The Faerie Circle (Faerieland: Book 1)

Chapter One - Violets and Vanilla

I'd never believed in magic.

I sighed as I approached the edge of the woods near my home. A woman walking her dog along the path cast a sideways glance in my direction as I passed her, and I felt the judgement radiate from her body. Nobody went into the woods – not the adults, at least. There were stories, dating further back than the town itself, of people going missing amongst.

Stories, I thought – because they were nothing more than just that. Nobody had proof that the woods were dangerous, not to mention that some sinister supernatural force had been at work. Even my Mum had bought into it all, warning me that these very woods were where the mystical faeries kept the portal to their realm.

"As if." I scoffed, heading further into the trees. We'd lived next to the woods for years, and I'd never so much as smelled a faerie.

My father, younger sisters, and I lived in a small house at the edge of town. Amelia – Lia, for short – the older of the two, was thirteen, and completely insufferable. She was at the age where she listened to no-one, and spat her words with venom and spite. She spent most days avoiding us and skipping school, when she wasn't off gallivanting with her rebellious friends. School came second to her social life, much to our father's chagrin.

Katie was the polar opposite to her sister. She was ten, and still had the pure heart of a child. She was kind and gentle to all, and still believed in the magic of the world. I envied her unshakeable faith in a greater mystery to life, and her unbridled joy when she came across something she thought was magical was a delight to behold. She reminded me so much of our mother, her eyes bright and open to the wonders of the world.

I was not alike either of my sisters, in spirit or in body. Both girls had slender bodies, even for their age. Their wispy locks were light-brown, and their eyes a pale blue. They bore a striking resemblance to our father, even down to the curve of their lips and the single brown freckle on their left cheeks. I took more after our mother. I was tall, with long legs and broad hips, and thick hair as black as the night, which fell past my waist and grazed the middle of my thighs. My eyes were a muddy brown, and I had no trace of a freckle on my porcelain white skin.

Unlike them, I'd grown hard to the world at a young age. I was only Katie's age when our Mum had died, leaving Dad to raise us alone. I'd grown up quickly, and avoided letting work take me too far from home. Dad worked late, so someone had to look after my sisters.

Sunlight filtered through the thick canopy overhead, my skin dappled with shadow and light as I picked my way through the dense undergrowth of the forest - the very same forest where I would find Lia. She'd run off with her friends again and Dad had sent me to look for her, with him being at work. Luckily for him, I had the day off work, so finding her and returning her to school was my sisterly obligation. I regretted my choice of clothing – knee-length shorts and a loose tank - as the stray branches were catching at my skin as I passed, leaving raised scratch marks.

I powered on, ignoring the irritation from the scratches, scanning the undergrowth for any sign of disturbance. I'd been down this path enough times to know her tricks; she liked to think she could throw me off her trail by treading fake paths and leaving things for me to find. I noticed a mass of black fabric strewn over a young ash tree: her cardigan. I tried not to let myself focus on the fact that she'd thrown away a brand-new cardigan, instead looking around for where she could have gone.

I changed course and headed in the opposite direction, wandering into a darker part of the forest that I'd not been to before. It was marked with old, worn signposts. I couldn't work out what they said, apart from 'trespassing'. Old, worn police tape was hanging from several branches – presumably from an old investigation into one of the alleged 'missing people'. Ignoring the lingering feeling of dread in my stomach, I continued into the dense forest, ducking under a low-hanging branch. I was met with a curtain of willow branches, strewn haphazardly across two other trees.

"How obvious..." I scoffed, scraping the branches out of the way and finding myself in a small clearing. It was surrounded by trees, with a relatively low canopy compared to the rest of the forest. In the centre was a grassy mound, topped with a perfect circle of mushrooms: A Faerie Circle. There was an ethereal quality to the place, as though the forest was holding its breath. The trees seemed to whisper to me, and the earth echoed back, as if it was humming. The circle of mushrooms seemed to be...beckoning me. I took a step towards it-

"Boo!" A female voice chirped into my ear. I staggered, tripping over my own foot and falling face-first into the circle of mushrooms. I knocked my head on the grass, and the jolting movement made my vision go dark. My head spun. I could smell...violets. Violets, and vanilla. The aroma enveloped me, so sweet and enticing.

I looked up, my vision starting to clear. For a second, I thought I saw a shadowy figure above me, cloaked in darkness, but I blinked a few times and I saw the figure was simply one of Lia's male friends, Isaac.

I scrambled out of the circle, brushing myself off.

"Jesus, Lia. Don't scare me like that."

She and her friends cackled.

"What? Are you afraid of fairies?" She taunted, twisting a strand of brown hair between her fingers. She looked pleased with herself; I'd be glad to change that.

"You're not cute and you're not funny." I interjected, ignoring her. "Now, either you get your skinny arse back to my car so I can drive you to school, or I'll have to inform the police that you're all trespassing on private property. Your choice."

Lia's face remained vicious, but her friends all went pale. I assumed they hadn't noticed the signposts.

"You always spoil everything, Mira!" Lia whined, stomping her feet. "I want to stay with my friends-"

"You want to get them in trouble too?" I hissed scathingly, throwing a cool glare in their direction. Isaac peeled back, followed by Shea and Penny. "I had to come out here on my day off," I turned my gaze back to Lia. "Because you think running off with your friends is more important than an education. Now, let's go. I'll be late to practice thanks to you."

Lia ducked her head and followed me out of the clearing, refusing to meet my eye. I felt a shudder go through my body as I passed the willow curtain, and headed back to town. Little did I know that on that day, my life would cascade into something I could never have imagined.