Charming Heathra - a novella companion to Dirty Lying Faeries

Gone

Heathra

October, 1948

What a night. It felt like everything changed, and the pieces were finally falling into place. The warmth that had blossomed between us, the taste of happiness, I never wanted it to end. 

Arthur took me back to the diner to get my bike. Holding in giggles and stealing kisses, I parked it behind his apartment building, and spent the night with Arthur. 

It was a very healing experience.

The hurt that I had piled up spilled out as tears. I didn't even explain it to Arthur, he seemed to know I needed a shoulder, and he didn't ask questions.

But he was part of my hurt. That I had lied to him. That we were both a little too quiet on certain things, and while I seemed to know so much about Arthur, there were some basic things he never spoke about. I was making it all worse the deeper I fell for him.

And of course my mother. I cried for her and the fact that I had failed her. Pa too. I cried that Viola and I couldn't get along, and without either of our parents left there was no glue holding us as a family. I cried that everything was falling apart. Even me.

Especially me.

 But it was all starting to change. My world was growing, shifting, drifting toward Seattle with my tall, dark, quiet Arthur.

I fell asleep, tears both happy and sad still staining my cheeks as Arthur held me all night long. I slept, finally. The first good sleep I'd had in days. Weeks. 

With Arthur, I found peace.

And in the morning, I reveled in it.

Groaning, I stretched across the unfamiliar bed as I woke to sunlight on my face. A smile spread across my lips. Last night was wonderful. A taste of the future. What would today bring? It was time to find out.

I yawned and looked around.

"Arthur?" I mumbled.

The bed was empty. I sat up, turning my head this way and that. He wasn't in the bathroom, and the bedroom door was closed. 

I clutched the sheets around my body, pulling them off the bed and blushing at my nakedness. Taking the sheets and wrapping them around me like some kind of strapless gown, I made sure everything was securely hidden. I'd have to find something to wear later. I tiptoed across the room, still grinning. Maybe I could sneak up and surprise Arthur.

Then I froze. I heard voices. They were impossibly soft, yet I heard them anyway. I shook my head, maybe my ears were playing tricks? But no, I definitely heard something. Someone.

"You've gone too far with her, Arthur."

My lips parted with surprise. Devin? What would Arthur's boss be doing at his house this early in the morning?

I adjusted how I stood, keeping my ear near the seam of the door in the hopes of hearing better.

"I know, I know," Arthur answered. "I couldn't help it. She's just so..."

"Keep it together, Arthur," Devin warned. "If you care for her, you can't put her at risk of becoming elf-struck. You know what happened with Caroline."

"That was a fiasco," Arthur muttered.

Devin made a very displeased sound, almost a growl of sorts. The hairs on my neck stood up, giving me goosebumps.

"And we're not letting it happen again," Devin said, dangerously.

"Of course not, you're right." Arthur sighed. "What can I do to slow the change? I don't think anything has happened yet but..."