Of the Shadows

Chapter 3: Morning

When I awoke a few hours later my body felt as though I had been in a wreck. Every muscle ached. I could feel the blood pulsing past my temples, head throbbing with every heartbeat. A combination of the copious amount of alcohol from the night before, and the turmoil from the fae. I went outside to inspect the damage to my car. The fog of the night had dissipated and the sun shone as if there were no chaos before its rising. My car, however, appeared as though it would never forget. Its glossy black paint looked as though it had been involved in a hailstorm. Fist-sized dents punctured the body in multiple places. The headlights and tail lights were cracked. There were even dents in the wheels. I sat on the cool dirt, hugged my knees, and just looked at it. The car hadn't been paid off for long. Figures. I felt utterly defeated. The intoxicated bad ass in me from the night before recoiled deep into the recesses of my self pity. I doubted i could turn this into the insurance company. After the chill of the earth seeped into my bones and my bottom was numb I forced myself to get up. I pried open the door and started the car. At least it ran. The body of the vehicle rattled with its injuries but the engine worked. Small miracles I guess.
My smoke box sat askew in the passenger seat. It was a simple wooden jewlery box with a basic butterfly etched into it. I had gotten from the dollar store and painted it black then splatterd it with different color paint. I used to hold my weed stuff when I had to travel with it. It wasn't legal in this state yet but that didn't stop me from smoking regularly. It seemed to help me ignore the things I Saw. A small peice of the joint I had been smoking the night before lay in the floorboard, hole burned in the carpet where the cherry had landed. I sighed at the scorched rug as if it mattered. I placed the piece in the box and exchanged it for an unsmoked joint. As I lit it, movement at the edge of the property line caught my eye. I stared beyond it at the skyline yet I could feel whatever it was watching me.
I cut off the car and stepped outside it, marijuana cigarette hanging out of my mouth as the small amount of paper at the end burned too slowly before the flame reached the good stuff. I stretched casually and inhaled the medicine allowing the smoke to cushion my headache. I hopped onto the hood of my car and had a seat, still pretending to admire the sky and the nature around me. A raven caught my eye, iridescent black feathers shining in the sun. It flew towards the woods and my eyes followed. One of the creatures from the night before sat there in the woods staring. Ash grey skin, long black hair, yellow eyes. The raven behind it ripped into the disposed carcass of a buck. The thought of how pitiful it was that whoever shot the poor thing didn't even use the meat made me grit my teeth.
"Wasteful ass trash." I muttered as I gazed at the feasting raven, "at least you get a meal, friend."
I couldn't tell if the little monster in front of the bird noticed I could see it or if it believed the raven was the only thing that held my attention. I'm sure it knew but it still seemed as though it was watching for any sign of my Sight. Sweet smoke filled my lungs and poured from my lips as I watched the bird devour the deer carcass. Flesh and muscle tore from the corpse in shreds and 2 others joined the plentiful meal. The little creature never moved from its spot. The ravens seemed to notice he was there. They avoided him as they ate their lunch, delicately jumping around the thing to reach different parts of the dead animal. The fae person didn't move, just stared at me motionless and threatening in the woods. I was sure he wasn't the only one hiding in the foliage. The dark hair on my arms stood on end.
"Well the car runs and they're still watching me so I guess its time to go." I thought to myself and stretched and hopped off the car. I kept the joint in my mouth as I walked lazily inside trying to appear as calm as I could. I went to my closet and grabbed the biggest bag I could find and began to pack.
My packing method was incredibly unorganized. I crammed shirts pants and underwater into the bag without making sure anything matched. I threw in some costume jewlery, toothbrush and paste, hair brush and hair ties, and a couple pocket knives. My mother's hand steadied my own as I was about to zip the bag.
"If they see you leave with this they'll know you are running. Treat your day like any other day love. If they want you they will take you."
"Aren't you worried about your own safety mom? If I'm here with you aren't you in danger."
"Oh honey. Why do you think I rarely leave the grounds. They've been after me for years." She chuckled to herself, "your father never believed me so he left. It was probably for the best he's safer not believing."
I sat down on my bed.
"He left because of the fairies?"
"He left because I refused to say I was imagining them. Because I taught you to ignore your imagination. I told you not to see them. He thought I was crazy."
I had thought that too when I moved back in with her. I remember my dad taking me from my mom after his mom had died. They had begun fighting when I was in elementary school. After Anne was taken I stopped talking for a little bit. He had blamed it on my mother. My granny loved her daughter-in-law and convinced my father to stay in this cottage for a few more years. After she passed my mom began having more spells and had claimed to speak to his mother's spirit often. He had reached his breaking point and he took me with him when he left. When I turned 16 I told the courts and my dad I wanted to live with my mom again. Nothing was wrong with my father he just wanted to leave this town. New wife new life and all that. I didn't want to leave my friends so I decided to stay and deal with the crazy.
Somehow I knew Mom wasn't insane. She took care of me we laughed, did crafts, gardened together. She didn't talk much about the fae and never spoke of them outside of the home. Her rules seemed strange to me at first, always replace the salt, burn sage with the windows open, don't explore too far into the forest, don't follow the voices in the woods.
Now she stood in front of me and pushed my wavy black hair out of my face and crouched to look me in the eye.
"I never wanted you to have to deal with this Maura. Get up." She all but lifted me to my heavy feet and led me to the mirror.
"Look at yourself dear," she lifted my chin with her three middle fingers, "hold your head high. You are strong and beautiful but never frail. The Sight holds power, love, and so does your lineage. See the strength of your granny's hair growing from your head. See the storm of my mother's grey eyes raging in yours."
I gazed in the mirror my mother's mesmerizing features dampening my own. She was right my hair was long full and dark like my dad and grandma's but it was less sleek with a bit of my mother's wave. To me my eyes were just a dull grey, I saw no storm. My slightly tan skin held no freckles. With the natural blush of my cheeks and full lips I supposed I looked presentable. Pretty in my own way. I felt the furthest thing from strong. I felt outnumbered. I felt doomed.
"There's so many of them." It was a I could think to say.
"There are." My mother simply agreed. "Then there's you." She touched the tip of my long nose and kissed my cheek.
"Go on about your day. Act sane, as always, and keep that necklace on." She all but danced out of my room. I couldn't figure out why she was so jubilant. I dressed for the day squeezing into dark ripped jeans and a cropped grey tank top with a teal skull on it. I threw on a oversized black zip up hoodie and finished the outfit with some grey black and teal Vans. I braided my hair into two long french braids. Then, I decorated my eyes with teal shadow,winged black eyeliner, and an abundance of mascara on my long lashes. It felt like a matte black lipstick kind of day; I dabbed a little of the teal shadow on my painted lips, giving the black a teal tint, and finished with chapstick. My phone buzzed as I finished up. It was a text from Angie.
What a night! Just woke up. Brunch at Jackson's?
Jackson's was a small diner in town that also happened to have its liquor license. I texted back "absolutely" and headed to my beat-up car. I saw the creature in the woods through my cracked passenger side mirror as I turned around in the drive. It was munching on something with its sharp teeth. One of the ravens lay headless beside the creature. I could almost hear the crunch of the beak in the fae's mouth. The little man seemed to quiver with excitement at the sight of me leaving the protection circle. I sighed heavily and pulled another joint from my box. It was going to be a hell of a day.