A Collection of Original Short Stories

Metamorphosis (High Rise)

Inhale.

Her smile was fake.

Exhale.

It was always fake.

Inhale.

Since the first day, it had been fake.

Exhale.

"Congratulations!"

With a smile, she joined Noelle in front of the door. With their father being too sick to flutter Noelle to the altar, Ema had stepped in. Although it went completely against the tradition of the faeries, Noelle was excited to have her best friend walk her down the aisle. Ema held out her arm, and Noelle took it with a bright smile on her freckled face. "Are you ready, Pixie Wings?"

"I'm nervous."

Emerald tilted her head, then grinned, "Don't be. You're beautiful."

Noelle blushed, then giggled, "Thanks."

"C'mon. Let's get." All eyes fell on them as they stepped into the palace - the faery equivalent of what would have been a mortal church - and both young women could see the vampire standing under the altar. Despite her approval to the wedding, seeing Neil under the arch, waiting for them to walk towards him, just for Ema to give her sister to the man she fought to keep away from Noelle...

Ema took a breath, then led the bride down the aisle. Noelle began to flutter as her nerves grew. Ema tangled her fingers through the faery's, calming her enough to lower her back to the floor.

Before their departure, Ema gave Noelle's hand one more good squeeze for support. Then, with the last of her will given to her friend - her sister - Emerald took a place at the side of the altar.

After watching the ceremony occur, Ema spent enough time in the palace to readjust her suit, congratulate the newly weds, then walk with Noelle out of the palace, into the lobby, where they began to snack on whatever food there was.

Ema leaned against a wall, far away from the commotion. She observed from the sidelines, expressionless and out of energy. She spent the last of it trying to deal with Noelle's group of friends. She managed to slip away undetected, and currently, threw her gaze between the clock and Noelle - it wasn't hard to keep an eye on her, given her orange colored dress made her the brightest one in the room. Watching her and Neil talk and laugh and... It hurts. Her gaze landed on Neil, who wore something a lot less spotty - a simple suit similar to her own, but a lot less green - but being the groom, he still stood out from the crowd. "You won. She's yours now," Ema muttered. The crowd got louder. "You better take care of her."

Ema stepped into the cold outside.

****

It wasn't long before she was found.

He was a close friend of the groom, a dragon who had grown close to Emerald. Ema wasn't surprised to see him. He sat down next to Emerald on the sidewalk, greeting her with a quick hi and how are you? Ema shrugged. The dragon pushed straight to his point, "I know you aren't happy about the marriage."

"Oh, jee, I wonder what gave it away. I'm sure it wasn't my joyous smile."

Sarcasm.

He didn't like it.

"Boomer, you might not be happy with what had happened between Noelle and Neil, but we have to learn to accept it. It wasn't our choice. They fell in love."

She wanted to scream.

"I can't control that." Ema muttered, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees.

"Exactly." The redhead scooted closer, trying to close the gap between them. "I might not know how it feels to be in love. I'm a dragon, we're incapable."

A small smile curled on Ema's face, full of amusement. "Wow, Lee. You're hilarious." The dragon blew a hot breath in her direction, lifting one of her green dyed strands of hair. She chuckled, adjusting her tie.

"But, in all honesty," Lee lifted a hand to her shoulder. "You can't take this away from them."

"I couldn't put Noelle through that. Just thinking about the possibility of seeing someone else go through that pain... I never want to see Noelle like that. I don't want her to be like me."

"You don't like it, and I can't say I'm too fond of it either." Ema's head swung, eyes wide. Lee didn't let her respond, "But we have to accept it."

The young adult lowered her emerald gaze away from him. Lee slid his arm around her shoulders, doing his best to give his comfort. She leaned into him, embracing his radiating warmth. "Why are you so good at this?" She muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"I've been around for a long time, Emily."

The woman huffed, dropping her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes, "I want to go back to the way it used to be."

Lee looked down at the younger mortal, examining the dark circles under her eyes. "That's not a call we can make."

There was a small pause.

The moment the wind rushed around them, throwing Lee's ruby red hair and Ema's green hair. Chill was closing in on them like the snow gently falling from the clouds.

Ema opened her eyes, staring at nothing in particular, "I know."

"Hey, Boomer?" Lee spoke up after a long period of silence. Ema grunted in response. The dragon stared behind the clouds searching for something. Nothing was there, yet he was still searching, as if it would pop into existence if he stared long enough. Answers. "Are you ready?"

Emerald closed her eyes, hiding her emerald jewels behind a pair of eyelids. "No." Her voice was flat, gaze foggy. Lee was afraid of that.

"Don't worry." Lee squeezed her gently. He tried to smile, support her in whatever way he could. He knew the change about to happen. All of their lives would change from this marriage. She needed a guide: Lee could be her guide. "I'll help you."

Emerald smiled.

This time, it was genuine.

Fin.