Unwritten

Hunter and the Toads

I wake up with Lina laying at my feet, snoring. "Hey there, puppy! Come here." I lay down and pat my stomach. Lina got up slowly and walked across my bed and plopped down onto my chest. She gives me a slobbery lick on my forehead. A small woof escapes her mouth as she drops her head onto my arm.

We lay next to each other for a few minutes before I have to get up to get ready. I get dressed in a new outfit in my closet. I stop and took a second look at the clothes in my closet. Some of the clothes in the closet I didn't even recognize. "Hey Danny?" She pops up next to me. She looks flawless as always; dressed in a blood red knee length dress. It is simple-no lace or rhinestones-and it flows around her body.

"What's up?" She looks at me beaming. "Do you like it?" I smile. Of course I do. "Look in your makeup drawer." She nods her head in the direction of my dresser. I look in the drawer. All of my old makeup is gone and replaced by new high-grade makeup. There are high-end contour and highlighter sticks. There are Jeffrey Star lipsticks and Kylie Jenner lip kits. There is even a my perfect shade of foundation from Fenty Beauty.

I look for my favorite palette, hoping it was in there. I see the box that it comes in and get really excited. I pulled out the Swamp Queen palette. "Thank you Danny. I love it." She smiles at me. I turn on the news on my phone to listen for weather while I apply my make-up.

"Another missing in our small town." The audio on my phone rings through my room. Danny and I stop smiling. I turn off my phone.

"What is going on? There's ten missing now." I put on clothes that Danny has thrown at me instead of the one I had picked out which appear to mismatched in patterns. Danny shrugs and hands me a new backpack. I put my stuff in it. Her nonchalant reaction makes me feel like she knows something and won't tell me. She hands my keys and glasses to me. "Thank you." I kiss Lina and let her out of my room so she can go lay in her chair.

I head downstairs but hear a bump in the garage halfway down the steps. Instead of going to get coffee, I venture to the garage to see what it was. It is really dark and crowded in the garage so I don't know where it came from. It could be a number of things. An animal. One of the many boxes falling down. I turn the light on. "HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS." What the hell? The sound is almost of a snake but more guttural.

Don't move. I hear a voice behind me. I freeze in place. I try to move my body to turn and run back inside but I can't move I am literally frozen. A man in a dark, moss green color, passes me. It'll see you if you move so don't move until I say. The voice sounded like it was in my head - like he wasn't speaking out loud. I still can't move. It feels like I am being held in place.

Lily listen to him. Don't move. I hear Danny next to me. She sounds like she is speaking into my head too. How are they doing that? Seriously? That's your question? She was laughing. This situation can't be too serious then right? It's called fae whispering. It's how the fae converse with people. Evil fae use it to manipulate people to do evil. Fae like me use it to guide humans to the right path. And Fae like him don't whisper very often. He is a hunter. He hunts the evil Fae that have caused death. If he is here that means that one of the evil fae is in my house. That is correct. I call them toads because they look like toads; they are ugly and have warts everywhere. I hear her giggle. They really are truely ugly in every way.

I can't move even though I keep trying. Stop trying to move. You're distracting me. The male voice sounds in my head again.

I thought you don't talk much. My voice echoes. Ouch that was loud.

Could you talk any louder? I'm losing focus Dan, keep her still. He speaks again. He sounds aggravated like my best-friend would be if I pester her while she is doing homework.

I'm sorry I'm kind of new to this. I try to be quieter. Why am I unable to move? I ask him hoping he has an answer.

I froze you. Stop trying to move. I'm trying to catch it. I be quiet and wait. I switch conversation partners. This one doesn't want to try to keep me calm.

Danny, what the hell am I supposed to do? Why can't I see you anymore? I try to look around with my eyes because I can't even move my eyes.

If I appear the toad will be able to see you. It will end very badly. My heart starts beating really fast. Calm down. Your heart rate can be sensed.

I tried to calm down. It didn't work. I try to steady my breathing.

"Got it." A low voice with a thick accent echoed through the garage. A bright light flashed and I fell forward.

"He's gone. You can move now." Danny appears in front of me with a halo of light around her I run into the garage to see if the 'hunter' is still there. He isn't, just as Danny told me. What the hell?