In Shadows of Night

Charge

Charge

Him

I held her as she slept. She was a tiny little thing; short and curvy, a little extra weight, built thick and strong. I didn't usually find humans attractive, but this one is and it intrigued me. She smelled like coconut and vanilla, sweet and exotic. Her hair fell past her shoulders in a wavy mess, half wet from the shower she had taken hours before. Her olive complexion danced in the glow of the moonlight and stars as they danced above us. The car exhaust was a quiet hum, drowning the thoughts crawling through my weary mind. She's haunted me since her accident; I couldn't bring myself to leave her alone. In my people, we have a gift. Some call us shadow shifters, others fairies or fae. We're all the same- we all live in the underworld, hiding from the human world. Each of us are called to shield others from harm; those who need us become our charge. To keep ourselves safe, we never show anyone, except our charges, our true form.

I met Cora a few years ago and, frankly, I've never much cared for humans until I saw her fight for her life. I never left her side, like any good Shield, and watched her struggle for years with the aftermath of her accident. She's never spoken about it to anyone, I've only seen her cry in her sleep; She's strong, this one, and she's going to need it.

The journey flashes quickly, as it usually does, and we've arrived at the crossing. For any human to cross into my kingdom, they have to willingly do so. Now, we wait for Cora to wake and make her choice. Birthryn and I watched as her eyelids fluttered, quickly blinking in the blinding street light that lit the car. Cora sat straight up, bravery shining in her already widened eyes.

"Where the fuck am I?" She swore. "I know you; why do I fucking know you? You're the thing that's been watching me, aren't you? I bet you're a fucking pervert, huh? You like watching young women?" She rambled for a few moments, continuing to speak in circles before Birthryn interrupted.

"There's time to explain everything later, child, but, right now, you have to come with us on your own free will." She paused, waiting for Cora to argue.

"You didn't care about free will earlier, did ya?" She started, a sarcastic smirk glimmered in her chin. I smiled, this one's quite spirited. "And where, exactly, are we going?"

"My kingdom, I am your Shield, sent by the Gods to keep you safe." I smiled.

"Yeah, okay." She quipped, rolling her eyes.

"I'm serious, Cora. You were assigned as my charge the night of your accident." I responded. Her silence was almost deafening before she slapped her hand to her mouth.

"How do you know about that night?" She gasped.

"I saw it." I started. "I pulled you out of the car."

"So you, y-ou, you saw me do it?" She started, but looked down.

"Do what?" I asked.

"I'll go." She stopped talking and opened the door to the car. Birthryn followed immediately, giving Cora directives on how to safely transition. An awkward silence fell over all three of us as we began to walk.