Human

Chapter 11

    The male Faerie tightly held Layla's hair in one hand, and a knife in the other.  On closer examination the knife was simply a make-shift wooden shiv, but it was sharp enough to penetrate the skin on the girl's neck.  Blood poured down onto her white tank-top, and brought attention to every bite-mark scattered across her neck and chest. The most-recent bite mark from Eli was still purple around the edges.  A look of terror was etched on her face, and radiated in every pore.  Her brown eyes were scrunched, and her eyebrows high up on her face.  She held her assailant's arm with both of her hands. 

   Lilith rushed forward without any hesitation, merely out of naivety. She felt that the small band of humans were a team, and she always saw on the television that no "pack-mate" should be left behind.  She made a small murmur of surprise when she was jolted roughly back down toward the bushes.  Jackson had a firm grip on her forearm. He slowly raised his index finger to his lips.

    "Quiet," he mouthed. 

   She nodded in his direction, but her muscles stayed stiff, ready to run.  Lilith felt uneasy that Jackson wasn't rushing to Layla's aid, and she wondered what kind of person that made him. She wondered if he would leave her to die as well if the situation presented itself.

   The group looked on to conflict between the human girl, and the angry Faerie.  

   "You dare be a consort to our enemy," he shouted in her face, drops of spit spraying onto her cheeks.  Layla didn't move a muscle, and when the Faerie realized that she wasn't going to say anything, he dug the knife deeper into her neck.  A whimper escaped her parted lips, pale with fear.

    "I do not consort with them," she sputtered, "I was contracted to them."

   Both groups were silent, and Layla quickly realized this explanation wasn't enough.

   "My mother sold me at 13 to a different family, because the family she wanted have a contract with only wanted two humans."

   The knife left her neck, and she was dropped down to the ground, and she landed on her butt.  She coughed and held her hand to the actively bleeding wound. Her assailant frowned, and his thin lips pursed.  He seemed to be satisfied, and as he turned he revealed his long white hair worn in a ponytail.  He was only a little smaller than the Vampire brutes the group had left behind, but he still looked like he could bench two of Lilith.

  "Let me go," Lynn screamed.  She had been out of view until now, and she was thrashing about.  "I have no bites!" 

The white-haired Faerie nodded at the blonde woman holding her in an iron grip, and she was also dropped to the ground. Lilith's heart broke when she saw her crawl toward Lilith on the ground.  Her black hand coming in and out of view.  The Faeries stalked off into the opposite direction into the woods, leaving the girls alone in front of the Faerie base.

   "They didn't leave anyone behind," Jackson noted, a hint of surprise in his voice.  

   Eli glared daggers at Jackson for pointing it out first, and he quickly rose and passed the girls on the ground and climbed up a similar ladder leading up into the trees.  The sun was nearing the middle of the sky, and was peaking out between the leaves.  Wind tousled Lilith's frizzy mane as she rushed over to her friends to comfort them.  She was so fiercely loyal despite only knowing these girls for a few days. 

  "Are you okay," she asked, her eyebrows scrunching in concern. 

   The grass wasn't damp from morning dew anymore, but was instead wet with blood.  

"I've been better," Layla choked out. 

  Lilith looked around her for help, but everyone had made their way up to the tree house, but Lilith decided to wait for them with her friends.  She focused her attention on Lynn, who wasn't currently bleeding out.  

"Why did they attack her? She's a part of the Faerie team," Lilith said.

  Lynn drew in a long breath, her small chest raising, and then quickly snapped back when a whoosh of air left her lips.

  "They saw her bite marks," she explained, eyes down.  

   Her hazel eyes were devoid of sparkle, and her mannerisms devoid of joy.  Her long black hair fell straight down her shoulders, to the top of her breasts.  

   "Aurick also saw her offer herself to a vampire the other day,"  she said toward Lilith's general direction.  She had put her hands on Layla's wounds, to try to stop the bleeding.  

   "Why does that matter," Lilith asked. 

  "The Faeries really don't like Vampires.  It is rumored this is because the God of the Air is an enemy to the God of Death," Lynn informed her, and suddenly she was ripping the end of her blouse, and tying it around Layla's delicate neck as a home-made bandage. 

  The girls looked at Layla helplessly as the ripped piece of Lynn's blouse soaked up freshly spilled blood, but the pressure stalled the speed.

  "I'll be alright," Layla said dismissively, and the girls helped her to the side of a large oak.  

  A tap on the shoulder alerted Lilith to Jackson's presence. 

  "The sprites are secure, but we have a problem," he said.

   "What kind of problem," Lilith asked.

   "The hairy kind," he grimaced, the rest of the group coming down from the ladder with roars of victory.  Eli held up the note ceremoniously.

"2. Take another camp's artifact."

Everyone took a few seconds to let their new objective sink in.

   "On to the Werewolf Camp," Eli declared, his eyes hidden by a pair of dark grey sunglasses. 

   Eli wore a long black coat over a normal grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and the edge of his coat slapped Lilith in the face when he passed, and then the rest of the group were marching back into the forest, in the direction of the Faeries.  

  "We need to go," Jackson reminded Lilith, who was still doting on her friends. 

  She looked at them apologetically, grabbing Lynn's shoulder firmly, and then got up and dusted herself off.  Twigs and leaves fell from her jeans, and she wiped dirt onto her thighs.  Grass stains were clearly visible on her calves.  Scrunched brown eyes looked at Jackson, afraid to inquire further.  

  When they reached two large trees, she looked back onto the face's of her friends: Layla and Lynn.  Lynn was doing an excellent job comforting Layla, and keeping pressure on her wound.  A drop shadow from the tree behind them hid the brightness of the blood surrounding them, and she had a deep feeling of regret.  

  A pit formed in her stomach, and she was afraid of falling into the void.