

Pizza or lasagna? Why couldn't she remember?

Why couldn't she bring herself to care?

I wonder if anyone has found her body...

Was Kayleigh in Faerie or Violet Falls? Or some place in between?
Does anybody miss me?

No, of course not. They couldn't miss someone like her. A murderer.

Do they think I am dead?

It would have been better if she were dead.

Does Melody care about me?

Every so often, her cousin would come to Evelyn's room once more. But she never said a word.

Or maybe it was just an illusion of Melody, because Kayleigh visited too.

As Evelyn lay on her bed, just like she always did, staring at the ceiling, she exhaled.

Inhale, exhale.

Inhale, exhale.

Another routine. Evelyn needed routines.

So when two faeries came in that morning, toting another bed, Evelyn blocked them out- they weren't part of the routine.

But later, when she heard shouts and scuffling outside her doorway, she could no longer ignore it. She sat up- against routine- and listened.

"I'm Fae!" A voice shouted, high-pitched, right outside of her room. "You can't do this!"

"Lady Briar's orders." The second voice was lower. "You'll be fine."

"You can't do this!" The first voice screeched again.

"I'm sorry, Ivy."

Ivy. Primrose. Briar.

They're not speaking their language, Evelyn realized suddenly. Why?
But she didn't ponder it for long, because new Evelyn was not curious. New Evelyn did not care. Not any longer.

And yet she continued to stare at the wall of her room, straining to hear more chatter, against her instincts and routine. But there was nothing. Only cries and banging and heels dragging against the floor and then the second voice, speaking in the beautiful language that Evelyn had expected from the start. Then a wet-sounding slap, and someone shouting, and the door bursting open, and a bedraggled child getting shoved through the narrow entryway. With messy brown hair, almond eyes that looked like those of a cat, and light blue skin, the new arrival quickly spun around and launched herself at another faerie- also a child. She opened her mouth, revealing sharp teeth. "I will-" She began.

The door slammed in her face.

The child (Ivy?) pounded on the wood with her tiny fists. "- get out!" She hissed, finishing her sentence.

There was no response. Evelyn leaned forward with interest, feeling alive again after who-knows-how-long.

"It won't die." Ivy continued. "If you think I'm the only one you're wrong. This isn't right! Those of us stationed in the human world-"

"Human world?" Evelyn interrupted.

Ivy turned suddenly, looking surprised, then wary. "Take off your glamour." She demanded.

Evelyn choked on a laugh. "I don't have one."

Ivy stomped forward. "They wouldn't put me with a human." She said finally, as if it made perfect sense. "Not knowing what I am."

Evelyn held up her hands, already weary.

Should she have been afraid? Maybe she should have been afraid...

But she was too tired to care.

"Well, they did." Was all she said.

Little Ivy took another step and sniffed, like she was a dog or something. Surprise briefly registered on her features.

"Either they put me with someone really good," She said, "Which is unlikely, because they know already what I do with opportunities, or you're Evelyn Anderson." She smiled, and the mere sight of it was chilling. "Hello, Evelyn. I'm Ivy, and I am here to help you."