Eleven
After school, I started heading in the direction of our car when someone touched my back. I jumped and yelped at the random act. My hand flew up to my chest, as if I could hold my heart in if it decided to leap out.
Warren chuckled and leaned down to kiss my cheek. “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today. Maybe you can get a few more answers that you are looking for.”
I smiled. “Are you going to show me how to glamour?” I hid my uneasiness about the topic of me being a fairy well.
Both of his hands were at my waist, holding me to him. “If you’d like. I’ll show you anything you want.”
“How about Breena?”
He shook his head. “Not now. I have been told that it is very dangerous there right now. The resistance has gotten a lot of elementals to join their cause and they may or may not want to harm you upon your arrival.”
I gulped. “Gee, that’s comforting.”
He smiled and started leading me in the direction of his car.
*
“Where are you going?” I asked, knowing his car was parked in my driveway.
“I said I was going to take you for a walk, didn’t I?” He called over his shoulder. “That didn’t mean just down your street and back.”
“Well, yeah, but your going to the woods.”
“I see that,” he laughed. “Come on,” he said, holding out a hand to me.
I refused his hand but followed him into the woods, my curiosity leading me. “If you try to rape me or something, I will kill you.”
He laughed again. “I have no doubt that you could.”
That confused me. Compared to Warren’s broad shoulders and muscular arms, I was a little twig. I couldn’t fathom what he meant.
After about eight steps into the woods, I could no longer see. “Warren,” I called. “I can’t see a thing.”
“Take my hand.” I felt his hand brush the back of mine and I grasped it quickly.
A few more steps and my vision had not returned. Everything seemed dark and eerie. “Warren, seriously. This isn’t fun anymore.”
He laughed. “We are almost there. Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise.” Although I could not see him, his voice was surprisingly close, so close it felt like he had whispered in my ear. But when I reached out to touch him, I felt nothing but cold, wet air.
“Is it raining?” I asked.
He chuckled. “It’s just a little mist. You won’t melt.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ha-ha.”
Then, something came to me. A thought that I should had realized long before I followed Warren deep into the woods.
Thoughts came flooding out of my mouth. “How do you even know where you are going? You did, in fact, just move here a few weeks ago, didn’t you? Do you always walk around the woods at night?”
He chuckled deeply. His voice was in my ear again as he whispered, “you ask a lot of questions.”
I started to turn away from him, but his grip on my hand tightened. “Fay, it was a joke. C’mon, we are almost there. And I’ll answer all your questions. Just please, don’t leave me.”
There was something hidden in his voice, a secret longing behind his words that spiked my interest.
I stood, weighing my options. If I ran, I’d definitely get lost and probably wouldn’t find my way out until morning. But if I stayed…
“Lead the way,” I finally said.
It only took a few more paces before we came to a clearing. It wasn’t as much of a clearing, more like a huge lake in the middle of the woods. The sky was cloudy but there was an opening unveiling the sun. Its light reflected off the lake; the water was smooth and clam.
“Oh my,” I whispered.
*
“I’ve never seen this place before,” I whispered.
We had found a dry spot on the grass and Warren laid his sweatshirt down for us to sit on.
Warren and I sat relatively close to each other. Our knees slightly touched, but neither of us moved away. That was not because I wanted him to be that close—well maybe that was a part of it, a huge part—but when our bodies touched, I was surprised by an overwhelming shock. Almost like an electric charge between our bodies, making my whole body tingle.
I looked up to his eyes and saw that he was looking at me as well. His eyes were grey but the way he was looking at me, with calmness and curiosity made me wonder if he was affected by that charge as much as I was.
He broke away from my gaze and looked out onto the water.
“How did you find it?” I asked, trying to break the silence.
“There’s just something about this place that reminds me of home.”
He placed his hand behind him to lean back, which only caused him to get even closer to me, the warmth intensifying.
“What about it reminds you of Breena?”
He looked at the green, red, and orange colored trees that wrapped around the lake. Bushes and water lilies hugged the edge of the water. A huge weeping willow tree, its green limbs brushing against the ground, was at the peak of the lake.
“Everything.”
I let that topic go and returned to my original question. “So, how did you stumble upon this place?”
He chuckled. “You are rather stubborn.” Warren looked back at the water. “I have a knack for nature. Hikes and camping are my forte.”
I closed my eyes and laid back, getting lost in his voice. “Why do you love it so much?”
He chuckled. “I was raised around trees, flowers, and everything that grows. It’s peaceful and calming.”
I smiled. “I know what you mean.”
“You ask these questions as if you don’t realize that fairies are nature’s creatures. We crave the freedom of fresh air and growing trees.”
“Oh. Right.” I had wanted to forget about that bit for a few minutes.
Warren was silent for a while. The silence gave me the chance to listen to his breathing. It was deep and slow, unlike my quick breaths.
I opened my eyes and looked at the sky above us. The once small opening in the clouds grew to a vast halo above the trees. The clouds rippled and thinned out in the distance.
“I found this place the day after I moved here,” he said. “I was just taking a walk to see the neighborhood when my heart began to lead me here. I’ve managed to find time everyday to come and visit.”
“I can see why. This place is beautiful.”
“I named it after someone far more beautiful,” he said, his voice soft.
“Fawn Lake?” I asked, giggling.
He leaned over me, his face so close to mine I could feel his slow breath on my lips.
He shook his head and smiled. “Silly face.”
“It does have a nice ring to it,” I whispered.
“Fay,” he whispered so quietly, it was hard to hear. He closed his eyes and began to lower his lips to mine.
“When will I be able to control things like the air and water?”
He laughed. “You will gain them after time. Learning how to control them now could benefit you in the future. Especially if you decide to be our queen, you’ll nee to know the ropes and know them fast.” Warren smiled and his face expressed such hope that for a moment, I wanted to be his queen.
Then, I shook off that thought and remembered how ridiculous that was.
He took my hands in his and led me to a very large boulder near the water’s edge. He pushed me against it and I thought he was going to kiss me, but he took a step away.
“Hold up your hands like this.” He raised his arms and his palms faced me. I raised my hands as well. “This will feel different when you have powers of your own.”
“What are you going to do,” I asked nervously.
He closed his eyes as if meditating. “I’m going to transfer some of my powers into you.”
“What?!” I exclaimed. I brought my arms to my sides and put my hands into fists.
Warren opened his eyes to look at me. “Fay, it won’t hurt you at all. Trust me.”
I took a deep breath.
“I will walk you through it and I’ll be here the entire time. You’ll love it, I promise.”
I nodded and brought my hands up again. Warren took a step and closed the gap between us. “Close your eyes,” he whispered into my neck.
I did it and then, I felt the pressure from his hands on mine and the warmth that followed was unbelievable. For a moment, everything blurred around me, then became intensely sharp, as if I was seeing the world in HD.
He leaned away from me so I could examine myself. My eyes widened as I turned my hand this way and that, watching as my skin glittered against the sun.
“Wow,” he said breathlessly. “You are so beautiful.”
I smiled at him, suppressing the urge to jump up and down with excitement. “What next?”
He chuckled at my enthusiasm. “What do you want to do?”
My head tilted to the side in confusion. “What do you mean?”
He walked to my side and leaned on the rock, creating a cocky stance. “Listen to what your heart is telling you to do.” He crossed his arms across his broad chest. “Close your eyes and just listen.”
So I did. At first, all I heard was my own heart beating in my head. But then, beyond that, I heard something. I felt a certain pull towards the sound. My body wanted to move and do the things I have never even considered doing before.
Even though I knew he was next to me, when Warren whispered, “go,” it felt as if he was a mile away from where I was standing. I was in my own little magical world that I never knew existed.
Somewhere along the path, I had taken off my sweatshirt. For some reason, it felt so good to have that constricting cloth off of my copper body.
I laughed so hard at myself. Why was I acting this way?
‘Because you feel free,’ something inside me said.
And I was. I really felt like there was no care in the world.
That feeling began to flood out of my and my worried, plain self resumed my body.
I stopped running.
I looked around me and was completely lost in the middle of the woods. My body had turned back to the pale color it had always been. I closed my eyes again, trying to find that small voice in my head, but my breathing and my pounding heart was all that I heard.
Panic washed over me as I realized that I had no way to get back to the clearing, that I was completely lost.
“That was amazing, Fay.”
I whirled around trying to find him, but I seemed to be conclusively alone.
“No, up here.”
I looked up and there was Warren sitting on a thick tree branch with his feet swinging out underneath him. He smiled at me then hopped off the tree and fell to his feet right in front of me. He landed noiselessly.
“Flying is thrilling, isn’t it?”
I flew?
A few hours later, Warren had taught me four different defensive moves using the elements in my benefit. Granted, they were only the stances and arm movements that felt silly as I did them, but he continued to tell me that when I get my powers, I’ll already know how to use them.
“The next one I’m going to teach you is how to transfer powers. It could come in handy during one on one combat with someone who is more powerful. Not a skilled opponent, but someone lower class.”
I blinked. “Okay?”
He spread his feet shoulder width apart and raised his palms up to me. “Alright. What I want you to do is concentrate on me.” Yeah, like that’s hard to do. “Channel my aura. Know my powers.”
“How?”
He motioned me to touch hands with his. The sensations of the charge between our bodies were hard to ignore, but I tried. I focused on Warren. Warren the air fairy. Warren the air fairy whose powers that I wanted.
“Close your eyes. Picture my aura fading onto yours. Can you see it?”
I nodded, eyes closed.
“Believe in it, Fay. You can do it.”
I felt a chill down my spine and wished I hadn’t taken off my sweater. The cold never went away, it washed over me and caused me to break the connection with Warren and hug myself tightly.
“What was that?”
Warren looked at his hands, as if they had done something wrong in the transfer process. “I don’t know.”
“It’s freezing!”
He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. “Thanks,” I murmur.
“I don’t understand. That’s never happened to me before.”
I looked at him. He seemed baffled and lost in his thoughts. “What is supposed to happen?”
“Since I am an air fairy, a gush of wind, something! Not…nothing.”
He turned away from me and made two fists and pushed them out in front of him. A huge surge of air hit the big trees. Two of the trees, at least three feet thick, broke in half and crumbled to the ground. I stared wide eyed. Watching him in that stance and doing that much damage caused me to suddenly fear him.
I started backing away from where he stood.
He whirled around and searched the small space for where I had moved to. When he saw my fear, his expression softened. “I’m so sorry, Fay.” He took a step towards me and I took one away from him. “I shouldn’t have done that. I was just testing to see if I still had my powers.”
I nodded, still a little nervous. “Okay.”
He took a hesitant step towards me, testing to see if I would move. When I didn’t, he closed the excessive stretch between us.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” he said when he was within reach. “Please.”
I wanted to reach out to him and pull him into an embrace, but something told me to wait.
He looked up at the sky with a worried expression. “It’s getting dark. I need to get you home.”
He extended his hand and I took it. We slowly walked back to the clearing. On the way, he picked up my sweater and handed it to me.
“I really flew?”
We both laughed.
