The Faerie Queen

Chapter One - Ryan

I trudged along the path miserably. School had been horrible, not because of other people in my year, just because it was school. I went to a private school which, in itself, was ridiculously snobbish. My uniform was very odd though; I wore a grey pinafore which flowed above my knees with a blouse underneath and a bow around my neck. I had black tights on and black boots. To top it all off it, we had to wear a short cotton cloak which was a dark grey, but also above the knee.  I had spent most of the night at the library knowing I couldn’t get into the house, my mum was working and I forgot to lifs my keys. A boy not that older than me stumbled into the path out of nowhere. His face was covered in mud and his clothes ripped. I stood still. Staring at the dirty boy on the path. I bent down to help him up, I gently touched his arm and despite the fact he flinched he allowed himself to be helped. He looked at me in awe his blue eyes sparkling. He didn’t look human, he was too perfect. He had blonde hair that had seemed to grow wildly it nipped at his ears. His jaw was squared and he had broad, muscular shoulders and arms. Apart from all this he was dressed in strange “Robin Hood” themed clothes and his blue eyes seemed to move like it was energy. He was a lot taller than I was and I had to look up a little to see him properly.
“Where did you come from?”  I asked picking my shoulder bag up. The boy looked at me and cocked his head thoughtfully.
“If I told you, you’d call me insane,” he smiled and began to walk away. His voice was sweet, the kind you could listen to all day. He sounded English; very old town cockney English though.
“Try me,” I said cocking my head mirroring what he did. The boy turned to me slowly and smirked.
“Okay,” he paused and glanced across the street “Catch me” he laughed and bolted across the street. I felt my cheeks glow and chased after him pulling my bag to my chest. My cloak and skirt flapped wildly behind me as I caught up to him. “How did you bloody catchup?” he frowned. I frowned back at his question and followed him only a few steps behind. I felt a stitch form on the right side of my body and a gasped at the pain. He glanced back and smiled turning a corner. I had slowed a little but shook my head and caught back up to him. I reached out to grab him arm to stop him but instead he hooked my arm with his and pulled me along. The grip on my bag was about to loosen and my eyes were blurry. I pulled myself closer to the stranger, I didn’t even know his name but I felt like I knew him. We turned another corner then I realised it wasn’t my eyes that were blurry, we were going so fast that everything else was blurry. I gasped as we collided with a ‘deadly’ wooden garden fence.
I landed on the grass of the garden. I kept my eyes tightly shut scared I would see blood; my blood. After a few minutes,  I felt someone approach. “Hey?” A voice called out, it was the boy. “Are you ok?” He asked. I opened my eyes and heard him release the breath he must have been holding. I sat up surprise how did I survive that fall, at that speed. Wait, how could we have gone at that speed. I checked my body for broken bones or cuts, but I was completely fine. I looked up at the boy. “What’s your name?” he asked me quietly.
“You first,” I replied holding in a smirk. The boy frowned.
“I asked you first though,” he complained.
“Yes, You also threw me into a fence after dragging me through the street,” I said with a fake frown on my face
“I’m Ryan,” he looked up at me expectantly. I kept my bad poker face knowing he could tell I was about to laugh. “You now,” he smiled.
“Karina,” I mumbled. Ryan looked a little wonderstruck he smiled to himself and jumped up.
“Well Karina, t’was nice to meet you,” but I’d best be getting some sleep. He held his hand out to help me up and I took it but then I didn’t let go.
“Wait, you said you would tell me when you came from,” I stuttered. He nodded and pulled away.
“Maybe another time,” He said and turned to the door of the house. Straight after he opened it he collapsed to the floor. He took an arrow to the knee. Physically. I ran to him keeping my head low as the shot came from behind me. I dragged yes body inside and slammed the door shut. Ryan sobbed a little and looked at me. “I need a leaf!” he cried and pointed behind me. I looked behind me to see a green plant. I shrugged and ripped off a leaf. I knelt beside Ryan who pointed to his mouth. I went to place the leaf in between his lips, but he stopped me. Ryan pointed to my lips then his then the leaf and my heart sank. He couldn’t chew the leaf. I was going to have to chew for him. I slipped the leaf into my mouth and chewed. There was a hint of mint and garlic which didn’t go very well together and I had to force myself not to spit it out. I bent over Ryan and opened his mouth by holding his chin. I slowly fed him the leaf from my mouth and pulled away. I felt a little tingly and I felt my cheeks burn. Ryan sat up slowly and pulled the arrow out. With many grunts and huffs he soon sat up. I closed my eyes and pulled my knees in close. I seemed to be dealing with this strangely well, as if it was familiar. I opened my eyes and looked around. The house was plainly decorated and a tad boring. I noticed Ryan staring at me and I looked at him.
“What?” I asked growing red again. Ryan shrugged and looked into space smiling slyly. “What?” I asked him again.
“You sort of just snogged an elf,” he smirked at my confusion.
“I didn’t snog anyone never mind a bloody elf. Why an elf anyway? Don’t you have a better imagination than that?” I asked as he closed his eyes. His skin seemed to melt away and it revealed an even better looking version of Ryan. I stared and hoped he couldn’t tell what I was thinking. He was cleaner and beneath his hair I could see pointy ears. “What the?” I asked and he smiled at me. " I didnt snog anyone Ryan!" I protested. He laughed gently and shook his head.
“You wanted to know where I was from?” He asked and I nodded. He smiled and stood up as if he had forgotten all about his leg. The leaf must have healed him. He took me into the kitchen and down some stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, there were some tunnels. We took one and I made sure I kept close to Ryan. In about twenty minutes, we emerged even dirtier than before. I looked around. There were trees everywhere. Flowers coated the ground and hugged the trees. Lots of people walked past us, each one as perfect as the last. “I don’t think you're just a mortal,” Ryan said and I looked at him confused. He laughed at my confused face and took me into a small cottage to see a woman. She was gorgeous. Prettier than everyone else I had seen and came a close second to Ryan. I coughed at the thought and he glanced down at me. The woman looked at me and offered me two cups.
“One of these contains poison,” she said, “the other does not,” pick one she smiled sweetly. I didn’t move as I was slightly shocked by the request. “Pick one now Karina,” she said softly in my head.
“Stop it,” I snapped at the woman and she seemed shocked. “Get out of my head” The woman frowned at Ryan then looked at me. I glance at her then she gestured to the glasses. I lifted the left cup to my lips.