Beyond The Iron Gate (The Faery Meadow Book 1) Page 5

  He taps the fire pit with his spear, as if he's looking for something.

  Is there some kind of wild beast out here? Not that freaky wolf again.

  He suddenly stops circling the fire pit, stopping at where Lorcan was laying down.

  I can barely make out what he's doing.

  A sudden familiar chill slithers down my spine. Since when does the temperature naturally drop this quickly? Then again, I really have no idea where I am.

  Out of curiosity, I glance behind me.

  I become frozen in terror.

  Sinister familiar red eyes stare mischievously at me from a distance. A red deadly aura surrounds it, it's wings sharp and menacing, a mixture of black and red. It's almost as if the end of its wings were burnt.

  Abruptly, it closes the distance between us, making it clearer for me to make out his face. My heart goes into overdrive as I finally am able to see him.

  "L-l-lorcan?" I stutter, in an attempt at sounding calm. He looks at me like I'm a stranger.

  I believe he's still in there somewhere though. His psychotic grin smiles evilly back at me. It might be my imagination, but his teeth seem...sharper. His eyes blaze and I stare back at him nervously waiting for him to snap out of the state he's in. His movements seem rigid, almost like a wild animal. He looks down at me curiously, cocking his head to the side.

  "Human." He snickers darkly. I've never seen this side of him. He brings a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet.

  How the blue aura guy doesn't see us at this point, is beyond me.

  I dare not take my eyes off Lorcan.

  "Well what do we have here?" A cocky voice says coming from behind me, rounding the tree.

  It's the blue aura man.

  "Well, well, well, what is this? Didn't know a monster like you would drag a human around. No doubt you would have killed her like the beast you are. No worries, by the end of this, I'll save her. Then I'll kill you and let her watch, as her brave captor, me, saves her." He says with a deathly calm smile.

  How does this man know Lorcan? I don't think Lorcan was going to kill me. He did save me before after all. Then again, what do I really know about him?

  A low guttural growl escapes from Lorcan. His smile curves into a deadly one as he turns toward the fairy man.

  Before I can react Lorcan looks down at me, I look up to him to see he's blowing that red glitter on me again. Wait, no! He's going to make me pass out, like he did when he kidnapped me!

  "Wait-" I say quickly, but its too late. I can feel myself drowsily leaning over, soon I plummet to the ground, feeling myself caught by strong arms.

  Once again, Lorcan heaves me over his shoulder, as if I'm a rag doll.

  The last thing I hear is the ringing of Lorcan's psychotic laugh, reminding me if I should really trust him or not.

  ________________________________________

  Clank Clank Clank

  I wake up with a start.

  "Lorcan!" I say desperately looking around like a mad woman.

  I scan around me to see I'm in the same forest. This area though is heavier wooded. The trees look older and more creepy, their branches curling in odd angles.

  "Lorcan!" I shout again standing up, brushing dead leaves out of my hair and clothes. I honestly feel like crap after waking up. Questions plague my mind, the main one being if Lorcan survived. There's no doubt in my mind that he fought that fairy after he made me pass out.

  I give up yelling for him and follow the clanking noise, the noise that woke me up. It sounds like someone is clanking metal together.

  Clank

  My ears perk up and I run blindly in the direction of the noise.

  Sure enough, Lorcan sits silently by a small stream. He seems completely different...less menacing. His wings have magically disappeared too. He seems to be sharpening his knife with a rock.

  "You're awake human." he states in his normal cold voice.

  "What happened after I passed out? Who was that man?" I ask.

  "That was no man, that was a fairy. I killed him of course." He says emotionless. I feel myself cringe at how easily he says he killed someone.

  "Why was he after you?" I wonder out loud.

  "There are many things you have yet to learn, human." He mumbles eerily. It is probably better if I don't know. I roll my eyes anyway and sit down putting my feet in the stream. The cold water helps with the soreness of my feet. I hum out of boredom, perhaps to comfort myself. Lorcan continues sharpening the knife.

  "I may not know a lot about you Lorcan, but you're not a monster." I say.

  I hear the clanking of the metal immediately stop.

  I turn around, watching him walk over to me. He looks enraged. I was too distracted by his angry face to realize what he was carrying in his hand.

  I gulp instinctively, as he points the knife an inch away from my throat. He looks down at me with pure hatred.

  "Say it again human." He hisses.

  I don't utter a word.

  He holds the knife with a shaky hand, then lets it fall to the ground.

  ______________________________________

  After the knife incident, Lorcan and I continued walking silently for what seemed like forever.

  Finally we arrive at a tiny house, in the middle of the woods. It looks like an abandoned cabin, the type you'd see in a horror movie.

  I look nervously through the foggy window of the house and can make out nothing. Lorcan knocks ridiculously loudly on the old rotten wood door.

  A old faded sign above the cabin door reads, Gurnava's House.

  Finally, the old door opens with a creak and a scratchy voice answers.

  "What do you want?" The voice asks, I can tell its an old woman.

  The woman emerges from the door. Looking much like a witch with her thinning grey greasy hair, long crooked nose and wrinkled skin.

  "We need a place to stay and a portal for tomorrow." Lorcan replies in a business-like manner.

  "What's the offer?" The old lady sneers.

  In response, Lorcan shows her a golden chain that he pulled out of his pocket.

  "Oh that'll do." She says greedily, snatching the chain out of Lorcan's hand.

  The old woman told us her name was Gurnava. She tells us to come inside and eagerly locks the door behind us with a click.

  We follow Gurnava down a narrow hall, reaching the tiny kitchen she starts on dinner.

  "Who is she?" I whisper to Lorcan.

  "She is an old fairy. She owns a few portals, that's why she lives out here, so no one will find out. She runs an underground business with them though. It takes awhile for portals to regenerate." He mumbles. I'm skeptical, but maybe a lot of people use portals where ever we are.

  "I got a bad feeling being in here, I think we should go." I say to him.

  "We are not going anywhere until tomorrow." He says sternly. He talks to me like I'm a child.

  "All done." The witch fairy says with a grunt. She tosses two plates at us and slams a cooked turtle on the table between us. My appetite flies south.

  "You will eat it." She snaps at me.

  "S-sorry." I reply quietly, Lorcan already ate half of it. I manage down a couple bites while she watches me eat. Feeling very uncomfortable, I finish the rest of the turtle meat on my plate.

  "Now girl you need some new clothes." She grabs my hand with her thin cold fingers, I look at Lorcan for help, but he just glances at me then looks away.

  Surprisingly, the clothes she gave me were decent. I put on a pair of jeans and a dark green long sleeved shirt, I thanked her kindly. She offered me a mirror, but I didn't want to look at myself. I knew I looked terrible and because she had no brush, I didn't want to see my hair either. I comb through my hair with my fingers, watching Gurnava rush around her tiny house.

  "Time for bed." Lorcan says. Wait what? There's no way this tiny house has spare bedrooms.

  "Yup off to bed, you don't want to see the creatures outside at this hour anyway. I've got a lot o
f work to do and I don't need you two in my way. What are you looking at me like that for? Off you go!" She says with a huff pushing both of us towards the steps.

  We both trudge up the very narrow old creaky steps. There is a tiny "hall", but really there are only two rooms upstairs, a small simple bathroom and a bedroom.

  When we walk into the bedroom, I shudder. The bedroom's walls are filled with voodoo looking items, skulls of various sorts (no human to my relief) and dark old paintings. In the center of the tiny bedroom is one bed. The small bed takes up the whole room's space, leaving only little walking space around it. There is no other furniture, but a night stand on the left.

  I'll just sleep downstairs on a chair, I tell myself. I silently turn to leave, but Lorcan stops me.

  "Gurnava said not to go downstairs." He says.

  I walk back into the room and Lorcan shuts the door behind us.

  We both stare blankly at the tiny bed.

  Chapter 10-No Room

  The tiny window behind the bed is the only form of light entering the room.

  I decide to get to the bed first so he will sleep somewhere else.

  I quickly walk the narrow space by the wall and sit on the bed, pulling the thin cover over me. I then role on my side facing the wall, assuming he's going to leave.

  To my dismay, I feel the bed dip as a certain someone lays down next to me.

  "What are you doing? Get out!" I screech. I sit up trying to push him off the bed with all my strength, but his huge body only rams into the wall. He won't fall off the bed because the space between the bed and wall is so tiny.

  "Like I'd let you have the bed to yourself human. You thought I would sleep on the floor? Well there's no room!" He retorts. Then he smirks and rolls over on his side, so he's not squashed against the wall. His sinister eyes stare back at me, a familiar malevolent smile forms on his face. His red hair wild.

  "There is no room on this bed for you either!" I yell back, glaring at him.

  "Well then, you can sleep on the floor." He spits.

  I roll my eyes and give him the best death glare I can muster. I refuse to sleep on the floor, this house is freezing, I'd turn into an ice cube overnight.

  "Fine." I say clenching my teeth. There is less than five inches separating us. The bed has no pillows, so I lay back on my back and awkwardly let my head rest flat against the bed. As long as he stays on his side of the bed and doesn't push me off I should be fine, I tell myself.

  "Human." He chides. I slowly turn my head to the right facing him.

  "What?" I ask bluntly.

  "I'm half off the bed." He says smirking. Oh well, I'm sure he'll survive. It's not like we been sleeping in the woods all week anyway.

  Ignoring his complaint, I roll over on my side, facing the dark wall, trying to ignore him so I can fall to sleep as quickly as possible.

  I feel the bed shift. I think he scooting closer to me, so I prepare to shove him off the bed. However, his head is faced the other way, one side of his huge body is smashed between the wall, the other on the edge of the bed. It looks hilarious as he balances himself so he doesn't fall off.

  "I had no room. I will sleep this way, human. Do not laugh." He mumbles.

  I let out a surprisingly loud laugh. I quickly cover my mouth and stifle giggles. Why am I laughing at him? For all I know he's going to kill me!

  My laugh is cut short at that thought.

  The sudden silence makes the air thicker and uncomfortable. I roll over on my side, facing the wall I pull my covers over me.

  "Quit fidgeting and lay still, human." He says. Once again, I am scolded like a child, he's not even that much older than me!

  Having been fed up with the way he talks to me, I let out a surprisingly strong kick to his shin.

  Automatically, he flips on his side and yanks my hair painfully. I let out a yelp.

  "Let go Lorcan!" I say gritting my teeth. He then releases my hair and I scoot closer to the edge of the bed watching him. I probably deserved that, I did kick him pretty hard.

  I look up, expecting to see him glaring down at me, but his eyes are ablaze.

  I'm about to ask what he's doing, but he lays back on the bed, not against the wall like he was earlier. Now I have no room and am smashed against the wall.

  "Lorcan." I say angrily.

  He only responds by laughing in his menacing way.

  "I thought you humans had the saying 'move your feet lose your seat'? Or am I wrong human?" He says evilly, as if he's trying to provoke me.

  Ignoring his comment, I decide to just sleep in this squished position anyway, there's no way I'm moving over towards Lorcan.

  "Goodnight, human." he says triumphantly.

  "Goodnight, Lorcan." I retort. I have to make the best of the situation. At least I'm not dead.

  I secretly listen to his breathing, it slowly gets quieter. I try to go to sleep too. The light from the tiny window above the bed, slowly dims.

  I'm still wide awake when the last of the sunlight leaves, leaving the room completely dark.

  I finally shut my eyes, I try to stop thinking about everything so much. I just have to get by, day by day. I have to hope that this will be over soon.

  _________________________________

  Warm, It's as if I'm inside a nice warm nest. My eyes still closed, I remember the bed having only a sheet and no blankets.

  Strange.

  I'm about to fall asleep, but instead I pry my eyes open.

  Naturally, I look next to me to see if Lorcan is asleep. Then I realize I'm not in the position I fell asleep in.

  I'm smashed against Lorcan as he entraps me in his arms. My face flushes and I look up.

  Sure enough, he is wide awake, his red eyes shining through the pitch black like a beacon, staring right at me. His huge smile greets showing off his white and pointy looking teeth. Am I staring at a demon?

  "L-lorcan?' I stutter half awake. Who sleeps with their eyes open, or smiling widely for that matter anyway? That's not where the warmth is all coming from though. Above both of us, like a canopy, are his wings. They enclose around us entirely, I can't see the ceiling or room at all. It's as if we're in a cocoon.

  "Shh." He says drowsily. Maybe he woke up. I suddenly realize the position I'm in. I struggle so he releases me from against him.

  "Let m-me go!" I say frustrated. However, my body is too tired from all the hiking and walking of the week to even get an inch away from him.

  His face is way too close to me for comfort. I decide I can manage to at least turn my head away from him.

  A few minutes pass and I hear the steady of his breathing from behind me. It sounds like he's mumbling, talking incoherently in his sleep. Great. How am I suppose to sleep?

  I study his wings since I have nothing else to do. The red of them really sort of matches his hair, but the red is duller than his eyes. Now that I look closer, there's scratches and scars all over his wings. They must be fairy wings. Lorcan must be a fairy, I conclude. The other day when that fairy came to kill him, my mind must of knew it too then, but kept denying reality.

  As if drawn by a an unseen force, my hand shakily reaches out to touch his wings. When my fingertip touches his wings, I gently feel the surface of his wings. They are truly soft, like silk, but I can tell they are powerful. They are definitely more menacing than that fairy we saw the other day for sure.

  My heart skips a beat and I quickly recoil my hand when a guttural noise comes from Lorcan, he yanks me so my back is against his chest, as if I'm a teddy bear. It almost sounded like a purr, but my mind must be playing tricks on me. I hear voices after all. Now that I think about it, I haven't heard them in a while.

  There's no way he is going to release me. I decide to just attempt to "empty my mind" and shut my eyes. I can think about my predicament in the morning.

  ___________________________________

  Hearing the sound of the bedroom door squeak open, I slowly open my eyes. Lorcan's arms are still around me.
I roll my eyes, I look around and above me, his wings are...gone?

  "Morning kids." Gurnava says brightly from the door.

  "Good morning Gurnava, I would get up, but as you can see I'm trapped." I say glaring at Lorcan. As if right on cue, Lorcan groans and wakes up, glaring at Gurnava who is impatiently tapping her foot. He then releases me and stretches his arms, sitting up. Once I'm free, I bound up from the bed, away from him.

  "Well what do you know? Young love." Gurnava says in a monotone voice, she turns away from the door and starts walking downstairs.

  I can feel the embarrassment, as my face turns red.

  Lorcan only chuckles darkly in response to old Gurnava's sarcastic comment.

  Nothing happened though I assure myself. All he did was just hold onto me like I was a teddy bear, I remind myself.

  "We better go downstairs." I say about to walk out the door.

  "I suppose you're right, human." He replies passing me, walking out the door.

  I follow him downstairs.

  "Now kids I finished the portal, but, let's see how should I put this...there are a few...bugs? Yes bugs, you see this is the only portal that was ready and since you two seem to be in such a hurry, I just grabbed this one anyway." She says carefully avoiding eye contact with either of us.

  The portal is in an oval shape, it stands as high as a door. A murky green mist floats inside it hypnotically.

  "We need to get a good head start. Thanks for the help." Lorcan says with a yawn.

  "No problem. Best of travels." Gurnava says. Without another word, she disappears out the back door.

  "Ladies first." Lorcan says in a mocking way. He pushes me towards the portal.

  "Are you serious? I don't e-even know where we're going!" I cry out nervously.

  "It doesn't matter. Only fairies can use this type of portal. You're just like luggage, human. As long as I'm touching you, we will go where I want." He says in a serious tone.

  Suddenly, he grabs onto my pony tail and yanks my hair, I take a short step backward.

  "What? I thought you wanted me to go first!" I say.

  "I do. This is how I will hold onto you to keep you with me, human." He replies.

  Of course, I let out a tired sigh and just go along with it.