Fae 5.0

To get to the Land of Fae there was a secret door we had to go through. Martin knew exactly how to get there, though he told us that once we crossed the veil that separated the worlds we would not be able to return without the key. Those were only given to the ones the Council deemed worthy, so in essence once we left, we may never get to return. We were ready.

Crossing the veil was like diving into a pool of warm water. Once on the other side we were greeted by a land that was more beautiful that I could ever imagine. Martin led us through town towards the Council building. We were met with stares and whispers the whole way. "We don't usually have newcomers here" Martin said. Once we arrived Martin led us to the Council. He introduced us and told of finding us. The Council didn't seem to pleased at his decision to bring us here. They had many questions for Kai and I, they weren't too happy when they heard I was changed into a Fae, apparently I was the first one in centuries. They had outlawed that particular potion long ago, though Kai had no way of knowing that. When Kai told of his being raised by Vampires, the Council got quite vocal in their disapproval. After several hours of being questioned the Council agreed to let us stay. Martin showed us to our new home, it was a small log cabin on the far edge of town. "One more thing." Martin said as he was leaving. "Fae etiquette dictates that you must be joined before you can live together, I can perform the ceremony now if you want."

Kai and I just stared at each other, he took my hand and said " I know there's a lot we still don't know about each other, but I would be honored to call you my wife." I couldn't help but smile, "okay" I said nodding to Martin. We joined hands and Martin said some words in a language I didn't understand, and in a much shorter time than I would have thought I was joined to Kai for the rest of my days. Martin said his goodbyes and left us to explore our new home.

The house was small, barely big enough for the two of us. After exploring the house and having a small meal we went back to the living room and curled up on the couch in front of the fire place. We sat there in silence for the longest time, just watching the flames dance. "What are you thinking about?" Kai asked "I was thinking about how everyone kept staring at us when we got here." I said. "They've probably just never seen anyone as beautiful as you, that's all." He replied, looking at me. I leaned over and gave him a kiss, then settled back in his arms happier than I had been in a long time. 

Composer 4.18

~Charity~
We traveled at night and rested during the day, Martin told us some of the rules of the Fae that both of us would be expected to follow. After the vampire war a truce was struck. The Land of Fae was off limits to the vampires, in turn the vampires land was off limits to the Fae. This land was a middle ground where the truce did not exist. Vampires multiplied and blended in with humans, Fae could not do this and were captured or killed by those who did not understand what they were, or by the vampires, so as a rule Fae were not allowed to live in this land. Short journeys were permitted as long as one stayed small, and had permission, but they must make absolutely sure that no one saw them. In order to say goodbye I had to wait until dark and visit Berlin when she was asleep, hoping she would think it was a dream. Once we arrived at the house Kai and I flew into Berlin's bedroom. She was sound asleep with a man there on the other side of the bed. I couldn't help but smile, it looked like we both found happiness. Becoming fill size again I went over to her side of the bed and carefully shook her awake. Groggily she opened her eyes and I said "Hi"

~Berlin~
Someone was shaking me awake. First I thought it was Michael, but it came from the wrong side of the bed. I opened my eyes and heard a voice say hi. I reached over and woke up Michael who was just as shocked to see Charity sitting there as I was.I couldn't believe it, after all this time she was home! I pulled her into a big hug and we both started sobbing. After a while she pulled back, holding my hands in hers. "I can't stay long, I only have tonight. At dawn we must go."she said. "Go? But you just got back?" I said confused. "And who is we?" She held her hand out into the dark of the bedroom and seemingly out of nowhere a man appeared and took her hand. "This is Malakai" she said as he put both hands on her shoulders. It was then that I noticed that they both had wings? Yes they both had wings, the light of which was enough to see Charity clearly. Scars crisscrossed her arms. She saw me looking and sighed pulling her hand away from mine. "I have quite the story to tell you."

~Charity~
I had hoped she wouldn't see my scars, but she had. The look on her face was one of horror and questions combined. Pulling my hand back I sighed. Kai stood behind me resting both hands on my shoulders. Giving my shoulders a small squeeze of encouragement I started on my story. I told her of meeting James in the park, how he had kidnapped me, how Kai had saved me and I became a Fae. I glossed over the worst parts, including James' death not needing to burden her with all that. When I had finished she had a look of shock on her face before taking a deep breath and sighing. I could tell she wanted to cry so to change the subject I asked her about Michael.

~Berlin~
I told Charity all that had happened in the last year, retiring, meeting Michael, and getting married. We talked for hours, but too soon the sun was rising and Charity said she had to go. I begged her to stay, She pulled me into a big hug and told me she loved me and wanted me to be happy. I made her promise to try and visit as often as possible, knowing that I may never see her again. Before my eyes she shrunk down to the smallest speck of light and flew out the window. I just sat there for the longest time. What it all a dream? No, I know it was real.

~Charity~
After a tearful goodbye, Kai and I flew back out the window and met up with Martin. We were off to start our adventure and figure out what it meant to live life as a Fae.

Composer 4.17

~Berlin~

It had been over a year since Charity went missing. The police had all but given up their search, instead considering her a runaway. I knew better, yet no one would listen. Standing here on this important day, all I could think of was she's not here to share it with me. I'm getting married today. I thought back over the last year and how I had gotten here.

Not long after Charity went missing I found myself lost as well. I had retired from composing so that I could focus on Charity. I would check in with the police at least once a week, sometimes more. Well it was on one of these check ins that Michael, Detective 

Thompson, intercepted me before I even walked in the door. He invited me to go get a coffee which I accepted. While enjoying our drinks we got to talking, he was so easy to talk to. It was like talking to an old friend rather than someone I barely knew. He promised that he would personally keep me updated on Charity's case.

Michael and I met up every so often to go over any new information that came up. Over time our our meetups changed from talking over  a drink to talking over dinner. Somehow with out even realizing it we had gone from having a professional relationship to a more personal one. 

I realized I was in love with him the night my father called to tell me that mom had died. She died having never accepted Tanner's death or meeting her granddaughter. Dad was going to have her flown back to Starlight Shores to be buried behind her house. He wanted me to come, but I said no. I had lost my mom long ago. After hanging up with dad, I called Michael and asked him to come over, I didn't want to be alone. He was more than happy to come over and be with me. Once we sat down I told him all about mom's death, I started crying, and couldn't stop. He was so great, he just sat there and held me while I cried my eyes out. "I feel so alone, I've lost everyone." I said. "You're not alone. I'm here."  He answered. " Someday we will find Charity, I promise you. And whether it's good news or bad I will be right there by your side." I sat up and looked at him, he held my face in his hands and said " Berlin, I'm in love with you, I'm never leaving your side." Those words struck me to my very soul, they resonated within me with a truth that couldn't be denied. " I love you too." 

That night was six months ago. With Michael's help and support I went back to work, composing some of the most beautiful pieces. This whole experience had humbled me in a way I can't explain. Before her disappearance I took for granted my family. I thought I didn't need anyone, and I thought that just by providing Charity with the necessities that was enough. More and more I realized just how selfish I had been. If I could go back I would change so much. 

As I walk up to the doors of City Hall to meet Michael at the Justice of Peace, I'm filled with the sense that everything is going to be okay, I can't explain it but I know Charity is safe, and I can move on in my life.

Composer 4.16

~Malakai~

I had failed. Charity was being killed in front of me and there was nothing I could do to stop it, I prayed that the poison kicked in soon. Screams filled the room, first from charity then once she grew silent, from the vampires. Clawing at their throats the vampires let out the most horrid screams. James turned and looked at me, trying to say something in between his screams, I couldn't make out what was said, nor did I really care. With one last howl James and the rest of the vampires fell to the ground, and turned to ash. The single vampire left in the room released me from his power as he fled.
All was now quiet. I went over to where Charity lay, and pulled her into my lap."Please don't leave me. I need you, I love you" I begged cradling her lifeless body. She let out a small breath and I realized that she still clung to life. I didn't know what to do, then I remembered a potion that I had tried once before with disastrous results. Long ago I had tested my potions on the humans, one such potion changed the human into a Fae. The human didn't live long after, since James had found out and killed him, I knew it might be my only chance to save Charity. She would die if I did nothing.

I picked her up and carried her upstairs to my room. "Hold on Charity" I said laying her down on the bed.

 I shrunk down and flew out the window as fast as I could to gather the ingredients. As soon as I had everything, I raced back to the house, praying that Charity was still alive. She barely was.


I made the potion as fast as I could and got back upstairs.

 I tried to get her to drink the potion, but it was no use. I finally used a dropper to get the potion delivered. I sat by the bed holding her hands willing her to live. In a flash of light wings the most beautiful shade of blue sprung from her back, she breathed a deep breath and I knew the potion had worked.

It was nearly a week before she awoke. "Kai" she whispered waking me. "What happened?"  "The potion worked, James is dead." I said getting up to check on her. "Good" she said closing her eyes and drifting off again. When she woke up again she noticed she had wings, "Kai? What is this, how is this possible?"  "It was necessary to save your life, I hope your not mad." I said helping her up so she could see in the mirror.  "Of course I'm not mad, they're beautiful." She said admiring her new wings.

Just then we heard a knock on the door, "Stay here, I'll go see who it is." I said. Opening the front door, I saw something I never thought I'd see. Before me stood another Fae. "Hello there! The names Martin, mind if I come in?" He said as he stepped inside. "There aren't supposed to be any Fae this far out, are you a scout?" Martin asked. "Sorry, I don't know what you are talking about." I said confused. "Hmm, well that's odd. You are Fae, are you not?"  "Yes, but"- just at that moment Charity peeked around the corner. "It's alright, I think. Come here." I said holding my hand out. She came and stood by my side. "Well now! Who's this!" Martin asked. "This is Charity"  "Two Fae this far out? This is highly unusual." Martin said more to himself than to us. "Alright, what's going on here. You should not be here." Martin said suspiciously.  "You need to tell me why you're here."

I led everyone into the living room and sat down, Charity by my side. "What do you want to know?"  "Tell me everything." Martin said. "Before we do, tell us how you found us."  "you mean you don't know?"   "No"  "Oh well, that's easy. You see when we shrink down and fly we leave a trail of magic behind that other Fae can track. I was in the area and picked up on your trail and followed it here." We told him everything that happened, and he listened intently. When we had finished telling our story Martin stood up and said, "Well, you certainly can't stay here. You will come back with me to the land of the Fae."  "wait, what about my aunt? I can't leave with out saying goodbye." charity said. "That's possible, but we would need to leave tonight." Martin said. that was fine with us, we wanted to leave this place behind as fast as possible.

Composer 4.15

~Charity~

"What's your plan?" I asked not too sure I really wanted to know. "I'm going to kill James." He said, his voice betraying no emotion. "How will you do that?"  "I have a potion that you can drink and once James feeds from you he will be poisoned."  "Are you sure it will work?" I asked feeling hopeful. "Don't worry, I've used it before." Kai told me how James rose to power, joining a coven as a lowly vampire and having Kai poison the "food supply" until James was the head of the coven. All  I had to keep James interested in me, keep him from getting rid of me too soon, Kai needed time to gather all the ingredients of the potion and to keep James from suspecting anything.  

Each morning I awoke wrapped up in Kai's arms, there I was safe. He tended my wounds with a sadness I had never seen. "I hate this you know. I hate what he does to you. I hate him."  "I know." Once I was tended to, we lay together and talked of freedom. "Where will we go?" I asked. "I have no idea, I've heard stories of a land full of Fae, I hope we can find it as I've never met one before." He said with a sigh. " I hope to see my Aunt again, I miss her. I think she'd like you." I said. "I think that would be nice." He said with a yawn. He'd been up all night most every night this last week making sure everything was in order. Tonight we would put our plan into action.With everything in place I started to doze off, I was fighting to stay awake when Kai said "Sleep, I'll wake you in a while" Safe in his arms, I slept.

"What is this!" I was awoken to the sound of angry voices and the slamming of my cell door. I quickly opened my eyes to find James standing over me. I was still wrapped in Kai's arms. "Kai, wake up!" I said as I elbowed him. When he saw James all the color drained from his face. " I'll ask one more time" James said "What's going on here Malakai?" Kai just stood there placing himself in front of me.  " You think you are protecting her!?! She's mine!" James screamed at Kai.
I was frozen with fear, James was here, he knew about us.  Kai lunged at James catching him off guard and shouted at me to run. I ran faster than ever, but I still wasn't fast enough. I made it to the door at the top of the stairs but when I opened it there were two vampires waiting. Grabbing me by the arms, the led me back down the stairs and into the cell, followed by several more vampires. They threw me back in the cell at James's feet, I glanced at Kai he had a look of defeat on his face, he had been forced to his knees by one of vampires, James grabbed me by the arm and hauled me to my feet. He held me In front of him while he spoke to Kai.

"So the Fae as fallen in love with a human. Tsk tsk, Malakai, you know the rules it's bad enough that you broke the rules, but to do so in front of my coven, well that's just unforgivable." I never took my eyes off Kai. James looked from Kai to me and back. "You leave me no choice, you will die tonight Malakai, but I will let you enjoy our entertainment first." Wile James was talking the other vampires in the room had closed in around us, with a sickening grin James knocked me to the floor and said "have at it boys!" The whole of James's coven descended upon me, save for the one that held Malakai in place, forcing him to watch. My screams filled the air, it seemed to take forever, but eventually the room grew dim and I faded into blackness. This time was different, I was no longer afraid, I no longer hurt. It was like being in Kai's arms once more, I was safe and secure, and I didn't want to wake up.

Composer 4.14

~Charity~

Malakai became the only thing keeping me from giving in when I was on the brink of death. In a sense he truly was an angel, my angel. I had no idea how long I'd been here, having lost count of the days long ago. My life had become a routine. The nights belonged to James, whom I had never stopped fighting. But my days, those belonged to Kai, seeing him every morning made the nights bearable. I looked forward to his visits, knowing that he would be there to greet me when I woke every morning gave me the strength to resist James.

Over time he and I had become something akin to friends. He had told me all about his life. He was found as a baby by James's mother and was raised along side him as his brother. Fae and Vampires are mortal enemies, even more so than Vampires and werewolves. Thousands of years ago there was a war between the two, and the vampires slaughtered the Fae, nearly causing their extinction. The cause of the war has been lost to time, but neither side ever forgot their hatred of the other. So because Malakai was Fae, James and his family were outcasts. Once his mother died James came here with Malakai. He told me how he longed to see the outside world, having been forbidden to go outside for fear of being discovered. When he told me how he had disposed of the others who had been here before me, I was a bit shocked, but I realized Malakai was just as much a prisoner as I was. He did as James asked since he was the only family he had. 

One day I woke up to find Malakai sitting in my cell. Since I was not expecting him I screamed. "I'm sorry, you scared me" I said apologizing once I realized who was there. "I did not mean to startle you, I only wanted to be here when you woke up, I needed to tell you something." He had a strange look on his face so I asked him "What's wrong?" His eyes looked sad and he said . "I heard James talking and he said that he was getting a new acquisition soon. He's going to get rid of you."  "Oh" I said "You mean he's going to kill me."  " That's the plan." he said so matter of factually. "How can you be so calm!" I yelled, starting to panic. I had thought Malakai was my friend, and was hoping that I could convince him to let me go.

Malakai did not answer, instead he walked over to where I was sitting sat down, took both my hands in his, and looked me in the eyes and said "I promise that won't happen." "How can you be so sure?" I asked tears beginning to cloud my vision. Wiping my tears away he said "I never cared what happened to any of the humans before now, but you're different. I care about you in a way that I never thought I could. Charity I love you, and I promise that I will find a way to free you." His confession took me by surprise. " I think I love you too." I answered "What do we do now?" "Don't worry love. I have a plan." 

Composer 4.13

~Charity~

I opened my eyes to the most wonderful sight. I saw a man with the most beautiful wings standing over me. "Am I dead? Is this heaven?" I asked the winged man. "No to both" he said. Oh, I had thought last night that James had surely killed me. I was so tired and in so much pain."What's wrong with me?" I asked when I realized I could barely move. The man just looked at me and went back to what ever he was mixing up. "Will you answer me, please?" I asked.  "Do you speak to your food?" he asked. I was a bit confused. "What?" He sighed and spoke as if he was speaking to a child. "You are food, I don't speak to food, do you?" Food? what did he mean by that? OH! That's when it hit me, James was a vampire and they...fed....on...humans. Once he had finished mixing up what ever it was he came over to me, I moved back towards the wall wincing as I did so. Was this man going to hurt me too? He held out the mixture "Drink." I was afraid not to, so I drank the strange concoction. I immediately felt better, I thanked him as I handed the bottle back. "so what are you?" I asked. "I'm Fae" he said as if it should be obvious. He headed out of my cell locking the door behind him. I lay back on the pallet that was on the floor and looked around, except for the faint glow of candlelight from beyond my cell, I was surrounded by darkness.

I couldn't believe vampires and fae? fairies? were real. All this time I had thought they were just stories, made up to entertain children. I felt someone watching me as I lay there. I looked over to see the winged man staring at me. When he realized I had seen him he disappeared  around the corner and I was alone once more. I was intrigued by him. Who was he? Why was he here?

I was startled awake by the creaking of my cell door. James was back. I scrambled to my feet and as far back as I was able to go, which wasn't very far. This time he wasn't alone. "Come here my dear, don't be afraid." James said. "Go away! Leave me alone!" I yelled as loud as I could.  He and the other vampire just laughed as they advanced. They each grabbed one of my arms and led me back to the pallet of the floor. "Please don't do this." I pleaded through my tears. They lowered me to the floor so I was sitting between the two of them, and they each took one of my arms, lowered their heads and sunk their teeth in. I begged the whole time for them to stop, but they wouldn't listen. When they were finished they let me go and I slumped to the floor like a rag doll. I watched them leave, tears slowly falling down my face. Was this to be my life? To stay here and be food for monsters?

The following morning the winged man was back, this time I just lay there as he entered the room with his concoctions. He went to work cleaning my wounds and applying some form of paste to them. "Why do you do this, why not just let me die?" I asked. "It is my job to care for the humans, as long as they are here." He answered. "How long is that?" I needed to know. "Depends. Some are with us longer than others." He said handing me something to drink. I couldn't lift it to my mouth, so he helped me. I glanced up at him as he lifted the liquid to my mouth, he had the most beautiful eyes. They were a pale grey, like the sky just before it snows. His eyes caught mine and for a moment we just sat there. "I must go." he said as he got up. "Wait." I said grabbing his hand "Tell me your name, please." "Malakai" he said pulling his hand free and walking away once more. I was so tired, laying my head back down I fell into a dreamless sleep.