Episode 8:Auctions
1199 Words
"Where's Jack?"
I don't know how many times I've asked it. I don't know why Fenris looks at me like this, his eyes rounded and pitiful, no matter how much blood pours from the ugly wounds. The woman elf has put her hands on him at least three times, but every time, he shrinks back, as if scorched, and the other older elf paces frantically.
It takes several minutes for the ringing in my ears to finally fade, and even then, it's hard to follow along. All I can think about is Jack. How much I love Jack. How much I want him and need him and how much my heart is breaking that he's not here. When I can finally hear them, I don't even want to ask them questions. I don't even want to understand where I am and what they're going to do to me, but some part of me, the only part that cares about keeping me alive anymore, reminds me that I must.
I want to be smart. I'm an A+ student, one of the only achievements I'm actually proud of in my stupid, pathetic life. If my life has to end now, here, in such a strange place...I take a deep breath, and it hurts my ribs. I can't be smart now. There are no tears to cry, so I start with the most obvious question I can think of.
"Where am I? Where is Faith?"
The elves share a look. I've never seen anything like it before, three faces, snapping to look at each other all at once. Fenris regards me slowly, and I have to stare at that red carpet to avoid the painful scars displayed so clearly across his face.
"I never told you, did I?" His voice is clear; from the sound of it, you couldn't imagine the pain he must be in.
"No." I try to shake my head, but I'm too weak to do that. So I have to speak. "I don't know anything. I was in the cafe, and then, they....came." The words hurt. They're jagged and stab at me as I speak. My stomach roils at the thought of them, these monsters who forced me to walk toward my doom and those sharp, shiny teeth. I think of the sound of the gunshot and the blood still matted in my hair.
The man speaks, running his hands through his hair for a second before placing his hands against his chest. "You are in the city of elves, Lou'Elle."
I try to repeat it. The name sounds so pretty from his mouth, but when I try, the two syllables are clunky. They laugh at me. For a moment, they look unstressed, as if my failure is a fleeting distraction. It makes me sick.
"What about Jack? Where is he? And you didn't answer me about Faith."
Fenris chooses to speak up. "He's okay...ish." He tilts his head, frowning. Finally, he decides what to say. "Do you know anything about magic or our realm?"
I shake my head.
"He comes from the Morisette family, a family of very powerful dragonkin that escaped into your reality centuries ago. Tell me, Annabeth, did you ever feel pressure to marry and procreate with this man? I don't mean to be insensitive, but I notice that your family and his..."
He scratches the back of his neck. I think of my dad pressing my hand into Jack's on my sixteenth birthday. It feels so close, the immediate electricity between me and Jack, how I thought I'd drown in those eyes. It's such an easy memory to recall that makes me want to cry again.
And his brothers. Three of my sisters had married three of his many brothers. Maybe it was weird? Jack being stepfamily? But I never thought of it that way. As soon as my sisters married, they were gone, free. Never heard from again. Maybe it was one of the reasons I wanted to marry so soon.
"Where's Faith?" I repeat.
"Sleeping in my bed," the old man says. His face cracks into a smile. "Right as rain, for now."
I squeeze my eyes shut, but no matter how hard I close my eyes, I can't block out the images of their faces.
"I'm in...another reality?"
"Just as real as the one you came from. It's a shock, isn't it?"
"Why do you speak English?" My eyes are still closed. Fine. I'll just ask questions, and hope for answers I can barely understand. I'm done thinking this is a dream. I'm just hoping I'm insane.
"Chance," the woman cuts in. "When we entered your realm, oh, what was it? A thousand years ago? The portal was in Britain. Now it's somewhere in the mountains of Virginia, and Fenris has brought back your slang through his travels."
I take a breath. "So what's up with Jack?"
"The healing you saw only works on high-magic beings, such as very powerful elves or dragonkin. I fear he has returned to his old-world status. Hence the claws, my dear."
My head swims. "But he's okay?"
"Oh yeah," grumbles Fenris. "One more question out of you. I'm getting tired."
When I focus on those eyes, my heart aches. There are a million questions. The kid in me that grew up on books like Harry Potter and Narnia wants to believe. At the parties Faith would sucker me into, I'd often squeeze into a corner and absorb some Tolkien. But the adult in me, the woman beaten down by my family, by disappointment after disappointment, struggles to imagine a world of elves and powerful dragonkin.
The vampires, dangerous as they are, are a lot easier to imagine. The feeling of the smoke in my head when that big vampire drew me toward him makes me shudder even now.
"Will you let me out of this chair?"
Fenris brushes his hand over his bandaged shoulder.
"I can't do that," he says shortly.
"They'll be here for you soon," the woman adds, her eyes lifting toward the ceiling.
My pulse spikes. "They?"
"Vampires," she responds. She stares me down, even as I fight my bonds. Something inside me cracks. I think I make some warbling sound, something that sounds like 'why,' and her eyes turn cold.
"Why? Why did your kind burn us alive when all we were trying to do was survive?"
"Lilac!" Fenris shouts. "That's not fair, and you know it!"
The elderly man crosses his arms over his chest. He's cold. "The sacrifice is for the best. She isn't the Destined Luna. She's just a human, no 'Destined Luna' or even a being who possesses the slightest bit of magic. And humans have no place in this city."
Fenris lowers his head. The fight in his eyes is dying. "It's cruel."
"Hey! Don't I get any say in it?" My heart slams against my ribcage. "Please." It's a whimper. I didn't know I could make that sound, but it's coming out of me now.
Fenris turns his back. His shoulders strain against his tunic.
The woman narrows her eyes at me. "No human, they'll be here soon to take you to the auctions."
- Writer
