Fae in L.A. – Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The Fae that had subtly surrounded me during our game began to stand, encircling me in a more formal fighting arrangement. I continued to sit unperturbed, but I subtly rooted around in my bag, grabbing a hold of the weapon I brought with me.

“Well, this is in rather poor spirits wouldn’t you say?”

The half-Fae shrugged. “One of the good things about being half-Fae is that not all the rules apply to me. I don’t have to be clever if brute force would do.”

“And you all agree with that? You saw me win, fair and square.” Yeah right. I cheated my pants off. But I could see some sour faces on the Fae encircling me. The were all lower-ranking Fae, probably with no titles at all if they follow a half-Fae’s orders. They believed the rules were meant to be followed. But that wouldn’t stop them from attacking when he gave the order.

“It seems your desperate pleas fall on deaf ears.” Whatever shall the poor human girl do next?”

“I’m twenty-three you moron. I’m no little girl, and this is what I’m gonna do next.” I whipped out my iron crowbar and smashed it into his face.

I took off running before I could see the damage done. No one pursued me. He hadn’t given the order yet. I didn’t run towards the entrance, and instead bolted through an employee’s only door to the back. Getting out wasn’t the play here. I had to get further inside to find the door to the Otherside.

As I crawled further into the belly of the beast, I heard the unholy screeching of a man with a broken ego. And a broken nose. He screamed for someone to find me, grab me, then rip both my arms off while keeping me alive. Yeah, the sooner I found that door the better.

Where would Summer Fae put a door that led directly into their court?

Kasten’s words rang in my head. Summer Fae loved to twist words, but another aspect of that is that they love to play on words. And they love theatre. So, when they enter and exit…

They’ll enter stage right and exit stage left. I needed to get backstage. I took a sharp right turn and hid behind a stand of costumes. Fae rushed past me in a blur. They likely thought I was heading for a back exit to escape, but instead I steadily made my way towards the stage.

Finally, I opened a door, and found myself surrounded by props and costumes. Some of them looked to be so old that merely touching them would cause them to crumble to dust I looked around the dimly lit area, searching for signs of life. There, in the far back.

A large Fae man stood guard in front of an unassuming door. Why post a guard if you’re trying to hide the door? Because it’s a fake. There were two other doors just like the one the guard stood in front of, both in sight of him. He’ll be on me in a flash the moment I tried to approach any of the doors.

So, I won’t approach the doors. I’ll approach the man himself.

I staggered out of my hiding place.

“Hello? Do you work here?” I purposely slurred my words together. I walked unsteadily towards him.

He glanced around the room, but relaxed when he didn’t spot anyone else. “Excuse me miss, but you shouldn’t be here. You should head back to the dance floor.”

“Yeah, yeah just… where is that?” I staggered again, and purposefully unbalanced myself so I’d fall forward. He automatically reached out and caught me. Got you.

With one of his arms balancing me, he used his other arm to reach for a walkie talkie at his waist. With both of his hands occupied, I made my move.

I wrenched my crowbar from behind me and smashed it into his balls.

He screeched like a little girl and dropped like a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound sack of flour. I rushed to the right and wrenched open the door. Shit. A back wall. That’s right, stage right meant from the actor’s point of view. I went to the wrong side. This was the side Fae entered the nightclub. The other side is how they exited.

I whipped around but found that the sack of flour had already recovered. He grimaced at me, eyes blazing. There was a loud bang at the entrance I came through, and I saw the half-Fae standing at the entrance, eyes blazing, surrounded by his cronies.

“There she is! Get her!” With his unimaginative cry, they all rushed towards me.

My back was against the wall. Literally. There was a sea of people who wanted to give me a long slow death between me and my exit. It was a harsh reminder. One little mistake was all it took for the Fae to eat you alive.

But I wasn’t out of tricks yet. This door was still connected to the Otherside. I just had to make that connection work the other way for a few moments. I hated to use this. It was so expensive. But that’s why I have it for emergencies like this.

Still brandishing my crowbar to make them stay back, reached back into my purse and pulled out a small bottle. I smashed it against the wall, and it immediately began glowing with darkness. The dust adhered itself to the doorframe and began to form a swirling vortex in the center, deepening and perverting the connection. All the Fae froze upon seeing the dust work its magic.

“Is that… Winter pixie dust?” The half-Fae’s face went from astonishment to fury. “How are you connected to the Winter Court!?”

But his voice was already fading as I stepped back into the fully formed vortex. It flung me around and I held my breath, trying not to breathe any in. The other Fae wouldn’t dare follow me. They were Summer Court Fae. This dust would be deadly to them.

Normally, it would be deadly to humans too. But not to me. After all, I was raised in the Winter Court.